Simple Massacre (2)

Trin quickly lost control of his power, so his screams were loud enough to harm his own throat. These screams had become sonic attacks, so Shui used 'Silence' so that Lily's ears weren't damaged.

Even though he was only trapped in an illusion, his mind was broken, and he would eventually die after enough time had passed. With his soul scarred like this, there was no hope for survival, so Shui picked up Lily in his arms and began to leave. Despite the stench of blood that flooded the mansion, Shui looked at Lily in his arms with a gentle yet pained expression. Although she didn't seem to have been injured, just the fact that she had to go through this made him angry with himself. He cursed his carelessness and apologised to her in his mind. Maybe she would never blame him for this, but he couldn't do the same.

Shui was a few steps away from the exit when he stopped. He looked beyond the ceiling and squinted his eyes.

'Tch.'

Without even showing himself, an enraged figure sent a red fist blasting through the ceiling at Shui. Trin's guardian had come back and was undoubtedly shaken by the massacre that was at the mansion. The majority of the corpses weren't important enough for him to raise an eyebrow; just Trin's unknown condition alone pushed him into this state.

"You devil! Die!"

With the full power of his peak Earth Realm power, this middle-aged man attacked Shui with a spell while standing on a floating platform. Trin was still alive, but his life presence was weak and 'Silence' was active, so the man didn't notice, and Shui didn't care to tell him.

Shui wouldn't be able to dodge the attack in time since he had Lily, but he would definitely stand unarmed. However, the same could not be said of the woman in his arms. So instead, Shui focused his eyes on the incoming spell. He hadn't mastered the Accustom stage of the Omniscient Eyes method, but he had at least made some progress in it. With his focused vision, he could see the way nature energy composed the spell, and therefore he could find its critical weak point.

'There.'

Shui shot at the thumb of the red fist with divine energy, causing it to shatter.

"What?!"

Seeing his spell be so easily dealt with was like a slap in the face. The man knew he would die if he couldn't at least take the head of Trin's killer, so though he felt it was below his status, he stepped down from the platform and faced Shui on equal ground.

Shui had made the pressure exuding from him ineffective against Lily, but she still woke up due to its intensity.

"Master...?"

Hearing her soft voice calling him, Shui looked down on Lily as she opened her eyes in his arms.

"You're awake, huh? Could you wait for me to finish this?"

When she opened her eyes, just the sight of the enraged Earth Realm expert made her tremble, but Shui was unflustered despite bearing the full brunt of his pressure. As her eyes returned from the obstacle to him, Shui sensed something different in the way she looked at him, but this wasn't the time to address it.

"Yes, Master."

Shui helped her stand up, and she went behind him. Shui used a triple layer of 'Protect' on her and then faced his opponent, who was about to pop a vein from how trivially he was being treated.

"I have no reason to kill anymore, so I'll only ask once. Do you-"

Shui was trying to give the man a way out, but two red palms the size of his body tried to squash him from both sides. The sound of a collision came soon after, but no matter how much effort he put into it, the distance between the two palms never decreased.

Without straining himself, Shui stopped the palms in place and then destroyed them by injecting his divine energy. Spells that took the image of objects were usually powerful but also had more flaws unless they were refined to their peak, so Shui couldn't see the man as much of a threat.

And that condescending attitude he received from a junior who might as well still be in diapers was something the man couldn't stand for.

"Bloody Asura!"

The man's body gained a red shade, and his figure seemed to overlap with that of a six-armed, three-faced demon. When the transformation was complete, even his eyes became red, but all of this only inspired a sigh from Shui before he clenched his fist.

The man took out a sword for each of his six hands and dashed towards Shui, who had prepared nothing but a single fist. Even he would struggle to win with just energy cultivation, and he didn't want any accidents with Lily behind him.

When the man was within four cales of Shui, he pushed off the floor and took an instant to ram his fist through the man. As Shui removed his arm and the man fell, the only red that remained on his body was blood.

Shui shook his arm to get rid of the blood on it and then turned back to Lily.

"Well, let's go back home."

He thought they would be walking down the streets feeling refreshed, but once they left the mansion, Lily had her head down the entire time. He restrained his senses, so he could only guess why she acted like this. This caused an awkward atmosphere to remain between the two.

When their home was in sight, Lily paused her feet and grabbed Shui's sleeve.

"Master."

When he turned to her, Lily kowtowed at his feet with her head touching the ground. Shui immediately tried to lift her up, but he hesitated because of the firm gaze she had.

"Please punish me."

Shui's initial thought was to comfort her, but after taking a moment to calm himself, he chose the role of her master rather than her friend.

"Why do you seek punishment?"

"Because I was a burden. I have no doubt that you rescued me because you believed you could handle the consequences, but it doesn't change the fact that I was of no help."

"Lily, you weren't a burden. They only went after you because they were my enemies. I should have been more thorough when dealing with them."

"No, I've been with you for long enough to know that you hadn't made a move before because you didn't want to. You had no reason to fear them, but because of me, you had to take action."

"But it didn't have to be you. If I had done the same to save Aunt Lilia, would you have called her my burden?"

"No, Master is free to do as he wishes."

"Then-"

"But!"

The emotion with which Lily interrupted was so intense that Shui was stunned into silence.

"I didn't swear that oath to be protected by you. Even though you were always stronger, smarter, and more resourceful than me, I wanted to pay back your help at least by a fraction. But all I've done is become complacent and add to my debt. I know that you're powerful enough to handle everything by yourself. But even so! I wanted you to be able to rely on me. If I can't even take on a small pebble of your struggles, then what was the point of my oath?"

Even though her emotions overflowed into Shui's heart, he didn't know how to comfort her. He never knew she had these thoughts; he never knew she hid such ambition in her daily smiles; he never knew she was so desperate to be of use to him. Even so, this wasn't a problem he could solve.

"I understand. But I have no reason to punish you. This is a trial you must overcome by yourself. The only advice I can give you, is to gain strength. That is my stance as your master."

After saying his part, Shui slowly walked away, leaving the sorrowful figure of a woman behind.