Long Due Reunion

Kies looked around. Red and black blood all over the walls, representing a scene of carnage. There were bodies everywhere. There were fewer compared to outside, but compacted in such a small place, it looked even worse. Luckily, the door to what was presumably the queen's chamber was still closed. No one had gone in yet, hopefully...

There were no soldiers left. There were only hybrids. They spotted Kies and ran at him, thirsting to take a bite out of him. They didn't make it too far before Kies' winds grabbed them and ground them into a pile of vile red meat, becoming something one would feed to livestock. Kies didn't know doing this to a person's body, but it was the only way that he could stop them from coming back to life.

Kies walked over to the door and placed his hand on the handle. He turned the handle. The door was unlocked... Kies swung the door opened and looked inside. It was an empty room with a single bed in the center of the room. A single chandelier hung from the ceiling, generating enough light to brighten every corner of the room. And standing in the middle of the room, over the bed was not one person, but several.

"Get away from the queen!" Kies swiped his hand in front of him and the winds mimicked his movement, ripping across the air and almost cutting the necks of everyone standing in the room. Their reflexes were fast enough that they all either moved away or ducked, dodging the attack and barely keeping their heads intact to their bodies.

Kies rushed to the bed, chasing everyone away from it. He looked down and saw a woman lying in the bed with her eyes closed. The blankets were up to her neck. Her face was pale and her cheeks were sinking in. Kies could see the outline of her bones on her face. The queen didn't look like she was in a good condition. It was just as Sirks said. She only had less than a month left to live. Thankfully, it looked like Kies got here in the nick of time as the criminals have yet to do anything to her.

"Looks like Ragar failed. Ha, what an idiot, saying that he will settle things with him..."

"If only he did his job right. We wouldn't have to clean up his mess."

The other members of the Black Fang didn't sound like they cared that one of their own died. Not even mourning their fallen companion and instead choosing to belittle him after his death... These people didn't deserve any mercy.

Other than the members of the Black Fang who had their tattoos showing, there seemed to be three other people here who weren't part of them. One was the commander of the anti-magic corps. The second was a tall skinny man in a black robe who looked oddly familiar, but he was pretty sure they haven't met before. Lastly, there was a woman in the group. She was the only one and stuck out like a sore thumb. She was shorter than everyone else and reeked of dark magic. She was a demon.

Kies also felt an odd yet familiar feeling that he also knew the demon, but it might just be him misidentifying people. There was no way he would recognize any of them.

"You really are traitors, working with a demon," Kies confronted the criminals. Their eyes turned to each other, wondering how Kies figured that out.

"Ragar... Did that deadweight open his mouth!? Ah, whatever, secrets out. Let's kill him!"

Members of the Black Fang charged at Kies. In total, there were almost ten of them, not including the other three who were sitting in the back watching.

There was the traitorous captain who sacrificed his own men who trusted him and turned them into monsters. The tall and skinny man had his face covered but Kies couldn't help but feel he recognized. He was likely the mastermind behind the entire thing or played a huge role in it. And lastly, the demon who he also felt like he knew. She was clad head to toe in coverings to mask her identity, but Kies knew who she was. She was most likely the one who gave them the serum to turn people into monsters.

While fighting the Black Fang, Kies needed to keep an eye on all three of them. They were the most dangerous ones out of the bunch, scheming and watching things from the side.

Kies turned his attention back to the thieves who were trying to pounce on him. Kies blew them back with a gust of wind, shredding their clothes and only cutting their skin when it should've killed.

"Magic armor too!?" Kies couldn't believe it. Just where or how in the world did these criminals get their hands on something as valuable as this?

Kies erected a wall of wind and blocked the thieves. He then pushed them back against the wall to give himself time to surround the queen in a layer of protective winds. With that done, he didn't have to worry about her getting hurt now unless the commander decides to do something to interfere with his magic.

Putting aside that worry, Kies turned to face his enemies for real.

"Heh, you're the one that killed my sworn brother? I have to say, you're not half that bad," one of them said, wiggling his finger at him. Kies didn't know who he was talking about, but it was probably one of the other two Black Fang members he killed.

"I don't remember nor do I care. I've killed countless people and you're going to join them right now," Kies told the thief.

"Ho, what a coincidence! I've also slaughtered countless people. And how funny, but I also want you to join my brother in h*ll!" The thief held out his arm and flicked his wrist up. An arrow flew out from within his sleeves and almost pegged Kies in the face. It was a good thing that he expected it and grabbed it when it was an inch from him.

"Good reaction, but there's more where that came from!"

The other thieves all raised their arms and fired arrows at Kies as well. They all had hidden weapons. "That's not going to happen!" Kies summoned a wall of wind in front of him and stopped all of the arrows in their tracks. However, this was only a distraction. The thieves spread out in all directions. Some of them went for the queen while some tried to get behind Kies and another few charged at him from the front.

Coming at him from all directions, Kies had no choice but to retreat. Using the winds, he lifted the queen up from her bed, blankets and all. He then blasted a hole in the wall behind him and ran through it, bringing the queen along with him. Upon getting out the other side, a sword flew down on him and almost severed his arm off.

*Growl!*

It was the thief he killed before. His skin was purple and black blood was dripping from his chest where Kies tore a hole through him. There was a needle sticking out of his neck.

"Why can't you just stay dead?" Kies did a slicing motion with his hand to cut off the thief's head. The winds slashed across his neck, leaving a nasty gash and causing him to howl in pain as blood spurted everywhere. But it wasn't enough. The cut was too swallow. Kies tried to hit him again in the same place to kill him, but an arrow flew out of the hole next to him, barely missing him as it grazed his face. The tiny cut healed up in an instant.

Kies couldn't stay here and fight. He needed to leave with the queen. It was too risky. He didn't know what they could do. Getting the queen out of here was his top priority as of the moment. If she died here, then all his efforts were for naught. Kies moved back away from the hole as more arrows flew out and commanded the winds to bring down the ceiling. They crashed into the sandstone with such overwhelming force that it not only blew a hole in the ceiling but also demolished the rest of the wall alongside it.

Kies heard some angry curses from the other side. Good. This was going to buy him a lot of time. Carrying the sick queen with his wind, Kies ran as fast as he could to get out of the castle. He needed to take her to the herbalist or Nyana as quickly as possible. He didn't have the money to pay for her service since it wasn't like the colosseum was in the state to give him his prize money. Or maybe he did... Kies never asked Vistaken how much money he made off fighting for him, but he was sure that it was more than enough to cover the expenses.

Even if he didn't have the money, he was sure that the herbalist was in no spot to protest once she saw the queen. All he needed to do was give her a bit of "encouragement." She was going to get rewarded anyway after this mess was over.

Kies searched ahead with his winds and found an exit not too far from him. It took him to the courtyard, and once he was there, he could launch himself out of the castle's boundary with the queen and he will be safe.

"Almost there. I hope my luck doesn't act up again." And hopefully, he didn't just jinx himself either. He had only a couple more steps left and that's when it happened. The ceiling caved in, cutting off his pathway to the exit. Kies slid to a stop and a figure dropped down in front of him.

Dressed like an assassin and covering up her entire body, she slowly walked towards him. She had no weapon in hand, and she didn't need one. Her most powerful weapon was her magic. "Hand over the queen and I will spare you," she said to Kies, reaching out with her hand.

Kies declined the offer without taking even a second to think about it. "Sorry, but I can't do that." Making a deal with a demon wasn't a good idea. Getting backstabbed was quite common considering how much they hated humans.

"..."

The demon lowered her arm and stood there, blocking his way, She didn't need to do anything. The others were catching up. Kies could feel their presence behind him, chasing after him. They were still very far away and he had a minute or two before they caught up with him. All the demon needed to do was to keep Kies from leaving and he would be in trouble.

Kies carefully put the queen down against the wall next to him and approached the demon. She didn't do anything. She only watched him. Kies stopped an arm's length away from her and said, "Friends yesterday, enemies today. Long time no see, Messa."

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