Angel Of Death

"Doesn't my baby look peaceful?" The woman asked.

She was looking at the young girl's unmoving and bloody body.

"Was she... your daughter?" Adam asked in a weak and low voice.

"No, she was my sister's daughter. I've been taking care of her ever since my sister died. And now look at her, sleeping soundly..."

Adam stopped looking at the bloody girl on the ground and turned to look at the woman.

She was smiling.

Another wicked smile, just like the one the priest had shown all along.

"Well, I've left my baby alone for too long. I should go to her." The woman said as she raised her hand, still holding the sharp piece of glass.

Adam felt his heart sink at those words.

All energy from his body seemed to have vanished.

He barely managed to raise his hand towards the woman.

"Wai-...."

That was all he could mutter.

The woman fell to the ground right away.

He poured a Healing Potion inside the woman's mouth but he soon realized that it was too late for her.

Once again, someone had died in front of him.

As he stared at the dead body of the woman in front of him, an immense fear struck him.

Her open eyes were unmoving, staring at the ceiling.

"AAAHHHHH!" Adam shouted as he moved away from the body, struggling to get back on his feet.

He raised his gaze.

Marco and three other children had been watching the scene all along.

The two women who had been ordered to watch the detained children had run away.

Light came back to the church and Adam immediately called him back into his Monster Tamer's Bracelet.

All the eleven children were crying and screaming.

Somehow, Adam hadn't heard their screams at all.

"It's...It's okay! We're leaving!" Adam shouted as he started freeing the children.

At first, they were extremely scared of him.

After all, all they knew about him was that he was very strong and that he worshipped the devil.

That was all they had heard about him.

But they soon noticed that he wasn't that much older than them.

Marco also helped calm them down as he told them that Adam was a "magician" who had come to save them.

Followed by 11 children aged between 6 and 8 years old, Adam went out of the church.

'Finally...' Marco thought as he held his crying sister's hand.

But Adam, who stood in front of the group, stopped walking.

In front of him were two men and the priest.

The two men were those who had attacked him previously.

The priest's previously white robe was detained by huge amounts of blood.

Red drops of blood were falling from his bloody golden dagger.

The two men's Iron Daggers were bloody two.

The three walked back towards the church.

"So you came back, my child?" The priest said.

His eyes even bloodier than before.

'Why are they alone?' Adam asked himself.

"I have. You've seen my strength, so go away. That black monster protects me. You better not anger it." Adam threatened them.

The priest turned towards the two men and chuckled.

"Did you hear that? The young boy thinks he can threaten us despite the Lord's Blessing."

The two men had wicked smiles as they talked to eachother.

"Let's skin them. Who would have thought getting rid of other humans would give so many Experience Points."

"For real. Each one of them gave me 1000 Experience Points. Too bad I could only take three of them."

"That's to be expected. They devoted and gave their lives for our leader after all."

Adam's eyes widened.

"What are you saying?" He asked.

"Well, seeing such a huge beast, my dear followers sacrificed their lives so that I could live and uphold the Lord's will." The priest said with another one of his creepy smiles.

'Beast? ...Sacrifice? Experience Points...' Adam was immobile as he tried to wrap his head around what had happened.

"You killed them... because of me...?" Adam muttered.

"Exactly!" The priest shouted.

He raised his golden dagger and aimed its tip towards Adam.

"And now, you must die. Otherwise, those poor souls would have sacrificed themselves for no reason."

"You mean... they let you kill them?" Adam asked with a trembling voice.

"Of course. My followers begged me to take their lives so that I could amass enough strength to fight the Devil." The priest answered as he raised his shoulders.

Adam took a pause.

A dark Mana covered his body.

It wasn't purple anymore, but pure black.

He did not pay it any mind.

All the other people could not see his Mana, as they lacked the Mana and Magic Affinity Stats.

"That woman..." Adam muttered as he pointed towards the inside of the church. "...she was one of your followers. She killed that young girl before killing herself..."

"Is that so? My followers should have known better. The children are for the Lord's ritual. She shouldn't have touched the girl."

The dark Mana covering Adam's body became fiercer as it enveloped both his arms.

"These people... were weak... and you took advantage of that..."

"All of us are weak in front of the Lord's might, my child. I only helped them see the light." The priest said with a smile.

"I shouldn't... have called out Light..."

"Light? Is that how you call that Devil? It doesn't matter anyway. A seat is now empty and we need 12 lambs. You shall take the empty chair."

"You're already... talking about that? Do you have... no remorse?" Adam muttered.

"All is done is the name of the Lord. Now, catch them." The priest ordered the two men.

"Alright. Let's test our new strength. I leveled up a lot after all." One of the men said.

"He was pretty quick before, but we're much stronger now." The other man said.

They took out Iron Swords from their Inventory.

'Swords? They bought them... with Gold...'

The quantity of dark mana on Adam's arms grew.

It became even fiercer and resembled black flames.

'Gold they got... from killing those confused people...'

Adam raised his left arm.

"Go back inside. I'll be back in a bit."

The children ran inside and hid.

The man advanced towards Adam while the priest stayed behind.

"Acting like a hero, huh? Don't worry, we won't kill you. Not until the ritual anyways. We will just-"

The man was interrupted mid-sentence.

He coughed up blood and felt a sharp pain coming from his stomach.

He lowered his gaze and found a golden dagger piercing his body from behind.

"What the hell..." The man muttered.

The golden dagger was pulled from the wound.

The man started bleeding heavily and fell to the ground.

Adam gritted his teeth as he tightened his fists.

His right hand was bleeding from the pressure he exerced.

A second later, the second man fell to the ground too.

"Yes, of course. It is just like the Lord said. The higher a man's level is, the more strength he shall give me even without performing a ritual." The priest said.

"You're... a monster..." Adam muttered.

He closed his eyes as tears started going down his face.

Adam opened them, praying that this was all a nightmare.

"Even the Water Spirit... asked me to spare those monsters. And yet... and yet you kill your followers with no remorse..."

"Yes, my Lord. I'll put everything into my Strength Stat." The priest said to himself.

'So his Sponsor his that devourer. An evil Sponsor for an evil person...'

The black flames around Adam's arms grew fiercer.

"Because of my father's cowardice, my whole family died..." Adam said with a dark expression.

"I hated myself and my deceased father for it. But it seems... people like you exist too. I have known cowards, people who cause death without meaning to. But you're different. You're a murderer." He added.

"Stop talking. You can either participate in the ritual or die now. If you die of course, the ritual won't be able to take place. I'll have to kill those children right after." The priest explained.

"Is that so? I wonder if this could have gone some other way." Adam raised his gaze towards the blue sky.

"Light, Rose. Come out."

A huge black wolf and a white cheetah appeared in front of him.

"Don't kill him, but hurt him badly. Light, let me know when you're done with him." He said as he turned back towards the church.

"My Lord...? MY LORD? WHAT SHOULD I DO?" The priest shouted.

Adam closed the church's door before Light and Rose could get to the priest.

Once he entered all the children looked at him with wide eyes.

He breathed deeply to calm himself.

The black flames on his body dissipated.

Only purple Mana remained on him, but it disappeared too a second later.

"Is everyone okay? Anyone hurt?" He asked them.

Marco answered for the group.

Adam told them about the System, their Stats, Health Points and Status.

He unmuted the System and opened his Invetory.

Adam proceeded to give Healing Potions to those whose Health Points weren't full.

A loud howl was heard.

"Alright. Let's go out." Adam said.

Only Marco noticed that Adam's expression had darkened once he heard the howl.

He opened the door and walked towards Light and Rose.

Both were sitting in front of a bloody, injured and half-dead priest who was lying on his back.

"Marco, come with me. The rest of you can stay behind.

Adam held Marco's hand as they walked towards the fallen priest.

Marco's hand was trembling.

As soon as Adam noticed, he called Light and Rose back into his bracelet.

The trembling stopped.

The two stood in front of the priest.

His golden dagger was on the ground.

Blood was everywhere on his body.

Traces of bites and cuts all over him.

His left leg was frozen.

He had lost his left hand and his previously bloody red pupils were now black.

"Are you alive?" Adam asked.

The priest coughed up blood.

"Do you not have any remorse?" Adam asked him.

"I... do..." The priest struggled to talk.

"I only... wanted to survive... in this sick world..."

Marco pitied the priest for a second.

"I understand. Stand up." Adam told him.

"I...can't..."

"Marco, will you help him?"

"Sure." Marco said candidly.

The child bent his body to help the priest stand.

The priest managed to sit up.

In a heartbeat, he took his golden dagger into his remaining hand and tried slashing Marco's neck.

The priest would have succeeded if it wasn't for Adam's leg kick that threw the former multiple meters back.

He coughed up blood and struggled to stand up on his frozen leg.

"You little shit!" The priest shouted.

"Marco, go back to the others." Adam said coldly.

The child ran away.

'We are both children... and yet...' He thought as he ran towards the group of children.

"It seems they went easy on you. Playing dead, huh? You should have kept doing that." Adam said as he walked towards the priest.

Black flames were emitted from Adam's body involuntarily.

This time, the priest could see them.

"You....You monster!" The priest shouted after noticing the black flames.

The contrast between Adam's pale skin and the dark flames made him appear threatening and terrifying.

"I am... not the monster here..." Adam muttered.

"But I have learned one thing, thanks to you." Adam added.

He took out his Black Widow's Sword from his Inventory.

The priest took a step back.

"I never thought I would say this but, all lives..." Adam took a pause.

He launched himself towards the priest at an extremely high speed.

The priest could only raise his arms defensively.

Adam swung his sword and slashed the priest's whole upper body.

He screamed in pain and fell on his butt.

Adam, now standing taller than the priest, his arms enveloped in black flames, appeared even more monstrous.

"All lives, are not equal. Even after I gave you a chance, I'm now sure of it..." Adam raised his weapon.

"No... Please no.... Let me go... Let me go... Oh my Lord... Save me...From this angel of death..." The priest begged and prayed.

[The Guardian Goddess of All Huntsmen and Workers Of The Land says that you should not do this.]

[The Guardian Goddess of All Huntsmen and Workers Of The Land says that you will regret it.]

'Probably...' Adam thought.

[Many Angels want you to spare the priest.]

[Every Demon wants you to kill the priest.]

'I guess... I will side with the demons here...'

Adam swung his sword.

"Am sorry, but you do not deserve to live." He said as he finished the priest.

A second later, the priest's body was unmoving.

Adam looked that the body in front of him for a bit, before throwing up.

In front of him, were messages he would have rathered not see.

[1 Level16 Human has been killed. Congratulations! You have gained 1000Gold and 32.000Experience Points.]

[You have leveled up!]

He walked back towards the children with mixed feelings and an unreadable expression.