Rescue

"...huh…?"

Theo froze, staring at the pitch-black hallway that should have been brightly lit and guarded.

Now, the only light available was one coming from the inside of the room.

"...!"

Even watching from the back, both the underling and the hostage could see the changes in Theodore.

The dark-brown-haired young man suddenly flinched and turned ghastly pale - not just his face but his ears, lips, and neck too - and the next moment he got covered in goosebumps and his hair stood up on its ends…!

It was such a clear and obvious display of fear that it felt fake, but then…

"U-UGHN…!"

*CHING*

Theodore turned to the side, with tears streaming down his face, and he wept as he desperately threw himself to the side at the last possible moment, because faster than anyone could even blink, a thrown knife stabbed into the wall directly behind the spot where Theo's torso, specifically his heart, was…!

Stumbling and sobbing as he went, Theodore rushed to the other door, pushing past his baffled underling before desperately ramming against the door that opened only by pulling.

"OI! Who the fuck is acting up!? If you…"

Seeing his boss's act in such a pathetic way somehow boosted the thug's courage, and he called out, stepping closer to the door and leaning in slightly to check who he was against…

"?!?!"

Only to discover darkness rushing straight at him…!

*WHAAM* *THUMP*

But then the darkness raised its head, and turned out to be a black-haired man dressed in black, sprinting full speed into the room and using all of that momentum to slam a baton he held in both hands into the shocked thug's head, slamming him into the ground right next to the hostage.

"Little Tee~!"

"GYAAAAAAAA-URGH!"

The black-haired man, smiling like a demon, took a big step forward and tilted his head, and called out to Theodore, causing him to screech in terror, piercing the ears of the hostage utill the baton thrown by the intruder smacked against the back of his head and forced him to crumble down.

"Oh, you're so unlucky, little Tee… I'm not here to kill you~"

"!!!"

The black-haired man chuckled with playful and obviously fake compassion, causing the dark-brown-haired man to shiver all over while desperately opening the door and attempting to crawl away.

"...in the darkness… blessed by the night…"

"...!"

At first, the intruder was clearly enjoying the sight of the utterly terrified opponent mumbling something under his nose… until realizing that it was actually an incantation…!

"Don't you dare, little Tee!"

"Shadow walk…!"

The black-haired man roared, a knife similar to the one stuck in the wall popping up in his hand, but just as he was throwing it, Theodore completed the incantation.

*thunk*

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

The knife that should have pierced Theodore's back ended up stabbing into the floorboards as the dark-brown-haired man sank into the shadow and disappeared, causing the black-haired man to growl like a demon.

The next moment, several marbles appeared in the black-haired man's hands and…

*crack* *crack*

…he began crushing them one after the other, unleashing fire, ice, and electricity in continuous succession along the line of the entire hallway.

"FUCK!"

Upon using all of them, the man cursed and hurried back to the door he came through.

"One escaped! He used a spell to blend into shadows! Do we have ANYONE who can follow or track him!?"

"No. We can send out our men to try and find him once he emerges back, though."

The black-haired man stepped over the thug he had knocked out and called out, and the response came together with the return of light as a group of men came in carrying torches.

"Let's go with that."

The black-haired man winced and shook his head before collecting his knives and waving his hand towards the other hallway.

"Sir, don't take it to yourself. In the first place, capturing almost everyone alive is already a ridiculous feat."

"..."

While most of the group went after the runaway, one of the people securing the unconscious thug spoke up, most likely trying to appease the bitter man, but only received a silent, cold glare in response.

"Why the hell didn't you break free and fight your way out?"

Letting others deal with securing the captured thugs, the black-haired man approached and cut free the hostage while scoffing at him…

"Ptfuah! The children! Did you make sure they are safe!? Those bastards captured them! If they harm them, I will kill y…!"

Instead of gratitude, the hostage grabbed the black-haired man by the collar of his shirt, picked him up, and shook him threateningly…

*squelch*

"...h-huh…?"

…that is until a knife pierced his side twice and the cold pain made the hostage reconsider his behavior, backing off and leaning against the wall while staring at the blood squirting out of the wounds.

"Safe? Captured? You fucking moron! You believed some lowlives without even seeing a single kid?!"

*WHAM*

"GHHH!?"

The black-haired man bared his teeth in fury and asked before delivering a devastating kick at the hostage's stomach, causing the blood to splash out like a geyser.

"Listen here, Leon. You were sitting here on your ass, obediently listening to filth that burnt the orphanage with all the kids inside!"

"!!!"

The hostage slid down the wall and half lay there in shock when Medea leaned down, and the words that he spat through his mouth seemed to affect Leon far more than the injuries.

Leon's eyes trembled, and his mouth began opening and closing like that of a fish pulled out of water.

He clearly wanted to refute Medea's words… to at least beg him to repeat himself in futile hope of simply misunderstanding what was said… but the disgusted glare of the demon whose eyes knew only hatred made him realize his fault.

"You can only imagine how much I want to just break open that thick skull of yours to examine how fucked your brain is…! If you fail Young Lady Zorivia like you failed those children, you will regret that I managed to hold back today."

"..."

Medea's venomous words, coupled with the intensity of his demonic eyes, caused Leon to lower his head and tremble without uttering a single word.

*tap* *tap*

"...?"

As if satisfied, Medea straightened his back, making Leon think that this ordeal was over, but then two green marbles fell on his lap…

*WHAM* *crack*

"FFHURGH…!"

Instead of letting Leon use the healing pellets himself, Medea ended up raising his foot and stomping down, and the unprepared young man, hitting him so hard that the contents of the hostage's stomach came right back out of his mouth.

Nonetheless, the unleashed spells did mend all of Leon's injuries, with blood and bile stains and holes in his clothes being the only reminder of what happened.

"Get up. You are Young Lady Zorivia Rotteloss's guard, whether you feel like it or not. Fix your attitude or you'll bring her dishonor… Mister disgraced and disinherited former noble."

"...!"

The black-haired man scoffed at the freed hostage and added as he moved, not even checking if he was being followed and certainly not bothering to look at what kind of reaction his words made on Leon.

Shame, fear, anger, bitterness, to name a few of the emotions, one by one taking over the reddish-brown-haired man's face.

Quite the spectacle, honestly.

Still, no one was there to admire it as part of the group had already left in pursuit of the runaway Theodore, and the others tied up the knocked-out thug and carried him outside, where he was tossed to join all of his tied-up comrades.