Victor Von Deckart (3)

While running, Victor caught brightly lit torches swaying on the corner of his eye. The slaves were quickly catching up with him.

He closed his eyes, pondering. Then when he opened them moments later, a determined glint shone through them.

Soon, he disappeared into the darkness.

***

"Four of you pieces of sh*t and you can't find a single man who can barely run away?! What are you, worse than trash?!"

"GO! GO! Spread out!!! Find him or else we're the ones that are going to die!!"

The leader shouted in a crazed manner. His expression was unsightly while he watched his subordinates move nervously.

Hearing his words only made them panic more.

They didn't need any reminder, they knew themselves what would happen if Baron Luther caught a whiff of their incompetence– they'll die!

No, perhaps death would be a better ending.

Among the nightwalkers in the city, Baron Luther was the most terrifying. He was a sadistic perfectionist who didn't allow any disobedience or failure.

Rumors floated around that those who hated were tortured eternally in his labyrinth. But the leader knew that it was no rumor, but the truth.

That was why he was terrified more than the others.

Without wasting anymore time, the leader and the team spread out to the left.

While walking, the leader tried to calm himself down.

"He can't go too far… he has to be nearby…"

The leader muttered under his breath trying to regain his confidence. Victor was tortured for a month, and the food granted to him was just barely enough to keep him alive.

With the man's damaged skeletal body, it was impossible for Victor to run far. It was even more impossible for the man to fight back.

What happened earlier, although surprising, was nothing special...

This was all just some meaningless struggle from a dead man.

He had to be somewhere near—

"Gwmp!"

Suddenly, the leader eyes widened. A shadow crept up from above him, and a pair of thin legs hung on his neck, clutching on his throat.

The thin legs were like the sickle of the grim reaper. It gripped on his throat, and faintly, he could feel stainless blue-steel touch his neck.

At that moment, a pair of red pupils shone in the darkness.

Then, the shadow pulled its hands, yanking him backwards as both of them fell to the ground.

Then, like a snake, the shadow slithered down as its thin legs pinned the leader on the ground.

While its hands, cuffed with stainless blue-steel, strangled the leader with everything it had.

Gmp—!

The leader couldn't breath and thrashed his body violently. A trace of panic flashed through his eyes.

'How is this possible!?'

Although he couldn't see the person's face, he knew without a doubt that it was Victor.

Using the handcuffs, Victor clutched on the leader's throat and pulled with everything he had, targeting the man's carotid arteries.

The leader's face slowly turned purple as he choked. He trashed his body again, hoping to overpower Victor.

Victor jerked back from the force. A month of torture and barely any food had diminished his physical strength.

But he knew that if the leader broke free, he was good as dead. Thus, he tightened his legs even more.

The leader resisted with everything he had. He reached out to Victor's face, trying to inflict as much harm as possible.

Victor flinched and narrowly avoided the leader's hands. He pulled harder while his body screamed in pain.

If he was feeling pain, then his enemies had to feel greater pain than him.

The leader screamed, and for what seemed like an eternity to both of them, his struggles suddenly slowed down.

Then, at that moment, he went limp. His breath shuddered while his eyes rolled upwards.

As he died, he couldn't figure out why he lost to someone like Victor.

By all means, he was stronger. But in a fight, strength wasn't everything– especially if he was against a master assassin.

Victor counted in his mind before releasing. When fifteen seconds passed, he released his hold and breathed a sigh of relief.

That was his first fight since a long time. He was almost afraid that he wouldn't be able to do it.

He felt exhausted and wanted to rest for a moment.

Subconsciously, he looked up and saw the large red moon.

"…"

Without delaying anymore, he stood up and picked the keys from the leader's pockets.

Cchk!

The handcuffs opened up without any difficulties. Once it fell to the ground, Victor felt a liberating feeling.

He couldn't help but feel mixed emotions. He was now free… with no handcuffs, chains, and cell to restrain him.

He took a deep breath before looking at the leader's body once more. One shouldn't waste free armory, after all.

***

With the darkness as his ally, Victor swiftly took out the remaining slaves.

But he didn't forget about the torturer who was left behind in the path. With an emotionless gaze, he showed the torturer the same pain he experienced for a month.

The torturer was hung on the tree, like a chained prisoner.

The ugly bastard's body was filled with holes and wounds, one that would make even a veteran soldier retch from disgust.

With one swift motion, he cut off the torturer's head, finishing everything off.

"I hope you suffer for all eternity."

Victor didn't believe in gods, but if they did exist, he hoped they would put the man through eternal torment.

"Mir probably didn't expect me to not use the orb of power yet…"

He said as he wiped the blood out of the dagger.

He walked away and thought of his plans. He wanted to go to the city using the slaves' armor as a disguise.

Sometimes, the most dangerous place can be the safest place to hide. There were some risks in that plan, but it was better than roaming around the forest cluelessly.

"Alright. Let's do t—"

At that moment, a chill surged up from Victor's spine. Thousand of bats suddenly flew from the far west, and the forest turned deathly eerie.

Without wasting a single second, Victor suddenly ran away deeper to the forest. Sweat accumulated from his back while his heart accelerated.

He knew that ominous sign.

Baron Luther was coming.