Rasso pulled the woman in his embrace. They were both shivering. However, he still had the mind to cover her up well and try to make her drink the Alteran healing potion he had.
"Drink this, Juliet, please," he said, gently pleading, and the dazed woman blinked, looking at him.
"Oh, Rasso, is that you? Where have you guys been?" She asked, her soft voice raspy—no doubt from screaming so much.
Guilt flooded his body and crushed his heart—his entire being enflamed in anger.
Before the war, they had to hide underground because Fargo would definitely have hunted them. It was obviously to save their lives, but he couldn't help but feel heavy at the fact that this woman was treated like this while he hid!
He gritted his teeth and held back his tears, shakily trying to get her to drink. "Drink a bit, please, Juliet," he said, letting the bottle's rim touch her dried lips.
"My body hurts…"
He sniffed, voice croaking. "Yes, this will help."
Finally, Juliet opened her mouth to drink, and he followed it up with water to hydrate her.
To be honest, he had heard of the aborigine men's bias against women and he knew that many disliked women with scars. He thought that she'd be safe, like she had been for so long—
He was wrong, so wrong.
"I'm so sorry…" he said, sniffing. In response, he found her gentle hand on his face instead.
"It's not your fault," she said, that soft voice of hers that always comforted him trying to do so again.
And it only made him sob even more.
…
While Rasso handled the female doctor, giving him a bit of time, the others rummaged the room with heavy hearts.
Benny was outright sobbing with them. He wasn't close with the doctor, but he admired her work.
If not for her, there were definitely would be a lot more girls who ended their lives prematurely. Of course, time was of the essence and they knew they wouldn't be able to stay long.
Just as they were prepared to leave, they noticed some items at the side. Some of them were unfamiliar and they knew these must be some of the items Belize had been guarding.
While his most important things must have been in his space, they didn't underestimate whatever item he had and decided to confiscate them. No one's spaces could fit everything, but they could take a few each.
They also did not expect to see a piece of device they thought they would never touch again.
"It's a video camera!" Benny said, shocked. How long has it been since he last saw one of these! "It's completely solar powered, too, I guess it still gathers solar energy from another sun."
A few of the others also gathered around him to see. He clicked randomly and the video opened.
Then the video played and their intrigued expressions changed very quickly, soon turning dark, and then livid.
The video captured the events of the war with Bright. It showed the deaths—almost all of which were unnecessary, considering the level gaps and poisons—as well as the abuse that came after.
Then the film continued to show a bit more gruesome clips, the sex videos, and the torture.
Among the earlier videos, there were also a few familiar men being tortured. It was their companions who went missing earlier on!
They asked a lot about their group and goals. They went through inhuman torture, and the men had no choice but to tell whatever they could beyond the limitations of the oaths—which, with the right questioning, wasn't few.
It was no wonder Fargo seemed to always know what could make them succumb!
"Hey don't destroy it," Victor said, with similarly tense expression. He immediately put it in his space, afraid Benny destroyed it due to emotion.
As much as they wanted it destroyed, it was still a core technology and there might be an advantage to keeping this evidence on hand.
Victor took a deep breath. As the leader, he couldn't show anything that didn't show stability. He looked at Rasso, who was definitely not in the state to fight.
"We'll come back here later," he told him and patted his back. "Take care of the doctor."
He then walked to the door, followed by the rest of them.
"Let's go kill the remaining scum."
…
At this time, a certain wood-user Alteran was being dragged by the feet.
Although he managed to avoid them for a while with running and hiding skills he developed growing up with the family he had, he still was no match for the senses of men 5 levels higher than he was.
He realized that the only reason they didn't notice their party hiding by the gate earlier was due to carelessness. When they focused, their senses were really very good.
Amos' final hiding spot was a beam in one of the rooms. He didn't breathe then, and as soon as he did he was caught.
"Stop it! Where are you taking me?!" A bloodied Amos yelled as he groaned, dragged on the floor like a sack.
At this, the man slightly turned to look at him. "Wouldn't it be fun to see your sister having fun with us first hand?"
"YOU!"
Amos gritted his teeth and used his remaining mana to summon tiny vines from his arm. It was so small but he managed to wrap it around on foot and pull back with all his strength, making the man trip just a bit.
Of course, a level 15's strength was not small so the elemenatlist's vine broke as soon as a bit of force was added to it.
The man managed to catch himself quickly enough, and just in time to take back the feet that were escaping.
"Ah!" Amos yelled as he was dragged back. The other mercenary laughed and kicked him for good measure.
"Oof!"
Amos puked a bit at the force, using his remaining mana to gather more vines around him. He had just awakened and it really wasn't much, but it did soften the blow of the kicks.
The men saw how he was wrapping himself with vines and their eyes widened in interest.
"Whoa, an Elementalist!" he grinned, "Interesting!"