Chapter 29: Kill To Kill
In the infirmary Daemon was lying on a bed, his body covered in bandages. He was in a bad state. The five hundred lashes had lacerated his skin down to the bone in places. His ribs were cracked, and his spine had been hit several times.
Luna was walking in the corridor leading to the infirmary.
She pushed the door and came face to face with Mallory.
The stewardess was standing near Daemon’s bed with an expressionless face.
"What are you doing here?" asked Mallory in an icy voice.
Luna bowed slightly. "I came to see the condition of the young master."
*Slap*
Mallory’s hand struck Luna’s cheek with surprising force. The young woman turned her head from the impact, her cheek immediately flushing red.
"I told you to watch over the young master." said Mallory, her voice trembling with anger. "You even got yourself kidnapped. And he ended up seriously injured because of you."
Luna remained silent. Her fists were clenched behind her back. But she said nothing.
"I apologize." she managed to say.
Mallory looked at her for a long moment. Then she sniffed, turned on her heels, and left the room without adding another word.
Luna remained motionless, her cheek still burning, her fists still clenched. She looked at Daemon.
"What am I even doing here?" she murmured.
She sat down on a chair near the window.
"I should leave the Sword Clan. Instead of wasting my time... I should go train."
She looked at her hands.
’What am I doing?’
She had lost her objective. Her initial goal was simple: infiltrate the Sword Clan, get healed, regain her power, and take revenge.
But now, she was there, sitting at the bedside of a Daemon, of a member of the clan that had massacred her tribe wondering if he was going to wake up.
’Anyway,’ she thought, ’I only intended to stay for a few weeks. The time to fully regain my master power. And then I would leave.’
She looked at Daemon one last time.
"Without my revenge, I have nothing left." she murmured while closing the door.
...
In the corridor, Mallory was walking with a quick step. Her face was red, her eyes swollen... Probably because she had cried a lot.
She headed towards the patriarch’s office without going through the usual intermediaries. The guards knew her. They stepped aside without asking questions after all, she had also been the nanny for Dorian and Lancelot at one time.
She pushed the door.
Dorian was sitting behind his desk, his forehead in his hands, surrounded by piles of scrolls. He looked up, saw Mallory, and sighed deeply. He slumped in his chair, his arms dangling. He was a man who had already lost all energy.
"What brings you here, Stewardess?" he asked in a weary voice.
Mallory advanced to the desk. She did not sit down, her hands clasped in front of her.
"It is a request, Patriarch."
Dorian raised an eyebrow. "I know that Daemon drives you as crazy as me. But there is nothing to do. He is stubborn, impulsive, and he now has the power to act according to his whims."
Mallory clenched her jaws. "And what if you sealed his chi core again?"
Dorian straightened up abruptly.
"What?"
"You heard me." Mallory held his gaze. "Seal his chi core. Like Persephone did. So that he returns to his carefree life."
Dorian shook his head. "I am no longer Daemon’s guardian. He has asserted his wish to return to the Winter Domain. As a result, he officially takes on the role of head of the Winter family... Without a serious breach of the clan charter, I cannot deprive a clan member of being a chi user. Unfortunately, Daemon is no longer the kid we knew."
Mallory slammed her fist on the desk. "Then find a way to accuse him of something!"
Dorian stood up.
"And then what else!" His voice rose. "You want me to put the unity of the clan in peril? This kid strives to contradict me at every opportunity! Even if I do it, it will not change anything. I would have just lost my credibility as Patriarch."
"What does that mean?" Mallory did not back down. "Are you going to let the DragonSlayer kill him?"
Dorian fell silent.
"Have you forgotten your promise made to Persephone? It is still the son of Lancelot. Shouldn’t you protect him like your own?"
Dorian looked at her for a long time.
"Do not cross the line, Stewardess." he said in a calmer voice.
"I did my best to break his ambitions. But he is even more stubborn than Persephone. And then, it was your role to watch over him and prevent him from opening his chi core... I do not even know how he was able to open it."
Mallory lowered her head.
"He is the son of Lancelot." she said softly. "Nothing surprising. He had no one with him during his journey in the mountains... except for his personal servant."
Dorian straightened up. "His personal servant?"
"Indeed. A certain Luna."
Dorian approached the window. "The one for whom he openly attacked the Summer family..." He shook his head. "That idiot."
He turned back to Mallory.
"We can no longer protect him... I can only assign him a master. In the hope that he will be powerful enough to protect himself."
Mallory nodded. "I see."
She headed towards the door.
’If only I had prevented him from going to those mountains,’ she thought. ’Alone with... Luna.’
She left.
"Who is this Luna, exactly?" she murmured. "It is true that since her arrival, the young master suddenly started intense physical training. Is it a coincidence? Her silhouette is graceful. Her appearance..." She narrowed her eyes.
’This is probably not an ordinary commoner. Is she the hidden daughter of a noble?’
"I failed in my mission... I should have investigated this servant’s past from the beginning."
***
Around him, the bodies lay on the ground. Blood flowed in streams between the tree roots, forming puddles that reflected a reddish light.
"Please, help me!" shouted a man. He was crawling towards Daemon, his legs torn off, dragging his entrails in the snow.
"Don’t kill me, please!!!" yelled another. He had his hands raised, palms open, but his fingers were missing.
"No, not my legs!!" A third was writhing on the ground, his lower limbs severed.
Daemon watched them.... He felt nothing. No pity nor even disgust and even less regret.
He raised his right hand. The claws were deployed, covered in blood, shreds of flesh stuck between the fingers. The number 999 shone on the back of his hand, glowing like a branding iron.
"Kill...Kill To Kill."