Carmen stood over the body of the demon. Blood dripped onto the floor from fists that didn’t even have a single scratch on them. She breathed heavily as she kicked the corpse in frustration at the fucker dying so fast. She knew it wasn’t all fair that she had let out everything on a man she had only met less than an hour ago, but from the looks of it, he was a fucking asshole. Fit right into the family.
At least he had been worth more than her pathetic uncle and aunt. They could barely handle anything, and she was relieved to see at least one of them still alive despite her injuries. They were still D-grade after all, and anything short of blowing up their entire torso or ripping off their heads wouldn’t lead to instant death, which is why it was maybe overkill to tear her uncle in two, though that shouldn’t have killed him instantly.
Anyway, it was good the demon guy had at least been a bit durable to let her vent, considering the rest of her family were too pathetic. And they were pathetic. She wanted to kick herself for being so scared before coming that day. These people were nothing more than bottom feeders.
She looked into the room and saw Jake stand together with the shady City Lord Renato, but she also saw her mother lay there unconscious. Jake gave her a nod to make her know she was okay, and even Sylphie mimicked him, making her smile a bit internally. Finally, she saw the tied-up Beatrice.
I’ll save her for last .
Carmen turned her attention to the other family members in the room. As she looked at them, her anger flared again. No… they deserve worse than death.
“Get the fuck over here!” she yelled at them.
“Little Carmen, please, this is all a big misunderstanding!” she heard her grandmother, who had managed to survive, cry out. She even had the gall to use the name she used to call Carmen when she was like five.
“I told you all to get the fuck over here,” she said again. It seemed to get the message across the second time around as she also pointed at her aunt. “And drag that bitch along. If any of you are healers, fix her up too. At least enough so she doesn’t die too quickly.”
They did as ordered without another complaint or word spoken. Only now did Carmen truly recognize how fucked up their sense of authority was. The moment she had the upper hand, pretty much everyone just rolled over and did as told. It was pathetic.Jake and Renato then walked over, with Jake dragging the bundle of mana strings containing Beatrice. The woman was wriggling, trying to get loose as she looked up at Carmen with fright. Carmen had to hold herself back from just stomping on her head then and there as she turned to Renato.
“Is this all of them?”
“Everyone from the Salvento family present in Paradise, yes,” the man confirmed.
“And you really have no issues with everything that happened today?” she also asked.
“I have major issues with it. I lost a major source of income and an important part of our infrastructure. Your family – or former family – were at least decent at their jobs, and it will take a long time to find suitable replacements,” the man answered honestly but added. “However, this is a preferable outcome to dealing with the fallout of making you an enemy. Moreover, it was only a question of time before they tried to reach beyond their station and would no doubt go for the position of City Lord eventually. So, truly, good riddance.”
Carmen just sighed as she wondered what to do next. She considered if she should just kill them all, but then she saw her mother. Still unconscious. She gritted her teeth as she sighed and looked at Renato and Jake. “Can you help me contain them or something? I think I need to have a talk with my mom.”
Jake nodded and smiled as he tossed her a few potions. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” she smiled as she went into the other room with her mother and shut the door, trusting Jake to make sure no one escaped. Even if they did, she had confidence he could track them down again.
Jake stood in the large central banquet chamber and saw it all torn up and destroyed. Renato stood silently at his side as the man just seemed happy with everything being contained within the mansion and that nothing spilled outside to impact the rest of the city.
“You allowed them to get away with a lot,” Jake finally said, both men knowing what he was referring to.
“A balance is required,” Renato just said in defense of himself.
“They have a fucking dungeon full of prisoners. Human experiments. I am pretty sure this goes against the so-called rules of Paradise,” Jake shot back.
Renato sighed. “I was aware of some of it. Slaves were brought in from the outside. While slave trading is illegal, owning them is not… and even if it is frowned upon, we simply didn’t have the means to investigate and-
“Bullshit,” Jake said. “You just didn’t think it was worth it.”
“As I said… a balance is required,” Renato just said as the two of them stood in silence. “But do know that I shall strive to improve things.”
“I hope so,” Jake said.
And hopefully, whatever Peter does will light a fire under your ass and make you get your shit together.
Hours passed.
Carmen had woken up her mother and heard the whole story. Between sobs and apologies, Carmen became a bit more clear on what had been going on back then. When Carmen gave her dear cousin a good pummeling and was charged criminally, her mother had fought for her with her father also kind of supporting her.
However, due to the pressure from other family members, they were told to back off. Her mother was finally promised that Carmen would say incarcerated for a year or so before they would agree for her to get out. With the family’s power, she hadn’t doubted it was possible, but the promise did come with some limitations.
First of all, they could have no contact with her during this time, and her mother had agreed. Carmen did learn that some things did not line up. The letter disowning her was news to her mother, making her cry even more at learning that it had indeed never been their plan to let her out.
Her mother also said that things got worse after she went to prison. Her father got more aggressive and short with his wife, and her freedom was limited. Her father and mother had apparently been threatened to be cut off from the family entirely, and at that moment, her father had chosen the family over Carmen and his wife. It was a fucked up situation, which just led to the ultimate question:
“Who of them is worth keeping alive?” Carmen asked her mother.
“I…” her mother said with hesitation. “Carmen, we shouldn’t stoop to their level. Please, enough people have died today, don’t make it worse.”
Carmen just sighed at her mother’s naivety, yet it also made her a bit glad. She also decided that she wanted another perspective on this as she dispelled the barrier in the room and spoke a bit loudly. “Can you come in here? I need some common sense.”
Jake was not a good person to ask for common sense, but nevertheless, he entered the room where Carmen and Maura were sitting. The woman looked like a mess, and Jake greeted her with a wave. He took the initiative and made his own mask invisible when it was just the three of them.
“Not sure you want me for common sense,” Jake commented.
“You are the best I got,” Carmen just scoffed with a smile. “You have been keeping an eye on my “family,” any thoughts so far?”
“They are trying to figure out who to throw under the bus, but it seems like they all agreed on the uncle, aunt, and Beatrice as well as that grandmother of yours. A few more, too, probably. They are all kept in the room so you can figure out what you want to do with them,” Jake answered.
“What do you think I should do? No… what would you do?” Carmen asked.
Jake took a moment to think. Would he kill them all? Maybe. It seemed like a waste of time to do so. Would he let them go? Fuck no. But if he wasn’t going to let them go…
“I don’t think I am the best to ask. I don’t know them well enough… but think about it like this. What are the consequences of leaving them alive, and what do you want out of their deaths? Remember, this is not about them but you. If you genuinely believe killing every single one of them will make you feel better, do that. That would also remove all karmic ties and potential future issues one of them could bring. If you believe that leaving them alive - and that they are no future threats - will make you feel best, do that,” Jake answered honestly. He did not know what he would do if he was in the same position. He would just go by his gut in that situation.
Carmen looked like she considered her words before asking her mother.
“Do you want your husband alive or not?” she asked a bit coldly.
“Your father-“
“He is not my father,” Carmen cut her off. “And I am not a part of that shitty Salvento family. They lost the privilege for me to recognize them long ago.”
“He… I don’t know,” her mother shook her head.
Jake sighed as he saw the woman so… lost. Her entire life had been upturned in just a few minutes, and all the conditioning would take far longer to fade away. It was a difficult situation, and Jake could only watch from the sidelines as, luckily, Renato entered the conversation.
“Ms. Carmen, would it perhaps be best we find a peaceful place for your mother to rest for now? We have plenty of healers and individuals with experience dealing with injuries not necessarily of the physical nature,” the man asked.
Carmen hesitated before finally nodding. Maura didn’t even try to argue but did say one last thing. “Please don’t kill your father… even with all he did…”
With that, she was led away, and Carmen looked at Jake and Renato for a moment. Jake understood at that moment what she had decided. “Have everyone leave the hall,” she said, with Renato complying as he ordered his men out.
“Meet you back at the hotel?” Jake asked.
“Yeah,” Carmen nodded as she closed the gate and entered the central hall.
Carmen wiped her hand with a cloth. It was still red even after she cleaned it, but with a bit of water and soap, it should come off. Around her lay more than twenty corpses of people she had once called family. Once. She realized that forgiveness was just not in her heart. Carmen was not going to justify anything to anyone. She killed them purely out of selfish revenge, and fuck her, did it feel good.
Now there were only four left, as her chair moved a bit as her dear cousin struggled. She really was a sucky chair.
“Pipe down,” Carmen said as she grabbed her thigh of Beatrice and let her fingers sink into the flesh as the woman made muffled screams.
The other two people were her aunt, grandmother, and father. Sadly her uncle had died during the fight with the demon, leaving only four of her primary targets. None of them spoke for good reason as they all lay on the ground, every single limb broken.
Her grandmother had not even reached D-grade, and it was a miracle she still lived. Carmen stood up and made sure to do a back-kick into her cousin’s stomach as she walked over to the vile old woman. Carmen squatted down in front of her.
“Never imagined this day would come, huh?” Carmen asked as she held up the woman by her frilly white hair. The woman only glared back as she muttered.
“Devil… spawn…”
“A bit hypocritical considering your favorite granddaughter’s boyfriend literally summoned demons,” Carmen sneered. “Not that I would argue. Devils are demons who have reached the realm of godhood; did you know that? No, probably not based on how fucking ignorant you have shown yourself to be. Either way, I shall take it as a compliment, so good riddance.”
With that, Carmen simply extended a finger and poked the woman on her head. Her finger penetrated the skull and sank into the old hag’s brain as her eyes opened wide before going blank and lifeless.
“And now for my favorite aunt,” Carmen said as she sprung up and walked over. “For you, I really have no grand speech. I always fucking hated you. You are a coward and an utter failure as a parent and a person. The mere fact you managed to pop out that cousin of mine is a sin worthy of death alone, so I am giving you just that.”
“…” the woman struggled, but Carmen had already ripped out her tongue and broken her jaw as she wouldn’t stop yapping on begging for mercy earlier.
Carmen turned and looked at her cousin as she dragged her own mother over to her by her hair. “I wondered for a while If I should kill your own daughter in front of you… but honestly, I prefer it the other way around.”
She stomped down with her foot as she kept hold of the long hair on her aunt’s head. All the hair was ripped out as the woman was smashed down. Carmen had actually planned on ripping the head off, but oh well.
Another good stomp later, and all that remained of her head was a mass of blood, skull fragments, and brain matter.
“Now the finale. Beatrice, oh Beatrice. Do you have any idea how long I have looked forward to this day? I am actually a bit sad I wasn’t better back on that fateful day. If I was as skilled then as I am now, I would have killed you in time. I did try to kill you, you know?” Carmen said as she stared down at the crying woman – who naturally also had her tongue ripped out.
“Ah, wait, here, let me help you answer,” Carmen said as she pulled out a potion and fed Beatrice. She instantly healed with the head going first, and within less than a minute, a new tongue had regrown.
“You psychotic bitch,” Beatrice screamed. “You absolutely fucking psycho! You are never going to get away with this!”
“Get away with what? Fixing a minor family issue?” Carmen scoffed.
“I hope you get raped to death you-“
“And tongue privilege is revoked,” Carmen interrupted her as she ripped it out again. “You really don’t know when to shut the fuck up.”
Beatrice kept trying to scream as Carmen just took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She put a hand on each side of her cousin’s face and lifted her up. Opening her eyes, she stared straight into the eyes of Beatrice and saw only defiance meet her.
Carmen began squeezing as soon the eyes changed from defiance to pain and then finally despair. Gradually she increased her power as she didn’t lose eye contact for even a second. She wanted to make sure Beatrice suffered until the very last moment.
“Goodbye, and may you rot in whatever hell a bitch like you ends up in,” Carmen said as she increased the pressure and, like a melon, Beatrice’s head exploded, splashing blood all over Carmen.
Carmen couldn’t help but smile as she, for some reason, felt relieved. Yet she also felt tired, like she had just won a fight against her most powerful opponent ever. She looked at her bloody hands before she was brought out of her thoughts by the muffled cries of the final person left alone.
She turned to him and scoffed. “Be lucky my mother asked to keep you alive. That is the only reason you leave alive today. Don’t fucking ever contact me again, and if you do, I will not be as nice, even if it goes against my mother’s wish.”
The man didn’t even answer as he looked to be in a state of shock. He just kept screaming.
Carmen ignored him as she threw the corpses a final look before leaving the hall. Outside she saw the same guard that had first escorted them into Paradise.
“Ms. Carmen,” he bowed.
“I am done,” she just said.
“What are we to do with the survivor?” the guard asked unbothered.
“I honestly don’t care, as long as he doesn’t die,” Carmen said dismissively.
“Very well. What will the Runemaiden do now?”
Carmen thought for a second. “Well, first of all, I need a damn shower.”
“Honestly, that saying is just bullshit,” Carmen said as she took another shot. “Revenge is never the answer, my ass.”
“But an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, didn’t you know that?” Jake teased her as he also took a drink.
“Well, I can live with that; I got confidence in my self-healing,” Carmen joked in return.
It had been a few hours since everything had ended. Renato was doing clean-up, Peter was nowhere to be found, and Sylphie didn’t like sitting around in a hotel room, so she had decided to scout out the surrounding area of Paradise.
Jake and Carmen had met up in the hotel room as they were currently liberally emptying out the minibar while chatting about everything that had gone down. Carmen was now just sitting in a bathrobe with damp hair as she drank, her clothes still full of blood after the happenings earlier today, with Jake having also switched into something a bit more casual.
“It’s weird. Based on all the movies and tv-shows and whatnot, one would think only some hollow feelings would remain. You know, how it is often shown where some guy gets their revenge and then they just become empty husks without purpose,” Carmen said as she stared up at the ceiling.
“I feel just the opposite. It was cathartic. Like finally, I am free… am I a bad person for that?”
Jake shrugged as he took another drink. “Good or bad… I don’t know. Is it really worth thinking about? Freedom is what allows you to be and do whatever you want to. So what if others think you are a bad person if you and those you care about don’t?”
She was silent for a while. “Do you think it makes me a bad person? Killing them all, I mean.”
“No, not really. It was merely a consequence of their own actions. They lived their lives killing and taking advantage of others while never even being willing to risk their own hides. It was just a matter of time before reality caught up to them, and they pissed someone off they shouldn’t,” Jake shook his head. “Not sure about others, but I may have done the same. I truly don’t know.”
Carmen smiled and nodded as she fell silent for a bit as she stared around the room. She adjusted her hair a bit and took another drink as she took a deep breath.
“You know, for nearly four years, I have either been stuck in a fucked up women’s prison or been busy running around killing things by myself for the most part,” she said. “I know I have major trust issues… I don’t like others having my back. Sylphie was the first living thing I think I ever really trusted, and that was just because she was so cute and innocent I couldn’t see her backstabbing me.”
Jake kept silent as he let her talk.
“I don’t like all the pressure Sven put on me, or the importance people place on some stupid title like Runemaiden. Shit, I ended up going through several gods before I found one I stuck with due to my own damn insecurities more than anything else,” she continued.
“I get it,” Jake said. “Trusting people sucks. In my tutorial, I was naive and trusted people, and that nearly got me killed. But at the same time, you need to trust some people, or life just gets too miserable. I guess I did get lucky with who I met.”
Carmen smiled and looked at Jake. “I guess I could have been more unlucky with who I met.”
The two of them fell silent as they just drank. Carmen finally sighed and leaned forward as she grasped Jake by the collar as she muttered something about Jake being dense under her breath.
She looked him straight in the eyes. “Wanna hook up?”
Jake's brain short-circuited for a moment before he nodded and was promptly thrown towards the bed.