System of the Beast Slayer [litrpg Adventure]
Copyright© 1999 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 150
Dusk closed in, and wavering points of fire flared to life across Korna Village.
In the open ground at the heart of those flames, a dense black mass of people knelt on the earth. At a glance, there were able-bodied adults, the elderly, women, and children alike. Most of them were frozen stiff, hardly daring to breathe.
A handful, however, wailed like banshees, drawing sharp rebukes from the twenty-odd soldiers standing guard with swords in hand.
“Bastard, shut your mouth!” Adda’s leather whip lashed out and struck a noisy villager across the cheek. At once a livid red gash split the flesh, curling wetly. The villager only gave a muffled grunt, then stubbornly widened his bloodshot eyes and glared at the woman, his lips still twitching as he muttered some warped, guttural chant.
“Chant!”
“Crack!”
“Chant your master’s filthy spell, is that it?”
The long whip left a trail of afterimages in Adda’s hand. The chanting villager’s back looked like fallow ground ripped open by an ox, skin split, flesh torn, blood pouring.
The whip rose and fell. His screams dwindled, his body sagged, until he was barely clinging to life, air drawn in but never released.
Adda’s chest heaved. She let out a long breath.
“Ungrateful idiot. For your safety, I sacrificed twenty-five elite soldiers, and you still dare cling to the beast in the altar?”
“Another lash and he will die. Calm yourself, the traitor you wanted has already been dealt with.”
Two Witchers stepped forward and displayed an aged severed head in their hands. Adda’s gaze sharpened, then she burst into unrestrained laughter.
“Very good. You did not disappoint me after all. At last, I have an answer for those fallen brave souls.” Adda raised a hand, halting the soldiers who were beating and cursing at the deranged villagers.
“These are the degenerates from Newt Village, one hundred and twenty-three in total. Thirty show severe symptoms and can no longer communicate normally. Another seven resisted violently on the way here and were executed on the spot by my soldiers.”
The Witcher swept his eyes over the sea of heads. Even without using Scry, he could feel the darkness and madness coiling around them.
The thirty under the tightest guard by the Knights stood out most of all. Even the quietest among the Newt Village villagers carried more madness in their eyes than all of Korna Village combined.
“What do you intend to do with them?” Adda said coldly. “If you leave them be, more lunatics who attack humans of their own will are bound to appear.”
“You want to kill them?” When the word “kill” fell from the Witcher’s mouth, the cowering villagers of Newt Village visibly shuddered as one.
“Why not?” Adda licked her red lips, cruel and alluring. “The moment they begin worshipping the monster in the altar, they are no longer my subjects. If sacrificing them keeps the innocent out of danger, I will not hesitate.”
“Most of these villagers can hardly be called degenerates. Their crimes do not warrant death.”
“Witcher, you said it yourself. Ensnared villagers will continuously feed power to that evil thing on the island.”
“All of that depends on one condition, within a certain range.” Roy’s gaze shot into the darkness beyond the village. “With Black Gull Island as the center, the closer one is, the worse the affliction. Once the villagers leave the monster’s sphere of influence completely, they will be safe. That thing will draw no power at all.”
“I suggest escorting all villagers at least five miles away from the Lake Vizima region and setting up camp there for three days. Of course, the safest option is to send them into Vizima itself.”
“That is impossible!” Adda brushed back the white hair at her temple. “I will not allow them anywhere near Vizima to infect my people.”
“If not Vizima,” Roy said, “then head east. If all goes as expected, Letho and I will deal with the culprit within three days and restore peace to the marshes along Lake Vizima’s shore.”
“Oh, Boyev. Are there any other villages in the nearby swamps?”
“N-no ... none...”
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