Chapter 71: Deserved Deaths
“After we decided to deal with the situation here before looking for you, Flora and I split up,” Leona explained, pointing towards Flora, who was still comforting the weeping victims in the other room. “Flora is good with people, so she comforted those who were terrified. I’m not good at that sort of thing, so I dealt with the fish-men.”
“You killed them all?” Abyss asked, not intending to blame Leona. He knew that despite her fiery temper, she respected the Knightly Virtues and wouldn’t kill without reason.
Leona nodded, her expression hardening slightly. “Yes, I executed them. I was careful; the scene is clean, no contamination. These bastards deserved to die.”
Rebecca added, “Leona was furious. Remember, they initially claimed their High Priest was responsible for all the deaths. We believed them at first. After Flora calmed the victims, she asked a few who were coherent to identify the culprits. Guess what happened?”
“They were all involved?” Abyss tilted his head.
“Exactly. Not only were they involved, but they were enthusiastic participants, eagerly assisting the High Priest in disemboweling the victims alive, listening to their screams… And these bastards committed more than just murder. Did you see the pile of bodies? All the female victims, regardless of age, were raped before they were killed…” Rebecca’s voice trembled; as a woman, she was deeply disgusted by such acts. “From elderly women to little girls, they spared no one.”
“They all committed unforgivable crimes, so I slaughtered them,” Leona said with a scoff, arms crossed. “I didn’t even want to touch them; these filthy bastards, even being in the same room with them disgusted me. If their corpses could pass through your barrier, I would have kicked them out already.”
Flora’s expression also turned grim. She hadn’t stopped Leona. Although a Saint should be merciful, she wasn’t naive. She knew mercy shouldn’t be wasted on such monsters. Perhaps there were better ways to punish them, but for now, Leona’s brutal execution provided some solace to the surviving victims.
“You did the right thing,” Abyss nodded. His Necromancer’s creed was one thing, Leona’s Knightly Virtues another. He wouldn’t order Leona to kill, but he wouldn’t stop her from acting according to her own sense of justice. Human laws couldn’t bind these non-human monsters, but Leona’s fists could.
“So you’re not angry with me?” Leona’s previously stoic expression softened, her face looking slightly pitiful. “I thought you’d scold me.”
“They deserved it. If I had handled it, their fate would have been far worse,” Abyss said coldly, glancing at the fish-men corpses. “I’ll try to retrieve their souls later – if the Lord of Bullying hasn’t taken them already.”
“You can try now, but I’m not optimistic,” Rebecca said. “This is the Lord of Bullying’s temple. According to the captured villagers, they offered the fear and souls of the weak to their god, and they were utterly helpless against Leona, so…”
Abyss immediately chanted a spell, but as expected, the fish-men’s souls were gone.
“How are the villagers?” Abyss asked Flora.
Flora told the villagers to remain calm, then stepped out of the water-sealed room. “These are ordinary people from coastal villages. They told me the fish-men have been abducting the elderly, weak, and children from nearby villages. At first, they thought it was the work of demons, but after being brought here, they realized these monsters were systematically slaughtering people.”
“So, many have already died?” Abyss frowned.
“Yes, the bodies here are only a fraction of the victims. The fish-men dismembered the previous victims and fed them to sea creatures,” Flora said with a pained expression. “These villagers, after being captured, were locked in cages without food or water, left to starve and await death in terror. The fish-men deliberately displayed their brutality to terrify them. Those driven mad by fear were immediately dissected alive.”
“These are the most disgusting cultists I’ve ever encountered,” Abyss said with revulsion. “Worse than the Lord of Submergence’s murderous rabble and the Lord of Nightmares’ treacherous followers.”
“I’ve calmed them down; they’re not as terrified as before, but some have lost loved ones and are grieving. I plan to erase some of their memories after sending them back, so they don’t spend the rest of their lives in nightmares,” Flora said.
“Yes, do as you see fit,” Abyss nodded. “These poor people have suffered immensely. And I can’t bring back the dead, but perhaps I can give them a proper burial.”
“Also, we’ve figured out the purpose of this temple,” Flora added. “Let Rebecca explain.”
“Alright,” Rebecca’s voice chimed in. “I’ve figured it out. The temple is built on the Sacred Tree’s root, like a parasitic tumor. The Lord of Bullying’s cultists bring victims here, performing these cruel rituals as sacrifices. The Outer God absorbs the ‘nourishment’ and returns a portion of the power to the temple. The temple then channels this power into the Sacred Tree’s root, contaminating the magic. The Sacred Tree absorbs this tainted magic, spreading the Lord of Bullying’s influence into the Elven Kingdoms. The source of all the problems is this temple!”
“So, what do we do?” Abyss glanced at the temple. “Blow it up?”
“Not just blow it up, there are other things to do,” Rebecca said. “And we need your help.”
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