Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Quest Completion
Pax was no longer alive.
The headless body fell to the ground.
A witch servant, basically an upgraded version of the animal familiar, had the blood of magic and chaos flowed in their veins.
This magic strengthened their body and granted unique abilities that mortals could never have.
But Pax never had the chance to show any of it.
Because of his own arrogance, his life had ended in a flash, literally.
Silence took over the mining camp. The only sound there was, was the popping of the blue flame.
A miner fell on his butt. His shaky hand pointed at the corpse and his hair stood up. Following him were many other miners. They were shocked and in disbelief.
It was then that Siderius knew he had won.
He strutted toward the corpse of Pax.
A miner was in his path, a tall man with big arms that tried to attack Siderius previously. He had already lost that guts. The man dropped his pickaxe and quickly crawled backward. His movement was so pathetic that he didn’t look any different than a cowardly dog.
The man didn’t stop and kept dragging himself backward, scraping his back on the dirt.
"Please! Please don’t kill me!"
Siderius didn’t mind the man. He didn’t even give him a look. The lone hunter kept moving forward in the crowd of miners.
They all moved away, leaving a clear path for Siderius. They were many but none dared to block his way. Not again.
Some gulped involuntarily. A few sweated like showering. A young miner shivered like a tree in the wind.
Siderius was already terrifying with his sword and sigils. The miners had experienced that first hand.
But those abilities were in the realm of their acceptance. They still thought that with enough people, enough time and enough blood, they would be able to overcome him.
The projectile was different. It was gruesome. The witch servant died a violent death. How could they dare to try and follow his footsteps?
Siderius approached the corpse but kept a fair distance from it. He couldn’t be too sure if Pax wouldn’t return as an undead.
He grabbed a handful of salt from his pouch and was ready to exorcise the corpse, making sure no amount of magic could bring him back.
Suddenly, a black raven flew down from up high and landed on the burning corpse. The blue flame was still present even to that moment. But that raven paid it no mind.
"I must give it to you, Snow. You always surprise me. You are more powerful than I can ever anticipate.
A witch of fire! The most destructive of all!"
The raven spoke. The voice of Lyara came out of its mouth.
"A puppet..." Siderius recognized the magic Lyara was using.
Familiar could share senses with its owner. But a witch could never speak through their familiar. That action needed to take over the familiar’s mind and body.
With the power of a low level witch, that act would surely destroy its mind in the process.
But a puppet was different. It was better. It required no food nor sleep, only magic to maintain. The witch could take over the body of the puppet whenever they wanted.
The downsides were that the puppet was difficult and costly to make, and their power couldn’t grow over time. A familiar, however, grew with its owner’s magic.
The raven opened its mouth and tried to speak again. But Siderius didn’t let it. He spun the sling and sent an explosive ammo toward the raven.
The fire consumed it and the raven turned back into its original form. A quilt with a black feather on top. The quilt were broken into pieces and landed on the burning corpse.
The blue flame consumed it entirely.
The voice of Lyara echoed throughout the area.
"You are no fun!"
Siderius turned his head toward the miners. Everyone shrunk involuntarily.
Ashe ran out of her hiding place.
"Master! You’ve won!"
Siderius nodded. He had won. But no smile nor pride present on his expression. Only a calm demeanor.
There were wasteless deaths. He had killed too many people to even care about the idea.
Nadia lowered Alex to a bench before walking toward Siderius.
Alex grabbed her hand. "What are you doing?!"
"What do you think? I’m fixing the mess you have made."
"But what if he kills you?!"
"That is the consequence I’m willing to take.
After all, I am the boss."
Alex released his shaky hand. He finally understood. It was him who was the idiot. Nadia was the finest leader this god-forsaking mining camp could have.
She was much wiser and honorable than him.
"You’re right... You are the boss."
Ashe watched the blue flame that was still burning. She curiously asked.
"Will it ever stop, Master?"
"Of course it will. Once the Phosphorus burns off, the flame will disappear."
"Oh!" Ashe carefully registered the name Phosphorus in her mind. It must be some kind of magical element like Aether.
Siderius noticed Nadia coming. Her attitude toward him had changed and her face was filled with dread. They were no longer equal.
Nadia dropped down on her knees. She didn’t say anything at all and waited for Siderius to allow her to stand.
"There is no need for such formality, Nadia. Stand up."
"Thank you, high lord!"
Even though Siderius acted friendly, Nadia didn’t drop the etiquettes. She kept her head low even when standing up.
"Forgive us, high lord! These...idiots didn’t know what they were doing.
I beg you, high lord! Please spare them!
In exchange, I will give you my life!"
"Nadia, no!"
"Boss!"
"Don’t do this, Boss!"
The miners broke into chaos. The people who stood in fear watching her die, now had no hesitation in stepping in. They had also changed.
"Shut up! I’m trying to save all of you! If you ever consider me as your leader. Shut. The. Fuck. Up!"
Nadia shouted with all her being. Her throat was dry. Like a vast dessert that hadn’t seen any rain for years.
Siderius watched everything with amusement.
"Fascinating. They betrayed you. They disobeyed your orders. And you want to save them?"
Nadia’s hands trembled. She was afraid. But she did not let fear control her.
"That’s right. I want to save them. It is an honorable thing to do. It is my responsibility." Nadia said with her trembling voice.
"I see." Siderius sheathed his sword. It was broken in two and was only half of a sword.
"What they did, they had paid for it with their own lives." Siderius looked at the open field. The corpses of the miners he had killed were still laying bare.
"I will take no grudge toward them or this place. You can have my word for that."
Nadia let out a relieved breath.
"You are a good leader, Nadia. A woman with a good heart. But a leader needs more than a good heart.
I won’t take your life for their mistake. But you owe me, Nadia. And one day I will need you to settle this debt."
"I...understand." Nadia silently thanked the gods inside her heart. She was ready to give her life, but that did not mean she wasn’t afraid of death.
She was terrified.
Nadia knew it wouldn’t be easy to repay this debt. But it was better than dying.
Siderius approached her, putting a hand on her shoulder and whispered. "You have created something special bere, Nadia. A faithful legion at your hands to command. Don’t waste it this time."
Nadia nodded.
Siderius gestured to Ashe. The apprentice took out a second bottle of orange liquid from her pocket.
The vengeful hunter had predicted that there would be trouble. It would’ve been idiotic if he didn’t have a spare cure.
"Is that..." Nadia’s lips quivered.
"As I said, I’m a man of my word.
A deal is a deal. This is your cure."