Chapter 10 - [Lingering Morality]

Dozens of charred corpses laid dead on the ground. Small brush fires had formed along the ground wherever the outlanders fell upon dry grass. Of the thirty outlanders who had been alive mere minutes before, only two still drew breath. Like hundreds of people before them, they were cut down by the King’s Executioner.

Two of the outlanders had fallen to their knees begging for their lives, and they were left intact. Four Hellfire sparks loomed over them malevolently. The Hellfire sparks occasionally twitched from side to side as if to tell the surviving outlanders that Armond could still control them. Two bolts of Hellfire swiftly circled the battlefield at a range of about twenty-five meters away from Armond.

At the center of the scene of carnage was Count Armond Feldrast. He was breathing heavily from the exertion of the fight, and his sleeves had caught fire.

Back in the carriage, Solana and Miriam were cheering. Miriam applauded, and Solana shouted in support.

“He did it!” Solana cried out as she fell back into her seat. “I wasn’t worried,” she said to Miriam and me. “Outlanders are nothing compared to a noble.”

“I sure hope I can use [Hellfire] one day,” Miriam said in awe.

As my two sisters spoke, my eyes were locked on the charred corpse that used to be the outlanders’ leader. It was true what they said. A human killed by fire looked like an overcooked steak. Armond had burnt the leader so thoroughly that I could not make out any of the corpse’s features. The hair, eyes, tongue, and skin had been completely burnt off. The only echo of humanity remaining in that corpse was its teeth. The blackened skull had opened in an approximation of a death wail, and I could see dozens of half-melted teeth within.

On some level, I knew that such things happened all the time on Ferrum, but the lingering morality of my old life told me that it was wrong. No matter how just and righteous, no one man should have the power to incinerate thirty other humans with a thought.

I looked down at my own small hands. That same power was engraved upon my flesh and bones. If I wanted to, I could kill a man just as easily, and one day, I would be forced to cross that line. I thought of the quest that was laid out in front of me, and I was very much aware that I could not complete it as a pacifist. I would have to kill, and I would have to become very good at it.

Armond patted at his flaming arms with the indifference of a man who could not possibly be harmed by mundane fire. The flame slowly inched up his sleeve, revealing completely unharmed arms underneath.

Melissa stepped toward the protective circle of fire surrounding the carriage. As she stepped forward, the flames parted just enough for her to step through. A moment after she had left the protective circle, the flames knitted back together into a single cohesive mass.

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“Aqua!” Melissa cried out once she had reached the Count.

A ball of water appeared out of thin air within the palm of her hand. An instant after the water ball appeared, it flew forward and splashed lightly against one of Armond’s arms. The fire on that arm began to sputter and fizzle as Armond rubbed the water into the few remaining embers that burnt upon his sleeves.

“Well done, Melissa,” Armond said with a smile. “I see that you’re keeping up with your magic lessons. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be able to serve Northwind as a mage rather than…”

There was a blur of movement from the direction of one of the surrendering outlanders which was immediately followed by a flash of bright light. It happened in an instant, and I wasn’t looking in that direction at the time, so I didn’t see what happened. When I looked at the injured outlander, however, I could make out what happened.

One of the surviving outlanders was screaming and clutching the blackened remains of her hand. The woman’s burnt hand had fused to the blade of a knife. The destroyed hand gripped the blade as if it was about to be thrown.

Armond’s expression instantaneously transformed from paternal pride to venomous disdain in an instant as he turned toward the female outlander. “Fool!” Armond sneered. “Do you still not know who I am?”

As he spoke, Count Armond Feldrast walked up to the injured woman and lifted her to her feet by the collar.

“I d-don’t know who you are,” the injured woman said with tears running down her face. “That was Hellfire, right? Y-you’re a noble of the Northern Realms, right? W-why are you here?”

“Why am I here!?” Armond shouted, offense clear in his voice. “My home in Sableton is only a few miles away!” Armond pointed back in the direction we came from.

“Sableton?” the outlander said in shock. “Y-you’re him… Armond Feldrast.”

“Now you understand the gravity of your sins,” Armond said a moment before he dropped the wounded woman to the ground. “I am Count Armond Feldrast, the King’s Executioner. I led the armies at Fulvang when we crushed the Rose Rebellion, and I am the one who forced the Red Hand Tribe out of the Northern Realms. I did all of this to assure a peaceful existence for the people of Northwind, yet you’re here interfering with that peace.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the outlander begged. “We didn’t know we were so far south. The ᚧᛗᚸ (kor) were slow to leave their hibernation, so we thought…”

“I don’t care why you’re here,” Armond snarled. “If I receive a single report of outlanders attacking the citizens of my realm, I will make the slaughter of Halvar’s Pass look like a day at the park! Do you understand me!?”

“Y-yes, sir,” the injured woman started to crawl backward. “What are you going to do to us?” Terror was clear in her voice as she spoke.

Armond took a few steps toward the outlander before tearing the knife out of her hand. She screamed in pain as the dead skin fused to the knife was torn away. “To you? Nothing. I’m letting you run away.”

“Really?” Shock appeared on the female outlander’s face.

“Yes. You will go back to your tribe and tell them of what happened here. Take your destroyed hand back as evidence, and tell the others that the same will happen to them if they do not leave the Northern Realms immediately.”

“Y-yes sir,” the female outlander said, and she fled from the King’s Executioner as fast as her legs could carry her.