Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 536: Alex’s Hypocrisy

CH536 Alex’s Hypocrisy

***

Alex looked at the gnolls.

Whether elderly or young, they were so weak they posed no threat to anyone present.

A compassionate person would let them go.

However, Alex was not naïve enough to make such an impulsive decision.

He met their eyes one after another.

Be they humans, elves, dwarves, goblins, gnolls, or any other race, beast, or monster—the eyes were the window to the soul. More often than not, the truths buried in the heart reflected themselves in one’s gaze.

And in the gnolls’ gazes, Alex saw pain, anguish, rage.

And hidden deeper within...

Hope.

And a thirst for vengeance.

Alex sighed inwardly and shook his head.

He couldn’t say he blamed them.

They had just watched invaders storm through their village, slaughtering the people they had watched grow up... the people they had known all their lives.

Unfortunately, nature was like a jar that pitted everyone against each other, allowing only the strong to survive.

To survive... surrounded by an ever-growing debt of hatred.

The gnolls themselves had ambushed and attempted to exterminate the rock monkeys—young and old alike. From the coordination they had shown under the now-dead shaman, it was unlikely that this was their first time.

They too had left behind debts.

Debts of blood... Debts of hatred... Debts of vengeance.

Alex exhaled.

Among them, he pitied the children.

The older gnolls had likely participated in raids before. The young ones, however, had not yet committed such sins.

Unfortunately, the key word was ’yet’.

These young gnolls would almost certainly grow into beasts that hunted and killed other races.

In a situation like this, there was no room for naïve ideals.

There was only one rational course of action.

Alex suddenly chuckled under his breath.

’Not long ago, I said I wouldn’t kill people who had nothing to do with my targets. If they wanted revenge, then let them come. If they grew strong enough to kill me, then I would have only myself to blame.’

’Now, faced with the same choice—sure, they are monsters while the others were humans—here I am, considering a completely different answer.’

His smile thinned.

’I really am a hypocrite.’

The meaning of his decision was not lost on him.

’If I am going to do this anyway... then I should be the one to bear the ill fate,’ Alex decided.

”Move out of the way,” Alex ordered, drawing surprised looks from everyone around.

”Boss, you’re not going to spare them, are you?” Kavakan asked, alarmed. ”These are monsters. They will attack other humans. We need to pull the weeds out by the roots while we have the chance.”

Alex’s crimson eyes shifted onto the weretiger.

”I won’t repeat myself,” he said flatly.

Yet that was enough.

Kavakan, the orcs, and the barbarians shivered instinctively and immediately cleared a path.

The sudden movement caught Zora, Eleanore, and the others’ attention.

Zora had just begun to step forward when, to her surprise—and everyone else’s—Alex raised his hand toward the gathered gnolls and cast.

Boom!

Three fireballs flew out, forming a triangular perimeter around the captives before detonating inward.

The explosion was tightly controlled. All the force, all the heat, compressed into the centre.

”Ahh!!!”

Alex watched expressionlessly as young and old alike burned.

The flames raged for a minute before gradually dying down, leaving behind nothing but a mound of charred remains.

He then turned to Kavakan, eyes still gleaming with that eerie Calm Madness.

”Who am I to you?” he asked.

His voice was level, but coldness hid beneath it.

”You are Boss,” Kavakan answered instinctively, then stiffened. ”You are my master.”

[A.N: ’master’ here is a different word from the ’Master’ Udara uses.]

”Good,” Alex nodded. ”And what are you expected to do for me?”

”Obey your orders without question,” Kavakan replied at once.

Alex nodded again.

He stepped closer, reached up, and placed a hand on the weretiger’s broad shoulder.

”I gave you command of the orcs and barbarians so you could instil discipline in them,” he said softly. ”Not so you would lose yours.”

His grip tightened slightly.

”If power goes to your head, I can take back what I have given.”

A gentle pat followed.

”Don’t forget that.”

By then, the red in his eyes had faded, and the familiar mild smile returned to his lips.

However, it did absolutely nothing to stop Kavakan from shivering.

If anything, it made it worse.

Alex turned to a nearby Fury knight and beckoned with an open palm.

”Your sword.”

It sounded like a request, but it was not.

The knight immediately placed the weapon into his hand.

Alex walked to the blackened heap.

Then, one by one, he stabbed every corpse through the head and heart. With each thrust, he twisted the blade, widening the wound, making certain.

No mistakes nor survivors.

”This should be enough to remove the roots, right?” he muttered, seemingly to no one.

”If they can survive this, then fate and fortune must truly be on their side.”

He turned back to the others.

”Loot what we need. Quickly. We still have a long journey ahead.”

Without waiting for acknowledgement, Alex walked toward the inclined slope leading up one of the short hills that hid the village from ground view.

Eleanore and Udara moved to follow.

Zora stopped them.

”Let him breathe for a moment,” she whispered.

At the hilltop, Alex looked out over the desert wilderness—the true heart of the Hollowcrest Wildlands.

Their road forward.

With Spirit Sight, he noticed strange, twisted distortions in the ambient flow of mana across the sky.

But he couldn’t tell what it meant.

’It doesn’t seem to affect casting...’ he noted.

As his focus shifted to the phenomenon, his thoughts slowly drifted away from his hypocrisy... from his justification... from the weight of what he had just done.

Then he felt two familiar presences.

One descended from the sky. The other padded up from behind.

Senu and Fen.

Both returned to their chibi forms.

They said nothing.

Senu landed beside him. Fen leaned into his leg.

They just stayed by his side, rubbing the bodies on him without making a sound.

They didn’t speak, they just accompanied him.

Alex’s lips curved.

He scooped them into his arms and rubbed their heads, letting the simple affection wash the grime from his heart.

A few minutes.

That was all it took.

After standing there a little longer, committing the harsh beauty of the wasteland to memory, Alex straightened and walked back down.

The others had finished.

The interlude ended.

So, Fortuna resumed their march toward the mission location.

***