Chapter 54: Cleansing the Soul

"Take your time, Lira. I’ll wait out here so we can go back to the village. I’m sure everyone will be worried about you," I said softly in her ear, giving her a final bite on the cheek. She nodded, still flushed from what had just happened. I smiled at her as I left the matriarch’s house. A few feet from the door, the lizard was still kneeling, motionless, watching me leave with a look of disbelief and terror on her face. A cold smile formed on my lips. This was what I wanted: to see her broken and terrified. It was the true culmination of my revenge. I was marinating her in her own fear; nothing would make up for what she had done, but at least she deserved to suffer as much as possible. Thirty minutes later, Lira came out. She was still flushed, but she had a genuine smile on her face. When she saw me, she ran toward me and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back and laughed; her laughter mixed with mine. We looked like a couple in a town square, oblivious to the bloody mess that surrounded us. As I held her, I took out some arrows and a quiver. "Lira, what do you want me to do with her?" I asked, pointing at the lizard. "I don’t know, Jax," she replied. "I don’t want to remember what happened here." "There’s a solution," I said coldly. "I could force her to be your slave for life, or I can execute her this very moment." Hearing my words, the matriarch shuddered. This was what she had been waiting for; she wanted to maintain a submissive attitude to gain compassion and escape this situation without suffering more pain. I could read her plans like an open book; if she thought she could fool me, the damned lizard was very wrong. Lira looked at me with determination and said in a firm voice, "I want her to die and pay for what she did." I expected her answer, but what I didn’t expect was what she said next: "But I want to do it with my own hands." Her words made my mind stop for a moment, but they also filled me with joy. The first step to getting out of the situation she was in was to fight her inner demons. The matriarch also understood that her end had come. No matter how hard she had tried to gain compassion, she realized it hadn’t worked and now she was in real mortal danger. With a cry of pure desperation, she lunged toward us, not to attack Lira, but to escape. She tried to use her as a distraction, but I read her movements. I lunged at her, tackling her and slamming her to the ground, giving her a few punches in the face to teach her who was in charge here. Even though she had been faking weakness this whole time, the matriarch was not weak at all. She managed to get back up and looked at me fixedly. "Let me go! You won’t be able to kill me faster than I can kill your friend! I’d rather die with her than die alone!" she snapped at me with rage, trying to intimidate me, but the only thing she accomplished was to make me laugh. "Don’t tempt your luck, lizard." I replied with a mocking smile. She was like an insect trying to move a mountain; her efforts were completely useless. I invoked my ability [Sanctuary of Life] once more, surrounding Lira in a silver aura. She felt great and was surprised. "Jax, what is this?! I feel so full of energy... it’s like there’s nothing I can’t do right now." "You don’t have to be afraid of dying from now on. Any wound you receive will heal instantly. This will be your first real battle, one on one." I checked both of them and saw their levels. [Lira Lvl 13] [Sealakel Leader Lvl 35] The difference was too great and it would be very difficult for her to kill her alone. "I’ll give you an advantage," I said. I took out my bow and, without mercy, fired a lunar arrow. The impact was so strong that the matriarch could not withstand such a level of power. She screamed in pain as the arrow tore her leg off completely. "She’s all yours," I said to Lira, handing her my bow and some wooden arrows. "Do what you want with her." I walked away and went to a rock, sat down and looked up at the sky, turning my back on them. "I won’t watch you," I said. "You don’t have to hold back. No one will ever know what you did, and I won’t judge you, no matter what happens." The air was torn with a scream, not of pain, but of fury. Lira, her face disfigured with rage, unleashed every ounce of pent-up frustration. Around her, the battle was no longer a contest, but a slaughter. Lira: "You’re a damned...! You dared to do all that to me...! How could you...!" The matriarch, bloodied and on her knees, raised her hate-filled gaze, ignoring the open wound on her shoulder. Matriarch: "My husband! You killed my husband! You paid for your cowardice with his blood! You’re going to die for this, you damned... pagan!" The fight continued, but her efforts were useless. The matriarch threw desperate punches that Lira received without fear, as every wound healed instantly, returning each one with great cruelty. The matriarch’s screams began to lose their strength and became gasps of agony. Matriarch: "No... please, no! Mercy! I beg you!" Lira: "Mercy? Mercy?! Where was your mercy when I begged you not to do it?" Lira bent down and, with a slowness that was more cruel than any blow, slid one of her daggers across the matriarch’s face. She didn’t scream, but let out a choked moan of terror. Lira whispered, her voice as sweet as poison: Lira: "You thought that humiliation was the worst. I will make you feel hell." The sound that followed was not a scream, but a whine, a sigh from the matriarch who broke as she felt what Lira was doing to her. Her screams became weaker and weaker until they turned into weeping, managing to break the matriarch. Suddenly, the only thing left was silence. The debt to the one who had destroyed her had been collected in full. I felt when Lira stood next to me. I looked at her directly, wanting to know if she was okay; her entire body was covered in a bright, viscous green liquid. I could guess it was the matriarch’s blood. Curiosity overwhelmed me; I wanted to turn around to see why she had ended up that way, what she had done to cause all the blood to completely cover her body. I tried to turn, but Lira stopped me. "That’s enough, Jax, please don’t do it, don’t look. I’m done... let’s go." I wanted to see the scene, I wanted to see the matriarch broken, but her firm voice stopped me. It was the first time she had spoken to me like that and I didn’t want to cause any trouble; I wanted to respect her decision. "No, don’t turn around, please. Don’t look." She pleaded again, as she cried. "It’s okay. Let’s leave all the pain and rage in this place. You don’t have to carry them ever again." Lira smiled, a genuine smile full of relief. She took my hand and we started walking back to the village. As we walked, a peaceful silence surrounded us. Lira laughed, hugged me and said beautiful things to me. The horror and blood of the Sealakel village were left behind. When we were about to reach our home, a sharp, persistent beep echoed in my head. [Alert Level 3: Invaders detected] A cold shiver ran down my spine. "Lira, run!" We both ran at full speed, driven by a sudden panic. We arrived at the village, but there was nothing strange; they didn’t seem to be fighting the invaders. Even when they saw us, the village’s alarm horns sounded and all the women came toward us, especially when they saw Lira covered in green blood. They panicked, screaming and asking what had happened. Manaia came up to me, her face pale. "Jax, what’s going on? Why is Lira covered in blood? What happened to you?" "I’m fine, Manaia," I said, my voice still hoarse from the rush. "But what’s going on here? I got an invasion alarm." She shook her head, still scared. "There’s nothing. Everything is calm." I opened my system panel. The alert was still blinking. I deactivated the alert, but I was still seeing it. At 900 meters from the village, a red dot was blinking non-stop. When I read the name, my heart skipped a beat. [??? - Lvl ??] This was terrible news. My system had never failed to detect levels. I realized that my system was warning me of something it couldn’t even name. Despair took hold of me. Without thinking twice, I ran toward the red dot. "Jax, wait! Where are you going?" Manaia yelled. "I can’t wait, it’s an invasion!" I replied, my voice full of panic. She followed me, and behind her, Zyra and Vira also did. "Watch Lira!" I yelled one last time, before getting lost in the vegetation.