Chương 10: Blood in the River

Even Berntraut could do nothing for Healix except offer free food such as a piece of aged cheese with freshly " sanctified" bread with quiet prayers for his path success, when he visited him on the torture device. The old general hung limply from the wheel, his body regenerating only to be torn apart again each moment, all for crucial information. When Berntraut approached in the end with a bowl of soup, Healix managed a weak smile and whispered, in the name of Michaelanius:"I have no regrets. I lived a good life.

Many battle fought ended with many wins… this is just one loss I will never truly recover from. Even in defeat, I will not hand them the ultimate glory. I will tell them nothing about his Masters legacy." Berntraut bowed his head, right before the tortured Healix.

"Then pain will follow until the end. Still, I will always bring you food and pray for your path... no matter what your choice is great warrior." Healix gave a small nod in return. Every day Görlitz and the other overseers turned the wheel, ripping his freshly healed limbs apart anew. His screams echoed across the square. At first the sound horrified everyone, but with so many slaves in Mat, the screams eventually became daily background noise. People grew numb to them in time.

Only I remained unable to block them out completely. I kept thinking about how to help him, how to get him out of there, but in the end I was completely powerless. Then winter arrived. Snow began to fall, yet every morning the wheel turned again... same screams added to the day like a clockwork. Healix's hands and legs would heal overnight, only for the torture to resume. Once the others in my foraging group had fully recovered, they were sent back to their original branches.

I was assigned to solo shifts cleaning the sewers. The stench was unbearable... thick, rotten, and eye-watering. I thanked the god. I had never fallen into one during the battle back in Lae, it would have been disastrous. In the evenings I helped Berntraut again, delivering food to the barracks. Thanks to his existence and his blessings, our enslavement felt a little less crushing than it truly was. He saved as many as he could from the whip and stretched his virtuous food to feed the hungry.

Without him, despair would have swallowed us whole in a heartbeat. As winter deepened into January, I was sent outside the city gates to shovel snow from the roads. One afternoon, exhausted, I slipped behind a large tree to rest and warm myself with a bowl of soup. The delicious broth had just begun to spread heat through my chest when a low voice spoke from the other side of the trunk.

"You're the one-armed boy from the foraging party." I nearly dropped the bowl in surprise. The voice belonged to someone I didn't immediately recognize. He stepped into view of mine... tall, cloaked, with sharp eyes looking at my state of affairs with pity.

"I am Camrix," he introduced himself. The name hit me. He was the general, no he was our General who had fought against the Crazies Force Leader during the final battle in Lae the churches square. I remembered hearing that his fight had been intense thanks to their releasing shockwaves at equal spirit level, but it seemed as he stood before me... that Camrix's superior technique of his Vestuto had won the day.

He continued quietly, "After I left the broken church, the clouds seemed to have been dissipated as if they had never existed. Then I felt an enormous aura outside our Capital. I climbed the wall and saw Sentrix lose to that young teen, Siegfried. I tried to reach for Healix or Bruxix, but I was too late. That wooden tree-man, Oberkommandant Schmerz, took them with him. I followed from a safe distance. The wagons were separated in different directions.

I tracked one to the capital and found it was only women in them. Later I discovered Bruxix had been killed one month ago, to late to save him. Now I need to know: where is Healix, have you seen him in this City?" I told him the truth.

"He's here in Mat, chained to a torture wheel in the main square. Elite guards surround him constantly. Görlitz and the overseers rip him apart every day for some information. I don't even remember what they're asking about, but they want something from him. The screams have gone on for two months. At first it filled me with rage. Now it's just numbness to nearly all of us... the only one who truly helps him is our monk in Mat, Bentraut his name." Camrix thanked me hastily and slipped away to scout for himself.

Later that same day he found me again while I was working. His voice was urgent in tone.

"I need your help to free Healix… and as thanks to win your own freedom for helping out." I almost laughed out loud.

"Bullshit. You don't understand how dangerous Mat is. There are soldiers from multiple branches here, maybe even some Vestuto users in nearby cities are ready for someone like you. Not all of them went to the capital." he rebutted with "I will get it done. For Reggente Sentrix." I asked bitterly, "Why do you even do all this? We lost. Our people are scattered across a foreign nation. Even with Healix, you have no chance to change the outcome for any of us." Camrix's eyes hardened.

"It's not about freeing Bener or reviving our region. That's sadly too late. I heard Lord Himmel already received legitimization from two Kaisers for full absorption. This is for Sentrix's last treasure. I want to protect it from them... one final curse of defiance so they never have the chance to get it."

"Only Healix knows its location now. Bruxix told me on his dying breath to find Healix and move the treasure our regions last hidden Legacy to a safer place." Camrix left me standing there in denial.

"Freedom this way? No. I would work hard and earn it honestly." I just didn't believe Camrix could succeed. Nothing changed for the rest of January. Thanks to constant hard work I had saved 58 silver pieces, all entrusted to Berntraut. I trusted neither the other slaves nor the guards. I even gave him 12 silver as thanks, leaving me with 46 to my name. Then one chaotic morning everything shattered. Soldiers came running, shouting that a pack of three fully grown Woldrians...

creatures that should have been hibernating, were attacking the gates merchant shops, tearing into slaves and guards alike. At the same time, messengers reported that the four outer branches had been hit by a mysterious group and were struggling. Reinforcements rushed out from Mat to help them, and requests for aid were sent to other big cities. In the middle of the panic, Camrix appeared inside the barracks. With a single slash of his blade he cut through the wall like it was cheese.

Cloaked and commanding, he shouted, "The slaves are waking up! Run in every direction! The awakened Woldrians will chase the scent of the soldiers who patrolled earlier!" Chaos erupted. Slaves scattered. The giant beasts roared and began hunting. Camrix saw me nearby and grabbed my one remaining arm.

"Healix is alone at the wheel right now. Let's go." Given the situation we currently were i accepted and so we moved fast. When we reached the square, Camrix pulled down his hood.

"Healix," he said softly, "it's me." The old general, blinded with two iron rods still piercing his eyes, rasped, "Camrix…? Or another hallucination?"

"It's me. Hold still... I'll pull these out." I helped free Healix from the wheel, yanking the rods from his legs one by one. His healing ability began to work immediately.

"We need to move," I urged while Camrix was looking at it at Healix state... given it made sense, both were long time friends/battle brothers.

"Berntraut's place is the safest right now. He'll have food for us." We rushed to the small chapel. Berntraut saw us coming and didn't hesitate. The monk who served Michaelanius neutrally led us inside.

"I won't be able to keep you long," he said calmly, handing Healix fresh bread.

"Eat. It seems your path is not yet over." He smiled gently.

"Who knows what Michaelanius still plans for you." We stayed only four minutes. Healix's eyes fully regenerated. We thanked Berntraut with everything we had. He prayed for our paths to find a good ending. As we slipped out the back, we heard Görlitz's voice roaring in anger. He had spotted us... one boy, one man in a cape, and the broken old general. he realized whom it was "It's Healix!" A chase began. I shouted, "Into the sewers! Quick! I know the sewers in and out!" We dropped down.

Görlitz followed, his corpulent body somehow keeping pace even slowly gaining on us. It was bizarre how fast he moved while being in such a state. We reached the outer grate, which then Camrix destroyed it with a powerful water bullet from his Vestuto Tidal Form. We burst outside, but no freedom insight as the hunter has caught up to us. Still the real fight exploded: Görlitz versus Camrix in his Tidal Form. Görlitz tossed his whip aside with a grin.

"You think you have a chance just because you have a Vestuto? I was a Domestico long before I became an overseer." He roared, "Come out, Griffithor!" A five-meter Wingspawn, a three-meter-tall bird standing on two legs that could speak... materialized. It looked like something from another world.

"It's been some time, my cutie Görlitz-ii," the beast said, licking its talons.

"A Vestuto opponent? Oh, this will be fun. His spirit level is 4250... strong, but a welcome challenge for both of us." The battle erupted with terrifying intensity. Görlitz whom rode atop Griffithor, moving at a speed nearly matching Sentrix's... something Camrix couldn't comprehend, since Sentrix had been double his own spirit level. Camrix went fully defensive, activating his Ultimate Water Cage to imprison both opponents and slow them down inside.

Thanks to its ability to suck moisture from the enemies, they would no longer fight inside it at available full strength. Göritz and Griffithor answered in unison: "Electroforma!" Thunderous punches crackled with electricity inside the Cage. The fight grew fiercer with both fighting with strong attacks. Upon seeing this Healix, still weakened, summoned his own Vestuto and joined with his own crackling Thunder Spears.

"I am also a General... I won't let a junior fight alone!" Now it was two against two. Görlitz laughed maniacally hitting his corpulent belly on top of the Griffithor.

"Well now… let's show them a fight they won't forget even in death!" For three brutal minutes the battle raged. Water clashed with lightning and claws. Camrix moved like a living tide, his Tidal Form shifting between liquid and solid in the blink of an eye. He unleashed powerful jets of water that slammed into Griffithor's massive wings, trying to knock the beast off balance. Healix fought beside him, his Thunder Spears crackling with violent electricity, stabbing forward with deadly precision toward Görlitz.

Görlitz laughed like a madman from atop his back.

"Is that all you've got?! If so that´s why Bener lost and we won!" Griffithor dove with terrifying speed, its talons glowing with electro-lightning. Each swipe sent currents of electricity exploding across the battlefield. One strike caught Camrix across the shoulder, forcing him the turned liquid to absorb the blow by shedding the part of him, but the electricity still traveled through the water and shocked him badly.

Healix answered with a barrage of Thunder Spears, but Griffithor's wings beat powerfully, creating gusts of wind that deflected most of the attacks before impact. The ground around them was torn apart. Water mixed with mud turned the area into a slippery death trap. Camrix tried to trap them again with his stronger Water Cage, but Görlitz roared and shattered the construct with a devastating Electroforma punch that sent a shockwave rippling outward breaking the structure anew. Then Healix screamed, "Enough, Camrix!

Go back as i give them my Ultimate!" He turned and shoved Camrix away with surprising force away from the line.

"It's time to say farewell junior... no battle brother. My path was ending anyway. I'm an old man. Let me die like Sentrix... in the heat of battle against strong opposition." Camrix realized what he intended to do.

"Healix! Thunderbombar will truly kill you! Last time you did it 2 years ago you destroyed a Forest filled with strong monsters, but given your current condition.." Healix:"... We need to do, what we need to do. Now go stay back!" Göritz laughed.

"Go ahead, use your pathetic ultimate technique. I'll tank it, just like Siegfried took your champion your leader hahaha." Healix's aura exploded outward in shockwaves he started his technique. From deep inside his body came an unruly storm of thunder that made the very air tremble. A horrifying amount of blood surged up from within his body, forcing its way out through his mouth, nose, and wounds.

The blood twisted and coalesced in front of him into a massive spear formed entirely from his own life essence, glowing with crackling, maximum thunder coating. The weapon pulsed with raw, uncontrollable power, lightning dancing violently along its crimson length.

"We will hear your regrets after our deaths, Görlitz! My greatest Thunderbombar... witness it and accept it!" With a final, desperate roar, Healix hurled the blood spear forward. It tore through the air at 6, 000 kilometers per hour, leaving a trail of blinding lightning and thunder that split the sky. The moment the spear left his hand, Healix's body visibly withered away. All color drained from his skin as he became thin and dried up, like a husk with almost no blood left inside him.

He staggered, barely able to stand, looking like an old corpse barely clinging to life only his will keeping him alive to witness his successful kill. Camrix grabbed me and used a Tidal Wave to launch us both away at 705 kilometers per hour while Healix with his last will ran straight into his own exploding technique, sacrificing himself to create a added devastating aftershock. The explosion rocked the battlefield, the shocks reaching 150 kilometers leaving its presence in the sky.

Görlitz and Griffithor were damaged, though not fatally. Görlitz cursed furiously and ordered pursuit. Camrix witnessing their survival and knew while carrying me he is slower, so threw me into the river with a powerful wave, pushing me forward while he turned to face them with a Tidal Break. Görlitz looking at the fast disappearing Wave, but ignored me and landed to fight Camrix instead. The tidal wave carried me for 32 straight hours across countless regions. Exhausted, I finally fell asleep on the rushing water.

When I awoke, there was no snow. I was drifting in a calm river in a forested region I didn't recognize. A young fisherman found me. He gently pulled me from the water and carried me to his small wooden cabin deep in the woods.

"Easy now," he said kindly, helping me inside.

"You're safe here. Welcome, young one."