readbooksol Chapter 354: less privilege
Chapter 354: less privilege
When he devoured the Crimson Lantern, he also gained some memories. He learned about the way the Old Man created avatars and cracks. He also knew about how there are different ’anchors’ or ’pillars’ that hold the prison.
The place he just left is exactly one of those places.
Like a streak of light, Vale quickly began to climb down the mountain, moving swiftly so that it didn’t take him long to get to the bottom.
Getting to the bottom, he paused to examine his surroundings. Surrounding him was a scant land that was not quite dry land but very close; the grass and trees growing there were tough-looking.
"Is this the Akatsuki territory?" Vale looked around doubtfully. He did not think so because there wasn’t any desert around.
He sighed. Unfortunately, the memories he acquired didn’t tell him the location where the mountain was located.
He began to walk, taking his time. He didn’t just want to rush in a direction that wouldn’t lead to his home. "Geography is another study I should take seriously. A mountain like this, gigantic and strange, should be a known landmark, right.... ??!"
Vale’s eyes widened. He had turned when he spoke about the mountain, but when he looked, there was no mountain there! The place he was standing had no mountain; the land spread before him with low hills and scant trees.
"What the.... "
But Vale didn’t really find it surprising. "The prison is locked into a pocket dimension after all. It makes sense that things will be strange. So, the anchors move? Or is there a special way to gain access? Those Vampires must know of a way."
Just then, Vale felt his senses trigger. He had spread his senses outward to see if he would find anything, but only small animals and trees had been the feedback. But now he felt a new lifeform. Humans!
Vale turned into a streak of red and black light as he shot away, his passing bringing dry heat.
He didn’t take long to find the source that triggered his senses. And he soon burst into the clearing. The reason Vale wasn’t that cautious, and even showed himself with little preparation, was because he knew he was dealing with an ordinary human.
Vale tilted his head to confirm that there was no other human before his eyes rested on the one that triggered his senses. He looked at the person with suspicion.
She’s a woman, dressed in near-tattered clothes and with half of her body covered in blood, her face smeared with tears and blood. She was crying, whimpering as she cowered on the ground, her face swollen.
Vale did not detect a lick of essence from her, but that didn’t stop him from exercising caution. He looked at her without saying anything.
The silence was filled with her crying, which she finally stopped enough to acknowledge his presence. She looked up, and even with all the tears and swollen features, she still looked incredibly beautiful.
When she met his eyes, she flinched, cowering as she withdrew into herself, making a pitiful sound.
Vale still didn’t say a word.
"W..wh...who a..are you? Are you here to hurt me too?"
Vale tilted his head. "No?"
Her eyes widened. "What? You’re not sure? You’re going to hurt me?"
"Will you give me a reason to?"
"What?!"
Vale shrugged. "Why should I hurt you when you don’t hurt me or mine?"
Silence again. She looked shocked somehow, as if she was not expecting something. But then she began to cry again. "I...I was chased here by some bad men! You have to help me! Please! You have to save me!"
Vale looked at her with a concerned look. "Why? Why are you asking a stranger for help? And there’s no one around here."
"You don’t know that! Wait....I can’t ask you for help?" She sounded irritated.
Vale almost folded his hands and scolded her, but he just sighed. Normal humans.... "Is there a village around here? Why are you alone? This is a deserted place; you don’t know what you might encounter here."
Although humans are part of the top of the food chain, they are not the only ones there. Monsters, restrained as they are by Rifts and such, are still very much a danger.
She sniffed. "This is.....there’s a village close by, that’s where I’m from."
Vale sighed again. "Right. Lead the way."
The woman had a small smile as she nodded and hurried to her feet. Her legs wobbled and she flopped forward, her small pitiful body hitting the ground again. "Owh!"
Vale blinked as he turned his attention back to her. He had briefly forgotten about her and turned to his sensing perspective to sweep the surroundings, only turning in time to see she’d fallen. "Are you alright?"
She glared before she sniffed again and looked away. "My feet are just a bit sore... oh fuck it! I can’t take this anymore, you useless piece of shit!"
Suddenly she glared at Vale, her eyes containing the same hatred as her changed tone.
Vale was shocked. "What?"
"What is what? Are you a man? Don’t you feel any lust when you look at me? Don’t you feel your protective nature rise to protect this weak human? As a Knight, didn’t you swear to protect the weak and the less privileged?"
Vale was truly shocked. And it took a few seconds before he put some things together. "You... are you trying to con me?"
She sneered as she stood with no difficulty. Her image flickered and she changed. She’s still a young woman alright, but far different. Her face remained irresistibly beautiful, but the rest of her body wasn’t so human anymore.
Her hands were thin and enclosed in colorful shades of purple shell. Same for her legs and part of her hips, which were lined with soft brown fur. Two slender antennae twitched atop her head and two large butterfly wings flapped behind her.
She’s a Master Knight. Her aura changed to match her physical change. She looked at him like a lazy cat seeing her next meal. "Well, are you ready to die?"
Vale stared at her. At her expectant face that was waiting for him to scream or be shocked, and he just shook his head. He shook his head. "Good. You’re a Master Knight, you’ll know much. Where am I? How can I get to the Akatsuki Desert?"
One of the reasons Vale didn’t attack her immediately was the fact that, even with some wrongness, her aura was still fundamentally human. Also, he wanted her for information.
The butterfly lady froze. Her eyes widened and then narrowed into dangerous slits in anger. "Even an Errant Knight is looking down on me now? Master Knights look down on me because of the beast I cultivated, and now I’m going to take the same shit from you? Before, I wanted to rob you, but now I’m just going to kill you!"
Her wings shimmered and she took into the air. Her eyes flashed as power condensed around her. Immediately, the world seemed to tilt toward her. It was small, barely a drop. But the surrounding trees leaned toward her as if she were an irresistible sun, the wind blew gently against her, and all the insects and small animals came to her, their eyes blank.
Vale looked up at her. And looked. He blinked slowly. "Well, you’ve not answered my question."
"What? What? How can you resist my charm! You’re only an Errant Knight!"
With the Crimson Lantern in him, the Infernal Dominion, things like illusion, mental attacks, and domination didn’t directly affect him. Even before, his Mark Order of the Forbidden Knight could cancel such effects, not to talk of now.
Vale smiled, then he said with a deadpan tone. "I’m different."
"Different my ass! You have an artifact! Something that makes it possible to resist me! You cannot do so otherwise! Even Master Knights can’t resist so casually."
Vale shrugged. "It’s just what it is. Now will you answer my question?"
"No I won’t. I’ll rob you for what you’re worth and then I’ll kill you."
Vale nodded slowly. "Ok. But before that, can you answer me this question? Do you have a healing potion with you?"
She paused. "I do."
"Good. Because I don’t want you brain-dead when I knock you out from there."
"What are you...."
Vale’s aura swelled up to the Master Knight rank in an instant, sweeping the surroundings with the pressure of heat and explosions. The small animals that gathered froze and ran.
The butterfly lady had a few seconds for her eyes to widen before Vale jumped, closing the distance in a blink and doing just as he promised. He smacked her right out of the air.
The slap caught her from overhead, straight at her forehead, and she was slapped out of the air with an undignified shout that shouldn’t come out of a Master Knight.
Vale felt somehow embarrassed. As if he was actually bullying the less privileged.