City of Sin

Book 2, 103

Massacre(2)

Twilight Oasis had nearly ten thousand residents, and the bearguard knights were exhausted by the time the entirety of the resistance was cut down. The manticore roared out from the city centre, a call to gather all of Sinclair’s troops. The knights all abandoned any dead or dying prey, making their way towards the location.

At the same time, a mage’s voice amplified by magic spread throughout the entire city, “Everyone, put down your weapons! Anyone found bearing arms will be killed on the spot!”

However, the mage’s words were of no use. Those who would not submit were already dead or escaped.

The bearguard knights dispersed once more, going from house to house to chase everyone and have the entire city gather at the square. Everyone who saw the huge manticore shivered uncontrollably; this creature was thrice as large as a thunder lizard, the largest beast of the Bloodstained Lands. One of the ladies started screaming uncontrollably, and was immediately pulled out of the group and executed right away.

Sinclair stood on the manticore’s head, smirking innocently without a trace of guilt on her face. Her lips were a dazzling dark red, the same crimson as blood. She swept her gaze across the entire square, causing everyone to shiver in fear. They felt as though she was staring directly at them,

“My name is Sinclair, and from this day onwards I shall be your master. Your life, and death, will rest solely in my hands. I love peace, obedience, and pretty things. Please me and you may live, dare to resist even the slightest...”

She waved her hand lazily, and an ordinary-looking middle-aged man flew out of the crowd. Her silhouette flashed away from the top of the manticore, suddenly appearing behind the man. A quick glimmer of her knife later, she was back on the manticore’s head.

Thick, viscous blood now stained her daggers, one of which was longer than the other. They seemed to have life of their own, the blood rolling at the edge of the blade. Not a single drop dripped down even after a long time.

“... And this will be the result.” She glanced at her hands, and a quick jerk later the fresh blood flew out to leave pitch black blades. She shot a look of disgust at the middle-aged man, speaking icily, “Just a piece of level 13 trash, and you dare play tricks on me?”

The middle aged man fell to the floor, unable to get up for a while. It took him a lot of difficulty to prop up his upper body, pointing a shaking finger at Sinclair, but no matter how much he tried not a single syllable left his mouth. A red line suddenly appeared on his face, his body falling apart into four pieces even as blood and organs fell to the floor.

Some people had still been stirred up till then, but faced with the prospect of death they covered their mouths to muffle their weeping. Sinclair’s gaze passed over the few of them, but she didn’t take any further action. Only the two mages knew that this was not mercy, just laziness. It was now time for her to enjoy and entertain herself.

“You, you, you... And you, get out here!” Sinclair pointed twenty people out one by one, and her targets wasted no time in coming out to form a line. All of them were shivering with fear.

Everyone selected was young and good-looking, with an equal number of men and women. Seeing the small number the mages knew that Sinclair had grown tired of the slaughter. Even though she wanted to indulge herself now, she would not go overboard.

She randomly pointed at a grand, tall building in the area, having the bearguard knights take a few people over to clean the hall. She then shouted at the people she had selected, “Strip!”

The youths hesitated for a brief moment. Although none of them dared to disobey Sinclair, it was still hard for them to strip naked in front of an entire city’s worth of people.

In that mere moment of hesitation, one of the mages shot out an arcane missile from his fingertips, directly striking a young lady who was standing completely still and knocking her out of the formation. The bearguard knights by the side twirled their giant hammers, starting to smash the young lady to a pulp. It was like a fruit was being squashed, leaving blood and flesh flying onto the youths in the line. This instantly caused them to start screaming.

“Shut up!” The mage’s words silenced a majority of the men and women, but two of the young ladies couldn’t stop themselves. As such, they were dragged out of the line as well, their throats slit.

“Our mistress has no patience, and she doesn’t like noise. All you have to do is clearly listen to every command, and do exactly as you are told. Now, strip! If you still don’t, we’ll choose a new batch!” The mage’s voice was as cold as the northern wind. If a new batch were chosen, the rest of this batch would share the same fate as the three young ladies.

The square immediately fell silent. There was no more resistance, no protests, and no attempts to escape.

Sinclair then chose three more young ladies to make up for the shortfall, and this time the youths stripped as fast as they could. They then awaited their fate, trembling all the while.

The hall had been cleared by this time. Sinclair chased all her naked toys inside, starting to laugh maliciously. She took off all her clothes as well, leaving what little black armour she had on the streets as she sashayed into the big hall.

She looked around her surroundings before pointing her finger at a handsome young man, “You! Come here and show me all your skills. Make sure I enjoy it... Don’t play any tricks, do it now!”

The young man’s mind suddenly blanked out at her chiding, and in his state of extreme panic his manhood naturally withered. Sinclair was immediately enraged; she shot her hand into his chest, crushing his heart in a single go. His body flew out with a wave of her hand, landing at the centre of the city square. Her sharp roar could be heard from the door, “Useless piece of trash!”

She then grabbed a weak young lady, ruthlessly giving her two slaps on the ear that made her bleed from her mouth and nose. She then threw her on the floor and got on top of her. A trembling youth then walked up at her instruction, pressing himself into her from behind. In the blink of an eye, the inside of the hall had become a world of debauchery that reeked of blood.

It was only then that the people gathered at the square were allowed to disperse. Two mages started patrolling the regions where violent clashes had occurred, taking stock of the situation.

Even with the saint taken care of by Sinclair, Twilight Oasis had more than a thousand warriors with no shortage of those of high level. As such, the battle was quite hard fought. Five of their numbers had died in battle.

They discovered another knight down in a corner of the city, unable to get up. Two long spears and a two-handed sword were stuck to his body, and a terrifying hole in his back revealed some of his innards.

The mage who found him inspected his injuries, eventually shaking his head. Thus, another bearguard knight came over and used a dagger to slit the wounded knight’s throat, ending his misery.

Now, only 64 bearguard knights remained.

The mage sighed. The cruellest part when one was establishing a foothold in a foreign plane was at the start. Without the proper channels of communication and a priest’s magic, each metre of land could only be acquired through a sacrifice of lives and gold.

If they were still in Norland, the knight’s life could have been saved. However, all they could do in this plane was watch him die.

A priest would rather die than heal a follower of another religion, much less a planar intruder. Every true god promised this to their followers— if one died at the hands of an intruder, they would earn the right to enter the god’s divine kingdom. Their soul would be granted eternal life, regardless of past sins and faith.

What these worshippers didn’t realise was that death at Sinclair’s hands would not free their souls. No, they only became food for her manticore.