The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 416 - Promise

            When Zaos opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything, but his body was aching all over, so that was a sign that he was alive. After healing his body a little bit, he moved his limbs and then forcefully made the rubble that almost buried him alive move.

"... Shit… this was probably my worst fight," Zaos said after he coughed due to the dust that was covering his body.

          Once Zaos got up and then cleaned his body a little bit, he saw a man in front of him that had long, brown hair who was naked and also had a sword piercing his body. That was the Guardian's Heart… when the demon attacked Zaos after he lost his eyes for a short while, Zaos used Pain Nullification to make the creature not feel any pain, and in that short window of time, Zaos's sword pierced his heart and killed the human who was hosting the demon. Zaos felt annoyed that only the human died, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, he was lucky… the attack broke his rib cage and almost pierced his lungs… if that had happened, Zaos wouldn't be able to focus and use magic to heal himself.

"Fucking monster… I need to get stronger," Zaos said after a long sigh.

          Zaos needed the power to protect Milliendra from the demons. Still, he also needed the knowledge to protect her from her curse. Getting both at the same time will be difficult… 

        After looking around again, Zaos realized that the kids were still inside the houses. At that point in time, he understood that they were locked or something. However, what he couldn't understand was the fact that the houses seemed new, and no one noticed that the place was being used to store kidnapped children.

"What now…" Zaos thought. "I was planning to search for those who were in training under this organization, but I didn't imagine they would be kids this small. I suppose this asshole didn't train new generations of assassins every year…"

            Zaos entered the houses while praying that the kids hadn't been blinded yet. He sighed in relief when he saw the kids tied up in chains and sleeping deeply. Not because they were in that situation, but because they didn't have any wounds around their eyes.

"All this noise and they didn't wake up… were they drugged?" Zaos frowned.

          Those kids looked seriously underfed. Zaos wouldn't be surprised if some of them died in a day or two if they stayed in that situation. Regardless, Zaos used Detoxification, but neither of them woke up… he tried Cleanse, and that worked. It wasn't poison… the fucking demon used Sleep to make them stay like that.

              The kids began to tremble from head to toe when they saw Zaos, he was wounded, and some of his body was still covered in blood, after all. However, after a while, they calmed down when Zaos freed them from their shackles.

"It is all right, the guy who captured you will no longer be a problem," Zaos said.

            All of the kids were around five years old. Considering that they had their callousness in their hands, Zaos concluded that they were war orphans that had been kidnapped from some houses. Zaos has heard that this was fairly normal for kids like them to become servants from numerous mercenary families.

            After a while, Zaos had freed 157 kids, but they weren't the only thing he found… he also found numerous bags filled with gold coins. Things were getting really weird… They raised assassins to kill for money, but apparently, they didn't use that money. Probably because it wasn't their goal, or using the gold would make them look suspicious.

"I guess that they really were servants of the demon god…" Zaos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess they are descendants from a group that managed to stay hidden and built this organization for revenge and for the return of the demon god… I wonder what Dalyor would think if he discovers that he hired the followers of his most mortal enemy to hunt another enemy…"

          Regardless, Zaos will make sure to put that money to good use. After a couple of minutes, Zaos reunited those kids in front of the tunnel that connected to the meeting room. Looking after so many kids will be tough, but that also will help Milliendra.

"I will build a new home for you as well, but if you wish to look for some relatives if you have them, I will help as well," Zaos said. "For the time being, you will have to follow me."

          The kids also didn't have any reason to disobey Zaos. While they hadn't been trained by assassins, they worked as servants, and some of them were treated like slaves. So, following the orders of someone else was like second nature to them.

            When the massive group walked downstairs, Zaos noticed that some of them were having a hard time walking. They were too hungry… Zaos had to do something regarding that before a disaster happened. When they reached the meeting room door, Zaos gave them the order to stop since he could sense the smell of blood, and it wasn't coming from himself. When he opened the door, he saw Nakin's group looking at three corpses.

"What happened here?" Zaos asked.

"Those three appeared after you started to fight," Nakin said. "We dealt with the poison master, the invisible master, and the martial master."

            Zaos wondered how they managed to defeat them, considering that Aleni said that they were powerful assassins… they probably attacked when they showed up. Outnumbered and surprised, even them would be in deep waters.

"Do they have any more allies?" Zaos asked. "Do you have any other instructors?"

          Nakin shook his head. To keep the organization as secret as possible, having fewer members would be better. In any case, Zaos was having a hard time believing that he actually defeated the assassins' organization in a week.. Well, he had some help, after all.