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"Good morning. I am Emir, owner of Saint Delia's Clinic, and today I have come here to publicly express my dissatisfaction with the unpleasant and unwanted attention my family has received from the corrupt and twisted people who are part of the Solus Temple." I say, raising my voice so that it can be heard clearly by all the people gathered around me.
"Those are baseless slanders!..." exclaims one of the people from the Solus Temple, who is dressed in the most luxurious and eye-catching clothes of the entire group.
[Mateo] [Believer Lvl 63]
The man is a thin, bald old man with a kind-looking face.
'Good! The first wolf in sheep's clothing has appeared.'
"... This man is clearly out of his mind. You only have to look at the bloodstains on his body and clothes to realize that he is a poor, deranged man."
"I imagined you would say that, so I took the trouble to bring with me the assassins you hired to attack and rob Saint Delia's clinic. The same ones who tried to set fire to the place today," I say, looking at the man harshly.
My words elicit a murmur of concern and surprise from the audience.
"That... That is a fallacious lie that only seeks to tarnish the honorable name of the Solus god and his temple. Those dangerous-looking people are clearly in cahoots with you," says the old man, who has apparently decided to act as the temple's spokesperson.
"I don't know much about the Solus god. But if he really exists, which I doubt, he can't be pleased with how rotten his temple is," I say, a mocking smile appearing on my face.
'How does it feel to get a taste of your own medicine, you bastards? You tried to do this to our clinic and to Delia...
Now it's my turn to strike back, multiplied by 100...
And this is only the beginning...
The best part is yet to come…
The part of the show that will really allow me to vent some of the anger I feel towards you.'
"Blasphemy!..." exclaims the old man indignantly, his face contorted with rage.
His kindly appearance has completely vanished, and now he looks like what he really is: a miserable old man who only knows how to take advantage of the goodwill of people who believe the lies that spew from his viperous tongue.
"... Someone call the knights to take this crazy heretic away from here!"
"That won't be necessary, old man. I'll leave on my own, but only after I've finished proving what I came here to prove," I say, signaling to Horatio to begin speaking.
"What this man who brought us here says is all true. For weeks, my companions and I have been repeatedly robbing the Saint Delia's clinic. All at the request of someone from the Solus Temple..." Horatio says in a calm and serene voice, as if he has completely accepted the prospect that he will die the moment he finishes his confession.
After the assassin's words, the murmur of the audience grows even louder, and the anger and indignation of the people can be clearly perceived.
This is just one of the effects I was hoping for.
The clinic was already quite famous before we had to do that demonstration a few weeks ago because of the Solus Temple.
But that fame skyrocketed after the demonstration.
Whether the people at the temple like it or not, Delia and her workplace have earned a place in the hearts of many people in the city.
And, obviously, people don't like it when others attack what is precious to them.
"... They also asked us to spy on the clinic's owners so we could plan a way to kill them in their sleep. And today we tried to set fire to Saint Delia's clinic..."
Unlike the elder Assassin, his companions are anything but calm.
Mauricio has begun to pray fervently, hoping to be heard by some higher power willing to save him.
Zack, on the other hand, is completely overcome with panic, muttering the mantra "I don't want to die" over and over again.
Ivan, however, looks frantically at what is happening around him, as if hoping to find a way out of his situation.
"... I don't understand why the temple hates Saint Delia's clinic so much, but you can ask any of the people from the temple here."
"Everything that man has said is baseless lies. As I said, these five people have obviously agreed to tarnish the impeccable image of this sacred place..." says the old man with irritation.
"... What are you waiting for? Go get the knights!"
But none of the people present move from their places, as no one is willing to miss the show.
"Thank you for your words, Horatio," I say with genuine admiration for the fortitude with which the gray-haired assassin is facing his imminent end.
"You're welcome. Haa... I hope it helps..." says the man with a slight tremor in his voice.
"... Just do it already. It's rea-"
Before he can finish his sentence, I decapitate the assassin with a clean cut that sends his head flying several meters into the air due to the speed of my movement.
I decided to use the Agility profile when wielding Zariche to make the assassin's death as quick and painless as possible, in consideration of the fact that he decided to grant my request.
His companions, however, will not be so lucky.
"I think that rules out the possibility that these people I brought are in cahoots with me..." I say as I look at the old man from the Solus Temple and point the cursed sword at him.
The old man instinctively steps back and, for the first time, looks at me with fear in his eyes.
So I step forward, slowly entering the temple, while pulling on the rope to force the three remaining assassins to follow me.
I need to be able to activate the Strength Profile for what comes next, so I return Zariche to its sheath.
"... Do you still deny the truth of my words, old man? If you speak, I will leave these three criminals in your care to do with as you please. If you continue to refuse to admit that what I said is true, these three wretches will die here and now. And the process will not be as quick as it was with the first man."
'Now comes the best part of the plan.'
I don't know how sincere this old man is with his words, because I agree with Delia that there are surely people in the temple who have no idea how corrupt their 'religion' is.
Even so, what this old man knows or doesn't know about what happened is not important.
What matters, and the main reason I've decided to do this, is to send the message that anyone who wants to hurt me or my girls is going to meet a painful end.
And I'll be able to convey that perfectly thanks to the help of the three wretches I'm dragging along, even if they're not willing to help me.
"I am a bishop of the Solus Temple and have served the order for over 60 years. Do you really think I'm going to blaspheme against my god and all my clergy just for the lives of a few poor stray lambs?..." says the old man with pride and a condescending tone of voice, even though he continues to instinctively back away with every step I take.
"... You are clearly mentally ill, young man."
"That's a shame. I thought you would confess the sins of your temple, at least to save the lives of these men. I mean..." I say mockingly as I reach the center of the temple's main vault.
As the old man and I enter the temple, the crowd of onlookers follows us at a distance of several meters, probably to keep a safe distance from me.
"... Wouldn't that be logical if your temple were half as magnificent as you claim it to be? But you're just a sect of corrupt swindlers disguised as a religious temple, aren't you?"
"That's reasoning typical of a deranged mind like yours. Good will never bow to evil, no matter what it is threatened with..." says the old man with a smug smile.
"... You can do whatever you want with those men. The crime will be on your conscience, if you have one."
"Really?..." I say with feigned surprise.
"... Well... If you say so, given the circumstances, I think I'll start with the person who is praying for help. I want you to remember, old man, that you could have prevented this if you had told the truth."
'Activate Strength profile!'
After my words, I approach the four bodies of the men I have tied up and untie Horatio's corpse to free him from the rest.
Once the body of the man I killed falls to the ground, I begin to untie Mauricio's body, who continues to pray even more frantically now that he clearly sees the end of his life approaching.
Once untied from the group, the terrible state of his body due to the torture he endured before arriving here becomes much more evident.
But the bodies of his companions are in similar condition, because although the potions serve to stop the bleeding from the cuts and enhance the body's natural healing, they cannot restore a lost limb or rebuild a shattered bone.
"God is not here, you miserable worm. But even if he were, he couldn't save you from the fate that awaits you," I say to the assassin I have clutched by the arm, at the elbow, after which I begin to gradually increase the strength of my grip.
A second later, the crack of breaking bone is heard.
At the same time, the assassin begins to howl in pain.
But I ignore him and continue to tighten my grip more and more, while pulling slightly downward, until the lower half of the man's arm falls to the ground, completely torn from his body.
"Very good. Now it's time for the other arm. Then we'll continue with the rest of your two arms, and finally I'll take care of your legs..." I say, firmly grabbing the man by the other arm while using my other hand to grab his neck.
The assassin seems to have completely lost interest in his prayers and is now trying to break free from my grip, writhing and kicking me with all his might while screaming and crying like a wounded animal.
But before I start tightening my grip again, I look over at the old man from Solus Temple and say with a sinister smile, "Are you sure you would rather not reconsider your decision, Bishop? You could save this poor man a lot of suffering."
"I-I will not betray my people," says the old man with a pale expression as he looks at the pool of blood that is beginning to form under the assassin and me, caused by all the blood the criminal is losing, which adds to the trail of blood I left when dragging Horatio's decapitated body while he was still tied to his companions.
"Okay... So, I guess you agree that I should continue," I say, and I begin to squeeze the assassin's healthy arm with my hand.
A few seconds later, 'healthy' is no longer an adjective that can be applied to either of the man's upper limbs.
Because of the pain from this new wound, the wretch has managed to tear his throat with his cries of pain, so his mouth now produces almost no sound.
'This isn't turning out to be as easy as I thought... But now that I'm on stage, I can't back down.'
A small part of me is disgusted at having to inflict this kind of disproportionate violence on individuals who are only guilty of stealing a few things from us.
But another part knows that these people are murderers, that they have probably killed a tremendous number of people, and that they would have killed me and my girls if they had had the chance.
'You don't have to feel awful about this kind of thing, kiddo. What you're doing is perfectly natural: the strong consume the weak. That's the way it is; it's been that way for a long time, and it always will be... Besides, this is the only way to get them to leave you and your women alone.'
'I know that! But it's still unpleasant... Agh... That idiot's screams are driving me crazy.'
While I was dealing with his partner, Zack started screaming at the top of his lungs, repeating his mantra, "I don't want to die."
Because of that, when I'm about to continue with what's left of Mauricio's arms, in a moment of irritation I take a step towards the screaming assassin and silence him forever with a punch to the face.
Due to the force of my blow, the man's head bursts like a rotten piece of fruit, splattering blood on all the curious onlookers closest to me and the assassins.
After that display, the crowd moves even further away from where I am, while continuing to murmur and watch with morbid curiosity to see what will become of the last man I brought with me.
'Finally, a little silence... Now I should finish what I started.'
However, when I turn back to look at the man I am holding with my arm, I see that he seems to have completely lost consciousness due to the bleeding, so he will no longer be of much use to my cause.
Thus, I let go of him and let his body fall to the ground, like a puppet whose strings have been cut.
After which I give him a downward kick that slams him even harder into the ground, deforming his chest due to the pressure of the blow.
Then I turn around to look at where Ivan was, the last of the assassins still alive.
Only to discover that the bastard has taken the opportunity to break free from his bonds and run towards the people in the temple in search of cover.
"Ahh, no. No one here is going to escape their punishment," I say, and, activating my Agility Profile, I shoot towards the fugitive.
In a split second, I have him by the back, holding his neck with my hand, which causes a scream of pure panic to escape from his throat.
But suddenly something unexpected happens that leaves me momentarily paralyzed with astonishment.
"Enough with the violence! That man has just sought shelter in the temple, and I must follow the teachings of my god. That's why I won't let you hurt him," says a very thin young man with a pale face and trembling knees as he steps forward with the apparent intention of preventing me from killing the last of the criminals.
[Jose Lvl 15] [Class: none]
"Do you really wanna test your luck, boy?" I say, trying not to show how much this young man's actions have thrown me off balance.