Lobi and Zetto passed through a completely unguarded gate, which immediately made the Messenger suspicious. As they entered Sain, a group of slave hunters charged at them.
"Ungrateful bitch brought a new dog!" one of them shouted with a malicious grin.
Lobi screamed, closing her eyes and trying to shield herself with her hands, ducking behind Zetto.
The former hero's gaze turned into a cold, empty abyss.
One thought. One spell.
"Don't be afraid," he said, turning his head toward the trembling Lobi. "You're with me."
"D-d-did you…?" the dog-girl stammered, opening her eyes.
From those who attacked them, only piles of meat and blood were left, splattered across nearby buildings.
"Keep your head up. You'll help save others," he said, his eyes moving over the surrounding buildings. This city… it's weirdly empty, he thought, a growing sense of unease settling in.
An arrow shot from a building window toward them. If Zetto hadn't reacted in time, Lobi would already be dead. After that first one came a a full hail of arrows, but not a single shot could pierce Zetto's barrier.
"T-they must have set up an ambush earlier, but then… what did they do with the citizens? And… and on top of that, no one was following us, so how…", said the dog-girl.
"You should have eyes in the back of your head," came a low, male voice from behind Lobi.
It was an assassin in purple robes. He attacked the dog-girl, but before he could do anything, a huge stone spike shot up from the ground and impaled his throat. The assassin let out a short, guttural, ear-piercing sound just before dying.
"He managed to get through my defense. Probably because of this," Zetto said, turning toward the corpse, and took a small dagger from the assassin's hand, gleaming with a purple hue. Zetto checked the weapon's stats. The item had a special enchantment that allowed it to break through any magical protection an opponent had.
They must have planned this in advance…
"I-I don't get any of this. It's like Kahima brought his entire garrison here – so many mercenaries. They keep shooting at us, and if it weren't for your protection, Sir Zetto, we'd already be dead."
"Please, call me by my name."
"I can't. Among the Varii, only those who've openly declared their feelings for the pack leader get to call him by his name."
Does that mean Maghra was trying to tell me something? No… I'll think about that later. I must go foward, I have to save them…
They kept moving through the empty, cobbled streets under a rain of arrows. The green barrier around Zetto and Lobi glowed like a radiant halo, warding off evil. When Kahima's forces ran out of ammunition, the mercenaries he'd hired began climbing out of buildings or descending from windows on ropes, aiming to strike Zetto directly.
"You still haven't given up? This is starting to bore me," the Messenger said, his voice emotionless. "Lobi, stay as close to me as possible."
"Y-yes."
The dog-girl grabbed him by the hook and held on tight.
A spell that would kill them all, whether they decided to flee or hide. All of them – except one. I need information.
Flames of black-purple energy gathered around his hand. He pressed it to his chest.
The barrier turned black, then exploded outward, shooting countless magical limbs tipped with spikes and blades. The crowd of Kahima's men screamed across Sain.
Lobi covered her ears.
After a moment, silence fell, broken only by the heavy breathing of the man closest to them, filling the air with terror. Lobi let go of the Messenger. Zetto stepped over to the barely-living bandit and grabbed him by the coat.
"Talk. What's going on here?" he growled, clearly furious. "Where are the citizens and the slaves?"
The thug just sneered mockingly.
"Go to the center and see for yourself. You haven't saved anyone, great hero. Kahima ordered…–"
He didn't finish. Zetto smashed his head into the cobblestones with brutal force.
I can't hold back.
This rage… it makes me want to tear them all apart. Not because I enjoy it, but simply…
I keep thinking about how they could hurt the people who matter to me in the same way, the people I can't imagine my daily life without.
And that's what makes me lose all self-control.
Unexpectedly, Zetto's status popped up right before his eyes.
Hm? Why now of all times? I've been ignoring it this whole time… unless something really important shows up.
Zetto glanced at his level –750.
It's probably because earlier I killed a pair of heroes, and now so many bandits… hard to tell.
The messenger checked his status once more. A new feature had been added to his skill –Intuition:
Additional special trait: Compassion. Compassion allows the user to sense humanoid beings in need of help nearby (does not apply to beings the user is fighting or has killed).
A special trait perfect for my current mission. I'm slowly starting to stop believing this is just a coincidence. Hopefully, this will help me locate the people who–
Zetto was about to take a step forward, but his whole body started shaking.
A wave of absolute, soul-crushing terror hit him from the hearts of several people. They were crying for help, suffering, begging for rescue – or for the end of their pain.
Zetto grabbed his head and bent down.
He heard their cries, felt only fragments of their agony, and yet it almost tore him apart from the inside, broke him.
Tears involuntarily started streaming from his eyes.
"Sir Zetto, what's happening?" Lobi asked, terrified. "Sir Zetto!" She looked at him with genuine concern. She wanted to help, but there was almost nothing she could do.
Zetto clenched his teeth. He pressed a hand to his face.
Their pain… I have to find them as fast as I can. I can't handle this.
Calm down… it'll shred my mind from the inside. Help is coming.
Shaking all over, Zetto began moving forward, guided by Compassion.
"Let's go," he said shortly, wiping the tears from his face.
When he got himself together, the effect of Compassion faded just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind only a few remaining fragments of sorrow in Zetto.