Crack
Whoosh
Boom
"Are they fighting again?" Makarov muttered, frowning.
He sat at his table on the first floor, looking through the latest property damage report the Council had sent him.
His blood pressure rose as he thought about the reply he would have to send.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Makarov snapped his gaze to the crystal lacrima on the table.
"This is Makarov speaking." He received the call.
"Sir! The mission had derailed from the expectation. A Dark Mage is involved!" The other side said in panic.
Makarov frowned. "Which mission are you talking about?" 'A dark mage? I might need to send reinforcements. Though not many had gone out currently.'
"The one where those kids were sent to. The mayor's assistant contacted me. They plan to sacrifice all the villagers."
Makarov's heart stopped beating for a second.
Clang
The lacrima slipped from his hand, landing on the table.
"What did you SAY? Give me all the details. Quick!"
'The mission I gave had the least chance of going awry. Even then, at worst, it might have involved fighting with some beasts in the forest or a rogue mage.'
"Sir, two of the children, along with the client's daughter, who they were supposed to bring back..." The man from the council started explaining the scenario.
'I don't know the estimated prowess of the dark mage. To be on the safe side, I will send an S-rank.' Given that the guild's future was at stake, Makarov decided not to risk it.
Just as he was going to hang up, a figure came to mind. A woman.
"Green," Makarov muttered.
"Sorry?"
"What was the girl's hair colour? That kid's."
"She was green-haired."
'Green-haired, 10-year-old and the ability to control and enhance magical beasts...'
"What's the current year?"
"Uh... It's x776." The man on the other side seemed confused by Makarov's question.
His confusion only increased as Makarov hung up on him.
'It's been more than 10 years since that incident... Still, there's a possibility that it's her child. Does that mean she's behind it?' Makarov's expression grew more concerned.
He jumped off the table and then opened the drawer. Another lacrima lies there. Makarov poured some magic in it.
He then waited for a few seconds.
The lacrima didn't react.
'Guess, he hasn't completed that mission yet. I will have to personally go there then.' Makarov clicked his tongue. Gildarts should be nearer to that village than him.
Makarov quickly informed the guild members.
"Recall everyone and be on guard. Though the chances are less, this might be part of an enemy's plan."
Though it's less likely, there is still a chance that he was fed false information to pull him away from the guild.
He almost made another call—to verify, to buy time—but his gut told him there was none left.
'If it really is the Roadwalker... then it's already too late.'
---
Step Step Step
Sounds of the boots on the cobblestones echoed like a heartbeat.
Step Step Step
"Did you hear that? Her parents were somehow magically killed due to accidents despite being mages. This was clearly not an accident."
"Idiot! Lower your voice! If the new chief hears you, death would be a mercy for you. If you care about yourselves and your family, then shut up!"
A teenage girl, around 15 years old, walked quickly through the streets. Her face was blank—her expression betrayed no emotions.
She had bright green hair, the kind that would normally attract attention in a crowd. Her steps, her posture—everything reeked of 'upper-class', distinguishing her from the crowd.
'That scum...death would be a mercy compared to what I will give him.' The girl's expression didn't change despite the rage she felt.
Her great-grandfather—a mage had founded this village, and her family had been inheriting the village head position for over a century now.
Her adopted uncle had shown his true colours now and successfully plotted to kill her parents, and took the village chief's position.
The only reason she was alive was due to not inciting a rebellion from villagers for killing a child.
'I asked for help for all my parents's close friends.' She clenched her fists.
They were the first to come if they faced even a minor problem, yet when their helper was killed along with their wife and their daughter is now in a difficult position, they come up with various excuses.
'I am fuck—' The girl stopped, no—froze.
She felt something ominous. Something that she couldn't comprehend.
It started with people in front of her dropping like flies, followed by their skin rotting.
THUMP THUMP THUMP
'What in the gods?' The girl's body refused to move due to a primal fear she felt. The unknown is one of the scariest things for a human mind.
'Is it poison? Curse? Did a random mage attack the village?' The girl's mind raced a mile.
After looking for a few seconds, she realised that there was a black miasma invading the village.
And to her growing horror, it was rapidly filling up the village and—
It was rushing at her.
'NO' Her body finally moved, but it was too late—the miasma engulfed her.
The girl instinctively shut her eyes, along with bringing her arms in front of her face.
"..."
'Huh?' She opened her eyes, peeking through the gaps of her hand.
She looked around and found that, other than her, everyone had dropped dead, as if their lives were sucked out.
"What... happened?" The girl muttered at the scene.
Everyone around her was now a corpse. She was the only one alive. Before she could fully realise that, a thought suddenly popped up in her mind.
'WAIT... if everyone is dead, then—' She suddenly dashed towards her previous house.
SLAM
She slammed the door open as she rushed upstairs.
There—
was her uncle lying on the ground, now as a corpse.
The girl looked at the corpse for a few seconds. Her eyes were blank, as if she couldn't process the sight in front of her.
"N—no..." Tears started flowing down her eyes.
She clenched her fists. "NO—YOU CAN'T DIE THIS EASILY. YOU FUCKING CAN'T WITH ALL THE PAIN YOU HAVE GIVEN ME. YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO GET A PAINLESS DEATH." She stomped on the corpse repeatedly.
"What about poisoning my father? How are you going to pay for that if you are dead?"
"What about my mother, who drowned in a bathtub? Did you even have shame when such an excuse was given for her death? YOU still haven't answered what you did to her?"
The girl was the most livid in her entire life.
She didn't feel this much anger when she found out that her uncle was behind her father's death.
She wasn't that angry when she found out about her mother screaming before disappearing.
He...he wasn't supposed to die this easily. This painlessly.
The next second, a green magic circle appeared beneath the corpse.
It started rotating, followed by various tendrils that erupted from it, encasing the corpse.
"You need to be alive... You need to be alive so that I can torture you." All reason left the girl's eyes as she concentrated fully on the magic circle.
Time became a blur. She didn't know if only a few seconds passed or an hour, but the corpse rose, animating back to life.
"YES. YES..." A bright smile erupted on the girl's face.
She finally did it. She could finally take revenge.
"I have been preparing for this moment since you killed them. I researched throughly to give you the maximum amount of pain." At this point, the girl's expression went crazy.
"First, I am going to remove your fingernails. Slowly. Then I am going to slowly cut your fingers. Don't worry, I am going to make sure that you won't go numb to the pain." A smile crept on her face as she imagined it in her head.
"Then I am going to make you eat your own—"
A voice sliced through her words.
"It's dead."
She flinched at the voice, her head snapped back so fast that it would be a blur to a normal person.
There stood a young man.
He wore a high-collared black and tan robe with gold trim, along with a large, flowing white toga draped around his torso.
"That thing you're puppeting? It isn't alive. It never will be again."
"What do you mean dead?... See, it could move." The girl said with wide eyes, pointing her finger at the corpse, which moved according to her will.
Contrary to the huge smile on her face, her eyes were filled with despair—as if already knowing the reality.
A nostalgic smile appeared on the man's face. "This takes me back..." He said, reminiscing.
"But..." The nostalgic smile disappeared as fast as it came. It was now replaced by despair-filled eyes.
'What the hell?' The girl took a step backwards as she looked at the abyss-like eyes. As if the man had survived in hell for a very long time and had forgotten what happiness means.
"You shouldn't mess with life and death... The consequences could make you like me... or maybe even worse."
***
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