Lucian accompanied the men to Savage's property. He planned to stay the night and depart in the morning. It was the safest place for him to stay, for his wagon too.
Savage was the local boss, so who would dare to steal from him?
Well…
Lucian looked up, seeing smoke and fire rise from inside the Savage's mansion outside the town. The gates were wide open, with few guards having their throats slit while others were still fighting with the enemy group.
There were at least thirty people, armed to the teeth with swords and knives.
'The bigger the people you deal with, the bigger the danger that follows.' Lucian knew the risks, so he couldn't complain. But still, couldn't they wait for another day to fight?
Lucian would like to turn his head and walk away, but it was too late; they were already surrounded. 'I'm sorry, little wife. Your husband might not come back in one piece...'
"Here to die, Savage?" the leader of the other group taunted, his eyes shifting to Lucian, "Who is this? A foreigner? What did you do? Sell your soul to the northerners?"
The relationship between the South and the North could be described with a few words: bad, terrible, and bloody.
Savage was too out of his mind to respond to his question. "You fucking traitorous sonofabitch-" he cursed when they brought a pregnant woman over. Her face was bruised and her clothing torn. "You are not getting away with this!"
"Get away with what?" the rival laughed, "Your woman is mine now!"
The woman was crying and struggling in the men's grip. Lucian could see the men grinning behind their boss. They were getting off on this.
"Let her go, Scythe," Savage gritted through his teeth, his mustache quivering in rage. He was a tough man with intricate tattoos that resembled vines all over his arms.
The more detailed a southerner's tattoo, the more powerful they were.
"Hand over the northie," Scythe said, his arms covered as much as Savage's, "And we might consider it."
"..." Savage looked at the woman, then at Lucian, and then back at the woman, biting his lower lip.
The woman widened her eyes when Savage and his men shielded Lucian, ready to protect their investment instead of saving her.
"Honey, no..." she whispered in disbelief.
The leader laughed, "What a cold-hearted man you are, Savage. You won't even save your woman?"
Savage was regretting it, but his greed seemed too strong. "I will avenge you...Karolaina...I will kill him and his children...and his children's children!" he promised, staring bloody murder in Scythe's direction, "They will all pay!"
"Bold words," Scythe laughed, "For a dead man," he motioned to his men to attack, "Get that northerner. He seems important to Savage's business."
The two gangs charged at each other, and Lucian felt the ground shake under their feet.
The formation of the two groups was like the fangs of a wolf, closing on each other, ready to rip each other's throats out.
Moving to a safer area, Lucian's focus shifted to the woman, Karolaina, who was held by the Scythe's man. They were both separated from their groups by the brawl.
The betrayal had shattered her will to fight, and she was crying in defeat.
Lucian could wait it out, let the two groups fight and weaken each other, then use the state of the winner to build an alliance with them. Or help Savage's side, which could endanger the child inside Karolaina's womb.
Both choices would be beneficial to him, so Lucian could just stand and wait...but who was Lucian? He wanted to believe in love, believe that Savage did it for the second reason, to protect his family and not out of greed.
He waited. Until everyone had an opponent to deal with. And when they did, Lucian tried not to shake from the excitement as he ran to Karolaina, ducking his head from the flying fists and blades.
His combat skills weren't the best, but he had something else to compensate. A big bag of money, to be specific. Lucian threw the bag at the man holding the woman hostage.
The man caught the bag with one hand, and in that moment of distraction, Lucian jumped in, pulling Karolaina out of his grasp and piercing his dagger in the man's groin.
"Run," he ordered her, and she did.
The gut-wrenching scream of the man was enough to draw the attention of the people fighting. There was a dagger sticking out of his groin, and blood was gushing out of his wound. He was screaming like a pig, rolling on the ground in pain.
Lucian raised his leg, then kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground again, "Ah, sorry, I missed," he said, "I was aiming for your mouth," and then, another kick.
Karolaina, who had turned back to see what had happened, had the same expression as the rest of the people. Shock.
Lucian grinned at the audience and stomped on the man's face again, provocatively, without regard for his own life. The man seemed to be still alive and wanted nothing more than to torture Lucian to death.
"I'm trying to save you all," Lucian said as he grabbed the man's sword. He raised the blade and cut off the man's right leg, and then the left.
Then he stabbed him in the chest, twisting the blade as the man's eyes turned golden, "A shackled was hiding amongst you. It's your lucky day, gentlemen, for I've saved you from a disaster," he said with a wider grin.
The man on the ground began to move frantically, "I'll kill you!" he growled at Lucian, "Kill you! Kill you! KILL Y─"
His limbs tried to regenerate, only for Lucian to cut off the new growth, making him scream in hatred and anger. His golden eyes were fixed on the boy, swearing revenge.
"Ah, so tired," Lucian said as if he had just gone through a day's worth of hard labor, letting everyone know how dealing with a shackled was not easy.
He picked up the bloodied bag of coins and walked away, leaving the man to his miserable state as both groups jumped on him.
Their swords and blades were cutting him to pieces; his screams of agony and hatred never stopped, not until they chopped off his head and tore his heart out of his chest.
'...' the voice said nothing. It was probably busy looking for a way to pull at Lucian's hair and punch a few teeth out of his mouth for using it like some sort of contagious disease (by releasing it like in his childhood). It was not how its powers were supposed to be used!