Aerith watched in horror as the hands reached for him, to burn him like a dog that did not deserve to live. And was it his fault? All he did was say the right thing, was it wrong doing what was right?
He lay there powerless to stop it. His heart ran a million miles and he panicked, he wanted to cry for help but his lungs failed to work, his throat still bled.
Just as the first hand was reaching for his neck, there was a noise. It was quick, and sounded like flesh tearing open. Aerith watched as something wet sprayed across his face, the air was filled by the scream of the man before him. Everyone was as stunned as he was, everything had happened so fast, and to his and their surprise— it was still happening.
The sound of the shearing of flesh continued, followed by the screams of the men in the crowd that continued to rise without any end to them. A panic spread through the crowd causing everyone to to go into a panic.
What had started as a gathering to burn a witch had turned into a stampede and Aerith could not help but think he was at the center of it all. He groaned as he tried to stand, but his body ached even more. He felt a hand on his shoulder a second later pulling him to his feet.
"Lord Aerith allow me to help you." Came the familiar voice of a young woman.
He felt a mixture of emotion, split between confusion, surprise and fear. Before him was the same woman that had helped him earlier, she had somehow transformed from a harmless young woman to a cold killing machine, her face was half bathed in red, her clothes likewise. Blood dropped like water from a tap, Aerith noticed she was not harmed in any way.
"How did one girl cause to much damage alone? And she's not even harmed." He thought to himself as he looked around to see people running, some laying on the ground dead, puddles of blood everywhere. Then he noticed her long nails dripping with blood. "No, don't tell me."
The men started to gather again, the man with the torch boomed, veins popping on his temples. "Kill them all, children of the devil."
Aerith's eyes went back to the cross where the young girl hung staring at him still, her eyes begged him for a swift rescue. Or perhaps she was just curious. "It's not like I can rescue myself either." He thought.
The men started to gather again.
Aerith tapped the woman protecting him on the shoulder. "Save the witch."
She looked down at him, her eyes still empty but spoke. "I am only sworn to serve and protect you."
Aerith gritted his teeth in anger as he spoke. "Then do your damn job and help her."
He waited expected her to ignore him or question him but to his surprise she did nothing like that. Instead she darted forward for the platform.
"This little wench dares help the devils spun!" One man screamed as he stood in her way. He was massive and wilding a huge wooden club he was already right for her face. Aerith winced, knowing fully well that her head would not stay on if it connected but she moved very nimbly and ducked under the attack.
She thrust her nails into the man's chest, and clawed out a number of holes in his chest. Blood spilled out of it and a loud scream from the man. But she was not done yet, she bit his wrist and pressed down hard. Aerith watched in horror as the woman ripped out a big chunk of flesh, severing a number of veins and blood vessels with it.
The man cursed her with great resentment, he held his hand and cried in pain. "You damn wench, I'll skin you alive—" before he could finish his words he had his head smashed into a pulp by his club which was now in the hands of Aerith's protector.
"When did she even get the club?" Aerith asked himself.
In the few seconds of shock, she moved like a blur painting every inch of the space between her and the platform red. She swung the huge mallet with ease despite the difference between it and her body size. Before he knew it she was in front of the podium. The man with the torch stayed there for a reason, ranting about duty to the gods only to have his head cracked open.
She quickly untied the young girl and carried her over her shoulder, she started to make her way down the path of red she had made. The panic in the square had calmed down for some reason, and when she turned back she saw exactly why.
The group had gathered around a sickly boy, and one of them held him with a dagger to his throat. "If you take one more step forward I'll kill your young lord." Boomed the one holding the knife.
Another screamed. "Tie up the witch and we will let the cripple go!"
"Shut, it's annoying being useless but being called a cripple again." Aerith screamed in his head, he looked at his protector his eyes trembling his breath unsteady. "I should have had her stay by my side, what's the point dying to save a witch? I thought I was being reincarnated with special abilities but it turns out that was a scam too. What a way to go."
The protector stood there, her body frozen as if put on pause, her eyes scanned the area for any way she could turn the situation in her favour but it came to a dead end. The distance between them was too huge to cover.
The witch that had been half dead opened her mouth and let a whisper fly into her ears. Her voice was broken, on the verge of fading as she spoke. "You care for your master, he helped me. Allow me to repay the favour. Set me down."
Aerith looked at his protector, he could hear his heart thundering in his ribcage. His thoughts went wild. "Why the hell did I have to read such a psychotic book, I could have read a telenovela or a romcom. Curse my bad taste."
"What are you doing?" The bellows of the angry men caused Aerith to look up. "We said tie her up."
He watched his protector bend down, slowly till she dropped the witch on the ground. "What are you playing at here?" Aerith thought. "A bargain? But they'll kill us all regardless."
The group of men began to spread out once more, beating spears, sickles, daggers, shovels, clubs and anything they considered a weapon. Their attention on the protector of the young lord who still worded a club all losing sight of the real menace that had just been set loose. Only one person still had his sights on her.
The witch after she touched the ground went limp, Aerith feared she had died but after he saw her twitch he sighed in relief. "Is playing dead her hobby or something." She stayed there for a few seconds till he noticed the wounds on the wrists begin to close. His jaw dropped, "What the hell...!"
The witch brought her head close to one of the puddles of blood on the ground and drank it right off the ground. She continued to drink till she could feel life return back to her.
The angry mob soon came to a stop as they noticed the same thing. The blood puddles started to form out like a serpent all converging on the witch as she began to devour it. The mob diverted their actions to her but it was already too late, they had lost their chances.
The witch looked up, grinning from ear to ear like a crazed being. The look had gave Aerith the chills. She made a gesture with both hand, grazing the air till she pressed them together and whispered something under her breath. All the time she had her eyes closed, the mob ran forward to meet her but their bodies froze, they struggled but could only cry and beg for their lives.
Aerith watched as hundreds of thousands of needles sprout out of every pore in their bodies, shredding them to billions of tiny pieces. His eyes widened and he was left speechless.
The witch started to walk towards him, her face now looking younger despite her being young. Her eyes glowed eerily as she walked closer to him, his body trembled as he felt the man holding him hostage turn to a warm sludge of blood and mince meat. Aerith had never seen such power before, not even in the thousands of chapters of the original novel.
He had no idea there were such powerful characters in the story.
"Thank you." Aerith stuttered, afraid she might kill him. He would be powerless to resist if she chose to make an attempt.
She opened her mouth to speak as she was almost before him when a stray arrow pierced through her heart from behind. Her body froze, her eyes widened, her skin paled. Aerith felt his body go into a frenzy of emotions as he watched her body collapsed fight before him.
The only words he could hear singing in the air was, "Yes, I killed the witch. Her followers are nothing without her power." It came from the crowd of men that had first run but had come back.
Aerith's protector was now overwhelmed by a great number of them, he simply stated at the body of the witch, her body in a pool of its own making. His body started to overheat, his eyes twisted unnaturally and he balled his hands into fists.
"Why?"
"Just why?"
"She was just a child!"
He hissed out in rage, his muscles burning within him and heat rising out from every pore of his body. His body started to react strangely but he was too furious to notice, the strange words appeared before his eyes.
[Conditions have been met]
[System has been activated]
[Commencing awakening]
"I'll kill all of you!" He gave a loud gutteral roar.