Bam!
"Kuhuk! You.. Bastard!"
Basil who had dragged Davine by his hair threw him beside Danzel. He was helplessly thrown until his body slammed onto the wall. Danzel was slightly taken aback by it as he threw his head toward his side.
He had not been paying much attention due to the injuries he had suffered. Coupled with the blood lost, staying awake was a very much struggle for him. Therefore, knowing Basil had come to save them was already enough for him.
When he regained his focus back, he could finally notice his surrounding better. He could hear the sounds that reverberated through the whole room. A strong stench of blood could be smelled in the room.
He moved his gaze from Davine and looked in front of him. He could see from the corner of his eyes that Clarissa was on his side looking at nothing but the ground.
Then, he could finally see the limbless men who were helplessly butchered by the women they had violated. The floor was littered with corpses and painted with blood. It was gruesome enough for him to flinch.
He looked at the perpetrator, who was naturally Basil, and sighed lightly when he saw Basil met his eyes calmly. He shook his head. He didn't care about the act of killing. It was the norm in the world they were living.
However, to make innocent women killed the men who had violated them — even though they were overwhelmed with rage — was quite baffling. Moreover, Basil didn't push them nor encouraged them. He merely gave them a choice, and they chose to do it.
Any ordinary women would hesitate to commit murder, no matter they were in hate or not. However, the sheer conviction in Basil's tone managed to convince them.
"Here."
"Thank you..."
Danzel took the pill Basil had offered and gulped it immediately. It quickly melted by the time it made a contact with his tongue. Soon enough, his body warmed and a very familiar feeling was coursing through his body.
He looked at Basil with widened eyes and muttered, "This is.. Catalyst?" He was astonished. It had been ages since he had taken Catalyst. He couldn't afford it anymore as that much money could be used for another purpose.
Basil didn't give much reaction as he merely nodded his head. He had just given Danzel the true Crystal Clear. Therefore, the effect was far better than the one he had sold to the Alchemy Store.
Basil looked at the fascinated Danzel stoically. However, in the inside he felt relieved he could make it back in time. Nobody could notice it, however he was worn down. He hadn't gotten any rest for a day.
Although a Knight normally didn't need that much sleep, it was only the case when they did nothing rigorous. Basil had been running and fighting through his way back. Without rest, the toll didn't only affect his body, but also his mind.
Therefore, he opted to stay silent. He was afraid the more he spoke, the angrier he would become. His fight with Gorgophone had taught him a thing. Anger, no matter it was a burning one or a cold one, wasn't good in the long run.
Basil was merciless, however he wasn't normally cruel. He rarely made his enemies suffer for long. It was the reason he had always aimed at a clean shot. He didn't want to make them suffer for more than necessary.
However, in case when anger overtook his mind. He would do something that no one could think of to his enemies. Although he was calm, his mind would be filled with many thoughts of how to inflict eternal suffering to his enemies.
He had almost given into his rage, by the time he had seen Davine harassing Clarissa. Funnily, it was also due to Clarissa that he managed to hold back his rage. He didn't want to let her have a gruesome memory.
Although sheltering a child wasn't a good thing to do, exposing them to madness was worse. He didn't want to taint Clarissa's mind with an unpleasant memory due to his momentary rage.
"Clarissa, can you clean Pops' face?"
"Hm. I will do it."
Basil handed her a cloth and a Spatial Jug he had filled with conjured water. Clarissa took it and replied him silently. She wasn't bothered at what Basil had done, she knew they deserved it. However, she still couldn't wrap her mind around the things that had just happened.
Basil turned his gaze toward the naked women who were bathed in blood. They sat on the ground while looking at the bodies of the men whose life they had ended. Their eyes were hollow as if they had no idea what to do from then on.
He moved his feet toward them, conjured a big amount of water on the way, and dropped it on their head without warning.
"Kyaa!"
Three of them let out a suppressed scream, while the other two merely closed their eyes and enjoyed the cold water. They could feel their soul was cleaned along with their bodies. When the water stopped, their bodies were already cleaned from blood.
Basil took out five blankets and gave one to each of them. They took it and wrapped their bodies with it. They hugged it tightly while looking at Basil with grateful eyes. Their eyes glistened as tears slowly fell down their cheeks.
"Thank you."
One of the women thanked him in a hoarse voice and bowed her head. The others who saw this also followed suit as they bowed their heads too. Basil looked at them for a second before flashing a bitter smile for a brief moment.
"Hm."
He didn't respond more than that. He didn't want to humble himself in front of them, for he knew he wasn't that kind of person. They were just coincidentally in his way, and accidentally involved due to his interest.
Therefore, he responded them that way and turned his back on them. When he saw Davine who was clutching his abdomen to keep it shut, he felt the need to somehow make him suffer.
Bam!
"Gah!"
Basil's foot landed on Davine's forehead, and his head was embedded to the wall. Basil looked at him in disinterest, and gazed at Danzel whose face had been cleansed of any bloodstains by Clarissa.
Crystal Clear had already done most of its works as Basil could only find some bumps and swelling on Danzel's face. It was a fairly acceptable condition.
"Clarissa, my daughter. Would you take the ladies out with you?"
"Yes, I will, Father."
"Thank you."
Clarissa stood up and led the five women out of the room while trying her best not to look down on the ground. Luckily, the five women were understanding as they were the one who approached Clarissa, not the other way around.
Click.
The opened door was closed, signifying the exit of the six people. Danzel looked at Basil again and nodded his head. He knew Basil had something to say to him.
He had instantly understood it when he had seen Basil's eyes previously. Therefore, he had told Clarissa and the others to get out of the room.
"What you are about to hear is the truth behind James' death."
"... I know about that. This bastard killed him!"
Danzel smiled in defeat at first, before exclaiming spitefully at Davine who had his head embedded to the wall.
"Yes. However, you might not know his real motive to kill James."
"It's for an armour... Right?"
Basil didn't immediately answer him. He merely moved his hand at Davine's neck and grabbed the pendant on his neck.
"This pendant is a Charmer's Pendant. It is a Middle Grade Green Rank Relic. As its name suggested, it is used to charm people. Anyone who wears it will be able to convince the people they meet quite easily."
Danzel looked at Basil in puzzlement. His face was asking what was Basil talking about. However, in the next moment, realization dawned upon him.
"Ah, it's for that reason that I... This bastard!"
He wanted to strangle Davine badly, however he held himself back. He was old enough to have a certain amount of control over his emotion. He couldn't lose himself there. Therefore, he had to hold back.
"Then.. why was Clarissa not affected?"
"As long as one has a certain grudge or resentment towards the wearer, the pendant wouldn't work. It is a Green Rank for a reason."
"I see... Then, what is his real motive?"
"Treasure."
At that moment, Danzel looked at Basil in another puzzlement. However, Davine had none of it as he groaned and mustered his power to speak.
"You... Bastard! You know about it!"
"What do you mean by that, Basil?"
Despite the noise that the struggling Davine made, nobody cared about him. Danzel completely tuned him out.
"James wasn't given an armour at the end of Excluso Expedition. He was given an inheritance. He was aware that revealing the thing he was given was dangerous. Therefore, he had covered it."
"I knew it! It is true! The map is in the armour!"
"Is it true?"
This time, Danzel actually considered Davine's words held some true. Therefore, he was looking at Basil for confirmation. Basil merely shook his head faintly.
"No. There was no map on the armour. There wasn't even an armour in the first place."
Basil took out a finger sized red jade out of his pocket and showed it to Danzel.
"This is Jade of Soul Memoir. It contains the soul of the one who had given it to James. The soul inside it is the one who has the information."
"What.. do you.. mean?"
Davine was gaping his mouth as he tried to take his head out of the wall. He was struggling to do that. When Basil had cut his abdomen, his Core was shattered along with the opening of his abdomen.
Surely, one couldn't destroy another's Core that easily. A certain attack at the correct point was needed for that to happen. Naturally, for the experienced Basil, it was easy to do. Therefore, aside from his abnormal vitality, Davine had no more Qi in his body.
Knights who had their Core shattered were called Retired Knights. Davine had become one just because he messed with the wrong person.
"This Bastard still has the audacity to open his mouth?"
Danzel looked at Davine absurdly. His purposefully suppressed rage boiled once again as he heard Davine's tone. Due to the effect of Crystal Clear, his body had somewhat recovered enough for him to stand.
He moved in front of Davine and clenched his fist tight. Then, he swung his fist as hard as he could to Davine's head.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Although the power of a Retired Knight was above normal people, they wouldn't normally be able to harm a higher caliber Retired Knight. However, Danzel was currently in a Qi induced state. Therefore, his punch wasn't something Davine could ignore.
"Ugh! Freaking old man! Stop! I said stop!"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Danzel ignored his plea. He kept punching to his heart content. The more he saw Davine was suffering, the more rigorous his punch became. He was paying back the deed Davine had done to him.
"Huuh... That was refreshing."
After a quite some time, Danzel finally put an end to his barrage of punches. He looked at Basil with a small smile while wiping his bloodied fist with a cloth. Davine was helplessly leaning on the wall while blood was running down his head.
He couldn't even squeal. The only indication he was still alive was his twitching feet and and fingers. His chest would also heave up and down, however it started to becoming faint. The blood loss was simply unbearable for his body to bear.
However —
"I'll leave the rest to you. I am too old for that crap."
— it wasn't enough to kill him.
Danzel knew of it, however he still couldn't bring himself to do it. No matter how much rage he had toward Davine, he wasn't the same young and hotheaded man anymore. Therefore, he left Davine to Basil.
Click.
Danzel finally exited the room, leaving Basil and the half alive Davine alone. Basil merely glanced at him and pointed Kusanagi to Davine's chest.
"There will be a need to hire a Cleaner after this."
"Ughh..."
Stab!
Kusanagi passed through Davine's chest easily. However, the heart was still beating after being pierced. Basil sent his Qi to Kusanagi and used it to stimulate Davine's heart. Due to that, his heart beat faster, resulting in the return of his awareness.
Davine could feel the pain his body was enduring as he regained a part of his consciousness. It was unbearable to him. However, he couldn't scream for it would worsen the pain. That was until —
"AAHHHH!!!"
Burst!
— Basil exploded the Qi he had contained in Kusanagi.
The result was enough to give a nightmare to the Cleaners.