Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit
Chapter 219: Anima(Part 18)

Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Anima(Part 18)

"Woaaahhh...so, this is what this truth Spell feels like," Grinned Lyon, restrained in the APF police station.

"Let’s get started. First, the teleportation trap you set, was it really random?" Inquired one of the APF members with a grimace.

"Hahaha, yup, sure was! I set it to identify areas that are highly concentrated in Monster Mana and then teleport targets to one of the identified locations at random. It’s still a work in progress though. I’m still trying to increase its range, right now it only teleports targets to places within Anima. Heh, but it’s fine, I bet everyone who got teleported are dead now!" He cackled gleefully.

"Surely you realize, if that’s really true, this could trigger a war?" Frowned another of the APF members.

"Yeah, duh! That’s what I’m after! Seeing all these people walking around all peaceful and stuff, it’s so boring. I want to see their expressions twist in despair, and triggering a war is the best way to do that! And with this whole alliance thing, I saw the perfect opportunity. I gathered up a bunch of people who were prejudiced against humans, gave them a dramatic speech about protecting the future of our nation and shit like that, and just like that, I had a small army under my command! Honestly, I didn’t expect it to work so well!" He laughed in amusement.

A couple of hours had passed since the attack on Anima Shield’s hideout. Lyon had been restrained and taken to the APF after Raven knocked him out.

The APF made a report to the Anima government, after which they began preparing for the interrogation. Raven and Tacitus had requested to sit in on it, wanting to find out exactly what happened to their friends and allies.

"Yeah, that explains a lot. He never gave a shit about the alliance, he just wanted to stir up some chaos," Surmised Raven with a grimace.

"Yup, this guy gets it!"

"You’re nothing more than a fool. Everyone who got caught in your teleport trap is extremely strong, they’ve survived far worse than having to fight off a few Monsters. Well, I can’t exactly speak on the Adventurers in that regard, but they certainly seemed plenty capable when we destroyed your hideout and wiped out your followers," Pointed out Tacitus icily.

"Yeah, they were all losers. They had you all outnumbered, like, ten to one, and they still lost, in a matter of minutes, and without inflicting so much as a single casualty to your side," He sighed in disappointment.

"How petty. And what a waste of talent too. I’ve never seen any Spells formulated as creatively and uniquely as yours, but you don’t even make the most of your talent. If I were you, I would’ve set that teleport trap to teleport its targets out to the middle of the ocean, deep underground, high up the sky, into a volcano, stuff like that. I-..."

"Dude, stop, what are you doing? Don’t give him ideas, he could use them to kill people in the future!" Interrupted Raven indignantly, as the APF members stared at Tacitus in bemusement.

"Don’t worry, he won’t be getting the chance to do that. For his crimes, he’ll be executed immediately, we won’t be taking any chances. There are still a number of his followers scattered about, the entirety of his forces were in the hideout, after all. Before any of them get any funny ideas about trying to free him, we’ll execute him," Remarked one of the APF members with a grimace.

"Whatever, I could’ve easily had them teleported to locations where they’d be guaranteed to die, but where’s the fun in that? Even though I don’t get to see it myself, just thinking about them struggling in desperation to survive is a lot more exciting that knowing they’re dead for sure!"

"Maybe we should kill this guy right here and now," Remarked Raven, his eyes starting to glow.

"Well, considering that he’s responsible for the death of your comrade and possibly more, you’re more than justified to do just that," Responded one of the APF members.

"Huh? Uh, you sure that’s okay?" Inquired Tacitus in bemusement.

"I don’t see why not. He’s going to end up dead either way, so it doesn’t really matter how. And since your group has been affected the most by his actions, I think it’s fair that one of you do the honors."

"In that case, I’ll end him right away," Replied Raven, before firing out his beams, striking Lyon’s chest and steadily drilling in.

He was deliberately holding back on firing his beams at full power, intent on making Lyon suffer a fairly slow and painful death.

"O-Ow...ow, ow, ow, that really hurts!" Exclaimed Lyon in agony, struggling against his restraints.

Suddenly, he seized up with a sharp gasp as Raven intensified his beams, bursting through Lyon’s ribcage before Raven slightly shifted his gaze across, the beams dragging to the left side of Lyon’s chest and tearing through his heart, killing him.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the nation...

"H-Hurry up and activate your Telekinetic Zone!" Exclaimed Jules, as a torrential downpour pelted down, soaking the two of them in a matter of seconds, before Aster shielded them with his Zone.

"Sorry, that came out of nowhere, kinda caught me off-guard," He apologized sheepishly.

"It’s fine, I-...," Began Jules, before sneezing, shuddering slightly.

"We should find some cover. Telekinetic Zone uses up a lot of Mana, so I’d rather not keep it up for too long," Remarked Aster, as the pair hurried forward.

"Y-Yes, we-...hm? Look, over there! At the bottom of that cliff...I can’t see clearly through this heavy rain, but I think that’s a cave!"

"Huh? Yeah, I think you’re right. Let’s go!" Nodded Aster, the two of them rushing towards the cave.

Aster deactivated his Telekinetic Zone as they entered the cave, a small space, but empty and just about big enough for two people.

It was late in the evening now, the pair had been walking for quite a while, fighting off any Monsters they came across.

"Doesn’t look like the rain is going to die down anytime soon, we’ll have to wait it out in here," Frowned Jules, glancing out the entrance as she began shivering.

"Hey, could you use your Fire Magic to dry our clothes? It’s getting really cold, it’s dangerous to stay in these wet clothes," Pointed out Aster, taking off his coat before reaching down to pull his top off, Jules’s face turning red as he lifted it up, revealing his abdomen and chest.

"Wha-...?! N-No, he’s right, we’ll get sick, or worse, if we don’t dry out clothes. B-But, this...this is so embarrassing," She thought to herself.

"Hm? Hey, your face is getting red, you might be catching a chill already. I’ll squeeze out as much of the water soaked into my clothes as I can, you do the same with yours, and then use your flames to dry the clothes as fast as possible."

"O-Okay, fine, but...please turn around. Set your clothes behind you once you’re done wringing them out, and don’t turn back around until I say so!" She stuttered, doing her best to calm down.

"Yeah, of course, that goes without saying. I’m not going to peek," He assured her as he turned around, before adding jokingly as he glanced back, "Well, unless you want me to, of course."

"Wh-Wha-...this is no time for kidding around!"

"Heh, sorry, just trying to ease the mood a bit, my bad," He grinned sheepishly, before taking off his boots and trousers.

Jules hesitantly began taking her gear and clothes off, glancing at Aster repeatedly to make sure he wasn’t peeking. He’d taken all his clothes off, and having finished wringing out the water, he’d set them behind him on the floor of the cave and was seated on the ground, fully naked.

"D-Damn it, I yelled at him not to turn around, but I keep finding my gaze drawn to him-...n-no, I’m only looking to make sure that he isn’t looking, I-I’m not being creepy!" Jules told herself, before grabbing Aster’s clothes.

She spread them out across the ground in front of her, along with her own clothes, before generating intense heat from her palms, moving them over the clothes like an iron, evaporating some of the moisture.

"Brr, it’s seriously chilly, huh?" Shuddered Aster, before adding, "Wish we could start a fire in here, but considering how small this cave is, we’d probably end up suffocating. Plus, it’s not like we have firewood or anything to burn."

"U-Uh, yeah, right," Nodded Jules, taking another glance at Aster’s back, before tensing as she ended up burning a part of her gear slightly, shaking her head to try and focus as she thought to herself, "Come on, get a hold of yourself! Calm down, don’t think about the fact that you’re completely n-naked in front of him right now, o-or the fact that he’s completely naked too. C-Calm down, just calm down..."