~ Chapter 57: Monsters… ~

[Alexandre Damascus' point of view]

 What's this? What's this? What's this?! I thought as I looked at the heart I held in my hand.

It belonged to the ten-years-old little boy I just killed, yet something was strange about it.

This wasn't the first time I ate human flesh, so I immediately noticed that something was definitely off about the taste. It was different, but surely this couldn't have been the reason why my [Blessing of the Thief] failed to steal his Blessing, right?

My Blessing either didn't activate at all or it worked as intended and stole the Blessing of my target and then gave me a copy of it. Although weakened and not as powerful as the original version, it was still better than one of the lesser versions.

So far, it had never, and I mean NEVER failed! Not even ONCE in all of my hunts so far did this power when activated and successfully cast failed to steal my target's Blessings. No, it should have been impossible! Even the Blessing of the mighty Sapherya could be stolen with this ability of mine!

To not be able to take the power of a mere child...

What sort of Blessing is this? What power did this boy had? I thought, but while doing so, the air around me began to change.

The reason for this was my prey, the ten-years-old little girl and also the sister of the boy I killed.

When I cast my eyes upon her, I felt a chill running down my spine, and I couldn't help but gulp.

The little girl's blonde hair turned into a bright red like a fire spell ready to explode, and it moved as though unsettled by a strong gust of wind which blew from her front. Her blue eyes like the clear sky turned red and glowed with the desire for battle and the thirst for blood. The aura around her changed into one worthy of a warrior. A shroud of red crackling energy like untamed lightning surrounded her, pushing back the dust, dirt, and leaves around her, flaunting her strength and prowess.

In a moment, I felt like I was standing on the battlefield and thousands of soldiers were raging around me, clashing their swords with all of their might, while she, like a redhead goddess of destruction stood there in front of me as my enemy.

I felt like all of my escape paths had been cut off, and my hair stood on its end. With her mere presence and that mocking smirk on her lips made ME, a hunter of Blessings, one who faced more adversity and more enemies than one could imagine, feel as though I had no choice but to face her head on.

What a dangerous child. I thought and gulped.

Clenching my hands into fists, I said “What's this? Are you activating your Blessing? I can't let you do that!” I shouted and launched myself at her.

I already knew that she never activated her Blessings before, so this meant that no matter how terribly powerful her gift was, she was far too inexperienced with it to face someone like me in battle. Age and battle experience were on my side. I could win, and the one who struck first had the advantage.

When I attacked her, I didn't hold back. The moment my punch entered her aura, I felt her savage bloodlust, and I felt like I was staring in a monster's hungry eyes. This little girl was no ordinary child... such fierce power... such bloodlust... How could she release something like this when she was merely 10 years of age?!

She was a monster, that was what she was!

However, just when my punch was about to connect, she dodged and counter-attacked with a leg strike to my right cheek. One moment I was standing in front of her, then in the next one I was flying above the grass towards the other side of the clearing, right into the trees.

Instinctively, I switched my Blessings and activated [Blessing of the Fighter], from the God of War. It was one of the first Blessings I stole and also one of the strongest out there.

Under the influence of this Blessing, my body was covered in a similar red aura as hers, but my hair and eyes didn't turn red, and I wasn't emitting such a scary bloodlust. The boost in strength and speed I received from it was extraordinary. In the blink of an eye, I was able to turn my body around and stop myself from slamming into the trees.

I smirked as I came to a stop.

“Don't think you are the only one with...” my words were cut short.

When I raised my eyes from the ground, I saw the fiery little girl with a cold expression on her face standing right in front of me, ready to punch me. There wasn't even the smallest sign of hesitation in her movement. She was going all out and intent on killing me.

I barely had time to lift my hands up to block the strike.

“Kuh!” I groaned when I felt it connect.

This little monster hit me with such strength that I even heard a crack in my left hand, which was already damaged by that little boy's attack earlier. I clenched my teeth and bared with the pain as I restored my balance.

The girl's punch was no joke. If she attacked a normal guard with that strength, she would have made his head explode into a thousand bloody pieces. She could achieve the so-called decapitation with a hammer.

Such power, I couldn't wait to test it out for myself once I stole her Blessings!

Pulling some distance from her, I took out my sword and prepared to do a little damage on her frail body. No matter how powerful one's Blessing was, if you damaged their bodies enough, they would eventually lose focus from the pain and be unable to properly use it. Considering the fact that my opponent was a mere ten-years-old child, a few precise cuts would have been more than enough to get her crying for her mommy.

Thus, I attacked.

I aimed first for the muscles of her thighs and then for her calves, to heavily reduce her mobility. This was a simple hit and run tactic which would eventually lead to the bleed out of any opponent no matter how powerful they were. If she wore armor, it would have been almost impossible to attack her this way given her current speed and everything. Aiming for the tendons was also a good strategy. A cut tendon would make the muscle it was attached to useless, but unfortunately, such a precise cut wasn't something I could skillfully do at this speed.

“Ngh!” she groaned from the pain and fell on her knees as I kept running around her, slicing her muscles into shreds.

“Soon, you will fall down, and your Blessing will be mine!” I declared with a big smile on my face.

What could I say? I was in love with the role of the villain or rather it suited me like a glove! After all, only those like me held the true power! The only difference was how society looked at us. Some were nobles, other priests, while others still searched for a convenient mask to wear. That of the Royal Knight was fun to wear until I got bored with it, but I wanted more! I wanted something better than this!

Maybe with her Blessings I can finally aim for becoming a part of the Royal Family? OR maybe I could replace them altogether! I thought to myself.

I could start by becoming the young Prince's helper, then convince the King to make another child, a little girl which I could then teach to become my perfect wife. Afterwards, it would be just a matter of quietly assassinating the other members of the Royal Family. It was simple, a perfect plan from a genius like me!

“Stop... RUNNING!” the little girl growled and jumped forward to punch me.

In this attack, I slashed open her left biceps, but she pushed forward, ignoring her own open wound and punched me in the face. I was tossed back several meters and fell rolling on the ground.

This is insane! How did she attack me?! I injured both her legs! By now she should be crying from the pain and be unable to even stand, let alone jump! I thought as I got back up on my feet, holding my bleeding nose with my hand.

When I looked back at her, I saw the little girl's bleeding left arm, but she merely pushed the sliced parts of her wound together, and it already began to heal at an insane speed.

Is this because of her Blessing or is she some sort of monster?! I thought when I witnessed this inhuman feat.

Angered, I dashed at her before I recovered and swung down my sword. She lifted her right hand up and stopped the blade with just her bones.

“Why can't I cut off your arm?!” I shouted.

I was outraged by this impossible feat that happened right before my eyes.

The strength and speed I put into my sword were by no means something to joke about, yet this ten-years-old received such a blow in a way which should have led to her arm being sliced off. Her bones simply refused to be cut.

Even so, the amount of blood she had lost due to the number of injuries she suffered was no joke. This child should have lost her will to fight and even consciousness by now because of that. She should had groveled on the ground screaming in pain and begging me for forgiveness not glare at me like she wanted to jump and rip me to shreds.

This little girl, my prey, didn't care about her wounds. She didn't care how badly injured she was or how much blood she had lost, she just wanted to get to me... to kill me.

Angered, I looked at where I previously cut her biceps, wondering if maybe I simply didn't cut deep enough, but... the wound... it was gone. The cuts on her legs and arms were gone!

This is impossible! No normal human can heal so fast without a healing spell cast on them! I screamed in my mind.

“What sort of monster are you?” I asked dumbfounded.

“Get away from my little sister!” someone shouted and then I was punched in the left cheek.

My body went flying, but I felt like this scene already happened before, but there was no way that could be true, right? I killed that little boy, her brother, so who could have been?

I landed at the edge of the clearing and somehow or another stopped myself from slamming into the trees behind me at a full force.

Who? Who was it?! I asked myself in anger as I got up on my feet and looked at culprit.

“Huh?! Impossible! I killed you! I ripped your heart right out of your chest! So why... why are you still alive?!” I shouted and pointed at him.

Indeed, the one who punched me was none other than the auburn-haired little boy with blue eyes like his sister. He too was surrounded by a fiery aura just like her and then his hair and eyes slowly turned into the same bright red as hers.

As I watched him activate a similar Blessing, I noticed that his disheveled clothes were stained by a quantity of blood that should have been fatal for someone of his size. The other thing I noticed was that the hole I personally made in his chest was now gone, completely healed.

These children... What sort of monsters are they? I wondered.