Kazimir’s comment made him chuckle, but he knew the wind mage wasn’t joking. Fighting the incoming goons with these kids around was difficult enough without the kids being a threat as well. For the moment, none of the kids had access to any weapons. So, perhaps they wouldn’t be able to fatally wound him. However, knowing this man, he would probably throw the kids in front of Haru’s attacks to make him stop the attack, and that would be enough opportunity for the well-built goons to strike him. He pulled his sabre out and got ready to handle the incoming thugs.
Initially, it was just as Haru predicted. Every time he went on the offensive, there was a kid jumping in his way. The Knight was quick enough to evade the attacks from the goons, but the children made it impossible for him to get a strike in safely without the risk of harming them.
They were at an impasse, and that forced the mind-controlling maniac to do worse things than Haru had imagined. The goons took the kids as hostage and held a knife at their throat. The children stood there with barely any resistance.
“Throw the weapon away,” demanded one of the beefy men. Haru hesitated. At that moment, he also felt a weird foreign presence in his head, aggressively urging him to give up control. He figured the leader must be trying to use Haru’s confused state to his advantage and take over him as well. Haru resisted as hard as he could, but it was clear that he was fighting a losing battle. His grip on his sabre began to loosen slowly.
He was about to lose hope. However, before he lost complete control, there was a loud bang in the upper floor. Within a mere second, he also felt the invasive presence in his head retreat swiftly. Haru knew of Kazi’s success then. Thankfully, the attack on the leader not just lifted his attempt to control Haru, but also those on the children. The kids regained their consciousness and found themselves standing with knives at their throats. Since the goons had assumed the kids won’t resist, they had not had a tight grip on them. Furthermore, the loud noise from the upper floor had distracted the lot as they looked up and then at each other with a puzzled look.
A few of the kids were quick on their feet and used this opportunity to escape their predicament. However, some were paralyzed in fear. To save them, Haru reacted quickly and ruthlessly. In a blink of an eye, he was next to the thugs who still held the kids. With a flurry of his glowing blue blade, there were three dead men on the floor. A single moment of distraction and they never knew what hit them. Haru turned towards the remaining three, his eyes flaring in rage. Knowing what was in store for them, the rest of the thugs began fleeing for their lives. Another dash and another flurry, three more bodies fell to the ground.
Right after, he heard hurried footsteps behind. He knew it was the leader even before he turned to look at the man. The cunning culprit had exhausted all his cards. His willing thugs were either dead or have fled. He had overused his mind-control tricks and had nothing up his sleeve. With Haru blocking the path down, and Kazimir—whom he was certain would be blocking the other end—the bastard had no escape. He must have realized that as well, as he fell to his knees, surrendering.
Haru’s rage had only multiplied upon seeing the man. Fine clothing, mansions, and any luxury that he could want. Driven by greed for these worldly things, he had put innocent kids through such trauma. His knuckles turned white as he squeezed the hilt hard, and his hands were shaking in anger. And in that anger, Haru began to walk towards the maniac. His steps got heavier and faster as he raised his weapon, ready to behead the monster.
However, just before his blade was about to make contact, he heard two distinct screams; one from the man who was about to be killed, and another from a child behind. Haru paused, turning to see what had distressed the poor kid. He could see pure shock in the little girl’s eyes.
“No more killing, please,” she muttered, as he looked around at the dead thugs and then shut her eyes tight.
Haru’s anger melted away. He stepped back. If Kazimir was in the vicinity, he would look up at him, his eyes filled with shame and guilt, for the acts he had committed and the one he was about to, in front of the children. With a sigh, he looked away and deactivated his blade.
“Cuff him. And get the kids to safety,” he said to Kazimir without meeting his eye and walked away. His anger was truly getting out of control. Until he did something about it, he needed to stay away from taking such cases.
-Exit-