Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 119: Assault on Exalt(Part 4)

"S-stay back, damn it! Get away from me! I...I refuse to die here!" Yelled Reiss hysterically, as Jules, Rione and Siele surrounded him and began to close in.

"Your refusal is of no concern to us, rest assured that you will die here. And I hope you’re aware that you deserve this. You attempted treason for no reason other than your own selfish greed, and now, it’s time to face the consequences," Responded Rione icily, as he shot forward and swung his hammer across at Reiss’s left knee, a loud crunch and crackle echoing out as he shattered his knee upon impact and severely scorched the skin around it, an agonized yell of pain ringing out as Reiss collapsed onto one knee, his entire body trembling as beads of sweat poured down his face. frёewebηovel.cѳm

He frantically wracked his brain, desperately trying to think of a way to get out of this situation alive, unable to accept the reality that his death was all but inevitable.

"As much as I want to kill you, it would be far too merciful to put you out of your misery too soon. You won’t be getting a quick or painless death...quite the contrary," Spoke up Siele coldly, before he whipped one of his blades across, slicing through Reiss’s arm just below his shoulder and severing his arm.

Reiss howled in agony as blood violently sprayed out of the stump that was left around his arm, splattering across the ground and seeping into the dirt.

"Y-you damned, f-fucking brats! Go to hell, damn it! H-how...how dare you do this to me!? I-I was supposed to be King, the throne should be mine, damn it! It should have been mine, I’m the rightful King, I-I deserve it more than anyone else! If only I’d-...fuck! I should have gone after Lyra from the start, i-if she were dead, I’d be-...!" He exclaimed furiously, his eyes bulging maniacally as he clutched the stump of his right arm.

"We don’t need to listen to this vile drivel, just die," Jules interrupted him, before swinging her sword across and slashing through his neck, decapitating him.

His body slumped over as his head fell off and hit the ground with a thud before rolling away, a fountain of blood spraying out of his neck.

"Wha-...no! Er, I mean, pardon my outburst, Commander, but shouldn’t we have tortured him a bit more? That was far more merciful than he deserved," Sighed Siele wistfully, as he sheathed his blades.

"I’d normally disagree, but he certainly deserved it, I was surprised you just cut him down so quickly like that," Nodded Rione in agreement.

"It’s fine...either way, we were going to kill him, it ultimately makes no difference whether we did so quickly or otherwise. I was sick of hearing his voice, so I figured the sooner I killed him, the better," Shrugged Jules, before glancing back as the other Knights walked over.

"Well, this turned out to be pretty damn easy, huh?" Remarked Aster with a wry smile, as he stretched his arms up.

"Yes, it’s a good thing that they were so incompetent. Competent enemies, like you and the other Irregulars before you joined us, are a real pain to deal with," Responded Rione slyly.

"Hah, well, it wouldn’t have been nearly as easy if it wasn’t for me. Not bragging, just stating a fact...but I still need to make up for stabbing you, Commander, no amount of apologizing will excuse that. I’ll accept any punishment as you deem fit," Chimed in Tilda as she bowed her head to Jules.

"For the last time, it’s fine, I have no intention of punishing you for that, Tilda. Stop making me repeat myself. I understand that it was a necessary move for you to gain their trust, which made things a lot easier for us. If anything, I should reward you, you played the most crucial role in helping us resolve this conflict," Remarked Jules, as she patted Tilda’s shoulder, before adding, "And besides, you’ve been apologizing constantly. Frankly, it’s starting to get a bit annoying."

"Y-yes, but still, I-...ow," Began Tilda, before Jules cut her off with a flick to the forehead.

"There we go, your punishment has been meted out. That’s the end of that, so don’t bring up this matter again," Commanded Jules with a huff.

"But I-...," Began Tilda.

"What did I just say?"

"...understood, Commander, I’ll drop it. Thank you."

"We shouldn’t relax just yet, there might be more of them hiding out down here. Some of them might’ve ran away when the battle began, after all," Pointed out Lexia objectively.

"No, we don’t have to worry about that. I made sure to keep track of all the Mana signatures in the area after we first got here, and I didn’t sense any leaving during the battle. And I don’t sense anyone else nearby, so I think we got everyone," Replied Raven with a thumbs up.

"Hm, but there were plenty of noncombatants in Exalt, right? So, there could be some hiding in spots outside your sensory range, maybe on a lower level of the ruins," Reasoned Celia in response.

"No, that isn’t the case. The majority of Exalt’s members were noncombatant, yes, but Reiss used their blind arrogance and baseless pride in themselves to convince them that, just because they possess Noble blood, they’ll be able to fight and win. This was meant to be the decisive battle in Exalt’s quest to usurp the throne, so everyone down here was to be involved," Tilda informed them.

"Great, then that means this is finally over," Tacitus sighed in relief.

"Well, no, not exactly...we may have killed everyone down here, but they do have plenty of collaborators on the surface, we’re gonna need to weed them out," Colt reminded him with a slight smirk.

"Shit...damn it, I totally forgot about that," Tacitus groaned in dismay.

"I’m glad you did...your expression right now is priceless," Chuckled Colt in response.

"Somehow, your masochistic perversions feel worse now that your on our side," Sighed Rione dryly.

"Well, yeah, no one wants to be associated with a pervert, you’d much rather have one as an enemy than a friend," Huffed Lexia pointedly.

"Heh, that’s funny coming from you, considering that you’re my closest friend and all," Replied Colt wryly.

"Wha-...I-I’m not your c-closest-...shut up!" Huffed Lexia as her face turned red, before thinking to herself as she averted her gaze, "D-damn it...I hate that that actually made me kinda happy, I just hope he doesn’t notice, that’d be way too fucking embarrassing."

"Ahem, back to the matter of Exalt’s collaborators, we shouldn’t have too much trouble with that. I’ve noted down an extensive list of all the Nobles who were working with them, there might be a few that I missed or am not aware us, but I’m quite certain that I at least listed down all of those who were the most significantly involved in this," Said Tilda confidently.

"Nice, we should act quickly and move against them as fast as possible. It won’t take them long to realize that Exalt has fallen," Pointed out Aster.

"Yes, good point. Let’s head back now, rally the Knights and the Inquisitors, and apprehend all those who were supporting Exalt," Declared Jules with a look of determination in her eyes.

"Yeah, might as well finish it off as soon as we can, and once that’s done, I’d like to apply for a week-...no, a month...-off from work," Replied Tacitus hopefully.

"I hope you aren’t being serious, because there’s simply no way I’d approve that...you can have three days," Responded Jules with a sigh.

"Wha-...come on, there’s no way that’s enough! At least give me a week!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Fine, five days, take it or leave it. And even that’s pushing it," Replied Jules reluctantly.

"If he’s getting five days off, I’m assuming the rest of us can apply for that too? It’d be unfair otherwise," Pointed out Lexia.

"Yes, I suppose I have to...but obviously, I can’t give all of you days off at the same time. I’ll figure out a schedule later," Sighed Jules, already regretting her decision.

"Well, five days isn’t really enough, but I suppose it’s better than nothing," Muttered Tacitus in response, before thinking to himself, "Hm, maybe I could feign being sick to get a couple more days off. And if I pretend like I’m so sick that I can’t control my Magic, I can ’accidentally’ nullify any attempts at using Recovery Magic or Remedy Spells to cure me. Yeah, sounds like a plan..."

"I have to say, this whole thing worked out really well for us...Exalt may have caused us some strife, but thanks to them, we can now purge a large number of the remaining, rotten members or Nobility in our midst, they’ve given us the perfect excuse to clean up the nation," Smiled Jules with a gleam in her eyes...