Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 159: Bitter Pill to Swallow

"I’m sorry about this...if I was better at hunting, we wouldn’t need take such a risk by sneaking into places to buy supplies," Muttered Akila apologetically.

"It’s fine, no need to apologize," Alphonse shook his head, as they strolled through Carnelian Village, which was under the jurisdiction of the First Squad.

It was the 5th of July, 1919, about ten days since the two of them had escaped the Knights. And with their supplies running low and the need to replenish arising, Alphonse decided to sneak into one of the villages to gather more supplies.

Since the entire Knight Order had been instructed to keep an eye out for them, a lot of the Knights were tense, and the citizens had also been issued a warning to be careful. As a result, the people in the cities, towns and villages were on edge.

But that was working in Alphonse’s favor, as Akila mistakenly assumed the tension to be a sign of the oppression the people were being put through.

Alphonse had also figured that the Knights would’ve been given descriptions of their appearances, so the two of them had cut their hair shorter.

But Alphonse figured that wouldn’t be enough, and wanted to get some supplies that would help them disguise themselves better.

"Okay, that should do it for our supplies. Looks like the coast is clear, put them in your storage space," Remarked Alphonse, as the two of them snuck into an alley, having finished buying their supplies.

"Sure, got it," Nodded Akila, opening up a portal into the space and putting the supplies into it, before adding, "Alright, we got that done without any issues, let’s go back to the forest before-..."

"No, not yet. There’s a cosmetics store in this village, it sells wigs, colored contact lenses and other such products. We should get some materials to better disguise ourselves," Alphonse shook his head.

"Oh, good thinking. Yeah, these haircuts might not be enough," Nodded Akila thoughtfully, before following after Alphonse.

They made their way through the village, looking for the cosmetics store while trying to avoid rousing any suspicion.

They came across the store before long, Alphonse glancing around before approaching the entrance.

"Alright, this is it. Let’s get in, get what we need, and then get out."

"Got it, I’m right behind you, Al-...," Began Akila.

"Hold it. I don’t recognize the two of you, are you visiting? I apologize for the inconvenience, but I’m going to need to verify your identities," Suddenly came a voice from behind them, as someone approached.

The two of them glanced back warily, to see a Knight who appeared to be in his early-thirties, with thick, curly black hair styled in long dreadlocks, his eyes a gradient mix of purple and blue, he had a dark complexion, and was quite tall, with a slender agile build.

"Shit, I recognize him, that’s Lloyd Howlite, the first son of Baron Woid Howlite. I believe he’s a First-Class Knight," Alphonse thought to himself warily, before responding, "Y-yes, that’s right, we’re visitors here, we came from Opal Town."

"I see. Which teleportation facility you use? Civilians are forbidden from using Teleport Spells without authorization, after all. Would you mind contacting the facility you used, just to confirm?" Inquired Lloyd suspiciously, as he took out a phone and held it out to them.

"Of course, that’s not a problem at all," Smiled Alphonse, while thinking to himself, "Damn it, of all the-...no, wait. Akila should be strong enough to take down a First-Class Knight at his current level, this could be a good opportunity."

He then glanced at Akila, who caught on as he met Alphonse’s gaze, before giving him a subtle nod, a nervous look on his face as he prepared himself to attack.

"Well?" Lloyd prompted them.

"Uh, you see, I don’t remember the number of that facility we used...but my friend here does, so I’ll let him dial it," Replied Alphonse, giving Akila a light push on the back.

"Y-yeah, I think I remember it," Nodded Akila, approaching the Knight with a tense look on his face. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

As he began to close in on him, he suddenly opened a portal into his storage space, Lloyd’s eyes widening in surprise before he put his guard up and sprang back as Akila drew out his blades.

Lloyd drew out his weapons in response, a pair of twin blades as well, before crossing them defensively as Akila shot forward as swung one of his blades across.

The Knight stiffened as the blade phased right past his, phasing through his chest before Akila materialized the blade as it sliced across Lloyd’s chest, a startled hiss of pain ringing out as he inflicted a shallow gash across the Knight’s chest.

"Damn it, I turned it tangible a fraction of a second too late!" Akila thought to himself, before turning his head intangible as Lloyd swiftly whipped one of his blades across, phasing through Akila’s eyes before he drove his foot out towards the Knight, striking his knee and knocking him off-balance.

Akila then swung one of his blades down towards Lloyd’s head, who quickly leaned back in alarm, before crying out in pain as the blade sliced down his left eye, blood streaming down the side of his face before he gritted his teeth and slashed at Akila’s stomach, who quickly sprang back to evade the attack.

"D-damn, you...," Muttered Lloyd, before Akila backed away warily as the Knight’s injuries healed, the cut across his chest closing up as his eye regenerated.

"He must have Recovery Magic. More importantly, I...I’m shaking. I-I thought I was ready after fighting all those Monsters over the last ten days, but it’s different with a human...cutting him and spilling his blood, the sight of it, not to mention the sensation, felt so...so...," Akila thought to himself shakily, trembling as he broke out into a cold sweat.

He then stiffened as Lloyd shot towards him, getting low as he closed in before swinging his blades out towards Akila’s stomach.

Still shaken, Akila failed to activate his Magic in time, stumbling back in a panic before gasping as the tips of the blades sliced through the skin across his stomach, inflicting shallow, diagonal cuts across each other, blood trickling out as Akila shook his head to focus before he leapt towards Lloyd with his blades poised to strike.

Lloyd whipped his right blade across towards Akila’s left side, who narrowly blocked the slash with his left blade, before the two of them drove their second blades towards each other.

Akila twisted his body across, wincing sharply as Lloyd’s blade pierced into his right shoulder painfully, right as Akila’s blade phased through the middle of Lloyd’s chest.

Lloyd before to spring back, before yelling in pain as Akila materialized the blade inside his chest, his body stiffening in agony, before his eyes widened in alarm as Akila swung the bottom of the handle of his other blade across towards the side of the Knight’s head, a sharp thunk echoing out as the handle thudded against Lloyd’s temple, knocking him out upon impact.

His eyelids fluttered shut as a dazed look appeared on his face, a trail of blood running down the side of his head as he fell over and collapsed onto the ground, slumping against the dirt as Akila pulled his blade out of the Knight’s chest, blood streaming out.

"Well done, Akila! Now, finish him off, quickly! There were a number of civilians around who fled when the fight started, some of them may have alerted the rest of the Knights. Hurry up and kill him before they show up," Alphonse urged him, before grimacing as Akila shakily backed away.

"I...I don’t think I can. I-I know these Knights are bad people, b-but still...I can’t kill someone, I just-...," Akila shook his head, starting to hyperventilate as he trailed off, his vision blurring as he clutched his chest.

"Are you serious, you-...," Began Alphonse incredulously, before stiffening as he sensed several people approaching and closing in fast, gritting his teeth before adding, "Forget it, hurry up and get over here! We’ve got Knights incoming, we need to leave!"

"Y-yeah, okay," Nodded Akila, his face pale as he walked over towards Alphonse, who took out a Teleport Spell and grabbed Akila’s wrist, activating the Spell right as a squad of Knights came into sight.

The two of them then found themselves back in Pearl Forest, Alphonse letting out a strained sigh as Akila collapsed onto the ground, still looking pretty shaken up.

"Damn it, you’ve got to be kidding me, you useless piece of-...okay, calm down, blowing up at him will work against me, I need to act empathetic and concerned here," Alphonse thought to himself, taking a deep breath to compose himself, before kneeling down and placing a hand on Akila’s shoulder as he addressed him, "What happened back there? What went wrong?"

"I...I’m sorry. Killing Monsters was one thing, but it’s a different story with people. I just...I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Whether they deserve it or not, ending someone’s life is...it’s a hurdle I just couldn’t overcome."

"Yeah, no shit, that was obvious to see. I need to say something to convince him...hm, yeah, that might work...," Thought Alphonse as an idea hit him, before responding, "I understand how you feel. I was the same...as was one of my fallen comrades. He couldn’t bear to watch people being killed, no matter how awful they were.

And that proved to be a fatal mistake...he spared a dangerous enemy, who then went on to kill several of our other comrades. He regretted sparing that bastard after that, but by then, it was too late, the damage was already done. He was wracked with guilt and could never forgive himself, he kept saying that our other comrades might still have been alive if he hadn’t spared that enemy."

"I-I see, I’m sorry to hear that...he sounds like he was a good man," Responded Akila sympathetically.

"Yes, he was. But unfortunately, he proved to be too good."

"Damn it...is it in any way possible to save the people of this nation without killing anyone?"

"Oh, how I wish it was. My comrades and I thought the same way when we first began our rebellion, but it wasn’t long before we realized that such an idealistic outcome wouldn’t be possible. It’s a nice notion to think about, but in reality, it’s just naive and foolish. The enemies we spare will only become more determined to kill us, not to mention they’ll have a better idea of what we’re capable of, which will only make it harder to defeat them the second time around. You would need to have immense power that’s effectively omnipotent in order to pull off a bloodless victory, but that just isn’t realistic."

"I know you’re right, everything you said is logically correct, but...even so, I can’t help but feel conflicted and unsure of what to do," Akila shook his head indecisively, annoying Alphonse.

But he pushed down his emotions, holding it in while continuing to maintain a sympathetic look on his face.

"I understand, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. You should take some time to think it over, until you’re ready to prepare yourself for what needs to be done."