Chapter 233 - Do You Accept Death?
Chapter 233 – Do You Accept Death?
As the light went out in the plaza of the empire, their hearts drummed against their chest. It was ridiculous how those who were chained to their deaths could only gasp while some knights panicked.
I landed in the middle, barely making a sound as I did. Even with this sudden darkness, I could see everything clearly. My heart was falling into many pieces at the stench of death — lives that were taken away before its due.
I was angry, although a part of me had already expected such atrocity in this place. Humans… didn't deserve this. Although humans were complicated creatures, they were already pitiful. They wouldn't survive what the other races could endure.
"Who are you?" I snapped my eyes when a voice rang a few meters from my sides. Vampires could see clearly in the dark, but with these many people in this plaza to be executed, it took them a minute to notice me.
I turned my head, watching the knights surround me. My eyes veered up, seeing some of them were lighting up the torches.
One torch brought this faint light near the gallow and then followed by more. Everyone's shadows danced on the damped concrete ground, pairs of red eyes gawking at me.
"State your name!" one knight hissed, baring his fangs almost immediately. I ignored him.
I shifted my eyes on the woman, who was yet to have her head covered. She was looking back at me, wide-eyed, her pale lips quivering.
"You," I called, pointing at her, which made her flinch. "Do you accept death?"
Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, but not even the slightest noise came out of her mouth. It was the same with everyone. They couldn't speak any longer due to shock and fear. Poor humans.
But I still repeated. "Do you accept death?"
"You… men, surround her!" came out a loud command from a knight while the ones who were already surrounding me bore their fangs. I stood motionless, fixing my eyes on that woman who was already a step away from death.
The woman's body trembled and her eyes sweltered as they shook. With only the remaining strength she could muster, she shouted.
"Yes!" she panted before terror resurfaced on her face, and yet, words still flowed out of her mouth uncontrollably. "I accept death, for acceptance is the only decision that is in our control."
Humans and their hunger for control, survival, and freedom had always been proven through the years. Wasn't that the reason, despite the existence of other races, they hadn't gone extinct?
The side of my lips curled up as I rocked my head. Her brows rose when she saw the smile on my face and in the next second, the lights they painstakingly light up died once again.
"Acknowledge!" the executioner yelled, holding the lever that would open the surface underneath the ones who were standing on the gallow. But before he could pull down the lever, I appeared in front of him and held the lever to stop him.
"You, do you accept death?" came out a whisper, looking up at him and staring at his crimson eyes behind his mask. His eyes dilated at the sight of me before the panicking voices rang behind me.
"Stop her!"
"Do you accept…" I trailed off as the executioner ground his teeth and swung his arm up. However, halfway down my chin, I planted my palm against the back of his fist.
"… death?"
"No!" he roared through his gritted teeth.
My eyes glinted as I felt some vampires enter my vicinity from behind. But before they could touch me, my tails came out from underneath my cloak and swung to push them back.
"Not accepting death when you execute people yourself is something that I hate the most," I muttered, keeping my eye contact with him. When I blinked, one of my tails plunged from the side of his neck and blood immediately splattered to my cheek.
There was a moment of silence until his body collapsed with a silent yet deafening thud. This time, a scream from the humans echoed in the still night as chaos ensued.
"Don't let any of them escape!"
"Faster! Don't let them come!"
Different yells exploded as the sound of the bell faded. Others were fighting to use this opportunity to escape while some were stopping them by brute force.
Humans had always been like this. When an opportunity appeared, they would grab it and I had always thought it was amazing.
With the chaos that was created after giving them a sliver of hope, the vampires had to choose between coming after me or their prisoners. It wasn't surprising they chose the people while I jumped to the gallows, standing in front of the woman.
"You…" came out a shaking voice as I undo the noose around her neck.
"Get out of here," I said, taking a step back after untying the rope around her neck. "Ronmin. That is the safest place right now. It might take you an entire four months to reach it, but it's worth the journey."
Her eyes were fixed on me as I walked to the person next to her, loosening the noose around his neck, and took off the bag around his head. An old man looked at me with surprise, blinking to let his eyes adjust to the darkness.
"Free the rest," I told him before he could speak, glancing at the woman indifferently. "Don't waste a second unless you have a death wish."
I spared them a few seconds before turning my back against them. From this vantage point, I could see humans resisting some vampires and fleeing. It was total chaos. Niall didn't expect an interruption, so it seemed only the lower-class vampires were the only ones who were here.
Well, he didn't need to send his elites soldiers since Hendrik was under his control. He could reach me even when he was in that castle situated at the peak of the mountain.
"Run," I ordered under my breath when the last person was freed. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing them stand there without moving a muscle. "Now!"
This time, my voice raised, and that snapped them back from their trance. They didn't waste a second as they forced their trembling knees to move. As they did, I set my eyes back to the castle and saw a glint from a distance.
*****
As the people who were saved from getting hanged ran to a distance, the lady whom Rinnie freed first looked back. Her actions also stopped the rest who were running with her.
The second they did, the chaos suddenly came to a halt because the next second, a burning halberd sped towards Rinnie's direction.
"Watch out!" yelled the woman before covering her mouth.
Instead of dodging the burning halberd, Rinnie raised her hand and tilted her head, the spear grazing and burning a portion of her hair. Without a second hesitation, Rinnie grabbed the burning halm and gritted her teeth.
Her boots screeched back and out of the gallows. The thick smoke that her foot and ground were creating was the only indicator of how far she flew back.. But before everyone could wonder if she was alive after crashing into an establishment, everyone was stunned when the burning halberd flew out of the thick smoke, heading back with the same speed to where it came from.