(26) Veneir

Humans are beings, who live with a mask on their faces, hiding their innermost thoughts deep within their hearts. 

Veneir, on the other hand, was different. She lived her whole life showing her true emotions, but deep within this, was a terrifying fact hidden by multiple layers of mist, extremely twisted.

'Humans are innately kind to others' It was nothing but a bald-faced lie. Being pushed to the limit, only two outcomes can occur. 

Either the person going crazy, to cope with the harsh reality. Or ignore and disregard reality altogether. 

Veneir, who had lived her whole life in between these two choices, fell at the side of the latter in the end.

After Devis and the others were captured,  Jwarlen made Veneir spew out Mangrel's possible whereabouts, before capturing her along with the others. 

It was a turn of events that was to be expected if looked upon with a clear mind. It was clear as the sky that Jwarlen was not someone who would move without any benefits. 

Veneir, who worked with Jwarlen for many years must have been aware of this fact. Nevertheless, being blinded by her emotions and the psychological trust, which was built by working together for a long time, led her to trust him. 

The result of such action was right in front of everyone. 

Veneir too was in a cage, made of hardwood, with the others. Along with the severance of her freedom, she had lost all the trust she had built between Devis, Heitrent, and Meren. Javine was captured after she arrived at Veneir's house too. 

From the context of the conversation between Veneir and Jwarlen, it was apparent that they were working together. 

But, Jwarlen betrayed Veneir. To him, the relationship built through years of cooperation was worth shit, in front of immense benefits. 

People living in slums had no moral bottom lines or other such limitations, they could commit any kind of crime with no hesitation. This might be the main reason common folks, who were living in the shades of society's protection, feared these so-called boors. 

The best example of the proverb- while the virtuous and upright live their life fearing the demonic people; the demons live their life in pleasure and freedom. 

Veneir felt her heart restless, with a sharp pain rising from anxiety and other complex emotions. 

It was very different from how she expected. She looked at Jwarlen, who berated the man before him. 

It was just for a moment, but she experienced a totally different sensation today. 

In the first place, the gaze that Veneir received from the others was different, because of her beggar status. There were varying emotions, like pity, disgust, uncomfortability, and even empathy in others' eyes. 

However, the gaze she received today after being locked in this cage was totally different.

The scrutinizing gazes were the same, but this time there was no emotion in those eyes. It was like they were checking the worth of merchandise, which sent chills down Veneir's spine. 

'Not even as a human...but as an object, is...is this how slaves are looked at?' Veneir felt her body slowly grow heavy, she thought about the hundreds of people she fooled into becoming a slave. 

There was nothing good about being a slave. 

Every being are innately attracted to their own individual freedom. No one likes being taken away from the little freedom that they have. 

Being a slave means that they won't even have the right to speak or move unless the master orders otherwise. Was this any different than a puppet? 

The sign of life in Veneir's eyes grew dimmer as time flew by. 

At that moment, suddenly everyone in the room heard the sound of wood breaking, near the entrance. 

Jwarlen's expression grew alert, feeling things to be amiss. It was almost midnight, so the silence was normal, but it made everyone here tense involuntarily. 

Scrape~ Scrape~ rustle~

The sound of something rubbing against the ground spread through the air. It was almost like the one, who was causing it, produced intense sound intentionally. 

Clack!

The door opened at that instant, exposing the brutal scene behind it. 

A human body with all of its blood vessels red, still occasionally twitching, entered their sight. At first sight, it was apparent that this person was going through an unbelievable amount of pain. 

"Ach! That's..." 

"He is dying...?" 

Devis, Heitrent, Javine, and Meren, all grew scared looking at the strange prank before them. 

Blood flowed from the mouth, ears, and eyes, dyeing the floor in blood. 

Silence pervaded the room, which was covered in a blanket of anxiety and horror.

Jwarlen frowned, staring at the face of the person dying before him. 

'That's the small fry enlisted to be a guard for tonight...Someone has broken into my house.' Jwarlen grew gloomy thinking this far. 

Being able to take down the two guards at the entrance, it was clear that the opponent was not simple. 

 "Hey, go and see what is happening outside," Jwarlen ordered the man before him with a hardened expression, while he moved toward the closed window behind him. 

Knowing well that he was being used as bait, the man walked towards the entrance, gritting his teeth. 

Clack~ Bang!

It was at this moment When Jwarlen's hand touched the window's handle, to open it, a rock of a man's fist size came breaking right through the window. 

Not being able to react properly, Jwarlen was hit on the right face, filling his mouth with blood at once. 

"Guhhhh!!!" The howling of a man accompanied the sound of a window breaking. 

Jwarlen crouched down, while holding his mouth, which had trails of blood falling from it. The one who threw the rock really didn't hold back at all. 

The man, who was ordered to investigate the outside, turned around almost immediately in fright, heading back.

Only come to a pause in his second step: "Urgh..." 

Suddenly a dagger appeared on the man's waist. Thankfully, it had not hit any of the vitals, causing a wave of relief to wash over his body. 

The man found a kid standing behind him, Making his brow rise in wonder at once. He recognized the identity of the kid almost the very next moment. 

"So itshhh....." The man felt the world turning upside down, only being able to see the infinitely black eyes staring at him. losing control of his body the next moment. 

After the algaeist flower absorbed the blood of a human, it became a specialized poison, more effective against humans than anyone else. 

"Mangrel.....?" Veneir looked at Mangrel like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. 

'No. More than that...is that really Mangrel? He looks completely like a different person...' Veneir looked at Mangrel, who stared back with a face void of emotion. It was like his eyes were going to swallow her into them, causing her to feel goosebumps. 

.....

A few hours before the raid. 

Waking up after a sleep of around four hours, Mangrel felt a lot better than before. 

With no hesitation at all, he began to prepare to raid Jwarlen tonight. 

'The more time passes, the higher the chance of me losing the life force physique to someone else. The chances of a second party intervening are not low either...' 

'Time and opportunity await no one, it's now do or die.' Finding the current situation similar to his past life, Mangrel smiled to himself.