326 Done & Dusted.
The people felt angry at this unveiling, and some even tried to attack Imperium, but Valerian stepped up and created a wall with a wave of his hand. He separated the people from the culprit and said in a sonorous voice, “Are you all going to fall to his level? Do you think that the love on your hands is not enough?”
His words stunned the people. Valerian continued, “You all get a share in killing the priests and nuns. All of you are the reason why goons and thieves run this place. If Imperium is wrong, what have you done to correct this mistake?”
The people were speechless. Valerian said, “Stand back. I do not want to hurt anyone.”
The masses were driven back by the murderous aura he displayed. They all understood that Valerian was not joking and would hurt them if they tried to create a stir. At this moment, one hour was up, and suddenly a sinister voice sounded, “You are so kind that you do not wish to hurt them, but what if I wish to hurt you and all of these people?”
Valerian was not surprised and replied, “I expect nothing less from you. Though, I wonder how long you will last.”
The young man did not waste time and raised his hand to the sky. He shot a flame signal in the sky. The symbol of the temple of mercy was deployed in the sky in an instant. At the same time, the people were scared and backed off. Valerian looked over behind the wall and found that Imperium had shot out streamers of fire from his hands, and he climbed the top of the wall using the burst energy.
The young man did not turn away and locked his eyes with Imperium. The latter said, “You played a good hand. I am surprised I even bought your praise.”
Valerian shrugged and said, “I meant those words for real. You did a good job of making a place like this. However, your way is crooked. You harmed those willing to help people at the cost of their own lives. Your motive is selfish.”
Imperium narrowed his eyes and said, “You know nothing, child. The forces you will offend by this action of yours are not something the temple of mercy can handle.”
.....
Valerian smiled and said, “Yes, such is the halo of the eastern Tyrant, isn’t it?”
Imperium opened his eyes wide, all the folks below the wall might not understand the shock of this statement, but he knew very well what Valerian was talking about. He wanted to ask how did he figure things out when Valerian took out a coin and flipped it casually.
He remarked, “You could have tried to develop some other design. I have read books and seen coins from the Eastern continent. It was this coin that gave you away. I have heard the legends of how loyal the followers of the Tyrant were. But to think they would even go to the steps to start conquering the continent for him. Marvellous indeed.”
Imperium glared at Valerian and said, “You know too much for your good, kid.”
The man raised his hands and cast fire spells on Valerian. There did not seem to be any delay in the magic execution. The temperature in the surroundings suddenly spiked, and the people gasped. Valerian did not counter the spell with water, but he created a wind tunnel around the incoming streamer of flames.
The wind tunnel created a vacuum effect. The flames died down. Imperium was surprised and said, “You are a dual attribute archmage.”
Valerian did not reply and rushed forward while casting several wind blades. Imperium was not a lowly archmage. He was an experienced veteran. He depended on his keen senses to avoid the incoming attacks, but even after dodging the majority of the attacks, he was still hurt in some spots.
Valerian did not give the man any chance and cast a wind bubble where Imperium was about to land. The wind bubble was akin to a landmine, it exploded upon being stepped, and the impact made Imperium lose his balance. In his flustered movement, the man cast fire rain, and the target was not Valerian but the folks below the wall.
Valerian could not neglect this situation and clapped his hands together to cast a wide-range water protection spell. The scene was like a fantasy for ordinary folks. A layer of water appeared between them and the drops of fire. Imperium was shocked again, and he wanted to exclaim as he regained his balance. However, Valerian has had enough.
His figure vanished from his spot, and he appeared behind Imperium. The young monk slammed his fist at the back of Imperium’s head, instantly knocking him down. The fire rain stopped once Imperium was taken down.
Valerian looked at the stunned underlings of the fallen lord and snapped his fingers. Everyone except for Malak was entangled with an earthen casing. Valerian said, “Those who do not wish to be implicated shall return to their housings. After these criminals and sinners have been bought to justice, the city will hold a meeting about further administration. If you wish to leave the city, then make sure, in the future, it will not be easy to come back, and you will miss out on the dreams and hope you have been holding on to for so long.”
The people did not care whether they would stay here or not. At this moment, they all wanted to get away from this place. Valerian rounded the place and checked that all twenty big shots were captured. While some cursed and threatened him, some begged with their heads down.
Valerian was unaffected. He knocked them out and placed them all in the square with Imperium as the centerpiece. The young man ceased their magic pouches to ensure that none of the people could pull any tricks on him.
Imperium was given the worst treatment. Valerian was careful and stripped the guy naked and even shaved his head to make sure that this guy did not hide anything on his body. To make things foolproof, he made the guy wear a wooden casing around his genitals.
Malak was surprised by all this and asked, “Why?”
While pointing at himself and Imperium. His questions were, why did you spare me, and why did you strip him naked and the wooden shell? Valerian smiled and said, “I left you because I saw good in you. You did not tell Jelat about my sister. That much is enough to give you a chance at redemption.
As for the wooden shell, this guy might hide something inside his body. You know what I mean?”
Malak nodded with surprise evident in his eyes. The two stayed. While Malak wanted to see what would happen to the people, Valerian was guarding the site so that some loyal dog does not pop up and try to break free the people.
After an hour, Colar arrived with a team of few people. He was no longer shocked to see Valerian apprehending twenty men. This kid has been at it ever since he stepped out to hunt. His pace was too fast, and he was very efficient. Colar smiled at him and said, “Vita, be praised, Young Valerian.”
Valerian returned the greeting and said, “The bald naked guy in the middle is Imperium. He is a hound.”
Surprised, Calor nodded and asked, “You do not wish to ask him anything?”
Valerian shook his head and said, “He is not strong enough to know much. He was only here to conquer the land for Immortuous. The rest was secondary. He is also responsible for killing seven priests and three nuns. The rest of the people around him are his lackeys, and they run things around here.
While ten appear in front of the people as ministers, ten control the underworld. Like kidnapping orphans and maiming them before putting them to beg on the streets. Some orphans are trained to be pickpockets, and some are cutthroats. They also have a group that looks into scamming people and even land extortion.”
Colar gulped and said, “You sure did your work flawlessly again.”
Valerian shook his head, and said, “The work is half done, this city will need some people to handle the administration. Can I ask you to talk to the dragon temple and also High priestess Solaria to send a few of the priests here to look after things?”
Colar nodded and asked, “Do you plan to help around this city?”
Valerian nodded and said, “The people in the southern continent are too carefree and naive. If they were educated and had some privileges. They would not have fallen for the facade and greed this guy offered them. Mercy can make a dying flower bloom, so why not help the people bloom?”
Colar nodded and said, “I will see what I can do after discussing things with the commander. The next assignment will be delayed because we have not found any traces of suspicious activity around the continent. This region is basically cleared, and you look like you can use some rest.”
Valerian nodded and said, “Thank you.”
Then he suddenly recalled something and ran away. Colar asked, “What happened?”
Valerian replied without turning back, “My sister might be hungry, I need to cook for her.”
The knights saw this and everyone burst into a peal of laughter.
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