He gulped, gathering all his willpower to resist the terror and quell the chaos raging in him as his lips parted and he slowly began to speak, with great effort.

“[Reptilian] I… I have made a mistake, oh great lord… Please… spare me…” He begged for his life.”

“[Reptilian] I asked you a question before, yet you still refuse to answer? What have you done, worm?!” Aiden roared again with even more anger in his voice. 

However, before the man could answer, Aiden suddenly felt several hostile presences approaching in a disciplined group…

—

Taking a quick look at the system’s map, Aiden noticed the several clearly hostile enemy dots converging towards his direction from the direction of the inner city. They walked in a uniformed, disciplined manner, keeping up a loose formation as a smaller contingent of them filled up the streets marching forward.

Though they were still far away, they were clearly approaching this general area, clearing all doubts if this was deliberate or just a coincidence.

Aiden’s expression instantly soured, the thought of them being sold out, and the little girl, Tolliah’s life being threatened quickly damped his mood. His eyes glimmered with a cold, murderous glint as he cast his golden, glowing eyes away from the system’s transparent floating screen and focused them on the shivering, trembling chubby skink man.

“[Reptilian] Tell me innkeeper… What was your reward?” Aiden asked coldly.

“[Reptilian] I… I…” The innkeeper trembled, unable to formulate words as he felt terrified by the unknown aura that once more pressed on him. He tried to peek under the hood, only to see darkness and two pairs of glimmering golden balls gazing back at him. He immediately shivered, he felt as if an ancient beast was lurking in that darkness and not just a peddler, a merchant.

“[Reptilian] Did they offer you some coins perhaps? A few extra privileges that would make your business be more lucrative once more?” Aiden asked, his voice turning more and more hostile. 

He gently placed his left hand over the back of Tolliah’s head, holding it gently, but at the same time, firmly in place so that she wouldn’t be able to see anything unsightly. Leaning over he gave a small peck on the top of her hooded head and whispered.

“[Reptilian] Close your eyes and ears if you can, little one. Papa will do something that you shouldn’t see, okay?

Tolliah gave a light ‘Uhm’ in response and did as she was instructed. She pressed her face into the fabric of Aiden’s robe while raising her small cute hands and placed them over her ears holes, closing them down. 

What was even more surprising or maybe even shocking is that even though she was most likely clear in what was about to happen, she did not seem bothered by the slightest. On the contrary, she was smiling as she responded to her beloved papa, and did as she was told to, not caring or bothering about the middle aged man or his miserable fate that would soon come up on him. 

All she cared about was with her and was watching over her. Nothing else mattered.

Once he felt that Tolliah was now safe and protected from the nasty, cruel stuff, Aiden finally looked up once more. His expression instantly changed, the thin smile he had was gone, replaced by the earlier coldness and murderous intent as he gazed at the skink man.

“[Reptilian] You know…” Giving it a few moments, enjoying as the man trembled, Aiden spoke up. “I was really trying to be positive about all of this. I really did. I truly sympathize with you lot. Being cast out by the church and shown nothing but contempt and suppression as they ruled with tyranny… Life had to be hard.” He spoke with a tone that did not match the speech at all. 

He sighed as he continued. His eyes flashed with mysterious energy once again, golding like two pairs of suns piercing through the veil of the night that was his cover.

“[Reptilian] Still, if you lose your own integrity, and become this… wretched, disgusting… spineless shell of a man… What is the point?” He asked, looking at the shivering man.

The simple question caused another wave of dread to wash over the already shaking chubby skink man. Still, despite having a rough understanding of the underlying meaning, he gulped and gathered all his remaining courage to force out a question, probably his last ray of hope.

“[Reptilian] W-what do… d-do you m-mean, g-great lord?” He asked with a stuttering, stammering tone.

In response, Aiden slowly walked to the side, circling around the counter, and approached the man with casual but steady steps, giving the man ample time to understand the situation as well as not give him any chance to escape.

As he arrived in front of the man, the innkeeper could finally see a vague silhouette drawing out from under the cover of the figure’s hood. A wide smile began to creep up on the shadowy visage, contorting the facial muscles, twisting it into a sinister-looking expression.

“[Reptilian] What do I mean, you ask? Hmmm… Let me show you instead…” He spoke before his eyes flashed with a golden glimmer once more.

In the next instant, his free right hand shot forward like a projectile, with glazing speed and tremendous momentum.

Before the chubby innkeeper could even register what was happening he suddenly felt a deep, overwhelming pain encroaching upon him, coming from somewhere around the center of his torso. His breathing turned ragged, soon the pain turned unbearable. 

He wanted to scream, vent out some of the chaos that wreaked havoc inside his being, yet when his lips parted with a quivering, uncertain motion, only a mouthful of blood came out, pushing his vocal cords into further dismay. He gurgled, as blood kept on spurting as if he was a fountain gargoyle.

A short moment, maybe a few seconds passed as he suddenly realized that his stamina was rapidly escaping from his body. His legs suddenly felt overwhelmed under the mountain of pressure, soon giving in.

The middle aged skink man fell on the floor whilst his hands subconsciously reached out for the source of the pain. Even without looking down, he could feel, he could understand what happened.

In the end, before the light finally left his eyes, the despair the terror was replaced by an otherworldly calm. Somewhere deep down he knew that this is what he deserved.

Though his actions may have had a proper reason, and even though it may have not been driven by greed, lust, or whatever other sins most would have, he still betrayed everything he had once stood for.

He betrayed the promise. The promise of a better tomorrow.

—

>>>Check out my latest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<<

It’s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (‘Banished’) immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova!

Planned Tags and Genre:  # CULTIVATION  # R18  # BETRAYAL  # TRANSMIGRATION  # URBAN  # ACTION  # ANTIHERO  # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at some later point)

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Links:

https://discord.link/Shaele

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