Chapter 266: Come on, Barry, you’re too soft.
Kai purposely avoided a town with demonic activity so he could force Barry to deal with humans who were ransacking, destroying, and killing people from a village on one of the neighboring islands.
He told everyone that the place they were going to was the closest, and since it was in their path, they would help out.
Barry agreed, of course, and they soon landed close to the village.
Fortunately, the pirates who were there were already killing people and taking as many valuables as they could. This worked in Kai’s favor since he didn’t need to delay Barry and could set him loose like a dog.
"Let’s go, Kai!" Barry shouted, leaving the carriage with his sword already drawn. Patty and Iris followed behind him.
"Nah, this is all you."
Barry paused, turning around to understand what Kai meant. "What do you mean by that?"
"I want to see how you handle this situation. Deal with all of them yourself. If things go south, I’ll join in then and only then."
"But people are dying!"
"Then why are you arguing with me? Go and save them, ’Sir Hero’."
Barry gripped his sword, but instead of arguing, he ran toward the village with his companions following him.
"Do you think we should help them?" Nadya asked
"No." Kai was blunt. He didn’t care. He wasn’t a hero, nor was he here to save anyone. People die; it’s a part of life. Sure, he has the power to stop it, but he’s not someone driven by justice. As long as nothing happened to the people he cared about, then he didn’t care about the rest of the world.
Barry, Iris, and Patty moved together, quickly arriving at the village and dispatching all of the pirates with relative ease.
Most of them weren’t threats, only skilled people without even having mana. The sorcerers and torrents, on the other hand, were a lot more skilled and did manage to give Iris and Patty a run for their money, but even then, they were able to win their battles.
Barry had it the easiest. He dispatched all of the pirates who stood in his way with such grace that if it weren’t for the fact that his enemies were pretty weak, he would have looked like a true hero from fantasy stories.
"It’s over. We will be turning you in to the royal army, where you will be taken to prison. If you repent for your sins, the goddess may choose to forgive you." Barry said as he pointed his sword toward the fallen Pirate captain.
"You think I’m going back to prison? You better kill me, boy."
Barry frowned. "There’s no need for that. You are beaten, and you will pay for your crimes."
"What a stupid boy." The pirate captain slipped a pill into his mouth, which made his mana skyrocket like crazy.
Kai and the others, who were looking on from afar, leaned forward, finding the pill familiar.
Kai opened his mouth. "Is that..."
"The pill we saw at the demon lab? Yeah, sure looks like it." Gwen finished.
"We need to help them!" Nadya started to fly toward the surface, but Kyana stopped her.
"Let’s see how this plays out. Judging by their mana, Allen should still be stronger."
"You mean Barry?" Amaya asked
"Yeah, what did I say?"
"You said Allen."
"Weird."
Back on the battlefield, Barry stuck his arm out, telling Iris and Patty to stay out of the battle. He could sense that something was up and didn’t want them getting hurt.
"We will join in if we think you need help," Iris shouted.
"Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that." Barry smiled at her, then turned back to face the Captain.
"I’m going to fucking kill you!"
The captain lunged toward Barry, purple veins protruding from his body, while his eyes glowed a dark purple. He felt a rush of power he had never felt before and knew he could kill Barry in one go.
His attempts to kill the Hero were met with hardship as Barry easily parried or countered all of his attacks. So instead of attacking precisely, he attacked wildly.
"Let’s see if you can handle all of my power!" The captain stomped his foot, and a huge geyser of demonic water blasted through the ground, flooding the area.
Barry acted quickly, stabbing his blade into the ground to erect a barrier of holy power to stop the flow of demonic water from harming the village.
"You’re wide open!" One clean punch hit Barry in the chin, causing him to stumble backward slightly, but when the captain went in again, Barry caught his arm, broke it, and punched the man so hard that it knocked the demonic energy out of him.
"You have been tainted by demons. I pray that the goddess forgives you for your sins." Barry tied up the pirates, destroyed their ship, and then alerted the villagers that the threat had been subdued.
"Good work, team." He smiled at Iris and Patty.
"Yeah. You did well today." Patty patted Barry on the back.
"Thank you for saving us."
"Thank you for helping our village!"
"We owe you a great debt!"
Barry loved being helpful, and it made him happy knowing that he was able to help these people.
"Kill them!" A kid shouted in anger, throwing a rock at the unconscious pirate captain.
"Little Timmy, stop that." An older girl held the boy back, trying to calm his anger.
"He killed them! He killed mom and dad! I hate him! I want him gone!"
’Yes! Keep it up, little boy! You’re doing a good job!’ Kai was waiting for this.
Barry walked over to the kid and kneeled down. "Listen, there are those who we have to let face trial, and those who we can dispose of. Demons are our enemies, not them. They have strayed away from the righteous path and need to be set straight."
"S-So what will happen to them?" The boy asked, tears raining down his face.
"They will be taken to prison where they will either be held there for the rest of their lives, or will be given the chance to repent for their actions, earning the goddess’s forgiveness."
"But I don’t want them to be forgiven! They took my mom and dad! Why would our goddess forgive them?!"
"Because-"
"She shouldn’t."