CHAPTER 58: WHO IS YOUR MASTER?

The silence in the tunnel was absolute, a stark contrast to the desperate, wet screams that had filled it only moments before.

Hapia’s mutilated body lay still, a grotesque ruin of flesh and severed limbs pooling in its own blood.

Aisha remained kneeling for a long moment, her chest heaving.

The searing, all-consuming rage that had fueled her for a decade finally receded, draining away like a fever.

It left her feeling hollow, cold, and strangely light.

Her past was finally, truly, dealt with.

She bit her lower lip, fighting the urge not to burst out crying. To think there was a time in her life when she gave up on ever getting revenge for her dead parents, and now she had.

The justice she so longed for had been served.

Now, only her future remained. Only her Master.

With a grim finality, Aisha stood. She looked down at the pathetic remains of the man who had destroyed her life. She couldn’t just leave him here to be forgotten in the dark. He deserved to be seen as the trash he was.

Not to mention, she could already sense that her Master was waiting for her somewhere outside. She could easily kill two birds with one stone.

Grabbing the collar of Hapia’s blood-soaked shirt, Aisha began to drag the heavy torso back the way she had come.

Her small frame pulled the dead weight with surprising ease, leaving a thick, crimson smear on the stone floor. She would haul this garbage out of the tunnel and throw it onto the stage for all to see.

Her thoughts returned to Ash. She hoped he was alright, that Echidna and the others were safe. The sounds of the battle—distant screams, the roar of fire, and the clash of steel—grew louder as she neared the tunnel’s exit.

She just wanted to see her Master, to report that her mission was complete.

Aisha reached the mouth of the tunnel, the chaotic light of the burning auction hall spilling in. She was just about to step out into the main chamber, to find Ash in the center of the chaos—

WHAM!

A devastating, unseen force slammed into her side. It wasn’t a simple punch; it felt like being struck by a charging bull. The brutal, high-velocity kick connected perfectly with her ribs, lifting her clean off her feet.

She was sent flying sideways, crashing hard into the stone wall of the tunnel.

"Gah—!"

A sharp, agonizing pain shot through her entire side, forcing the air from her lungs. Her grip on Hapia’s corpse was torn free as she crumpled to the ground, spots dancing in her vision.

Before she could even register the pain or look up, a new figure stepped into the tunnel, blocking the light from the hall. A calm, cold voice spoke down to her.

"Well, well. Look what we have here. I thought all the vermin were inside the hall."

She could barely see the person’s face when he suddenly grabbed her by the throat with his hard, strong hand and then tossed her out of the tunnel and straight into a nearby tree.

Her back slammed hard against the wood before dropping to the ground with a heavy thud.

Then came the thick voice again.

"Wow, look at that. This bitch killed the damn owner of this joint. My god, I thought elves were supposed to be weak."

Aisha managed to open her eyes a bit, blinking away the haze of pain, finally getting a good look at the people who had attacked her so suddenly.

To her surprise, it wasn’t just one person.

Firstly, there was an archer not too far away from where she was, his arrow nocked and aimed at her face.

Behind him, a fighter-class woman was present, her longsword unsheathed and held to the side, ready to strike if Aisha were to make any sudden movement.

Finally, her eyes drifted to the main man, the one who had grabbed her by the throat and tossed her.

He had blonde hair and wore a scarf around his neck, and his lower arms were wrapped in white bandages.

The man was standing alone in front of her, looking her down while taking a few slow steps forward.

"You look like an ordinary elf, but you’re not, are you?" he asked.

Aisha wondered just who this man was and why he was suddenly attacking her from nowhere.

At first, she assumed he was someone who worked for Hapia, but seeing as he never once mentioned Hapia’s death with any particular anger, it became very unlikely.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Aisha had regained her strength, asking the question, her voice steady, refusing to show weakness. She needed to know if they were a threat. It would make her report to Ash much clearer.

"Right, my bad. I should have done that from the start. An elf asking me for my name is kind of annoying, but I am willing to let this slide if you promise to come with me without putting up a fight."

Aisha didn’t say anything; instead, she glared at the man, clearly wary and annoyed.

"I am the fourth member of the Hero’s Party, Isaac Rionhart. As ordered by the king, I have come for your—"

"It was you." Aisha suddenly interrupted, her eyes widening slightly with a new, dawning rage.

"What?" Isaac raised an eyebrow, his blonde hair dancing under the rays of the moonlight.

The other two, his party members, were also surprised as to what Aisha meant by that. Luckily for them, she spoke again not even a second later.

"You were the one who murdered Master Ash!!!"

As she yelled, she clenched her fist, her face etched with a profound, murderous rage before her invisible blade appeared in her grasp.

Hearing this, the first thing Isaac did was stutter backward, a flash of fear and confusion written boldly on his face. He could not hide it even if he wanted to.

Ash...

The female fighter at the back let out a short, nervous laugh. "Ash? Isn’t that the former hero who was killed for working alongside the devil king?"

"Yeah, it was him, right?" the archer added, though his bow didn’t waver. "He’s dead. Everyone knows that. What is this elf rambling about?"

Isaac ignored them. His entire focus, all his ’hero’ training, was laser-focused on the small, silver-haired elf crumpled against the tree. The name had hit him just as hard as his kick had hit her. It couldn’t be.

It was impossible.

"Where did you hear that name?" Isaac reeked of desperation, taking a single, unsteady step forward as he asked that question. His voice was no longer calm or cold. Only he could feel the strain that was causing it to crack.

He knew he’d killed Ash. He was there.

He saw the light leave his eyes.

He saw the betrayal and the shock on his former friend’s face.

Aisha, however, mistook his desperation for guilt. His panicked reaction was a confession.

She saw the fear on his face, the way his voice cracked. To her, it was the unmistakable look of a murderer being confronted with his crime.

The agonizing pain in her ribs was nothing compared to the white-hot fury that now replaced it.

This man... this filth... was the one who had taken her Master from his former life, who had branded him a traitor and tried to end him.

My revenge and Master Ash’s praise... I’ll have both.

Her earlier thought from the tunnel returned, but now with a new, terrifying clarity. She had just enacted her own revenge. Now, she would deliver her Master his.

"You..." Aisha pushed herself up from the base of the tree, ignoring the grinding protest of what was surely a broken rib.

Her red eyes, which had softened after Hapia’s death, were now blazing anew, but this time with a cold, possessive loyalty.

"You will pay for what you did," she hissed, her voice low and venomous.

She didn’t just want to kill him. That was too simple and far too quick. Her Master deserved to be the one to pass judgment, just like he did for her.

"I will break your arms and your legs," she stated, not as a threat, but as a simple, undeniable fact. "I will drag you to my Master. And he will be the one to end you."

The sheer, murderous intent rolling off the elf was staggering. The archer and the fighter both tensed, their professional calm shattering.

"Isaac, she’s lost it!" the fighter yelled, raising her sword. "She’s clearly one of the devil king’s remnants, just like he was! Just give the order!"

"Shut up!" Isaac snapped, his voice a panicked roar. He didn’t even look back at his team. His mind was racing, trying to piece together a puzzle that shouldn’t exist.

"Your... Master?" he repeated, his throat dry. "What are you talking about? Ash is dead! I... I killed him! I saw him die!"

Aisha’s lips curled back in a snarl. "You failed."

The two words hit Isaac harder than any physical blow ever could.

You failed.