Chapter 341 - 340. A Reckoning Long Overdue (2)
I returned to the barn where Lyall was waiting, standing with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable. The three kidnappers knelt before him, their bodies battered beyond recognition. One of them clutched his arm, which was twisted at a grotesque angle, while the other two coughed up blood, their faces swollen and bruised. The scent of iron and sweat filled the confined space.
I approached them slowly, crouching to their eye level. My presence alone sent a sharp chill through the air, the temperature plummeting as a suffocating stillness settled over the barn. The men flinched, their instincts screaming at them to move away, but Lyall’s looming figure blocked their escape.
"L-Let us go, please!" one of them whimpered, voice trembling.
"W-We are only mere thieves," another pleaded.
"D-Don’t kill us, please!"
Their frantic begging filled the silence, their bodies quaking. I tilted my head, watching them as if they were insects pinned beneath my gaze. My lips curved into a slow, almost amused smile, but the ice in my eyes never thawed.
"I would have let you live," I said, my voice quiet yet carrying the weight of finality. "But the children you dared to lay your hands on... They are special to me. Tell me, how do you expect me to let you go unscathed?"
Their whimpers turned into desperate, frantic cries. They twisted where they knelt, trying to press their foreheads to the ground in submission, but fear had locked their limbs in place.
"What were you planning to do with them?" I asked, my tone indifferent to their anguish.
"We-We only wanted to steal their accessories and leave!" one of them shouted in desperation.
I hummed, considering his words. "If that were true, then why did they have bruises on their bodies?"