My Unrestrained Lives-Chapter 54: Monster (2)

Against Ellis’s humiliating words, Garret instead of pleading, forced himself to meet Ellis’s gaze.

He knew his fate was sealed.

There was no hope now, no mercy to expect.

So, he straightened his back ever so slightly. And in a wicked, bitter tone, he said.

"Do you think you’ll be able to rescue your mother?"

"No... even if you do manage to rescue her, do you think you’ll be able to continue living safely, protecting her, after what you’ve done here?"

Ellis tried not to show his anger at the man’s insolent tone. Calmly, he asked, "Who said I did all of this?"

While that was, what he showed, beneath that calm voice, Ellis was still burning. He hated being threatened. One life of being threatened in Earth was enough.

So, when he saw the flicker of realization flash across Garret’s face... that Ellis fully intended to massacre everyone in the palace, he didn’t wait for an answer.

He moved.

With a swift step forward, Ellis raised his sword.

The blade glinted with cold precision as he swung it horizontally at blinding speed.

It first sliced clean through Garret’s legs just above the knees. The weight of his body dropped instantly, and before he could even scream, the sword arced again, this time severing both his arms in two sharp, downward strokes.

Garret collapsed entirely onto the blood-soaked floor, his body a trembling mess of stumps and torn flesh.

His screams were shrill and piercing, echoing through the palace ground.

Blood gushed from his wounds like a burst dam, soaking the ground beneath him in thick, fast-moving rivers of red.

Ellis, staring down at the pathetic, writhing figure, found the sound irritating.

And so, with the thought that he shouldn’t let him scream, and make someone notice that something is going wrong here, he stepped closer, raised the hilt of his sword, and without hesitation struck Garret across the mouth.

The crunch was immediate.

Broken teeth shattered inward, slicing into Garret’s tongue.

His mouth filled with blood, but still, he didn’t stop screaming.

So Ellis hit him again.

And again.

He used the handle, deliberately, so he wouldn’t stain his hands, and struck until the screaming finally stopped.

It wasn’t mercy.

It was simply that Garret’s tongue had swollen and lodged in his throat, choking him.

And so, at last, the palace ground was silent again.

Ellis exhaled faintly.

Strangely, he felt refreshed, like clearing away filth that had clogged the air around him.

The trash had been disposed of.

Then he felt it.

The quiet stirrings of others, hidden eyes peering from behind walls and doors.

He turned his gaze toward one of the palace windows.

There, a maid stood frozen, nervously peeking through the glass.

From this distance, Ellis could see her appearance perfectly clearly.

His sharp senses made sure of that.

She, however, couldn’t do that, she was just an ordinary maid, after all.

Even then, she still noticed his gaze directed at her, so, she shrieked in fear and stumbled back into hiding.

Ellis didn’t move. With his detection ability, he had long since noticed that the servants had not fled.

They were still inside the palace, hiding, crouching, hoping the guards would prevail.

Some even dared to sneak glances through doors or windows, after all.

But Ellis didn’t care about that.

They hadn’t run. And that was all that mattered.

Perhaps they still had some confidence in the guards’ strength.

Perhaps they thought this was just some passing madness.

That was the case before.

But now... now there were no guards left.

There was no one left to protect them, and so, everything was about to change.

That didn’t mean he’d let anyone run away, though.

Ellis was preparing to act again, to move deeper into the palace and begin cleaning it all up—

But just then, he felt it.

A presence stepped into the edge of his detection field.

And so, he paused.

He recognized it instantly, it was Silas.

But he didn’t relax just yet. He needed to make sure no one had followed her.

So, he waited.

She soon appeared, stepping quietly through the corpses as if the carnage meant nothing to her.

"Master," Silas said as she approached.

She didn’t even glance at the blood, at the bodies, or at the mangled thing Garret had become.

Her eyes were only on Ellis, scanning him with a sharp, urgent look, searching for any scratch he might have received.

But Ellis wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

"Did you come across anyone on the way here?" he asked without waiting.

"...Yes. A few knights, actually," she replied.

Ellis frowned. "And you had a talk with them?"

"No. They already know me. No one stopped me."

He didn’t respond immediately. He just stared at her, silently... and feeling the weight of his gaze, Silas added.

"...With the banquet going on, the security around the royal grounds is heavier than usual. So it’s impossible not to come across anyone at all when moving in or out." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Ellis raised an eyebrow at that.

And for a moment, he thought that maybe it was actually better that someone had noticed her leaving.

Because even if suspicions rose, it would stop there.

After all, no matter how much they investigated, they would eventually reach the same conclusion... that Silas simply didn’t have the strength to do all of this.

Her current level of power wasn’t enough to take on all the guards in the palace, let alone walk away unscathed.

His only real concern was if they had access to some kind of high-level magic he didn’t know about, magic that could trace the truth, that could uncover his presence or measure his current strength.

But with Silas being the one seen leaving the palace, and returning alone, that in itself became evidence.

Evidence that he hadn’t gone out.

And that was good.

While Ellis’s thoughts and his exchange with Silas took only a brief moment.

A moment that wouldn’t give any servant or maid enough time to run... but even so, maybe he let his guard down?

Because just then, he felt it.

A presence moving swiftly, one he recognized immediately.

The only mage in the palace.

And they were headed toward his mother’s room.

His eyes narrowed.

He turned sharply toward Silas, who was still at his side, and everything clicked together in that instant.

While he might have not been recognized by them, his appearance still unknown, Silas was different.

She was already known. A familiar face.

And now that she had shown up in the middle of all this, everything had changed.

The mage would connect things... and would act.

So, Ellis too didn’t hesitate. He moved.

With his destination set, his mother’s room, he ran.

He didn’t want a situation where she was taken hostage to become a reality, after al.

Earlier, when he’d seen how the servants hesitated, how many of them lingered near the doors, waiting for someone else to make the first move, he’d assumed he still had time.

Or maybe, after hearing Silas and thinking the situation was under control, he’d let his guard down. And now... now he regretted that.

"Master!" Silas called from behind him, her voice sharp but still trailing as she tried to keep up with him.

"What about that man still breathing between the corpses? Should I finish him off?"

She was talking about Garret, of course.

"No. Leave him alone," he said coldly.

"He’ll die from blood loss soon enough."

He didn’t want to give Garret an easy, quick death.

As he said this to Silas, Ellis arrived at the building where his mother was. But he didn’t head for the front entrance, he didn’t want to end up confronting and be slowed down.

So, he moved alongside the outer wall, issuing short, quick instructions to Silas, for what she should do... until he finally stopped beneath a second-floor window.

And without a moment’s hesitation, he jumped.

CRASH!

The glass shattered as he broke through the window.

And as he landed inside, the sound of cracking wood echoed from the door. At the exact same moment, a woman stepped into the room.

Plain clothing. Plain face.

Unremarkable in every way, except for the sharp glint of focus in her eyes.

Though her attire tried not to leave any impression of wealth, to Ellis’s eyes, it still looked far too refined. Maybe that was only natural... given that she was a mage?

"Your Highness," she said with a polite bow, her voice steady, though it trembled just enough to betray her nervousness.

But Ellis didn’t spare her another glance. His eyes were already locked on the bed.

On his mother.

Lying there, motionless. Unmoving. Unconscious, despite all the noise, despite the chaos erupting just beyond her door.

She looked pale. Hollow. Haggard just like five years ago.

No, she looked worse.

The poison had surely taken its toll.

And in that moment, as he stared at her sunken face, Ellis couldn’t help but imagine the kind of life she must have endured these past five years.