Louise stepped down from the carriage, her signature white robe replaced by a linen shirt and leather waistcoat, revealing her figure, which was usually hidden beneath loose robes.

"These clothes are so uncomfortable to wear," Louisa said, as she tied her cascading white hair into a single ponytail.

Fala also took off his black robe and changed into a coarse linen outfit. He used a round hat instead of a hood to cover his one red and one black eye, and carried a cloth bag on his shoulder containing a blood crystal the size of a fist.

The three of them left the forest on two horses. Since Fara had never ridden a horse before, she had to share one with Darian.

At the city gate, two drunken soldiers stopped the group: "Stop! What are you doing?"

Darian threw a small bag of money on the ground. The two quickly picked it up, opened it, and saw that it was full of silver and copper coins. They were clearly not satisfied.

"This is too little, give us some more..."

Swish!

A sharp gust of wind rang out, and half of a soldier's face was covered in hot blood. His comrade's head rolled twice on the ground before his entire body collapsed.

The henchman trembled, clutching the blood-stained money pouch. Darian wiped the blood off his sword and sheathed it.

"Is that enough?"

The henchman nodded blankly and stepped aside to make way for the three.

"Aren't you afraid he'll report you for killing him?" Louisa asked.

"Report? You should take a look around first."

When Louisa entered the city, the scene before her was nothing short of hell.

The streets were littered with dried blood and mutilated corpses, and several stray dogs, their mouths stained with blood, roamed the streets, well-fed and satisfied.

Occasionally, one or two rotting corpses are nailed to the outer wall of the house; judging from their clothing, they should belong to the local nobility.

The rebels gathered in small groups outside, all naked from the waist down, drinking heavily on the ground with their glasses in hand. There were probably also several scantily clad women among them.

"This is the town occupied by the rebels. The Duke's personal guards have been either killed or surrendered. The entire town is now devoid of any power to restrain them. Everyone is indulging their desires to the fullest. Murder and rape are commonplace here. The death of a gatekeeper won't cause much of a commotion."

Louisa nodded slightly, turning her head away to avoid looking at the shocking images.

Darian led the two to a corner of the wall. "Let's tie the horses here. It's too inconvenient to ride horses in the city."

The three had just dismounted when a strange noise came from the alleyway beside them:

"Damn it, it's finally my turn. Those bastards are like a bunch of horny stray dogs. They snatch away any woman they see, making me end up in this disgusting place."

"Hey, you're not dead, are you? If you're going to die, you should wait until I'm done."

"You all stay here. I'll go grab that man and ask him where the civilians are being held." Darian, considering that his longsword wouldn't be effective in the alley, drew his short sword and walked into the alley.

Because the residents on both sides of the alley had been dumping sewage on it for years, the air was filled with a stench, and the yellowed floorboards were sticky. Darian never expected that anyone would come to this place on their own initiative.

Ahead, a dark-skinned man with his bare buttocks was on top of a woman, panting heavily.

"You slut, bark! Stop acting like a dead person. I didn't come to this disgusting place to see your stinky face. Bark now!"

The man was still enjoying this perverse pleasure, completely unaware that someone was approaching from behind.

Suddenly, he felt his collar being yanked, and he immediately pulled out a dagger from his trousers and stabbed backward.

Darian reacted quickly, dodging to the side and then plunging the dagger into the man's thigh.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

The man let out a violent scream, the loud sound echoing repeatedly in the confined space, making Darian's ears ache.

"Shut up!" Darian swung his fist and smashed it hard into the man's face, sending two teeth flying out with blood as they landed on the ground.

"Who the hell are you? Why are you hitting me... Aaaaaah!!!"

Before the man could finish his question, a sharp pain shot through his other leg as a short knife pierced his flesh.

Darian didn't pull it out immediately. He let the blade swirl inside the knife a couple of times to make sure the man couldn't escape before finally drawing the dagger.

Leaving the man lying on the ground sobbing, Darian walked up to the woman who had been violated.

Seeing the woman's miserable state, Darian's forehead veins bulged even more.

This is a girl who isn't very old, probably only around sixteen years old, the same age as Darian's daughter.

Her clothes were torn to shreds, her body was covered in bruises and bloodstains, and the condition of her lower body was even more appalling.

The girl did not react to Darian's gaze. If it weren't for her slowly rising and falling chest, Darian would have thought she was dead.

"Do you need help? I am reinforcements sent from the capital."

Upon hearing the words "reinforcements," a glimmer of light appeared in the girl's unfocused pupils. She turned her eyes to look at Darian for a moment, her blood-scabbed lips trembling as she spoke:

"Kill...me..."

This was the answer Darian had anticipated. Without saying anything more, he swiftly slit a gash in the girl's neck with his dagger.

Blood immediately flowed all over the ground, the girl's head tilted to the side, and her eyes completely lost their life.

"Reinforcements? Heh, you're too late. Your Lady Melisandre, that damned slut, do you know how many men she slept with before she died? Haha! She's hanging on the city wall right now..."

Darian stomped the man's face on the ground and rubbed it hard, smearing excrement and urine all over his face.

Then she grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him out of the alley.

The man was thrown into a corner, and Darian grabbed one of his hands and pried off a fingernail with a dagger.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!! That's awesome, hahaha!!"

The man laughed wildly, but the tears streaming down his face betrayed how much pain he had just been in.

"Tell us where the civilians are being held, and I'll spare your life and even let her treat you; if you refuse, I'll pry off all your fingernails and toenails and chop off your penis."

The man, panting heavily, caught his breath and then glanced at Louisa:

"Heh heh, let that woman come over and suck on my 'treasure,' and maybe I'll consider telling you guys... Ahhhhh!!"

Darian pried off another piece.

"Do you think I'm afraid of death? Do you think it hurts to have your fingers pried off? Let me tell you, the real pain is huddling in a drafty thatched hut in winter, starving and freezing; it's fighting with a bunch of starving people for leftovers thrown away by big shots; it's being treated like livestock for a lifetime."

"Without Lord Dono, I'd still be living this kind of life, never getting to eat a steak with cheese! My life is worthless; I'm already grateful for these few good days. Torture me however you want, I will never betray Lord Dono!"

"I'll give it a try. Maybe my dark magic can pry his mouth open. I'll have to trouble Lady Louisa to cooperate with me," said Fara, who had been silent all along.

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