Magnus took down the last of the four tal Crystal soldiers. Half-kneeling on the body, he caught his breath before standing.
He looked up - the ceiling had a gaping hole now. Inside the conference room, palm-sized black mutant mosquitoes sward in, drawn by the vanishing energy of the last soldier’s core. Magnus just stood over the corpse, watching silently. In monts, the body shriveled up, turning into a dry husk.
He left the room, shut the door behind him, and headed upstairs. On the second floor, he found a few large rooms. He pushed one door open - won, dozens of them, curled on the ground in small groups. At the sight of Magnus, a few near the door gasped and tried to shrink away.
Windows sealed, the place was dim. Magnus switched on a strong flashlight and aid it at the ceiling. Light slowly filled the room.
Dozens of pairs of eyes looked at him, all filled with fear.
"You all..."
Seeing their battered state, he let out a quiet sigh. Setting the flashlight down on a table to illuminate the room, he closed the door behind him.
"Is there soone in charge? Anyone willing to speak up and tell what the hell happened here?"
The won glanced at one another, silent.
Months of cruelty had crushed them. For the older ones - forties, even fifties - Adrian and his n hadn’t treated them like people at all. Every torture you could dream of - or couldn’t even imagine - they went through it all.
In a world where every day feels like the last, the twenty-so n in their group, with nothing better to do, used their ti to invent new tornts - especially for won.
Seeing the fear, Magnus walked up to one woman. She was injured - her thigh was torn open, bleeding steadily. Flesh missing from her foot revealed pale bone.
"Officer..."
She gritted her teeth, trying to stand, and gave him a precise military salute. Magnus blinked - she was a soldier?
But just as that thought hit him, her next words left him stunned.
"Officer! Slut Cynthia reporting! Please... please use . Use your cock, your hands - anything. Just make this filthy little slut useful. I don’t care how rough, how deep... I want to be fucked until I forget my na. Let choke on it, cum from it, cry for it. I’ll beg, I’ll drool, I’ll take it all. Just make yours. Break , ruin - I’ll thank you for the privilege..."
Her tone was dead serious, her eyes bright with twisted desperation.
The others didn’t even react, like this was nothing new.
Magnus stood there, frozen. Disbelief twisted into a kind of raw, primal discomfort. He instinctively took a step back.
In two lifetis, he’d never heard a young woman speak like that. This wasn’t even vulgarity - it went beyond that. Even as a grown man, he could feel the heat rush to his face, blood stirring just from her words.
Then his eyes dropped to her leg - exposed bone, raw muscle.
That gash on her thigh. The torn flesh.
What kind of hell had they been through to be twisted into this...?
Magnus’s chest tightened with sothing more than shock. He took a long breath, turned his head away from the woman, and with trembling fingers, pulled out a crumpled cigarette pack. He lit one, the flare of fire briefly lighting the weariness in his eyes.
But it wasn’t her foul words that shook him - it was what those words hinted at. The bruises on her body, the dead calm in her expression, the way she stood there... it all pointed to one thing: the hell they’d been through.
"A-Alright, that’s enough."
As Cynthia started performing crude gestures, Magnus raised a hand and cut her off quickly. He took another breath and said, "Just lie down. Don’t move."
Without a flicker of emotion, Cynthia dropped to the ground, legs spread like it was routine.
"Close your legs. I said lie down, not that."
She obeyed, then brought her hands up to press against her chest in a lewd suggestion.
"Don’t move. Anywhere."
Magnus’s voice was low but sharp. This was already hard enough for him. Any more of her behavior and he wasn’t sure how he’d keep his composure.
He approached and crouched beside her. His right hand swirled with a faint white mist as it hovered slowly over her feet. Cynthia flinched, brows drawn tight, a buzzing tingle crawling up her leg... then her thigh... But she kept her head down, silent.
A minute passed, maybe less. The prickling in her skin started to fade. Strangely, the pain was gone. In its place, a faint itch, like fresh skin knitting over old wounds. She couldn’t resist anymore - lifted her gaze.
Healed?
She blinked, unsure if it was real. Around her, the other won stared in disbelief. A few brave ones crawled closer, gently pressing fingers to their skin.
Smooth. Whole.
"I don’t know what those bastards did to you..."
Magnus exhaled, rising to his feet and sweeping his eyes over the room. "But I’m not them. We’re with the Ice Regint. Over a thousand won in the team, and I’m the only man. We don’t hurt our own. You don’t have to be scared."
He paused, glanced around. "If anyone else’s got injuries, co to . I’ll patch you up."
He moved on to scan the other rooms - sa story. Altogether, 193 won, and more than a hundred hurt. He didn’t hesitate. Three and a half Life Crystals burned away with each healing touch, threefold efficiency draining every drop.
On the roof, he signaled toward their convoy. Less than ten minutes later, Molly arrived with two hundred Ice Regint mbers at her back.
Back in the room where these won had been kept like animals, Magnus looked around and asked, "Anyone want to join us in the Ice Regint? If you’re ready, stand up."
The rustling of rising bodies filled the air - every single one stood. No hesitation.
"Alright then..." He turned to Molly. "Go bring the empty trucks. Nothing for them to wear out there, and it’s dangerous. Let’s get them safely inside first."
Molly nodded and went off. At her side, Lucy frowned slightly as she scanned the fragile figures. Magnus caught her look - he knew what she was thinking. Nearly two hundred won, hardly thirty of them even Awakened. So elderly, many too weak to fight.
"When we get back," Magnus said, "let Liana handle the assignnts. Those who can fight’ll be on the frontlines. The others - we’ll find them roles. Driving, cooking, logistics. Everyone has a place."
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