The Count's Gun-Shooting Scoundrel-Chapter 76

"S-Save... me..."
"Shut up!"
Blizan grabbed him and slammed him onto the ground.
Thud!
"Uwaaaah!"
Hazan flailed and rolled on the ground.
"Considering what we've been through."
Blizan mercilessly kicked him in the side.
Thwack!
With a dull thud, Hazan's eyes widened as if they would tear.
"Kuhuk..."
He made a gasping sound and foamed at the mouth.
"I want to kill you right now, but someone else is meant to punish you."
To prevent him from escaping, he stomped on Hazan's ankle.
Crack!
"Aaaaargh!"
Hazan's face turned pale, and he fainted.
Blizan grabbed him by the hair and dragged him over to Cersei.
While he was punishing Hazan, Cersei, who had regained consciousness, had tears welling up in her eyes.
"Zan..."
Blizan, his eyes bloodshot, looked back and managed to utter a single word.
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Zan!"
Cersei burst into tears and ran to him.
Blizan threw Hazan aside and hugged her tightly.
Skevin, who had been watching the scene, turned his head to check the surroundings.
All the enemies were down, and the scouts were checking on the hostages.
One of the knights approached and bowed respectfully.
"We've taken care of everyone."
Skevin nodded and looked at Hazan.
"Take that bastard to the people."
A moment later.
Skevin appeared on horseback before the former hostages.
He could feel the wild atmosphere unique to the Horcamun Tribe from the women and children.
However, among the hostages were about ten men who did not look like they were from the Horcamun Tribe.
"Who are they?"
One of the knights answered his question.
"I checked with a member of the Horcamun Tribe. They said these men were captured from somewhere else."
"Hmm."
A peculiar light flickered in Skevin's eyes.
He slowly scanned each of the men.
Each one of them was emaciated to the point where their bones were visible, but their eyes were alive.
Seeing their extraordinary mental fortitude, they didn't seem to be ordinary slaves.
Skevin approached and stood before them.
"State your identity."
They just stared at him, their mouths tightly shut.
"I'll ask again. If you don't answer this time, I will consider you Hazan's lackeys and kill you all."
One of them struggled to his feet, met Skevin's gaze, and opened his mouth.
"We are not his soldiers. And before you question us, you should state your own identity first."
"......!"
In that moment, Skevin's eyes flashed.
The man was looking straight into his eyes with too much confidence.
'Could it be?'
Skevin frowned slightly and asked cautiously.
"Are you perhaps a noble?"
The man stared intently at Skevin and then slowly spoke.
"I am Keda, the eldest son of the Alpha family."
"The Alpha family... from the Namshar Empire......!"
"That's right. We are the soldiers of the family that was framed for treason and annihilated two years ago."
"So the remaining survivors fled here."
As Skevin's gaze turned cold, Keda's eyes filled with killing intent as he asked.
"Do we look like demons to you too?"
"What do you mean?"
Skevin's face hardened.
"The Alpha family were loyal subjects who devoted everything to the empire. But they branded us as demon worshipers and slaughtered us."
"......!"
Keda did not miss the slight waver in Skevin's eyes.
"You seem surprised."
Skevin quickly erased his surprised expression and asked coldly.
"How can I believe that?"
"You will believe me when you see this."
Keda turned around and showed the brand on his back.
Like the Oscar Empire, the Namshar Empire also managed criminals by marking them with a prisoner's brand.
These brands were known among the empires, so he knew what the mark on his back meant.
The image of a moon hidden by clouds, symbolizing darkness!
It was the brand stamped on those who served demons.
He and the other men also turned to show the brands on their backs.
"Mmm..."
Skevin let out a low groan.
Keda asked.
"Now it's your turn to state your identity."
"I'm afraid this is not a situation where I can make the decision."
"Don't tell me you're going to hand us over to the Emperor?"
Killing intent filled Keda's eyes.
At the same time, the men with him began to exude killing intent and tried to stand up.
The knights surrounding them simultaneously aimed the tips of their swords at the men.
In an instant, a tense atmosphere filled the air.
A touch-and-go situation!
In contrast, Skevin maintained a calm expression and spoke to Keda.
"If you want to die, I'll gladly kill you."
"It's better to die here than be dragged away by you bastards and killed."
"How amusing."
Skevin smirked as if finding it absurd and continued.
"I never said I would take you to the Emperor."
"You'll take us to your master. Then that bastard will offer us to the Emperor...!"
In that moment, Keda's face contorted.
It was because Skevin suddenly unleashed his killing intent, pressing down on him.
"I may not be qualified to answer your question, but I have the authority to kill anyone who insults my lord. If you want to live, you'd better watch your mouth. There won't be a second warning."
Keda, crushed by the killing intent, couldn't say a word.
He tried to avoid his gaze, but his body had frozen like stone, refusing to move as he willed.
'This level of aura...'
He had to be a Sword Master-level knight. A family that could possess such a man would be at least a Count's family or higher.
Now he could see that the knights Skevin had brought with him were also of a considerable level.
They could even be a Knight Order belonging to a Marquis or a Duke's family.
'Damn it! Is this the end?'
When those men took care of Hazan's soldiers and rescued the hostages, it felt like a light of hope, long hidden in his heart, had appeared.
But it was just his own delusion.
As Keda slumped down powerlessly, the men who followed him also sat down with dazed expressions.
Skevin spoke coldly to them.
"Keep in mind that on the way to my lord, your lives will depend on your actions."
Blizan and Cersei approached and spoke to him.
"Commander."
Skevin turned around with his horse and looked at the two of them.
"Have you found some peace of mind?"
"Yes."
Blizan gave a faint smile and shifted his gaze to Cersei.
"This is the person the Horcamun Tribe must serve from now on."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Cersei."
Cersei placed her right hand on her chest and bowed politely.
"Skevin Maximus."
"I am in your care."
Skevin nodded and asked Blizan.
"What are you going to do?"
He glanced at Hazan, who was lying on the ground.
Blizan's face twisted as he answered.
"We will deal with him according to the tribe's laws."
"Let's begin."
Cersei's eyes filled with killing intent as she moved to where the tribe members were gathered. She informed them of the situation and approached Hazan with them.
As they surrounded Hazan, Cersei kicked him to wake him.
"Ugh..."
When Hazan regained consciousness with a groan of pain, an immense agony surged from his lower body, jolting him fully awake.
"Aaaaaargh!"
Cersei pressed down on his hideous thing with her foot and said.
"I'll return everything you did to us."
Thump! Thump!
"Gah!"
As she stepped aside, a woman next to her came forward, glaring viciously.
"Every time you did that to me, I wanted to die! But I endured it to protect my family!"
She vented her rage by shoving her foot into Hazan's mouth.
"Mmph, ugh, keuk. Heuk!"
Hazan's eyes flew wide as if they would tear, and he thrashed wildly, while the other women, filled with venom, waited for their turn.
About an hour passed like that.
Having vented all their pent-up anger, they panted, glaring at Hazan as if to kill him.
Hazan's face was grotesquely mangled beyond recognition, and all his limbs were broken backward.
It was a wonder he was still alive.
"Uh, uh..."
A very faint, barely audible groan could be heard.
Blizan stood before him.
"My eternal regret is that I cannot kill you with my own hands."
Cersei stood beside him and said firmly.
"This is just the beginning."
Blizan looked around at the tribe members.
Like Cersei, they too must have endured humiliating days at the hands of Hazan and his soldiers.
His heart grew heavy thinking of their comrades who were eagerly awaiting their return.
If those comrades learned what humiliation these women had suffered, they would surely be tormented by guilt.
He didn't want that to happen.
From now on, he wanted the Horcamun Tribe to think only of a bright future.
Blizan met Cersei's eyes.
"I have a favor to ask."
Cersei nodded, and he asked her not to tell their comrades what they had experienced as Hazan's hostages.
According to the laws of the Horcamun Tribe, the head of the family was supposed to know everything that happened to their family, but this time, they decided to break the law for everyone's sake.
Cersei's expression showed that she fully understood why he was making such a request.
"I understand."
"And..."
Blizan turned his head toward where the children were gathered and continued.
"The thing I'm worried about... that didn't happen, did it?"
"Don't worry. We made sure they couldn't lay a hand on the children."
"Good."
Blizan answered quietly and turned away.
Thinking of the hardships Cersei and the others must have endured to protect the children, rage surged within him.
'Son of a bitch...'
Gritting his teeth and suppressing his anger, he approached Skevin.
"It's all over."
"Are you planning to leave him like this?"
"This is his punishment."
"True. He's a man who shouldn't be allowed to die easily."
Skevin looked at the assembled knights and shouted.
"We're moving out!"
The knights moved in perfect order, taking their positions.
Skevin shifted his gaze to Blizan and said.
"Come with your tribe members."
"Yes."
As Skevin took the lead, the Knight Order followed him.
The members of the Horcamun Tribe were positioned in the middle of the formation, moving under the protection of the knights.
After they disappeared, a flock of crows gathered from somewhere and descended upon the mountain of corpses.
"Ugh..."
Hazan struggled to open his eyes.
The bitches who had attacked him were nowhere to be seen.
Blizan and the Julius Knight Order were also gone.
On the desolate plain, only the bodies of his subordinates and the crows pecking out their eyes were visible.
He let out a sigh of relief and gritted his teeth.
"I will... have my revenge...!"
A crow landed on the ground in front of him.
It looked around, spotted him, and then approached, cawing loudly. Caw! Caw!
"G-Go away..."
The moment his eyes met the creature's, which stood right before his nose!
Peck!
The crow plucked out one of Hazan's eyes.
Following that, dozens of crows descended and landed on Hazan's body.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Hazan's desperate screams echoed continuously along with the cawing of the flock.
Just then, a figure in a dark brown robe appeared like the wind.
Startled, the flock of crows all flew up into the sky.
The man in the dark brown robe looked at Hazan's grotesquely dead form and clicked his tongue softly.
"A miserable death."
He looked around and extended his arm toward a crow that was still tearing at a corpse.
The crow was sucked into his grasp as if pulled by a vacuum.
"I need you to run an errand."
The man met the crow's eyes and quietly chanted in runic language.
The resisting crow's eyes turned bright red, and it soon became docile.
After imprinting the scene he had witnessed into the crow's mind, he let it go.
The crow cawed loudly and flew off powerfully in some direction.
The man watched until the crow disappeared from sight, then a meaningful smile formed on his lips as he looked in the direction Skevin and the Knight Order had gone.
"House Julius, is it..."