Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World chapter-161-rusra-v

Henry dashed through the streets of Rusra, following the screams that echoed through the city, which were getting closer and closer. They chaos was near, he could feel it.

"Blood?" - Henry thought as he saw large streams of blood flowing down the streets, filling the gaps between the small rocks paving it - "What the hell is happening? Has Luak attacked them?" - His mind raced, trying to think of other possibilities - "No, it's impossible for them to mobilize a large number of troops so soon after losing their whole army."

Despite his racing thoughts, Henry couldn't figure out what was happening. He never imagined that the lord might have lost his mind and started attacking his own people. This situation had never crossed his mind.

"Someone…something is coming," Henry thought as he felt the ground trembling slightly, as if a giant was approaching. Suddenly, the source of the screams became clear in front of him. A horde of people was desperately running towards him. Mothers were pulling their children, and fathers were carrying everything they could in case they needed to sell it to survive, from food to wood.

"Run! Run! Get out of the way!" - One of the men at the front screamed, waving his hands to make Henry move aside and follow them. "The lord has gone crazy! We have to run away!"

The horde was approaching, but Henry stood his ground, trying to make sense of the madness overwhelming the people surging past him. Despite some bumping into him, the crowd kept moving, fear evident in their movements. As they rushed by, Henry grabbed the arm of a man - " What do you mean the lord has gone crazy?" - he asked, squeezing the man's arm.

"Let me go!" - the man yelled, trying to push Henry away. But, no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't move Henry's grip away. He could only watch as the people passed by, continuing to run to save their lives. He turned to Henry, pleading - "P-Please, let me go. The lord will surely kill both of us if we stay here."

"Answer me first: what do you mean the lord has gone crazy?" - Henry asked again, trying to make sense of what was happening.

The man responded immediately, his tone desperate and hurried - "I don't know what happened, but the lord suddenly came out of the castle and started killing everyone" - He spoke without pausing for breath - "He even killed the guards and other soldiers. Right now, the soldiers are trying to contain him at the central plaza, but dozens already died" - His eyes unconsciously glanced at the bloody path, making his legs tremble even more.

Henry took a brief moment to organize his thoughts and then released the man - "You can go!" - The man didn't hesitate and began to run again, not even looking back to curse at him. "Well, Olaro will know what to do with them. I hope he doesn't kill them thinking they are soldiers trying to defend the town," Henry muttered to himself.

He was worried about these people meeting Olaro and not respecting the general's position. If they insisted on leaving, his army outside might kill many of them, mistaking them for guards trying to defend the city. However, Henry trusted that Olaro would handle the situation. Taking one last look at the fleeing crowd, Henry then ran towards the castle. He could still hear sounds ahead. It was a mixture of desperate and painful cries, essentially different from the horde of commoners.

It didn't take long before he found himself in the plaza, at the gates of Rusra's castle. The ground was covered with dozens, if not hundreds, of dismembered bodies, their blood forming pools and streaming down the streets. Hundreds of soldiers surrounded a naked elder who was slashing one person after another, adding more bodies to the ground.

"A rope? What are they doing?" - Henry wondered, seeing a man holding a rope, seemingly waiting for the right moment - "They're not trying to kill him, but subdue him? Are they crazy?" Henry could see that most of these soldiers were normal humans without a speck of Mana in their bodies. They would never be able to defeat a Second Stage Warrior without the intention to kill. Trying to subdue and tie up such a person was practically impossible. It would only result in more and more deaths. However, despite knowing that, Henry decided to sit back and watch everything unfold. He wouldn't interfere with their plans. Spotting a chair at a nearby market stall, he settled into it, choosing to observe the scene closely. These were not his soldiers, so he had no concern for their lives.

"The man with the rope in hand seems to be the leader" - Henry murmured, observing with interest as the man gave commands to the others while maintaining distance, one body falling after the other.

The constant deaths meant that every time one of them fell, another entered the circle to fill the void. This endless rotation of forces prevented them from acting in unison, like a bowl with cracks trying to hold water, creating gaps in their formation. Only a single mistake was needed for the old man to kill another. In a matter of minutes, Henry had already counted seven deaths at the old man's hand. "What is he waiting for?" - Henry asked himself as he looked at their captain, but he soon found the reason - "He is afraid." - He could see his knees trembling and his hands almost dropping the rope.

The battle continued. The old man continued to slash his sword, killing one soldier after another, his eyes maniacally searching for more victims. He didn't stop. These ordinary soldiers were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered; the only sign that he was in a battle was his tired breath coming out of his nostrils.

"His movements seem strange" - Henry observed, analyzing old man's every move - "He has Mana, but is only using it to fuel his body stamina and strength. He doesn't seem like a human, but an animal from the Frozen Forest."

As Henry continued to watch, the old man lunged again towards another soldier, his sword reaping yet another life. However, this time, the captain finally seemed to muster the courage to move and do his job. Seeing that the old man had turned his back on him, the captain twirled the rope and then hurled it towards the old man, before pulling it back, tightening the noose around him. The old man stared at the rope, perplexed, without understanding what happened - "We caught him!" - The captain exclaimed ecstatically, relaxing.

Unlike the captain, the soldiers facing the old man didn't let their guard down; they remained alert because they saw the old man suddenly moving and the rope breaking.