Chapter 165 - Aldreus's Past (Part One)

There was a single man who was standing in front of a burning village, and alongside him was a woman and two kids. One of them was a baby, while the other was a little child. The four of them were watching the village burn down.

"I have to go honey. If I can save one life, just one. It would be worth it", he said. The woman was holding onto him, and not letting him go. The man was wearing a top hat and a long tailcoat. 

He had a chain around his neck, and he removed it as he knelt towards his kid. He placed the necklace around the kid's neck and looked him in the eye. 

"This is a gift from me to you, kiddo. Think of this as your birthday present, and Father now has to go and save our people", he said as he stood back up. The kid was standing still and looked at the man walk away from him, into the flames.

The man who was walking was none other than Aldreus. He dashed into the village and began to look around for survivors. He had just arrived, and he was taken aback at the state of the village.

His wife didn't want to go into the flame as she was afraid that he might die. He heard screams and cries for help and tried to help them. But the moment they saw him, they came running towards him.

"Mayor! Please save my wife!", came a man running towards him. He ran into the house and brought out the woman who was burning, and he put out the flames. Unfortunately, shortly after he brought her out, she was dead.

He followed the same routine and pulled out as many people as he could, and his skin was turning red. He was burning in the fire whilst saving them, but the moment he brought them out they were either burned beyond recognition or they had died in the flames.

He was angry at the person who had done this and wanted to find the perpetrator. He used his speed which he was quick in and brought out the last person he could find in the burning houses. 

He was devastated when he saw the states they were in. He didn't know how to save them or even heal them. The village had no healer, and the ones who had survived were pleading for death.

He fell to the floor and looked at the skies, breaking down into tears. He recognized each person that was burnt, and the more he saw the people that had died, the more heartbroken he was.

"Whoever you are, I swear I will get my vengeance. What did my village ever do to you!", he bellowed in anger and extreme pain. His eyes had turned red from the anger and tears he was holding back, and the people now gathered around him.

Everyone fell to their knees, and some of them even had their foreheads to the ground. No one uttered a single word and they began the procedure to send off those that had been burnt in this unfortunate incident.

As a result of saving every one of them, his skin had turned red. The left half of his body was in bright red skin, while the other half was a normal white. 

He tried everything to recover the outer layer of the skin that had been burned away during the incident, but no healer could heal him. The whole village tried their best, and he had lost the sense of touch on the side that was burnt. 

He tried to create a spell that could replicate the feeling of touch, but nothing worked for him. Every time he went out, he wore a mask on his face, and the top hat covered the rest that were exposed. 

Some time had passed from the incident, but Aldreus never forgot the vow he took that day. He trained youngsters from the village and sent them out to collect information about that fateful day.

He trained himself to the limit, and his family began to worry for him. His anger and hate were fueling his will to live, and his sense of vengeance had given him a purpose to live. 

"Did you find him?", asked Zephyr as he stopped an attack from Aldreus. He pulled back his axes and cut across his cheek, making Zephyr jump back. 

"Do not ask questions. Learn to be patient. Patience is a virtue, Mr. Heart", he said as he went back to attacking him, revealing more from his past.

Many years had passed from that fateful day, and both of his children had grown up. His son being the child that was the kid during the incident, and his daughter being the baby during that day.

He was playing with them when a man came in with a parchment in his hands. He was one among the troops that he had trained, and he went to receive the parchment.

He opened it and his eyes turned into slits. The information on it was something that he was searching for all this while, and he saw it heading towards him this time.

"Inform everyone and evacuate the place. I will handle the people who are coming. And the troops too. This is an order", he said. The man who had a mask over his face could not say anything to him.

Aldreus looked at both of his kids and informed of his wife. She was stunned when she heard the information from him and advised him to come along with her. 

"You think I am going to let them go? After what they did to the people and me?", he said as he removed his mask and hat. The woman had her hands on her face, as she could not bear to see his face.

Although he looked very unlovely to everyone that was around, the woman's heart skipped a beat. She placed her palm on the side where he would feel her touch and caressed his cheeks.

"I know of all the things you have done for these people, my love. But aren't we, your family too?", she asked lovingly. The man had tears in his eyes, and in that brief second, prioritized himself over others.

He shook the thought out of his mind and looked at her back. He pulled her close to him, and the both of them stood in each other's embrace. 

"If I have to, I would. But you know about my temper", he said. The woman laughed in a cute voice and pulled him closer to her. 

She took in a whiff of his scent as she grazed her lips against his. The both of them had a passionate kiss, and she broke free from it. He looked at her, and this time he was choking on his words.

"I love you, Elaina", he said as he let go of her. The woman smiled as she returned the words to him.

"And I love you too, Aldreus. Now go and kick their butts", she said as she turned away from him. Aldreus picked up his axe and walked out of the door.

"And stay safe", she muttered as she heard the door close shut. Right after the door was closed, she broke down into tears, bawling her eyes out.

Aldreus stood at the door and heard his wife's cries, and he was tempted to go back inside. He clenched his fists and moved away from the door, and a tear was rolling down his cheek as he walked away.

"The more I stay here, the more I would lose my will to fight. I have to do this, not for them but for me", he muttered as he began to head towards the village.

The place was now empty, and he pulled a chair out of one of the houses. He sat on it with his axe right above his shoulder, exuding an Aura that was filled with authority.

The men who were coming had torches in their hands, and they cam riding their horses and saw the village deserted. It was something they had not expected to happen, as they planned to kill every single life that was in the village.

"Search every place. Find anyone that had survived the last time, and make sure that they stay dead. And if you find that Mayor, make sure to bring his...", and his sentence was stopped as his head was separated from his shoulders.

"You want my head? You would have to be much stronger than that", he hissed as he disappeared from the place. The men were in disarray, and he took this opportunity to kill as many as he could.

"This is for the last time you burned down the people that were living peacefully", he said as he rammed his axe into the skull of a person that was on horseback.

The rage that he had suppressed for all these years began to pour out, and they were unable to keep up with his speed.

"Just what in the world is the Mayor?", thought everyone as they jumped down from their horses to attack him.