I Am The Heroine's Father: The Cannon Fodder's Ascent-Chapter 42: Resolve of the Mind

[Acier, Julie, and Diana, tied on a wooden stake, filled with bruises all over their bodies, completely naked.]

Kirin's breath stuck in her throat, her lips trembling, and eyes twisting in rage.

Johan's body shook, raw Aether started seeping out from his body, his killing intent increasing by the second.

[All three of them were unconscious, signs of hands all over their bodies. The cameraman moved, and another room appeared. He gently opened the iron door surrounded by darkness.]

[Theo Von Matilda, Daniel Von Matilda, and Hanzo Boneswit chained to an iron rod like dogs. They were eating something from the ground, and when the 'cameraman' got closer, it was clear what they were eating—piss and shit of all the monsters and pigs in the dark dungeon.]

Sebastian's breath shook, hatred oozed from his eyes. It was his son—the son he never could give the time he deserved.

[Their faces were filled with humiliation, but their bodies couldn't stop, as if their instincts were calling them to eat it.]

With that, the paper turned into a normal yellowish tint.

Tense silence ensued.

Johan's face turned pale. He slowly turned to look towards Kirin. Her face was covered with tears, and she was clenching her fists so hard that blood seeped from her palms.

Johan placed a hand on her shoulder, but—

She instantly slapped it away. "You... still want to wait?" Her voice came out broken and trembling, as if she couldn't believe anything.

Johan clenched his fists and nodded softly.

Only he knew the true horror of Leor and Radhaan. Going unprepared would not save anyone.

"I-I... don't think Master Theo would ever become like this. He would've rather died from starvation..." Sebastian spoke in a low voice, his tone filled with horror remembering the desperately hungry face.

He knew Theo very well. With that kind of pride, it was either he would fight to the death, or even bite his tongue—but never accept it.

"Maybe someone used some kind of ability to make them more prone to feeling emotions..." Raventa spoke softly, remembering the countless demons with mind-manipulation abilities she had cleansed.

Suddenly—

Johan felt a tight grip on his throat. Breathing became harder, and he started choking. He looked down, his eyes filled with horror.

"Julie, Acier, Diana are getting raped every single day. Our big brother and nephew are more like pigs than humans. Every single day we spend outside is a day we add to their suffering!" Kirin's voice grew louder and louder, her blue eyes looking hollow—but filled with rage.

She also started to regret her decision a bit. If she hadn't followed Johan and stayed back home, she would've at least been by Julie's side. It would've given her hope. But now her face—it looked... broken.

Instead of defying fate, she was... enduring, and... accepting it.

Johan grabbed the hand choking him, his voice becoming low. 'Listen to me. There is no way we can win... we will just be going there to join them. We can't let our emotions lead us... it will be our death as well.'

He spoke through muffled breaths, trying his best to reason with Kirin.

'If I understand the powers of 'it', we can have a solid chance. Let's just... wait a week.'

The word powers immediately managed to catch the attention of Beatrice and Raventa. They could feel the strength of the famous weakest Divine General to ever exist.

"You said many times that you could die for me. Do anything for me. From childhood, you said so many times that we are a family—who supports in any situation, and goes beyond reason just to help the other..."

Her voice grew soft, her grip tightening on his throat.

"What if I was there too, getting raped? You still would've chosen strategy, right? To wait for the perfect chance? To have the odds in your favour? Heck, the wife and brother who sacrificed everything just to make you happy—you're abandoning them."

Johan stared down at the ground, not replying.

"You are... disgusting." Kirin said the words that had been on her heart for a while now.

She never called herself a good person. She was not. She was a person who lived for killing. Yet, she felt Johan was worse—way worse.

A lioness will always look down on a snake, no matter how big the snake is.

Johan tightened his grip around her hand and pushed it away, getting out of the chokehold, breathing hard.

She leaned forward, balancing herself, startled from the push.

"Yes. Even if it were you... or Alya, or even Selene—chained beside Acier, broken and bloodied—I still would've waited." Johan's voice hardened, his eyes like ice, no flicker of emotion within them.

Kirin froze, lips parted, the words caught in her throat.

"But when I came... when I did come—" he continued, voice level, almost serene, "—I would've burned them alive. Every last one of them. I would have killed each and every one of their loved ones. I would have trampled on their dreams. I would've taken away even the slightest hope they might have ever had."

Johan spoke not with fury, but certainty, as if he had already imagined it hundreds of times in his mind.

Kirin's eyes locked with his, tense silence growing as they just stared at each other.

"Haha, good good, you got the spirit!" Beatrice broke the silence, her voice enthusiastic.

Raventa dreamily stared at Johan's face, as if lost.

"I won't ask you why you went so far just to help us, but I think we should part ways here. I will see you directly at the Hunter's Guild in this town in five days. Thank you..." Johan seriously thanked Beatrice. Even if he knew there was a bigger picture in play, he was grateful to her.

She nodded passively, her face nonchalant.

He turned back to Kirin and Sebastian. "I promise I will save them—No matter what. Just trust me... please."

"Hanzo will only grow from pain... I know it. He won't just give up!" Sebastian, for the first time in many years, spoke with hope and desire.

He had long ago abandoned all emotions, but today—even after watching him completely mentally broken—he hoped for this.

Johan nodded softly, his eyes filled with an equally bright hope.

"I-Can I just attack them myself... you can join later..." Kirin spoke hesitantly, all her confidence vanishing. Her heart trembled as she imagined what Julie might be going through.

"Absolutely not. It would be equal to sending you to death. I know what you're thinking—I know you too well. But, Kirin, it won't undo the suffering she has already endured. Maybe nothing ever will..." Johan spoke through a clenched jaw, his voice shaky.

Kirin's eyes dropped.

"But we can try. All we can do is give it our all. We will help them get out of it—together. You joining them will only benefit the enemy. Even if you think Julie will be comforted, she will only be more agitated and broken by watching the person she admired the most getting tortured—

Even if you won't break... she will." Johan said in a sincere tone, as if he knew exactly what would happen.

Kirin bit her lips. Arguments weren't her forte.

Johan grabbed Kirin's hand, interlocking fingers with hers. "We are not giving up on them by waiting... we are giving up on them by rushing now. It is an emotionally selfish decision which will only lead to more misery." He seriously explained the situation to her. freeweɓnøvel.com

"Hueghh hh."

Raventa broke down in tears, her breath hitched.

Then—

She rushed forward, bracing Kirin in a tight hug. Kirin's eyes widened.

But her arms moved on their own, wrapping around the soft hairs covering Raventa's back, her warmth a source of comfort in the cold night.

In a dark luxurious room filled with beautiful furniture, a handsome red-haired man smiled, moving the knight piece to cut the bishop on the other side, coldly staring at the golden eyes of the young boy.

"So they finally saw it..." Leor, on the opposite side, moved the Queen, giving a brutal checkmate with the hidden rook to the now laughing Radhaan.

"Hehe, you cheated, Leor. I can sense you changed realities in which I didn't notice the rook..." Radhaan scoffed, raising his arms in surrender at the chess game, it was still Leor's win, cheating did not matter as long as he won.

"But did you hear the recent report about Astreus?" Radhaan asked passively, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket on the table.

"Yes... someone who can defeat him can't be underestimated, I will investigate it myself." Leor said seriously, his face thoughtful.

A.N.= Are Love and Morals real or something society made up for to keep balance.