<div> Chapter 50: Aftermath [2]
 "Close your eyes." Alan whispered in a gentle voice as he led them through the desolate church, he held onto the hands of Tania and Hailey, while the two twins, Rin and Ren, remained by Sister Lily’s side.
 They nodded slowly, exhaustion clearly portrayed on their faces and in their actions, then shut their eyes.
 Though it didn’t help their sense of smell, the putrid niff of metallic blood churned their stomachs, they bit their lips to hold back their unease.
 Sister Lily followed from the very back, only she didn’t close her eyes, instead choosing to take in the view.
 What a disaster it was, the walls were painted with dried blood, and lifeless bodies were spread across the floors with the vast majority of their anatomy missing.
 Every few steps their feet would make a sickening, sticky sound as they pulled off the floor, staring at the gruesome remains of those she personally knew, filled her heart with an emotion she couldn’t even begin to process.
 So she turned her gaze away, locking onto the only one who remained calm despite their surroundings, the one who led them out of the hellhole.
 Alan’s lips were pressed to a thin line, his eyes behind the blindfold fixed, staring ahead, his facial features betrayed no particular emotion, as if he was already used to such a sight.
 Which baffled her, after all, wasn’t he just a kid himself?
 Lost in her thoughts, they finally arrived at the broken entrance of the church, they stepped over the splintered wooden doors and walked outside, placing their feet over the soft grass.
 The smell of the district began to drown out the stench of the church, the scent of smoke, ozone and ash.
 Alan stopped and let out a small breath. "You can open your eyes now."
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 </div> The girls slowly fluttered their eyes open, squinting against the dim dawn.
 The third district was bathed in the eerie, pale grey light of a new morning, the fire was all burnt out, leaving behind skeletal buildings that looked like charcoal teeth.
 They glanced to the side, to the towering silhouette of the royal castle, or rather the lack of it, the symbol of the continent now lay in ruins.
 The girls were at a loss for words, only silently opening and closing their mouths, until Sister Lily voiced out what all of them were thinking. "What happened... here...?"
 "Uh..." Alan just scratched the back of his head, unsure of how to even reply. "Not great things...?"
 The girls could only nod their heads at Alan’s poor vocabulary, just as an awkward atmosphere was settling, Alan spoke up.
 "Well, let’s group up with the rest."
 ...
 The streets of the third district weren’t any better, there were survivors filling the streets, some knelt amongst the ash, wailing over the ruins of their home, while others simply stared at the charred remains of their lives with hollow eyes.
 Seeing the sudden influx of people on the previously empty streets, Alan recalled the events of last night.
 After Alan left the inn, he regrouped with Lucian and informed him about the emergency bunkers hidden beneath the district, so the two of them immediately split up in search of the bunker.
 What followed was a massacre, every street Alan stepped into, only he stepped out of, leaving behind frozen and mangled corpses of abyssal creatures.
 Amidst his slaughter, he was also searching for the bunkers, only to cross paths with Iris, as it turned out, she was doing the same thing as him.
 Eventually they discovered the place, it was located under the fountain of the main plaza, and the one to find the place was surprisingly Julia.
 They didn’t open it immediately, doing so would lead to a disaster, instead deciding to clear every last one of the abyssal creatures in the district, a process that took until sunrise.
 Only after personally eradicating all the abyssal creatures, Julia opened the bunkers as Alan left to go to the church and retrieve the four girls.
 As Alan led the orphans and Sister Lily towards the plaza, the central hub of the district came into view.
 The fountain was bone-dry, its stone basins cracked and fractured in places, dozens of people were emerging from a ramp that led into the earth below, with pale, tired faces.
 Julia stood by the entrance, watching the entire process with a blank expression, Iris and Lucian were nearby, interacting with some of the injured survivors.
 "Alan!" Julia called out the moment she noticed Alan and rushed over. "Did you find them?"
 "Yeah." Alan let go of Tania and Hailey’s hands and gestured to the group.
 "Oh my god!" Julia came to a halt and cleared her throat. "I’m Julia! It’s great to finally see you!"
 The girls only gripped onto Alan’s clothes with tighter hands, hiding behind Alan’s body.
 "Hmm? Why?" Julia tilted her head to the side, confused by their reaction.
 "Yeah... I wonder why..." Alan spoke flatly, giving Julia a once-over.
 From head to toe she was soaked in blood with a golden blindfold wrapped around her eyes, given her taller than average height, it emphasised her in a rather terrifying way.
 "Yeah, I really wonder..." As Alan was wondering how to break the news to Julia.
 "You found them." Lucian arrived.
 "Brother Lucian!" The four girls instantly left Alan and jumped to Lucian’s side.
 Hmm... Alan wasn’t sure how he should take this, in one hand, Lucian was pretty much the cleanest one here, without a single speck of blood on him, but choosing that bastard over Alan? Really? Oh wait, no, Alan is also a bastard.
 "Why did they go to him and not me? Is it because of my smell?" Julia started sniffing herself, somehow completely missing the real reason.
 "No... it’s because—"
 "Because?"
 "Of your, uh..."
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 </div> "Hmm?"
 "...Smell..."
 "I knew it!" Julia grinned and nodded to herself, like she was right all along.
 "Yeah..." Alan could only helplessly sigh, for some reason, he could never bring himself to deny whatever misconception Julia had.
 "Still, shouldn’t you be, like, I don’t know, mortified that you smell?"
 "Oh no!" Julia gasped, then leapt into the completely dry fountain...
 Yeah, something was definitely wrong with her.
 "I looked away for a few seconds..." Iris arrived, gazing at Julia with a weird expression. "Why is she in the fountain?"
 "Don’t ask me." Alan shrugged, glancing around the plaza his face turned serious once more. "How many survived?"
 "Two thousand, maybe three thousand." Iris answered, she looked at some of the survivors with a slightly pained expression. "The rest... didn’t make it to the plaza in time."
 "Is that so..." Alan sighed, running a hand over his face. "Where are the knights? It’s been quite some time."
 "I’ve been wondering the same thing—" Iris paused in the middle of her sentence and pointed to the distance. "About time."
 "Hmm?" Alan shifted his head, looking at the direction Iris gestured to.
 A group of knights approached, walking through the streets, led by a commander whose armour was so broken and battered it told the story without having to question, the man himself looked as if he was barely holding onto his consciousness.
 "Well, that’s our cue." Alan smiled and turned to the fountain. "Julia! It’s time!"
 Julia instantly jumped out and shouted. "Sparky!"
 The mana in the air beside them shifted and coiled until a massive form materialised, as if it was always there, a large blue dragon appeared, spreading his wings.
 Collective shocked gasps rippled through the crowd, but Alan didn’t care. "Oi, Lucian!"
 Lucian glanced at Sparky, then at the frozen knights who seemed flustered by the appearance of a dragon, and nodded, understanding the situation.
 "I’ll see you again." Lucian smiled faintly as he handed the four girls back to Sister Lily, then walked away to Sparky.
 "We’re leaving!" Julia announced, perched on Sparky’s back with a bright, overly excited grin that felt wildly out of place.
 Following her, Lucian and Iris promptly jumped on, leaving Alan behind as the only one standing there.
 Just as he was about to come along.
 Grip
 He felt a tug on the hem of his shirt, a weak, fragile pull.
 Alan turned and looked down below, a young boy covered in soot and ash held onto his shirt, looking up at him with wide, trembling eyes.
 "Who are you..." He whispered in a small voice.
 "Hmm?" Alan tilted his head, just as he was about to give an answer, he paused and properly looked around the plaza.
 The residents of the third district were all looking at him, despite the obvious fatigue, despite the tragedy they experienced, they were all waiting, hanging onto his next words.
 Faced with the numbers of expectant looks, Alan took a moment to think, and it didn’t take long, he remembered a certain conversation he had with the group not that long ago.
 "You can call us..." A crooked, mischievous grin spread across his face as he dragged the sentence. "...The Bondage bastards."
 "Bondage bastards..." The boy repeated in a daze.
 "Pff—" Alan clammed a hand over his mouth, just before he started laughing and quickly jumped onto Sparky’s back. "Go go go!"
 "Grrr!" The blue dragon flapped its wings and soared into the sky, leaving behind the crowd in utter bewilderment.
 ...
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 </div> The knight commander finally reached the fountain, dragging his exhausted body to the spot Sparky was just moments ago.
 He scanned the place with tired eyes and squinted at the sky, watching the fading silhouette of Sparky. "Was that a dragon...?"
 The commander sighed and rubbed his eyes, maybe he was just too tired and started hallucinating things, then he noticed a young boy standing there, staring at the sky.
 He realised it was the same boy who briefly spoke to the young man, before he flew away, and so the commander approached the boy.
 "Hey there, kid." He spoke to the boy.
 "...Yes?" The boy responded a beat later.
 "Would you happen to know who those people were?"
 "Bondage bastards..." The boy whispered, as if mesmerised.
 "Huh?"
 "Bondage bastards..."
 "Excuse me...?"
 The knight commander felt a headache coming.</div>
 

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Chapter 50: Aftermath [2]

Chapter 50: Aftermath [2] "Close your eyes." Alan whispered in a gentle voice as he led them through the desolate church, he held onto the hands of Tania and Hailey, while the two twins, Rin and Ren, remained by Sister Lily’s side. They nodded slowly, exhaustion clearly portrayed on their faces and in their actions, then shut their eyes. Though it didn’t help their sense of smell, the putrid niff of metallic blood churned their stomachs, they bit their lips to hold back their unease. Sister...

The bastard child becomes the empires royal consort

Chapter 50: Aftermath [2]

The bastard child becomes the empires royal consort - Chapter 50: Aftermath [2]