Not knowing that she hadn't even heard half of it, the princess was already fuming with anger.
"General, I need you to send our army there right now. I am going to have none of these people get away with what they did to Axel."
At this point, she was simply writing down names. Each and every person the general had mentioned was going to have hell to pay.
Antilla was, by no means, a cruel or vengeful person. In fact, she's rather a kind of ruler who would try to personally resolve her people's issues, whether big or small.
But it's a different matter when it comes to family. Axel had done nothing wrong. He was just retaliating. And yet, those unreasonable people had him kicked out of his academy and Orphanage. Due to them, Axel had to live on the streets at the tender age of 8. At 8, a child hardly even lets others take care of him, but at that age, her Nephew, the heir to the Royal Throne, had to struggle to obtain food, struggle to find shelter, struggle to remain even warm, and in the process. suffer a lot of abuse.
Well, if those people could abuse their paltry privilege, then she's going to show them what privilege actually means.
And then there was that man with the disfigured face. All Axel had done was refusing to work under him. But that weak and insignificant native's ego and pettiness was so high he made life hell for Axel for daring to oppose him. Does that man think he's some Royalty? Well, SHE was royalty, and she sure knows this is not how the real Royalty behaves.
What had he said?
'You are nothing but a rat right now and I'm the hunter. I'm the one with the power so I can do whatever I want.'
Well, the princess never thought of it that way, but according to his logic, isn't the situation now reversed? So now, should he be the street rat now, while Axel the hunter? So it should be fine to do whatever she wants to that man, right? Like giving him a dose of painifera. Or would that be too much?
The General researched the information and the results managed to draw a subtle tug at the corner of his lips. "Princess, it doesn't seem like we have to interfere," he said, bringing out the information on the people.
The Princess frowned. "And why is that?" She asked, her temper flaring.
"It's because, it would seem that the Prince is not one to let things slide without proper payback."
"This is the information on the family that had him ousted from the Orphanage."
The princess looked at the information. "The family has been robbed clean three times, home, business, and even bank accounts emptied every time. The thieves behind the act have never been caught but the family repeatedly insisted that it was an 8 to 10 year old adolescent who was the mastermind behind this. The family now lives in poor condition, the father has suffered depression while the wife can't sleep for more than a minute before getting up and checking everything in the house…"
"What the…"
Antilla's increasing anger paused. This…
A small smile broke out on her face due to the sheer absurdity of the situation.
"Axel... did that?"
She knew her Nephew had some skills, heck, she had seen them first hand right in Biopark and Trial Clip, but to do that at the age of 9 or 10.
Satisfaction and pride arose in her heart upon knowing what her Nephew did to the family. That's what you get for messing with the Royal family.
"As for the person who is responsible for scarring his face..." continued the General. "The prince's revenge on him was much more direct."
Another memory was played in the projector, displaying a villa.
Loud music played in the background, guns and drugs laid everywhere. The men seemed to be chilling, many of them having cheap hookers on their laps.
But loud banging noises came from outside, causing the men to curse and draw their gun, thinking it was a gang war. Soon after which the door burst open as And a lone figure walked, with his wand drawn and carrying a bundle of weapons and shields.
"Axel!" Even though the person in the footage was wearing a mask, the princess could still recognise him as her Nephew. But…
"Why are his movements so stiff?"
As soon as he was in, Axel dropped the bunch of weapons he had been carrying to the floor.
"Man, that was heavy," he muttered. His hands were continuously shaking. In fact, his whole body seemed was stretched taut, tremors spreading from time to time.
"Hey! Who the fuck do you think you are?!" Shouted someone even as more and more of the gang started to come into the large hall of the villa.
The number of guns pointing at Axel kept increasing. But he didn't flinch as he kept waiting.
At this moment, the princess saw a familiar and hateful man with disfigured face strut in with a cigar in his mouth and a gun in another.
"Gentleman, what a rude way to enter someone's home. I assume you are prepared for compensation?" He asked calmly.
Axel's grip on his wands tightened when he saw the bastard."I'm indeed here for compensation, you bastard."
The hate and ruthlessness in his voice sent chills down the Princess back. She couldn't believe this was still the sweet and innocent boy who had come here looking for a citizenship.
Axel pointed his wand at the stack of weapons lying on his feet.
"Oppugno Totalis!" He muttered after gathering all of his focus.
At once, all the weapons started to shake. After which they began to rise individually, making all the men present startled.
"Put him down!" The man ordered, getting serious.
At once, gunshots began to be fired at Axel from various directions, making the situation chaotic.
"Too late," said Axel as the rectangle shields he had carried assembled in front of him with a wave of his wand.
He stood there as the shields assembled themselves in front of him, blocking all the bullets. The veins around his temple became visible due to the strain. But he wasn't done yet.
Peering through the gaps of shields, Axel was somehow able to see the situation on the other side precisely as he controlled the knife and daggers to shoot out in different directions at once, stabbing into different victims with pinpoint precision. .
"Bullets aren't working! Stop shooting and rush in!" Ordered Scars as more and more men fell very rapidly.
The hail of bullets stopped and men were now able to close the distance to bring fight to close quarters.
But anyone who approached close enough was taken down either by a knife or a spell from the other wand in his hand.
Soon, dozens of men were taken down, but Scars slowly slipped out of the room.
"Nope, not a chance," Axel declared as he took down the last few stragglers unhurriedly. He stepped on one of the shields and controlled it to fly after the bastard while the rest of the shields were still assembled around him.
The person whose memory this was remained motionless as Axel and Scar vanished from the room, no longer appearing in the video. But soon, a blood curdling scream rang out, which could be heard clearly even in the hall where the rest of the gang was lying.
"Arrrrrrrrrrgghhh!!!"
"You...! Why—"
"Why didn't I give you a chance? Is that what you want to ask?" Came Axel's voice. "Haha! How naive are you, Johnny? You wanted a fair fight? That's quite rich coming from you."
"You gang up on a nine-year-old and torture him for no reason. And now you want a fair fight?!" Came Axel's voice, who seemed to be laughing.
"You really are one hell of a hypocrite, man. Oh sorry I forgot, you are no longer a man!"
"No! This isn't happening… you can't do this…please... stop!"
"What? You want me to stop? Why would I stop? I am now the hunter and you are the rat. I'm the one with power so... I can do whatever I want," he said, using the same words that were used on himself as slashing sounds rang out.
And the screams of the scarred man began.
The princess was feeling goosebumps all over her body. "That... That was Axel?"
"That would be seen to be the case, Princess."
Gods ... what kind of savagery...
the maternal part inside her was extremely satisfied and proud with the way Axel had handled the situation. But at the same time, she was also concerned.
The princess sighed. She can't expect him to be a kind-hearted and forgiving person, given what he has gone through. If anything, it only made her hope she had been there for him, so that he won't have to be like this.
But, something else was wrong.
The princess rewound the video, once again playing his entry. "His movements… they don't seem natural. He seems to be in pain."
The General sighed, with her keen insight, he had already expected her to notice this.
Knowing that he could no longer avoid this topic, the General began to speak tentatively.
"Despite his repeated setbacks, the prince had managed to keep himself afloat for three years in that accursed place. But then, something happened."
The princess remained silent for a while after hearing that. ".... There's more...?" She asked. It wasn't really a question. It was more like a futile hope of this being the end of it. Because she couldn't bear to hear about more of his suffering while controlling her anger.
The General knew that this particular tidbit of information couldn't be hidden no matter what.
"Princess, in the outside world, there is something called the Crutiatus curse. Its effects are similar to the venom of the Painifera."
Antilla nodded, remembering having studied about the existence of such a spell. The sting of Painifera is something every person in Atlantis wishes to never experience.
"I know. It's one of the forbidden spells, right? But why would you—" She paused.
"No...." Antilla slowly put her fingers to her temple. There is only one reason why the General would tell her this. "By the sea gods... don't tell me..."
"Yes, I'm afraid that is the case."
There is a part of the royal education that Antilla absolutely hated. There are situations in which the royalty might have to bear immense pain. That's why, their mental fortitude and pain tolerance is first increased through Royal rituals. The princess was alright with that, but for the last test, when the heirs turn 18, they have to go through a simulated process of the painifera sting.
Even though the pain had been lessened multiple times due to the training of mental fortitude and pain tolerance, Antilla still has tremors whenever the subject is brought up. Both her mind and body haven't been able to quite forget just how bad it was.
"No! It can't be! He hadn't even gone through the procedures!"
Axel hadn't received the mental fortitude and pain tolerance training. And to go through that kind of experience without that, the princess didn't want to accept it.
"That's right, I heard that this spell is actually much weaker than the painifera sting, isn't it?" said Antilla, grasping onto the straws. She had read that a powerful cruciatus curse can only be cast by a limited number of people. By people who have an evil nature and some proficiency in dark magic.
The general took a deep breath. "Princess, the next bit of news is… something that is unbelievable and appalling."
"What…?"
"It is of such magnitude that I had to consult with the highest authority menders before coming to you," said the general, checking through the records.
"The usual damage from a painifera sting is 2000 gpu. The damage it causes depends on the age of the bearer. It can be fatal to those below 18 even when provided with the antidote, and to full grown adults, it can cause severe nerve damage and insanity."
The princess began feeling nauseous, having an ominous feeling. "... Where are you going with this?"
"I had the Menders quantify the damage."
"Oh…" The princess was afraid to even ask. "....How much?"
Is it… is it actually more than 1000? For god's sake he wasn't even 18!
A number was projected in the air.
!!!!!!!!
And seeing the number of zeroes, Antilla's mind went blank. A laugh escaped her lips upon seeing the absurd number.
"This… this can't be…"
It wasn't 100. It wasn't 1000. Heck, it wasn't even 10,000.
"More than a hundred thousand?!"
This was simply impossible! She had seen her Nephew just a few days ago, okay? And he was still perfectly alive. (Though he WAS missing an arm for some reason.)
"Usually, it is indeed true that the Crutiatus is less potent than one sting of painifera. But that is only if we're talking about the normal case, when the Crutiatus ends within seconds. But the prince...
He was held under the curse for around 10 minutes, causing the damage to stack."
!!!
Antilla's stomach lurched. If she had eaten something for the last 24 hours, she would have already vomited out now. "I… don't believe it."
That's all she could do now: deny. Because the alternative was far too horrifying to even think about.
In response to this, A medical report was also projected, displaying the exact situation of the patient in extensive detail. And along with that, pictures and videos were projected of a boy walking, no dragging his body into a hospital with blood coming out of his eyes, nose, ears, and skin completely red due to numerous nerves having a burst open.
Tears pooled in Antilla's eyes at the hair-raising sight. "No… no…. Royal father… royal sister… mother…"
The general took a deep breath. "Complete and permanent destruction of all nervous faculties, brain permanent damage to mind due to the sheer amount of pain, severe muscle atrophy due to continuous spasming, a possible heart failure…"
The General tried to describe it as emotionlessly as possible, but even his voice shook due to the profound disbelief he was feeling.
"For all intents and purposes, the Prince should have been should have been dead. But he managed to cling to life for more than an hour. It is unexplainable how he managed to move his body in that condition to reach the hospital, or how he still had a brain that was functioning enough to think of going there."
