Chapter 583 - 582: Are they evil or not ?

Chapter 583: Chapter 582: Are they evil or not ?

Keith’s expression changed as he watched the adults rush forward.

His eyes turned cold as he looked at them.

The moment the first human came within arm’s reach—

SWIIIF!

The air was cut apart as Keith’s palm struck out.

The human was sent flying more than a dozen meters before crashing heavily onto the ground.

He coughed up blood...

Then died.

The entire crowd came to a sudden stop.

Their eyes widened, almost as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, as they stared at Keith in terror.

No wonder he had asked for their children.

Did he want them to trade their children for food?

Was that what he wanted?

The humans couldn’t help but think so.

Meanwhile, Keith felt something moving beneath the skin of his arms.

It writhed like a worm.

His scales threatened to break through his skin as an unprecedented thirst suddenly surged within him.

Killing that human...

It felt as though he had just drunk the sweetest cup of wine.

But it wasn’t enough.

In fact...

He wanted more.

"No..."

Keith muttered inside his head.

His eyes suddenly turned crimson.

For a moment, his pupils seemed to disappear entirely.

Then, after a few seconds, they returned to their usual black color.

But by then...

The humans had already reached him.

They completely ignored him, plunging their hands into the sack and desperately grabbing whatever food they could find.

Keith stared at them in disbelief.

What the hell?

BOOM!

BOOM!

A dozen explosions rang out almost simultaneously.

Keith lost his temper.

More than fifteen humans were killed in an instant.

Their bodies collapsed onto the ground.

Yet the others didn’t care.

They continued fighting over the small sack of food.

Before Keith could even react, a hoarse voice suddenly echoed inside his mind.

"Kill..."

"Devour..."

"Hungry..."

Keith’s breathing became heavier.

The skin on his forearms suddenly split open.

Dark, obsidian scales emerged from beneath his flesh, spreading across his arms.

BADUM!

BADUM!

A steady heartbeat echoed inside his chest.

Keith felt himself losing control.

The thirst was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

His senses heightened.

He could hear everything.

He could hear the humans chewing.

He could hear their desperate breaths.

He could even hear the sound of their teeth biting into the food.

Even without looking...

He knew.

The adults weren’t thinking about their children.

They were fighting among themselves.

And yet...

Keith couldn’t react.

He was desperately trying to maintain control.

If he lost himself here...

There was no doubt that a massacre would follow.

But just as he felt himself reaching his limit—

He felt a small tug on his clothes.

Keith’s eyes opened.

He looked down.

A little girl stood before him.

Her eyes were hollow, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Yet her mouth was stained with oil.

She held a small piece of meat in her hands.

"Thank you..."

Her tiny voice was barely audible.

She looked directly into Keith’s eyes.

At that moment, Keith’s arms were covered in dark scales.

His crimson eyes glowed intensely.

He could feel an unbearable ache in his teeth.

His forehead throbbed as though an invisible hammer were striking against his skull from within.

It felt as if something was trying to break through.

Keith looked nothing like a human anymore.

Yet the little girl didn’t seem to notice.

She wasn’t afraid.

She simply looked at him...

And thanked him.

Suddenly...

The hoarse voice echoing inside Keith’s mind began to fade.

The thirst slowly subsided.

Then...

It disappeared completely.

The scales covering his arms receded.

His eyes returned to normal.

Keith slowly raised his head and looked beyond the girl.

He stared at the humans.

He had expected them to abandon their children.

To push them aside.

Perhaps even fight over the food while their children starved.

But what he saw stunned him.

The adults were giving the food they had fought so desperately to obtain...

To their children.

Keith’s eyes widened.

When he had seen them fighting earlier...

They hadn’t been fighting for themselves.

They had been fighting for their children.

Not every adult was like this.

But a considerable number of them were.

And for the first time...

Keith’s beliefs were shaken.

He lowered his gaze and looked at the little girl standing before him.

He didn’t know why...

But he felt as though something had been planted inside his heart.

Something small.

Something unfamiliar.

And somehow...

The uncontrollable thirst within him had been restrained.

He had returned to normal.

********

Several minutes later, Keith returned to the camp.

It was still brightly lit.

People stood around their tents, talking and laughing.

Some were even drinking wine.

But Keith didn’t care about any of that.

He simply couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen.

After the people finished eating, many of the adults had actually begged him not to take their children away.

Some had even pleaded with him to take care of them if he was willing.

Why?

They had been starving.

Keith had killed some of them.

And yet...

Compared to the hundreds of people gathered at the city gates, the number he had killed was insignificant.

Yet they still seemed to understand.

Some even blamed themselves for losing patience.

Keith had seen children hugging their parents tightly.

Others followed their parents’ example and bowed deeply toward him.

Even those without children came forward.

Their pleas were different.

They simply begged for food.

Keith returned to his tent and sat down on his bed.

He sank into it silently.

He couldn’t understand.

Wasn’t this world cruel?

He had been treated worse than a pig by the people in his village.

He had been treated like defective goods by the slavers.

He had been forced to kill every day just to survive.

He had seen adults smile while enjoying his suffering.

He had watched them laugh as they tortured him.

He had always believed the world was unfair to children.

To him, adults were disgusting creatures who could find entertainment in the suffering of children.

But this...

Keith lowered his head.

For the first time...

He wasn’t sure anymore.

"Keith."

Kiro called out once more.

Keith finally snapped out of his thoughts.

"Are you okay?" Kiro asked.

Keith took a deep breath.

He clasped his hands together, but they felt cold.

He could still remember the sensation of his hands crushing their jaws and destroying their skulls.

He could still see their chests heaving one final time as they vomited blood before dying.

Those people...

Could they have been the parents of some of those children?

Wasn’t I becoming just like the people from my village?

Was I wrong?

Were adults really not all like that?

But...

It was different with him.

Or was all of this just an act?

"Look, I know you sneaked out."

Kiro’s voice pulled him back.

"You probably had your reasons. But Keith, you’re Princess Rasel’s bodyguard. You should be in the camp."

"At any moment, she could be put in danger. We need to be there to stop it immediately or alert the others."

Kiro spoke kindly.

Keith clenched his fists.

Then he slowly stood up.

The instant he did...

The atmosphere inside the room changed.

Kiro’s expression shifted.

The air suddenly became heavy.

It felt as though he were standing beneath the surface of the ocean.

The pressure continued increasing.

Then—

The water around him suddenly turned into a sea of blood.

Blood covered him from head to toe.

Kiro struggled desperately to swim upward.

But then...

Bloodied, mummified corpses suddenly appeared from the depths.

They grabbed him.

They pushed him downward.

Deeper...

And deeper...

As Kiro sank into the endless sea of blood.