[Psychokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 207: Ixtalian Attack

Astrid stood in front of the castle grounds. They had passed the enormous wall, and the grand building loomed high above. It was still unfinished as workers were still adding the finishing touches like paintwork, or sculpting stone sculptures.

“Do you plan on being here for a long time?” Astrid asked. The construction of the castle easily meant that Darian planned on staying here on a permanent basis.

“Until I, and my people’s grandchildren turn old, and for many years after that,” Darian said. “Away from the wars plaguing the land, and politics. I admit I am in a unique position, and I’m able to do so.”

“To escape?”

Darian chuckled. Thankfully, he didn’t take offence. “Yes, to escape. Who would want to subject their people to hundreds of years of war, famine, and death? We lost a few men and women on this journey, but that is just a drop in the ocean if they were forced to fight my battles.”

At first, Astrid looked down on the man. He was running away from his battles, but he was in a unique position. He was a leader of his own people. If he decided to stay and fight in a war not of his choosing, many people would be slaughtered pointlessly.

Would Astrid stay, or fight to the death for Rebirth? Astrid didn’t know.

“I gave up my kingdom to save my people.” Darian walked forward as Astrid stayed next to him. The air turned sombre. Astrid almost spotted shame flitting throughout his eyes, thanks to her keen emotional detection abilities.

Obviously for Darian, it wasn’t an easy decision. Goddess only knows how much he sacrificed to bring his people into a new land. A fresh start.

However, Astrid couldn’t get her mind around the Ixtalians. Darian had walked from one battlefield to another. Will the animal human hybrids share their jungle, or will war take place again?

It wasn’t Astrid’s place to question.

Darian seemed like a smart man, so he had obviously calculated the risks, and deemed this a better move. Then the question remained, just how dangerous was the place that they ran away from?

Taking Astrid into the castle, it was clear that the inside was even less finished than outside. Currently, there was no furniture. No chandeliers that were a commonality shared by noble manors, or castles, in this case.

There were no rugs, and even the light sources within were primitive. Candles and torches.

Most of the light was provided by the large openings within the walls where windows had yet to be installed. And because of the heat of the jungle, it absorbed into the building materials, making the castle a sweat box.

It wasn’t a place that Astrid would be willing to stay for a long time, and that only reaffirmed her previous thoughts. They must have run from monsters.

Showing overexcited enthusiasm, Astrid made Darian take her on a tour around the entire castle. From the throne room, to the bedrooms, all the way down to the kitchens. After all, acting was the best way to get the lord to take her around the entire place.

Astrid was still thinking about her mission. However, in all the places Darian took her, there was no hidden tunnel system that she spotted with Psych Domain. Nor was there any evidence of there being any sort of cave, or entrance.

It either meant that Darian was hiding it, or he knew nothing about it.

Astrid was hesitant to ask him. How would he take it that she was here in order to pilfer treasures that were under his land? If she had to guess, then it wouldn’t go well.

For now, she had to earn his trust. Politics. Astrid was disgusted at the word, but needs must, and all of that. For strength, she’d do just about anything. Unless it was murdering something fluffy, or killing innocents… or, well, one gets the point.

“So that’s Birthright Castle.” They finished in the throne room as he trailed his fingers across the only furniture within. A large, solid wood table. It was dark grey in colour that appeared to be from the iron-like palm trees in the area.

“Where did you get the name from?”

“Where did I get the name from?” Darian repeated. “To own the land and my people. That is my birthright.”

His words were filled with an arrogance that was difficult to contain. Astrid knew it well. Before she took an arrow to the chest, that was. However, Astrid had learned the error of her ways. Yet here Darian stood, a leader, and a lord of a piece of jungle.

It was clear the man wasn’t as simple as his smile made him out to be. He held a mountain of bloodlust within those brown eyes. But it was contained. Imprisoned, as if he was afraid to let it back out.

Astrid thought it was a weakness.

“Then, if you don’t mind me asking another question?” Astrid asked for permission.

“Of course,” Darian continued. “I didn’t lie before. It’s rare we get visitors from faraway lands. Especially of noble descent.”

“It’s that obvious?”

Darian scoffed. “It is. The way you stand, the arrogance deep within your bones, and your ability to outright ask questions despite my presence. Only nobles or the strong have those qualities.”

Astrid shrugged. “Then, why did you construct your kingdom here, on this piece of land? On my travels, I noticed a few other areas. Areas where the land was flat, with close access to water. Away from the Ixtalians.” Her last words were said with emphasis.

Sighing, Darian said, “Although I do not wish for battle, I know the importance of a strategic stronghold. If I decided on a place further away, I wouldn’t be able to react in time before we were struck. More than that, here, I have access to the ocean for trade runs, and migration if need be. However, I do realise that me landing here has angered the locals.”

Astrid nodded. That made sense.

She was wanting to ask about the details of the surrounding land. Like where they were, and where the nearest civilisation was. But that would open her up to more suspicions about herself.

As they were walking back out of the castle, Astrid couldn’t help but marvel at this trial. Everything was so lifelike. From the land, to the people, and their interactions. Children were running around, laughing, playing, just like any would do back in the real world.

This was an entire world created by the Eye-Queen. Astrid knew she was strong, but this was incredible. Was there a limit to where she could travel? Or was her mission restriction to his area? Like an invisible wall that she couldn’t penetrate, or the world perhaps just stopped because the Eye-Queen only created a small portion of the planet.

Astrid wanted to learn more, but she understood she was under a time limit.

A man with wounds on his arms, sprinted over to Darian in a panic. He stopped in front, panting for breaths. He attempted to speak words, but it was clear he had exerted himself beyond his means.

“Take a moment to catch your breath Aric.” Darian placed his hand on Aric’s shoulder.

Nodding, Aric placed his hands behind his head, and gulped in steady breaths. A few moments later, he said, “The Ixtalians are attacking. Thorne… is dead. Or captured, I’m not sure. One moment he was there, then the next, he was gone. Lord Darain, I tried…”

Darian gently clapped his warriors shoulder. “Don’t worry. We will find him.”

“I’m sorry Astrid, but I have business to attend to.” Darian turned to Astrid.

“It’s okay, I’ll come with you,” Astrid said.

His eyes looked at her as if he was stuck coming to a decision. “The battlefield isn’t a place for a lady.”

“I take it your women don’t fight?” Astrid continued. “Well my family does. I’m coming with you.”

Darian didn’t have the time to argue with the young lady, and instead, shot out of the castle grounds. Children were crying, which only caused her mood to turn worse.

She sprinted towards the expansive, never-ending jungle in the distance.

It wasn’t long before the sounds of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the jungle.

Darian moved like a lightning-bolt through the jungle, and to Astrid’s surprise, he left her in his dust. It seemed that he was at a much higher level than she was. Obviously not an opponent she wished to make an enemy of.

Thankfully, the distance from the fighting wasn’t very far, so Astrid caught up in only a few seconds. Sparks flew from within the darkness of the thick foliage as Astrid arrived.

Humanoid monsters appeared. They had beastly ears, tails, and fur over their arms. But it was startling how closely they resembled humans. Snarling their sharp fangs at Darian’s warriors. By the look in their eyes, it was clear what their objective was. Violence. Astrid had seen it too many times before.

Her blood boiled as she prepared for combat.

Darian didn’t move, but the appearance of the lord had at least stopped the Ixtalians from attacking.

Astrid wasn’t going to interfere. It was Darian’s battle to be had–

An arrow shot straight for Astrid. It was fired with malice and it was intended to reap her life. Aiming right for her heart, Astrid acted out of instinct.

Snarling, just like the Ixtalians were, Astrid crushed the beast’s skull with a thought.

All hell broke loose.

The Ixtalians who had only paused their fighting because the lord had arrived, resumed their fighting once more. Each blade strike, each arrow, was aimed right for the human’s vital areas.

However, they struck an invisible wall.

The arrows slid down the wall, falling flat against the jungle floor, while those who had struck with a sword, were forced back a few steps from the rebounding force.

They attacked. So they deserved it. The reasoning for Astrid was simple.

Fight, bleed, and die.

Astrid raised her hand, and for the first time, the mass of purple in her palm fragmented into small bullets. The bullets transformed into spikes, and then she commanded them to shoot.

With immense speed, practically warping to their destination, the needles bored holes into their bodies in an instant.

Within the blink of an eye, Astrid had slaughtered all of them.

Falling to the ground, Darian looked at her in shock. “What have you done?”

“Huh?” Astrid asked. “They aimed for my life, so I killed them.”

To her, it was an action the same as breathing. There wasn’t any need for thoughts behind it. They had aimed for her life, so they had to prepare to sacrifice their own.

It was the way of war.

It was the rules of blood.