Chapter 107: Weak Doctor (3)
The prison was not a real prison. It was an old storage pit under the broken watchtower, with wooden bars placed across the entrance and iron rings fixed into the wall. Mercenary camps did not need beautiful cells. They only needed places where prisoners could be kept until payment, ransom, or burial.
Lucard and Lysa were thrown inside.
The door was barred from outside.
Lysa hit the floor hard and groaned. Lucard landed beside the wall and remained still until the guards left. The moment their footsteps faded, he opened his eyes.
Lysa looked at him through tears.
"You were awake."
"Yes."
"You let them capture us."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Lucard sat up and rolled his shoulders once. "Because Merrick needed to show his face."
Lysa stared at him.
His old doctor face looked strange in the dim light. White hair, white beard, tired eyes, and a calm voice that no prisoner should have.
Lucard looked at her. "I told you."
Lysa lowered her head.
Now she saw it.
Merrick had not been a grieving fiancé seeking justice. He had been waiting for her father to die. He had used Jeff’s death. He had used her anger. He had sent her toward Lucard. If she died, he could use that too. If she lived, he could still use her as long as she believed him.
Her voice broke. "He only wants to take over the company."
"Yes."
"My father will die soon."
Lucard looked at her. "Why are you crying?"
She lifted her head in disbelief. "Because we are locked in a prison, my father is dying, and the man I trusted betrayed me."
"I told you I will cure your father."
"We are in prison."
Lucard looked at the wooden bars.
Then he looked back at her.
"So?"
Lysa stopped crying for a moment.
Lucard stood.
The weak old doctor’s posture vanished. His back straightened. His dull eyes became sharp again. The disguise remained, but the person inside it changed completely. The air in the pit turned colder.
Lysa suddenly understood something.
Merrick had not captured a weak doctor.
He had carried a blade into his own throat.
Lucard walked to the barred door and placed one hand on the wood. A thin red line moved from his palm into the lock. The iron latch clicked softly.
The door opened.
Lysa stared.
Lucard stepped out.
Two guards were sitting near the stairs, speaking quietly. One was complaining about missing supper. The other was saying Merrick would marry Lysa quickly after Brant died. Both stopped when they saw the old doctor step out.
"What the..."
Lucard moved before the first man finished.
A blood needle pierced his throat.
The second reached for his sword, but Lucard crossed the distance and drove two fingers into the man’s chest. Blood rushed out through the wound and wrapped around Lucard’s hand.
Both men dropped.
[Blood Absorption Successful.]
Lucard did not pause.
He moved up the stairs.
Lysa followed with shaking legs. "Wait."
Lucard did not wait.
The camp above had become divided. Merrick had gathered his loyal men near the second largest tent. Brant’s remaining loyal mercenaries were being kept away from the leader’s tent under excuses. Some did not yet understand what was happening. Others understood too late.
Lucard entered the night like a silent sickness.
The first group of Merrick’s men died near the supply wagon. Three of them were laughing about the doctor. One turned and saw Lucard’s old white beard. He opened his mouth to shout. Lucard raised his hand, and a thin flame appeared at his fingers.
Basic fire magic.
Weak, but enough.
The flame touched the spilled oil beside the wagon. Fire flashed upward. The men flinched. In that moment, Lucard’s blood threads moved.
One throat opened.
One wrist was cut so deeply the sword fell before it rose.
One man took a blood spike through the eye.
Lucard absorbed them as they fell.
[Blood Absorption Successful.]
[Blood Absorption Successful.]
Lysa reached the top of the stairs and saw the bodies.
Her face went pale.
Lucard looked back once. "Stay behind me or die in front of me."
She stayed behind him.
Noise spread through the camp.
Merrick’s men came running. Some thought prisoners were escaping. Some thought Brant’s loyal men had started a fight. Lucard used the confusion like a cloak. He did not attack the whole camp blindly. He killed only the ones who came from Merrick’s side with weapons raised and orders already in their mouths.
A man shouted, "Merrick said kill the old doctor."
Lucard marked him first.
Blood threads wrapped around the man’s neck and pulled him forward. Lucard caught his face, slammed his head into a post, and absorbed his blood before he hit the ground.
Another mercenary used a crossbow. Lucard stepped behind a tent rope just before the bolt fired. The bolt struck a man behind him instead. Lucard picked up the fallen bolt, coated it in blood, and threw it back. It entered the shooter’s throat.
[Level Increased.]
Lucard’s body warmed.
Level twenty six.
He kept moving.
By the time Merrick realized the prison had opened, five of his men were already dead. By the time he grabbed his sword and shouted for order, eight had fallen. The camp was in chaos. Brant’s loyal mercenaries began to understand something was wrong when Merrick’s men tried to stop them from reaching the leader’s tent.
One old mercenary shouted, "Why are you blocking us? Where is Lady Lysa?"
Merrick shouted back, "The doctor is an assassin. Protect the leader’s tent."
That was clever.
Not clever enough.
Lysa stepped into the firelight with tears on her face and shouted, "Merrick betrayed my father."
The camp froze for one breath.
Merrick’s face twisted.
"Lysa, move away from him. He has poisoned your mind."
Lysa pointed at him. "You locked me in the pit."
Merrick looked at the surrounding men and changed his expression quickly. Pain returned to his face like a mask pulled from a pocket.
"I did it to protect you. That man is dangerous."