My Other Half - A story of Love and Revenge: Chapter 17

Haru

It has been a few days since our raid on the noble’s estate. We discovered that tonight will be the black market auction. The Beastkin that will be up for auction are considered the hardest to deal with inside the city. They have all acted out at least once against a master and are being put up as a last resort before execution. Anyone who wants to relieve some anger by having a stress relief doll should come tonight. That’s how the festivities were explained to Akari during her interrogation.

During our stay in the city, we have walked around seeing the disgusting state of the lower-class living conditions. The way humans treat their own people is just as horrible as how they treat all beastkin. I couldn’t help but gag at the vile smells coming off the residents, especially with my enhanced senses. All beastkin were either in slavery waiting to be auctioned off or under some noble.

“The amount of slaves in this city seems to outnumber the people who are protecting it.” I mentioned it to Akari, with Luna following close behind.

“For them to be so cocky that they won’t all rebel at the same time and become overrun. Those collars sure are an amazing and annoying invention.” Akari said.

“It’s like they’re just asking to be taken over by some outside threat with the lack of a real military force. With being on the border, having a stronger defense line should be mandatory.”

“The huge amount of damage we took from the war five years ago must have given them the impression that we're no threat. But their overconfidence at how well the war went will only come back to bite them in the ass after we're done with this city.” Akari said with a sneer.

“If only we could be a fly on the wall when the king of this country gets the news of what happened in this city, it would be something to see!”

We both laughed, continuing on our way. The black market auction was going to be a huge event with many goods up for purchase, so they had to hold it in a big venue. As we’re walking up to it, I can’t believe its overall size. Just how many slaves were they planning to bring for auction?

“This place feels like a sporting event from my past world. There will be a lot of angles for attack tonight, Akari. When making our move, we have to be careful not to get blindsided.” I warned.

“I will be careful, Haru. You take care of the show, and I will watch your back.” Akari said, as she gripped my hand tighter.

“Alright, tonight will be a great story to tell our future kids.” I smile thinking about what I was planning to do. She wanted me to take charge because of my role in the future. It will give me more credibility once I take control of the Beast Kingdom with Akari at my side.

“I’m sure you will do great! You’ve really changed a lot over the past year from when we first met.” Every now and then Akari would bring up the way I was back when she first met me, but it's all in good fun because it always led to both of us enjoying each other.

“That’s true; I was really a mess back then.” I sighed to myself.

“Are you sure it’s ok to bring Luna with us, Haru?”

“There was nothing we could do because she refused to be left behind. I think Luna thought we would leave her even though we had no such intentions.”

“I can hear everything you’re saying.” Luna mentioned in a low whisper, “I’ve had so much resentment inside me for so long; I want to see more humans pay for what they did.” Luna said with conviction in her voice.

“Don’t worry, Luna, we won’t leave you behind, and just try to stay as close to Akari as you can. There will be a lot of people in there, but we will have allies as soon as we free the slaves. That’s when the real fun begins and then spreads out into the city.” I pat Luna on the head to reassure her.

I wonder why the black market isn’t something in the shadows but out in the open for everyone to see. Most likely the ruler is in some way involved with this event. No shame at all for the corruption in this city; it’s a place that deserves to fall. We make our way to the front entrance of the auction. Most attendees we have seen are either wearing some kind of decorative mask or covering their appearance with clothing.

“What does the mongrel say to their master?” The doorman asked.

“Garbage does what the master wishes.” I replied with the password we got from the noble.

I look over at Akari, who is very annoyed with the password. The doorman waved his hand for us to head on in. The entry hall to the event was enormous with a lot of red and gold all over the place. Crystal chandeliers were covering the ceiling. There were multiple people still flowing in to get to their seats. Once we entered and looked at the stage, all three of our eyes shone with hatred.

There were hundreds of Beastkin in multiple cages on the very huge stage. They each had a black metallic collar around their neck. Most of the eyes still had fire in them, which really surprised me. I thought I would see a lot of dead eyes like when we rescued Luna. Nothing was being said out of their mouths. I’m sure it has something to do with those collars. I look over at Akari, who is about to make her move before the show even started.

“Akari, calm down!” I pull her into a hug and hold her till she calms down. “We can’t attack until everyone has entered. So we can take out all the trash. Just have a little more patience.”

I felt her tense body go limp in my arms. We made our way to some seats as close to the stage as we could. But, sadly, not close enough with having no kind of power in this city. All the douchebag nobles got all the first priority. It was easy to pick them out as well because their stride would just scream, 'Please punch me in the face.'

We had to sit there for a good thirty minutes before the flow of people stopped flooding into the venue. Looking around at the number of guests who entered, it’s a lot more than we expected. There shouldn’t be any kind of problem dealing with those who can barely defend themselves. What’s more of an issue are the knights in armor that are surrounding the area. At this time, a man entered the stage.

“Welcome everyone to our very special black market auction!” The man said with a booming voice that carried throughout, impossible for anyone not to hear. “As everyone here knows, we destroyed the Beast Kingdom years ago and took our spoils of war!”

The crowd cheered with great vigor at the words of the lengthy-looking man on stage. “But even though we spared a lot of their lives, they still have the audacity to try and bite the hand that feeds them.”

“BOO!” Everyone around us stood up, shouting obscenities at the Beastkin on stage.

“These beasts need to understand who their betters are!”

I could see the hatred in everyone’s eyes and utter disgust at the idea of Beastkin trying to put themselves on their level. Looking at the faces of everyone in cages, I could see so much anger and hate in their eyes. Wanting to break out of these cages and destroy the ones who have kept them captive. There was a small cage in the very front with a small fox beastkin inside it. The extreme fear on the girl's face was making it hard to not act right this moment.

Right after I was having these kinds of thoughts, the announcer started walking towards the little girl’s cage. “We have one of the worst offenders right here.” He pointed at the small girl looking haggard. “She not only killed her master but also the whole family as well.”

Once again a loud, “BOO!” was all you could hear with thunderous displeasure.

“This little devil will be the first one up for auction to do with as you please.” The announcer looks on in contempt, fiercely showing as he kicks the cage, startling the little fox girl inside. “Hey! You bitch! How does it feel knowing your end will be coming soon?”

Seeing tears in the little girl's eyes, my limit just shattered. I stood up and started walking towards the stage. Akari and Luna hurry right behind me. The eyes of everyone in the building started to pay attention to us as we made our way on stage.

“What are you doing? You can't come up here. I understand you’re excited about our great products, but you don’t have to leave your seat to place a bid.”

“I’m sick of your bullshit!” I said with mana in my voice, allowing everyone to hear me. “What gives you the right to decide who’s right or wrong? Taking advantage of a little girl who is just trying to survive is just disgusting. Did you even ask her why she did it?”

“What does it even matter if I ask her or not, Beastkin are just animals, and they don’t have the same rights as humans.”

The crowd started shouting obscenities at us. “How could we show mercy to those mongrels?” One person said, “They deserve whatever we decide is right.” Another mention: “Why would we care about her feelings?” The idiots in the crowd just kept talking. “Get the fuck off stage!”

At this moment I felt Akari’s feelings through our bond, and they were about to explode. It’s best to make our move now so we don’t have to listen to any more bullshit. Pushing lightning to every part of my body, I started to glow a deep red with static zapping the surroundings. As the power increased, everyone looked on in shock as my hood got blown off my head. The look of surprise was evident with everyone in the crowd and cages gasping.

My platinum blonde hair is lifting into the air with fox ears on top of my head. A red glow with a black accent radiates off my body. Anyone without a decent amount of mana won’t even be able to stand. I tried my best not to put too much force on the little fox girl, who was the closest to my current location. The eyes of the girl were sparkling as I saw her look at me with her mouth open. I gave her a slight grin.

The force I was outputting was very reminiscent of what Akari's father put me through during our first interaction and sadly the last.

Lifting both hands and pointing in the direction of all cages. “Chain Lightning,” I say as electricity envelops all of them with a very bright light.

The idea was to aim for all their collars. I know metal can be used to conduct electricity and was hoping it would create a Tesla coil effect that would short-circuit the slave collars. If I don’t attempt to free them from right from the start, there is a good chance they would all activate and cause great damage to their bodies. It took a great amount of control not to fry any of them by mistake.

As I look on with lightning flowing through my body, I can’t help but smile at how well my plan is coming to fruition. It was something Yumi pushed hard into me as we trained for the past year. Lightning is a very explosive element, and having control over it will bring the greatest results. I felt the last Beastkin having their collar impacted, so I stopped casting the spell.

The zapping of electricity was all you could hear in the venue. Not one person was even uttering a word as they watched on at my display of power in shock. Once the vision of the cells came into view, I noticed that all collars were black and burnt on the ground. I couldn’t help but have a huge smile on my face at the extremely risky plan to free them.

Akari walked up beside me and planted a kiss on my cheek. The ring on her hand activated, and hundreds of weapons of all types fell onto the floor. She gave a wicked look to the audience and then to the now-freed beastkin.

“I’m the princess of the Beast Kingdom, Akari. I’ve come with my mate and soon-to-be king, Haru. This is our first step at making the humans pay for what they did to us. Now take up arms and show them who the dominant species are!” Akari yelled with confidence in her voice.

All the Beastkin who were still stunned by our actions started roaring. They all busted out of their cages, now being freed from the burden that was their collar. Grabbed a weapon and started staring down all the humans in the vicinity.

“Before I set you free on this city, remember one thing. We’re not as pathetic as the humans, so don’t kill any innocents. Everyone else, you’re free to tear them apart. If we don’t set boundaries, we will be no different from these pieces of garbage that fill this room.” They all looked at me with solemn faces. “Now go enjoy the revenge you deserve!”

“Yes!” Another loud roar came out of all the beastkin as they lunged at any target they could find. At the same time, soldiers started flooding in from all entrances.