Chapter 1758: Vengeance [3]
The destruction of Wilhelm Liqua took place over three separate stages.
The first stage was physical. His body was beaten and bruised by the fists of another until even his mind could no longer function properly.
The second stage was energy. August took Wilhelm into the seas and used their sheer power to once again mutilate the body of his enemy.
All of the surrounding water was under his control. Even if Wilhelm was able to find the mind to counterattack, he would not be able to wrestle control away from August.
This was an environment filled with his element. However, it was an environment where he had no access to mana whatsoever.
In this place, water invaded his veins and polluted his blood. It went up his nostrils and into his brain, turning into multiple tiny blades that cut into the fleshy interior of that organ, slowly taking away its ability to function.
In the process, Wilhelm lost his ability to feel fear, panic, and pain. He lost his memory and lost his understanding of why he was being tortured.
However, that was exactly what August wanted. Wilhelm in his current state had regained consciousness. Though he could not directly feel the results of his torture, his soul was more than aware of what was happening and forced him to feel the things he could not feel through his body.
One might wonder how August could possibly create a third stage of destruction at this point. Wilhelm was nearly crippled in both mind and body. His methods were already cruel and unusual until now, but if he continued at this point, he would only be tormenting a living corpse for his own amusement.
That was why the third stage was a matter of the soul.
August didn't have any access to the soul, so he couldn't directly target Wilhelm in that aspect. However, he had his means. Damien had equipped him with several artifacts. Some of them could be catastrophic if misused.
August displayed the power of one of those artifacts to read Wilhelm's soul fluctuations. With the data he received, he precisely attacked Wilhelm in the physical plane so that his soul would enter a state of eternal suffering.
Once enough trauma was induced in a person who had been driven into such a tragic state, their soul would replay that memory over and over again, as it was the only thing left for it to remember.
August was violent. Far too violent to be the same person he once was. By the time he finished tormenting Wilhelm, the other genius' body bore not a single resemblance to either a human or a dragon.
Several of Wilhelm's organs were floating through the open seas. His flesh and bones had been restructured until he was the same kind of grotesque puppet as Estavian.
August was getting revenge. That much was true. However, in his mind, he was also dishing out justice.
A justice that was long overdue, for the people who had been tormented by Wilhelm in his twenty-something years of life.
The number of victims under his belt was in the tens of thousands at the very least. August didn't even know how many others had been destroyed and transformed like Estavian, but he knew just how many commoners had mysteriously disappeared for the sake of Wilhelm's experiments and whims.
He didn't care if his actions couldn't be justified by such matters. He didn't care if others saw him as a monster who was unforgiving to the extreme when it came to his enemies.
He did what he felt that he needed to do.
The main lesson he learned from his father, the one thing Damien made absolutely sure that August internalized before he left, was to follow his heart.
Whatever he felt was right, he couldn't question. If it was right to him, then others didn't matter. Not unless they were people whose opinions August valued.
Did he value the opinions of anyone observing his actions?
Not in the slightest.
And...
Once he brought his friends back to full health, he didn't need to mention this particular event.
August stood there and stared at Wilhelm's remains.
He said all of that, but he couldn't lie and say he wasn't feeling empty.
In the back of his mind, he was feeling disgusted by his own hypocrisy.
How could he do something like this and act like he was different from the people he criticized?
Was everything he stood for just a front to hide a madman who loved the taste of blood?
It was obviously a meaningless thought, but how was August supposed to know that? Despite all the time dilations he'd been through and all the things he'd experienced, he was only sixteen years old.
He was questioning himself, questioning his values, and questioning the world. This was the natural behavior of a young practitioner who was still finding his way.
If he had to be compared with the father he viewed as his idol when he was the same age, then...
Well, at sixteen, Damien was doing nothing but wallowing in self-pity and trying to survive, so August was definitely in a better place.
Still, he had a path of his own to walk, and to do so properly, moments like these where he doubted himself and reaffirmed his will were necessary.
Nevertheless, as August's rage faded and the emptiness swallowed him, he stood blankly in the sea for several seconds. If it wasn't for his attention being grabbed by an approaching presence, then it likely would have continued for longer.
"Senior..."
August slightly bowed to that being.
Since he was here, Wilhelm's helper was also dead. It wasn't like he stood a chance in the first place.
In a sense, the man who aided August was also an Ancient Dragon, but he was on a completely different level.
He had lived for several million years at the very least. His form in the water was more like that of a whale than a dragon, but his lineage could not be ignored.
He, as the person who stood above all of the Sea Tribes as their supreme ancestor, was a being that even the Holy Dragons needed to be wary of. His presence was exactly what secured the seas.
It took a lot for August to convince him to help, but since he was already here, he was doing his job properly.
"That puppet has been slain. It seems you have taken care of your enemy as well."
His voice was transmitted through every ounce of water, making the molecules vibrate.
August nodded slightly, his mind still focused on other things.
He was lucky to have someone present to remind him of what was important.
"Regardless of what kind of battle you are fighting internally, it can wait. Child, do you not have more important matters to attend to?"
August's eyes widened.
Right, he'd forgotten. He hated himself for forgetting, but that was what had happened.
He needed to return to the cavern as soon as possible.
Otherwise, Melania and the rest would die.
August put all of his mental issues aside. In the end, his doubts were just doubts.
The friends who protected him and used their lives as shields to keep his enemies away were far, far more important.
Right now, they were the ones who deserved all his attention.