A Story of Evil

"Alice you should start your training as well." King Jubilee mentioned, seeing Sol walk into the room where the pregnant woman was.

"Understood my liege." The girl said, seeing that the king wasn't in any mood to listen to what she had to say.

"Just open the door on the left. Lilia will be waiting for you there; she'll take care of your passive's strengthening." The girl made a bow after the king finished speaking. Going to the said area and stealing one last glance at Sol while whispering.

"Good luck Sol."

…

The boy named Solomon was a genius. An individual who got himself out of various situations with the use of his head. This same intelligence has also gotten him caught up in some very dangerous incidents all throughout his life in the slums. His head always formulated a path that gave him a solution yet, never was killing a part of these equations.

"A-Are you my executioner?" As soon as the door opened, the woman took notice of Sol. She was shaking and, didn't even hide it. Her knees and arms were weak and she was crying from pure fright.

"M-my name is E-Elianor. C-can you p-please spare me and my child?" The woman's voice was shaking. She held on to her womb with her left hand, as if to defend the child inside. Her right arm was extended outward, with the knife gripped tightly.

Solomon may have been a slum dweller. He may have been an orphan. But he never saw himself as a killer. Even with the planning on how to win the culling, the act of killing a person never crossed his head. In fact, not even Arthur was subjected to such murderous thoughts.

"N-No d-don't come any c-closer! Please! I-I just want to live peacefully with my child!" The woman screamed as Sol advanced slowly. On his hand was a sword that felt foreign in that instance. Like he forgot how to wield the weapon altogether.

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. His stomach didn't feel right, like hell itself was brewing within it. Every step he made felt a little heavier than the last. There was a voice inside his head, telling him to stop yet the distance between him and the woman only got smaller.

"H-help me please." The woman was basically begging Sol at that point, stepping back as quickly as she could while the knife was still pointed at the boy.

It wasn't like Solomon wasn't thinking the same. In his head, the boy had the idea that, just like every other predicament he faced, there should be a way out of it. One that didn't require the sacrifice of any life.

"There has to be another way out of this. I gotta think of something I can say to the woman or, to the king." Sol was subconsciously stalling for time, walking even slower than the normal speed.

There were two other dilemmas which Sol was facing. The first was that he was somewhat softer when it came to women, especially because miss Olivia has always treated him well and kindly. Eve was also a perfect example and, Alice has also been kind to him. Within the twelve years of his life, Sol had always been cared for and treated fairly by women who were part of his life.

The other dilemma which weighed even heavier was the fact that, his target was pregnant. A woman, who could be a mother soon enough, was right in front of him. And no matter how hard the boy tried, he couldn't muster the strength nor the will to perform the act of murder.

"I'm sorry I have to do this." Solomon said, going into stance.

"No! Please, just spare my baby. Please just spare my – aghhh!" The woman dropped to the floor, she was crying in pain and reached out for Solomon.

"Help me please!" At that moment, Sol's emotions toppled his reasoning. The boy dropped his weapon and ran towards the woman. Without even realizing that, she was still holding her knife.

"Where does it hurt ma'am?" It was only a moment. A few seconds of dropping his guard entirely and, this was enough for his enemy to make the deciding blow.

"Right here." As soon as the woman said these words, Sol felt something pierce his side. His body began burning up as the woman took out the knife, making his blood gush out the deep wound.

"I-I'm gonna live! Me and my child are g-gonna survive!"

The woman stood up immediately. Her hands were stained with blood and so were parts of her clothing. Sol on the other hand lay on the wall of the training room, stopping the flow of blood using his hand while also screaming in pain.

The boy's vision became hazy. He didn't understand the other words which the woman was still saying at that point. All he knew was that, what he was fighting wasn't human anymore.

As Sol looked at her, the woman's lips were curved to a twisted smile. She licked the tip of the blade, making screams of ecstasy. There was no trace of the poor woman whom Sol saw a few minutes ago. There was no fragile and helpless pregnant woman.

Right in front of him was a true predator. One more frightening than any monster which the boy has encountered so far. One which woke all his senses to overdrive, screaming at him to run away and he did. He began crawling away despite his wounded side, with his eyes welling up tears.

"Goodbye~" The woman went into stance and pounced at Sol right away. There was no escaping it, there was no way out. Solomon was cornered and, that was probably why he was surprised even more by the succeeding event.

The woman disappeared. She was flattened down the ground in the blink of an eye, spraying her flesh and blood within the area as she and her unborn child turned into an indistinguishable mush of meat.

"To think I would've overlooked something as crucial as this." King Jubilee said, making use of his gravitational magic to perform the feat.

Meanwhile, Sol was puking. He thought of the woman and the child in the womb. He even saw a fragment, a deformed finger, that was probably from the baby developing within its mother.

"Hey Sol, go to the wall and pick the item up." King Jubilee commanded.

The king's tone of voice was irritated and disappointed. That was the reason why the boy mustered all of his strength just to do what was asked of him. Grabbing the healing crystal that was on the wall and slumping back down on the ground. He bit on a piece of cloth as he slammed the crystal within his wound. Sending an immeasurable amount of pain that coursed through his body as it restored in a matter of seconds.

"Sol, you seem to be forgetting why you are here in the first place so, why don't I remind you?"

It was silent for a while. Sol was still awake but barely. The healing also took away much of his energy and at that point, they boy just wanted to lay down and rest. But the voice he heard next woke all his cells back to life.

"LET ME OUT!" There was no mistaking that tone. That pitch that seemed to come from a tortured soul in hell. It was sobber that time but, Sol could still distinguish who it was.

"Shut up Arthur! The king wishes to speak with you." Another man's voice said.

Everything that was being said at that point was heard by Sol. The king also disregarded what Sol would have to say altogether.

"Arthur, how have you been?"

"My l-liege! They have been unfair to me! They've beaten me up each and every – argrhhh!" There was the sound of electrocution that mixed with Arthur's screams.

"I don't want to hear any of that you sorry excuse for a human. What I want to know is, do you want to be free?"

"y-yes my liege." Arthur's voice immediately got weaker, sounding like the shock exhausted him.

"NO! PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU! DON'T DO IT!" Sol was screaming with all his might; punching the door with his fist. It was the most irrational that he has ever been in his life but, he didn't care. He knew exactly what would happen if his voice was not heard. Cain. Eve. Miss Olivia. The three of them would be massacred by Arthur.

"Today is your lucky day then! I'm gonna give you a sword and a change of clothes. As soon as you leave the facility, your cuffs will be removed and you'd be a free man." King Jubilee said.

"Really?" Arthur's voice was hopeful.

"Yes. Guards, do exactly as I said."

"Understood my liege."

With that the communication finally ended. Sol continued screaming. He even threw a sword at the glass window where the king was watching from. He was beyond angry at that point, he was furious.

"You failed to keep your end of the bargain boy. But that doesn't mean you can't stop him." King Jubilee opened a door.

"Go. See for yourself what your stupidity has earned you."