Hellbound: Rebirth Of The Strongest Slayer.-Chapter 56: Psychopathic family of experts

Chapter 57

Wait.

Is that man actually smiling at a great boar?

Doesn’t he know how dangerous that thing is?

The thought hit him like a slap. His mind stalled, too shocked and too weak to properly process just how insane this man had to be.

"Hey, Selene. Should we use our combo hit to finish this big dinner of ours?" Callack asked casually.

"That sounds like a really fun idea."

The sweet female voice came from behind, light and calm despite the momentum she had been running with moments ago. She gently set a small child, barely a year old, on top of a nearby rock. Then she pulled out her whip. It looked worn, a little crusty around the handle, but thick enough. More than enough.

"Well, let’s do it. And don’t go for the kill this time, Callack. Let me have it," Selene said.

Callack rubbed the back of his head, already looking like a man who could not promise that. Still, he shrugged and went with the flow for now.

Selene shook her head, as if she could already see how this would play out. She sighed, then moved anyway.

The two stepped forward in perfect unison and struck just as the great boar forced itself upright.

The young man who had been picking herbs froze.

What he saw next was something he should never have witnessed.

The great boar was being toyed with.

That monster, the one that sent fear crawling down the spines of grown men, was being played with by two absolute lunatics. Worse, they had left a baby alone, completely unattended.

The man turned toward the child and his brain simply shut down.

The kid was sitting on the rock, legs crossed, face calm, eyes fixed on the battle like someone watching a movie he was already bored of. Like he had seen this kind of thing far too many times.

No fear. Not even a hint.

Wait.

Was it just him, or did that kid look far too smart for his age?

The knowledge reflected in those eyes was wrong. Way too heavy for a one year old.

What the man did not know was that his assumption was wrong in more ways than one.

First, Rayden was not a one year old. That would become obvious very soon.

Second, he was not watching the fight like entertainment. He was angry. Genuinely angry. Angry that he was not the one killing the boar.

He was tired of always being the spectator while those two got all the fun.

It was not fair. Not even close.

And the third thing the man got completely wrong was this.

Among the trio, Rayden was actually the craziest.

After all, he had already decided to go boar hunting tonight, after the parents finished their fun and fell asleep.

Rayden grinned to himself.

Boar hunting. Booked.

The man saw the baby smile, almost proudly, and felt something cold crawl up his spine.

Was he dreaming? Had he stepped into another part of the world where humans were all insane? Or was this just the worst luck imaginable, running into one crazy family all together?

Before his thoughts could go any further, a massive boom exploded behind him.

He turned just in time to see it.

The great boar was down.

Dead.

Several deep gashes tore through its body. The ground around it was soaked. The hunt was over.

They did it.

They actually killed a great boar.

The man stood there, stunned and speechless at how fast it ended.

"You did it again, Callack."

Selene’s furious yet sweet voice rang out as she stormed toward him. Callack looked unbelievably guilty, and the man could not understand why.

Then he noticed it.

The child facepalmed.

No. He was not imagining it.

Rayden facepalmed because he already knew what was coming.

"Dear, you do know that not letting me get the kill is stunting my skill growth," Selene said softly, stretching her whip. There was a wicked glint in her calm eyes.

And Callack took a step back.

Slowly.

Her words were too calm.

Way too calm.

Calm enough to make Callack’s grin waver.

"Hey, dear. You do know getting the kill is purely by coincidence, right?" Callack said, trying to defuse the situation.

"Coincidence?" Selene repeated.

Her smile grew sweeter. Softer. Nicer.

Callack’s hair stood on end.

Of course you wouldn’t.

Before he could say another word, the whip lashed out and sent him flying into the distance.

Rayden facepalmed once more.

Here we go again.

One.

Two.

Three.

Thrash. Thrash. Thrash.

"Yelp."

"I will make it up to you, I promise... Shut up and let me just let out my irritation," Selene replied calmly.

Several long minutes passed before she calmed down.

"I said shut up and stay still. Don’t dodge."

"What do you mean don’t dodge? Do you want to kill me?"

"Wait, let me injure you a bit. I’ll patch you up. I promise."

The man stood frozen.

This couple seemed hell bent on killing each other. No. Correction. The wife seemed hell bent on killing her husband.

Rayden glanced at the man and saw it clearly. He was starting to understand their strange kind of childishness.

The duo had turned fighting into their way of having fun. Spending too long alone had warped them into something else entirely. From kind and gentle parents to playful, wild monsters.

Eventually, the sound of thrashing stopped.

They came back into view.

Callack was shockingly still alive, covered in far fewer cuts than anyone would expect. Even worse, they were walking hand in hand like a lovely couple out for a stroll.

"Hey, fellow human," Selene said.

The blood on her face was not friendly.

The man looked at the duo, at these total psychopaths, and fainted.

It was too much.

Selene and Callack exchanged confused glances, shocked, then picked him up.

"Maybe he’s like us. Too shocked to see a fellow human," Selene said.

Callack nodded. That had to be it.

The man stayed with them for a while.

He learned more. Way too much.

He had several more heart attacks and fainted multiple times. Like when he learned they had survived the destruction of an entire kingdom relatively unharmed. Or that they crossed the Great Sea without suffering a single scratch.

And one of the worst things.

They casually chased away the ruler of the forest, the colossal bear, and used its home for months before deciding to leave.

Of course, that was not how they said it. They tried to sound normal.

But he was not stupid.

He deduced the lies and the truth beneath them and reached one solid conclusion.

This family were experts.

Powerful experts.

Experts at having picnics.

The fact that they asked him about nearby human settlements only reinforced his thoughts. They knew a settlement was close. They were testing him. Seeing if he dared lie to powerhouses like them.

When he told them the truth and saw their smiles, he was certain.

They would have killed him if he lied.

Knowing he was living with experts made their daily activities less surprising. But it did not stop him from fainting when he saw the baby sneaking inside the house covered in blood.

He fainted.

Again.

After three days passed, the man and the trio set out for the nearest human settlement. The one he came from.

They walked for a while, the family trailing behind.

Then the man’s expression changed.

Smoke rose in the distance.

His face twisted as the color drained from it.

"No. An attack is happening."

He dashed forward.

The family rushed after him, sensing trouble ahead.

Something that had not happened in a very long time finally happened.

Rayden’s instincts screamed.

Danger.

The warning from the hell bred cipher echoed in his mind.

Danger was ahead.

Yet Rayden felt no fear. No hesitation.

Instead, he felt joy.

Finally.

After so long, he would see something that gave him a sense of danger.

How exciting.

TO BE CONTINUED...