WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 226: Velmora Fate

Chapter 226: Velmora Fate

Taleth’s eyes turned red. Burning with molten anger. The air distorted around him as veins of burning energy traced along his arms.

“You ruined everything!” he roared, voice warped, echoing with something ancient beneath it. “Do you know how hard I work to get that earring?!”

He dashed forward.

Ben didn’t move to block, He stepped aside.

Taleth’s fist tore through stone, pulverizing the wall behind Ben into shards. While leaving steam heat.

Without pause, he spun, his leg sweeping low in a arc. Ben leapt, hovering just out of reach. Another strike, this time a palm coated in red fire slammed toward Ben’s chest.

Ben tilted back, the blow passing an inch from his ribs.

Taleth screamed and came again, dagger in one hand, flame ignited from the other, slashing in wild fury.

Ben weaved through it all like mist. Not a single strike landed.

“You done yet?” he asked casually.

Taleth bared his teeth and struck again, this time stabbing straight for Ben’s throat. Ben leaned sideways, letting the blade whistle past, then dipped under the follow-up elbow.

Dust kicked up around them, chunks of shattered stone scattered from missed impacts. A shallow crater formed where Taleth had stomped, barely missing Ben by a breath.

‘His body’s not as tough as a pure-blood Nephirid, but faster. More fluid. Interesting…’

Ben kept weaving between the blows, as he observed Taleth’s movements.

According to every record he’d read, a Nephirid having a child with another race was impossible.

The reason? The Primordial Flame. If the other parent lacked the blessing, the child would consume them from the inside out before birth. And yet, Taleth was standing right here.

Ben’s thoughts drifted briefly to the old city lord and his debauched inner circle. Plenty of rumors, plenty of lovers, but no children. Not one. Making Taleth existence even more of anomaly

‘Maybe it wasn’t incompatibility,’ Ben mused with a smirk, dodging another furious strike. ‘Maybe those bastards were just impotent.’

Taleth not knowing what Ben thinking burned with rage.

“You think this is funny!?” Taleth howled.

BOOM!

A burst of molten pressure ripped through the alley as Taleth hurled himself back, skidding on cracked stone before flipping into a crouch. The heat around him surged, his body wreathed in wildfire.

His dagger pulsed in his hand, greedily drinking in the heat.

With a snarl, he thrust it skyward. “Burn, Fire Lotus!”

A glowing sphere flared from his palm, spinning once before it shot straight toward Ben. It bloomed midair, not like a bomb, but like a flower.

The petals erupted outward, dozens of razor-sharp flame shards, curved like scythe blades, spinning in waves, first five, then ten, then a spiral of thirty, shrieking through the air.

Ben eyes narrowed, he exhaled slowly. Both his daggers slid into his hands. Than He moved.

Clink! Slash! Clang!

His body weaved between each wave of fiery shrapnel, his arms moving with inhuman speed. Daggers spun and swept wide arcs, deflecting, redirecting.

The steel hissed against the burning shards, the deflected pieces exploding behind him like firecrackers.

Each step he took felt calculated, precise, perfectly fluid.

He twisted, flipped, landed on one hand, and kicked off the wall to dodge the final volley. His shadow whipped behind him like a cloak of smoke.

As the last wave faded in a shimmer of scorched air, Ben stood. Not a scratch on him. His daggers twirled once in his hands before lowering. His eyes locked on Taleth.

“Impressive,” he said calmly. “Calmed down yet?”

Taleth’s face twisted with disbelief and frustration.

“Just what do you want? If you’re going to kill me, then do it already.”

Ben took a step, then vanished. In the next instant, he was behind Taleth, dagger pressed lightly to his neck.

“That’s the best you can think of?” Ben murmured. “Losing your disguise rattled you that badly?”

Taleth clenched his jaw. He now understood just how wide the gap in power really was. This man wasn’t just stronger than the reports claimed, he was something else entirely.

“You’ve been hiding your strength,” Taleth muttered. “Even during your fight with the last city lord…”

Ben smirked, then pulled the dagger back. “Now, I’ll ask again, what’s your goal?”

Taleth glanced around, but Ben cut him off.

“Don’t waste your breath. If you try to run, I’ll break your legs. You might carry the Nephirid flame, but you don’t seem to have their regeneration. Or do you want to test that theory?”

Taleth hesitated, then sighed. He dropped his weapon and sat cross-legged on the stone.

“You’re the city lord. You should know the status of Velmora in this kingdom.”

“Was your mother Velmora?” Ben asked. “Was she one of the ones kept in the city hall?”

Taleth shook his head. “No. She died years ago, giving birth to me. As for my father?” His eyes narrowed. “Who knows which Nephirid bastard it was.”

He leaned forward slightly. “You know how slaves are treated in this kingdom. But what about us Velmora?”

Ben said nothing. Truthfully, he’d never thought much about the Velmora at all. But it’s not hard to imagine, a beauty as a slave, a very expensive one. They treated as trophy and plaything for the elite.

Taleth’s voice turned cold.

“Slaves are worked to the bone. But at least they’re allowed to die. Velmora? We’re kept alive. Forced to entertain every deranged fantasy the Nephirid elite can dream up.”

He didn’t flinch, even knowing his words might mean death.

Ben listened, then gave a slow nod. He understood, but he didn’t care. Not emotionally. Not anymore.

If this had been the old him, a man from Earth, maybe it would’ve horrified him. But now? Now he was a sovereign. And Taleth’s pain, like all things, had value only if it served a purpose.

Taleth’s voice dropped to a low, bitter whisper.

“Just imagine it. Born with a face and body considered a beauty. Coveted, once worshiped, but now can be treated as you wished.”

He didn’t look at Ben as he spoke, eyes instead staring into a memory only he could see.

“I’m just a child, but the thing they do… Not even me were spared. The other slaves… At least they have a role. A place. At least they’re allowed to wear clothes. Allowed to eat, to sleep. To die when their worth dries up.”

He exhaled, slow and sharp.

“But Velmora? We’re not seen as people. We’re ornaments. Breeding stock. Toys to be passed around between nobles like wine cups.

We cannot even eat if not allowed. Our worth isn’t measured in labor, only in how long we stay beautiful.”

Ben watched in silence.

“I’ve seen them caged like animals,” Taleth continued, voice tightening. “Bathed, painted, paraded through banquets in golden chains, while sick men made bets on who could break they scream first.”

He clenched his fists.

“They’re not allowed to scream when they’re beaten. They’re trained not to cry, only to smile. You know what happens when one gets sick? Some sick fuck played them even more, before a high level potion is used to heal us.”

His voice broke slightly, just for a breath.

“And I heard what they did to my mother. They said she was too proud. Too difficult. She refused a lord’s demand and paid for it.”

He inhaled sharply.

“Whipped. Over and over, until her skin peeled off in sheets. But they didn’t stop there.”

His hands trembled, rage boiling beneath the surface.

“Those sick bastards kept going, healing her with potions just so they could do it again. Again. And again. Until she stopped screaming.”

He looked up, eyes like burning coals.

“You know what they did with the skin?”

A bitter smile cracked across his lips.

“They stitched it into a bed. They say it’s soft and smooth, the best material.”

He spat blood to the side.

“And when she got pregnant? They let her carry me. Not out of mercy. But curiosity. novelbuddy.cσ๓

Because everyone thought it should be impossible. They kept her locked in a basement, burning with fever, just to see if she’d survive childbirth.”

Ben narrowed his eyes. Taleth finally met his gaze.

“And when she died, they laughed. Called it a miracle I lived. A miracle. Because I was half Nephirid, and they thought that made me ‘interesting.’ I was passed around like a dog. Trained. Beaten. Used. Until I escaped.”

There was no rage in his voice now. Just a hollow ache, polished smooth by time.

“You asked my goal? I want to burn it all down. Not just this city. All of it. Every noble house that ever laid hands on one of us. Every bastard who smiled while we screamed.”

Ben was silent for a short time, than replied, “I see, what city this happened? The capital?”

“Yes! If it’s other city I will already took my revenge, but the capital is just different.”

Ben nodded, he crouch down put his eyes on the same eye level with him. His lips curled into a grin, “Than Taleth I have a proposition for you, one that you cannot reject, but honestly I’m sure you will take this for sure.”