Tales Of Darkness And Light
Chapter 27's

Calix raised his face looking up at the night sky. They had walked all day following the little bird that led them to the hiding place of the robbers in Mount Bold. Fortunately, the moonlight above the sky was enough to help them look around, because they did not dare to light a torch that could make their existence discovered.

Steady in silence, no one said anything. Calix observed his fellow travelers walking ahead. The map was busy looking at his dark surroundings and following the little bird, Fedrick seemed to be deep in thought thinking about something, whereas Apple, he was still as usual and did not care about anything.

Suddenly, the Apples that were at the very front of their entourage stopped.

"What's up, Apple?" fedrick was confused.

"Get all of you out!" Order Apple with a loud voice.

Hearing the voice of the Apple command, about twenty-five people appeared from behind the trees around them. Swords were tucked away at the waists of all of them and some people aimed arrows at Apple, Fedrick, Calix and Map.

"I didn't expect you to realize our whereabouts." Laughing at the big-bodied man of about thirty years old with a face full of wounds.

Although they did not introduce themselves, Apples, Fedrick, Calix and Peta knew, they were robbers, and the big man was definitely the chief of those robbers. However, most importantly; were these hordes of robbers the robbers they were looking for?

"You—" said one of the robbers who was there as soon as he saw Fedrick's face. "You're the young man who ran away and left those two beautiful girls, right?"

Hearing the robber's words, Apple, Fedrick, Calix and Map, you know, these robbers before them are now the robbers they are looking for. Calix and Fedrick unhesitatingly pulled out the sword that was on their waists, Map that did not have a weapon prepared itself to create a magic circle as well as recite a spell, which was indeed not a weapon, while Apel—the young man just kept silent did not pull out the Shire sword that was tucked in his waist.

"Where are the two of them?" ask Calix.

The robber chief laughed at Calix's question. "So you came to help them, huh?—they are in our hands. Throw out all your weapons if you want to see them both."

Apple, Fedrick, Calix and Peta, don't obey what the robber chief said. They knew, these robbers would definitely not let them out of this mountain alive having known the way to their base.

"Kill them!" the Chief of the Robbers' orders.

"Good, Chief!" some of the robbers shouted and ran to attack Apple and others.

Apple and Calix did not stay silent to let the robbers attack them. The two of them moved quickly to attack the robbers, and within a few seconds, the robbers had cowered underground.

"Where are the two of them?" ask Apple. His voice was flat without emotion.

The remaining robbers were very surprised to see what happened. They did not expect that Apple and Calix could easily defeat their friends. Full vigilance pervaded them, the two young men before them did not seem to be ordinary people.

"Their land!!" The chief robber ordered his men to release the arrow aimed at Apple and the others.

Fedrick and Peta jumped to avoid the arrow, while Apple and Calix continued to advance towards the Chief of the robbers while avoiding the rain of arrows.

"Ground keep!" the chief robber shouted, beginning to panic.

Fedrick and Peta didn't let the robbers keep shooting them. Raising their hands made a magic circle and recited a spell. From the magic circle Fedrick appeared an ice needle, while from the magic circle Map appeared a wind sword, the two magic moves quickly to attack the archers.

"Don't worry!! We have more than them! Keep attacking!!" shouted the robber chief full of anger. Pulling out the sword at his waist, he dashed forward to attack Apple and Calix followed his men.

Once again, Apple had no trouble fighting the robbers, nor did Calix. Fedrick and Peta who can't use magic anymore are trying to defend themselves. Fedrick had no major difficulties defending himself. But not with maps. He who had empty hands began to be overwhelmed by armed robbers.

Looking at the desperate Map, Fedrick ran over and tried to take him. "You okay, Map?" he asked when he arrived beside her.

"I'm fine, thank you." Quick Map reply.

Fedrick, who was trying to evade and avenge the robbers' attacks, was completely unaware of any robbers who had pulled a bow towards him. By the time he realized the robber's whereabouts, it was too late, for the arrow had shot rapidly towards his head.

"Fedrick! Watch out!!" shout Map. Pushing Fedrick away, the arrow stuck on his shoulder. "Gee!!"

The agonizing cries of the Map made Apple and Calix allow their eyes to gaze at the witch. Flashing dislike, Apple segerabl made a magic circle and recited a spell. A pillar of fire appeared around Fedrick and Map.

The robbers around Fedrick and Peta immediately jumped back as soon as they saw the pillar of fire that Apple had made. Apple and Calix stopped attacking the robbers and ran up to them.

The pillar of fire that Apple made disappeared as he and Calix arrived beside Fedrick and Map. Apple said nothing, while Calix quickly asked, "You okay, Map?"

"I-I'm fine," replied the feeble Map with a deathly pale face. Blood flowed down from his shoulders. Looking at the Apple, he tried to smile. "T-thank you, Apple..."

"Apples?" interrupted the robber leader as soon as he heard the thank you Map. A grinning smile filled his face, while his eyes stared at Apple full of laughter. "So, are you the one named Apple?"

The robber chief's question immediately caught the attention of Fedrick, Calix, Map and even—Apel.

"You know him, Apple?" calix asked in surprise, his two blue eyes staring at Apple in disbelief.

The apple turned to Calix. He did not say anything, but Calix could feel clearly a sharp glare directed at him even though both eyes of the young man were covered in cloth—it seemed like he had mispronounced.

"Apple, Apple, Apple—that's the name that the golden-haired girl keeps calling while crying as I have fun with her." Laughter The robber chief.

The speech of the Chairman of the Robbers immediately made Fedrick, Calix and Map stunned, not least—Apel.

"What did you say?!" fedrick shouted with anger.

The chief robber laughed again, he was so happy to see Fedrick's reaction. "The girl is amazingly beautiful. It's a shame that I'm the only one having fun with her. Hence, after I was satisfied playing with him, I gave it to my men. They were all very grateful and happily having fun again with him."

"Bad!! How dare you!!" calix shouted in anger.

"Of all that there is, that girl called a blind guy like you. I think the girl must have been expecting you to help her, but you're sam—" added the chief robber no matter the anger of Fedrick and Calix. But, before he finished his sentence, at an incredible speed, Apple had moved closer to the robber chief and was standing right before him.

The apple with its right hand gripped the neck of the Chief of Robbers and lifted him up. Everyone there was very surprised to see what was happening, because it was all happening in one blink of an eye, and most importantly, in the first place, they had never expected an Apple that had a body smaller than the Chief Robber to be able to lift it off the ground with one hand.

The chief robber tried to get himself out. He raised the sword in his right hand to attack Apple. However, the young man easily and quickly hit his hand so that the sword fell on the ground.

However, suddenly they all—stop.

All of them who were there suddenly felt a strange feeling. The strange feeling was like a mixed feeling of uneasiness and fear. Fedrick, Calix and Peta who also felt the feeling knew for sure, they had experienced this feeling before. This feeling was the feeling they felt when Apple suddenly acted unexpectedly while fighting the dragon in Erfin Magic College.

The Chief robber felt an overwhelming fear as he sensed what was happening, and also, the grip of Apple's hand on his neck made him completely unable to breathe. Rebelling tried to free himself from the strong grip of the young man's hand, all in vain. Therefore, he raised both of his hands to attack the face of Apple. Without hesitation, the hand of the Chief of robbers pulled the cloth that closed the eyes of Apple until it slipped and fell on the ground.

Red blood.

The chief robber stopped moving as soon as he saw the blood red eyes of Apple staring at him. The moonlight made him able to see quite clearly, however, not only because of the color of the eyes that made him stop moving, but rather the eye rays full of anger and insanity that implied.

"Is this your hand touching her?" ask Apple suddenly. Slowly, he raised the right hand of the robber chief with his left hand. His voice sounded very calm. However, anyone who heard it could feel how cold, terrifying and full of anger the voice was. A smile filled the face of Apples who stared at the frightened face of the robber chief.

Then—all who were there stared with horror eyes at what happened. The apple broke the hand of the chief robber easily as if breaking a tree branch.

"Ohhhh!!" The robber shouted in pain. However, his cry was stifled as the Apples still gripped his neck tightly.

The smile on Apple's face widened to see the Chief of the robber. Releasing the grip of his right hand, the chief robber fell to the ground. His breathing was breathless, and he held his broken right hand with his left. Tears flowed down from the eyes, his face deathly pale from unbearable pain and fear.

The bowed apple caught the left hand of the chief robber. "—and this hand too, right?—who dared to touch it." he said slowly and broke the left hand.

"Ohhh!!!" The chief robber again shouted in pain. He was unable to move anymore due to the pain he felt. However, the Apples who heard and saw him actually laughed very happily.

Stop laughing a second later, Apple turned his gaze to look at the robbers. The robbers were terrified to see the apple. Sweat was pouring down from their faces all, this young man who was in front of them was completely abnormal and very—horrible.

"All of you too. How dare you guys hurt him—how dare you guys!!!" said Apple slowly which then turned into a burst of anger. Moving fast, not caring about anything, he started attacking the robbers that were there.

Fedrick, Calix and Peta couldn't move to see what was happening. The three of them had absolutely no confidence in what they were now, in front of them, the empty-handed Apple was fighting the armed robbers. However, the robbers did not struggle against him. The young man dodged the directed attack on him, caught their hand and—broke him.

The sound of the cries of the robbers whose hands were broken Apple made those remaining not dare to come forward to attack. The apple itself continued to laugh out loud upon hearing the cries of pain and fear that filled the air.

Throwing away the weapons, the remaining robbers tried to escape. They did not dare to fight the Apples. However, the young man did not let that happen. Jumping high in front of them, he stood right in front of them all.

"Pardon us," kneeling with his trembling body, one of the robbers asked for forgiveness. "W-what our chairman said was a lie. I-we did absolutely nothing to the two girls."

However, Apple did not seem to hear the robber's apology. Raising his right hand, the two blood-red eyes of the young man gleamed happily staring at the remaining robbers. Everything in there including Fedrick, Calix and Peta then looked at it with something that could not be explained with reason.

The hands of the apple changed.

Apples grow in a matter of seconds. The nails in his hands suddenly extended rapidly and tapered so that it formed like the claws of a savage beast.

"The two girls are not in our hands at all! Shortly after the girl arrived at our base, there were robbers attacking us. They were both kidnapped by them!!" add the robber again while shouting. The fear on his face was unbearable anymore as he stared at Apple.

Unfortunately, Apple still did not care what the robber said. Laughing loudly, he charged forward at those who were helpless. His long fingernails clawed, ripped and plucked the hands of the robbers without hesitation.

The robbers' red blood spread everywhere like rain drenched Apples. Feeling the warmth of the blood, the young man looked up and laughed out loud in madness—he seemed to enjoy what he was doing.

Fedrick, Calix and Peta who saw the scene in plain sight with wide eyes, could not shake the feeling of surprise and fear in the heart. Apple is not an open person and likes to socialize, but, he is also not a person who likes to torture or take the life of someone with excitement like today. The apple that was now in front of them was not the Apple that they knew—The apple that was in front of them now was a figure capable of taking the life of anyone without mercy.

Fedrick and Calix who could not stand the sight before their eyes immediately ran up to Apple. Capturing both hands of the young man to stop the crazy action being done, the two of them brushed aside the fear in their hearts.

"Take it off." Apple Command. Her voice was cold without emotion. Stop laughing, he lowered his blood-red eyes full of anger and madness at Fedrick and Calix.

Fedrick and Calix felt an overwhelming fear enveloping the heart again upon hearing the voice and seeing the eyes of Apple. But, they knew, they had to stop him now.

"Stop this action of yours, Apple! Don't kill them! I don't think they're lying at all. They didn't do anything to hurt Rue!" fedrick shouted loudly trying to calm Apple down.

"Yes, Apples. Don't kill them, we still need information from them about Rue and Lara's whereabouts" Calix added quickly.

"Rue.." Apple muttered softly upon hearing Fedrick and Calix's remarks. "Rue..."

Apples.

Rue's smiling face appeared within Apple's mind and immediately awakened himself from all the madness that existed. His body became slightly relaxed, slowly, his hands and nails returned to normal.

Fedrick and Calix let go of Apple's hand as soon as he saw his state of calm. Turning their faces away at the frightened robbers before them, they gulped. Blood, severed hands, screams and dings of pain and fear—the sight made their feathers stand up.

Breathing out and controlling his emotions, Calix walked towards the Chief of Robbers who saw everything that was happening full of fear. "Tell us the truth, where are the two of them?"

"W-we don't know," replied the chief robber quickly. He desperately tried to explain what had really happened because he knew, wrongly for a bit, his life would be lost. "Our headquarters were attacked by robbers from another group not long after the two girls arrived, d-and they were both kidnapped by them..."

Hearing the robber's chief's reply, Apple darted towards him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt "Who was the robber who kidnapped them both?"

"A-I don't know," full of tears and terrified at Apple, the chief robber replied quickly. "The leader of the robber was a woman, and they could use magic."

"Buggler woman? Can you use magic?" sidelines Map that heard the explanation of the robber leader suddenly. "Is the woman in her twenties and has green eyes and short black bob?"

Apple and Calix turned their faces back to look at Map who was walking towards them with the help of Fedrickm

"Yes. Damn right!" replied the robber chief while nodding his head quickly.

"Mire. That must be Mire and the others." The Map could not hide his feelings of surprise.

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