Absolute Cheater - Chapter 538
Capítulo 538: Treasure VI
The console beeped as the Venos man typed the final commands. One by one, the stasis pods around the room began to warm. The thick frost on the glass slowly melted. Soft lights inside each capsule turned from blue to white.
Asher watched the pods carefully.
The Knight stood guard near the door, making sure no one else entered. But he kept glancing at the children, his grip tightening on his sword.
One pod at the far left clicked open.
Then another.
And another.
Soon, all the pods lined along the first row started unlocking with soft hisses of escaping cold air.
Small hands twitched. Eyelids fluttered. Weak breaths escaped from the children inside as they began to wake up.
The Venos man pointed quickly, shaking. “See? See? I told you I could release them. They’re waking up safely. I kept them stable. I—”
He turned toward Asher, desperate.
“So now… now you let me live, right? I did what you asked. I released them. I–I’m cooperating.”
Asher didn’t answer.
He just stared at the man, expression empty and cold.
The Venos man’s voice cracked. “Y-you said if they were fine, you’d— you’d let me—”
Asher smiled.
But it wasn’t warm.
It was the kind of smile that froze the Venos man in place.
The Knight stepped closer, speaking quietly. “Asher.”
“I know,” Asher said.
He moved toward the scientist slowly. The Venos man backed up until he hit the console behind him.
“Asher—please—” he begged. “I saved them. Look—they’re all alive. I did everything right. You don’t need to—”
Asher grabbed him by the throat.
The Venos man choked, his feet lifting slightly off the ground.
“Asher,” the Knight said again, but his voice wasn’t stopping him. It was just a reminder of the line they both knew they were about to cross.
Asher didn’t care.
He pulled the scientist closer, his eyes turning darker—filled with cold anger, not rage. Controlled.
“You think releasing them makes up for what you did?” Asher asked quietly. “You think that erases the years you stole?”
The Venos man scratched at Asher’s wrist, panicking. “I–I didn’t hurt them—”
“You turned them into tools,” Asher said. “You broke their lives for your experiments. You destroyed their futures.”
The air around Asher shifted.
A cold wind.
A shadow.
A presence.
His Soul Reaper—silent until now—slowly emerged behind him. A tall, dark figure with hollow eyes and a thin, jagged mask. It hovered quietly, lowering its head as if waiting for a command.
The Knight stepped back slightly. He didn’t interfere.
This wasn’t his part.
The Venos man’s voice broke into a terrified whisper.
“Wh-what is that…?”
Asher’s grip tightened.
“That,” Asher said softly, “is who you’ll be meeting next.”
“No—no, please—WAIT—”
His scream turned into a choke as Asher pushed him forward.
The Soul Reaper reached out with a slow, deliberate motion. Its cold hand touched the man’s chest. The Venos man gasped as shadows wrapped around him like chains, pulling him closer.
He struggled, kicking, clawing, desperate.
“Asher—Asher, please—I can help you—I can fix them—I can—”
“No,” Asher said. “You’re done fixing people.”
The shadows tightened.
The Venos man’s body jerked as the Reaper began dragging his soul out—slowly, painfully—exactly how Asher wanted.
The Knight watched, silent.
The children in the pods slowly continued awakening, unaware of the justice happening behind them.
The Venos man screamed, but the sound was muffled—swallowed by darkness—until his voice broke into a weak, shaking cry.
“Asher—let me—live—please—”
Asher leaned close.
“You’re not dying,” he said. “You’re just… starting your punishment.”
The Reaper’s grip tightened.
The Venos man’s soul was pulled free piece by piece—slow, agonizing, endless.
Not a quick death.
Not mercy.
A sentence.
An eternity of it.
Asher stepped back, letting the Reaper finish the work he commanded.
When it was done, the shadowy figure faded, dragging the broken soul into the darkness with it.
Only the empty body dropped to the floor with a dull thud.
The Knight looked at Asher. “You didn’t turn him into a servant.”
“No,” Asher said. “He deserves nothing useful. Only pain.”
He turned away from the corpse.
“Help the children sit up,” Asher said. “They’ll be confused when they wake.”
The Knight nodded and moved to the nearest pod.
Asher walked to the center of the room and let out a long breath.
The worst part was finally over.
Asher stood there for a few seconds, breathing slowly. The room was cold, quiet, and filled with the soft sounds of the pods opening fully.
A little girl in the nearest pod sat up with weak, confused eyes. The Knight gently supported her so she wouldn’t fall.
Another pod opened on the right. A boy inside blinked, shivering. Asher walked over and pressed a button to warm the pod faster.
“It’s okay,” Asher said. His voice was steady. “You’re safe now.”
The boy looked at him, trying to understand, then nodded slowly.
Across the room, more children were waking up—some scared, some silent, some staring around like they didn’t know where they were.
The Knight helped another child stand. “Careful,” he said. “Your legs will be weak.”
One of the older kids, maybe around fifteen, sat upright and looked around with a serious expression. “Who… who are you?” he asked.
“Asher,” he said. “And that’s the Knight. We took down the man who kept you here.”
The boy’s eyes widened a little. “Is he… gone?”
“Yes,” Asher said simply.
The boy lowered his head, relieved.
Asher looked over the group—there were more than twenty children now awake. Some were hugging themselves for warmth. Some were holding onto the edge of their pods. None of them were crying, but they all looked lost.
“We need to get them out,” the Knight said. “This building isn’t stable.”
“Yeah.” Asher nodded.
He moved to the Venos man’s control console and checked the layout of the facility. The monitor flickered, showing a map. The shortest exit route wasn’t far.
“There’s a service tunnel two rooms over,” Asher said. “It leads outside.”
“Good,” the Knight said. “We take them through there.”