Rex paid full attention to the group surrounding them, each and every one equipped with some sort of weapons, be it swords and shields or whatever else they had on them at the moment, though he also noticed the lack of actual mages present, as well as archers. Then again, such composition of the forces was more than logical. magic would create too much of a commotion and archers would find it hard to be useful in such crowded location. hitting their singular target, who just so happened to be Rex, would be nigh impossible.

  "We felt quite slighted back then. So much so that I do believe an apology of sorts is warranted." the speaker smirked as he continued. "And I am afraid words alone will no longer suffice. And if you behave well enough, I might just let your friend here go mostly unharmed."

  "Sigh." Rex sighed, shaking his head. There was only some much he was willing to listen to, his right eye almost twitching at this point. "Their goons are all close enough and I have deployed the chains. No one is getting away. Feel free to go wild, though do save the group right ahead of us for later. They are the ones marked for after school detention."

  "Affirmative!" The duo nodded as they pulled out their weapons from their space storage rings, causing quite the commotion among the ranks of their would be attackers. The mere realization that both women had space storage rings already spelled disaster, causing panic among the ranks of their opposition. Only super rich people and A ranked adventurers had something like that and either case was a cause for panic. And as the guys who had spoken just moments before realized the deep shit he was in and tried to say something, blurred image appeared before his eyes and slammed something in his face, causing blood to splatter around as the poor bastards nose was crushed with a nice and crunchy sound, flinging him against a nearby wall, resulting in a couple of thuds as he connected with the wall and then fell down, slumping like a bag of trash, unresponsive.

  Danica shook her hand, splattering the blood on her battle gauntlet from the previous hit that had sent the fool flying as she glanced around, her glare causing more than one of the poor bastards knees to shake. Then, she pounced again, sowing chaos among the numbers of the goons, knocking them unconscious one after another. As Danica was getting close and personal with the poor fools, Eve was not idling by either, her arrows incapacitating fool after fool, making the ambushers situation worse and worse. And those that attempted to flee? The poor bastards quickly ran into walls coloured in the red of ones blood, blocking their path of retreat, much like those that tried to swarm Eve or Rex, Danica being too fast and agile to attempt the same, encountered blood chains that swiped them all away. In less than fifteen minutes, the whole group of hundred or so thugs were all disarmed and incapacitated or outright killed. Numerous broken bones from Danica's merciless strikes or people with arrows through their limbs, pinning them to either walls or pavement with plenty of blood puddles indicating just how cruel Rex? group had been. And yet, as cruel as they were, the main group of the whole bunch was in a relatively better condition, though they were still quite bruised and battered.

  The blood chain walls locking off the entirety of the side street had also been noticed by more than a few pedestrians. Coupled with the screams that came from behind the wall, some guards were already amassing near them, extremely cautious around the walls. While they were not entirely sure, the blood colored walls reminded them of plenty of the stories they had not only heard as children, but also told themselves, making their caution all the more reasonable. By the time the walls 'slithered away', revealing a sight of a massacre, three people standing in the middle of it all, dragging several people along with them once they started moving, there was already plenty of guards gathered, though none were too eager to face the perpetrators.

  Luckily for them, the man of the trio spoke as they approached the side street's exit. "Perfect. Just the people I was hoping to find." Rex spoke as his group approached, dragging behind him the ringleaders of the whole operation. "Do be a dear and clean up this mess. And once that is done, do send some of your colleagues to the homes of these little shits. Since they decided to kick an iron plate, might as well clean up this little pond."

  By the time Rex had finished taking, he was already in front of the nearest guards, the A ranker's medallion straight in the face of said guards due to his larger frame. Rex had gone out of his way to fish it out and display in clear view. From what Miu had said, the guards themselves were not the problem, the darker elements of the town well aware and capable of hiding their own dealings and businesses, though someone like her was in a unique position to see it all, one way or another. In the end, the medallion was more than enough to dissuade any overly righteous or zealous fool from chasing after Rex and the girls, their superior power clearly on display.

  Taking out the rest of the trash took considerably longer though, a thorough purge of the mansions the parents lived in, in case they too were part of the underworld, demanding notably more time, though the result in the end was as expected- a proper purge of the criminal elements within the town and with Rex's request already on it's way to Pyra, it was only a matter of time before the city would be nice and secured. Their whole day was spent on the purge though, leaving the dungeon exploration for another time and while they had some random snack here and there, they returned to Miu's restaurant for their supper, this time able to enjoy their meal in its entirety, once again attended by Miu personally as she thanked multiple times for the good they had done for the town.

  It was during the meal that Rex was asked a rather peculiar question by Danica and truth be told, he himself was also quite interested in the logistics and probability of said question.

  "By the way Rex." she had asked at one point during their meal, attracting the attention of both him and Eve "Have you considered the possibility of fixing those broken girls at least partially? I know you said they are broken and cannot be helped, but is that really the truth?"

  Rex sat there, slowly chewing his food as he worked the question over, considering the question he had been asked, until a few moments later he facepalmed himself. For all his intellect and processing power of his mind, along with the incredibly powerful soul of his, he was still human, at least partially. How could he have forgotten the things he could do. The latter was a rhetorical question, since it had been quite a long time he have had to use that part of his skill set. He was so focused on preventing any harm to the people dear to him he had somewhat forgotten the things he could do with 'Drain' in the other world. Sure, his ability was notably weaker here, working as mostly a constant, yet not nearly as potent effect, but the basis was still there. Combine it with his elevated control over the concepts of blood and soul, and he might just have some tools in his arsenal.

  "Actually" Rex spoke a few moments later, his mouth now devoid of food "Now that I think on it, there might be something I could try. Though I have to note that there is no guarantee it would work. Nor do I know if those girls would even want to be brought back. I have no idea how the drugs those bastards used work, though now that I think about it, I need to check some of those broken girls out. If anything, understanding how and what broke them should be important." his mind was working overtime now, considering the possible nature of the drug. Initially, he had considered that it was a chemical reaction, haywiring their nervous system and breaking it town, drowning them with euphoria as it destroyed their minds. But honestly, it could as well be laced with magic, locking their consciousness in, forcing them to live through it all, locked in their bodies and experiencing it as they went along with whatever command they received. And that, that possibility alone truly angered Rex and though he showed little of his emotion on the surface, both Eve and Danica could sense his emotions, if only a little. Luckily, their meal was almost done by that point, allowing the group to finish up relatively soon.

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  "So? What's the plan?" asked Eve once they had left Miu's restaurant.

  "It is late and while I would want for us to retire and rest, I am also well aware that the night life is about to start." Rex replied.

  "Meaning that those girls will likely be called to work." Danica finished Rex thought, earning a nod of confirmation. "Well, it was my idea to begin with, so I can't really complain, now can I?" she added, light smile on her face. "By the way, how long until those bastards are broken beyond reason and can be discarded? You know we could get some information about the places they pawned the poor girls off to. Would save us a lot of time hunting them down. Who knows, they might even have some sort of ledgers of their activities?"

  "I suppose you are right. Let's find out, shall we?"

  "Of course I am right." Danica smirked, following along with the other two party members as they moved towards one of the mansions they had cleared out. This one was chosen due to the particularly large basement it had. Some could even call it a prison or torture chamber of sorts, what with all the cells and specially equipped rooms it had. AS they descended into said basement, wails and cries of pain could be heard as numerous people were obviously experiencing extreme torture, the handiwork of Rex. And while neither Eve nor Danica were very cruel or sadistic, the things they learned of being committed by said group had erased any scraps of sympathy they might have felt for the beasts being held here.

  "I will take care of this." Rex spoke to the two women before they reached the room with the people. "It is not a sight you need to witness. Why don't you wait for me upstairs?"

  "A- alright." nodded Eve as she grabbed Danica's hand and pulled her back towards the stairs leading up to ground floor, a grateful expression on her face. Sure, they had no sympathy for the bastards Rex was destroying here, but that id not mean they enjoyed the sights that they would see and Rex had noticed as much, easily deciding to take it all upon his shoulders. Though to be honest, he was long since past the stage where he considered people, most of them anyways, as anything more than simple beasts, even if slightly more intelligent than most. They were something like butterflies to him- all shapes, sizes, forms and colours that he was more than happy to just allow to fly around and live their lives for the most part, but if he happened to step on one, or catch and pluck one's wings off as kids ones might have done with flies and mosquitos, he would lose no sleep over it. And those unlucky bastards in the next room were of the latter category. Ones he had caught and deemed tainted enough to be punished.

  As he stepped inside the room, the cries and howls of pain stopped, his small blood constructs pausing on their given task, giving the monsters in question a brief moment of respite.

  "Hmmm, Having fun I assume?" Rex spoke, his cold yet ridiculing voice causing the people to shiver in sheer terror. They have learned in the few hours locked here just how much of a demon their captor was. Many were already hoping, begging even to be killed instead of kept here, though their sore throats from all the screaming they had done prevented them from expressing said thoughts.

  "I do believe some of you might be begging for death by now. To be freed from this torment and rest. And maybe, just maybe someone among them could just earn that release. I am here to find where all the girls you broke had been shipped of to. Surely there must be a ledger or something to keep track, either of the transactions themselves or possible clients for future sales. So, anyone willing to share said info, or should I up the game a few more levels? Don't delude yourselves thinking this is as bad as it gets, for I can make it so, so much worse." His last words, a promise not a threat, caused the poor bastards to tremble, Rex's voice and confidence in his own words doing the job. Was it any wonder that as soon as he stopped talking, there were a few of the prisoners who groaned, trying to talk, their exhausted and sore throats not quite working as expected.

  Rex noticed them all, walking in front of each one of them, his cold and uncaring eyes looking down on them as he asked each and every one to nod if they knew something. Once he had collected the ones who wished to talk, he brought them to another room, leaving the rest where they were. As he left to deal with the ones willing to talk, he glanced at the remaining ones one last time, his gaze just as uncaring and apathetic as before. "Back to the fun then. Enjoy." he said as he left, commanding his constructs to resume their tasks, gasps and cries of pain once again resuming as he closed the door. He could see the tremble in the limbs of the ones before him as the cries resumed. 'This should be quick.' Rex thought as he guided the few men before him to a place more quiet than here. His interrogation could not proceed smoothly with the melody of pain and suffering as the background music after all.

  Thankfully, Rex methods had been brutal enough to have the men almost trip over themselves to spill every single thing they knew about the dealings, all at the mere thought they would not have to go through that again, even when the alternative was hard slave labour or outright death. As such, in less than thirty minutes, he had all the information he needed, alongside a few actual ledgers of said dealings.

  The guards of the town had to work extra hard today. Not only did they have to clean up the mess that was left in Endless Journey's wake, they also had to corral all the women and men who were not the main perpetrators yet were complicit in the entire criminal ring. There were plenty of those as well, including the current town mayor who was paid handsomely to turn a blind eye to all the criminal activity in the town, something Rex had not ignored. Their fate was likely to become slaves, though Rex cared little for that. Right now the trio were in the town's red light district, cleaning up the place as well. As it turned out, there were plenty of whorehouses where the working women were treated like property, with the pimps doing their damndest to ensure quiet obedience.

  Purging those bastards and allowing the women to be their own bosses as they gathered together was a simple matter. Made safer still as the new guard captain was advised to ensure the girls could work in peace, lest Rex comes back and has to clean up again. And that, well, that was a threat, or friendly warning, that no one wanted to find out if true. Witnessing his groups actions once was more than the guards even wanted to.

  Now, the trio were in a room with almost twenty other women, all standing there like dolls, waiting on some sort of a command. Rex looked at the closest one, pointed his finger at her and ordered her alone to approach. Like a pet, obedient and well trained, she followed the command, swaying her hips as she approached, as if trying to entice him with the goods on display, though the movements were awkward, almost mechanical even. Once in front of him, she stopped, waiting for the next order.

  Rex took her palms in his own, using his mana and commanding the concepts of blood and soul as he examined the woman, body and soul to the best of his abilities. First came the feedback of his mana pulses, checking on the woman's physical condition. It was mostly fine, though bruises of rough treatment could be detected here and there. Thankfully, the sadistic bastards were not all too keen on trying to torture dolls that could not properly respond to their cruel actions, though that only left other, less broken girls in danger. Still, small mercies for these girls where there were any.

  Next came the knowledge blood and soul concepts could extract, providing him with enough info to elicit a small smile on his face. And that was for two, different reasons. First, the drug was created with something Rex realised had an effect on soul, even if extremely negligible. he would have to learn where it comes from and how it is made. Secondly, he found out that the drugs were indeed magical in nature, putting the girls in a half sedated state initially and assaulting their minds with pleasure. It was the prolonged exposure to the drugs that put the girls souls in a half asleep state, resulting in their doll like responses.

  "Rex?" Danica asked, a slight hope on her face at his current expression.

  "I believe I can wake them up from this state of theirs. How they will go on though, that depends on each and every one of them. We can see if we can help them though."