So! I believe we have some accounts to settle.

[Lynett POV]

"Are you not going to take a break?"

I turned to Leven.

"Look, the sun's rising," he pointed the sky out.

Following his finger, I indeed noticed the yellow sun shining from afar, slowly rising from the ground. Its light scattered around, filling the sky and illuminating the clouds with shades of orange and pink, announcing the end of the night.

"It's morning already?"

Realizing how much time had passed, I stepped up the pace.

"Hey, hey, slow down!" Leven tried to reason with me. "You've searched for them for the entire night! How about you rest a little?"

"I don't have the time to rest, Leven."

"You haven't gotten a wink of sleep!"

"I'm fine, I'm not tired."

It wasn't a lie. Although my legs were starting to be sore, I really didn't feel sleepy at all.

"Are you?" I then redirected the question to him.

"Don't worry about me," he smirked, "I've rested long enough while I was crippled."

And I guess it's pointless to ask Cottontail.

After escaping, the three of us sneaked back into the camp, where we've been actively looking for Troy, Olivia, and the slavers' leader. However, by the time our search started, the sun had already set, making our search even more difficult. I knew Troy, and I had a vague idea what his wife looked like. Leven knew the slavers' leader. However, in the dark, it wasn't easy to find them among such a large crowd. Ultimately, we had spent the entire night wandering in the camp, seeking for either Troy, his wife or the slavers' leader. But we couldn't find a single one of them.

"I don't know about Troy, but what are you going to do when you meet the slaver's leader, anyway?" Leven suddenly asked.

"Don't know, I'll improvise, I guess."

"Are you going to make his stomach burst?" he continued.

I furrowed my brows.

"What?"

Leven smiled.

"You know, I'm not much of a believer so I don't know a lot about divine retribution or stuff like that," he explained, "but I remember my wife once telling our daughter to eat slowly, otherwise, if she swallowed any seeds, the gods would punish her by making it sprout in her stomach, bursting her belly from the inside."

…

What the actual fuck? What a thing to say to a child!

"A very efficient lecture!" he casually continued. "She stopped eating like a pig and properly chewed on her food before swallowing it after that!"

Of course she did. That poor child was most likely traumatized.

"So you have a wife and a daughter, huh?" I commented, realizing I knew pretty much nothing about him.

Leven gave me a half-smile.

"Had," he corrected.

Oh…

"So! What exactly are you, anyway?" he continued, completely changing the subject. "You never told me, have you?"

"What do you think?" I inquired, not pushing the matter any further.

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking! I haven't been here for a long time, but I've heard a lot of different rumors about you."

"What kind of rumors?"

"Well, some say that you're a hero, some a divine messenger sent by the Gods. Others believe you are the reincarnation of all the deceased slaves' spite. There are even some who claim you are a Goddess yourself."

Yeah, it's consistent from what I've heard yesterday.

"So, which one is it?" Leven pressed with a childish curiosity.

"What do you think?" I asked, one more time.

The young man pondered, carefully studying me with his eyes.

"I think you look kind of weak to be any of those things," he eventually answered.

I smirked.

"Well, you're not wrong."

At that moment, I noticed some movement within the camp. Slavers started to run back and forth the tents, and a few minutes later, they scattered amidst the slaves. But what truly concerned me was the fact that they were all armed.

"What's going on?" Leven muttered, his eyes now tight and worried, also noticing the slavers weird behavior.

"GET UP!!" they all suddenly started to shout. "Move your lazy asses, you little shits, it's no longer the time to sleep!"

The slaves woke up in confusion. Disoriented, they tried to inspect their surroundings. But the sudden commotion didn't help, as each one of them turned to the other, in an attempt to understand what was happening.

"We said get up!" the slavers continued to bellow, kicking anyone who wasn't fast enough in waking up.

In the matter of only a few minutes, all slaves had been woken up. But the slavers didn't let them the time to recover from their brutal awakening.

"Now get on the move! And faster than that!"

As the slavers led the slaves to one same place, Cottontail, Leven and I had no other choice but to blend in.

"Lower your head," Leven advised. "Some of them might recognize us."

Leven was right. Among the slavers, a few of them could be seen surveying the crowd with their eyes, seemingly looking for someone. And after our escape from yesterday, it was without doubt us.

The slavers guided us to the outskirts of the camp. With all the slaves now assembled together, it was more crowded than ever. Some groaning could be heard, as people stepped on each others' foot. The only benefit of this was that it was easier for Cottontail, Leven and I to hide ourselves amidst this crowd.

"Oh, shit," I then suddenly heard Leven mutter.

"What is it?"

Following his gaze, I finally noticed something. In front of us, about twenty meters from here, there was a row of slaves on their knees. Their hands tied in their back, I immediately recognized these lifeless eyes of theirs.

"Hey, aren't those the other insurgents that were with you in the pen?" I turned to Leven.

"Yeah, they are…" The usual playfulness in his face was totally gone. "This is not good."

Right next to them, a few slavers could be seen. I recognized the secretary from yesterday, but couldn't recognize the others. One face was familiar to Leven, though.

"Aileen," he called, "that's the leader."

That's the leader? So he finally shows his face, huh?

As the leader loudly clapped in his hands to attract our attention, the slavers immediately demanded the silence among the slaves. Terrorized, it didn't take long for them to fall quiet.

"Greetings everyone!" the slavers' leader started.

His voice was unexpectedly loud. Unlike at the academy, I couldn't detect any magical device. Yet, I could perfectly hear him. Despite being twenty meters away, his voice was loud and clear.

"I apologize for interrupting your night," he said, clearly not being sincere, "there was a problem we needed to take care of."

There was something very condescending in his expression. He was smiling, but there was nothing genuine about it.

"I hope we have all slept well," he continued with the same deceitful smile, "because your peaceful days are over."

At this announcement, the slaves grew restless, exchanging a couple of worried glances.

"Word has reached my ears that there has been some… disturbances, lately."

The slavers' leader gave a quick glance above his shoulder. He brought his palm upwards and moved his finger repeatedly towards him, in a gesture to invite someone to come over. At that moment, another slaver showed up. He approached the leader, dragging someone behind him, before tossing him in front of him, at the sight of everyone.

"Oh my Goodness!"

"Is that…?"

The slaves gasped in surprise as they all immediately recognized him. And they weren't the only one. This face was familiar to me as well.

"It's Troy!"

"It's really him!"

"He's alive?"

The slaves took out the words from my mouth. It was indeed Troy. He was in bad shape, but it was definitely him. His clothes were ripped, soiled with both dirt and blood, and his face was swollen, covered with bruises. The slavers clearly didn't go easy on him. But at least, he was in one piece.

"There was no need to look for them, after all," Leven sneered, "they both showed up on their own."

True. With Troy and the slavers' leader now in our radar, only Olivia was left to be found.

"Looks like you all recognize him," the slavers' leader continued, a grin forming on his face. "That's right, this is the fool behind your recent uprisings. And these," he moved to the insurgents, "are the idiots who were stupid enough to follow him, and unlucky enough to get caught."

The leader marked a pause, as the tension was slowly rising among the slaves.

"In other words, these are the nuisances who dared to break the peace in my camp, and I really fucking hate nuisances," he then added, the smile on face his vanishing in an instant. "I thought I made that clear already, but clearly, you guys seem to have forgotten your place."

The first signs of panic started to show in the crowd, as a couple of slaves lost their nerve, feeling the retribution coming. As the leader raised a hand, a few other slavers showed up. They stopped right behind the row of insurgents, and placed a knife against their neck. And this is when hysteria broke in the crowd. In a desperate attempt to escape the upcoming slaughter, the slaves tried to run away. However, surrounded with slavers, there was nowhere for them to go. The slavers beat down anyone trying to step out of the line. Despite being outnumbered, they were armed. They had no problem pushing back the swarm of panicked slaves. In a few minutes, they managed to restore order in the crowd, as the slaves understood it was pointless to try to escape.

"Calm down, you morons," the slavers' leader spoke up, "you're not going to die, I need you alive."

He shifted his gaze to the insurgents.

"Them, on the other hand…"

The leader extended his arm forward, as someone came to bring him a glaive. He took the the blade in his hand, and grabbed Troy by his hair, forcing him to raise his head. Barely conscious, Troy groaned painfully, as the others watched in distress.

"Let that be a lesson to all of you," he threatened, "this is what happens when you forget your place."

"Troy...!"

"May the Goddess protect him…"

"I can't watch this!"

"That fucking maniac is going for a public execution!" Leven ground his teeth, his eyes burning with rage.

"But I'll offer you a chance to save him," the slavers' leader suddenly proposed, to everyone's surprise, "to save him, and the other rebels."

Confused, the slaves exchanged inquiring looks.

"You see, I've heard something interesting," the leader continued, a smirk forming on his lips. "I've heard that among the insurgents, three of them managed to escape this night."

Oh, shit. I can see where this is going.

"The slave numbered 4889, that you might know under the name of Leven, and two new captures. A demi-human girl with two tails, and a chosen one."

At that moment, a sparkle lighted in Troy's eyes, as he finally showed some kind of reaction.

"W-What did you say…?" he managed to articulate. "A chosen one? W-What did she look like? What was her name?! Did she-"

But the slavers didn't let him finish his sentence. One of them kicked him in the stomach, while another pinned him to the ground, forcing him to bite the dust.

"Silence, you piece of trash! You shut up and listen!"

The slavers' leader didn't even care to give him a glance as he casually continued his speech.

"I can't have three rebels on the run in my camp, you see? But if those three surrender right now, I'll consider sparing the life of the others," he offered. "So if anyone has seen them or is hiding them, I really suggest you step forward. It is a golden opportunity to save your peers, isn't it?"

My eyes locked on Troy, who was still struggling to shake the slavers off, I couldn't help but think about Axis. A promise is a promise, isn't it?

I stood up, ready to raise my hand, but Leven grabbed it before I could do anything.

"What do you think you're doing, right now?" he scolded.

"I'm surrendering," I replied.

"Are you crazy? He's going to kill you!"

"Well, if I don't, he's going to kill them instead."

Those people aren't related to me. Whatever happens to them isn't my problem. But if they die because of me, that's a whole other story. And I needed to speak with the slavers' leader anyway.

Leven winced at my gullibility.

"Don't be stupid, he's going to kill them either way!" he stressed. "Don't tell me you actually believe him?"

"It's worth a try!" I assured. "What's wrong with you? I thought you weren't afraid of death!"

"I'm not, but I refuse to die pointlessly! The only reason I followed you is because I thought you'd allow me to bring a few of those slavers down before I die!"

I sighed.

"Fine, do whatever you want, but Cottontail and I are going. We're busted anyway."

Leven finally noticed the few glares directed on us. While not everyone might know him, a chosen one and a two-tailed demi-human girl were definitely not something that goes unnoticed. It didn't take long for the slaves around us to spot us.

"Hey, isn't that them?"

"It is, isn't it?"

Understanding that it was pointless to stop me, Leven let go of my arm. He clicked his tongue before letting out a sigh of resignation.

"Yes, we're here!" I stepped forward, loudly announcing myself.

The leader grinned at my sight. He gave his men a quick gesture of the head, and two slavers immediately came to subdue both Cottontail and I. They grabbed us by our collar, ready to drag us away, but were distracted by a loud noise as Leven loudly cleared his throat.

"Uhm… I'm number 4889," he revealed, raising a hand in the air.

Confused at first, the slavers quickly called a third one to capture him.

"I thought you didn't want to die pointlessly," I told him, as the slavers dragged us away.

"Yeah, you better make their stomach burst," Leven smirked, "otherwise, I'll curse you even after I'm dead."

The slavers brought the three of us to their leader. As they tossed us at his feet, the leader smirked, shifting his attention to the one beside him: the secretary dude from yesterday.

"See? It wasn't so difficult," he said with a smug face.

However, it was also at that moment that my eyes met with Troy's.

"Your Holiness!!" he suddenly exclaimed.

Using the confusion created by words to slip away from the slavers' grasp, he came to kneel in front of me, burying his head into the ground.

"I am honored by your presence! I knew you would make the righteous choice and come to save us all!"

"Shut up, Troy," I immediately cut him short, shooting him a deadly glare as I felt the annoyance coming back.

"What's he saying?" the slavers' leader inquired, his eyes squinted.

"Please don't mind him, boss, he's delirious."

He furrowed his brows, inspecting the man on the ground, but he quickly lost interest in him.

"Whatever," he said. "Bring him away, I don't need him anymore."

Two slavers nodded. Complying with his order, they grabbed the poor man, forcing him to raise his head.

"No, wait!" Troy tried to put on a fight as he was dragged away a bit further. "I'm not done here! Your Holiness! Your Holiness!"

Ignoring his cries, the slavers' leader shifted his attention back to us.

"So! I believe we have some accounts to settle," he started, a vicious smile playing on his lips.

My eyes locked on him, a sudden rush of adrenaline surged within me as my mind was flooded with past memories. In front of me was the slavers' leader. According to Axis, the one man responsible for all the slave operations in the capital for these past twenty years. In other words, this man was most likely my mother's abductor.

My lips stretching, I slowly revealed every single one of my teeth as I returned him the same vicious smile.

"Yeah, we do."

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Ozen_Ice: Tk to FuenfPfund, Lucid_ ,Hi10, Sepplhuber_Franz, Khaos_01 and others for the power stones.