Chapter 21 - Resolve

"...not working, I can't brainwash him."

"Hm, he must have a resistance Skill of some kind."

"What do we do?"

"Well, I've got just the thing...I've been saving it, but I suppose now's a good time as any to use it."

My head hurts...and everything's all dark and fuzzy. What's going on...?

"Woah, is that an Enslavement Collar, a Magic Item from the Light Continent?"

"Yeah. It's really something, and even the most powerful resistance Skill, Universal Resistance can't nullify it."

Huh? That's one of my Skills. My eyes then opened wide as it all came rushing back to me, I jolted awake in alarm...right as I felt something locking around my neck.

"Oh, nice timing," A voice greeted me, as I looked up to see the Knight Commander standing above me with a smirk.

My hands and feel were tightly shackled, the metal digging into my skin painfully, and the collar around my neck uncomfortably tight as well. Wait, did I just hear him call this an Enslavement Collar!?

"What...have you done to me...?" I growled, as I tried to break free of the shackles, but to no avail.

"Commander, we've dealt with everyone in this village, they've all been either killed or captured!" Called out one of the other Knights, jogging over.

"Excellent, then we can finally get out of this shit hole," Grinned the Knight Commander with a nod of approval.

I looked around grimly, trembling in rage and despair as I took in the aftermath of their rampage in the village...there was blood everywhere, the ground littered with the mutilated corpses of the people I lived with in this village.

I noticed a large metal cage, which was being latched onto the vehicle the Knights had come in, what looked like a old-fashioned bus, but with a fancy, shiny exterior.

And inside the metal cage, were some of the young women of the village...including Kera, who had scrapes and cuts all over her body, and a dazed look in her eyes.

In fact, all of them had that expression, like they were in a trance or something. They must have been brainwashed. Damn it...damn it, this can't be happening, it's not fair!

As I looked around in desperation and denial, I froze as I spotted a corpse laying in a pool of blood, a few meters away...it was Lycia, her body lifelessly slumped in her own blood, her eyes dull and her skin pale.

No...this can't be real, please don't let this be real...

"It would seem that we can't brainwash you, brat...I suppose that's fitting for someone who carries Royal blood, even if it is tainted by filthy Commoner blood," Scoffed the Knight Commander.

I...I need to calm down. I can't just give up and resign myself to this, I won't lose my hope in this life, not again.

Wait, these shackles are metal...which means, I can break them using an Elemental Metal Spell. I need to focus and visualize, but I also need to buy myself some time...

"Where's my father, you bastard?" I inquired with a cold glare, staring up defiantly at the Knight Commander.

"Wow, you're a resilient little brat, aren't you? All these people whom you've known all your life, including your mother, dead in front of you, and you haven't broken yet? Not bad. Yeah, I think I can turn you into quite the useful weapon, your skills with that whip Soul Weapon wasn't too bad, and you can even use Magic," He smirked in response.

"Answer my question, you son of a bitch," I shot back icily.

"Watch it. The fact that you have Noble blood doesn't change the fact that you're a Commoner, brat," He retorted with a condescending glare.

Alright, I've visualized it...imagine the metal turning weak and brittle, the atoms getting less densely packed, and materialize the Spell with a chant...here goes, Elemental Metal: Metal Break!

As I yanked my hands and feet outwards, the shackles strained and then broke apart, before I deliberately let my Magic go out of control by haphazardly visualizing lightning, multiple Magic Circles appearing around my body before several streaks of lightning burst out all around me.

The main purpose of assigning chants to Spells is to keep them under control, because without chanting, any Spell you try to cast will go out of control and burst out indiscriminately.

The Knight Commander let out a startled yelp as some of the lightning struck his armor, electrocuting him as I began to chant to bring out my Soul Weap-...suddenly, I was wracked with an unbearable pain throughout my entire body, collapsing onto my knees in agony, unable to even cry out.

Th-this is...excruciating, I...I can't move, i-it hurts...it hurts so much!

"What just happened?" Spoke up one of the Knights in bemusement.

"Look, the shackles are broken, but how?"

"Are you alright, Commander?"

"That looked painful..."

"You little shit...!" Growled the Knight Commander, as he stomped on my back, pinning me to the ground.

"F-fuck...you...," I managed to hiss in response, as the pain slowly began to fade.

"I'd like nothing more than to kill you right here and now, but what you just did only makes you even more valuable as a weapon," He muttered with a grimace, before glancing at the cage where the captive women were being held, "Tell me, when did this brat awaken his Magic?"

"It happened...yesterday...," One of them replied in a dazed voice.

"What? Is that really true? Well, now, I have to admit, this is quite remarkable, even by Noble standards," Muttered the Knight Commander grudgingly.

"What do you mean, Commander?"

"Elemental Metal Spells are among the most difficult Dark Attribute Spells to cast, it normally takes years of studying and practice to even cast a simple Spell. What's more, that out of control Elemental Lightning Spell...that was undoubtedly on purpose," He surmised in response.

"What a waste of talent, if only he'd been born a Noble," Sighed another Knight wistfully.

"Oh, don't you worry, I'll make sure that his talent doesn't go to waste. By the time I'm done with him, he'll be quite the useful weapon, the perfect combat slave," Smirked the Knight Commander, before kneeling down beside me and grabbing my hair to lift my face up, "You got all that?

I'll be taking you back to the capital with us, where you'll be a slave in my estate. There, I'll slowly but surely break you down, till all that defiance turns to subservience. And while that's happening, you'll be trained thoroughly in every aspect.

There's no point in fighting it...that Enslavement Collar around your neck means that you belong to me, since it's been registered to my Mana signature.

Try to harm me, or anyone else that I clearly state should not be harmed, and it'll get triggered upon your intent to do so. Try to kill yourself or escape, and it'll trigger then too. There's nothing left for you to do but give up all hope and resign yourself to this fate."

"I swear...that I'll kill you. No matter...how long it takes, or what I endure...I'll kill you even if it's the last thing I do...," I responded with a growl, before he slammed my face onto the ground in disdain.

"Hm, looks like I'll have a lot of work to do in breaking you down. No matter, you'll soon find out that it's pointless, resistance is absolutely futile so long as that collar is around your neck.

Oh, and just so you know, the only way to remove it is if I do so myself. Or, alternatively, if I die. Feel free to hope that happens. But I don't plan on dying any time soon," He smirked, as he dragged me towards the vehicle.

I want to try and attack again, but I...I don't want to feel that pain that the Enslavement Collar inflicts, I thought it was going to kill me, my entire body was wracked with excruciating agony, the slightest twitch of a finger sent waves of pain bursting through me.

Is...is this really where my life in this world is going? Am I going to be an enslaved tool of this vile Noble for the rest of my life?

No, I...I don't want that, I refuse to accept it. I need to get away, I have to...but how? How do I get this collar off when it won't even give me a chance to kill this bastard?

I could feel myself falling further and further into the pits of despair...Lycia is dead, as are John and Rick, Rhyle is a captive, Kera will probably be sold off into slavery with the rest of the captured women, and everyone else is dead-...

My eyes then widened slightly as I felt a tiny glimmer of hope...Argent. My older brother...he isn't here, he's likely still alive.

That might be insignificant in the big picture. There might be nothing he can do to help me in this situation. But...if nothing else, I have a small glimmer of hope to cling onto, a shaky but real hope to use as a base to steel my resolve on. And I can't do anything but cling to that hope and resolve with every fibre of my being.

It's a desperate attempt to keep myself from drowning completely in despair...but it's all I've got left now. Damn it...why'd it have to come to this? What the hell did I do to deserve any of this?

All I wanted was a peaceful isekai life...but these people have taken that away from me. They'll pay for this...no matter what, I'll make them pay, even if it kills me...

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