Chapter 66: King of Slaves - 3
Chapter 66: King of Slaves - 3
The entrance to the Blue Seal barracks.
A shattered iron gate and the corpses of Normal Grade soldiers lay strewn about.
"They went and stirred up trouble like a bunch of brutes..."
Well, the messier it got, the easier the cleanup would be.
Jiha moved toward the sounds of commotion drifting on the night wind.
In front of the detention cell.
Familiar faces—the Commons—had encircled a group of elves.
They all held torches to secure their vision.
"Drop your weapons, now!"
"If you don't drop them, we'll shoot!"
The items in the hands of the Commons surrounding the thirty elves were crossbows.
A regular bow was a difficult weapon; it required a great deal of training to become proficient.
But a crossbow was easy to handle and boasted superior destructive power.
It had issues with range, but in an encirclement like this, it guaranteed a decisive victory.
"Did things go according to plan?"
As Jiha approached, the Commons hesitated for a moment before quickly looking forward again.
Uben, who was commanding them, gave his report.
"It was mostly a success, just as planned. But..."
"If you don't let us go, I'll kill this bastard!"
Damod Galak shouted from the center of the surrounded elves.
The sword in his hand was pressing against the neck of a kobold.
"Your leader is already dead! If a single scratch is laid on us, Purple will never let this go!"
Deubang, the one who'd been locked in the detention cell, had been pulled out, only to walk right into the Commons' trap.
"They're staging a hostage crisis."
"What should we do?"
The thirty elves couldn't afford a reckless move.
Even if the five Rare Grade fighters could evade the crossbow bolts, the other Normal Grade elves wouldn't survive.
But if those Rare Grade fighters grew desperate, the Commons would suffer severe losses as well. On top of that, Deubang was being held hostage.
It was a standoff where neither side could easily act.
Uben spoke quietly.
"Just as planned, we sent a runner to Enril the dark elf. She should arrive in about ten minutes."
"Then we need to wrap this up before she gets here."
Jiha grabbed a torch and stepped forward.
Galak, who recognized Jiha as he approached, made a face like he was seeing a ghost.
"You... how are you here..."
"I came to clean you up."
"...Was it all a trap?"
Galak ground his teeth.
The other elves were visibly shaken, too. A few even lowered their swords without realizing it.
Their hope that the Commons would turn tail and run once Jiha's death was confirmed had just been shattered.
Jiha made his offer calmly.
"Drop your weapons and surrender, all of you. If you do it now, you can still all fit inside the detention cell."
"Galak..."
"Let's just stop this..."
The other elves began to mumble hesitantly.
Buying time while surrounded in Blue Seal's stronghold would only make things worse for them.
"...Open a path!"
Clenching his teeth, Galak pressed his sword harder against Deubang's neck.
"If you don't want to see this piece of filth die, open a path right now!!"
"..."
Jiha let his gaze drift toward a familiar face among the elves.
Jadrun, the inside collaborator who had provided all the information, quickly tried to stop Galak.
"Galak, don't. They won't let us go just because of that."
Mathematically speaking, the life of a single Common could never be worth more than thirty elves.
Using a Common-rank as a hostage was an objectively absurd situation from the start.
But Galak's hostage play had an effect that not even he intended.
A sense of camaraderie had sprouted among the Commons who followed Jiha as their leader.
From fellows who might die tomorrow, they had become friends sharing the same dream.
The Commons didn't know that Deubang had actually betrayed Jiha.
"Chief..."
Garaon called out anxiously.
The other Commons were also stealing glances at Jiha.
"Galak! Don't do this!"
Even as Jadrun and the other elves urged him to surrender, Galak refused to stop.
If he dropped his weapon here, he might save his life, but he would become a complete outcast.
His plan to leapfrog Pamin and rise as the family's next successor had turned into a morass that was utterly destroying him.
Galak absolutely could not accept this reality right now.
"Open the path, now! Do you think I can't kill a worthless Common like him?!"
"..."
Jiha watched Galak for a moment, then sighed.
"Everyone, lower your weapons."
At Jiha's command, the Commons lowered their crossbows with relief.
The elves also nearly lowered their swords out of instinct before quickly tightening their grip.
But Jiha wasn't saying he would let them go.
"You lot, drop your weapons."
"Don't drop them!"
Galak screamed, but he had already lost control of the elves.
Their plan had been completely exposed, leaving them on the verge of annihilation, and now they were taking a lowly Common hostage in a pathetic standoff. The elves' trust in Galak had evaporated entirely.
As the sound of weapons hitting the ground echoed out, Galak's face twisted into an ugly grimace.
"It's simple. Galak, if you beat me, you can go. That's all."
"You... damn it all..."
Galak bit his lip, but Jiha already had total command of the situation.
Even the elves were silently pressuring Galak.
"Keep a good watch..."
Galak shoved Deubang, his hostage, over to the nearby Jadrun.
With a troubled expression, Jadrun brought his sword to Deubang's neck.
Rolling his shoulders to loosen up, Galak walked toward Jiha.
"You piece of trash Common, how dare you pull such petty tricks? Do you know who I am?!"
"The second son of the Galak family. A man whose family name comes before his own."
"..."
Stung by the remark, Galak clenched his sword and charged.
As he dodged the blade glowing with purple Mana, Jiha mulled over his understanding of Mana.
Rare Grade and Unique Grade beings couldn't be compared in terms of total Mana capacity or recovery speed.
There was also a difference in their application of it.
For example, Enril could use shadows for a variety of applications and even chill alcohol with her Mana.
'Even within the Rare Grade, there are differences in this kind of application, but...'
Galak's ability was limited to reinforcing his weapon while strengthening his body.
Jadrun's intel had already told him this, but Jiha dodged for a while longer to check if Galak was hiding anything else.
"You rat bastard! Are you just going to keep running away?!"
As Jiha continued to evade, Galak began to regain his confidence.
He started to hope that if he could just kill Jiha, he could achieve his goal and restore his dominance.
"I'm done dodging."
"Haha!! I already knew that!"
When Jiha aimed a Shadow Hand at his leg, Galak quickly retreated, sweeping his sword along the ground.
But Jiha just walked forward slowly, threatening Galak's legs with a continuous barrage of Shadow Hands.
Like a hissing viper, the shadows kept threatening him, forcing Galak into a constant retreat.
"Th-this can't be..."
Galak was bewildered as the Shadow Hands kept attacking without pause.
Even for a Common with Mana, using a high-level Special Ability in such rapid succession... if Galak himself had tried it, his Mana should have bottomed out ages ago.
With his arms crossed, Jiha lengthened and shortened his shadows, relentlessly pressing Galak.
Under the ceaseless threat, Galak scrambled pathetically, leaping this way and that to somehow avoid the Shadow Hands.
Jiha, strolling leisurely with his arms crossed, versus Galak, frantically scrambling to dodge.
The scene made it perfectly clear who the strong one was here.
Sighs of disappointment at Galak rippled through the elves.
It was an acknowledgment that Jiha was a foe they shouldn't have challenged, and disgust at Galak for making an ugly scene despite the clear gap in skill.
Realizing the elves' mood had completely shifted, Jiha leisurely clenched his fist.
"Let's end this."
Jiha charged at Galak, whose stamina was drained from dodging the Shadow Hands.
"You little shit!!"
Galak swung his sword belatedly, but Jiha had already attacked.
The arm Galak had used to try and cut Jiha's throat was knocked aside, the sword flying out of his hand.
Thwack!
A bare fist slammed squarely into Galak's face.
Blood spraying from his nose, Galak collapsed to his knees.
"Ah, ah... My, my nose..."
Seeing him clutch his nose even with the enemy right in front of him, Jiha tsked.
"What a useless moron..."
He'd clearly never been in a life-or-death fight.
As Jiha stared down at the man who'd lost all will to fight from a single nosebleed, a tearing voice rang out.
"Stop!!"
Jadrun pressed his blade against the neck of Deubang, whom he was still holding hostage.
When Jiha turned around, Jadrun shouted desperately.
"Let him go!"
"That's not what you should be saying."
Jiha grabbed the bloodied Galak by the hair and held him up for the elves to see.
"What you should be doing is begging for your lives. Don't you get it?"
Seeing the wretched state of the one she was infatuated with, Jadrun's arms trembled.
The sword pressed against Deubang's neck shook along with it.
"Don't do anything stupid."
Jiha warned him in a low voice, but Jadrun didn't let go of his sword.
On the contrary, he bit down hard on his lip, looking fully prepared to never back down.
'Getting all emotional for nothing, I see.'
The Galak she was infatuated with had gotten beaten to a pathetic state right in front of her, and the one who had made the situation this way was her very self.
There was a sense of betrayal and anger in her eyes as she looked at Jiha.
'She's jumping to complicated conclusions.'
Jiha wasn't trying to break his promise with Jadrun, either.
Galak was genuinely worthless to him; did a small fry like that really need to die?
In the silent standoff, Jadrun's breathing became ragged, unable to withstand the tension.
Deubang, who'd been continuously yanked around as the hostage, opened his eyes.
As he looked around at the other Commons, who were watching with anxious eyes, his gaze settled on Jiha.
He had a resolute expression on his face.
"Hey..."
Jiha called out before he even realized it.
"Chief."
Kobold Deubang answered with a trembling voice.
"While locked up, I regretted many of my past choices. And now... I don't want any more regrets."
It wasn't a plea for his life.
It was the face a man makes when he's steeled his resolve.
"I won't die as a slave! Please... grant us our freedom!!"
Schlaaak!!
Deubang slashed his own throat against the blade holding him hostage.
A fountain of blood erupted as Deubang's body collapsed.
"Ah..."
When the kobold she'd held hostage willingly ended his own life, Jadrun just blinked in shock.
"Deubang!!"
The Commons let out anguished cries.
Without even being ordered, they all lifted their crossbows in unison.
They were all raging with a single heart.
"...N-no, please."
"S-spare us..."
The elves, having already discarded their weapons, all fell to their knees.
Galak was broken, the hostage was dead, and the Commons were furious.
If they didn't want to be annihilated, they had to beg for their lives.
"We surrender!"
"Please, just spare our lives!!"
"..."
Jiha looked at the elves in silence.
He looked at Deubang's corpse lying in the dust.
This was the man who had betrayed him.
"Chief!"
"Chief!!"
"Give us the order!!!"
His other subordinates, knowing nothing, were yearning for revenge.
They wanted to wash away the blood of their comrade with more blood.
The enraged Commons and the elves begging for their lives—it was Jiha who held the power to decide their fate.
"...Just what is going on here."
With a soft sigh, a silver-haired, unearthly beauty appeared.
Spotting the Commons with crossbows, the surrounded elves who had dropped their weapons and fallen to their knees, and Jiha standing silently, Enril approached immediately.
"Stop this."
Enril's words were short but firm.
When Jiha turned to look at her, Enril urgently tried to persuade him.
"I understand the situation, but there are thirty elves here. You can't seriously be thinking of killing them all? This will be impossible to clean up!"
"Chief!!"
When Garaon shouted in frustration, Enril shot him a frosty glare.
Even under that lethal gaze from a Unique Grade being, Garaon didn't hold his tongue.
"We can't just let this go!"
"Chief!!"
The Commons were earnestly yearning for the order.
As Jiha remained silent, Enril grabbed his arm and pleaded, her voice full of desperation.
"Please, just stop it here... I'll figure out something to handle the aftermath..."
"..."
Jiha made his decision.
He tossed Galak, whom he was still holding by the hair, toward the elves.
The kneeling elves reflexively caught him, a wave of relief washing over them.
Enril also breathed a sigh of relief, while the Commons stared down at the ground dejectedly.
Jiha broke the silence.
"Kill them all."
The elves' faces turned pale, and the Commons raised their crossbows with savage glee.
The dark elf screamed.
"No!!"
The crossbow strings, held taut with anticipation, were released.
Blood sprayed in countless streams, and the Commons with outstanding physical abilities charged over each other toward any elves who weren't killed instantly.
Jiha watched silently as they charged, rushing ahead of everyone else to avenge their comrade.
He was their king.
They yearned for blood.
The king did, too.