Kismet (Book One - Completed)

Chapter 9: Imperious Overbearance

Chapter 9: Imperious Overbearance

In the middle of the ritual, the townspeople were disturbed by a group of unruly men who disrupted the ceremony. The men shuffled through the crowd and headed straight to the shrine, knocking over the water bowls in the process. Their leader, who was known for being one of D. Sareus' lieutenants, said, "Greetings one and all. I have come to Azure Lakis under the orders of D. Sareus to take over this town. If you pledge your allegiance to the Deviant Lord, D. Sareus and surrender yourselves, I will let you and your families go."

Everyone knelt down in fear, keeping their heads down in silence. Only a single voice could be heard. A man stood up amongst them, pointing his sword at his enemies. His voice thundered righteously through the hall. "Shush your lips and wash your mouth! We will never pledge allegiance to D. Sareus!" The man said, "Who are you and why have you come here to disturb our ceremony?"

What followed was silence, occasionally broken by faint murmurs of unease and disapproval from the crowd. Everyone's attention was on the guard, as he did what none of them dared to do. D. Sareus' lieutenant grimaced darkly. "Most of the time I do not like to get my hands dirty, but today is a special day." He declared, "In fact, today is my birthday. As my birthday present, I shall do the honour of extinguishing a few candles...of life." Without batting an eyelid, he deftly drew a sword from his subordinate's scabbard and stabbed the guard in his chest. The guard collapsed in a pool of blood.

"So..." He said. "Does anyone agree with this...nameless, daring fool?"

Everyone remained in their spots, eyes wide in horror. Fayette and Seine quickly forced Lanet and Ehiara to bow as low as possible. "This is what I meant by town attacks and killings. D. Sareus' underlings have been patrolling this area recently. Lately, more people have been attacked on the streets at night." Fayette mumbled his message to them as he held Lanet's head down.

"Judging by your expression, this must be the first time you have encountered something like this, right? The both of you must have come from some village far away. Just keep your heads lowered and keep quiet. This way, they won't target you." Seine whispered to them anxiously. Having killed the guard, the leader of the barbarous group remained calm and collected. He removed the weapon from the man's body without any issue.

"I recognise this guy; he is Lush, third-in-command under Scorpio. Known for his cruelty and mercilessness, Lush is the leader of the patrol squad." Seine explained.

Lanet and Ehiara took a peek at Lush. To their horror, they witnessed first-hand exactly how cruel he was. Terrified for their own lives, the people knelt down in respect. Even his own comrades were petrified when he conducted a walkabout, as they tried not to make any eye contact with their leader. One of his subordinates jolted near him. Then, without warning, Lush stabbed him in a cold, deliberate move.

"Why did you stab me?" His soldier groaned as he fell onto the ground.

"You were not following orders." Lush replied. "I told everyone not to move, but you did. You moved by an inch." With barely a whimper, the soldier shuddered and died from blood loss.

"I am the rule maker here." Lush said to his men, "And every day I set a different rule. The other day I told you that I'll break your legs if you disrupt me, well, today, I'm going to kill you if you annoy me. You get it?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Lush!" His subordinates affirmed in unison.

"Good." Lush smiled diabolically, addressing the crowd with a peculiar expression on his face, "Now, let's show the crowd our great hospitality." Lanet's heart sank. Everyone was forced to remain where they were. As Lush made his rounds, he looked fixedly at each and every person in the crowd. Lush could not tolerate even the slightest movement from his subordinates and the people that he was inspecting. Those who irritate him were outed for special treatment.