Capítulo 14: Mardialago
The city was like nothing Kai could have expected. In his previous life, he had mostly only known the treacherous landscape of a mountainous region. A large part of the Vehshkan landscape was littered with either deep caverns, towering mountains, or scorching lava.
The few bits that were actually livable were often claimed by nobility. This meant that most of the citizens ended up living their lives under the threat of avalanches or volcanic eruptions.
Becoming a servant almost seemed as if it was divine intervention, an escape from certain peril.
Kai knew that this was by design. That the strong had decided the fate of the weak, forcing them to adhere to the demands of the conquerors. An appalling tradition that settled its claws into every facet of society.
Power creates authority. Authority destroys free will.
The only solution to this problem was to become stronger yourself.
To corrupt the world, forcing it to its knees.
That's what his previous life had taught Kai.
On the surface, this city seemed different. Walking through the bustling streets, Kai watched the markets with wonder. All kinds of different items found themselves on the stands. Trinkets, food, clothing. People.
Kai watched with disdain as he saw people, humans, elves, dwarves, being sold in broad daylight. Looking around, he knew no one gave a damn.
'They are treating these people as mere cattle... as if they were mere beasts! This- this is worse than being even a servant!' Kai thought as he watched a baka strike one of the slaves- people.
A fire grew in his heart as he stepped forward, ready to kill these slavers.
'Who are you to control someone else's freedom...'
Before he could take another step he felt Shuzen's poison constricting his movements. Narrowing his eyes, he watched as the slaver whipped another person, this one an elven girl.
A beautiful elven girl. Even as the whip snaked across her back, her eyes still glistened a vibrant green. Though marred with scars, her skin still held a sense of flawlessness. No tears fell from her face. Instead, nothing but sheer anger left her eyes.
A wave of anger that Kai felt. 'Her life, their life, is not yours to take, to control!!!'
Ignoring the pain, Kai trudged forward, one step after another. He was going to give the slavers a taste of their own medicine. He was going to corrupt them, have them whip each other, then leave their fates to those they enslaved.
If they wanted it, the freed slaves would have their revenge.
"Not here Kai," Shuzen said as he constricted the poison tighter than ever before. Still, he was barely able to contain Kai's rage.
With each whip, it felt as though his father had eaten him again. And again. And again.
Just like his father, like Shuzen, these slavers would die.
"Kai, we'll kill them later. If you get yourself sent to jail, I'm going to have to kill a lot of innocent people. So stop being ridiculous, stop acting like Khazi, and come help me pick out our food for the rest of the trip."
The poison not allowing Kai to step any further, he turned to his oppressor. Not master.
'What did you say? Stop acting like Khazi?' Kai thought as his eyes became slit, like a reptile.
Shuzen luckily didn't notice. Though Kai didn't care if he had.
...
The entire time they spent buying food, nothing besides those slavers was on Kai's mind. He had imprinted the entire physical appearance of the 4 of them in his mind.
2 orcs, a human, and an elf.
Soon to be 4 corpses.
One of the orcs was obviously their leader. He wore a luxurious black suit, fitted with a cherry red bowtie. He wore multiple sets of jewelry on his left arm, namely an expensive watch made from Dragon's gold.
Kai wondered how much it would sell for.
The other orc was clearly a bottom feeder. He wore ragged clothes and the darting eyes of a drug addict. His body was constantly shaking, and the only time he was still was the moment before hitting a slave.
Kai wondered how many times he'd have to hit this orc until he was still forever.
The human was the obvious diplomat of the group. Although he didn't wear such luxury as the leader, he was still well dressed. In addition to that, whenever a customer wanted to buy a slave, he was the one who confirmed the purchase. Out of everyone in the group, he was the most talkative by far.
Kai couldn't wait to shut him up.
The elf was a disgrace. Unless his mother was a liar, elves have fought against slavery for the last few centuries. She had said that an elf caught enslaving someone would face all the divine and mundane wrath that exists.
Kai was keen on fulfilling that promise.
Having unloaded all of the supplies into the carriage, Kai pulled out 2 apples. Shuzen raised his eyebrow as Kai threw one at him.
"Time to keep your promise. That's how nobility works." Kai said, biting into his own apple as he left the carriage. No poison constricted his movement.
Instead, Shuzen followed him with a smile as he ate his own apple. "Yes, that is how it works. You do something for me, I do something for you."
Having finished his apple before he even got to the door, Shuzen threw the core at the chicos. "Besides, I find slavers reprehensible anyway."
...
3 of the slaves were extremely easy to find. The 4th, the elf, was already long gone.
"Where did he go?" Kai demanded as he held the leader's head by his hair, exposing his neck to Shuzen's poison.
The orc's eyes grew wide as he stammered, struggling to form even a sentence. His fear was not born from the poison, though. It was created by Kai's glare.
The orc knew he was dead, even if he talked. But he wanted to talk. He wanted to rat out his partner so he himself could survive. But his damned mouth wouldn't speak.
The devil before him had silenced him.
"Can't talk?" Kai asked as a purple fire encased his right hand.
Just the aura of such a presence left the orc begging for death. 'That reprehensible flame in the elf's hand... it isn't natural. It's- it's as if it was marked by death itself. I- I need to get away from her-'
The fire scorched the air out of the orc's lungs and brain, ending his thoughts prematurely.
Shuzen brought his poison back into his body, taking special care to focus solely on Kai. Even if the screams of the 3 slavers were deafening. If the elf made a move on him...
"I can't control my spell enough to fight you yet, Shuzen." The elf said, not moving his eyes from the dull expression that now blanketed the orc's face.
Even though a statement like that should've relieved Shuzen, it instead just fortified his speculation at that moment. Kai was strong, and he's going to get stronger.
'And I'm going to use that strength to conquer everything.'
Shuzen thought to himself as Kai stood, leaving the slavers limp on the floor. He had taken the key from the leader.
Kai turned to the cages and promptly unlocked them. Unsure of their new situation, the slaves simply remained in their cages, waiting for the crack of the whip.
"You're free now. If you want to leave, you can. If you want to kill these baka first, you can."
Some of the slaves did just leave. Most of them, in fact. A few did stay behind, but as they kicked the slavers an unsettling fact washed over them.
There were no cries of pain, no pleading for mercy.
They might as well have been kicking corpses.
Both Kai and Shuzen watched this development with a growing distaste.
Kai realized that the female elf wasn't here. She was still enslaved.
Shuzen realized that Kai's malice truly surpassed his own.
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