บท 25: Chapter 25: Breaking the Leader
The bandit leader stood before me, defiant. His eyes, dark and unwavering, locked onto mine as if daring me to break him. Men like him were not uncommon in my past life. Stubborn, prideful creatures who clung to their resolve even when their situation was utterly hopeless. They thought that by resisting, they maintained some sliver of control. But I had broken men like him before, time and time again.
They all fell.
As I studied him, the soldiers stood by, awaiting orders. The leader's jaw was set, and despite his grim position, he wasn't going to talk. Not yet.
"Kill the others," I said, my voice even, almost bored.
A murmur of disbelief rippled through the soldiers. One of them, a veteran by the looks of him, dared to question me. "But, my lord, wouldn't it be better to keep them all alive? We could—"
I cut him off with a glance, cold and sharp. My eyes narrowed, meeting his gaze with an icy glare. My expression remained unreadable, but I could see the shift in him. The fear crept in, subtle at first, but unmistakable. He took a step back, his lips pressing into a thin line.
"Are you questioning me?" I asked, my voice low, almost a whisper. That whisper, though, carried the weight of absolute command.
The soldier hesitated for a moment, frustration and resentment flickering in his eyes, but he bit his tongue. He turned back to the others, fists clenched in anger. They didn't like being ordered by a boy, but that didn't matter. I was their superior, one of the heads of Ravenhood. They had no choice.
The bandit leader watched this exchange closely. His lips curled into a sneer, seeing an opportunity. He thought that if he showed loyalty to his men, he might still walk away with some shred of honor.
"You should kill me, not them," the leader said, his voice rough and filled with desperation. "I'm the one in charge. They were just following my orders."
I smiled at that, just a slight upturn of my lips. It was all too predictable. The heroic martyr act, trying to save his comrades. How quaint.
"Exactly," I said, my tone almost amused. "That's why they die, and you live. If you were planning to watch your friends die, you shouldn't have begged."
The leader's eyes widened, his lips parting in a silent protest. But I paid him no further mind. He had sealed his fate the moment he decided to play this game.
"Do it," I commanded.
The soldiers moved swiftly, though their discomfort was evident. One by one, they drew their swords. The first bandit, a young man with wide eyes, barely had time to comprehend what was happening before the steel sliced into him. The blade tore through him, the soldier's movements precise and mechanical. His body crumpled to the ground, his hands twitching as life drained from him.
The second fell even quicker. He tried to run, but one of the soldiers caught him by the back of his neck, thrusting the blade through him with cold efficiency. His body jerked before collapsing into the dirt, blood pooling beneath him, thick and dark.
It didn't stop. The air was filled with the sickening sounds of death. Each stroke of the blade was accompanied by the sight of red spilling onto the ground, staining the earth. The soldiers were methodical, their faces pale but resolute. They moved from one bandit to the next, not a word spoken, their task clear.
Some of the bandits cried out in desperation, their voices hoarse with terror, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Others simply remained silent, resigned to their fate. This wasn't an execution. It was an end, swift and brutal.
For anyone else, the scene might have been horrifying. The way life was extinguished so quickly, the air thick with the scent of iron, and the ground slowly becoming a grim display of finality. For a child, especially, it would have been overwhelming.
But I'm not just any child.
I watched it all with a calm detachment, my heart steady, my mind clear. This wasn't even close to the worst things I'd seen in my past life. In fact, this was almost tame compared to the rivers of blood I had waded through as Leon Winter. This was nothing.
The leader stood there, forced to watch it all unfold. The blood drained from his face, his eyes wide, wild with anger and helplessness. That was what I wanted. Physical pain could only go so far, but this? Watching everything he cared about being stripped from him, one by one? That was how you broke men like him. Through their minds, not their bodies.
He clenched his fists, his entire body trembling with rage. Hatred burned in his eyes as he stared at me, a deep, consuming hatred that would have broken lesser men.
"I'll kill you," he spat, his voice a venomous growl. "I swear to whatever gods there are, I'll kill you."
I tilted my head slightly, studying him, as though he were a fascinating insect pinned beneath glass. "I doubt that," I replied, my voice even. "But it's nice to see you still have spirit."
The last of the bandits had fallen, their bodies strewn about like discarded rags. The ground was damp, the aftermath unmistakable. The soldiers stood back, some of them pale, others hardened by the sight. They had done their duty, but they had no taste for this level of finality.
That was fine. I didn't need them to.
"Mayer," I called, turning my gaze to my right-hand man.
He stepped forward, his expression composed, but I could see the faint flicker of something in his eyes. Admiration, perhaps? No, more than that. He was beginning to understand just who I was.
"Take the leader back to Ravenhood," I said, nodding toward the broken man. "We'll interrogate him properly once we return. And as for the others, clean up."
Mayer nodded, not questioning me this time. He understood that there was no need. The leader was still shaking with rage, his eyes locked on mine, filled with unrelenting hatred.
Good. Let him hate me. Let him seethe and stew in his own despair. That hatred would fuel him, would make him cling to whatever scraps of pride he had left. But in the end, it wouldn't matter. I would break him, just like I'd broken so many others before.
The soldiers moved to restrain the bandit leader, who struggled weakly against his chains. As they dragged him away, he muttered threats, promises of revenge.
I just smiled.
He didn't know it yet, but by the time I was done with him, he would give me everything I wanted.
Everything.
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