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41.66% The Vengeance of a Lord of Agony / Chapter 20: Chapter 20: End of the Line

章節 20: Chapter 20: End of the Line

"Over the top, men! Double time! No, don't stop the artillery!"

- Colonel Reese, 7th Imperial Infantry Regiment.

---

In the dark cell in the 9th District of Darkbane Prison, Cara reached her hand beneath her prison jumpsuit and lifted the hem, revealing pieces of bare skin.

Alexander frowned. This came as quite a surprise for him, especially since he never issued such an order to the young woman. The way the pact between a Lord of Agony and his supplicants was such that the supplicants maintained their thoughts, memories, and abilities to make decisions. They were still the same people as before, aside from the fact that they couldn't actively do anything against the interest of their lord. At the same time, they couldn't refuse a direct order from their superiors.

In other words, Cara was doing what she was doing by her own will.

"What is this?" Alexander couldn't help but ask aloud, although deep down he had a glimpse of an idea of what was going on.

"Oh...this?" Cara said with a low and soothing voice as she lifted the shirt up even further. She was now revealing everything beneath her chest. "You have been under a lot of stress, my Lord. I am simply trying to relieve some of that."

For a second, as Alexander was still staring at Cara in surprise, he caught a glimpse of her belly and her soft skin. Cara's skin was surprisingly fine for someone thrown into a prison as gruesome as this one. As a member of the mafia family, she clearly had the proper skin care resources. And her skills with hand to hand combat ensured she was usually the one tormenting her cellmate, not the other way around. Sure, there was a few scars here and there, the result of the torture she endured at the hand of the guards, but most of these scars seemed distant. It seemed like with all the power turmoils that had been going on across the solar system, the daughter of a mafia family was trivial.

Of course, it was also possible she had been healing her scars.

Still, just as Cara was about to remove the jumpsuit altogether, Alexander diverted his eyes to the side. He could feel his cheeks turning red.

"Stop it." He said. "That's an order."

Cara tilted her head in slight confusion, but ultimately, she obeyed. After letting the jumpsuit fall and cover her belly once again, the young woman couldn't help but raise a question.

"Am I not pretty enough, my Lord?" She asked, pretending to be insulted.

Alexander drew in a deep breath, not quite sure how to answer the woman.

"This is not right." He simply replied. "I am 15. Well, maybe 16, depending on how long I've been here. Honestly it feels like it's been ages."

He couldn't help but sigh as the thought flashed across his mind. On his 15th birthday, nobles from all over the Empire came to Valoria and attended the party his father held. The gifts he received could form a mountain, and that was not an exaggeration. One year later, and here he stood, a prisoner.

In front of him, the dark haired woman continued as if she didn't see what he meant.

"So? I have been with at least two men by the time I was 16. It was fun. My Lord, with all due respect..." She shrugged and sat down next to Alexander. "We are stuck in a prison that has never had a single prison break. There are over a thousand soldiers on this island, ready to gun down anyone that tries to flee. The power you have gifted us is mighty, yet that doesn't mean we will be able to make it off this island. In fact, a random bullet can take your life, my Lord."

She tilted her head and examined the look on Alexander's face. "We might as well enjoy it when we can, my Lord. I am sure the Disciples around us can warn us if any of the guards come our way. Until then..." Once again, the woman licked her lips in invitation.

Slowly, as Alexander didn't answer, the woman leaned toward the young man. Her lips were just about to press onto his before Alexander suddenly dodged to the side, refusing the temptation.

"Perhaps I will die on this island, never to claim my vengeance. If that is my fate, then so be it." The young Wolf declared coldly as he stared into Cara's eyes. "But until then, I will do everything in my power to prepare myself for the battles, the wars, to come. What fate throws at me is something I can't control, but what I can control...is what I do before that. Now…"

He moved his arms and felt them crack.

"Let's go another round."

Cara nodded in obedience. Just as she got herself ready for another attack, Alexander suddenly frowned and raised his hand, stopping her in her tracks. With another order from Alexander, Cara turned around and laid down on a bed as if nothing was going on.

Half a minute later, a squad of troopers came to a stop in front of Alexander's cell. There were six of them, but Alexander knew that even before they got to his cell. The Disciples in the cells closer to the entrance have noticed them already, and they immediately relayed this information to Alexander.

Three of the guards aimed their shotguns at Cara. They could see that she might be asleep, not that it mattered too much to them. As veteran guards of the Darkbane Prison, they have had quite the experience dealing with deceptive prisoners. Caution could save lives.

The squad commander pressed a few keys on his MI and opened the electric gate. He turned to Alexander. "You. Out."

Alexander nodded slowly in obedience. Ok...so this was another one of the routine torture sessions. These sessions have never really slowed down recently, and Alexander simply got used to them. They weren't honestly that bad. The interrogators would ask him the same question as always. He would refuse, get beaten up...maybe skinned or burned a little. Eventually, he would be taken to the medic for some examination and then sent back to his dark cell.

With stumbling steps, he made his way to the door. The guards and his interrogators would grow really suspicious if his injuries healed all of a sudden, which meant he had been sparring with Cara and the other guards with extensive injuries the entire time. Not exactly a problem when the pain wasn't really an issue.

One of the guards snickered at how slowly Alexander was walking, but the others simply waited in silence, once again too familiar with such scenes. As Alexander got to the door, one of the guards put a pair of alloy cuffs onto his wrists, restraining him, before leading him down the hallway.

The squad of guards escorted Alexander across a number of cells. Alexander could sense many of the cells being occupied by his own Disciples, but he explicitly ordered them to stay put. Now wasn't the time to fight.

Alexander was taken out of that region of cells. It took a few minutes and over four machine gun positions set up by the guards before he arrived at the destination. An interrogation room, specifically designated to the inhabitants of the 9th District. In fact, it was one he had grown quite familiar with in the past weeks.

The interrogation rooms have all been built with sound-proof materials. The tortured prisoners could scream their lungs out inside and the sentries outside would barely be able to hear a thing. All the rooms have thick blast doors that could be pulled shut, sealing the room off completely and further silencing the screams and cries of the tormented.

The guards restrained Alexander on a leather seat. They did take off the cuffs on his wrists, only to follow that up by cuffing both his hands to the leather seat with two sets of metal handcuffs. This ensured he wouldn't be getting out of the chair anytime soon.

Alexander couldn't help but snicker as he felt the cold steel pressed against his skin. To his surprise, after he could no longer move, he saw a familiar figure walking into the interrogation room. It was Warden Henry Locke.

Alexander hadn't seen Warden Locke since their very first meeting, when Locke tried to get Alexander to tell him what he wanted to know in exchange for a swift death. After Alexander refused and Warden Locke decided to instead beat the answer out of him, the good Warden left the dirty work to his underlings.

Yet the Warden's presence here gave Alexander a very bad feeling. This wasn't just one of the usual torture sessions. No...this was something that could very well end with him dead.

The Warden turned to the squad of guards.

"Two men with me. The rest of you get out. And shut the door on the way out."

"Yes sir!" The captain of the guards saluted. He turned and made a hand sign to one of his subordinates, who joined the captain and took up a position at the corners of the cell. The rest of the squad saluted at the Warden before departing.

Finally, following the loud clank of the shutting door, the Warden started talking.

"You have been surprisingly tough." The man started out by giving Alexander an odd compliment. "You have lasted longer than some of the most highly trained Republic spies I have gotten my hands on. After months of living in this hell, almost all of them broke and confessed everything they knew. Yet, a noble-born like you lasted through all that." He snickered. "Perhaps upbringing is quite important indeed."

He could see that despite all the wounds on his body and blood and dirt on his clothing, Alexander was somehow able to maintain the fierce look on his face. It was truly impressive.

"Months?" Alexander quickly ignored the meaningless part of the man's words and got hold onto the more important bits. "I have been here for months? How many months?"

He was in no position to make demands, but the Warden satisfied his curiosity for one reason or another.

"Two months, to be precise. You have been here for two months."

Slowly, the middle-aged man got up from his seat and started strolling around Alexander. Alexander grimaced as he walked behind him and out of his line of sight. The lack of vision made him uncomfortable, but he did his best to hide his unease, for that was a weakness the other people in the room would be all too happy to use against him.

"You know...when you were first sent here, Count Lamb had a few things in mind for you." Warden Locke explained, lurking out of Alexander's vision from time to time. "Sure, if I could get the names of who helped you, then great. But at the same time, Count Lamb had been making those around him aware that you are here, in Darkbane Prison. He wanted to lure potential traitors into making an attempt on this prison and trying to break you out. You see, Prisoner 4938...you are bait."

"Yet...surprisingly, no one bit the bait. The same people that saved you from your burning home seemed to have ignored you altogether."

Once again, the confused tone in the Warden's voice made Alexander want to laugh. Of course no one showed up to bust him out of prison. The entity that saved him likely wasn't in this world anymore!

To be fair, Alexander did hope that Agony would come into this world again and break him out of these walls. She certainly could. Yet none of his attempts were enough to get Agony to intervene, and at one point, Alexander simply gave up with that.

But what the Warden said later made his heart sink.

"Either way, you, prisoner 4938, are no longer useful. You no longer have any value. Sure, you likely still know the names of the traitors, but by now the traitors have likely fled already. Even if they haven't...the control of Count Lamb over this world has never been stronger. He will be able to put down whatever incursion that arises. Essentially...your intel is no longer worth the risk of keeping you alive. While I would've suggested keeping you alive either way as a bargaining chip...I am sure Lord Lamb is smarter than I will ever be."

"As such, I have been ordered by Count Lamb personally to...dispose of you."

Warden Locke came to a stop in front of Alexander, and he was satisfied to see the look of shock and fear in Alexander's eyes. Honestly, he had felt quite defeated with the young man, and it was nice to get back at him one last time.

Slowly, he reached into his holster and pulled out his sidearm and took aim at Alexander. A part of him was hoping that Alexander would break down and beg for mercy, offering the intel he carried in exchange for survival. Still, that turned out to be false hope, as after a brief moment of panic, Alexander simply stared at him with his eyes widened and his body strained.

"Very well…" The Warden whispered to himself before pressing his sidearm against Alexander's forehead.

"Goodbye, my Lord…"


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章節 21: Chapter 21: The Roles Reverse

"The quickest way to change someone's mind is by putting a blade to their throat."

- Common Imperial Saying.

---

"As such, I have been ordered to...dispose of you."

As soon as Alexander heard those words, he felt his heart race. He didn't expect this! Not at all! As a matter of fact, he expected to have a lot more time to train himself, expand his Disciples, and plan his moves! But...but by the looks of it, he would meet his end in this damn room!

At that moment, as he felt the cold metal pressed against his skin, Alexander's mind turned faster than he thought possible. He could still feel the psychic connection of a hundred Disciples. Despite being trapped beneath layers of steel, Alexander could still communicate with them. With one command, he could send them into motion. Yet...what could they possibly achieve in the cells? Getting them to move right now would only lead to their meaningless deaths.

In other words, he had to save himself.

Through the two months of incarceration, Alexander had grown faster and tougher than ever before. He was confident that in a fair fight, he could take out the Warden. With some injuries, he might be able to disable the two guards as well. Yet right now, he was restrained to the seat with metal cuffs, and the Warden was just about to pull the trigger.

He only had one option left. One risky plan that was nothing more than a desperate gamble.

Just as Warden Locke was about to pull the trigger, he suddenly felt a surge of agony exploding in his chest and quickly expanding across his entire body. As a former Marine, Locke had experienced pain, but the pain echoing through his bones was worse than anything he had ever felt before. It was almost as if the pain acted directly on his nerve system, bypassing whatever resilience he had built up over the years.

Within seconds, the man was brought to his knees by the sudden blast of agony that came out of nowhere. Pained screams left his mouth. It was a sound foreign to the Warden himself.

"What the...sir!"

The captain and the other guard quickly rushed to Warden Locke's side. Neither of them had any idea what was going on. Maybe the Warden was suffering from a random heart attack? Even in the modern age heart attacks were still a thing, especially for those who couldn't afford genetic modifications or enhancement pills. Either way, for a second, the two guards had no idea what to do.

As the guards were distracted, Alexander started struggling against the handcuffs on his wrists. The attack on Warden Locke took a significant level of Essence of Agony from him. The woman that called herself Agony could cripple an entire squad of CSF troopers and knights without breaking a sweat, but he wasn't even close to that level.

Still, the young man focused whatever power he had left on his wrists, using the corrosiveness of the energy to wear down components of the cuffs. He also pulled against the metal with his bare wrists. It wasn't a comfortable feeling as cold steel dug into his skin and flesh alike, but he kept on struggling. After all, this was his only hope of survival. He couldn't fail! Not here! Not now!

Beside Warden Locke, the captain finally decided that he couldn't figure out what was wrong with the Warden. He wasn't shot or injured or anything, and his breathing seemed fine. Still, he decided perhaps it was a problem more suited for medical personnel of the facility to answer.

Just as he was about to walk to the thick blast door, push it open, and call for help, the captain suddenly felt something ramming into him from behind. Something fast and strong. That figure ran into his back and pushed him right into the wall with a terrifying level of strength. The captain hit the wall and turned around, only to see Alexander charging at him once again. The young man raised his leg and, before the captain could react, kicked him in the left leg.

Following the sound of bones cracking, the captain collapsed on the ground and screamed in surprise and pain.

Alexander knew he couldn't waste a second. Perhaps he didn't start off as a fighter, but the two months in the cells sparring against some of the most vicious criminals on the planet was enough to give him a crash course on the art of fighting. Against two armed foes, he needed to cripple one of them first before trying to storm the other. In that case, time was of the essence, and one second could be the danger between life and death.

With lightning speed, he was able to catch the captain by surprise and send him to the ground, but Alexander had to admit the stake of this whole thing did have an impact on him. After all, he wasn't sparring against a Disciple of his. No...right here, he was fighting for his life, and if he died here, he would be finished. There was no load save. No going back and trying this again. He had one shot and one shot only.

The consequences of this all weighed down Alexander a little, which was why he was a little slower than he hoped. By the time he launched himself at the second guard, the man already found the time to raise his shotgun.

Yet as he took aim at the advancing Alexander, for one reason or another, he didn't fire on the young man and kill him as soon as he could.

Perhaps it was because he didn't want to risk the shrapnels hitting his captain. Perhaps he wasn't as fine with taking lives as his recruitment officer and superiors were led to believe. Perhaps he believed Warden Locke would be interested in finding out what Alexander did to him or how he got out of the cuffs. Perhaps he simply thought the sight of the shotgun raised was enough to stop Alexander in his tracks. Perhaps...

In the end, he didn't fire when he could, and that cost him, and a lot of other much more powerful individuals, everything.

History was often crafted by the details.

Alexander didn't share the same hesitation that the guard had. Ok...he had to admit he was a little scared when he saw the shotgun aiming in his direction, but he forced himself past that fear. If he backed down here, or even if he just stopped for one second, he would be finished. Everything he wanted would be lost.

So instead of freezing, Alexander moved even faster upon realizing he was in danger. Before the guard could react, he grabbed onto the shotgun barrel, pulled the weapon to the side, and smashed his knee into the man's belly.

The man hit the ground with vomit coming out of his mouth. He made one last attempt by going for his sidearm, only to be stopped as Alexander kicked on his dominant arm with all his strength. The arm shattered, along with any chance the guard had of saving himself.

The agony on Warden Locke was starting to wear off, but before the Warden could get back up, a new pain consumed him. It was the pain of having both his arms snapped by the prisoner he was supposed to execute.

Within seconds, Alexander was the only one standing in the interrogation room. The interrogated have become the interrogator, and right now, the interrogators were the ones screaming in pain.

As the victor of this brief but dangerous skirmish, Alexander took a deep breath and looked around the field of the carnage. The Warden, the captain, and the guard were all on the ground, too wounded to offer any resistance. Of course, for most prisoners, that didn't mean much in a situation like this. What could they do? Hold the Warden hostage and demand a safe passageway out? Or maybe just shoot the Warden and then himself and get this over with? In either case, escape was impossible.

But for Alexander...that was a whole different story.

As a Lord of Agony, Alexander had access to powers beyond what most people could imagine. All he had to do was get the Warden to say the oath whole-heartedly, and he would have the head of Darkbane Prison under his command. That would make converting this entire prison, not just the prisoners but also the guards, a lot easier. In that aspect, the risks he took here were well justified, not that he had much of a choice when making it.

When Warden Locke came to see Alexander himself instead of ordering his guards to perform the execution, he was feeling somewhat ambitious, hoping that he could somehow personally extract some information from the doomed prisoner. Instead, he got himself in Alexander's hands.

Alexander first took a glance at the door. The sentries outside obviously didn't hear the screams. Even if they did, maybe they thought he was the one doing the screaming? Alexander knew very well that there were cameras in the interrogation room, but he also knew they were likely turned off during his interrogation. In fact, he saw his interrogators order it done many times...right before they started working on him.

After all, Alexander had always maintained his innocence during the torture, and the last thing Warden Locke wanted was to leave evidence proving that the story backed by Duke Wells, Countess Valentine, and Count Lamb to be a lie. If the video was seen by hidden Wolf loyalists and someone got out and landed in the wrong hands, namely in the hands of factions in conflict with the three...regardless of how unlikely this possibility was, Warden Locke couldn't afford to take the chances. People have been burned for less.

Plus, the guards never thought anyone could not only free themselves in the room but also get rid of the guards. Even if they did, there would be no way the prisoners could make it out the door.

All of these factors came together and made Alexander's plan somewhat possible. Now, all he had to do was get the guards and the Warden to swear their souls to his service.

After making sure all three of his captives were disarmed and their communication devices were stripped from them, Alexander made his way to a counter and retrieved a few blades. He had to admit he wasn't the most comfortable with the thought of torturing others, as weird as it sounded for a Lord of Agony. He was willing to do it, but he definitely didn't enjoy it. It was a means to an end and nothing more.

Alexander first made his way to the guard who had a chance to kill him but didn't do it. He removed the guard's dark helmet, revealing a relatively young face. The guard was older than Alexander, but not by much. Alexander could see the look of fear in the man's eyes as he stole glances at the blades in Alexander's hands.

"I am sorry. Trust me. This is not personal." Alexander whispered before putting the blade to use.


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