Chapter 269: 269. Man-Eat-Man world.

Slash!

Clank!

"You can't win against me, slave. I can't believe you've lasted at the top for five years—Pathetic."

Boom!

"The winner is… Sir Malus!"

Woosh!

Eyes opened abruptly. Lost, pained, angered, and reeling with hopelessness. There were not enough words to describe the feelings that Kaecilius felt at the moment. It had just been a day since he lost, and now, he was digesting another grave news.

"Haaa!"

Bam!

He slammed his fist on the wall. His entire room was full of the aftermath of destruction by now. "My son… Remus…!"

Merely a few hours ago, the news of his son's demise had come. His son had fallen from the horseback while training and had broken his neck. He had just returned from finishing the cremation of his body.

"Only if I was better… If I could have done something." But deep down, he knew there was nothing he could do. He was a slave, and so was his family.

In the dimly lit, cold underground room, he sat on the bed and held his face with his palms, unable to think anything straight. "What am I to do now? Five years have been wasted. Must I spend ten more to gain our freedom? I can't have Elia and Cirus face the same fate as Remus."

Knock!

"They don't have to."

All of a sudden, a voice came that Kaecilius distinctly recognised. He jumped to his feet, glancing at the door.

"I heard what happened, my friend. It's a fate I wouldn't wish even upon my worst enemies."

Thud!

Kaecilius fell to his knees and held his hands together, praying to Sylvester. "M-My Lord… Bard… Please help me."

Sylvester stepped closer and smelled the emotions. He felt terrible for him, as fate had utterly broken the man. First, losing his family's freedom and then his son in just a few hours.

There was a smell of rage, anger, sadness, fear, anxiety and perhaps, helplessness. But what stood out was his worship and hope towards Sylvester. It was something that Sylvester appreciated.

Sylvester helped the tall and strong man up to his feet. "I can not help free you, sadly. But I can... Perhaps… Take your remaining family, your son and wife, to the Holy Land. Your wife can work there, and your son can study—Freely and Safely."

Kaecilius bowed his head deeply. "Thank you, Lord Bard. You helped send my children to study before, and now this. I know I can never repay you for your generosity…"

Sylvester interrupted him, however. But not with words. Instead, with a little hymn that was supposed to get the message across to the poor slave indirectly.

♫See beyond what appears affront.

There is a devil lurking on the hunt.

When least expected, he'd hit you blunt.

Now in his direction flows the power's current.♫

♫Your pain is not natural but inflicted.

Who did it can be easily predicted.

Open your eyes, for it's all scripted.

Read through the lines, and it'll be decrypted.♫

♫Remember, a man is like every changing season.

Follow the money, and you'd have the reason.♫

Silence prevailed following his little hymn with no halo behind his head. This time, he was not praising the lord but showing the path to the truth. His words were indirect, but they were easy enough to understand.

Kaecilius appeared dangerous and angered at that very instant, and a rageful aura and emotions of anger flared from him. He looked Sylvester in the eye and asked respectfully. "My lord, are you suggesting that my defeat was not natural? And my son… Someone killed him?"

Sylvester didn't accuse anyone directly. "You think about it, my friend. What generates the most money in Fort Sunflower besides trade? The Arena! Who is the most famous man getting the arena filled to the brim daily? You!"

"B-But why? Why would he go back on his deal?" Kaecilius asked.

Sylvester revealed further and got direct. "Because the Duke has now become the King of Riveria Kingdom. He won't be living here anymore, and in his absence, he still wishes to keep making money from you. After all, why use you for only ten years when you can be kept for a lifetime?"

Kaecilius clenched his fist so tight that veins started popping up, ready to burst. "But why my son?"

Sylvester patted the man's shoulder. "That, I don't know. Perhaps, it was just an ill-timed accident. But only one man can answer you, and now he's untouchable in the entire Kingdom."

Kaecilius stepped back and sat down on his bed, his head in his hands, as he felt utterly helpless and hopeless. He knew not where to go now or what to even do. "S-So… Am I forever stuck here as a slave? Was it all a lie?"

Sylvester sat beside him and offered a small locket with Church's symbol on it. "I'm afraid, without power, we are useless in doing anything. After all, for a weak man, a dream of justice is as irrelevant as a beggar in the eyes of a noble. The Duke… He's a brutal man who killed his half-sister to scheme against his father—forcing the latter to wage war with Gracia and get the Church involved.

"He's a man who'd go to any lengths, and I'm sure the remaining hundred or so siblings he has will die soon. Forget it, Kaecilius… I can at least help you by bringing your wife and son with me. If not you, then your son may live his life as a free man."

Kaecilius didn't reply with anything and remained seated in sorrow—Brokenhearted for the promise that was not kept.

Meanwhile, Sylvester looked around the room. It was all a mess with many holes in the wall that Kaecilius punched. He walked to the table and looked at the parchment. It was filled with three words, repeated all over the page. 'Forgive me, Remus. Forgive me, Remus…'

"My lord… I want to kill that son of a whore! Can you allow me to get closer to him?"

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Sylvester looked back with not much shock. "Don't be naive, Kaecilius. First of all, the Duke is now under the protection of the Grand Wizards. Second, even if you somehow succeed in killing him, your wife will be gifted to the soldiers to be violated until she dies, and they will sell your son to some sick slavemaster who will do to him what you can't even dream in your worst nightmare.

"You are a nobody and are bound to die as a nobody. Just accept your fate and sit down, like all those slaves out there who keep their heads down and accept everything thrown at them—hunger, pain, misery or worse. You are still a more privileged slave as you are well-fed, and so is your family. Yes, your son was probably killed, and yes, you were played by the Duke, but still, it's nothing compared to what's out there.

"Children as young as six are thrown into the arms of their abuser, women with children sell themselves for half a meal, and men die while serving their master—all slaves—worse than you."

Kaecilius appeared frustrated as he started breathing fast. He scratched his head like a madman, for he could not see any way to earn his vengeance. "There has to be something I can do… I became a slave not because of a failed business, but because my business was destroyed…"

Sylvester again interrupted him. "No. Your business failed because you were weak. So weak that someone could step all over you."

Kaecilius' eyes became red as if his mind would burst at any moment. "Then how, Lord Bard? How do I attain power? Please tell me because… I'm out of my wits. You are the famed wise bard… there must be something."

Sylvester stared the man in his eyes and walked up to him.

Bam!

Without warning, he clenched Kaecilius' throat with one hand and slammed him onto the wall. "Do you have it in you? To do what's needed to attain power?"

"I-I… I do."

Sylvester clenched the neck tighter. "It's not my hand that's choking you, Kaecilius—It's the chain of laws of this world—Laws made by the nobles, for the nobles, to step over you and those like you. Will you give your blood, sweat and tears to attain power? To break away from this chain?"

Kaecilius didn't struggle at all, even though his face turned red. "I do!"

"Fine! But once you break those chains, what then?" Sylvester asked further.

This time, the scent of rage, hate, worship and pure determination took the room by storm. Kaecilius didn't even blink and stared into Sylvester's eyes to show his pure determination. "I shall break more chains… Then more… Then more chains… I'll break them all until none remains!"

"Ha!"

Sylvester released Kaecilius from his hold and let the man breathe. "It is easier said than done. If you wish for vengeance, to break the chains, then you must first shake the very ground those nobles stand on so proudly. You must raise an army that shall make those tormentors shudder in fear. You must attain the strength that shall dwarf theirs—You must become a commander—A liberator—A believer!"

Thud!

Kaecilius took to the knee like a Knight and crossed his arms over his chest to salute. "I shall stand by what I claim, my lord. I will not quit as long as I breathe—I will never let the flames of anger douse that makes me seethe."

Sylvester put one hand on Kaecilius' head and raised other palms to shine light over him. And then came a true hymn with a halo.

♫Today, you rise by the grace of the lord.

Your name is now written in heaven's records.

Be diligent in duty and attain the reward.

Achieve vengeance you otherwise can't afford.♫

♫Fear not for the future; I stand by your side.

I'll fight, for in your cause, justice resides.

Arms or armour, as many as needed, I'll provide.

When lost, I shall be your brightest guide.♫

♫So, become the evil's annihilator.

Rise, Kaecilius—The liberator.♫

Kaecilius stood up and looked into Sylvester's eyes with pride developing in his chest. "My lord… You oppose slavery?"

Sylvester nodded. "Even the Pope does. But, we are powerless as slavery is the nobility's construct. However, to end this evil, an uprising is needed. So, I bid farewell for now, but you must start preparing. Wait for my instructions while you forge friendships in secret. Then, when the time comes, you shall receive all the weapons needed."

Kaecilius bowed his head, oozing the scent of worship. "Thank you, my lord. I will do all that's needed to conquer this evil. I shall await your instructions."

Sylvester nodded and proceeded out as he wished to give Kaecilius some time to digest what had just happened.

Using Miraj to divert guards, he escaped the underground quarters of fighting slaves undetected and arrived near the castle-city's walls. As Lady Aurora was meeting with the Duke to discuss the march, he was free to use the carriage.

But, as he entered the carriage, someone was waiting for him there.

Thud!

A tall man in knight's armour saluted. "My lord, I defeated that slave as you asked. Please don't report me to the Inquisitor Commander now."

Sylvester closed in. "As an Inquisitor, you committed the gravest sin by violating and murdering that woman's family in Three Fingers villages. For that…"

Bam!

"Argh!... Why?"

Sylvester held him in his arms as a spear made of solid white light pierced the man's heart. "I chose you exactly for your sins. You were going to die anyway, might as well be useful before it."

The Inquisitor Knight's eyes teared up as life seeped out of him. "B-But… Y-You promis…"

Sylvester let him lay on the carriage floor, dead. "True, but dead men tell no tales. Chonky—Eat!"

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