"Die!" she shouted, her voice seeped in anger as her delicate fingers tightly clenched her weapon. As if not injured at all, her speed was still hasty despite the wound on her thigh.
Kreig stood on the small, open field, his imposing body resting in strange calm.
His hands promptly guarded from the impending assault. He seemed calm, his smirk speaking of his confidence, but his mind was in turmoil.
I should have a chance if I do this properly... focus. One mistake and everything I've worked for is gone...
If his thought swayed him in a crucial time, he would be doomed.
His eyes swiftly followed the silhouette of the girl, leaping, owning the field as if it were a dance floor.
The girl's silhouette gradually became more visible as she neared his figure.
However, contrary to her expectation, what met her was not his defence, but his face warped in a creepy smile, distorting all the way his ears.
'Now!'
He stretched his hand, freeing his sword.
Then his hands slowly motioned up majestically. Slowly, deliberately, then dropped.
A pulse, a pull, like gravity gave way. Her charging body collapsed, slumping heavily on the ground.
"H-how!?" She exclaimed, her body shook as her gaze slowly shifted to meet his eyes, fiery and cold. Her fall caused a loud, reverberating shock.
THUD—
Her face distorted in shock, barely to be seen behind her almost broken mask.
"What did you do to my body!?" She exclaimed, her tone desperate. She had tried to move her feet to regain balance, but her own body didn't listen.
"Ke ke," he chuckled, his face warping into a cold, creepy smile. His gaze locked on her body as if surveying it. Blood gushed out of her thigh, her body covered in bruises.
"My, my... what happened?" he said innocently, slowly approaching the woman's body.
'Shit! What the hell happened to my body!? This can't be happening! A boy... a young, weak...!' Her thought lingered as her eyes shifted to Kreig. His face distorted into a creepy smile, sending cold shivers down her spine.
Gulp—
She swallowed, beads of sweat frantically escaping her skin.
'Could it be that...'
"Ha hahhaha," he laughed crazily, distracting the thought of the woman whose body lay on the ground, her gaze piercing like a dagger.
"What do you think?" Kreig grabbed the rope-like fiber on the ground as he muttered the question.
'This woman is dangerous. But...with this, it should be manageable...' Kreig's thoughts echoed in his skull while tying the hands of the woman.
"What are you doi— mufsdf!" The poor woman's mouth was tied as well, though the texture of the rope was rough, Kreig didn't care enough for such a trivial thing.
"Why did you attack me?" His voice cackled like thunder, then a deafening silence.
There must be some reason why. If she's dissatisfied being summoned, then I can do something about that. Her power is to be coveted... I need her for the sake of future development. But. He took a glance at the woman once more, then he continued his thought. But... if she attacked me merely for enjoyment...or for simply because she craved for blood... he clicked his tongue inwardly. Then I'll have no choice but to kill her...
Although Kreig was a newbie lord, living on the street and the experience at that time honed his survival instincts even more. He would be ashamed if his progress were to be stripped away from him on his first day inside the Endless Abyss. Even more so, from his own summon.
"Speak. I won't hesitate to kill you...or even take advantage of your vulnerability." His voice echoed in the air, breaking the deafening silence. Exel, who was tens of meters away from him, heard it, too.
"Hehehhe hadh KAHAHAH" The woman merely laughed crazily, escaping the rope's grasp. "You? Kill me!? You won't even dare!" The woman's mockery caused Kreig to involuntarily twitch his lips.
"You think so? Ke ke..." He muttered, his laugh sending shivers down their spine.
He then gazed at the woman's eyes, his abyss-like pupils glaring not from his eyes, but into her soul, directly.
"W-what are you!" The woman's mask broke, revealing her face, scar under her eyes, her eyes gleaming with enmity and... fear. Her body twitched in desperation, face distorting in exasperation, then her breathing turned ragged...
Huff... Huff...
"G-go away!" She pleaded, her eyes turning to the boy who looked at her from afar.
"H-help me!" Her pleading reached the boy's ears, but what she received as a reply was his eyes widening.
"T-That's right! I-I will serve you! I will accept you as my lord!" She forced his knee to move, bowing deeply, her head even touching the earth.
"You'll acknowledge me as your lord?" Kreig muttered, his voice laced with curiosity. His gaze keenly observed the vulnerable woman, amused
"Y-Yest! I-I will serve you! I-I can fight!" Her eyes submissively pleaded, but the clouds around her bare skin tightened their grasp over her body.
"But, how can I be sure you will not betray me?" He glared. "They say, 'Who betrays you once, will betray you a thousand times."
"I-I will make a pledge!" She muttered, voice full of desperation and hope.
"A pledge, huh, interesting." He muttered, his eyes turning darker, then subtly, greenish lights escaped his lids.
'I-I can move!?' The woman thought, feeling his senses slowly regaining back on her control.
Let's see what she'll do now that she realizes she can move.
'Is it his power? No. It doesn't look like it. I must be wrong with my previous evaluation then...' She thought, her eyes cautiously turning to the man in front of him. 'He's young...and naive,' She muttered in his eyes, a faint smile formed on her lips, which quickly vanished as quickly as it appeared.
The woman knelt down, her eyes were filled with fear, but her thoughts said otherwise. In her mind, she calculated and made efforts to appear sincere.
'Drop down your guard and you die,'
You'll die here, wicked woman.
Their thought intertwined in silence.
Kreig turned towards Exel.
Then—
SLICE!
"M-my lord, dodge!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
Blood sprayed the air like a fountain.
"N-no, my lord!" His voice laced with panic, seeing Kreig's figure, he stood frozen.
Thud.
"M-my lord..." He spoke, tone low, barely a whisper.
"…Exel." The voice echoed back.
"Is the food prepared?" Kreig forced a smile as he asked, his hand dripped crimson.
But Exel blinked. Realization struck.
It wasn't his lord's blood…
but the woman's!
Her head had dropped down on the ground, eyes wide open with visible despair. Beside her was a dagger. To be precise, the dagger she grabbed out of the thin air.
"I'm glad you're safe, my lord..." Exel said at last, his eyes flickering in fear. "Forgive me, I haven't prepared it yet…"
My first time killing a human… though a summon…
He breathed a sigh of relief.
It sure feels horrible…