A Villain Enslaves a Villain (Ch 1 – Part 2)

The knight heard a high-pitched, wheezy cough coming from behind thick thorn bushes. When he approached, he saw the faint light of a candle emerging from a hole in the ground, and at the bottom of it, a young man lying on one side shivering.

From the look of his limbs, the young man appeared emaciated. Then he began vomiting. He looks ill. It seems like the effects of the plague, the Knight felt disgusted.

The knight got down on one knee and hit the borders of the hole with one hand after releasing some energy.

The ground collapsed beneath him, expanding the gap. He jumped into the hole and landed on the dirty floor of the secret chamber.

He stood watching the branches of the thorny bushes above falling around him, along with black snakes that scattered in confusion, wanting to escape from the smoke and the flames of the tower above them.

The knight was so tall that the tip of his hair touched the ceiling above him. He did not like how narrow and dirty the place was.

Therefore, he roughly and quickly grabbed the sick young man by his shirt, indifferent to his condition, while kicking the snakes that got in the way. He noticed the young man’s cane, picked it up, and instantly disappeared.

The knight, who kept carelessly grabbing the sick young man by his shabby shirt, reappeared in front of the river behind the hill.

Even though the air was filled with smoke and the stench of burned flesh, the smell of the young man was stinky enough to hit the knight’s nose and force him to stop at the riverbank.

The Arkosian knight threw the young man’s body on the ground and heard him let out a muffled groan as he rolled in pain from the hard fall.

“You stink!” the knight complained while examining the young man’s clothes. “What is this? Is this your blood or the blood of those you slaughtered?”

The Arkosian knight hastened to wash his hands and face, then grabbed the young man by his clothes again and immersed him casually in the running water without releasing him.

“Wash—wash and be cleansed so I can speak to you,” he savagely complained. “Ah! I can’t stand it! When was the last time you bathed, bastard?”

* * *

Although the young man was exhausted, in vain, he resisted the strong arms of the Arkosian man, who kept his body fixed on a flat rock at the bottom of the river.

The furious young man could not curse as the running water hit his throat. All that could be seen of him was his body reeling under the water and his wet hair covering his face.

“Leave— me— alone! Ugh! Let me —go!” he cried out, agitated.

“Huh? Leave you to die? —So you’ve been seeking death, and I’ve spoiled your plans.”

The knight raised his eyebrows in disapproval. He lifted the young man for a few seconds in the air before flinging him back into the water with the same savage force.

“How did you manage to live with all those corpses all this time? I am certain it was your doing! I can tell that you have their blood on your hands! You —err! I had to burn the place to cleanse it and prevent the spread of the plague.”

The knight lifted the sick young man once more into the air and began examining him with his wide eyes, but it was too dark to discern the sick features.

Yet, the young man was wheezing and coughing as he tried to free himself from the knight’s grip.

“Tell me, why are you still alive? What happened there?”

The knight did not wait for an answer and immersed the sick young man in the water again until he managed to punch the knight in the face with all his might.

That punch caused the knight to take a step back and release the young man, who fell backward onto the riverbank.

The young man quickly stood up, only to fall again on one knee this time. “WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT?” he shouted in frustration.

The knight stood up straight, seemingly unperturbed by his opponent’s blow. “I am your savior!”

“Savior? I won’t thank you”, the young man quickly retorted, “I don’t owe you anything.” He began coughing.

At that moment, the Arkosian knight pounced on him, pinning him to the ground, and pulled out the medicine bottle from his pocket.

He then forced the bitter liquid down the young man’s throat.

The latter resisted fiercely, trying to free his jaw from the grip of the large Arkosian palm and strong fingers that almost pierced his delicate skin. However, the sick man was no match for the Arkosian knight.

“After I set the place on fire and left—stop, don’t resist! —a strange old man followed me and begged me to save you— he showed me where you were hiding.”

While speaking, the knight placed one of his knees on his opponent’s chest and the weight was too much that the latter thought a heavy rock was about to break his ribs.

“He begged me to get you out—Damn you! Do not resist me. Thank me!”

The young man had a severe coughing fit after he had swallowed the bitter taste of an anti-plague drug.

He could not free himself until he released invisible energy from his free hand in the shape of a highly concentrated water ball, which came out from the river’s surface and knocked his opponent within a few seconds with force.

“Why should I thank you after forcing poisonous extract down my throat?” he coughed. The fact that the Arkosian had saved him twice against his will enraged him.

“What a bad drug combination! A poisonous Olfed[1] extract— Not to mention— that your vial has been exposed to the heat —for so long,” he coughed again. “It’s useless!”

* * *

The Arkosian knight, whose clothes were soaking wet, strode confidently toward his opponent; his loud audible breaths did not indicate fatigue or anger but rather excitement and flowing energy.

Could he be the guarded devil the three guards were talking about? He secretly wondered.

 The knight then stopped right in front of the young man and asked him. “Do you have powers other than controlling water?”

“Why do you ask?”

“The old man said that you possessed extraordinary powers.”

“I do not know what you’re talking about.”

“Were you imprisoned by the king?"

“…”

“Are you Empamalangonian?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“...”

Unsure of his opponent’s intentions, the young man remained silent for some time, but the Arkosian one had no time, as his departing ship awaited him in the port of the Capital.

“ANSWER ME!” The Arkosian shouted impatiently.

“I AM NOT FROM THIS KINGDOM!” The young man answered with equal strength, wanting to end the conversation with the Arkosian knight.

However, because of that answer, he was unaware of what fate had in store for him.

As soon as he uttered those words, the knight pounced on him again and, within a second, pinned him to the ground with his knee.

Then he grabbed the young man’s left hand with his Arkosian palm and declared wildly, his eyes glowing in the dark.

“In the name of Uthus the Great, I have taken you to be my slave. I am your eternal master, Vermon, and Orb shall be your name.”

Orb was screaming in great pain at the intense heat, concentrating in his left hand and running through his veins. The pain was so intense as if someone was cauterizing him in different parts of his body at the same time.

His body was writhing in a desperate attempt to free his hand, which was burning and bleeding under Vermon’s big palm.

For several long minutes, Vermon remained unmoved, solid as a rock, watching the features of his victim with his wide eyes shining in ecstasy.

He secretly enjoyed Orb’s uninterrupted screams and futile attempts to free himself.

“I like that,” he smirked.

* * *