Arcane Era-Chapter 35: Mercenary King

Flashes of light illuminated the eerie room, reflecting on an ominous black mask so it revealed the twisted nature of the man who stood before them.

—The Mercenary King.

He stood tall—nearly seven feet—as his overwhelming build dwarfed everyone around him. The moment he declared himself, all of his subordinates knelt in absolute servitude, bending perfectly to his will.

His gray eyes narrowed as he stared at the children before him and parted his lips.

"Theo, Liyah, and Kaycee... you three have exceeded my expectations and made it this far. As impressive as your actions are, however, I regret to inform you that you are making a big mistake." Despite his ominous appearance, his deep and powerful voice did not have a hint of malice.

Instead, he calmly spoke as a wise old one addressing ignorant children.

"The Mercenary Crew is not what you think it is... and I am not the monster you perceive me to be." He glanced at the three, noticing Theo’s glare especially, and sighed. "Do not misunderstand me. I do intend to bring about the fall of this Guild and kill Shen Ak’ashi... and I will succeed in that endeavor... but your priorities are misplaced."

"What are you—?!"

"Why should you stop me, when this is the righteous thing to do?" As he raised both hands to ask this question, interrupting the feeble voice from earlier, his audience widened their eyes in shock.

They had not expected him to justify his actions with the brand of righteousness.

"...."

Theo silently watched the Mercenary King.

He had already regained the strength to speak, but he refused to say anything and quietly watched the man before him, while also glancing at his subordinates with silent determination.

"I’d give up on trying to escape if I were you." The deep voice of the King sent shivers down his spine, forcing him to return his gaze to the man who stood before them.

"Even if you could get past the Intermediaries... there’s no way you can overpower Jack." He referred to the man with the frowning mask who had joined the rest to kneel, but was currently the only one standing aside from the Mercenary King himself. "Rather than focusing on pointless things like that, you should pay close attention to my words and understand the uselessness of your resistance."

Deeply glaring at the Mercenary King, Theo finally uttered his first words in a silent growl. "Why do you want to kill Lord Shen?"

A smile formed on the King’s face as soon as he heard the question.

"I thought you’d never ask."

Tense silence pervaded the room as the Mercenary King slowly crouched, so he could get closer to the height of the kneeling children. Even then, he was still noticeably taller than Kaycee. His eyes glimmered with passion as he stared at the three of them with pity, finally speaking to them with a far gentler tone than before.

"My reason is simple: Shen Ak’ashi is an evil man, a false king, and he deserves to die for balance to return to the world."

"What are you saying...? Lord Shen is—?"

"I know it must be difficult for you to see, but that is the truth." The Mercenary King continued, sighing as he noticed the hateful glare Theo continued to give him. "You do not know him like I do, and I’m sure he has gone through quite the effort to turn you to his side to the point where you would go out of your way to defend him so vehemently... but I tell you... it is all a lie."

"You’re speaking rubbish."

"Shen and I used to be friends. We were members of the same mercenary group, and as he always does, he made all of us believe in his greatness. That blinded us from seeing who he truly was... until it was too late."

Silence.

In this silence, the Mercenary King made eye contact with Theo and spoke with sincerity.

"He used us all, betraying the group for the purpose of obtaining his Supreme Grade Arcane Instrument. After that, he rose to be the newest Supreme Lord of Trae’h, The Supreme Lord of Tyranny, and founded the Ak’ashi Guild to completely establish his power and rapidly diminish the meager influence that Mercenaries held in the Mainland."

"I... don’t..."

"How do you think the Ak’ashi Guild got so powerful? Your Guildmaster established an organization that would replace the Mercenaries of the world, stealing all the business away from honest people, stripping common men like myself and my subordinates of the chance to make a proper living in this world. Instead, he monopolized everything and killed the business of Mercenaries... to the point where the only choice anyone had if they wanted to keep working was to bend the knee and accept being under the all-powerful rule of his organization."

"...."

The more Theo listened, the less words he had to offer as rebuttal.

He didn’t know much about Mercenaries, or their history, since the Ak’ashi Guild already existed before he was even born. Shen Ak’ashi had already been the Supreme Lord of Tyranny for some time, and his control over mercenary work was nearly absolute.

Independent Mercenaries still existed in the Mainland, but the business was very unprofitable since they hardly got decent jobs and had to cater for all of their needs. Those who had Arcane Instruments were treated fairly better, but maintaining an Armament didn’t come cheap, so their lives also weren’t beds of roses.

Most of the time, Mercenaries were employed for very shady and underpaid jobs. If anyone had a legitimate request to make, they turned to the Ak’ashi Guild.

’I always thought it was because the Ak’ashi Guild was more reliable and offered cheaper forms of services while guaranteeing high success rates.’ Those thoughts flowed through Theo’s mind as he stared into the deep gray eyes of the man before him. ’But... could it actually be that—?’

"Liar! You’re lying!" Liyah’s voice suddenly erupted as she made a brazen smile while intensely glaring at the Mercenary King.

"Hm? Am I really?" He shifted his focus from Theo and stared at Liyah. "What makes you say that?"

"I can see right through your lies. It’s funny how you paint Mercenaries as some sort of saintly figures, calling them honest men, when they were and have always been far from that!"

"...."

The Mercenary King’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Theo noticed.

"If Mercenary work was their sole means of livelihood, then perhaps they should have treated their customers better rather than behave like scumbags who terrorized people with their unchecked power and absence of competition."

"... Did you learn that in the Ak’ashi Academy?" He asked, frowning even deeper.

"Even beyond school walls, it’s evident to see." Liyah said with full confidence. "There’s no one who lived through your era that supports the notion that Mercenaries were honest people. There’s a reason the Ak’ashi Guild is revered and trusted over the average mercenary and it’s not because Lord Shen has a monopoly on anything."

"Please... enlighten us."

"Mercenaries are usually vagabonds who travel around in order to sell their skill for profit, right? They help people solve their conflict or incidents, and they get paid as a result. However, since Mercenaries were infamous for overpricing, or even causing incidents in the first place and expecting to get paid to solve them, not to mention being unreliable in several occasions due to the absence of regulations binding them, the people started to grow frustrated with them, but without any alternative they had no choice but to rely on their services. But then, the Ak’ashi Guild emerged and it proved itself as the perfect agency to trust for an effective job." She grinned, staring straight into the Mercenary King’s eyes with no fear evident on her face.

"What a nice little story. Everything seems so clear-cut, doesn’t it? Just because—"

"You want to know what I think?" She interrupted the King and kept talking. "I think you all just need someone to blame instead of taking accountability for your actions and the very cruel things the Mercenaries did in the past."

"...."

"You prefer a world that doesn’t hold you accountable to anything! You liked the power you used to have in the past, and you crave it even now. All that bullshit about righteousness and evil are just excuses you use to justify your actions and mask your true intentions."

"Stop..."

"Did I strike a nerve? I can see right through people like you! You’d rather remain independent because you don’t want to be restricted by regulations, not because you think the Ak’ashi Guild is some kind of evil."

"... I’m warning you..."

At this point, the pressure in the room began to rise, intensifying as the Mercenary King’s deep voice became more frightening.

"Why? You don’t want to be exposed for what you are? Well, I’ll tell you what I think you are... and what I think this whole thing is!" Feeling the climbing eeriness of what had now pervaded the entire space, even Theo wanted Liyah to stop—at the very least, for her own safety.

But, it was too late.

With a loud voice, Liyah fearlessly spoke her mind without flinching before the Mercenary King.

"You’re just jealous! You and all the henchmen in your Mercenary Crew... you’re jealous of the success and greatness of the Ak’ashi Guild and Lord Shen’s—"

BAM!

A sudden noise echoed in the air, caused by the impact of a blow from the Mercenary King on Liyah’s now swollen cheek. The punch instantly knocked her unconscious, with droplets of blood decorating her immediate vicinity. Low ripples caused by the dripping crimson liquid began to create an overpowering feeling of dread as the Mercenary King’s loud breathing could be heard all over the room.

"What do you know?" He seethed, eyes bloodshot as he glared at her with hate reflecting from his tone. "You know nothing about it!"

The deep, intense emotions he displayed were only surpassed by one other.

"Hey..."

The sound of ropes loudly snapping pierced the ears of everyone present in the room as Theo rose to his feet and glared at the Mercenary King with amber eyes that sharply exposed the simmering bloodlust which had overwhelmed him.

At this point, matters involving Shen and Mercenaries were distant memories, and the only image that occupied Theo’s mind was the bleeding face of his cherished friend.

"... What the hell did you just do?!"