"I am the one who asks, not you," Yousafer said, smiling.
"Whaaaaaaaa..."
The man was bound by chains, sprawled on the ground, his mouth agape. A loud scream echoed as he held his severed foot, desperately trying to press it back into place, as if believing it might reattach.
Yousafer watched, leaning forward slightly with his elbow resting on his knee:
"Do you think it will return? It seems you have lost your mind." He then tightened the pressure on the chain.
The man's face flushed red as he lay there, drenched in blood mixed with rainwater, turning everything around him crimson.
"Haaaaaaa..."
The man's weeping and screaming intensified. He looked at Yousafer, who was standing close by, with profound terror, and then he noticed the chain emerging from beneath Yousafer's cloak.
"What is this?" Suddenly, he noticed the eyes staring at him from the chain itself.
His expression shifted as he looked from Yousafer's eye to the eyes embedded in the chain. A chill snaked down his spine; he felt his heart skip a beat. It was pounding faster than it had when he was climbing the stairs.
*Thump.. Thump.. Thump.. Thump..*
The man's face paled, his complexion turning yellow as blood continued to leak from his severed leg.
"Who is this person? And why is he so powerful? Is he... is he at the Second Level? No, perhaps the Third… What is someone like him doing here?" he muttered, staring at Yousafer.
Yousafer spoke:
"Are you wondering about my level? You must think I am at the Second or Third Level." Yousafer stood up and looked away with a hint of regret: "Your guess is incorrect." He turned his gaze back to the man: "I am just like you… at the First Level."
"So, will you tell me who the owner of these factories is? I do not have time to play games with you, nor do I have time to search these factories manually. If you do not tell me, killing you is easy. Though searching might delay me slightly, in the end, I will find what I am looking for."
At that moment, the man realized that if he did not speak, the person before him would kill him without mercy. If he spoke, he might have a chance to survive.
The man hesitated for a moment, then said while trembling:
"I do not want to die… please, just do not kill me. I will tell you… the owner of these factories is Leonhart the Rebel, the Two-Star."
Yousafer crossed his arms over his chest:
"And why should I trust you?" The chain around the man's neck tightened, choking him.
"Haaaa..."
A groan escaped his mouth along with broken words: "The... documents... they are in the surveillance room..."
"Fine. Get up, let's go down."
The man began to stand after Yousafer's chain loosened. He heard the sound of the chain retracting from his body, but the pain in his neck did not fade. Leaning his hand on thick hair, the hair transformed into a staff that the man leaned on. He began to walk with a limp, then looked back: "Do you promise not to kill me?"
Yousafer replied:
"I believe I told you… I am the one who asks here, am I not?"
The man turned his head and fell silent immediately.
After a short descent down the stairs, they entered the room filled with screens.
The man headed toward the chair he had been sitting in, pushed it slightly, then leaned down and sat, unable to search while standing. He pulled back a cover from the floor where the chair had been, revealing an opening. Inside the opening were two medium-sized boxes.
He lifted the first box, opened it, and took out the documents, handing them to Yousafer. Yousafer began to read everything while sitting on the chair, crossing one leg over the other.
After he finished reading, he looked at the man:
"And what about the other box?"
The man narrowed his eyes and looked down as if he did not want to answer.
"What is it? Are you hiding something?"
The man said nothing, then leaned over again and brought out the second box. He opened it to reveal a box full of money: metallic, silver, and copper pieces, along with some gold pieces.
Yousafer widened his eyes and opened his mouth in a circle:
"Oh... there is a lot of money... these Solars you have stolen... all these years you spent here."
"How many Solars does this box contain?"
The man answered:
"Five million Metallic Solars."
Solar was the unified currency in this world, and it came in four types: Metallic Solar, Copper Solar, Silver Solar, and Gold Solar.
A Copper Solar piece was equal to ten Metallic Solars. A Silver Solar piece was equal to ten Copper pieces or one hundred Metallic pieces. A Gold Solar piece was equal to ten Silver pieces, one hundred Copper pieces, and one thousand Metallic Solars.
The Metallic Solar had an engraving of a five-pointed star with a small whale in the center.
The Copper Solar had a crescent moon engraved next to a small star.
The Silver Solar featured an engraving of a crown with three separate numbers beneath it: 3, 9, 6.
The Gold Solar had an engraving of a sun and nothing else.
Yousafer cast a glance at the man from his feet to his head, and then the chain around the man's neck loosened.
When the man saw the chain loosen and leave his neck, he rejoiced internally, thinking he had survived. He said, "Thank you..." and bowed his head slightly.
But at that moment, he heard Yousafer speaking. These would be the last words he would ever hear in his life:
"A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, a life for a life, and for wounds, there is legal retribution."
*Clink...*
*Squelch...*
The man's head went flying into the air along with the sound of the chain—a sound that brings joy and eases the heart.
The man collapsed as a single mass. His head struck the screens and fell to the floor, blood splattering everywhere, some droplets landing on Yousafer.
Yousafer looked at the bloodstains on his clothes, sighed, and said:
"It seems I must bathe in this blood many times to return this land to what it was, or even better."
Then Yousafer's eyes turned to the screens, fixing on one particular monitor. He narrowed his eyes:
"What is this...?"
—
In the Opposite Factory:
In the other factory where Yuray was, blood flooded most of the floor, and dismembered corpses were scattered everywhere. The scent of fresh blood mixed with the strange odor of the factory, resulting in a foul stench.
At that moment, Yuray was standing near the factory ceiling on a horizontal beam connecting the two sides, his gaze fixed on the beast that was eating the brains and hearts of the corpses.
"Fear..."
In the center of the factory were many machines used by the workers, each different from the next. There were three rows along the length of the factory, but there was a wall preventing a view of what was on the opposite side; the rows did not stop at the wall, as there was a room behind it... something the villagers had never discovered.
The beast was sitting on one of the rows. When it raised its head, its eyes began to rotate like those of a lizard. It stood there and smiled at Yuray, who had been watching it for some time.
At that moment, Yuray leaped downward, and upon reaching the ground, he made no sound, as if he hadn't jumped from such a height.
*Gurgle...*
The beast made a croaking sound like a frog. Then a few words emerged from its mouth:
"Fear... fear... fear... you must fear me..."
As soon as these words left the beast's mouth, Yuray felt something wrong within him—a strange sensation—but it quickly vanished. Yuray didn't understand what had happened. He didn't care because the beast was right in front of him. Yuray faced it with his eyes closed and said:
"You ugly beast... you have saved me a lot of time by killing these scoundrels."
The beast turned its head from side to side, smiling at Yuray, then shouted loudly:
"Fear!"
Yuray felt something wrong again but smiled:
"What are you doing, you bastard?"
The beast's expression changed upon seeing Yuray's smile, and it let out a horrific scream before moving toward him.
"Rraaaaaaa..."
Yuray retreated slightly. Upon reaching him, the beast struck with its bony claws. Yuray spun his body slightly as the claws passed near his face, grabbed the beast's hand, and delivered a fist to its face.
*Boom...!*
The beast was hurled back quickly and crashed into the wall.
The beast stood up fast and screamed:
"Fear!!"
Yuray narrowed his brows; with every word of "Fear" the beast uttered, he felt an internal effect: "Do you not know how to say any other word?"
Yuray's hand moved, and a bone sword slid from his wrist. "Who exactly are you...?" Yuray wondered to himself.
Yuray moved toward the beast coming at him once more. The beast swung its hand.
Yuray ducked slightly while swinging his sword toward the beast's neck. But the beast quickly blocked Yuray's sword with the long bone behind its back.
*Gurgle…* the beast hissed.
"Fear...!"
Yuray retreated, but the beast clenched its fist and then...
*Boom...!*
The fist descended on Yuray, who was tossed like a leaf against the wall. *Crack...* Yuray fell to the ground.
At the same time, the beast shouted at the top of its lungs: "FEARRRR!!!"
After Yuray stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth, he charged again.
To the beast's surprise, the bone sword advanced rapidly toward its abdomen just below the neck. The beast put its hand in front of it, but Yuray skillfully shifted the strike from the abdomen to the beast's bony foot.
*Crack!* *Squelch...*
The beast's bony foot fell to the ground. Green blood mixed with black liquid flowed out, spreading a stench even fouler than before.
The beast looked at its severed foot, then at Yuray's smiling face. The beast felt fear at the smile of the youth before it, and then it opened its mouth where four sections folded back to reveal rows of saw-like teeth. It let out a horrific screech once more.
*Gurgle...*
The bone spike launched toward Yuray, who held his sword in front of him, but once again he was hurled against the wall and fell sprawled on the ground. He stood up again and began to run.
Yuray's silent steps accelerated toward the beast. The strange creature froze in its place, finding no foot to move, but struck with its sharp claws toward Yuray.
To avoid the claws, Yuray leaped high in a spiral motion, head down and feet up. He pointed his hand toward the beast's head below him:
"Bone Germ... Bone Column!"
A column emerged from Yuray's hand with speed, descending upon the beast's head as it stared up.
The column pierced through the beast's head and delved deep inside.
Inside the beast was a small obstruction, like a core or gem, within its head. The column struck it; it cracked and then shattered. The column continued its descent until it hit the ground.
Yuray landed on his feet, then turned his face toward the beast, which looked like a statue with a bone column through its center. Green blood and black liquid flowed from its body. The beast made no movement. Yuray's final strike was decisive; it died instantly.
Yuray killed the beast quickly, but in truth, things would have been much harder and different had the beast's mind been complete.
"What is this creature...? And where did it come from?" Yuray wondered silently, then lifted his cloak slightly and began to walk through the factory.
Suddenly:
*Boom...!* *Boom...!*
The wall cracked in front of Yuray, then:
*Boom...!*
The wall broke. A young man with black hair entered... it was Yousafer.
As soon as he arrived, he began staring right and left, then looked at Yuray:
"Where is the beast?"
Yuray answered after a silence: "I killed it."
"Where is its corpse?" Yousafer asked again.
Yuray replied: "It's over there," and pointed toward the beast with his hand.
Yousafer's expression changed, his excitement vanished, and he sighed: "What a disappointment... I wanted to fight it."
"Is that why you came so quickly?"
"Where did that beast come from?"
Yuray replied: "I don't know. When I entered, I found it killing a few people."
Yousafer thought for a moment, then said while looking at the beast's back: "That bone resembles your bone whip."
"Yes... even I do not know what is going on."
Yousafer approached the beast and began to circle it, a disgusted look appearing on his face after smelling the foul odor. "This beast is truly strange... is it a coincidence that it didn't appear until we came here?"
"When I was fighting it, it kept repeating the same word."
"What was it?" Yousafer asked curiously.
Yuray answered after a brief silence: "Fear..."
"Fear..." Yousafer raised an eyebrow, staring at Yuray, then his brows furrowed as if he remembered something.
"What is it?" Yuray asked.
Yousafer replied: "Did you forget something... or did you not notice it? What did the old man warn us about seven years ago?"
Yuray fell into thought, then his expression changed: "Beware of fear... is this what he was warning us about?"
Yousafer answered: "Perhaps."
A silence fell between the two. After a short while, Yousafer said:
"Let's leave this subject for now. What matters is... has everyone been killed?"
Yuray smiled: "The
beast did the job; I only killed it."
"Did you search for the imprisoned villagers?"
Yuray replied: "No... not yet."
"Let's go search for them. After that, let's destroy these damn factories and leave."
End.
Beware of Fear.