Chapter 36: Wait, I left the leader alive

Chapter 36: Wait, I left the leader alive ’’My green-haired lady,’’ Julian’s eyes softened a bit as he replied to the man’s stuttering question. Their hearts were gripped with horror at his words; the woman was insane. Didn’t that mean the man was worse than her? This thought sent terror through their heart. A man collapsed to the ground, banging his head as he begged through tears, ’’Please forgive me. I’ve lost so much already. Let me go. Please...’’ tears and blood mixed on the ground as he begged for his life. The others followed suit, begging as well. The sound of banging heads and cries filled the room, causing the woman outside to faint from fear, though she remained standing. Julian brought out his sword, its sharpness gleaming under the light, ’’if she was defenceless, who you have let her go? Now answer my question. Which of you, landed a hit on her?’’ he pointed his sword towards them. ’’If I tell you, would you let me go?’’ one of them found the courage to ask, ready to give up his leader to save his life. Julian followed the man’s gaze and noticed a few guilty glances on the man he dragged back. He noticed their fleeting glance at the man, then his eyes turned darker with anger. Without a word, he swung his sword, severing the man’s arms cleanly. Blood sputtered out, soaking the ground; the man’s eyes widened in disbelief when he saw his detached arms lying on the ground. The man couldn’t move or scream only his bulging veins showed the excruciating pain he was going through. The four other men, seeing these, lost their minds in fear, two of them fainting while the remaining two startle,d, screaming out for help. ’’Help!’’ their lips trembled, unable to form any other words. They watched in terror as the man waved his finger and their leader’s arms healed like they hadn’t been caught in the first place. He swung his sword again, severing the man’s arms once more. They watched in horror as this process repeated itself, Julian made him relive the pain until the man wished for death. But Julian wasn’t satisfied; he missed his torture tools. Bored of his torture, he left the man and faced the other four and a round of screams and pain echoed through the room. The leader, freed from his restraints, crawled to the edge of the bunk bed and slammed his head into the iron frame, killing himself. Julian was unaware of this. By the time he finished, the ground was covered with severed limbs and blood, spilling out through the door. He suddenly remembered he was supposed to keep them alive for Ethan. ’’Shit!’’ he got carried away, he winched at the thought of what Ethan would do when he found out. ’’Wait, I left the leader alive,’’ he muttered to himself and turned only to see the man head deep into the iron frame. sigh...’ He sighed, swinging his sword to remove the excess blood before placing it back in his space bag. He left the room calmly, passing by the frozen woman—the figure around her showed it remained two minutes before she would be released from her paused state. Julian remained as neat as he was, his features godlike and easygoing like he wasn’t the one that brutally tortured five men to death. A black hazy clock appeared in front of him, ’’hmm...twenty minutes past.’’ He murmured, picturing Eva waking up and demanding for food. And his pace increased at that thought. Opening the door to their cabin, he saw their sleeping figure and quietly closed the door, but Ethan’s eyes opened. He placed Eva gently on the bed, signalled for Julian to watch her, and was about to head to the door when he caught Julian’s guilty expression. Julian felt Ethan’s intense gaze and gestured with his hands in a neck-slitting motion. The air around Ethan changed causing the room temperature to grow cold. Julian shrugged, his hands wide open, signalling he wasn’t at fault. They communicated seamlessly without words only their gaze and body language. Ethan lunged a sword made of ice at Julian, who stopped in place, but the tip pointed at his neck before shattering into pieces. Julian shivered slightly, but not from Ethan’s attack, but the message passed across. He didn’t want to exchange sword moves with Ethan—the last time, he was covered in stab wounds and caught cold, those bitter potions Ethan specifically brought for him still made his tongue shrink back in horror. He glanced at Ethan’s brooding back and knew there was no escaping their fight. He resigned to his fate and kept in mind to stock up on more candies. After an hour, Eva stirred, her eyes fluttering open. Her eyes were watery from sleep, she lay there lazily, her muscles weak from too much sleep. After a while, her mind cleared up, and she regained the energy to move. ’’Huh? When did I sleep off?’’’ she muttered in surprise as she rolled over to the edge. Getting down, she found they were still on the train and a disappointed sigh left her lips. She had hoped they had already reached—she was fed up with the constant sound of train wheels and the enclosed room. She was about to lie back in bed when the train screeched to a sudden stop. Eva was thrown forward. Julian froze her in place, steadying her by the waist before releasing his powers. ’’What’s going on?’’ Eva couldn’t help but ask what was in their mind. Ethan moved towards the door, hearing screams. His brows knitted as he noticed the sound of their screams wasn’t the same as being startled it sounded like pain and fear. He opened the door, and the crystals that were supposed to light the hallway were gone, leaving it in darkness. ’What the hell is going on?’ Unknown to Ethan and the others, the world had changed drastically in the three days they were stuck in the dungeon. Radical administrators issued an order to reduce the population to conserve air. Unfortunately, they boarded the train where this order was being enforced.