Chapter 390: All of you are mine now

The following day Henrietta had gathered all of the citizens within the Capital to make an announcement. Many people were feeling uncomfortable as they had experienced so much in the past few days. They had lost so much, and some of them even more.

Those that had killed during Nyarlom's sick game were standing at one side. Some of them were proud of surviving and doing what they did, others felt ashamed and were lowering their heads, some of them felt like they hadn't done anything wrong as they needed to survive.

Some of the children whose parents forced them to kill their own fathers and mothers had become orphans and were cowering and crying at a corner. Those that still had one parent left were having their own difficulties. Their surviving parent were treating them differently. Even though the parents knew it was their decision to do this, it was still hard to look at the person who had killed their significant other, even if it was their child.

Then there were the few who had not killed during the event. They were wary of those that had blood in their hands and were looking at everyone even the children as criminals.

...

While everyone was still at the stage of trying to calm down, they were called in for an important meeting, which made them feel agitated. After a while, Henrietta and a group of High ranked mages appeared. Even during this chaotic time the people still have some respect for the mages. Now that they were defenseless they were their only source of protection.

Henrietta looked at the divided group of people and then she looked at the destroyed buildings she couldn't help but sigh. The once-mighty Serbek Kingdom, the kingdom of mages which had centuries of history had just fallen. Henrietta shook the gloomy thoughts away and smiled.

"Everybody as you all know, I'm Henrietta the last remaining council member. Seeing as the Grand Mage and the royal family have left for their journey to the astral plane, I am the one with the highest authority."

The people started to murmur like buzzing bees. They all looked at Henrietta with mixed emotions, but the prevailing emotion everyone had was of worry.

"I'm not going to lie you people, the Serbek Kingdom is pretty much finished." The moment those words came out of Henrietta's mouth the people started panicking.

"What do you mean finished?!"

"How can you say that?! Can't you mages do something?!"

"Yeah, you high and mighty mages kept on suppressing us common folk, but when a crisis arrives you're useless!"

"Go and do something you sh*tty mages!"

"Use those spells all of you are so proud of!"

Many people started agreeing with what that one guy said and most of them started yelling for the mages to do something. One of the braver ones started throwing things at the mages. Yet the rock he threw stopped mid-air and Henrietta looked at the person who threw the rock. She smiled ever so sweetly but seeing that smile made the person who threw the rock sweat bullets.

"I know everyone's anxious because of what I said, which is why I'm going to overlook this rude behavior. But those that continue shouting while I'm not yet done speaking will be punished, alright?"

The whole place suddenly quieted down as they looked at Henrietta with fear. The general populace who were angry moments ago finally remembered who they were talking with. They all suppressed their anger and silently listened.

"Thank you for shutting up. So now that everyone's quiet I can continue my announcement. So what was I saying again?... Oh right, the Serbek Kingdom is pretty much finished. So to counter our inevitable demise someone has come forward to help."

When the people heard what Henrietta said their anxiety had lessened, and they started wondering who had come to their rescue. It should be one of their many allied kingdoms. So as they were trying to guess which kingdom had come to their aid, someone stepped forward.

The person that appeared was someone they could never forget in their entire lives. It was impossible that they could ever forget this person whose abilities were beyond words and imagination. Just him standing there made people feel like kneeling. He was their savior, but at the same time, he was a frightening nightmare. His strength inspires admiration as well as fear. It was none other than Ren.

"This is the person who will guide us through this crisis. You can treat him as our new king since that's pretty much what he is now."

There were a lot of things the people wanted to say, but in front of Ren, they were speechless. They could not do or say anything in this situation. Valdel, Lara, and the others could only sigh as they watched what happened. This was basically a repeat of what Ren did in Grenton, but this time there was no proxy. Ren wasn't bothered by everyone's reactions as he was already expecting something like this.

"Hi everyone, I know this might take some time for you to digest, but do not worry, with me around this Kingdom is as good as protected. So let's get straight to it, my first order of business is those that aren't children who killed during Nyarlom's game, all of you step forward."

Of course, no one stepped forward. They didn't want to admit that they had killed during the chaos a few days ago. Even though others had seen them, they could just deny it. Ren licked his lips and showed a vicious smile. When the people saw Ren smiling like that, they felt extreme dread. That was the same smile he showed when he had killed Nyarlom.

"It's no use even if you don't step forward, I already know who you people are. Do you want me to point at you or will you willingly step forward?" The people who had killed on that day felt intense pressure when they heard what Ren said.

One after another they all started to step forward. After a while, almost all of them who had killed on that day had stepped forward. There was only one stubborn man who refused to step forward. Of course, Ren was already briefed by Henrietta as to who had killed and who had not, so he knew that man was part of those who had killed. Ren waited for a few seconds for the man to step up on his own, but he did not move an inch.

"You sir, I already know that you have killed so why don't you step forward alongside the others."

"I have not killed so why should I do so?"

"Oh, I was informed that you had killed your wife during that event."

"I did not kill my wife! She asked me to do it, she asked me to send her off towards the eternal plane. That was not an act of killing, that was what my wife wanted, I have not killed anyone!" Ren sighed, and afterward, the head of the man exploded. No one was able to see what Ren had done, but he just killed a person without even moving.

"You should've just admitted your mistakes. Well, now that that's over, let's move onto you guys." Ren looked at the people who had stepped forward. Seeing his sight was on them made the people who had killed visibly shiver in fear.

"Unlike that guy, I will give you guys a choice." When they heard what Ren said, the killers felt a sense of relief. It seems like they could get out of this situation without dying. As they were starting to feel hope, Ren quickly plunged them back to despair.

"Kill yourselves and I will allow your bodies to be buried with your loved ones. If you do not comply then I will finish you all off, and leave nothing behind."

Everyone including those that didn't kill were stunned by what Ren said. They all thought that he would give them a second chance. The killers who were silent all throughout started to get rowdy.

"Why should I kill myself?! I just did what I did in order to survive!"

"Yeah, it's not like we wanted to kill those that we loved. We were forced to do it, we had no choice!"

Most of them started yelling and trying to reason with Ren, while the others had actually gone ahead and stabbed themselves. They really regret doing what they did, so knowing that they could escape from the guilt they decided to end it. Yet despite what they did, the remaining killers continued to protest. Ren then emitted a tiny bit of bloodlust which made the killers quiet down.

"Well, at least some of you know how to listen, as for the others." Ren glared at the killers and then smiled. "I understand that what you did was because of a desperate situation, but there are others that didn't do the same. So it won't be fair for them that you guys aren't judged for what you have done. Also, and more importantly, I don't want people that have so little willpower that they would turn on their loved ones just to save themselves."

"This isn't right! Those cowards didn't kill because they were afraid to do what must be done!"

"I don't care what you say I'm not going to die today!"

The killers then started running in different directions, but the moment they did so Ren lifted his hand and in everyone's view simply swung his hand downward, and in the next moment all of the killers' bodies disappeared as only blood remained.

"Okay, now that's done with, let's move onto the next topic." Everyone present were now cowering in fear of Ren some even fainted. Seeing everyone act like that made Ren sigh.

"There's no need to be afraid, I won't kill you guys. Well, as long as you don't do anything wrong you get to live under my protection. All of you are mine now."