"Hey... Raven. What the hell do you think you're doing? Call for the vote,"
Raven didn't answer and the man shot to his feet and slammed his hand on the table!
"I told you to call for the vote, Raven!!!"
Raven stayed silent and only tightened his hold on the ball even more. From the other end of the table, Floid spoke.
"Five seconds left,"
Everyone in the room looked towards Floid in shock and Floid just smiled. It was hilarious watching this. Floid couldn't believe that everyone was so engrossed in the game that they forgot that Raven was also a part of it. Raven was also a stakeholder in this kingdom and he also needed to have a ball in order to survive. Did they really think that Raven would give up his life to save them?
All the stakeholders in the room were surprised when Raven refused to call for another vote and the man that was supposed to be voted for yelled out in anger once he realized that time was almost up! He threw his chair away and bolted straight for Raven! He needed to get that ball! What the hell does Raven think he is doing!? You can't cheat like this!
His movement was what finally made everyone come alive in the room and all the people with balls held tightly to their balls and hid them so that the ball wouldn't be taken from them! But the dark-skinned woman that received four votes couldn't move fast enough and she was suddenly pounced on by the man that only had one vote! He had a look of desperation on his face as he slammed his fist into her face and kicked her before grabbing the ball and running for his dear life!!
"No!! Fuck!!!"
The woman's son shouted out in anger and he shot to his feet to try and take the ball back from the man but he was too late. A lance shot out of the ground and pierced into the boy's jaw before slamming out from the top of his head!
Squelch!!
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The dark-skinned woman screamed as she saw her son getting killed but she also suffered the same fate as she was pierced through the chest by a lance! Just like that, everyone that didn't have a ball was immediately killed!
From the very beginning, this entire game was pointless to Floid and Floid didn't care how they distributed the ball. All Floid said was that he would kill the six people that were not chosen. It didn't matter how they were chosen. So long as you had a ball, you would survive.
Raven stood with a stoic face as he stared at the man who was trying to get the ball back from him. The man was only a finger length away but a lance had stabbed through his chest and anchored him to the ground. He was glaring at Raven with anger and there was blood leaking from his lips. If Raven was the sort of person who believed in ghosts, then Raven was sure that this man's ghost would haunt him for the rest of his life!
Raven grit his teeth and stared the man right in the eye. Raven had no regrets about what he did. It was me or them. If I didn't do this, then I would have died. I have to survive.
Raven planned this moment perfectly from the very beginning. Raven knew that if he had played this game fairly, he would have gotten the lowest number of votes out of everyone here. Why would they vote for him when he is the one responsible for bringing them here and leading them to their deaths? They wouldn't vote for him at all and they would have tried their best to make sure he dies. But Raven couldn't let that happen. Raven needs his life more than any of them. If Raven dies, then everything would break apart. Raven was the only one preventing Floid from destroying Trad and if Raven died then the negotiation would have been pointless.
After the people without balls were killed, those who survived finally stood up slowly and looked toward Floid. Floid could see that most of them were shaking and some of the women even had tears in their eyes. Floid couldn't deny that this was more fun than he thought it would be.
"It seems we have our winners. You're the nine that will be in charge of handling all the finances for the New Trad. Trad is no longer going to be recognized as a kingdom, instead, it will now be the Republic of Trad and all future leaders will be chosen by me. Any objections?"
No one rose their hands and they said nothing. Katherine saw Flood look towards her and she ducked her head with speed and tightened her hands together in fear! At the beginning of this meeting, she could easily say with confidence that she wasn't afraid of Floid. She used to think that she could handle Floid if they ever had a conflict, but now she can't even look at him without shaking! Her hands wouldn't stop vibrating! What the hell just happened here!? It was only five minutes ago that Katherine still thought that she was one of the cruelest people in this world, but Floid has to be worse than anyone she has ever met! He killed everyone. He didn't even spare the old woman or the children!
Floid continued after he noticed that no one was going to say anything.
"Well then, since there are no objections. I'll introduce the last member of your small group of traders. Travy, come here,"
The door to the room opened and Travy came in from the other room. He was wearing an extravagant outfit that made him look like a true aristocrat. Travy just came back from his business in Uta where he was helping Ophis to sneak into the kingdom and he couldn't believe it when Alucard informed him that the demon lord has decided to finally take over Trad. It was so sudden, but Travy knew that if the demon lord wanted to do it, he easily could. And Travy was proven right. Travy watched the game from the other room and his respect for the demon lord was at an all-time high! The demon lord played with the minds of these aristocrats and he reduced them to animals who were desperately trying to live! It was something only a truly powerful person could do. Travy would never regret following the demon lord. It was the best decision he ever made.
Trav walked straight towards Floid and bowed deeply to greet his lord. All the other trader's in the room were surprised to see him. Where the hell had he been all this time? Travy wasn't one of the stakeholders in the kingdom but he was still one of the most important traders to ever live. But why is he suddenly greeting Floid like that? And why did Floid call him Travy? Wasn't his name Keith?
Keith was just a fake name that Travy used to live in the human world. No one knows that Travy is a demon and Floid decided that it wasn't necessary to tell them anything. They only need to know that Travy will be the direct link from them to him. Floid announced that if they ever needed to get a message across to him then they are only allowed to go through Travy. Floid wasn't interested in talking with the humans so he would allow Travy to handle them.
Floid then started to explain to the traders exactly how the Republic would be handled from now on. The ten traders in the room would be in charge of handling everything in Trad. From the smallest detail right up to the largest trades. Floid already had a plan for how to separate the finances and estates among the ten of them and he handed a book to Travy and told Travy to deal with the actual distribution. Floid already wrote down all the plans there so even an idiot should be able to follow the instructions. Travy nodded and collected the book from his master.
Floid then told everyone that Raven would be the new leader of Trad. Everyone was silent and some of them even looked toward Raven with anger in their eyes. They still haven't forgiven him for all of this because they blamed him for their misfortune.
Floid noticed the glares and he tapped his finger on the table with a small grin.
"Show some respect to your leader, children. Aren't you going to give him a round of applause?"
Once Floid said this, everyone immediately started to clap for Raven. The clapping was completely out of tune because all their hands were shaking so they couldn't clap at the same frequency. They were still feeling the effects of what Floid did and it would probably take a few days for them to get themselves back again. Floid shrugged internally. The trauma doesn't affect their trading so I don't need them to overcome the trauma. As long as they remember who owns them.
Once Floid was satisfied with their clapping, he stood up and started walking out of the room. He was finished with them. Floid stopped in front of Raven and Raven bowed deeply to Floid while thanking him.
"I will never forget the favor you showed me today. I am truly grateful for your mercy,"
Katherine grit her teeth in anger when Raven called this mercy! If this is merciful then what the hell would be merciless!? What the hell would Floid have done if he was going all out? Floid already killed more than a hundred people today and Raven was acting like it would have been much worse!
Floid just put his hand on Raven's head and he felt Raven stiffen under him. Floid spoke with a smile.
"I decided that it would be fun to watch you play with this republic. But even as you are playing with them, don't forget your place, cattle. Do not ever make it so that I have to remind you. Do you understand?"
Raven nodded shakily and Floid smiled before removing his hand from Raven's head and turning.
"There will be a guest with you for the foreseeable future. Take proper care of him will you."
Floid signaled to Alucard with two fingers. Alucard held his hand out and he summoned a bat familiar from his spatial space. The bat familiar released a small cry before it flew off Alucard's hand and landed on Raven's shoulder. It flapped its wings a few times before it settled down and got comfortable. Raven flinched as he felt the bat familiar dig its claws into his shoulder. Raven could feel some blood leaking from the shoulder but he ignored it and he just thanked Floid for the opportunity once again.
Raven waited to hear the sound of Floid leaving the room before he finally fell to his ass. He put his head in his hands and sighed. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!!!! What the hell have they gotten themselves into!?
A hand touched Raven on his free shoulder and Raven looked up to see Katherine's father looking down at him. The man spoke with intensity.
"Raven, I believe that now you have the time to explain things to us. Tell me exactly what happened over the last twenty-four hours. What did you do, Raven?"
Raven closed his eyes and sighed again before he stood up and looked at the other eight people in the room. Travy and Alucard already left with the demon lord but the bat familiar resting on Raven's shoulder reminded him that his every move was being watched. But Raven knew that even if he explained things to them there won't be a problem.
Raven stood and faced everyone and the first words he said made everyone realize that their fates were already sealed.
"That man was the king of demons. The new demon lord, Floid Demonheart,"
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶