Ratmawati City, Sector 3, the Executor's castle.
It has been a couple of hours now that the Awakened guarding the perimeter of the castle has their heart thumping violently, numerous Awakened from different guilds were sweating profusely as they stand with their weapons in hand.
Each of their expressions depicted the same emotions, fear, and desperation.
Knowing the entity living inside the castle, the supposed new ruler of humanity, none of them dared to as much as take a glance at the castle, fearing that their eyes alone will sully the mood of the owner of the castle.
Nobody was complaining when the ground beneath them shakes violently a couple of times.
Shockwaves occasionally exploded from the castle, and the monstrous sound from the inside penetrate their eardrums, causing the fear inside of them to become stronger. It was unclear what the Executor is doing inside.
One of them reported this to the higher-ups, and Brigitta was notified about this.
As the only one that is accepted and allowed to enter the castle, Brigitta was sent to confront and finds out about the unclear situation. The last thing she remembered was the Executor leaving, yet he was now already back again.
Clearly, his power transcends anything the current humanity has to track him.
It was then, a black sedan coursed through the empty street and stopped in front of the castle. One of the Awakened opened the door before Brigitta walks out in a formal outfit. Despite wearing sunglasses, the exasperated expression on her face is evident.
Clearly, even she doesn't want to be here personally, and yet there was no other choice.
Upon getting out of the car, Brigitta takes a pause and inhales deeply which is very much needed to deal with the situation ahead of her. Glancing to the side, she then asked to the Awakened that opened the door for her, "Tell me about the situation"
"Yes, Lady Brigitta" the Awakened bowed slightly.
Straightening his back again, the Awakened puts on a tense expression and explained.
"It started about dawn. We don't know what the Executor is doing, but a couple of powerful shockwaves happened, and they cracked the surrounding buildings' walls. Additionally, we can hear monstrous roars, and we don't know what made it but it definitely comes from the castle"
Just from hearing the Awakened alone, Brigitta knows that it's going to be a headache.
'If it's the Executor, it can be anything. But shockwaves and monstrous roar? I don't like the sound of it, and I hope the Executor is not in a bad mood' Brigitta thought, she could only sigh and finds out the problem herself.
Entering the castle, she activates her aura to notify the Executor of her presence.
Out of nowhere, in the hall leading to the Executor's mighty throne, Brigitta's heart skipped a beat when the Executor appears from thin air. Instead of sitting on the throne and gazing down at her as he used to do, the Executor is standing right in front of the stairs leading to the throne.
Furthermore, the thing that disturbed Brigitta the most is the fact that he was smiling.
Like a serial killer acting innocent in front of his victim, the Executor's smile is definitely eerie. Although it seemed somewhat genuine, the fact that the Executor smiling like this never happened made the situation odd and tense.
At the sight of him, Brigitta quickly went down to her knees.
Unknown to Brigitta, the moment she knelt, the Executor gritted his teeth seemingly in anger. It was a weird reaction, yet Brigitta didn't notice this and said respectfully, "I humbly apologize to disturb you and soil your purity with my presence"
"No, don't be stiff. I'm happy you're here" the Executor replied and strides closer.
Brigitta can feel that something is off, the way the Executor talked to her changed and she didn't like this one bit, "I've come here to check if you need anything of me, I am always available if you require anything"
"Is that so...? Well, I don't really need anything right now" the Executor replied.
Sighing in relief to herself finding that she wouldn't need to worry about anything, Brigitta bowed her head deeper. Just then, the Executor added, "Is that really the only thing you came here to see me here, Pillar of Humanity, Brigitta?"
Even with the mockery in his voice, Brigitta didn't react and accepted it silently.
"Yes, you're our utmost priority, and I simply came here to know if our services are up to your standards or not..." Brigitta replied, her tone was as respectful as one can get, and her attitude is flawless.
Now that she finds that the Executor doesn't need anything, she decided to call it off.
Despite wanting to know what the Executor is doing, it's best that she plays this on the good side and ends the conversation here while it's still good, "If you don't need anything, then I'm glad. I will always be near you if you need anything. May I leave now...?"
"Of course, you can leave. Go ahead" the Executor replied.
Just as she heard that she bowed once again before standing up, intending to leave.
As Brigitta turns around and heads towards the exit, the Executor's smile suddenly disappeared in an instant. Looking at Brigitta's back, his expression darkens, seemingly enveloped by a negative emotion that came out of nowhere.
It was sudden as even Brigitta didn't see any cue earlier that the Executor was displeased.
From Brigitta's point of view, the conversation went smoothly, and she was even on one of the best behavior she could possibly pull off, there were no hiccups along the way, and she was flawless at this meeting.
But then out of nowhere, Brigitta suddenly stopped in her tracks abruptly.
"Wait..." a rasping voice came from the back.
Brigitta's heart dropped to her stomach as she was about to reach the exit but was stopped by the Executor. Turning around, she then smiled pleasantly again, "Yes? Is there something you need?" she asked again.
"I've asked for 1,000 Awakened souls, where are they?" the Executor suddenly asked.
Upon hearing this, Brigitta frowns as she was utterly confused by the question, "1,000 Awakened souls? If I remember correctly, you've asked for the Awakened souls to be delivered to you in two days' time, not today" she replied.
Appeasing the Executor is her job, and she kept track of every request he wants perfectly.
Mistaking something that the Executor wanted will be the death of her, so it was clear in her mind that the Executor demanded 1,000 Awakened souls not too long ago, and she also clearly remembered that he asked for those souls in two days' time. She still has two days before the due date.
Surely, being asked about this confuses her completely.
Tilting his head slightly, the Executor looks down while slightly chuckling.
It was the moment when he raises his head back, his expression completely changed into a grim one, devoid of the somewhat genuine smile he wears earlier. "Do you think you're smarter than me... Brigitta?"
"W-What...? O- Of course not, I would nev-"
Just as she was trying to defend herself, her sentence got completely cut off.
Out of nowhere, the Executor grabbed Brigitta's head and pushed it down with anger clearly written on his face. Bringing his face closer, he then added, "Then why did you try to correct me instead of saying yes like the animal you are?"
"I'm- I'm- I'm sorry" Brigitta stutters, the situation escalated in an instant.
Not even gracefully accepting Brigitta's apology despite she was not in the wrong, the Executor tighten his grip on her head and flung her body to the side like a ragdoll, sending her crashing onto the wall.
Boom!!
A mouthful of blood came out of her mouth, and her body feels like breaking apart.
Brigitta sat beside the wall in utter confusion, it was unclear what she did wrong, everything happened so fast. A drizzle of blood can be seen on the side of her face, yet before she can recover, the Executor already appeared in front of her and reaches out his hand again.
Upon seeing this, Brigitta tries to plead in mercy, "W-Wait! Please!"
Ignoring her plead, showing no mercy, the Executor grabbed her head again and keep on banging her head to the wall without any particular reason. A savage look can be seen on his face, ruthlessly punishing Brigitta.
While he was doing this, he started venting out the anger inside of him.
"How dare them?!"
Bam!
"Going to the sacred place and tainting father's purity?! For what?! FOR WHAT?!"
Bam!
"I'm going to kill them... I'm going to kill them all!"
Bam!
Only the sound of loud banging sound can be heard, reverberating throughout the hall.
Nothing else except the misery that Brigitta is suffering right now can be heard, rhyming with the note of death and brutality. Such barbarity came suddenly, yet that's always been the risk in entering the castle of the new ruler.
Amidst the violence she was exposed to, her blurry vision caught sight of a figure.
Standing at the end of her vision was someone that looks familiar, she should at least saw him once before. But the situation she was in makes it hard for her to recognize the figure before she eventually succumb to the pain.
~
Meanwhile, back to Dargena City.
Rex walked back to the castle without the help of both Adhara and Evelyn.
Just like what Calidora said to him, Rex needs to keep his image as the new standing power. Even though he has a reason to justify his condition, he still needs to keep the bare minimum of his accepted appearance in public.
Considering that there are the Elves here now, he really needs to do this alone.
Fighting the Elders is not a small feat whatsoever, yet Calidora's advice is inadvertently right.
Going through the street of Dargena City, passing the onlookers with an erected spine, Rex heads to the castle with a steady pace. Not too fast, and not too long. He kept his dignified appearance, to keep the people underneath him confident of him.
Upon reaching the gate of the castle, he saw Queen Shanaela welcoming his return.
Knowing what Rex has done despite his appearance and condition right now, under the surprise of the other Elves watching from the gate to the castle as well as her right hand, Queen Shanaela falls to her knees.
Showing her respect to Rex voluntarily as he earned that right upon his return.
"I, Queen of the Elves humbly rejoice for your return, Lord Rex" Queen Shanaela said lightly.
Rex nodded his head in acknowledgment while gazing down at the kneeling Queen Shanaela, he knows that fighting the Supernatural Elders is proof enough for her that she has chosen the right lord to serve.
"I have you to thank for the information, Queen Shanaela" Rex said, complimenting her.
But this makes Queen Shanaela bow her head deeper, showing her utmost respect, "It's only natural for me to share the information with you, Lord Rex. We, and the allied races will always be under you and be loyal to you"
"Nevertheless, I will see to it that you will be compensated" Rex replied.
As Rex is in no condition to continue where their conversation has left off earlier, Queen Shanaela didn't say anything further as Rex walks past her and enters the castle before the door closes behind him.
Immediately after Rex walked inside, her right hand, Hastion hurriedly helped her up.
"We are an allied nation with the Silverstar Pack, there's no need for you, the ruler of our beloved Kingdom to kneel like that. My Queen, our standing should be equal with them" Hastion said with a slightly panic tone.
Upon hearing this, Queen Shanaela shakes her head, "No we aren't starting from now..."
"Hastion, didn't you sense the energy lingering around him? I'm not sure myself but that's three different energies lingering on Lord Rex's body. Do you understand what that means...?" she added.
But when he realized this, Hastion choked as he was also surprised.
"Yes, it seems he fought three high-rank Supernatural Elders and survived. And that alone is a feat enough to make our kingdom subservient to him, it's not a stretch to actually believe that he's going to be the apex ruler of the entire world..."
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