Rise Of The Godking

The enforcers who had come for her stayed well away from her teeth, due to their recent bitter experience when she had successfully torn away one of their ears, and had been awarded a bruised stomach.

It had been a fair exchange, and she was still proud of it. However, now… she wondered if she might have been better off acting meek.

This doubt left her when she reached the wooden platform, and saw the first body hanging there.

Her friend had been one of the meekest slaves in the pit. She would always do whatever was asked of her, even if it meant that she would not have time to sleep, or food to eat. Yet, now, she was hanging like all the others, so clearly, her meekness hadn"t gotten her anywhere.

"But can my anger take me somewhere else?"

She asked the question even though she knew the answer. In front of them, the n.o.ble was rambling on about how this had been long coming. About how the slaves had started to act unruly, even though she knew that they had always been the same sorry, downtrodden lot that they had always been.

She didn"t even know who to blame for this purge. All she knew was that they had been rounded up and brought here all of a sudden, being told that they would have to act as a message, and when the hanging had begun, it had been too late to try and escape.

"No! No! Just leave me be! I didn"t do anything!" She screamed, unwilling to give in to her fate. The enforcer hesitantly stretched his hand forward to silence her, but before he could do so, he realized at the same time as her that the surroundings had gone strangely still.

Looking up, she saw that the n.o.ble at the front was gazing at her with that face… that face that she hated so much that she had once had her arm broken because she hadn"t been able to stop yourself from punching an enforcer who had put it on in the Pit.

It was the face of someone who was looking at her as if she wasn"t human. As if she was worse than an animal. As if she was nothing, absolutely nothing, just some dirt beside the road that was to be frowned at, but not paid an ounce of attention to.

She lunged forward even now, but the enforcer was too strong. His iron grip kept her where she was, but the screams that emanated from the very core of her body rang through the area, making the n.o.ble frown even further and walk towards her.

His slap made her head ring. For a moment, the pain was such that she even forgot who she was, but when she looked up and found that same face again, she snarled and lunged again… only to be slapped on the other cheek, and left hanging by the enforcer"s arms.

"See? They are nothing. They cannot hope to grow out of their base tendencies. It"s their blood, I tell you. My father talked about it a lot. He— hey, who are you?"

In a daze due to the pain, Caroline looked up to see the n.o.ble pointing at a spot beyond the crowd he had gathered. She blinked, trying to focus and see what had interrupted the man. Even as she began to feel pity for the one on whom his anger was going to turn… a ragged scream rang through the crowd, and the enforcer holding her shuddered and took a step back, gasping with shock.

"What"s the matter now? Did that f.u.c.king master return to—"

Her thought stopped before it could fully form as she witnessed the sight that all those in the town center were staring at. A man wearing wet, red clothes was standing with his upper body slightly bent, both arms holding a hammer whose head was resting on the ground. From her raised position, she could see that a small pocket had opened up where he was, in which a woman"s body could be seen… with her head smashed in.

She wasn"t leaking a lot of blood, but it was obvious that even if she was alive, there wouldn"t be much thinking, or even much of anything she would be able to do from here on. The woman had had three guards, who were all staring, dumbstruck, at their dead master. They all recovered at the same time; with loud shouts, they drew out knives and batons and jumped at the man…who raised a single hand and made them all stop, mid-step.

Caroline"s eyes widened, and she could feel the same happening to all those around her. Taking a step forward, the man smoothly slashed all three of their necks with the dagger that he took out from his robes.

He stepped to another n.o.ble nearby, and the old fart he was walking towards had the gall to raise his hand and ask, "What is this? What do you think you"re doing? What right do you have to—"

His hand rose once more, the five guards who had been about to retaliate froze, and one by one, as they fell to the floor with their lifeblood gus.h.i.+ng out of their throats, he came closer and closer to the old man who was also frozen, but not due to whatever magic the man was using.

The hammer rose. But before it fell, a voice colder than the coldest depths of the Pit rang out over the area.

"I am justice. Barrett Johans. Killed 63 slaves over his lifetime, either directly or indirectly. Raped 16, four of those barely teenagers. Toyed with and destroyed the lives of seven refinery workers. You thought justice would not find you. Well…here it is."

The sound of the old man falling to the floor with his head caved in seemed to be one of the loudest things that Caroline had ever heard. She didn"t even know when it had appeared, but a smile had stretched across her lips.

"YES!" She shouted, making the n.o.ble on the gibbet and the enforcer who had been holding her both look at her, then turn back as they had bigger problems ahead.

"Madeline Jerrock. Caused the deaths of 46 slaves and four refinery workers. Encouraged numerous rapes by your sons for "Practise"."

The sound of metal bas.h.i.+ng into a skull was one of the sweetest things that she had ever heard. She cheered again, even louder than before, and from behind her, she could hear others taking it up, too.

The enforcer behind her began to run. The guards of the n.o.bles were also so scared that they hardly began to put up a modic.u.m of resistance, and after six more died without being able to even raise their hands to protect themselves, the rest began to flee, leaving behind those they had sworn to protect.

Some of the n.o.bles tried to mimic them, but every time they did, the man raised one hand and made them fall to the ground where they were. He went to each one, narrated their crimes, and bludgeoned them to the valley beyond using his hammer.

"THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!" Rang the weapon, a righteous sound that made Caroline want to dance with joy. She wished that her mother and father could have been alive to see it all happen… but from where they were hanging nearby, she was happy that they had the best view, even though they couldn"t enjoy it.

He came up to the gibbet last, which was empty except for her and the master"s sons. All of the guards had left, leaving them to the reaper"s mercy. 

He didn"t even deign to climb up to get to them. Raising a single finger, he beckoned at them imperiously, and with a gulp, they walked to him, disbelief clouding their faces as they didn"t understand what they were doing. It was almost comical to look at as their legs were going towards the man while their upper bodies were bent back, trying to escape, and seeing it, Caroline laughed, tears running down her eyes as she remembered the screams of her parents.

When they reached him, the man rattled out a list longer and darker than those of all the others combined. When he was done, both the sons of the master were shaking.

"Who are you? Wh-what right do you have to punish us?" Croaked the eldest son of the master, a moment before the hammer fell.

The man grinned; a b.l.o.o.d.y grin empty of mirth.

"I have ruled millions who chanted my name so loudly that the Heavens shook. I have judged thousands whose sins are graver than yours. I am the judge. I am the jury. I am the executioner. I am He who comes to collect, from those who live believing that they will never have to pay. I Listen, and the Will wails. Tremble, for justice is come to this forsaken land…and where I walk, it shall have its due."

The hammer fell twice. Then, there was silence. 

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