Chapter 298- Safe Space
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"Now then..... make the decision quickly. Ah, why don't we do this."

Trevor stepped down elegantly as he made his way over to the corpse of the black cobra.

Grabbing it by the head, he reeled back and threw the corpse as if he was a pitcher, so that it landed just before the sea of flesh which surrounded the people.

"If you wish to serve this false provider to your last breath, then that is fine. However there will be a condition."

Trevor motioned for the other 3 antiheroes as well as the mercenaries to follow him outside of the plaza area, where they stood on top of the land which had been transformed into meat.

"To anyone who wishes to stay loyal to your provider to your very last breath, that is fine by me. If you truly fear the outside world, then that is acceptable. You will never have to leave this place- this sacred haven of yours. However, if you are brave enough to step outside of your precious domain...."

Trevor held out his hands as if he was presenting the entire world to the snakemen.

"Then we will show you the horrors and the beauty of the outside."

The snakemen looked around at one another.

They were terrified.

Not a single person had ever stepped outside the village.

Furthermore, outside now were these beings of ultimate power.

It was enough to make them throw up and shrivel up in fear.

However there were a few women from the prisons who stepped forward.

"If.... if you truly do not expect us to do the impossible..... then I will come out....."

"Me too...."

"Me as well...."

A group of beautiful snakewomen stepped forward, planting their feet on the firm yet squishy meat which painted the landscape.

They kneeled before the antiheroes, bowing their heads in submission.

"We will serve you as your slaves. Please.... just do not treat us the same way as the provider did...."

Trevor stood forward with an arrogant grin, and bent down before the women.

Grabbing the chin of the one who said this, he gave her a kind yet dominant smile.

"You have made the correct decision. I will personally ensure that you don't regret it. Stand proud. You will soon be able to declare to all with your chests puffed out that you are our slaves."

The women looked up at the figure before them with sad eyes.

They had been abused.

They had been unjustly judged.

They had been sent off to do slave labor on the mere whim of the ruler who they respected with all their hearts.

While he was living, there was not a second which they did not loathe themselves for not being good enough for him.

And yet at the moment they witnessed him die, they came to a realization.

'He isn't perfect.'

'He can die too.'

'The provider..... was nothing.'

'He was not worth going through all that effort to please.'

'I spent hours.... days.... years..... trying and trying..... to please him....'

'And yet he betrayed me... he threw me aside on nothing more than a whim.'

And so, these women, who were now faced with the confident smile of the elf before them, felt something in their hearts.

'This man.....'

'He is a true leader.....'

They could feel a great compassion emitting from this man, despite his overarching demeanor.

One which the provider had never in his life so much as considered.

To the provider, they were nothing more than tools, and broken ones at that.

From that man, who they so desperately tried to please, they received not a single sign of acknowledgement.

And so, for this reason, on seeing the welcoming smile of this man, their eyes welled up with tears, and they could not hold them in any longer.

The women began to cry.

"Do.... do you really mean that?!"

"Will..... will you abandon us like he did? Like the provider did!?"

Trevor looked over to the corpse of the provider with a great disgust, and spoke out with a loud voice for all to hear.

"To anyone who comes into my fold, I will ensure with every last fiber of my being that if a single person is to ever offend you in the slightest....."

The face of the elf then became a twisted horror, filled with sinister malice.

"Then we will put them through a suffering worse than hell itself. To them, we will become the demons which will haunt them to the end of their pitiful existence."

----

"Now choose. Who else will step forward?", Trevor questioned.

A number of the prisoners slowly began to come forward.

"They're right...."

"The provider... he did abandon us...."

"He did!!! He was all talk!!! He was worthless!!! He never once gave anything for us, and now he's dead!!!!"

Some men began to shout as a number of the people rushed forward, leaving only a few people from the prisons who had not come forward.

All of the people from the prisons were covered in bruises, cuts, scars, and all sorts of lacerations from being whipped and beaten.

Not a single one of them was well fed, and thus their bodies were thin and malnourished.

"W-what are you saying? Are you going against the provider!?!?!"

"You traitors!!!"

Some people from the crowds began to shout at those who stepped forward, however the slaves then began to shout back.

"You don't understand.... none of you understand what we went through..... the provider.... has done nothing for us..."

"You idiots!!!! The provider is the one who gave you sustenance!!! Are you going to bite the hand that feeds you!?"

The slave who was arguing looked back with horror and disgust, shaking his head.

"Is that what you thought? That the provider was the one who created that sustenance? No.... he didn't do any of that. The people around us..... and these people in front of us. They are true providers."

"Traitor!!!"

As more and more of the people from the prisons walked over to the side of the antiheroes, two remained.

A husband and a wife.

They were filled with fear, looking back and forth between each side.

"W-what do we do....", the husband asked the wife, trembling in fear as the other slaves disappeared from their view.

"I-isn't it obvious? We..... we can't betray the provider.... it was because you betrayed him that we were brought here.... this.... this might just be a big test!!!", the woman shouted.

"I.... I see....."

On hearing these words, many of the people who were not from the prison camp froze.

Some had been considering walking over, but the thought that this might be some grand test to determine the loyalty of the people came into their minds.

This thought was irrational, but it creeped its way into the hearts of the people, inspiring fear in them.

'What if.... he is still alive?'

'What if.... these people were hired to play a part in such a test?'

'What if.... the test which he placed on the members of the military was extended to ourselves?'

There were many holes in this line of thought, but the minds of the people were scrambled, and unable to think straight.

Many fell to their knees, holding their heads in anguish.

"What do I do...."

"Agh.... which way do I go!?"

However, in the midst of all these people, a single man stood forward.

"I'll take the chance."

He walked outside of the plaza, stepping onto the field of flesh.

"I will believe you all. I will believe in the power which I have witnessed, and hope that you are telling the truth.... and that the provider truly is dead."

A number of gasps were heard as this man said this.

In the case that the provider truly still lived and this was some massive scheme to root out dissidence, such a statement would be equivalent to declaring his own death.

Yet, following this man were more people.

One by one, men, women, and children, around 100 of the snakepeople had stepped outside of the boundary.

Ashley then put her own hand to her mouth, the long sleeves of her gown covering it, and giggled.

"Hehehe..... anyone else?"

The remaining snakemen were filled with fear and determination.

They were terrified of the consequences of what would happen if they stepped out of the circle, so they did not move.

Many were filled with anger towards these people for the slaughter of their leader.

Others were filled with terror at the thought of betraying their leader only to be labeled as a dissenter.

"Then.. that is it?", Ashley asked with a horrible smile, her eyes becoming filled with bloodlust. "Alright then. If you are too scared to exit that place, then I will place a gate for you. But first...."

Ashley floated her way over and grabbed the corpse of the provider.

"I'll be taking this. I know he's your precious leader, but I can't just allow this piece of shit to continue peacefully sleeping."

Ashley's face twisted with sadism as she said this.

"After all.... this person is the worst type of scum. The type who expects others to be perfect, while not doing shit himself. It would be a crime for me to let him off the hook with just the death penalty."

Throwing the mangled body of the cobra into her inventory, Ashley giggled as she stepped behind the others.

Garett then stood forward and looked into the eyes of the people one final time.

Some were filled with horror, and all of them were filled with rage.

"Then.... if you are so bent on staying in this little place, safe from the outsiders, then I will make that a reality."

Garett raised a hand and from the ground itself a fence sprouted, surrounding the entire plaza.

It grew until it eventually formed a dome around the area, ensnaring the people of the village.

"Nobody will ever enter, nor will anyone leave this place. As for food... well, you were the ones who rejected our offer of sustenance, were you not? Figure it out yourself. Without your provider."

The fence began to crackle with electricity.

"You..... you'll never get away with this!!!!"

"We'll kill you someday!!!!"

"How dare you do that to our leader!!!!!"

Ashley then stood forward with a bored glare in her eyes, holding out her hand.

"You are being too loud. I never want to hear a word from any of you again."

The people inside the fence were then forced to the ground, their bodies becoming prostate in an instant under a tremendous gravitational force.

The terror within the people was reinstilled to an indescribable level.

The ones who were too terrified of the prospect of their leader testing them realized at this moment that they had made the wrong decision.

They had believed that it was possible that the power which these people held was given to them by their leader, and that the body in front of them was a fake.

But upon feeling this horrible pressure, the minds of the people were scrambled.

Yet in the madness, they came to realize one sole fact.

They realized that they made a mistake to not step outside the boundaries of these walls, and that it was something which they would never be able to take back.

'AGH!!!!!! I feel like I am being torn apart!!!!!'

'This woman... she is too powerful!!!!!!! She is too powerful!!!!! AGH!!!!!! I can't even breathe!!!!!'

'Just how much magical energy does this woman have?!?! Is this the full extent of it!?!?! Or is this only a fraction of her power!?!?!?!'

'C-could it be..... could this be only a single percentage of her strength!?!?!'

Samantha laughed as she watched the people struggle, their minds thrown into chaos.

Stepping forward once more, she spoke in a beautiful voice which captured the attention of the people, even while they were being strangled under the horrible pressure.

"A single percentage? If she were to use that, the entire universe would cease to exist."

Samantha then placed her arm around Ashley, hugging her like a lifelong friend.

"After all..... this girl right here.... she is the Archduchess of Calamity."

----

"Follow us."

Trevor ordered the snakemen who had decided to serve them to follow him, over to the location which once held the prison, however was now merely a field of flesh.

The mercenaries followed directly behind the antiheroes, who walked forward in regal manner. Ashley held out her hand once more, tearing a hole in the meat which made up the ground.

Out of the hole floated two bodies.

One was the body of a young female snake person, who had two pigtails as her hairstyle.

Her throat had been crushed and there were beatings and bruises covering her body.

The other was the headless body of a snakeman who wore a uniform, along with his dismembered head.

"These two assisted you four in your journey, and showed you courtesy even in this wretched place where none was to be found. We cannot allow them to go unrewarded for this.", Trevor stated.

"Thank you.... thank you, your excellencies....", Charlotte exclaimed sadly. "I....."

"Do not speak. We will discuss things later regarding your performance.", Trevor ordered.

Charlotte merely nodded, and the others remained silent.

Samantha held out her hand and a beam of healing energy shot out, repairing the bodies of the two, and removing all bruising.

As she did this, the beam then spread to all the snakepeople behind them, completely curing any wounds which they had.

The previously malnourished snakemen gained lively forms, and stared at their own bodies in shock as they were restored to life.

"What is this?"

"What's going on?"

Samantha turned back with a mature smile, thinning her eyes as she looked upon the people she had healed.

"There are no injured among our slaves. That is an absolute law."

"Thank you....."

"Thank you....."

"THANK YOU!!!!!"

A cheer of thanks erupted from the people as they bowed before their new leaders.

"You are truly..... greater leaders than the provider...."

"I cannot believe that I ever served such a leader when people like you all existed."

"I was wrong to believe that outsiders were demons....."

Trevor smiled at the people with arrogance.

"Don't misunderstand here. We are demons. However, even demons take care of their own. What good would an injured slave be? Your productivity would diminish significantly, and we cannot be having that. Now then.... I think it's time to show you all something special."

After Trevor said this, Ashley stood forward and placed her hands into the minds of the two people, closing her eyes as she did so.

Her face wrinkled with horror as she read the memories of the souls of these people, and she then opened her eyes to witness the light grey souls which floated above them.

"Heeeey..... Gaaaary... I think we should have a whole lot of fun with the provider tonight.... he deserves a whole lot of punishment..... heheheheh....."

"Heh heh heh..... sounds like a date then."

"Yaay!!"

After this interaction, Ashley grabbed the throats of the two souls, forcing them back into the bodies of the people.

The young girl and the soldier who were once lifeless then opened their eyes in surprise.

Looking around in confusion, they witnessed the shocking scenario.

The sea of flesh around them, the four beings of chaos before them, the humans which they had met just the previous night, and finally, dozens of people behind them.

"Where..... what is going on?", Thomar asked.

"Soldier..... are.... are we alive?"

"You people..... the humans who invaded the town.... did you do this?"

Melody stood forward with a grin, presenting her masters before the two.

"This was the work of their excellencies, the antiheroes. Thanks to them, even death can be fixed."

Thomar looked peacefully on as he began to laugh.

"Ahaha... so it wasn't all for nothing..."

Grabbing Pliara, he hugged her tightly.

"Soldier..... I was scared to die....."

"And I'm sorry..... for not being by your side at that time....."

The soldier then stood up, looking around.

"Just what happened here?", he asked.

"What happened here? We've destroyed this village. The people here are no more."

Trevor then looked back to all the ones behind him, and shouted out a decree.

"To your provider, you were not allowed such a thing as a name. A number is all you were afforded. However, does a man not name his property which he values? Are boats and vehicles not given names? Horses? Pets? All these things are given names. Numbers are given only to objects which hold no individual worth."

Trevor fixed his tie as he paced.

"But now, you all have submitted yourselves as our slaves, and as such you are now our property. Therefore, there is no longer any need for you to be recognized by mere numbers. For to us, every single piece of our property is priceless. Therefore, name yourselves. You are free to do so."

Another round of cheers was heard from the people, and Thomar looked onto this scene with happiness as he held Pliara in his arms.

"We..... can finally have names.....", he said.

"Mhm....", Pliara replied.

Trevor then turned to the two.

"Well? Will you also become our slaves? We tend to take good care of our property, even if we are dictators."

"Dictators...."

Pliara whispered this word with a tone of disdain.

But looking up, she saw the demonic yet kind faces of the people who offered their hands out to her.

"Dictators.... perhaps not all of them are so bad....."

"We will do it.", Thomar stated with a smile.

"We will become your property, your excellencies."

Pushing up his glasses with a smile, Trevor nodded.

"The correct decision. Yet another successful endeavor in which we have gained a large number of assets. At the rate which our net worth is growing, we're well on our way to becoming the top company in the world."

Turning to the people, he then spoke once more.

"Then let us return to our nation, the place which will be your new home."

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