“It’s done, my liege,” Sekh said, her tone just a tad deeper. She stared at the 13 corpses with two bullet holes each, then at the shivering cyclops who couldn’t stop shaking her hand. I nodded, then told Sekh to take Erin and Niva and line up the 18 slaves.  

She understood what I was going to do, and once she was out of the way, I created a wave of slime from my arms. It washed over all bodies in a sea of green, assimilating only the flesh and leaving earthly possessions behind.   

The activity log seemed to skip over some of my level-ups, but I talked to the AI, who said everything was as it should’ve been.   

After…that, I ended at Lv. 39 with a total of 1,866 SP. But 302 SP came from [Tyranny Control]’s SP sharing effect. And for Sekh, who was my level, and Niva, who stopped at Lv. 28, the former gained 298 SP, and the latter received 306 from their level-ups. Niva was luckier this time, but as I stared at my almost ton of SP… 

My lord, [Auto-Loot] has been upgraded to automatically collect monster materials and humanoid equipment from those you slay. It will take 234 SP to level [Stomach] to Lv. 10, but your new storage capacity will be 3,997 LBS.  

“Go for it,” I said, turning to my clone. Primrose had not necessarily fainted, but she collapsed and continued to shed that sap leaking from her tear ducts.  

Looking up, I stared at the moon until Tilde tapped me on the shoulder. She told me I didn’t have the right to complain or regret what I’d done because I chose to do what I did. I told her I knew that, then asked her to calm down the startled horses. Meanwhile, I walked over to the slave wagons and saw 18 faces with wildly different emotions forced to their knees. They all talked at once. A messy chorus of pleas, threats, and thinly veiled promises of raping my corpse were thrown at me. Sekh’s fire was conjured around her arms, and I saw painful burns on some of their faces.   

Before vanishing, my clone threw me Oswell’s bounty tags.  

“Listen up—”   

“What the fuck is going on?!?!”   

“Why are there guns?!?!”   

“Where’s the bitch with the squirrel tail?!?!” 

Bang! Bang! Bang! 

After firing Reina’s gun thrice in the air, the roving band of slaves finally clamped their mouths.  

My MP only dropped by 4%.  

“Sit the fuck down!” I shouted as the tags vanished from my hands. A second later, 11 of the 18 prisoners had a glowing waypoint over their heads.   

It just so happened that those 11 looked the guiltiest, possibly because they were convicted of murder, rape, and other heinous crimes. The others were thieves at best-- liars at worst-- and three of them were collateral.   

I aimed Reina’s pistol at the first marked one. He begged for his life and promised to do anything. His words were wasted because he murdered his wife and tortured his daughter on the empty promise to marry a noblewoman who wanted to have a spot of fun by leading a man desperate for money. 

If I come across her, she’s dying. 

Bang!  

Bang!  

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang! 

Eleven more corpses smacked lifelessly into the ground, but not before losing what little earthly possessions they had on their body. 

Oh, right. [Auto-Loot] affects humanoids now. That’s why they’re naked. AI, alter the settings as followed.  

“The rest of you won’t die tonight,” I announced to the shivering, crying survivors, which included Uryla and her brothers. “Stand up. That’s an order. That includes you, Erin. Get closer.”  

“What’s the plan?” Sekh asked. After cutting my palm, I instructed her to break the seals of those with a waypoint over their head. Once those four were free, they scampered without a second thought after realizing the impossible was happening in front of them.   

When it came to Erin, I rubbed her head and kneeled as Sekh put my blood on the Catfolk’s tearful cheeks. After speaking a few words and purposely stopping, it spread to the collar, broke it, and she didn’t have anything to worry about. “You’re free. Remember what those words said? You don’t have to worry about being a slave anymore. But you owe me. Your mother has a safe, and I want it. You’ll help me steal it. Oh, and you can talk.” 

The very first thing she did was…nothing. Honestly, she was probably shocked by everything. I called for Tilde and told her to lead Erin to the wagon I marked.   

“And it’s our turn, right?” Nold asked. He looked to Henri and Uryla, then stared at their ‘savior.’  

“No. I don’t think I will,” Sekh said, dropping a metaphysical bomb. She threw the rest of my blood in their face and grinned without proceeding with the chant. “I won’t kill you, but I won’t free you. My liege has gotten her revenge, but I didn’t get mine.” 

“What?! You can’t do that! We apologized! You stole ALL THAT WE HAD!!! IT’S YOUR FAULT WE’RE HERE!! They even stole my sister’s spirit. They took his core, and it’s all your fault!!!! WHY—”  

“No, blame your brother,” I said, cutting them off with a tense tone. “You better start running. Never know what’s going to happen to a couple of runaway slaves with no master.” They refused to move, so I aimed Reina’s gun at the still-spooked horses trying to get away from the stakes in the ground they were tied to.   

And I killed them with [Water Blade] via [Chimeric Armatization] right through the head to sever them from their bodies. I turned back around and held my water-infused pistol to Henri’s head.  

“FUCK!!!!” Henri shouted. I saw pure wrath flash through his eyes, but he smartly decided to run away with his still-enslaved siblings trailing right behind him.   

I hated slavers-- like hell did I want to become one-- but those three could get fucked. Sekh made her choice, and I would respect that. I could have killed them, but I’d only get about 30 SP from each. Sure, that was 90, but I’d rather they get caught by bandits. 

Or something worse.   

Runaway slaves weren’t treated the best. 

I wanted them to fucking suffer. Death was too gentle for them. 

Tilde flew over and said Erin had cried herself to sleep, and not a moment later, a pair of roots burst from the ground to restrain my limbs and neck. Primrose appeared a second later. A vile, murderous look inhabited those wrathful eyes.   

“WHY!!!!!!!? YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO KILL THEM!!!!!! WHY DID YOU FORCE MY MASTER?!?!?! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!!!!!”  

Niva demanded Primrose stand down, but those orders were ignored. Sekh was going to step in, but I told her to remain on standby. Having understood my intentions, she just walked behind Niva, leaned down, and told her what I was going to do.   

Meanwhile, Primrose kept shouting and cursing me, then she went so far as to form a fist and punch me in the face. Even if my newfound power meant I easily endured her strikes, that didn’t mean she stopped. You could only imagine what went through her pained mind after I orchestrated this massacre.   

So, I just took the pain. I took her punches and kicks and failed attempts to pierce my skin with her roots and sever my limbs with [Razor Wind]. She summoned her staff and smashed me across the cheek. Then lifted me up with her roots and tried to rip me apart.   

But it did nothing. 

Not a damn thing. 

My HP didn’t even drop by .1%. 

For nine minutes, she cried and attacked, only stopping when the sobbing was too great. The mana drain visibly weakened Niva.   

“I didn’t want to be summoned for this! I didn’t!! I’d rather die than continue to be here!” Primrose ripped her chest cavity open and grasped the pulsing, brown core that was her life. “You’re all monsters! You forced my Master to become a mass murderer! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Master, but I can’t protect you… This…is going to be goodbye…”  

“Prim? What are you doing? Primrose?!” Niva frantically cried out. She tried to stand up, but the cyclops was too fast and rolled out of her chair, hitting the ground with a nasty thud. Right away, Primrose quickly rushed to her Master. At the same time, I used my webbing to create a durable wall around her core that she couldn’t hope to breach.   

“You and I may hate each other, but you're Niva's spirit. I will not allow you to kill yourself after you promised to look after her. If you were serious about death, you wouldn't have helped her. But take a moment and think. Do you really think Bella and Domi were going to keep the secret?”  

“Yes… I do. We were friends—”  

“No, you weren't. AI, display Aetos Village in satellite mode.”   

“What…is this…?” The spirit couldn’t believe she was looking at the place where she was born from almost 30 miles away. 

“Information can change the tide of battle, and no one wields it more than me. I spied on them, and they secretly talked about turning Niva in,” I said, telling the truth. “It was last night. Domi asked Oswell, Kvree, and Tivid to take a walk, and I observed their conversation. He knew there was a wanted cyclops-halfbreed out there somewhere, but he didn't realize it was Niva until Domi brought it up. They agreed to turn her over to the guards to get the reward money. So, where would that leave us? Well, Niva would be back with Gloria. She'll probably be killed. We would get arrested for harboring a criminal. Or worse, she'll have enough reason to blame Noelia's death on us. I killed her, but she doesn't know that. Basically, we'd be fucked and up shit creek without a paddle. Is that what you want? To see your summoner get hanged before having your crystal destroyed? Or worst, being forced to serve another summoner because you assume too much without knowing the truth? Just stay there and cry, whimper, and whine. It won't get you jackshit." 

“Master…. Master…” Primrose rocked back and forth with Niva held in her arms. “I didn’t know…. I didn’t know…” But Niva didn’t reply because she had passed out. I thought that would happen.   

“You can hate me until the end of time. I don’t give a fuck. But this is our path. I need power. Sekh needs power. Niva needs power. If you want to die, then die fighting for your summoner. Don’t be a coward and end it yourself. But remember one thing. You think I did this for the hell of it but look around. I’m not gloating, I’m not cheering their death, and I’m not fucking dancing around. I did all I could to make their deaths easier, even if they intended to betray us. 

“I played the flute for them whenever they asked. I talked with them. And I had fun. But I knew it wouldn’t last. They. Were. Slavers. I used to be a slave to my parents, you know? I endured having my freedoms stripped away…and I won't return Niva to that life. Now, go put her in the wagon with Erin. Don’t worry about the chair. I’ll store it away.”  

With my webs still protecting her core from herself, she closed her chest cavity and let me down from her roots. She solemnly walked away, holding her summoner close while crying.   

And then it was just Sekh and me. She remained ever at my side as I assimilated those 11 corpses, gaining an additional 346 SP. Then it was time to loot. We had wagons and tents to check out.