"Where is your family?"

  That question, asked by Fern, sparked a deep sensation of guilt and despair in Flugel's mind. Adding more guilt to the gigantic cloud of guilt that controlled his mind.

  Flugel stared at Fern with terror in his eyes and proceeded to say with a cracked voice:

  "T-they..."

  Their little conversation was interrupted by a familiar loud voice coming from the walls, making everyone turn around in surprise.

  Remenis announced with an arrogant voice:

  "Now, each group member has to stay the others. If any of you separate, you might... DIE!"

  Remenis giggled.

  "Get in your groups, you dirty little pecks! LET THE SHOW BEGIN!"

  After the last sentence, a siren could be heard throughout the walls, hurting some villagers' ears as they covered the latter.

  Albein, on the other hand, stood in front of the table he was running and seemed to reach his hand under the table, looking for something.

  Flugel merely watched Albein, glad that Remenis interrupted his little uncomfortable chat with Fern. After a few seconds, Albein seemed to press something.

  Suddenly, the ground started shaking, as if an earthquake erupted, sending fear into the hearts and spreading among them.

  The people started losing their balance as they fought to keep it by holding onto the walls and other people, but their efforts were fruitless.

  Flugel yelled:

  "Woah! What is going on?!"

  He scanned the area and looked around, in front of his eyes were merely his people, which were the least of his concerns at that point.

  Then, the area surrounding each group started shaping into a square shape as it started descending. Flugel watched as Willinham slowly disappeared from his eyesight from his toe to his head.

  Flugel fell on his back with only his hands supporting his head, hitting the ground.

  "Ugh!"

  He reached out his hand to scratch his back in pain as he groaned. He lifted his head up and stared at the glass ceiling, getting farther and farther away from him as he sank in the ground.

  On the other hand, Willinham tried staying as calm as possible, preparing for any unexpected event that could get him if he was off guard.

  Everyone, including Flugel and Willinham, then sat on the hard floor and waited till anything happened, or they reached their unknown destination.

  *****

  A room filled with a cozy aroma, the lighting seemed perfect for any human in stress to be relieved from all sensations of negativity. The temperature of the room was neither hot or cold, just warm enough for a group of people to sit in and have a conversation.

  A wide glass window made the "cage" visible and watchable for any person to watch like an overseer.

  Furniture of fancy material was scattered across the room, furniture that someone like Flugel wouldn't even wish of having. But the seats weren't empty.

  Sitting on these furniture, there were a bunch of men who had a certain feeling of mystery surrounding them. There were around five of them sitting with their fingers closed together as if watching something.

  Each man was wearing a black fancy suit, with some of the highest quality pants and boots that no peasant could ever lay eyes on.

  "So, gentlemen, any questions?"

  The previous sentence was told by none other than Remenis, the so-called "Savior of all laborers." It seemed his red suit was burnt to crisp after his interaction and battle with Flugel, not to mention the wound caused by Flugel in the middle of his gut.

  But strangely, it seemed like the wound was completely gone; as Remenis was now wearing a white button-down shirt, his waist or gut was wrapped around with a bandage like a belt. And noticeably, it seemed he had cut his hair, most likely due to it being damaged from the fight.

  But most importantly, the strangest feature of Remenis, his mouth, seemed to be partially fixed. The outer parts of the mouth on the right and left were connected and knitted with a silk string, although silk shouldn't be the right material for such a job. It seemed like this wasn't Remenis at all but an entirely different person.

  But, that grin across his face, those devilish eyes filled with pride and arrogance. It wasn't anyone in this world other than Remenis himself.

  One out of the five men, named Merris, proceeded to ask with a professional tone:

  "I see you've got some rats, but how about you elaborate what we are going to see? You see, Fedesis, me and the men over here—"

  The man reached out his hand with an open palm outward towards the men, and the men nodded in agreement.

  He proceeded to add:

  "-are investing hundreds if not thousands of Dises in your show. We need to know what we are watching, Fedesis."

  Another "investor," named Dusk, proceeded to continue Merris's questions, but this time, Dusk had a controlling arrogant voice that seemed to force control and possession on the listeners.

  "I agree with Merris, Fedesis. Your past shows weren't as successful enough to our standards. We're not running a charity over here!"

  Dusk was a bit annoyed and mad, as he shouted during the last sentence. Then, a third "investor" joined in, named Huak, who seemed to be a more gentle person than the others.

  "Fedesis, you've been running your show off our money for the past 10 years. Even though the shows are indeed entertaining for us, I fear this will be the last."

  Remenis was angered.

  "You don't realize it, people. Those filthy rats belong in this place! They don't belong to our world! The world is ours to take, and we shall own it."

  Dusk responded with a giggle:

  "You talk about rats when you yourself are one, aren't you?"

  Remenis grin stayed fixed on his face, yet his eyebrows twitched as he tightened his grip.

  "What do you mean by that, dusk? I am merely an honest and hardworking businessman, just like you."

  Dusk smiled.

  "I've heard you've been a construction worker a long time ago, isn't that right, Fedesis?"

  Merris looked at Flugel, and so did the others, in pure suspicion and disgust.

  Merris questioned:

  "Is that right, Fedesis? Are you one of them filthy mud-grubbers?"

  Dusk answered:

  "He indeed is. I am sure of it. My sources never failed me and never will!... Answer me, Fedesis!"

  Remenis tried to remain a wide grin on his face and not lose his temper due to the allegations, true or not.

  His face was facing the floor. After a moment, he lifted his head up and said with a smile on his face:

  "I, Remenis Fedesis, am not a peasant, not in the slightest. Even if I was, it's a part of the past, and I, as a businessman, shall only concentrate on the future and present. That's the basis of myself."

  Dusk replied with an arrogant tone:

  "That doesn't change the fact that your shows aren't entertaining for us anymore. You have to increase the quality of your shows."

  Merris nodded and said:

  "Indeed, look at me, Fedesis."

  Remenis nodded back.

  "I hear you."

  Merris sighed.

  "We're going to invest in your show one last time. You better make this one a good one because it'll be the last."

  Remenis smile turned into a wide grin.

  "Oh, it's going to be good... really good."

  Dusk shouted as he got angrier:

  "We are not gambling, you hear me?! We want a show of gluttony, a show of greed! A show that shows the true beastly inhuman nature of the dirty little rats from the Filth Realm!"

  Remenis squashed his eyes.

  "I have heard your demands!"

  Dusk shouted:

  "I said we want—!"

  Remenis got even more angrier.

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  "I SAID I HEARD!"

  That's what Remenis yelled when he finally lost his temper. He threw his arm back, preparing for an attack. Then, with a powerful thrust, he summoned a fireball that pierced through the air towards Dusk.

  Fortunately, the fireball missed Dusk's face by a few centimeters as it burnt his neck. In shock, Dusk reached his hand out and put it on his neck. Only a moment later, Dusk yelled in pain and agony as he fell to the floor, rolling back and forth, trying desperately to ease the pain.

  Dusk shouted as he forced words to come out of his mouth:

  "YOU...! I'm going to kill you! How dare you try to harass I, Dusk Derk!"

  Remenis pulled his hand back and rested it as he watched the agonized Dusk with pleasure and amusement.

  Dusk stood on all fours and then barely stood on his feet as his legs trembled from the pain.

  Dusk yelled with terror:

  "Cease to ashes you and your show! I quit!"

  He turned around to leave the room, walking with big steps full of anger and rage.

  Remenis looked at the leaving Dusk and said with a soft yet intimidating voice:

  "Where do you think you're going?"

  Dusk turned his head just a little to the right nervously.

  "I'm leaving."

  Yet again, Remenis formed fireballs on both of his hands, signaling that he wasn't going to hesitate shooting another even if it meant Dusk's death.

  "You're not going anywhere. You're under my command."

  That's what he said before turning around and facing the glass window, watching as the crowd erupted in fear and anxiety as their platforms descended.

  "In fact, everyone of you is under my command."

  Huak said with a gentle voice:

  "Calm it, Remenis..."

  Remenis replied with his ego rising by the second:

  "Yes... YES! Every single one of you is under my command! Under my mercy! You, and you, everyone with no exceptions, are dogs beneath me! I am Remenis Fedesis, wielder of the authority of Ignis!"

  Dusk tried pushing the button in front of the exit door, yet was interrupted by a sudden spark against his hand.

  Remenis, this time with a fearful and intimidating voice, said:

  "Don't you hear my words? I'll end you if I want to. Sit back here."

  Dusk gulped and turned around.

  "M-maybe, we can discuss this—"

  Remenis didn't hesitate before shooting yet another fireball straight into Dusk with a powerful and vigorous thrust, piercing through space like an arrow with the speed of a bullet.

  Unfortunately for Dusk, this one didn't miss, and shot straight through his gut. The shot felt like a bullet penetrating through his intestines, folding him in half and sending him flying to a wall as Dusk gasped for air.

  The fireball burnt his gut as if he was being cooked alive. The men watched Dusk flatten against a wall— the impact causing a small cloud of dust to emerge.

  Remenis clapped his hands together and said with a gentle voice:

  "Everyone here is under the control and authority of I, Remenis Fedesis, and you shall do my every command with no exceptions, understood?!"

  The men nodded quickly out of fear and panic. Not a single one of them was willing to risk their lives like Dusk did.

  Remenis added as he looked at his hand:

  "Why haven't I done this before... This was a much easier path than investing all those years..."

  He turned around and faced the men.

  "Excuse me, gentlemen. I'll be off for a few minutes."

  He moved his legs forward in a smooth motion, walking towards the exit door. As he got closer, he turned his head to the right to see the corpse of Dusk, although he doubted he was dead.

  "Can anyone take care of this guy? Thank you."

  That's the last thing he said before pressing a button on the wall that made an iron door slide to the right, resulting in him leaving and the door closing behind him.

  *****

  The floor was shaking and descending through the ground as if it were sinking in a bottomless ocean.

  Flugel was sat on the hard cold floor, which kind of made him feel a little bit of back pain.

  There he was, thinking to himself of what was going to happen next, finding out every possibility.

  "I wonder where we are going... I see not only is my entire village here, except..."

  He sighed as he closed his eyes for a second and then stood up with a smooth motion.

  "There are a bunch of strangers, but..."

  He turned around, looking for someone, and that someone wasn't anyone other than the woman from earlier who had the nickname "Abutens."

  "She's... weird. What is wrong with that layer of dirt covering her neck? Is it some sort of decoration or... no, no, we've been ceased of everything, considering this weird outfit doesn't have any pockets."

  "Abutens" stood in the corner of the platform with a powerful presence, crossing her arms together, waiting for any event to happen.

  The platform was wide enough to fit around one hundred people, and around forty of those were from Flugel's village, Gandara Village.

  Flugel stared at the strange dirt covering her neck for a few moments, but unfortunately, she immediately noticed the stranger that was staring at her, which obviously made her quite uncomfortable.

  "Hey, you!"

  The woman called out for the guilty Flugel, which made Flugel immediately retreat and turn around rapidly. But that wasn't enough for her to ease her mind.

  "You, kid! You got some problem?!"

  After the previous words, she approached Flugel angrily, each step sending some fear to Flugel's mind.

  He quickly turned around once again to face her, yet was surprised to see her right in front of his face.

  She started shouting at him as she pointed her finger against his chest with a little force.

  "You got some problem with me, kid? What are you staring at for?!"

  Flugel got a little nervous.

  "U-oh, it's nothing really! I wasn't staring at anything at all!"

  The answer wasn't amusing for her.

  "And now you are lying?! Listen to me, you... if I catch you staring again like a filthy little pest, I'll make sure to end you."

  Flugel looked down and sighed.

  "Sorry..."

  She crossed her arms and walked away, going back to her spot and closed her eyes as she waited for their arrival to the destination.

  Flugel thought to himself:

  "That was... awkward. But anyway, this is taking way too long. When are we arriving?"

  Only then, light emerged through tiny cracks in the walls until the brightness in the platform became blinding.

  The people inside covered their eyes with their forearms as they waited for their eyes to adjust and adapt.

  Flugel closed his eyes and covered them with his hand, and a few moments later, he could finally open them.

  "What the..."

  The floor suddenly stopped shaking, meaning it finally stopped descending. Everyone took their arms off their eyes to finally be able to see their surroundings.

  In front of Flugel's eyes was merely more than a table, and on top of that table was a lever. Only then, he turned his head to the right, and what he had seen shook him.

  On the right was a machine, not any machine, but what looked like a press machine, its purpose was still unknown.

  For a moment, everyone was confused about what they were going to do now. Only then, a creature fell down through the hole they were descending from.

  Everyone turned around to face the creature, only to see another luxien wearing the same outfit as Albein. Surprisely, this one had a feature that differentiated them from Albein. This luxien had a little bit darker fur than Albein, and its ears were more rounded than Albein's.

  Only then, a familiar voice could be heard echoing around the walls.

  "Welcome, peasants!"

  Everyone suddenly turned around looking for the sound's source, but yet again, with no result.

  "I am sure every single one of you is confused on why would I, Remenis Fedesis, present to you a boring little table? Fear not, people! For I, have prepared for you a little fun game."

  Flugel thought to himself:

  "Game?"

  He turned his head left and right.

  "With what..."

  Remenis proceeded.

  "In front of you is a lever if I am not mistaken, and to your right is a press machine. I doubt any of you have figured out what you are going to do."

  Flugel stared at the machine, observing its structure.

  "A press machine, what's that...? Hmm, there's a lever on the table, and this "machine" has some type of giant iron cube on top of it and some wheels on the side... and there's a pad under the rock."

  Remenis continued.

  "Reles, get the chains."

  Not a single person knew who this "Reles" is, until the luxien started moving, concluding the luxien's name is Reles. Suddenly, chains were in Reles's hands.

  Flugel thought:

  "Where did he get these from?!"

  Reles approached a man in front of him first, kneeled down, and locked a cuff around his foot. The man did not dare to resist, risking his life.

  For the next ten minutes, Reles would lock a cuff around the foot of each and every person present in that area, connecting them together like animals in a cage.

  Every man, woman, and child were connected together with the unending chain.

  Some men tried to resist, but they were too weak for the luxien that was holding onto them by force.

  As Reles was locking a cuff on one of the men's feet, that man lifted his leg up with a quick motion and kicked Reles in the face, pushing his head back.

  The impact was powerful enough to knock out Reles.

  The man yelled:

  "What are you doing, men?! You are men from Gandara Village. You're supposed to protect! To keep your women and children safe! You're really going to surrender to a rabbit?!"

  Everyone stood in shock as to how the man easily knocked out Reles and watched Reles unconscious on the floor.

  Only then they switched their focus to the man.

  "We, men, shall break free! For our people!"

  The men in the crowd cheered for the hero that "saved" them. Each one of them clenching a fist into the air as a symbol of hope.

  The man yelled:

  "For I, Welch, will guide you to your freedom!"

  Flugel thought to himself with a disappointed expression:

  "Alright, that guy is definitely acting for clout..."

  Welch started giving orders around to the men in the crowd, like telling them to check the "machine," as well as finding the keys for the chains that were holding them together like slaves.

  "You, check inside that thing! And you, that!"

  Flugel thought:

  "So, is that it? Are we free or what? No, no, I doubt that Remenis would let this pass like it's nothing... but why is he silent?"

  Only then did Flugel try to turn around and check Reles's body. But to his surprise, Reles was nowhere to be seen.

  Flugel panicked and started turning his head back and forth, scanning the area around him and looking for Reles.

  And then yelled:

  "HE'S GONE!"

  Welch replied:

  "Kid, calm it, your mighty unc killed that dog—"

  Before Welch could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a deep sensation of pain, a sensation of something penetrating his body like an arrow.

  The man started stuttering words with no meaning as he struggled to keep standing in agony.

  "A-ugh-... y-you..."

  Before the very eyes of everyone, a sparking slash emerged behind the man like a lightning wave.

  For a moment, Welch seemed to be standing still, yet his his eyes were empty. Then, he fell to his knees with a rapid motion, and after that, his head finally made contact with the ground.

  Only then was his back revealed. A straight line, a wound penetrating through his skin like a bullet, as if his back was split in half.

  The scenery was so disturbing as his spine was revealed and visible to everyone to see.

  The women in the crowd screeched and shrieked in terror and horror due to the corpse laying in front of their very eyes. The children could not get their eyes off the horrifying corpse in front of their innocent little eyes.

  Welch trembled as he lifted his head up and then tried looking left and right, searching for something— or someone.

  Only then did he look straight into the eyes of Flugel, but as to why, it was still a mystery.

  The wound was so horrifying it made Flugel sick, literally. Flugel could not resist but turn to the side and throw up a disgusting amount of puke due to the unpleasant and uncomfortable view.

  Flugel's jaw was stuck, trying to say words, but his mouth failed him. He watched as Welch desperately crawled towards him for whoever knew why.

  Flugel stepped back in shock as he said:

  "W-what do you want?"

  Welch trembled as he coughed streams of blood like a red waterfall.

  "You... I know you... you're bertha's son, aren't you?"

  Flugel's eyes widened.

  "Y-mhm..."

  Flugel nodded.

  Welch reached out his hand into his pocket to grab something.

  He coughed once again.

  "Your family... they did help me sometimes... your father was a nice person."

  Flugel was confused and perplexed.

  "My... father?"

  Welch continued.

  "Hehehehe... it's a bummer he left a long time ago. Here, at least I can repay my debt."

  Welch grabbed a little knife from his pocket and handed it over to Flugel to take.

  Flugel was in deep confusion and terror and hesitated before taking the knife.

  "Here, take it, protect yourself. Tell your bastard of a father i said hello—"

  Only then did his body finally fail Welch, leading to his head falling onto the ground like a ragdoll. Flugel watched as life slipped away from Welch's eyes as they became darker and more gray.

  Flugel held onto the knife as he gripped onto it tightly. But then he realized he had to quickly hide it before whoever was behind Welch's found it.

  Flugel knew he didn't have any time to mourn the dead. He then panicked, trying to find somewhere to hide the knife.

  He thought:

  "Crap, crap! Where am I supposed to—?!"

  He immediately thought of a genius idea. He lifted his foot up to his arm so he could hold them still and then flipped the hem of his pants to expose the inner cloth.

  He then sliced through the cloth precisely, creating some sort of a little bag inside his pants, and then put the knife inside of me.

  "It's too thin, I hope it doesn't rupture when I start running."

  When Flugel lifted his head up, he faced Reles, holding some sort of cutlass. Reles's white fur was completely soaked in Welch's blood, as if he was a hunted rabbit, yet he was the hunter.

  Thankfully, Reles didn't notice Flugel hiding the knife. Flugel watched as Reles hid his cutlass inside his cloak, and then went on to continue locking everyone's chains together again.

  Flugel thought:

  "What the heck? What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you all?!"

  A familiar voice played in the ears of the contestants.

  "Well, hello, peasants! Welcome to your first game!"

  Flugel pondered.

  "I have to do it, I have to do it."

  Remenis continued.

  "Allow me to explain..."

  Flugel announced to himself as a final conclusion. He knew what to do, what he had to do.

  "I am going to end you, Remenis!"