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Legacy of the Abyss
67 - The Leader

67 - The Leader

Sarah tightly grasped Lucius' outstretched hand, carefully rising to her feet before examining the young man in front of her with curiosity. He had displayed incredible abilities one after another, from becoming invisible to making the rope binding her hands disappear without even touching it. If she hadn't heard him speak the name of her daughter—a secret she had carefully kept from her captors—she might have been too frightened to even look at him.

Lucius could sense the growing mountain of questions that were about to come rushing out from Sarah's lips, but he raised a hand to stop her as he began to speak.

"Maryanne is safe with Nana. I stumbled upon her during a scouting mission. She misses you very much. Right now, it's David we need to worry about. Where is he?"

The trembling in Sarah's hands spread to her whole body as the sudden relief washed over her. She couldn't help but quietly weep once Lucius confirmed Maryanne's safety. The pain and humiliation she had endured at the hands of her captors was nothing compared to the soul-crushing misery of knowing that her daughter was slowly starving to death alone in their cabin. Yet, if she told her kidnappers about Maryanne's existence, the child would undoubtedly face a fate worse than death. What could she do?

Every day, she prayed to God that some passerby would discover Maryanne and save the child from the slow, lonely death that awaited her. When she had seen those three soldiers not long ago, she nearly shouted Maryanne's location to them, but her own fear had gotten the better of her and she missed the opportunity. Now, she was learning that not only had Maryanne been saved, but she had even been reunited with her grandmother. The unexpected revelation that her prayers had been answered more fully than she had ever hoped was overwhelming. The anxious tension she had carried for so long finally melted away, but it took her energy away with it. Suddenly feeling too weak to stand, she leaned against the tree beside her for support.

Lucius saw what Sarah was going through and decided to allow her a few minutes to settle her emotions.

"Wait here for a moment."

Lucius turned back toward the group of men behind him. By now, everyone was zip-tied except for the burned man and the one holding the bag of ties. The man with the ties looked down at the one-handed man, scratching his chin in frustration. When he saw Lucius approaching, he seized the chance to explain the issue he was facing.

"Uh, boss. You cut off Ashtray's hand, so tying his wrists together don’t really work, yuh know?"

"Ashtray? What kind of name is that?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the man with the terrible scars. It seemed like he was going into shock—his skin was turning pale, and he was curled up on the ground in the fetal position, cradling his arm.

"Oh... that's what the leader calls him. Says it looks like someone used him to put out a giant cigar."

Lucius chuckled as he reached out his hand and took the package of zip ties back, motioning for the man to turn around before tying him up and shoving him toward the rest of the captives. Then, he retrieved the leash and collar and walked back to Ashtray with a grin on his face. The wounded man remained motionless as Lucius wrapped the collar around his neck, only responding when he felt a sharp pain around his throat that left him gasping for air.

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"Get up!"

A sound like a strangled dog echoed through the area as Lucius pulled hard on the leash, forcing the man to scramble to his feet. Lucius then dragged him across the road and tied the leash to one of the other prisoners before walking back to Sarah. By now, the woman seemed to have processed the sudden and massive change in circumstances. When Lucius arrived at her side, she was ready to get started and began speaking rapidly before he could even ask his first question.

"You said you have friends, right? If you want to save David, you’ll need their help. The leader is too strong. He even beat David, and David is the strongest man I know. Most of these people obey the leader out of fear. Only a few, like Ashtray, are truly despicable and follow the leader because they want to."

Lucius raised a hand, motioning for her to slow down.

"Hold on. One topic at a time. Where is David now?"

"I... I'm not sure. They keep us separated and use me as a hostage to force David to obey. Otherwise, he could escape easily with his power. If I escape, they’ll kill him. If he escapes, they’ll kill me."

"I see... Tell me about this leader. What are his abilities?"

Sarah nodded her head firmly as she began to explain.

"I don’t know his name. He tells everyone to call him ‘Leader.’ He's a tall, pale-skinned man with an Eastern European accent—probably from one of the Slavic countries. The terrifying thing about him is that he can transform his body into a ghostly blue figure. It becomes impossible to harm him when he does that, and weapons just pass right through him. That’s how he captured David in the first place. If... If I had just stayed home and waited, David would have found a chance to escape. But when they captured me as well, we both became truly trapped."

Lucius rubbed his chin, considering the situation. It sounded like this leader's ability made him immune to physical damage. However, that wasn’t a problem for Lucius. Matriarch's Fury could deal additional magic damage, which should bypass the leader's ability. And even if it didn’t, Lucius could wait, an ability like that must be draining, the man would run out of magic power eventually.

"I understand. I’ll handle the leader. Don’t worry. Right now, I need you to show me which of these men were being forced to obey and who is following the leader willingly."

Sarah nodded as Lucius led her to the group of captives. The men had overheard the conversation, and most of them looked relieved, casting eager glances at Sarah. A few, however, turned pale, realizing they might be singled out.

Sarah went through the group one by one. In the end, she identified two additional men, alongside Ashtray, as guilty parties. Lucius waved his hand, and the zip ties disappeared from the remaining eight men. While they smiled and rubbed their freshly freed wrists, Lucius adopted a grim expression as he rained on their parade.

"Don't get too excited just yet... I consider you all useless cowards. Luckily, for you, I don't consider being a coward a crime worthy of the death sentence. You will do hard labor for one year back on the farm to pay for your crime and earn your freedom. If anyone disagrees with that, you can join these three in hell."

Everyone remained silent, most of them glancing down at the ground to avoid Lucius' intimidating gaze as he stared each of them down in turn.

"A-Are you gonna kill us?"

One of the men still tied up with Ashtray mustered the courage to ask the question. Lucius looked down at him with an expressionless face, holding the man's gaze for what felt like an eternity. Finally, a grin spread across Lucius' face as an idea took root in his mind.

"I was considering it, yes. But I just came up with a better idea—one that lets me keep my hands clean."

Lucius' face seemed to take on a demonic quality to the three terrified men as they stared up at him. The grin stretched wider across his teeth as he spoke.

"Who knows where the closest anomaly is located?"