The captain opened the door, carrying a booklet in one hand. Breyll moved to the corner of the room, rubbing his hands with a wild smile on his face. Some of the captured players began to shake and cry. Most of them were relatively young. The captain began to walk down the aisle between the table and the cages, inspecting each slave. He made some notes in his booklet, scratching off a checklist before sitting down at the table.

He started humming as he took out a small rectangular metal plate with three holes from his belt. One of the holes was already filled by a red and black orb. A sinister deep red aura surrounded it. The captain then took out the sapphire orb he received from Geoff from his item pouch and slotted it in one of two empty holes. It began to shine as if it was absorbing the orb’s energy.

“This one is pretty nice too. Pairs nicely with the other one.”

He placed it back on his belt and started toying with his mace, making menacing faces at the slaves. He stood back up and gestured for Breyll to come out from the corner.

“Now look, this is how it’s done.”

Breyll nodded and followed the captain to one of the cages.

“Open it.”

Breyll took out an oddly shaped key and opened the cage. The person inside began to shudder. The bars of the cage rattled as they pressed up against the far side of the cage in a futile attempt to escape.

“Come on! It’s not that bad!”

Breyll grabbed them by their wrist and forcefully threw them out of the cage and onto the ground between him and the captain.

“He’s first.”

He panicked. The other people anxiously stared at the first victim. Shin gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He estimated that the enslaved boy was no more than fifteen years old. He wanted to spring out from being the counter and attack them but he knew that the chances of them winning were slim. He figured that the captain would be able to counterattack relentlessly with his weapon since he was able to freely attack Breyll earlier. He turned to look at his allies. Fuyumi wore a face of disgust. She was likely the person that would understand their situations the most given her past experiences. Nightingale on the other hand was frustrated.

“What’s wrong?” Shin asked.

“It’s just… I’m not sure if we can do anything here. I want to, but I’m not sure.”

Nightingale slumped his shoulders. Fuyumi turned her attention to Nightingale.

“Well, we have to try don’t we?”

“Would it not be possible for us to come back later to rescue them when the two jailers are gone or something?”

“It might be too late then.”

Fuyumi began to feel frustrated with Nightingale.

The captain picked the slave up by his short hair. The chains connecting his legs and arms clanged against themselves as he was lifted off the ground.

“Ugh! Stop!”

He squirmed but the captain’s grip was too strong.

“Congratulations on being the first of this branch.”

He put his hand beside the red orb strapped to his belt. The red aura began to surround his hand. The captain laughed and Breyll joined him in hysteria shortly after.

“Shut up Breyll! This is MY moment.”

“Ha- oh, I’m sorry…”

The captain grabbed the boy’s thigh, his skin burning and steaming from the heat of the magical brand.

“Ggggaaaah! S-stop!”

He struggled and kicked the air wildly. When the captain took his hand off the boy, his skin was seared, branded with a magic circle. It glowed a deep red, the same color as the orb.

“Now, you’re mine.”

He released his grip on the boy, dropping him to the ground. The boy grabbed his leg in pain, gazing at the newly formed magic circle.

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“Back in your cage.”

Listening to his command, the circle glowed. The boy trembled as he stared at his hand, he was unable to resist his movements. He crawled back into the cage and sat down obediently.

“Wow! Captain, you’re amazing!”

“Heh, this is just the beginning.”

He turned around and spread his arms out as if inviting the other enslaved people to join him.

“We have all these wonderful folks to train next!”

Shin turned his eyes toward Nightingale again.

“This is what Fuyumi and I mean. How are we gonna save them later if they’re all going to be under his control within the next few minutes?”

“We can figure something out later.”

“There is no later!”

They started to raise their voices slightly. Realizing this, they calmed back down. Shin put his hand on Nightingale’s shoulder.

“Look, I get you have good intentions still, but I’m going to fight. If you don’t want to join in, you can escape and research on how to reverse the magic circle or something.”

Shin vaulted over the counter. Fuyumi followed after him. Seeing his friends jump over, Nightingale sighed before taking out his codex and standing up.

“Wha- who the hell are you?!”

The captain grabbed ahold of his mace and pointed it at Shin and Fuyumi. Breyll grew skittish, jittering as he ran into the corner behind his superior.

“Nobody special!”

Shin and Fuyumi unsheathed their weapons. She turned to Shin and partially covered her mouth to whisper to him.

“How are we supposed to win this?”

“I’m not sure, just follow my lead.”

Shin ran forward. The captain reacted by throwing his mace directly at Shin. Shin’s eyes widened as he was caught off guard by his opponent suddenly throwing his only weapon. He barely deflected the mace with his sword, causing it to fly over the counter and into the kitchen next to Nightingale.

Shin closed the gap between him and his opponent and kicked the table up causing it to stand up on two of its legs. Shin stretched out his hand and used [Collapse] behind the captain, sending the table flying into him. Meanwhile, Fuyumi slammed her dagger into the ground, creating a cloud of black smoke that traveled along the ground and toward the captain, obscuring his vision.

The table burst into several pieces, sending splinters of shrapnel everywhere.

“Did you get him?” Nightingale called out to Shin from the back.

“Huaaah!”

A glowing red light shined out from the smoke. The captain swiped his arms, clearing out the smoke in an instant. His shirt was torn apart, revealing his enormous muscles. His chest was covered in scars and tattoos.

“C-c-captain!” Breyll yelled out from the sidelines.

“I’m not playing around!”

The captain relaxed his shoulders and cracked his neck before raising his arms out to his side in a boxer-like stance.

He dashed forward, appearing right in front of Shin, and threw a right hook. Shin barely managed to lift his sword to parry the attack but he was pushed backward by the force of the impact, crashing into wooden crates.

“Shin!”

Fuyumi stepped away from the captain, expecting an attack shortly after.

“Shin! Shit…”

Nightingale looked around at his surrounding in the kitchen. He picked up several knives and laid them out in front of him. The captain readied his fist and walked toward Fuyumi but turned his attention to the green light to his right.

“[Galewind Current]!”

A magic circle formed between him and the knives. A powerful gust of wind came out from the circle, propelling the knives forward. The captain covered his forearm in a red aura. The knives planted themselves into the barrier. Seeing this, Nightingale clicked his tongue. The captain shifted the red aura from his forearm back to his fists, causing the knives to fall to the ground with a clang.

Shin stood back up from the rubble. Lines of blood streaked down his face as it was scratched up by the debris.

The captain pointed at Fuyumi.

“You’re next.”

The chained-up adventurers sat in the corners of the cage, bracing themselves.

He ran forward at Fuyumi. He punched forward at her with a jab but Fuyumi’s figure collapsed into smoke and slipped into the ground, creating a patch of ice on the ground. He couldn’t stop himself, causing him to slip and fall to the ground.

“You bitch!”

He slammed the ground with his fist, shattering the ground and sending shards of stone into the ceiling. The shards pierced through the smoke. Fuyumi winced in pain, causing her to reveal herself. The shards cut into her shoulder and legs. He got up and ran at her once again with his arm back ready to swing. Fuyumi flinched, closing her eyes, but a green wall of light shot up in front of her.

“[Galewind Barrier]!”

Nightingale created a barrier of wind between them. He then grabbed more knives from the kitchen and quickly sent them at the captain again with another [Galewind Current]. Distracted by the barrier, the knives pierced through the captain’s skin. He ferociously howled out in pain.

“Gaaaah! Breyll! Help me!”

Breyll, who was cowering the corner was forced out. The mark on his thigh glowed in the same manner as the boy.

“I-I… shit. Yes, captain.”

He took out the two daggers strapped to his leg and got in a combat-ready stance. His posture and confidence gave off a completely different aura than before.

“Damnit.”

Shin wiped the blood off his face and turned to face his new opponent.