I stared, wide-eyed of the man that I hoped had died in this apocalypse. Of all the innocent and good people that died, scum like him survived. A flash of little feet dangling, dripping blood on faces, frozen with grief in death. I blinked the horrible memory away.

Rico, a handsome Hispanic man, smiled, one of his canines flashing silver, and stuck out a hand, "Hey man, the name's Rico. Solid place you got here and I gotta say, real grateful your guys are letting us shack up in here.

I stared at the proffered hand silently, eyes still wide. His easy smile grew a touch awkward as Frank cleared his throat, "Rico, this is who I was telling about. You've heard us calling him Boss or Vic, but his name's Victor Gale."

It was Rico's turn to freeze, gears turning in his head as he studied my face. I met his eyes. Mana started to cause the air around me to distort and my eyes started glowing. Asha, sensing my distress touched my shoulder, "Lord Sanguine?"

Rico hesitantly said, "I, uh, knew a guy who has the same name as you. I was friends with his brother—"

"Christian. Gale." I finished.

Rico's eyes widened and he muttered, "Ah shit." I then let out a burst of mana, nothing major, but it did knock him off his feet and out of the room. He landed and slid; the air knocked out of his chest. Some people screamed at the commotion and the loud bang of the door slamming all the way open.

In the blink of an eye, I was on top of him a dagger of blood in my hand, prepared to pierce his eye, "Hello, Rico. Surprised your guy didn't do me in like you planned?"

Coughing, Rico wheezed out, "Shit man, the fuck happened to you? Johnny wasn't supposed to do anything to you, just scare you. I don't even know what happened to him."

"That fucker shot me in the fucking chest. Don't worry though, he's long dead. I'd like to say I'd have taken him with me, but bastards always have the best luck. Thankfully, my friend here ripped his fucking head off." Asha was next to me, several lances of ice aimed at Rico's gang members who showed up with various weapons, ready to help their boss.

We may have gotten off to a rocky start, but it's nice to see she has my back. Eliara on the other hand had her crossbow ready but seemed unsure on what to do. I didn't pay her any mind, though I wouldn't blame her.

"What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck," he stammered as I bared my fangs in a wicked smile, and he shouted, "Shit man, I'm sorry about your brother. There was nothing I could do; it wasn't my fault the cops shot him."

I slammed the dagger next to his head, plunging it deep into the floor through the linoleum and cutting a deep gash in his cheek. "Rico, you should really be careful about lying to me, see I did a little bit of investigating after the cops rushed the case, deciding it was a robber who got what was coming. It wasn't a silent alarm or the workers that called the cops. See, they got an anonymous phone call a few minutes before the robbery. All it took was prospective recruit for your gang and some ego stroking for your men to tell me that your favorite form of cutting loose ties was hanging them out to dry for the cops. That way you don't lose any rep for letting guys quit once any debt to you is squared away and you get to keep your hands clean with no ties to the death."

Anger flashed through his eyes, and he tried to glance at his men, "Oh, don't blame them. You don't really make it a secret about how you deal with your problems do you? Hell, they were practically bragging about how cool their boss is. When in reality, you're so much of a coward you have the cops do your dirty work. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a few on your payroll to ensure they don't arrest those you hang out to dry; after all, you wouldn't want to risk someone exposing all your laundry." I snarled.

"Rico!" a woman shouted.

"Victor, what the hell?" cried out Frank.

"Frank, this piece of shit killed my brother. Brought so much pain and misery to my family. He dies now!" I made the knife burst into mist and blood swirled around my hand resolving into a clawed gauntlet.

Frank grabbed my hand. He was nowhere strong enough to even slow down my strike, but I stayed myself. "You think I'm deaf, boy? Iffen it is true then there should be some form of justice, I suppose, but not like this. You can't just execute a man in front of everyone."

When I didn't back down Frank glanced to the crowd and continued, "Listen to me Vic, how do you think this will turn out if you do this? That man, whatever his past, was helpful and kind to us. Now I ain't saying that excuses him, but they only know him as the helpful stranger."

I stared at the only person I have ever hated, weighing his life against the perception of the public. I was slowly finding his death more appealing. I tightened the hand I had around his right arm, bone started to grind together causing him to cry out in pain. Eliara lowered herself next to me and put her hand on my shoulder. I whipped my head to her and glared. she flinched but her eyes were softened, understanding. She didn't say anything, just shook her head.

I growled in frustration. I looked up at the woman who shouted Rico's name. She was an attractive woman with dark skin and frizzy black hair. Fear, worry, and anger filled her expression. While many people had similar looks, her's was deeper. I met Rico's eyes, "Who is that woman?" I asked.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" he spat.

Dismissing my gauntlet, I backhanded him, "Who is she?" I repeated.

"I'm his fiancée, you prick!" she shouted.

"Do you know what he is? What he's done?" I demanded. She didn't answer only glaring with tears down her face. "Of course. Two peas in a fucking pod. Do you not care, or do you support him? You know what, I don't care. Fine. I won't kill you Rico. Hell, I'll even let you stay. I'd rather you be where we can keep an eye on you. However, you will be at the bottom of the pile. You will only receive the bare minimum you need to survive. You, that woman, and your men. Anyone even on friendly terms with you and anyone who helps you do anything that isn't assisting our settlement will be treated the same." I stood and forced him up.

I presented him to the crowd and announced, "This man is a dangerous and manipulative criminal. After my father died overseas defending our country, he dug his greasy claws into my older brother, taking advantage of his grief. He got him into drugs and his gang. This all ended with racking up a debt to Rico and resorting to robbing a store on Rico's behalf. However, Rico alerted the cops who then shot and killed my brother. I don't blame the cops. Not really. My brother made those terrible choices, but that asshole did plenty. I let my anger, which I feel is rightfully due, get the better of me."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I turned to Frank and nodded at him then at Eliara, "Thank you both. This man and anyone associated with him along with anyone who assists him in the future will face the same punishment as him. As stated, he will only receive what he needs to survive and will be separated from the others' living quarters. They will also be banned from practicing magic and cultivating a core. If anyone who is banned from magic is found cultivating. Upon creating a core, they shall have it shattered and be crippled. They will then be exiled. Having a shattered core is permanent and will leave you weak and in severe pain. You will be unable to perform even the simplest magic. Now, lay down your weapons and give any back. You are banned from wielding any."

"That's bullshit!" one shouted.

"Yeah, second amendment bitch!" cried out another.

"First of all, felons cannot have guns, dumbass. Seeing as guns don't exactly work, this means normal weapons. Secondly, America no longer exists and neither does the constitution. This isn't a democracy." I summoned my full suit of armor along with my newly obtained wings.

I flared my wings and shouted, "I am the Sanguine Lord! My first and only priority is to protect them," I pointed to the group not directly under Rico's command and continued, "All of you are a threat and cannot be trusted simply by owing your loyalty to this filth. Now, any of you bastards who do not comply within the next ten seconds will be killed."

A few seconds passed before they started tossing down their weapons. A few of them didn't. A man with the physique of a body builder and covered in tattoos sneered, "Naw, fuck that. Way I see it, we got you out numbered. People like Rico, and you're just a little man with fancy threads who's on a power trip. You think just 'cause you look a bit spooky, your Hot Topic looking ass can push us around?" He turned around to face the crowd, likely attempting to say something to sway them to overthrow me or some nonsense. When a lance of sharpened ice protruded from his chest, piercing his heart.

Asha was sneering as he looked down at his chest before toppling over, "My lord doesn't grant mercy twice." I waved my hand and his blood streamed towards me. Once absorbed his body disappeared into my storage to be disposed of later.

I looked at the crowd with a firm look, "Anyone besides Rico's gang is free to leave, but you will likely not survive by yourselves. You may see me as cruel, and you are right. I am cruel to those that do not deserve mercy. However, I am not a dictator. Everyone will be treated fairly and will thrive so long as they act like decent human beings. This is not Earth, nor is it America. The life you knew before is dead and the sooner you accept that, the better. Asha, search them and then search their personal belongings and confiscate everything but their clothes. We'll worry about a prison or something once we start expanding."

I sighed and glared at Rico who returned it for just a second before flinching and averting his gaze. "You brought this on yourself and your people. Your sins have come to collect Rico. Attempt to leave and you will be killed. Attempt to sow discord and you will be killed. Put a fucking toe out of line and you will not survive to see the next day. You are no longer human; you are a tool that will be used to construct our safe haven. Now get the fuck out of my sight before I decide you aren't worth Frank's mercy and know that you live because of him."

Rico angrily shrugged off his fiancée's doting and stormed off, Asha beginning to follow my command. I looked to Frank who seemed conflicted. The crowd began to disperse, whispering to each other as I approached Frank. "Well?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You going to call me a monster? A tyrant? He's alive." I crossed my arms.

He sighed, "Victor. It's just... People are still looking through the lens of their old lives. Even I have a hard time fighting old ideals. I mean, I called for justice, but for what laws? What due process? Shit, what evidence?"

I placed a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the flinch, "Frank, if I don't take these measures, then everyone will die. That thing from the hospital, if it wasn't lying, then there is something truly evil out there. Now I hate Rico, and I am just itching for a reason to rip his heart out, but I don't think he's anything close to evil. People will be afraid of me, but so long as they fear what's out there more, then all is good."

He scoffed, "So what, we supposed to live in fear for the rest of our days? May as well get it over with in that case, 'cause that ain't living, boy."

I shook my head, "Damn it Frank, no. Listen, if they aren't afraid of me, then there will be people squabbling about what's the right course of action and trying to gain some semblance of power. Not all of them sure, but I don't doubt for a second that there are people here that will love to rule for the sake of having power over others, Rico being the most obvious." I sighed, "That's enough for today. I've had a long few days of travel and tensions are high everywhere. We'll get back in a couple days when cooler heads prevail, and everyone is recovered from the travel. I need to cultivate."

I started to walk away when I paused, "By the way, I just realized I haven't seen Rodriguez."

"Oh, yeah. She's out with a group looking for other survivors. She'll camp out there and be back sometime tomorrow." Frank said tiredly.

I nodded and walked to Eliara who was standing a bit away while I talked to Frank. I smiled awkwardly at her, "Hey, thank you for stopping me. There might have been a full-blown panic if I killed Rico like that. A good chunk of people here are people who joined after I left to the Dwarven city."

She waved it away, "I don't blame you; any other situation and I probably would have encouraged you, assuming what you said was true. I'm sorry about your brother."

"It's fine, he was an asshole. Sure, Rico is a manipulative prick, but Chris was grown enough to make his own decisions. Even worse, before I could even get a funeral for Chris, Rico showed up at my door demanding I pay the rest of Chris's debt or replace him." I frowned.

"That's disgusting, what did you end up doing?" she grimaced.

I smirked, "Told him to wrap up the debt around a cactus and shove it up his ass then slammed the door in his face. Kept harassing me up to the day his goon put a bullet in my chest right before Asha turned me into a Vampire."

"And here I thought I lived an interesting life."

"You're welcome to share. I'm sure we could make a drinking game out of who had the worst trauma." I said glancing at her strange arm.

She sighed, "You keep doing that, you know. Looking at my arm."

"Sorry." I apologized sheepishly.

She did an adorable laughing snort, "You're blushing like I caught you looking at my chest. I don't mind it too much. I'm used to it. Though it is rather funny how you look at it. Most people stare at me in fear, disgust, or pity. You look like a kid gazing at a majestic knight."

I chuckled, "Can you blame me? Your arm is so badass. You never did say what it is. Ah, I mean you don't have to. I'm just curious."

She hesitated before sighing, "You've been open and welcoming to me. I suppose I must reciprocate."

I waved her off, "You really don't have to. I don't want to dredge up something painful."

Smirking she said, "You mean like being forced to spare the man who ruined your family, got your brother killed, and nearly got you killed?"

I shrugged, not having a retort. She smiled, "I, I don't think I can go into it, but the arm comes from a powerful demon whose arm was grafted on to my body. It was horrifyingly painful, but I survived and now have a powerful weapon, in exchange, I just have to deal with a disfigurement."

"Please, what disfigurement. Besides," I pointed to my inhuman duel-pupiled eye, "You're not exactly alone in that department. But... thanks for sharing. If you ever need to get anything off your chest, I'm here."

A sly smile touched her lips, "Still fixated on my chest, huh?" Her eyes softened, "Thank you. Maybe someday. Is there somewhere I can bathe and rest?"

I laughed at her teasing, "Sure, follow me."