Colonel Seras marched down the aisle, approaching the storage room filled with suspicions.

'The actions of that man were far too strange.'

At first he had been relatively submissive, obeying the orders which Seras had given to him, and even trying to convince the impudent woman to obey as well.

However, why then was he so insistent to the point of straight up disobedience when it came to retrieving some alcohol from the storage room?

Even if he was intent on serving those who were above himself, this would include staying silent when he was given orders to do nothing- yet for some reason, he continued to insist on retrieving the drinks himself.

It was something which warranted at least a search.

And so, Seras found his way to the closet with his men at his side.

However, no amount of preparation or suspicions could have readied his mind for the sight he would behold the moment the door was swung open.

Inside the closet were three beings.

Their bodies were of human form, however their features were not.

Two people who gave off the appearances of spiders. They had four eyes, six arms, and they were wrapped in bandages from head to toe.

The other person who was sitting in the corner had the features of a wasp.

Black and yellow stripes tainted her skin and her hair seemed to alternate in a similar pattern between the two colors. With two sets of arms and an outfit that seemed to be made from chitin, she stared at the door intensely as if holding her breath.

Seras was taken aback to see these three disgusting creatures. He was suspicious, for sure, but he never would have expected monsters to be hiding in this closet.

"What.... the hell...."

Seras, and his men behind him merely stared at the three creatures- two of which seemed to be smiling, as if they were filled with joy to see that the door had opened.

"Looks like we've been caught.", one of them stated in a voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

The spider which had the appearance of a female stood up from her position, with a smile that ripped into the very souls of the 11 men who stood in front of her.

"These people..... they've been hiding.... monsters?"

"I can't believe it....."

The men quickly readied their weapons, pulling out their swords, spears, and knives.

Seras however, made his way back through the crowd.

"Men!!!! Take out these creatures!! This is a direct breach to the order of not only this village, but to the entire Empire, and even the human world!!! As a servant of order, it is my duty to punish those responsible, which I take upon myself! I will leave these three creatures to you!"

"Understood, Sir! We will dispose of them quickly!!!"

The men responded quickly to their orders, and Seras ran off.

The spider in front of the ten stood up quietly and slowly made her way to the entrance, where the men stood ready to fight.

"Dear brother, should I leave these ones to you? Or should I take them out myself?"

The brother too, walking just behind the sister, could not seem to reduce his excessive smile.

"Why don't we take them out together, just like old times?"

The two walked side by side, and as they approached, the men who looked into their eyes saw not a single shred of humanity.

Before them were not two who looked upon others with dignity, nor were they machines which held no emotion.

They were monsters who looked upon the men as nothing more than toys to play with.

"Yes, there was one time before where we killed side by side. However this time, dear sister, I will be taking the first kill."

In an instant, the pointed insectoid limb of the male spider protruded through the brain of one of the men.

He fell to the ground the moment the limb was pulled out, blood and bits of his brain splattering upon the impact.

"H-hey....."

"My..... goodness...."

"D-did any of you see that?"

"Colonel!! W-we need help here!!! We can't take on these monsters alone!!!"

One man shouted back for help, but as soon as he looked back, he realized that their leader was long gone.

'W-where did he go?'

"Ah.... looks like your leader has abandoned you all in your time of need. How pitiful. It must be a terrible thing to have such a fickle leader who throws his men away like garbage. Or perhaps he simply didn't expect you to lose?", Berith crackled.

"Hold no expectations for one's subordinates. This is one of his excellencies principles, no? It seems that this leader expected his subordinates to be able to take care of such a task on their own. How foolish."

The men were now trembling with fear, frozen.

They were unable to swing their blades on the beasts in front of them, for fear that the moment they did so their life would be extinguished.

"You men have been put into such an awkward position as well.... you've seen too much. If we were to allow you all to escape after seeing us, then it would be a horrible thing for us. And yet, with so many having seen us, there is no way we would be able to convince you all to stay quiet."

Another limb- this time the female spider- made it's way into the head of one of the men.

"And so..... we will now have to kill you all off. Truly, you all have been put into an unfortunate circumstance."

The next instant, as if they were two radiating beams of light, the spiderlings in unison seemed to jump from person to person, slaughtering every single one of the men in front of them.

Alicia merely looked onward at this scene from the corner.

Under typical circumstances, she would have been filled with the utmost horror.

As a matter of fact, seeing these people slaughtered so quickly without so much as judging their hearts would normally have filled her with indecision about such a matter.

However, looking at the happy faces of Coran and his sister as they slaughtered these people, Alicia could not help but think one single thing.

The same thing she thought when she first met Coran. When he had slaughtered thousands of her children before.

Her heart, both then and now, were filled with a heat, pumping with life as she seemed to lose the sense of touch itself, completely enveloped in the two in front of her.

'He's.... so cool.....'

----

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

'To think that the citizens of this corrupted city have fallen so low..... it's no wonder..... everything makes sense now.....'

Seras found himself quickly making his way back to the encampment of soldiers.

This was an emergency situation- one which required immediate attention.

'The words of that woman.... the fact that she had taken over as the effective leader of this town.... I was unsure as to why a woman would be the one to take over as the leader, but it all makes sense now.... she wasn't the true leader..... she was just lying to us!!! She was just saying those things to hide the monsters from us!!!! They've been hiding monsters in this village!!!'

Seras ran through the town, and the encampment came into his sight.

'It's truly unbelievable.... the chaos which they have invited to this place by cooperating with monsters..... it's highly likely that they sacrificed the other people of this village in order to save themselves.... how disturbing..... to think that this village is filled with such people.....'

Seras looked around to see all the children peacefully working as he ran.

'Even the children must be in on it.... the little devils.... they have innocent faces on the outside, but on the inside they hide a dark secret.... blood is on their hands.....'

He found himself looking at every single person he passed by with complete disgust.

'And then there are those two from the bar.... the man was clearly trying to protect those monsters from us!!! He was scared of us finding them, for there is no way that such monsters would be able to escape our swords!! The men who I left to take care of them were elites, so there will be no issue with leaving them to take care of the monsters. For now.... I have a larger duty to take care of.... the Legion Commander is likely sleeping, so I have no choice but to take over as the effective Commander for now....'

Seras puckered his lips as he remembered the impudent woman.

'And the reason why she was so rude to someone of a higher rank was because she was working with those monsters?! Disgusting!! The order of this village has been completely disrupted!!! These people have betrayed not only the Emperor himself, but the entire concept of human dignity and order!!! By lowering themselves to work with such abominations, each and every person of this town has rejected their own humanity.... and if that is the case, this is a town of chaos..... a village of monsters...'

Seras had now reached the encampment, panting.

"Men!!!!!!!!!!! An emergency has occurred, and the Legion Commander is nowhere to be found, so I am going to be temporarily taking over!!!! Listen closely, my soldiers!!!! The people of this city were hiding within them a dark secret- one so vile and sinister that is shakes me to even imagine it possible!!!! One struck with such disorder that we must root it out from the very source of the minds of these people!!!!!!"

The soldiers, who were previously resting, stood up on guard.

Many other Colonels and the other soldiers stood in line, ready for orders.

"Colonel Seras, just what is the matter?", another Colonel asked.

"The people of this city.... every single one of them, down to the last child.... they have been hiding away a group of monsters within the city!!!! My men are currently engaged in combat with these monsters, however the disorder created by such a thing is immeasurable!!! I would say that it is not too high of a punishment to kill every single one of the people of this city as punishment, however I will not go so far. For now, capture every last person in this city!!! We must find anyone who might be a collaborator and question them!!!!"

The thousands of men saluted with their fists, all moving out into each building of the city.

Men grabbed children who were working in the streets.

Some were in homes, and others in workplaces. Others were out in the fields.

"Let go of me!!!"

"Come with us, son. You're under arrest for suspicion of working with monsters."

"Stop it!! Let me go!!!"

Soon enough, every single child in the village was tied up in the encampment, and Veronica too had been captured.

"You're coming with us woman!!! You're under suspicion of working with monsters!!!"

Despite being tied up and taken away, Veronica didn't so much as flinch.

Instead, she smiled.

"What's with that smile, woman!?! Do you have something to say!?!?!"

She remained silent, and was kicked to the back, sending her into the pile of children who had been tied up.

"I wanna see dad...."

"Where is mom....."

"Veronica, why are these men tying us up?"

Veronica's beautiful black hair was stained with dirt as she lifted up her head, smiling victoriously as she looked at each and every one of the children around her.

"It's alright children. I'm sure they will be here in just a moment."

No man dared to enter the home of Kraven, as that was where the Legion Commander was said to be sleeping, and Seras had ordered the men not to inspect the bar either, but rather to surround it, for that was where the fighting was going on.

Seras approached the group of tied up people with an arrogant grin.

"I'm sure you already know why this is happening, leader. We found those monsters hidden in the village. I'm sure my men have already taken care of them, but I need to ask you."

Seras approached Veronica, using his foot to flip her over as she was tied up.

"Just why would you house and hide monsters in this village? What reasoning could you possibly have to create such disorder? Was it to save your own lives? Or perhaps you gained something more?"

Veronica, who had been tied up, merely continued to smile.

"What's with that smug expression.... do you even understand what position you're in?!"

Seras kicked Veronica in the gut, however she did not so much as flinch, and her smile remained.

"Does it make you feel better to kick someone weaker than yourself? Here. My face is wide open. Why don't you plant the foot right here? If you get arousal out of this, then I'm sure you won't be able to last a second like that."

Seras became flushed with anger at hearing the vulgar words of the woman in front of him.

"Why you.... I have no such fetish!!! You impudent woman, you're just like the other one!!! How dare you speak back to me like that!!!!"

The man began kicking her furiously, yet Veronica felt no pain.

"Veronica...."

"Stop it!!! Stop it, you bad man!!!!"

The children began to yell at Seras.

"Dad will beat you up!!!"

"Dad will destroy you!!!"

"Dad won't let you get away with this.... hehe...."

"Dad will.... kill you....."

"Be quiet, you brats. You are also suspects in this case. However, it might be the fault of this woman. How about this? Why don't you children tell me?? Was it the fault of this woman that those monsters were housed here?? If you admit that it was her, I will write you all off of any suspicions."

Seras beamed confidently, looking at all the children.

However, one of the oldest ones spoke up.

It was Nathan.

"The only monsters that have been housed here are you and your men."

The other children tacked on to this.

"Yeah.... dad isn't a monster...."

"Mom isn't a monster either...."

"And aunt Berith definitely isn't a monster...."

The children all voiced their agreement, irritating Seras to the point of explosion.

"Why you little brats!!!! So you all were working with those monsters!!!!! This is beyond mere disorder.... this is the very definition of entropy.... every person in this city has a complete disregard for the system in place!!!!!"

"Oh, that is so very wrong, dear sadistic soldier. We have a complete respect for the system in place, and we follow it to a tee. We obey those who are above us, and order those who are below us. There is a perfect order here. The thing is.... among those who are under the order of our system, even the lowest slave is above the Emperor in your system.", Veronica stated.

"Why you..... to say something like that is treason against the Emperor and his seat!!! That's it!!!! I am ordering for everyone here to be executed immediately!!!!! And find me the two people within the bar. Men who are surrounding the bar, move out!!! And you men!!! Help me in executing these people!!!!"

Seras raised his blade, and a number of the soldiers around him who surrounded the tied up children raised their swords.

Many of them were unsure as to whether they should actually kill these people off.

The majority were excessively conflicted.

However, in the 5th Legion, order and obedience were the tenants which must be followed at all times.

The order of the hierarchy was absolute. The highest person was the Emperor, followed by the Legion Commander.

A person of lower ranking could not and would not disobey orders from someone of a higher ranking.

And so, despite their personal feelings, many shoved such feelings aside and raised their swords above the heads of the children.

"Dad will kill you.... hehehe...."

"Dad will come....."

"Just like that woman.... just like the witch...."

"Just like Brutus...."

"Just like Augustus...."

"Everyone here will die...."

The children began to spout off threats with bloodthirsty eyes, even faced with the swords which would cut them down.

"These children.... there's something wrong with them...."

"They have looks of insanity....."

"My goodness....."

Seras then shouted out, reinstating his orders.

"Of course these children are insane!!!! They are collaborators with those monsters!!!! One would have to be insane to be able to do such a horrible thing!!!! They are not innocent bystanders, they are accomplices in this horrid crime!!! NOW KILL THEM!!!!"

Seras brought down his sword on Veronica, aiming straight for her neck.

However, his sword stopped just before grazing his neck.

His body could not move.

He could not press his sword further.

"Hey brother, watch and learn. I witnessed the footage from before when you took on those people in the cavern.... but I want to show you something."

From behind Seras, a raspy voice was heard- one which sent chills down his spine.

Seras would turn his head, however he could not. It was as if something was holding him in place.

It was not fear, nor was it shock. He had not been stopped due to any form of mental weakness. Every inch of Seras wanted to bring his sword just an inch further, slicing into the artery of the woman who laid tied up in front of him.

He despised her. He hated her. He wanted with every fiber of his being to kill her, and the same went for that other women who mocked and disobeyed him earlier.

Yet he could not move- due to some physical phenomena which held him back.

"Oh..... an interesting method for sure, sister. I used something similar before, but I never would have imagined that they could be used in such a creative way..... as expected, my sister. The horrible things that your mind comes up with.... sometimes they make even myself shiver."

Seras felt his face turning around on it's own.

However, his body did not move.

His face was turned around, 90 degrees.

135 degrees.

At this point, he felt the muscles in his neck about to snap from the excessive force which seemed to be screwing his head around his neck.

145 degrees.

Blood sprayed as he heard something crack.

He then saw in front of him, the two spiderlings who had just before been in the closet.

'Eh!?!?! How on earth did they escape all 10 elite soldiers!?!?! How are they still alive!?!?!?!'

A series of thoughts flashed through the mind of Seras, however they were all useless.

He could not move.

The sinister grins on the faces of the two spiderlings seemed to eat away at his mind, as they licked their lips- clearly preparing themselves to consume him.

"I'll show you, dear brother. How to really play with your food."