Chapter 4: From Below

The ground stopped trembling, but the shrieks of the horrified Lord Bieroff filled the air with noise and annoyance. A knight even stepped in and calmed him down before anyone had their peace.

"I AM CALM!" He said as he tried to salvage what little pride he had left. The poor knight got a mouthful from the pathetic man.

Servus 132-X wanted to burst himself into laughter, but that might aggravate the lord more. He stood there wearing a stoic look as he watched the pathetic lord crumbled to anxiety.

The lord squinted at him again. He marched towards him and looked at him straight in the eyes. Lord Bieroff wanted to intimidate him, but his frail stature made it difficult for him to intimidate anyone, especially Servus132-X.

His nose flared as he saw that the slave was not even flinching at his glare. He called some knights to surround the slave, still trying to at least cough out even a wince from him-- it didn't work. His frustration became more palpable as his face reddened in sheer irritation. Lord Bieroff kicked the slave's shin with his spiked boots.

The pain traveled from his ankle up to his spine, sending chills throughout his body. But still, he refused to flinch.

"AAAGGGHHH!!!" The frustrated lord stomps his boots on Servus 132-X's foot.

This time, the pain became unbearable that it caused him to kneel as he tried to protect his foot. The spiked boots proved to be effective against him as his foot bled, even under the protection of wrapped linens.

Delighted with the slave kneeling in pain, he then decided to kick him even more. The kicks only grazed his head since he was able to anticipate the incoming strike. The following hits landed on his arms and stomach. The poor slave curled into a ball trying to defend himself from the barrage of attacks.

After a few more kicks, Lord Bieroff asked the knights to hoist him up. As they did, the frail lord was catching his breath.

"H-how a-are you feeling?" Lord Bieroff panted, "You're a slave! Know your place!" he slaps Servus 132-X for the third time.

This time, the slave had enough. As Lord Bieroff continued to spat his incoherent insults, Servus 132-X, glared at him. Just like that, the lord's knee trembled, and hid behind his knight.

"Y-you bastard!" He pointed at him, "Y-you dare try and harm me?"

"I AM THE LORD OF ARENFALL!" He unsheathed the sword from one of the knights and swung it towards the battered slave.

Servus 132-X saw the clumsily swung blade towards him. But being bound by the knights made it difficult for him to dodge. Seeing his inevitable end, Servus 132-X smiled at his defeat. He will finally be laid to rest and will no longer reincarnate. In his heart, there was a bit of peace that he felt.

"That's enough, Lord Bieroff!" an armor-clad officer grabs his arm before he was able to reach his target.

"LET GO OF ME!" he yanks his arm from the grip but was unable to, " Don't you know, I am l-lo...ord? L-lord Prestonheim?" his mouth ajar.

"Greetings, Lord Bieroff." He blandly said, " It looks like you are battering a Principalia's property?" he asked.

Lord Bieroff fumbled for words, stuttering at his delivery, "W-well y-you see…" He looked for an excuse, "Yes! He destroyed the Arenfall mines! The mines you commissioned my castle to protect."

"Is it now?"

"Y-yes, of course, Lord Pres--"

"Was he alone?"

"No, he had cohorts!"

"How many?" he approaches Servus 132-X and examined his wounds.

"Eight in all!" Lord Bieroff answered.

"Line them up!" Lord Prestonheim ordered one of the knights bounding Servus 132-X.

They took him to an open ground near Lord Bieroff's tent. Alongside him, were the slaves whom he helped escape the hellhole they've been to. He noticed that the slaves he came along with were mostly, non-humans. There were also few surviving humans, although most of them were injured.

He noted the ones who caught his attention the most.

There was a stout, well-built man with a clean shaven look. He stood at around 4 footlings, a short statured man, but his arms looked like he could wrestle a bear with no problem. He wore the same tattered clothes as he did, but his upper clothing had some sort of print on it. More than just a branding, Servus 132-X had a hunch that the upper garment might be a form of a seal.

The next person who stood next to him, had a beastly charm. His physique is not as impressive as the first one, but he stood at around 6 and a half footlings. He had tattoos patterned in swirls all over his body. He looked like a timid and scared man, as he always bows his head and interacted in that manner as well.

Then there was a slave that was dressed in man's clothing, although he wasn't sure if he was actually a woman. These slave's features were remarkable. Beautiful cat-like eyes, one was blue and the other a violet haze. His ears were pointed and long. He had a slender neck and a fit body that was clothed in tattered garments. Servus 132-X also noticed a burnt mark on his neck that looked like a branding.

Lastly, there was a human smiling at him from the adjacent side. His hair, long and scruffy with a dashing color of amber. He had green eyes with a scar running from one side of his cheek, then across. He wore the same tattered clothes that he had, albeit it was newer than his.

"Are these the one's who ran out from the cave?" Lord Prestonheim inquired.

"Y-yes that's all of them, the cowards!" Bieroff spatted.

Lord Prestonheim inspected them while his men gathered from behind.

"Tell me, dwarf, why did you run away from the cave?" He asked the stout man.

"'Tis becoz, inzyd wuzzabit scary, ah."

"W-what did…" the confused inquisitor scratched his head, " Ugh, could you repeat that?"

"'Tis becoz, of them big Senterpids,"

One of the Lord's knights approached him and whispered something to his ear, "Ah..yes. Centipedes," he nodded.

"You!" He pointed at Servus 132-X. "Lord Bieroff accused you for destroying this mining cave, why did you do it?"

"It was the only way I thought I could kill those Centipedes who were chasing me."

"See! He admits it!" Lord Bieroff interjected.

"Silence Lord Bieroff! I want to hear it from him!"

"You see, we hadn't mined anything since we arrived 5 days ago," Servus 132-X explains, "Most of the slaves who entered there never returned. When it was our turn to go inside, I overheard one of the guards saying that they should've waited for the Principalia's army to clean it inside before the mining could begin."

There was complete silence. Lord Prestonheim, pressed his fingers at the bridge of his nose, and turned to Lord Bieroff.

"That was exactly what I wanted to hear." he glared at him.

"L-lord Prestonheim, I-I can explain," Lord Bieroff tried to reason with him, "T-that man is lying!" He pointed at Servus 132-X.

"Knights, Arrest Lord Bieroff for disobeying Order 357 of the Principalia's Code!" Lord Prestonheim commanded

"Knights, protect me! Your Lord!" Lord Bieroff also commanded his own knights to shield him from the Knights of the Principalia.

"Anyone who wishes to defend this man, shall suffer a far worse fate than his!" Lord Prestonheim threatened Lord Bieroff's knights.

"No! No!No! Knights protect me--"

Suddenly the cowardly lord and his men flew ten footlings high as the ground below him burst revealing a Giant Centipede with a head of an unfortunate weaker kind skewered in one of its pincers..

"The Senterpids!"

Everyone ran in disarray. But Lord Prestonheim and his men, stood their ground.

"Call the fourth brigade, ready the weapons!" He commanded, "You, take our properties to safety!" he pointed at one of his knights.

The knight immediately took the slave away from the area as possible as quickly as possible.

"The rest of the enabled follow my lead!" He unsheathed his sword, revealing the pale blue blade that glistened in the moonlight, "Retrieve that worthless lord!" He pointed at Lord Bieroff.

"March!"

As they took a step forward to retrieve Lord Bieroff, the ground shook once again and another Centipede emerged from its lair.

It took a glance at Lord Bieroff before impaling him with its sharp pincers and tore the unconscious lord apart.

Lord Prestonheim and his men were dumbfounded by how fate played with the lord's meager existence. They stood stunned as Lord Bieroff's entrails scattered on the ground in a puddle of his own blood.

"Disregard my first order!"

"Men, spear formation!" He raised his left arm revealing a glowing bracer that turned into a shield, " Let's go and kill these monsters!"