Chapter 5 - A Due

Ermin was nervous as he sat at his desk. After the former President's death, the rebels had broken into the capital city and took over the government. The ones who did not yield were killed off and the rest were too scared to retaliate.

The army had opposed them but thanks to SD's information on their top secret bases, the rebels had defeated them too. But the result was something even Ermin did not imagine.​​

Their coup was a bloodbath. Thousands of innocent civilians had died due to the clashes between the army and rebel forces. Even though Ermin was used to war and bloodshed, he had never imagined that he would have to turn his guns on the citizens of his own country. The cries of the women and children who were brutally murdered by the army still echoed in his ears. No matter how many times he tried to turn a deaf ear to them, he could not get their pleas for life out of his head. Their bloodied corpses haunted him and the resulting devastation to his country was going to mark the start of his legacy.

The rebels may have captured the capital and the war was also at the last stage but Ermin could not help in wondering whether it was all worth it. Did he genuinely want all that blood to be spilled?

He looked around the office he now held. As the new President of the country, he had been assigned the former one's office. The gold plated walls were made out of the sweat and tears of millions of labor who were left unpaid. The chandelier which glittered above his head was reflecting the face of the nameless civilians who had lost their lives in the civil war while the lavish food in the fridge tasted as sour as the blood which was now on his hands.

The place he had once aspired to occupy was now his personal hell.

"Was it really worth it?" he gritted.

"Question is, do you have the heart to do it again?"

Ermin sighed and turned to face the man who had egged him to unleash the horrors on his country.

"SD," he muttered. "What else do you want now? Hundreds of thousands are dead thanks to your information! You caused their deaths!"

"Technically, I merely gave you intel," SD pointed out. "What you do with it, is none of my concern."

"Are you really pointing fingers at me?" Ermin growled. "I can have you killed! I am the President of this country now!"

"But you won't," SD calmly stated. "You know very well that if I can give you intel on the former President, then I also have intel on you."

He leaned forward, looking at Ermin straight in the eye. The man did not flinch but made Ermin feel extremely nervous and uncomfortable. The former rebel leader and current President of one of the most powerful countries in the world was cowering in front of a mere information broker.

"Everyone had a thirst to know things they shouldn't," SD said. "Their curiosity has no limit. But what humans do with that curiosity is up to them. They can either use it for the benefit of others or destroy civilizations in seconds. There's no in between."

His tone was playful but beneath it lay a sadistic desire to see the world burn. At that moment, Ermin realized that the man in front of him was not afraid of anything. He was not seeking any material wealth but would not hesitate to watch the world burn as long as he got what he wanted. He would not dirty his own hands but played on other people's ambitions to get his way. Even if it mean the death of millions.

"You're a villain," Ermin whispered. He wanted to take out a gun and shoot down the wretched man in front of him but SD was ten steps ahead of him. Ermin knew very well that if SD could put him on the throne, he could also depose him and that was SD's trump card against Ermin. No matter how guilty Ermin felt for the massacre he had caused, he still loved his power more than anything.

SD sighed and stood up to walk towards a safe which was latched to a wall. Heera had already managed to acquire the passcode from the former President during one of their escapades so SD had no problem in unlocking it.

Ermin had expected that SD would probably take loads of money from the safe but to his horror, SD did not touch the wealth in it. Instead, he only took a piece of paper.

"You threw my entire country into a hellish turmoil for a piece of paper?" he growled in anger.

"Correction," SD pointed out. "This is the payment I'm receiving for putting you on that chair. As I said, I merely give the information. What you do with it is none of my concern as long as I get my due."

He smirked at Ermin who was fighting the urge to kill SD on the spot. In all his years as a rebel, Ermin had run into many scumbags but SD was not a mere scum. He was a true villain.

As if reading his mind, SD stated, "Everyone is a hero in their own story, Ermin. Just like you are in your own one."

"You think you're a hero?" Ermin spat. "You're nothing but a psychopath villain who wants to destroy the world for his own profit!"

"I don't think I'm a hero," SD said absentmindedly as he scanned the paper. "I am just a mere information broker. And wars do create the most profits."

He put the paper away in his pocket. "See you," he added to the shock stricken Ermin. "Or not."

With that, he left the office, whistling away. Ermin stared at him for a while, trying to keep his temper under check. SD did not care about his tantrum. He had something else to attend to.

As he exited the building, his eyes fell on the impoverished people who were huddled outside. The civil war had greatly devastated them and robbed them off their previous lives. There were old and young people, all looking thin and malnourished. They had lost their livelihood in the war and were at a loss over what to do.

SD turned his back on them. If he had a penny for all the collateral damage his business had caused, he was sure that he would surpass the riches of all the countries in the world. He had enough wealth to buy several of them anyway.

He took out his phone and called the pilot of his private jet.

"I'll be flying off the Country K tonight," he instructed the pilot. "Keep the jet ready."

"Yes sir!" the pilot said from the other end. SD hung up the phone and looked ahead at the landscape around him. The country was once known as a heaven with scenic plants lined along the roads while the air was fresh and free from pollution. The sky was so clear that people used to believe that heaven was right above it.

But now, the clear skies were masked by the smoke which were the result of the explosions which had taken place throughout the area. The plants were destroyed and the buildings which once stool tall, were not nothing but rubble. No one smiled anymore and only cries of desperate people echoed the once lively market.

SD was expressionless as he witnessed the tragedy that had befallen the once heaven on earth. Within days, an empire had fallen.

It did not matter to him. For him, it was nothing more than business which had some collateral. The war may have destroyed the nation but a phoenix can only rise once it turns into ashes. The country must be built from scratch to erase the legacy of the former President.

Slowly, SD descended the stairs of the President's office and got into the sleek black limo which was waiting for him. Now that he had gotten what he wanted, it was time to return to an old friend. After all, she had her dues to pay to him.

It had been six months since he saw her last. He did not even bother saying goodbye. There was no need to.

"I wonder if you remember your dues," he sighed. "Han Sunye."