Chapter 195 Haze Of Fear

After making their snarky remarks, they finally disappeared into a cloud of snow and a stream of winds that completely covered up their appearance and presence.

…

When the four commanders finally came back, they were filled with resolution but were hesitant to sit at the table.

Whether that was from fear, anxiety, or possibly just being weary of us, we couldn't tell as their resolve was so strong it might as well have been an iron wall.

"So, ready to work under us?" I smiled.

"We'll work under you until this damn war is finished, but if we ever see that our lives or potentially too many of our fellow mages are in danger, then we'll retreat, leaving you to die," Owen announced, placing his foot down and trying to gain some kind of negotiation power.

But, all of us weren't happy with his answer, causing us to slump down in our chairs and frown as we eyed the squad.

"That's a bit disappointing… I thought you would give your lives up for us," Bella muttered.

"And why would we do that? Our purpose is to serve the tower master and spread the gospel of magic across the world. Our purpose isn't to be a tool for war," Albus responded.

"Seems you all don't realize your position…." A cold voice echoed throughout the room, and all of a sudden, Luna appeared behind them, four mystical pink hands grasping the back of their necks, ready to crush them at a moment's notice.

"Are you seriously going to try and get rid of us? Don't you so desperately need us? What if we put in a request to go back? I'm sure we could even pull some strings for this to work," Owen muttered while slowly reaching for the sword slung across his waist.

"That would be unfortunate, but you still don't realize your position… You're in our territory now, and any message, whether that is through magic, pigeon, email, or text, will be infiltrated by us… and we can manipulate it how we see fit… so there is no escaping without our permission,"

"And what if we wanted to kill you now… it would count as self-defense since you all are so threatening,"

"Then it would be unfortunate to lose you all," Luna muttered, suddenly appearing in front of the squad and then snapping her fingers.

The pink jewels lined against their heads began to sparkle with different shades of gray lightning.

Each time they sparked, a chunk of the room would be torn away, leaving a few gaping holes in the walls of this mansion.

On the other hand, the four commanders had now kneeled, and under the pressure of these jewels, their minds had been weakened… meaning…

My footsteps were silent, yet they were the loudest thing in the room as I approached the four commanders, my body completely shadowed by a silhouette of my purple and red eyes.

As I smiled, my pearly white teeth were revealed, and as I crouched down to their level, I muttered,

"[Kill Yourselves],"

Their minds already weakened, I felt barely any repercussions, just a few drops of blood drew from my nose, which I quickly wiped away.

All of the commanders unsheathed their blades, and even as they tried to resist my orders, the mind-numbingly painful crown of jewels made it, so resistance was impossible.

"Y-YOU BASTARD!"

"HOW THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THIS! STOP! STOP!"

The more they pleaded for help, the more Luna and I smiled, but the others who were less tolerant of situations like these were absolutely calm.

They trusted in my decision… and I couldn't have asked for more.

Each blade pressed against their throats, blood immediately spilling from the large cut forming on their necks.

"MERCY! MERCY! MERCY! MERCY! MERCY! MERCY! MERCY! MERCY! MERCY! MERCY! WE WERE WRONG! WE SWEAR! WE'LL BE YOUR UNDERLINGS! JUST DON'T KILL US!"

"What are you talking about? Do you have proof I killed you? You're holding your blades against your own necks… were you that fearful of us?"

"Kekekeke… Poor things…" Luna muttered, but as her powers began to weaken, they were able to pull their necks backward slightly, slowly taking the blade out of their neck.

"[Stop]," I ordered, and as my throat was set on fire, I stood up, sighed, and took a swig of some of the cough medicine.

"Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff…"

"What a terrible experience… it would be a shame if you had to go through that again," I smiled, sending shivers down the pitiful things in front of me.

"Alrighty, I'm sure you have no complaints now, right?" Luna asked as she wiped some of the sweat from her forehead and stepped in front of the kneeling commanders.

"N-No…" Astoria muttered.

A haze of fear was thick amongst the atmosphere.

"Huh? No, what? What should you add after now that you're our underlings? Huh? Come on, wake the fuck up and tell me," Luna shouted before grabbing Astoria's hair and getting ready to break her nose with her fist.

"That's enough… Wouldn't want to break them too much," I muttered, playing good cop cause I'm such a benevolent and nice person.

"Tch… What do you add after?" Luna asked once more before pushing Astoria to the side and crouching down in front of Owen.

"Miss… Forgive our rudeness, Miss Luna,"

Owen, Albus, and Brienne were quick on the uptake, but Astoria was still a bit rebellious, though we would quell that soon with a bit of harassment by the servants in this household.

"Now, let us all part ways. The servants here will take you to your own private rooms, so try not to complain too much," Bella announced as at least ten servants came charging into the room, ready to attend to the almost broken commanders.

The reason they're valuable is not their individual strength but the way they lead their men… I want to absorb some of that knowledge on my own and maybe let some of my friends do it if they want.

"I'm gonna go train some more," Cy muttered before disappearing into the hallway.

"Bye, bye,"