The Public Square

Agatha was preoccupied with Gilberto that she didn't get to hear clearly what Uruk was saying beforehand, but this is what he said:

"Behold! The son of the late Hari, born magicless and looked down upon by the people who believed only those with power can rule the world! I, Uruk, have finally manifested my magic!" Uruk stretched his right arm forward, and from the palm of his hand, dark flames emerged.

The crowd is left terrified and speechless, and so are Agario and Agna. There are no words needed to describe what it was. The dark flames are more than enough message—that Uruk's power came from his negative emotions.

"That's right! This power is born from my hatred towards those who look down on me for being magicless! The hatred that I kept within myself for so long gave birth to these dark flames!"

As the dark flames continued growing, Uruk added:

"You know, I've been holding my hatred inside me for so long that I forgot how it actually feels like to hate someone, with that in mind, let's change the game, shall we?" Uruk aimed the ball of fire down at the people in the public square. "This time, you are the ones who will hate me."

Though bewildered, the people knew to flinch when someone did something that threatens them. But as much as they want to flee from the scene, the public square is too crowded that the people are being strangled by one another. All they could do is to break out into a panic.

At that moment, Uruk let loose of his dark flames.

Bwooh!

Ahh!!!

Aagh!!

As the dark flames crash-landed, the screams of people from the public square that's near to where Uruk was soon echoed violently. When that happened, all Agatha could think of was Agario and Agna as they were supposed to be near the explosion of flames.

"Agna! Agario!"

Leaving Gilberto unconscious, Agatha ran desperately towards her family. But then...

"Agatha!"

Right amid the restless crowd, another one of the prisoners she once captured stood in her way.

"Out of the way!" She shouted.

Agatha couldn't care less about the prisoner, Agna and Agario's well-being is more important to her at the moment. Fortunately, one of her men was behind the prisoner to restrain the prisoner. Or so she thought.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Haa!"

"What?"

Clash!

"What are you doing?!"

To Agatha's surprise, the soldier went past the prisoner and went straight at her with his long sword, forcing Agatha to intercept his attack with her dagger.

"Agatha, either you follow the Hari or die right here, make your choice!"

"What? Ah!"

Agatha could hear it. At first, it was all coming from where the explosion occurred, but now it's all around her—the sound of horrified screams, the cry of children calling desperately for their parents, and the sound of blades piercing one's flesh, they're all clogging Agatha's ears.

"H-Hey!"

Agatha shoved her soldier away as she saw another high commander being attacked by his men until another prisoner came and stabbed the high commander from behind with a sword.

"Gah!"

Seeing the high commander being decapitated rather brutally by the prisoner and his men, a question rose in Agatha's mind.

"Why... Why is this happening? What's going on?"

Indeed, what exactly is going on? Up until now, the whole kingdom is brimming with peace and tranquility. Just what exactly is the reason for this sudden chaos?

"Don't you realize it, you b*tch!"

"It's the beginning of a new kingdom!"

The prisoner and her soldier appeared out of nowhere behind Agatha and tried to attack with sword and fists. However, in that instant...

"Huh?"

"What?!"

Agatha vanished. And then...

Ddooom!

"S-Sh*t!"

"She caught us!"

Both their vision turned red, following an overwhelming blood lust that started permeating around them.

Smack!!

"Ugh!"

First, her soldier, she sent him away with a high kick.

Grab!

"Wha!"

She then grabbed the escaped prisoner by the face before ultimately hammering his head to the floor.

Crash!

Crumble!

At that point, Agatha had finally abandoned thought. It doesn't matter what reason Uruk has for suddenly attacking the people, nor why prisoners managed to escape from their cells.

'I have to find them... I need to get to them!'

Agatha only has one single thought—to find Agario and Agna.

"Agna! Agario!"

Across the dead and blood all over the public square, she ran as fast as she could to where Uruk shot his dark flames. She then started looking in every direction, hoping to get even just a glimpse of Agna and Agario's faces.

"Where are they...?" Agatha started panting out of anxiousness. "Agario! Agna! Where are you?!"

Her loud and desperate calls for her family would only overlap from the screams and cries of the people all around her, making it uncertain if Agario and Agna could hear her or not.

"There you are!"

"We've been waiting for this moment for so long in our cells."

Rather than her family, Agatha's voice attracted a number of escaped prisoners, surrounding her.

"I don't have time for you people!"

"But we certainly do!"

The prisoners charged at her all at once. She gritted her teeth, pulled her dagger, and did the same thing—dashing forth.

"Out of my way!" Agatha blinked right behind one of the prisoners. "Ha!"

In the blink of an eye, she left five long cuts behind the prisoner before pushing him back. Right after that, another prisoner approached her and tried to hit her in the face. Agatha responded by tilting her head sideways, avoiding the attack with ease.

"What?!"

Pow!

"Ack!"

Agatha's summersault kick left the man flailing about before eventually falling to the surface. However, the assault did not end there as the other prisoners came and tried to attack her simultaneously.

'Damn it! There's no end to this!' She cursed in her thoughts as she dodged every single one of the prisoners' punches and attacks. "I need to—"

"Ina!"

Agatha and the prisoners halted as soon as the familiar voice resonated from behind her.

"...Agna! Agario!"

She turned around to see Agna and her long black hair is held up by the same high commander Lyrica killed in the town of Kabba, while Agario is being constraint by a few soldiers who followed the high commander's orders.

"Stop trying to fight back, Agatha."

"You!"

"Shut up!"

Gilberto appeared behind Agatha and violently kicked her.

Slam!

"Gah!"

After falling to the ground, Gilberto went ahead and put his foot on Agatha's back. But despite how hard he pressed his limb onto her...

Fwip!

"Y-You b*t–!"

Agatha was still able to squeeze out of her position and blinked, locking Gilberto with her dagger next to the man's neck.

"Let go of Agna and Agario!" She demanded. "I said let them go!"

The high commander and the others wouldn't listen to her no matter what she said.

While this is all happening, Agatha could hear the cries of women and kids alike who're being taken away by some of the soldiers. The others are being forcefully lined up in the public square, awaiting something.

"How about you let go of Gilberto first, Agatha?"

"...!"

Agario glanced behind him and saw Uruk walking menacingly towards him and Agna.

"M-Mahal na Hari!"

"I said let go of Gilberto." He demanded with an intimidating tone in his voice.

Instead of listening to her Hari, Agatha puts the tip of her dagger even closer to Gilberto's neck. She already knew Uruk was no longer the Hari she once served.

"How did the prisoners get out of their cells? Why are the other soldiers killing the innocent? Where are you taking the rest? Why are you doing this, Uruk?"

"You have quite a lot of questions, but I guess you didn't listen to what I said earlier."

Gilberto chuckled "My apologies, Mahal na Hari, it seems she was too occupied with me that she didn't get to hear you earlier."

"Very well, since it's you, I shall answer your question."

First of all, the prisoners. Uruk revealed that he was the one who released them and has planned to use them as replacements to some high commanders and other lower-rank soldiers that have been killed. The people and soldiers alike are a necessary step to show to the people the start of his new rule. The women that were taken away are to work in the royal castle in the morning, but during the night, they will be serving Uruk's new soldiers for their personal needs. While the children will be put into forced labor.

As for the reason why he's doing all this...

"Because I want the people to hate me." From Uruk's hand, a wisp of dark flame took shape and went straight towards Agatha.

"W-What is?" Unsure what it was, Agatha pushed Gilberto and tried to back away. However, what she did is just delaying the inevitable.

Swoosh!

"What?!"

The wisp of dark flame's speed suddenly skyrocketed and struck Agatha before it entered her heart.

"To replenish my lost magic power, I need an incredible amount of hatred."

Agatha thought something was going to happen when the dark flame entered her body, but contrary to her uneasiness, it seemed like it did nothing to her body at all.

"You can't get that amount of hatred from a single individual, however, just sucking out all the hatred these people have to their deaths would bring the attention of other countries towards me, and I can't have that."

"W-What did you just put inside me?" Agatha queried.

"It's a curse that lets me absorb your hatred," Uruk replied. "It can also draw out the hatred you had in the past for me to absorb. Moreover, it can also control your heart and mind for you to grow hate towards me, so long as you already felt the feeling of hatred at least once."

Now that Agatha thought about it, she could feel a sense of hate against Uruk swelling inside her. Whether it is truly the case, or she's having a negative emotion because of the treatment they are giving her husband and daughter, it doesn't change the fact that right now, she hates Uruk with her every being.

Still, however, the curse is not the thing that concerns her, rather, it was what he just said.

"Replenishing your lost magic power? You talk as if you've had magic since you were born."

Agatha had Uruk, Agario, and the others speechless.

"You... You're not Uruk, are you? Where is the Mahal na Reyna and the Prinsesa?"