Chapter 22 - Sneaky Rats

"Run!!!!"

"Shit!!! Shit!!! Shit!!!"

"Why was the information wrong??!"

"Just keep on running!!"

Standing on the walls of the impregnable Storm Fortress, Heimer's soldiers could see people fleeing like ants.

They weren't refugees seeking shelter, neither were they returning Heimer citizens. They were soldiers from the Zurg Empire.

As it turned out, Duke Videl fought a fierce battle defending what was left of Roan. Unfortunately, his forces eventually lost due to the difference in numbers against Zurg.

The Duke and all the other nobles who fought with him were captured as prisoners by the Zurg Empire's forces. And with them gone, the only remnant of the Roan Kingdom was Heimer.

The people who were fleeing from the walls of Storm Fortress were scouts from Zurg. They were tasked to not only scout the location, but to also test the capabilities of Heimer's military might.

Suffice to say that they weren't expecting what they got.

****

In a certain courtyard, isolated from the rest of Storm Fortress, 6 different men were tied and lined up on the concrete ground.

One of the men screamed in an obnoxious tone.

"You can't do this to us!!!"

Rather than scared, they were angry that they got captured.

The ones who tied him up only sneered and joked around.

"Who says that we can't do this to you??"

"Hahaha, true. You guys were the ones who attacked us first. Be thankful that we had orders to catch you guys, or else we would've ended your lives right then and there."

The 6 men were the ones who fled the massacre earlier. They were on their knees with their hands and feet tied up.

Their original number totalled to 25 soldiers. All were scouts sent to not only gather info about the fortress, but also test their capabilities by shooting arrows at the fortress' soldiers standing guard.

If there were no attacks, they wouldn't have been reduced to just 6 people, and all of them would've just been captured as prisoners.

When they were fleeing, they unfortunately encountered an infantry unit of Heimer which had just returned from a reconnaisance mission.

A few days prior to the scouts' massacre, Lucius had received intel from the fortress that there was a large body of men advancing towards Heimer in an organized form.

These men were revealed to be part of the advancing force from the Zurg Empire.

Zurg wasn't part of the irrelevant alliance that demanded Heimer's technology to be shared, they were instead planning to monopolize it.

Unfortunately for them, they severely miscalculated the strength of Heimer's might.

Even though Lucius spread the word that Heimer was prospering by using wonderful technologies, he obviously didn't spread word of the weapons he had developed.

Thus, no knowledge of firearms were spread. He often frequented to the Storm Fortress, assuring that no leaks, whether from inside or outside would happen.

His visits proved to be fruitful, considering the fact that the scouts were caught off guard by the gunshots. A modern person would understand that you should never bring bows and arrows to a gunfight.

Unfortunately for these scouts, they weren't modern men.

While the 6 prisoners were agonizing over the situation, the soldiers guarding the courtyard straightened up their postures and saluted towards someone who had just entered the place.

"Your Majesty!"

They all exclaimed in awe while keeping their posture and salute in place.

"At ease."

Lucius calmly said to them.

Coincidentally, today was one of the days that Lucius would check up on the Storm Fortress. He was feeling curious about the caught men, so he told his soldiers to lay them out in the courtyard.

He approached the men and crouched himself to meet them eye to eye.

"So tell me, which one of you guys are willing to provide me the most information?"

He asked with a business smile.

*SNORRRTT*

*PTOO*

One of them spat on his face, and his business smile quickly disappeared.

Wiping it off his face, he could see that it wasn't spit, but green-colored snot that indicated an infection.

He then ordered one of the soldiers.

"Bring me a towel."

"Yes, your Majesty!"

After ordering the soldier, he went to nearby washroom. And thankfully, there was soap provided.

Thus, after washing himself clean, he wiped his face and hands with the provided towel.

Then, he went back to the 6 prisoners, still tied and on their knees in the courtyard.

"Bring me a shotgun, specifically the newest one I had made."

The 6 prisoners wore mocking expressions, blatantly implying that they viewed Lucius as someone insignificant.

"You, the one who spat on me, what's your name?"

Lucius asked in a monotone voice.

"Who? Me? Why should I tell you?"

The prisoner responded while sneering, clearly still unafraid.

"So that I can at least remember you by your name, instead of the random prisoner who spat on my face."

While Lucius was answerring, a soldier hurriedly entered the courtyard. Then, the soldier handed Lucius a shotgun.

This shotgun was one of the most recent additions to his nation's weaponry. The shotgun was an M4, a tactical shotgun used frequently by the military and police officers in the early 21st century.

The current military and police force of Heimer was transitioning to a less outdated weaponry.

The reason why it was limited to only the 21st century weapons was because Lucius had a lack of knowledge in making weapons from beyond that century. Plus, there was no one among the Earth-0 refugees who had the knowledge of more than just using them.

Moving on, Lucius caressed the shotgun in a teasing way, as if he was a child showing off his new toy.

Then, he once again approached the prisoner.

This time, he was quick with his approach, ensuring that the prisoner didn't have the chance to spit on him again.

One of the soldiers guarding the prisoners were standing behind them, so when Lucius quickly approached the prisoner, the soldier restrained the man's mouth by forcibly opening them.

This was done for 2 reasons, the first one was to not make him able to spit again, and the second one was because of an order Lucius had told just after he finished cleaning his face.

The restrained prisoner got visibly confused and panicking, not knowing what was going on.

Then, Lucius shoved the tip of the shotgun's barrel into the prisoner's mouth.

After doing so, the soldier restraining him moved out of the way, knowing what was going to happen.

In a monotone voice with a hint of madness, Lucius began saying his farewells to the unfortunate prisoner.

"Ah, would've been great if you had told me your name. Now, bye-bye."

*BANG*

After the unfortunate man's head was blown off, bits and pieces of brain matter splattered everywhere behind and around the man's body.

The rest of the prisoners were silent with horrified expressions.

And they were even more horrified after they saw Lucius' face, which had a calm smile, as if he was more comfortable bathed in the man's blood and brain matter than he was with same man's stinky mucus.