Council 5

Madiyar looked around to see if anyone would back him up, but it seemed he was on his own; Lucius's dreadful aura was overwhelming for everyone, and they were all trying to overcome it.

"Calm down, Lucius. It was just a suggestion. If you don't like it, you can just forget about it." He said, trying to stay composed and act like it wasn't that big a deal.

Lucius looked at Madiyar with disdain, then turned around, looking at Selene. "After hearing that, what do you think should happen to this insect?" he calmly asked Selene.

Selene looked at Madiyar with a slight smile on her face. "Last time something like this happened, we wiped them out, no? But times have changed, so just tear off his arms, and that should do, I guess," she said, shrugging nonchalantly.

The whole room froze; everyone was dumbfounded. Especially Madiyar, he began sweating profusely after hearing Selene's answer. He turned back to Lucius and witnessed a moment he would never forget.

The always calm and charismatic Lucius had a devilish grin on his face; he looked like the embodiment of a devil.

Madiyar, not wanting to lose his arms, realized that talking wasn't an option anymore, and he started to struggle with all his might trying to escape from Lucius's grasp, but to no avail; Lucius's hand didn't budge.

When Madiyar tried to invoke his racial abilities or magic powers, nothing happened as if Lucius's hand was a seal, cutting off his connection to his powers. "What did you do, Lucius? Why can't I do anything?" he exclaimed, sweating profusely as he kept trying to escape his grasp.

"Just making sure you don't go around causing more trouble," he replied without even looking in his direction.

"So I have to tear both his arms off; that's what you're saying, Selene?" he asked.

Selene nodded, with a big smile on her face. She had never liked Madiyar because he always took stances that were disadvantageous to hunters. Luckily, Lucius always shut him down.

"Don't you think that's a bit light? There are plenty of ways as to how he can regain his arms, like potions or even just healing magic." Lucius sighed, "I need something better; what he just said is unacceptable, and I need him to serve as an example. We run the country not for our own benefit but to improve the country," he declared, looking at everyone else that was in the room.

The whole room fell dead silent; no one dared to move a muscle, afraid they would anger Lucius and be his next victim.

"Hunters are a very important part of this country. If word of this comes out, it might spark a civil war or worse; all the hunters could leave. Then the dungeons would overflow, and this country would be ruined. So never suggest something like that, even as a joke, or I will have to repeat the past tragedy."

"Now we will decide on Madiyar's punishment. Is anyone against this idea? Speak up now." he said, looking around and focusing on the people Madiyar had close relations with. But no one spoke up. This was his own fault; he knows Lucius is the council president and the association president and still made that insane suggestion. He could only blame himself for becoming too cocky.

After waiting for a while, Lucius then continued. "Ok, no one is against it; now we need to decide what punishment is fit for him, and don't hold back. Anyone got a suggestion?"

Selene immediately raised her hand; not waiting for Lucius to say anything, she started. "Kick him off the council and tear off his arms with your hellfire."

Madiyar looked at Selene with horror in his eyes; getting kicked off the council was a big issue, but not as bad as his arms getting burned with hellfire. "Are you insane! You know how dangerous his hellfire is. Don't you think that's taking it too far?" he screamed at her.

"Silence!" Lucius snapped, smashing Madiyar face-first into the floor, putting his foot on it. "I don't need your input. Ok, there we have suggestion one. Anyone else got another idea?" He asked, his demeanor shifting back to his charismatic self.

Selene could barely contain her laughter; this was the Lucius she had always known: ruthless and kind at the same time. But this was hilarious, his switching personalities being polar opposites.

Everyone else, however, was terrified, and they all took a mental note to be careful around him in the future. And it seemed hunters were a very sensitive topic.

But it finally clicked in their heads; it seems he's the reason the treatment of hunters improved so much after that tragedy a hundred years ago.

Then an older man stood up and cleared his throat. "I agree with Miss Selene's suggestion; it's not too harsh and not too mild—a perfect punishment for what he did."

After he said that, everyone else seemed to agree as well, and they didn't want to oppose two of the most powerful figures in the country.

"So it's decided, thanks, Draven." Lucius said, looking at the ground where Madiyar lay, he removed his foot and grasped his collar again, holding him up again.

"Any last words?" he asked, that same devilish grin appearing on his face again.

Madiyar looked completely defeated, his appearance disheveled, his spirit broken, and all this because he was trying to help Matthew. 'Damn you, Matthew, I won't forget this. Saying things like they won't be too ruthless.'

"Guess not, huh. Ok, that's fine as well; I don't want to hear your voice anymore after that little stunt. Hereby Madiyar Harut, overseer of research and innovation, is kicked off the council; someone else from the Harut family will be elected soon, and he will have both his arms burnt off by my hellfire."

Hearing that Madiyar didn't even try to defend himself, he just accepted it; there was nothing he could do about it anyway. The whole council had agreed to it, and most importantly, even Draven had agreed to it.

Lucius looked at him with dissatisfaction. 'No fun either, huh? He already gave up. It's much more fun when they actually fight back and crush them like that. Oh well. Let's just get it over with.'

Invoking his hellfire, a blue flame appeared above both of Madiyar's arms, and when they made contact, it went so fast that he didn't even have the time to feel pain. His arms were gone within a second. Everyone was dumbfounded; they had heard stories about Lucius's hellfire but never seen it.

Now they knew why everyone feared Lucius and why their parents warned them about him.

Lucius let go of Madiyar's collar, letting him drop to his knees. "Call security and kick him out. I'll go to the Harut estate and make sure a new member is elected fast. After we finished the decision about Teo Amanar becoming an S-rank or not."