Rule of Blood

The Scarlet Root was not an army or an organization with an elaborate and strict system, it was essentially a collection of bandits, commoners, or Harbingers.

The founders were aware of the type of people who would be eager to join their ranks, so they came up with two simple rules to add some control to the chaos. Thus, this force could become distinctive.

The first and most basic rule was followed by almost everyone in the world, not just the Scarlet Root - the strongest rules. At the Scarlet Root, the Harbingers had emblems with crimson skulls like Lorana, and the commoners had gray skulls like Stina.

The second rule was unique to the Scarlet Root - the Rule of Blood.

The idea was simple: anyone could join the Scarlet Root simply by killing one of the members. This allowed them to skip the normal joining procedure, which required recommendations from three members or permission from higher-ranking ones.

The Rule of Blood was a radical method, but the founders decided that this way they could attract strong people. It didn't matter that these people could be psychos, insane, or sadistic maniacs.

If they used the Rule of Blood, they were strong and enjoyed fighting.

What else did an organization made up of criminals need to survive?

Right - an even more dangerous and tough commander with the power to decide the fate of the members of the Scarlet Root, including those who used the Rule of Blood.

A crimson coat with the image of a black root piercing a red skull on its back covered Gex's back, his grim gaze was directed at Tron.

Slowly raising his hand, Gex pointed to Morbia lying at Tron's feet, his grip still firmly on her hair.

"Who's that?" he asked.

A cold wind swept across them, seeming to have gotten stronger in the last few minutes.

There was no quick answer, Tron just turned his head looking at the slaves gathered around wanting to see for himself, they had no skull emblems but thick iron collars.

"I see. Are you saying she's your slave? You know, you're not much of a talker, and... you're lying."

Gex glanced at Tron, who didn't even blink.

An emotionless voice came from Tron.

"Why?"

In response, he saw a sly smirk as Gex pointed his hand at the random slave.

"Because these collars aren't just jewelry. They're a guarantee that they have no choice but to obey!"

At the same moment, a purple rune flashed on the collar as proof that the order had been carried out.

"AAAAARRGGHHH!!! Please stop!"

A vivid scream of painful pain going through her entire body rang out from the slave girl. She fell to the ground, holding onto the collar, trying to remove it and end her suffering, but it was all in vain.

Then, Gex lowered his hand as the rune faded, bringing the girl much-desired relief.

She coughed a few times, her neck reddening, but her life was no longer in danger.

"Oh... That's curious..." Tron said sincerely.

He roughly threw Morbia to the ground, taking a step forward.

"But, I don't need it."

Uncomprehension appeared on their faces. Without the special collar, one could not be sure of his slave's obedience, everyone knew that.

Soon, their doubts were answered.

A red thread appeared between Tron and Morbia, indicating the nature of their relationship.

Gex's eye went wide as he stared intently at Morbia. Then he realized that unlike all of them, slaves, and members of the Scarlet Root, regardless of skull emblem, only Morbia had a different status in the Kyrexo Loop.

She was the Second Stage Sinner, the Harbinger whose enemies had proven influential and cruel enough to have her powers sealed, stripping her of her energy and practically demoting her from a Harbinger to the level of a mere human.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

Loud laughter spread around as Gex's fingertips touched his face, covering his eye patch.

"You captured a Second Stage Sinner and turned her into your power source! Hahaha, you made a contract using the Eye, didn't you?"

Tron only nodded silently.

His silence had a reason - he couldn't lie yet. Therefore, Morbia gave him clear instructions on how to proceed, without saying too much while remaining confident in his character.

"Alright, do you want to use the Rule of Blood and join us?" Gex asked, but there was no response. "Yeah... I asked for nothing, I already got word of that."

He scratched the back of his head.

"So... Judging by the red skull emblem, you killed one of the Harbingers, right?"

The calmness in his voice was caused by the fact that he didn't know that man, most likely it was a loner or a newly arrived prisoner, but he was one of them so Tron as an assassin had the right to use the Rule of Blood.

Upon hearing Gex's question, Morbia's eyes went wide, she looked at Tron with panic.

'Fuck, he won't be able to answer correctly! Since I killed that Harbinger! In that case, he won't accept the Blood Rule!" she inwardly shouted.

As if confirming Morbia's fears, Tron serenely replied:

"No..."

A shiver ran through Morbia's body, her plan crumbling before her eyes.

But... that wasn't the end of Tron's speech.

"He died... He just died, falling at my feet. He didn't even realize what had happened."

Lorana stepped forward with a great frown on her face.

"Stop with this nonsense. Answer the questions normally! Your silence pisses me off!"

However... there was no response. Tron realized that instead of speaking excessively it was better to be quiet.

Without warning, Gex waved his hand, stopping Lorana, the hem of his long coat flapping upwards.

"You don't have to. I've already figured it all out." Gex's calm voice became an order.

Then his gaze traveled to Morbia, a sly smirk appearing on his face.

"You, this was all made up by you, wasn't it?"

Hygon and Lorana glanced over, bafflement was evident in their startled eyes.

A chill ran down Morbia's back, but she tried not to expose herself, and... only Tron had no emotion.

"Come on, don't be silent, I've already realized it, and you won't be able to convince me. I have to admit, the disguise, the plan, and the acting are on the level, that's the only reason it took me so long to sort it all out."

Gex continued:

"Your eyes are not filled with fear and despair, most slaves are weak and exhausted, but... your body looks like a statue of a warlike valkyrie carved by a master. You are a warrior."

It was true, it seemed that Gex was the only one who noticed such an important detail.

"And... as a completion of my theory, you are a Second Stage Sinner. I bet if your powers weren't sealed, you could give battle to all of us at the same time."

Scratching the back of her head, with a heavy look, Morbia muttered:

"Well, we were revealed. It's not pleasant, but... we'll have to work with what we have."

At the same moment, as if a secret word had been spoken, Tron stepped forward with a cold, determined stare.

Just one step was enough to make Gex and the others wary. There was something natural and threatening about Tron's look and movements, no doubt about it.

Not realizing what was happening, Morbia lunged forward, grabbing his leg with both hands.

"Wait! What the hell are you going to do?!"

Tron gave her a baffled look before pointing at Gex.

"Hmm? Kill, I was going to kill him. You're the one who said that if we were discovered I should finish off their leader."

Morbia's face went pale. Her backup plan was to move to negotiations, but right now Tron was threatening them, which put their own lives in jeopardy!

Suddenly, Gex laughed.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

He was holding onto his stomach with one hand and clapping his thigh with the other, he was clearly unable to contain his emotions.

"What a scary look. He wasn't lying, he was going to kill me! Hahaha, damn, we need people like that!".

An unusually strong torrent of wind blew by them, bringing particles of snow onto Gex's shoulders as a warning of the coming cold.

Looking up Gex frowned heavily before turning around and waving, heading towards the manor.

"Come on, there's a storm coming, we'll talk about the rest inside in front of the fireplace."

Lorana turned around abruptly with an indignant face.

"What?! You're going to let them join us without knowing anything about them?"

Gex stopped, he slowly turned his head, looking at Lorana over his shoulder. His eye narrowed a cold and threatening look that silenced Lorana.

"Do you want to challenge my decision?"

There was no response, Lorana only gulped.

"I thought so."

The long crimson coat fluttered under the sweep of his arm, drowning out the sounds of his powerful, determined footsteps.

"I'm going to get out of this place and take my comrades with me. I don't know about you, but instead of being a king in prison, I'd rather be free in the big world."