Valerian, The Legendary

311 Subjugation.

Valerian watched the man charging at him with a balled fist. He was not a fool and could tell the enemy was a warrior. However, it was still not someone who would pose a threat to the Grandmaster.

Valerian leaned to a side to avoid the punch, and when the enemy retracted his fists, Valerian charged in, and then his leg moved like a whip, and the impact of the kick sent the enemy flying by a few meters. Valerian had not used his strength, but this impact was enough to shock the man.

The person put up his guard as he figured Valerian was anything but easy. However, the Silver-haired monk did not go all out because he suspected this enemy of having more liaisons. He wanted to catch as many of these people as he could.

The surrounding people were worried and scared. They were all backed against a wall, sitting on the floor, shivering in fear. Valerian cast a gaze at Valerie and gave her a few signs. Then, he told her to go and stand with the people. This will ease up the chaos.

The enemy thought that Valerian was distracted and attacked him once more. This time the person did not hold back and used his full strength. However, he was repelled by Valerian again, and this time it was not even a blow, just some soft and hard principle.

Valerian growled, and Valerie asked, “He wants to know your name.”

The man knew that he was struggling but still had a chance to win and spat on the ground as he said, “I do not answer to a wild-ling.”

Valerian sighed, and then his body flickered from his spot and appeared behind the man. The enemy was surprised, but Valerian did not give him any chance to struggle and grappled his forearm around the enemy’s throat and used the vacant hand to grab onto the person’s right hand.

The man struggled, but he did not have any options. How could he have contended against Valerian’s strength? The silver-haired monk growled, and Valerie said, “Sir, please tell your name, or you will get hurt.”

.....

The man replied, “You are the people from the Temple of Mercy. Therefore, you cannot harm me if you touch me; I will accuse you in the face of the Temple’s high priests.”

Valerian smiled, and then everyone heard a cracking sound, followed by a scream that made everyone’s hair stand up on the ends. The prince smiled gently as he growled, and Valerie said, “We were told to capture you people alive, but not that we have to keep you well and treat you like a god. Sorry.”

Valerie was conveying every word that Valerian was asking her to. She was not scared by the angry expression on the man’s face. On the contrary, she was sure Valerian would not let harm befall her.

The man was angry, but he was helpless. Finally, he asked loudly, “What do you want?”

Valerian growled, and the girl asked, “Who are your accomplices? Give them up.”

The man opened his eyes wide and said, “I have no accomplices.”

Valerian furrowed his brows. There were a lot of questions, but he could not growl and ask them through Valerie. So instead, he used the wooden vine spell and tied up the person. He did not bother with fixing his hand and left it broken. Then he cast a fireball in the sky, and after two hours, two Knights of Mercy landed on the ground.

The young man did not say anything and asked with sign language for some supplies. The knights were initially surprised, but then Valerian told them the reason. They understood and nodded. The other Knight responded that he could deliver everything Valerian had requested after a day.

Valerian agreed to it without any objection. He would deal with a few things in this town before he moved on. The accomplices of these harmful elements would cause a stir if they left so quickly.

Valerian took to the injured people lying on the side of the street and began treating them with dedication. Valerie was tasked to provide water to those who were feeling thirsty.

It took them an entire evening to finish dealing with the sick and the needy. Valerian had told the Knights Of Mercy to get these people some food and clothes too.

Valerian then decided to spend the night with these people only. He used his magic to make them a few sheds to protect them from the drizzle and lit fire to keep them warm. He did this to protect these people from any night attacks from those ruffians.

The night passed before the Knight Of Mercy returned with a few things, Valerian had requested them for some special magical metals, and the Knight had told him that it would cost him merit points.

Valerian agreed to the condition. After all, nothing in the world was for free. So Valerie and the young man distributed everything according to their needs to the people. However, at this time, a lot of citizens surrounded them. Valerian looked at some of them and knew they were not here with good intentions.

He placed Valerie behind him and took the collar chains from her. He wrapped the artifact around his neck and said, “Why are you here? To kill people?”

The crowd slowly moving closer stopped. They were surprised to see this young man talking. Earlier, they thought he was distinct and could not speak in the human tongue. Valerian cast a fireball in his hand and said, “Try taking a step forward and harm anyone of these people and I will inflict you with agony similar to what you have done.”

His tone was cold, and the people were surprised. Then, suddenly, a voice sounded, “How dare you attack us while you follow the laws of mercy? Have you no shame you condemned distinct.”

Valerian did not bother to clarify that he was a human. Instead, he replied, “Oh, a Wiseman. Please come forward and teach me the law of mercy. Come on.”

His tone was sarcastic, and he had a sneer on his face. Then, after a minute, when no one stepped forward, Valerian said, “The laws of the Temple do not allow me to kill anyone, but they do not stop me from protecting myself and the others. Do you think these people are weak, so you can beat them up and leave them to die on the streets?

You illiterate fools, if they die, the rotting flesh will spread diseases, and you all will die, but the first ones to die will be your children. These people are not weak; they do not want to hurt you. Otherwise, will someone who has the gift to cast magic spells will suffer under your tyranny? What gave you all the heart to stand against them?”

The people were stunned by the lashing this child gave them. Then, Valerian said, “If you come forward on your own and surrender, the punishment will be lenient. The Temple of Mercy does not wish to kill, but this does not mean they will just sit by and watch you all misuse your power. This is not good for anyone. Sooner or later, your anarchic actions will lead to your downfall.”

The people were silent, but none came forward, and Valerian played an emotional card, “Look at the poor children behind me. Look at them and imagine if your child was to be one of these little ones, would you still stand back and watch them suffer? Men are supposed to be strong and protect the weak, and women are supposed to shelter those who cannot.”

Another person said, “But how are we supposed to let them just go? Do you not know they are better than us in all ways? We suffer because of them. We do not wish to go hungry because someone else hires them over us.”

Valerian sighed and said, “This is why having a government system establish rules and regulations to protect the interests of every citizen is important. You have no country, no cities, and no borders, yet you can always live with each other in harmony, which is a good thing. However, you must understand that living together happily is not good enough. You need to look after each other and cure your hatred.”

A person replied, “Who do you think you are to preach to us? Why shall I listen to you?”

Valerian sighed and said, “Look at your children and look in their eyes. You are not the hero that you think you are. You are tainting them with all this nonsense. I wonder what makes you different from a cynical piece of shit.”

The man shivered and raised his hand. The next moment, vines erupted from the ground and entangled with the man. Valerian said, “I promise I will not harm you or any one who comes forward to surrender.”