Sévir Is A Pariah!

Four people in knight armor sat around a round table, chattering with their helmets off.

The woman striked a similar appearance to her male counterparts–they were all fair-skinned and had short black hair that kept to the scalp, not hanging down like a girls'.

"So what did ya do with that skeleton?" asked the first man, whose voice was like that of a stereotypical cowboy.

The woman snickered. "Well, what else? I threw him off the pit!"

"As in the one by that door and bridge?"

The woman nodded, followed by all of them bursting out in laughter.

"That's quite the story you have~" said a girl's gentle and moderately high-pitched voice. She walked towards them from the right–a tan-skinned girl with irises as red as blood and as unreadable as a closed book–she had light grey hair tied up to a low bun, wearing an assassin-like attire with a long and yellow sleeveless coat.

The woman frowned, raising a brow. "Huhh?? Who are you?" she turned to the girl.

"..Hey.." the second man in the table called out, catching the woman's attention. "..She looks familiar.."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Everyone looks familiar to you. So, what do you want?"

The girl glanced at the second man then to the woman. "Me? Well.." she folded her arms and left leg behind, tilted her head and bent her knee down. "My name is Ayuna, I am pleased to meet you."

The woman stood up–she was as tall as Venice and walked closer to Ayuna. "Just call me Pierce." she extended her right hand.

Ayuna noticed and extended hers, shaking each other's hands.

"What brings you here, Ayuna?" they let go of each other's hands.

"My liege ordered me to go here."

Beneath the armor, Pierce's body grew restless from a random and looming sense of unease that only intensified as the seconds passed by. "..I see, is there any specific reason?" she took one step back. I've got a bad feeling about this one. she saw a dark aura around Ayuna–one that others couldn't see nor sense.

"You're the leader, right?"

Do I say I'm the leader? Or do I point to someone else? after a second of thinking, she nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Okay," she smiled, "my liege has a message for you."

Pierce raised a brow. "That is?"

Her smile grew as she gave her a sharp gaze. "There shall be a change in leadership," Pierce felt something in her stomach with a loud pop–one that made her crew stand in shock. She looked down, "you are hereby discharged." from her view, was Ayuna's arm inside her body, and from the mens' view, was her lower arm and fist fully covered in blood that stuck off Pierce's back

Ayuna pulled her arm out of Pierce's body, who dropped to the ground.

"KILL HER!" yelled the first man who drew his sword and charged at her, followed by the second and third men.

He raised and swung down his sword, Ayuna blocked it with the metallic wristband on her right and punched a hole through his armor and belly.

She pulled her arm to the right, ripping off a chunk of his body–his kidneys and the like splattered to the ground.

Before he could realize and make a reaction, she kept her fist balled and aimed it on the second man, shooting a ray of light that pierced through his head made him fall.

The first man dropped as well, yelling from the excruciating pain, the second man dropped lifeless, and the third man froze to the sight of his comrades dying.

Ayuna turned to the last man, staring him down sharply.

Much to his horror, he could not move and speak, nor could he stop her from walking closer. The only thing that came out were whimpers of fear.

She opened her arms wide and closed it by slamming both her hands on his head, which from the sheer strength splattered his eyes, blood and brain everywhere.

"That's the last one." she commented as he dropped to the ground. She wiped off the blood that splattered to her face, even picking a pink piece from her cheek, examining it. "Maybe I went overboard."

Then, she heard a groan from behind, she turned around and saw the injured Pierce barely moving.

"Oh, you're still alive?" she walked closer and crouched beside her.

"..You little.." she muttered with all the strength she could bring, feeling weak from her wound.

"Can you tell me what the pain's like?"

"Kill me.."

Ayuna raised a brow, as though genuinely confused. "Why should I?"

Pierce bit her lip hard until it bled.

"You like torturing people, right? Wouldn't it mean you like getting tortured as well?" she asked the way an innocent child would.

"That's..–"

"Hey, tell me–tell me how the pain's like."

"..It's–"

"How does this feel?" she inserted her hand in the wound and squished something, forcing a blood-curdling scream out of Pierce that forced tears out as well. "STOP, STOP, STOP!!!!"

"Does it feel like cramps–like, a very intense type of cramping? Tell meeeee!" her cheeks flushed in excitement.

As much as she was curious and wanted an answer out of her, she let go and stood up, much to Pierce's relief.

"When someone asks a question, you have to answer it." she raised her right thigh, bringing her foot above Pierce's face. "Please don't forget that in your next life!"

The first man who still lived witnessed Pierce's fate–he shut his eyes and only heard the splatter of blood and bones. Crap, crap, crap.. I'm next!  try as he might, he couldn't calm himself down, his chest rose and descended again and again. I have to act dead!

"Hey, mister.. Open your eyes."

His heart dropped to the pits of hell when she spoke right beside him.

"You're alive, aren't you? You're shaking, and your chest is moving."

"..Please, spare me.."

"But you're an enemy, right~? My liege said I shouldn't spare our enemies." she glanced around. "Where's the ravine Ms. Pierce threw the man at?"

"..East.." he replied as his body was wrapped not only in pain, but a coldness that made him shiver even more.

She smiled. "Do you want your death served hot or cold?"

He kept silent.

"Hot it is, then." she stood up and stomped on his left knee, snapping and arching his lower leg forward. Naturally, he screamed from it, and even more as she stomped on his right knee, then his elbows.

The stinging pain was enough to make him tear up, but this only made Ayuna smile even more. "Do you want me to tear off your limbs, or throw you off the ravine?"

"R–R–RAVINE!!" both were unsatisfactory choices, but being thrown off the ravine seemed less worse.

She crouched and swooped him on her arms, carrying him like a bride. "Hey, can you describe the pain to me?"

"..It.. It hurts–it s–stings..!" she nodded to his answer.

"Well then.. See you Mister. Thank you so much for answering my questions!" she braced herself then flung him above and across the town, much to his screams and protests. It was an accurate shot as she threw him right to the ravine to fall to his death.

"Well then.." she turned around, conjuring a long and glowing yellow rope. "I better show the people who are the bosses now."

…

"So basically, that's what happened!" said Ayuna to the crowd that gathered by the fountain in broad daylight–one that Minerva and Nell were part of.

Leaning by the ledge of the stone fountain were three lifeless bodies tied together in a rope–the headless Pierce with a hole in her belly, the second man with a hole akin to a gunshot in his forehead, and the headless third man.

"Rejoice, for we will be leading The Forbidden from now on–as the new 'The Forbidden'."

She placed her hands on her hips, posing pridefully. "You all should be grateful–without our funds, you guys wouldn't have been able to get money, you guys would've just starved to death!"

"So.. Are you our new leader?" asked a meek-looking man.

Ayuna shook her head. "The new leader hasn't arrived yet, but you guys better wait in excitement!" she pointed at five men. "You five, carry these bodies and throw them down the ravine. Everyone else, get back to your businesses."

As ordered, everyone dispersed, carrying a sense of relief and the weight of anxiety as they wondered whether this new leadership would be better or worse than the rowdy ones they succeeded.

.

A sense of familiarity loomed in Sévir's heart as his index emitted some light, walking forward in a wooden hallway with doors scattered here and there.

With his free hand, he rubbed his forehead as though stressed. How did I fall off the stairs here before?

At last, he descended the final group of stairs, standing before the all too familiar door that led to a room.

He walked with certainty unlike before, where he took the lightest steps to search for traps. The torches by the walls dimmed for no profound reason as did before, and so he turned the knob and entered the room.

The door slammed closed by itself–though Sévir was unfazed.

He walked to the door, guided by the light in his finger. Just as he held the knob though, he dashed to the right as fast as he can, but for what?

The door banged hard, yet didn't break. He looked back and saw red glowing eyes–his instincts kicked in upon entering this room, and it sure did gift him.

What? How is he still alive? the light floated off his index to the ceiling and expanded, bringing light to the whole room that exposed the stone room–bones scattered everywhere on the floor, dry blood stains virtually everywhere he looked, and a metal casing unlatched like that of an egg.

He looked at the beast and noticed unlike before where his skin was metallic, this one was coated with soft skin like most species.

It roared louder than before and braced itself to attack. Smoke came out of its nose as it exhaled hard, its face was aggressive, giving a look of hatred.

You seem to recognize me, that's good. he extended his right arm and gestured the beast to charge. Come at me, Hedgewolf.

As if the Hedgewolf understood his sign, it roared again and charged, forcing a vibration and small craters on the floor as it launched.