Chapter 101 Become Strong
After checking on Liam's daughters, he asked them to stay with their father until he woke up and then tied up the envoy who was still scared shitless.
Because of his recent double castration, he offered no resistance but squealed like a sow at the slaughterhouse throughout the whole process. Ikaris was so fed-up at some point that he ended up headbutting the guy to shut him up. Once the silence returned his mood brightened up immediately.
He joined Malia a moment later with the freed prisoners but they were still in shock except for those who had been captured recently. As for the women who had suffered the sadistic whims of the envoy, it would take much longer for them to recover.
Ikaris left the building and was greeted by dozens of bound Werewolves and Beastmen. The envoy's bodyguards being more robust had already regained consciousness, but the village had no shortage of rope and their bonds were sturdy.
When he remembered that Ezrog was fighting alone with Kellam, Marvin and the Hellhound Pack loyalists he decided to run to his assistance, but when he reached the cages he saw that the fight was already over there too. The Werewolves and Beastmen from the village didn't expect to be betrayed by their comrades. They had lost the battle before it had even begun.
"Good job guys." Ikaris praised happily.
He gave the order to free the prisoners and those who had been captured for a long time burst into tears while the others thanked them profusely. As for those from Last Saint Village like Ling, their loyalty shot up almost immediately to the highest value after their release.
"Thank you my Lord." The young seamstress shook his hand with her moist eyes glistening with gratitude. "I promise to sew as many garments as Last Saint will require of me to repay you."
"It was my fault that you were captured, so naturally it was my responsibility to rectify that fault." Ikaris rejected her pledge. "Just do your part and that will be enough."
Ling's loyalty which was already above 95 rose another point after these words. The teenager then chatted with each prisoner, offering them a few words of comfort in order to find out their names and origins.
Some revealed their intention to return to their villages, but most happily agreed to join Last Saint. In total there were 49 women of different races and that meant that in the blink of an eye the population of Last Saint had doubled. Once the Hellhound Pack was included in the population total, his village would most likely exceed 200 inhabitants.
Their lack of manpower was finally solved, but now it was their limited food resources that would become the main obstacle to Last Saint's expansion. After feeding the prisoners so they would be able to move, they gathered in the central square of Hellhound Village and the place quickly became crowded.
Excluding the 40 Werewolves forming the envoy's guard and the dozens of identified traitors, there were 169 people, including 71 prisoners, 24 Werewolves, 66 Beastmen, 8 Daemons, and a couple dozen Demonic Wolves and Dogs.
Aside from the 13 Werewolves directly transformed by Liam, his family and close friends, most were opportunists seeking a life worth living. With the right incentives, Ikaris was confident he could win them over.
Either way, it was either that or die as he couldn't risk them reporting what had happened here to Onyxcrest Pride.
"I am Ikaris, the Lord of Last Saint Village and a Stele Holder." He stated calmly as he swept his eyes over the crowd. "I have the support of House Morgunis and the control of Cutthroat Island's sole Transportation Portal. Although my village doesn't fare much better than this one at the moment, I have the means, the confidence, and the knowledge to realize my ambitions. However, to do so, I need people. The most prosperous empire is nothing without its citizens. Even without your help, with my Elsisn Stele Last Saint's population will continue to grow. It is inevitable. By joining my village now and actively contributing to its development, you will have a huge advantage over future citizens who will hop on the train long after it has set into motion. It's not without risk of course, but it's a gamble on the future that you are free to make.
"For those who refuse, don't worry, but I have to take precautions to ensure that Onyxcrest Pride doesn't find out what happened here. Am I clear?"
The prisoners from other villages stiffened as they heard his last words. Nope, you're not clear at all!
Anyway, none of them had the courage to venture into the forest alone, so in the end they all agreed to temporarily join the village by signing a Blood Contract. This drained what little paper the Hellhound Pack had managed to amass.
When he received the promise of all the prisoners and inhabitants of Hellhound Village, he felt a peculiar mental link form with each of them and when he scanned them with his Appraisal Spell the loyalty gauge was now available.
'Between 16 and 52... That's not very high but I figured as much.' Ikaris mentally calculated.
The most loyal were Liam's pack, while the least loyal were the villagers who perceived him as a conqueror come to subjugate them. The prisoners who resented him for not letting them go home were somewhere in between: grateful for their newfound freedom, but not willing to sacrifice their lives for his expansionist ambitions.
With the participation of all the villagers, packing everything of value in Hellhound Village took only a few hours. Just as they were about to leave, however, something unexpected happened.
When Liam woke up and walked outside with his daughters, the women who had been abused by the emissary immediately demanded his arrest, if not his death. The male prisoners who had been used as snacks by the envoy's guards were even more passionate, if not outright hysterical.
"Without his active cooperation, none of this would have happened! He must die!" the blonde elf in her thirties with a full bosom who had been selected the day before was still seething with revulsion and her hatred for the Alpha Werewolf was an unquenchable fire.
A pretty brunette, somewhat skinny and barely of age, chosen at the same time as the elf, was even more hysterical and immediately tried to stab Liam with a knife stolen from somewhere. The latter, who was still suffering from a throbbing headache after having been knocked out by Ikaris, instinctively raised his guard, but halfway through the gesture his arms fell back along his body and he let the young woman in tears stab him in the abdomen.
Grabbing her wrist, he slowly withdrew the dagger from his stomach and guided her arm to his throat. Holding her arm in place, he stared her straight in the eyes and croaked in a hoarse, guilt-ridden voice,
"Kill me. I deserve it. If you kill me, you'll feel better and maybe it's worth it. But the only reason I did what I did was to spare my daughters and my pack from a fate similar to yours. I only did what I was told to do to survive and now I have a new Lord to serve who will never let something like this happen again."
The young woman's frail, bruised arm trembled, but gritting her teeth she pressed the blade of her dagger harder against Liam's carotid artery. A thin gash appeared on his throat and blood began to trickle down. But the blade went no further.
She wanted to kill him so badly! She wanted revenge on the envoy, but their new Lord had already made it abundantly clear why he had to be kept alive.
She and the other women needed another outlet, but the envoy's guards were also untouchable... Liam was the perfect scapegoat to vent their anger and resentment.
"Do it." The Alpha Werewolf calmly encouraged her in front of the aghast expression of his two daughters who were clenching their fists so hard they were bleeding from their long fingernails.
Ikaris passively watched the drama, refusing to intervene despite Malia's insistent nudging.
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"Psst! Aren't you going to do anything?" She whispered anxiously beside him.
"No. That girl is incapable of killing him, and that's the only way to start over on the right foot. I doubt she'll ever forgive him, but her choice will influence all the other victims."
After several minutes of stalemate where the young woman tried several times to slit his throat without finding the resolve to go through with her act she dropped her weapon to the ground and whispered in sobs,
"If I kill you now, it would be too lenient a punishment."
Ikaris nodded in approval. His moment to intervene had come, so he stepped forward and addressed all the victims, male or female,
"If Liam had not decided to betray the envoy, saving you would have been much more difficult. It may not be obvious now, but he has already started to change. However, even if Liam and I decide to devote our lives to protecting you, it is not impossible that something like this could happen again in the future. A much stronger enemy could invade and recapture you. Your fate would then be the same, but this time with no hope of release."
The crowd's expression changed. The scenario he had just described was a ridiculously common occurrence in the Warring Lands and even more so on Cutthroat Island.
"Which brings me to my main point. The real culprit for everything that has happened or will happen to you is not this envoy, nor Liam, nor these hypothetical future invaders, but you. Or rather your weakness. If you don't want such a nightmare to happen to you again, stop blaming others and take responsibility for yourself.
" Become strong. Last Saint and I pledge to provide you with everything you need to make this goal a reality."