Melody and the other three made their way through the crowd up to the front so that they could get a good view on what was going on.
"Caspus was the vaccine.", she muttered. "The vaccine to the culture of bacteria which they were cultivating.... do you know what a vaccine does? By infecting a small part with the same disease in a controlled manner, you can prevent the spread of the disease later...."
"What was that, Melody?", Charlotte asked, however Melody was talking to herself.
"We are just the parasites that they are cultivating.... and they have to destroy anyone who tries to create a vaccine to stop our spread.... one by one, they are going to plague everyone in this world."
Melody smiled fanatically.
"And we are the first and foremost!! We are the patient zero!!!!!! It is our duty to spread this plague.... this disease, to the other people of the world!!", she shouted while holding the back side of her ear, reminding her of her own infection.
Melody and the others made their way through the group of lizardmen, who were all shuddering with fear, and stunned while they watched the legion of humans floating in the air in the shape of a disc as if they were a large frisbee spinning on ones finger.
"They're insane..... but I can become a master alchemist if I follow them...", Lance sighed in disbelief while staring at the scene from afar.
"They're so powerful.... maybe even I can become strong if I learn from them....", Charlotte stated with a smile while watching.
"Whether we misjudged them or not, I don't know.... whether they are good or evil, I don't know.... but one thing is for certain... if we stick by them, we can help them wipe out the criminals of this world.", Pierre whispered with a light smile.
"Don't turn your eyes from anything that happens.", Melody stated boldly, to both her own comrades and to all the lizardmen and fishmen surrounding them. "It is our duty to watch and see what happens to these vaccinators who tried to contain the spread of this disease, if we are to assist in the spread."
At this, all the lizardmen came out of shock, and instead looked up and watched with resolve. Ploritan too, who was once on his knees at seeing all the people of his tribe being slaughtered, now stood up.
"They are doing this for my people. How can I stand here and mope when they are over there, doing this for us?"
Ploritan watched, however he couldn't see the antiheroes or what they were doing through the disc of floating people around them.
"They must be in the center there... I can only imagine what they are doing in there..."
----
"Oh stop mumbling like a baby. You just ordered the slaughter of 500 civilian fishmen without blinking an eye, but now as soon as you're the one on the dinner table, you have the right to cry? I don't think so. Hey, only the toes are left but do you two want a pair of matching bracelets or something?", Garett asked to Trevor and Samantha.
"Well, I suppose I'll take one."
"Why not."
Garett smiled, and Caspus gave him a look of pleading before Garett completely ignored his cries, and took off the boots which Caspus was wearing, throwing them down into the town with the rest of the gear.
"How about we try doing this the other way around this time?"
Garett took out the thread to make the bracelet, and punctured it through each toe like a sewing needle, before they were ripped off. He then yanked the entire string, and the toes tore off in one smooth motion.
Caspus blubbered in pain as Garett did this.
"Hahaha!! This worked pretty well. Lets do that again....", Garett said as he threw the bloodied charm over to Trevor, who caught it with one hand and started to wrap it around the wrist of Samantha.
"I suppose this is romantic in a very demented sense...", Trevor muttered while Samantha held her hand out as if she was receiving a ring from her lover.
Garett repeated the process on the other foot, and handed the bracelet to Samantha, who then wrapped it around Trevor's wrist.
"Now we're starting to look a bit more like demon lords.... heh heh heh...."
Caspus continued flapping his lips annoyingly, pleading and begging for the antiheroes to stop.
"Alright, I think that's enough of this guy. Let's inventory him for now.", Ashley said, as she grabbed the blubbering face of Caspus and shoved him inside her inventory.
[Player Ashley has stored 1 [Human] (Defective)]
"I know exactly what to do with this one.... hehehe...."
Ashley then twirled her index finger around, and the disc of people soon converged into a tornado, swirling at massive speeds with Ashley at the bottom of it as if she was balancing it on her fingertip.
"AGH!!!!!"
"HEEEEEEELPPPPPP!!!!"
"I CAAAAAAAAANNTTT TAAAAAAAKEEEEE ITTTTTTT"
"MYYY BOOODY ISSSS GOONNAAAA RIIIIPPPP APPPAAAAARTTTT!!!!!!"
Many more screams were heard from the centripetal force as it played with the humans who made up the twister, however Ashley merely plugged her ears.
"They're really annoying today. They just wont shut up."
"Ah tell me about it. At least you can cover your ears. I still have to listen to their thoughts.", Samantha complained.
Ashley then made it so that the group of humans all converged into each other, forming a ball of people. They were uninjured, for now, however they were all uncomfortably squashed together like a giant meat pie.
If one combined the fact that they were all wearing armor and wielding weapons with the body heat exerted from 10,000 people, the center must have been a sweltering hell. On top of this, some piercing sounds were heard from many of the spears which had been left in the mix.
"AGH!!! My thigh!!"
"That's my rib!!!"
The four then lowered themselves to the ground, with the ball of people hovering above Ashley like she was a child holding a balloon.
They looked around the streets of the city, to see the bodies of women and children, bloodied and lying throughout the roadways. Guts and intestines had been splattered everywhere, and it was a complete scene of carnage.
There was not a shred of mercy in the entire scene. It was a complete slaughter.
Ashley looked around to see that each of the bodies had a shadowy figure attached to it. Some were a light grey, whereas others were darker. They all seemed to be screaming in pain or remorse.
'Is the shade of the soul dependent on how good a person is? Or is there something else? Well, no matter. These people are all our slaves either way. I don't care if they're good or evil, they're ours to drive like dogs now.'
Ashley held out a hand, and beams of darkness spread from her palm, coercing the shrieking souls hovering above all the fishmen lying throughout the village to return to their bodies. The women and children awakened, wounded and injured. Some screamed and others looked around in confusion, bearing the pain.
Samantha then held out a hand, and healing magic exited from her palm like beams of light, spreading throughout the city and healing the bodies of the fishmen. Some of them had their heads smashed in, and others had wounds to their chests or backs, but those were all healed in an instant through the grace of the demonic figure in the center of the city.
Only when darkness exists first does light shine brightly.
However, Trevor quickly sent out a message to all the people of the fishmen village who had been revived.
[Our newly purchased slaves. This is an order from your new masters. Make your way to the center of the plaza, or be deemed a deficient product and thrown out with the rest of the trash.]
Many women and children got up with looks of fear in their eyes from the voices which appeared in their heads, but the mothers who had good intuition grabbed their children and made their way to the center of the town.
Slowly more and more fishwomen and children gathered around the antiheroes, who stood with the ball of humans above them.
"That's good.... only a few more, and they seem to be on their way down those stairs. Ah, here they come right now.", Trevor said while staring at the top of the plateau, where the four elders had exited the palace and were making their way down, filled with confusion and fear as they stared at their hands and held the spots on their bodies where they had been killed.
Many women and children around the antiheroes were all wondering the same thing.
'What is going on.'
'I died.... I died... so why am I here?'
'Was that all a dream?'
'No, it couldn't have been a dream.... I felt the pain....'
'But how was I restored....'
'It must have been these people.'
'The masters.....'
'The masters....'
'We must serve the masters....'
'Our lives belong to the masters....'
'We are their property, and nothing more....'
Ashley, through the control of the souls of the dead, was able to.... influence their mindsets before they were revived, and implant within them the desire to serve her.
'Heh heh heh.... yes..... bow to me....'
Samantha rolled her eyes as she realized this.
'This girl... well, I suppose it is nice to hear them think about us like this.'
Trevor spoke up after the elders seemed to take a place at the back of the gathered fishmen. There were approximately 600 total gathered, plus the army of lizardmen who remained near the entrance of the city, watching from afar.
"As you can see, we have taken care of your invaders, restored your lives, and reclaimed you as our property. Your chief is dead, and your former chief has submitted your lives to us as our slaves. Does there exist anyone who objects to this deal? Of course, that would mean that we would take back that which we gave to you just now- your lives."
Trevor looked around at the confused fishmen, yet most of them were either too scared to speak up, or too infatuated with the prospect of serving their new masters to dare speak against them.
"It seems not. Then, we will be counting on you all to rebuild your village.... there was quite a bit of damage done to the buildings here, which will need time to repair."
Trevor notioned over to the group where Lance and the mercenaries, along with the 75 fishmen and 1000 lizardmen were waiting, and they all came over.
After they had arrived, Trevor spoke to them, with Ploritan at the front.
"Now then.... I think it is safe to say we have annexed this village, and taken over its leadership. Ploritan, as the new leaders of this village, I want to delegate it's management to you. Rocko. The real reason why I wanted the lizardmen to come here was to assist with the cleanup, and rebuilding process."
Ploritan bowed deeply to Trevor.
"Of course, I accept this position humbly your excellency!!!"
Ploritan couldn't stop the tears from flowing as he bowed his head to the ground.
"Forgive me for this disgraceful sight, your excellency!!", he said as he wiped tears from his face. "I.... I would like to thank you, on behalf of all the fishmen here for taking care of the legion...."
"It was nothing for us. I have already said this before, but to anyone whom we extend our protection to.... if they are to be attacked, it would be as if we are being attacked ourselves. We cannot have fools damaging our property after all."
Ploritan bowed even deeper, and continued his weeping. Rocko stood forward and genuflected while he had the chance.
"Antiheroes.... no, your excellencies.... I will of course accept for my unit to assist in the reconstruction of the village, however there is something I would like to say."
"Get on with it. We don't have all day.", Ashley blurted out while twirling a strand of hair. She was clearly getting bored, and wanted to go home to play with her new toys.
"I would like to submit the lizardmen village to become a part of your domain as well. I understand that we are not worthy of coming under your protection, and that this is selfish of me to do so... as a matter of fact, it could be called a one sided deal in which we are the only ones who benefit, but I can assure you that we will work hard to meet your expectations!!!"
Trevor smiled.
He had won.
Checkmate.
Everything had gone, exactly as his simulations predicted.
He had successfully convinced everyone to submit to him and his comrades, of their own free decision.
He felt the same success as when he would clinch an important deal, or as when he made a correct prediction for the stocks.
"Of course, we accept your submission to us, however do not forget that we will work you all to the bone. In exchange, you all must send a workforce to live within the dictatorship. Having Gary build everything on his own has been quite the toll on us."
Rocko bowed deeply as well, next to Ploritan.
"Thank you, antiheroes!!!!"
Behind them stood the four mercenaries, who seemed to be smiling happily, in both awe and respect of the antiheroes.
Trevor looked around at all those surrounding him, and beamed with pride at this grand success.
'What a successful endeavor this has been. Just look at all the useful subordinates we have acquired.'
----
After delegating the lizardmen, Trevor came up with the following plan.
400 lizardmen, along with all the remaining fishmen would stay in the fishmen village to rebuild. Since the antiheroes could teleport there any time, they would be able to easily monitor this progress and slowly instill their own rule and improvements to the village, which could now be considered annexed as part of the Dictatorship.
400 lizardmen would return to their own homes, and Rocko would be allowed to make the decision as to who. Rocko would still act as the leader of the lizardmen, however he and Ploritan were now direct subordinates of the antiheroes, and as such they had to directly obey them just as the Governor of a state had to obey the Federal Government.
The remaining 200 lizardmen- those who were the bravest among the lot- would be selected to head to the slime village to become laborers.
"We're now like a proper nation, with multiple cities and a capital.", Samantha said while closing her eyes and smiling. "Isn't this kinda exciting? I think we should do something to celebrate!"
"Yes, perhaps a celebration is due... however first don't forget that we have a few more things to take care of.... such as these guys.", Trevor said while pointing to the ball of soldiers hovering above Ashley.
"Ah, yeah."
The group turned to exit the fishmen village, with the group of 600 who would either return to the lizardmen village or to the slime village.
Before they left, Ploritan called out to them one last time.
"Antiheroes, I cannot thank you enough for this."
Ploritan seemed to be holding back tears.
"You've saved the people of this village, even if there are only a few left that you considered worth saving. Everyone left alive is alive because you all were willing to do this for us. I cannot stress this enough, but thank you."
Trevor merely turned and pushed up his glasses.
"We didn't save your group because we care. We saved them because we have a use for them. Never forget that you all are nothing more than our property, and property doesn't get a say in anything. Ensure that everyone in the village is well aware of this. If there exists any insubordination when we return, they will end up in a worse state than the ones in the ball up there."
Ploritan understood well that the antiheroes fully meant this, and that they would destroy anyone who went against them.... but still, it was reassuring that they were at his back.
"I am certain that not a soul in this village would dare say a single bad thing about your excellencies. I will do my best to make sure things stay that way."
Samantha knew this was true, as all the women and children, who had been attacked and some even killed by the soldiers viewed the antiheroes as their saviors.
The heroes who destroyed the villains, who were raiding the village.
'We're not the heroes these people think we are... they will learn this in time... or perhaps they won't.'
Samantha looked over to the crowd, and saw the child who had thrown a tomato at her just a the day before.
He looked remorseful.
'Well, I suppose I can let it go this time. There's no point wasting effort on an insect that isn't even standing up to me.'
With this, the antiheroes teleported the group of 600 along with the four mercenaries out of the village, where their carriages were stationed.
They now stood near the carriage, and the lizardmen were once more looking around in confusion, however this time they were able to quickly get their bearings and figure out where they were.
The ball of humans still hovered high above Ashley, however she was sick of their groans and screams so she applied magical pressure to the vocal chords of each individual in such a way that they would no longer be able to make a sound anymore.
At the front were the mercenaries, and Trevor walked over to them.
"So? After seeing all this, what do you four want to do? If you all promise not to speak of us, we can allow you to go back to the Empire, however we will know if you dare speak a word about us, and at that moment you will become our enemies, and we will immediately dispose of you. As a matter of fact, we could put a curse on you that will kill you should you try to speak of us."
This was a lie through his teeth- one of the skills as a businessman which Trevor would never fail at.
Of course, the people in front of him fully believed that it was possible for the antiheroes.
Melody shook her head back and forth.
"No, I wish to stay with you all."
She smiled smugly.
"Wherever you take me, doesn't matter.... but so long as we can be the parasites and you can be our host, that is fine with me."
"Well said.", Trevor responded. "Then, you wouldn't mind bowing down as our slaves as well."
On hearing the word, Pierre froze up, but the other three were not shaken, and Pierre too soon came to accept it.
"I want to continue to study alchemy, and to become the head alchemist of a nation.", Lance said firmly. "If becoming your slave is what can lead me to that goal, then I will do so."
Garett smiled demonically, ready to put Lance to work in the shop.
"Excellent.... I have so many projects in mind and so many things to teach you, boy."
Lance smiled back.
"I cannot wait, your excellency... or should I call you master? Professor?"
"Your excellency is fine."
Charlotte too seemed to have decided.
"I want to become stronger.... I want to be able to defend myself.... to help myself, and not have to rely so much on others.... I don't want to be such a burden to others anymore. If you all can help me with this, then I too am willing to become your slave!"
Samantha walked up with a feminine charm in her step, and whispered into the ear of Charlotte.
"If that is all you desire, it is simply done. Even more so, we will make you a fighting machine, more powerful than your wildest dreams in the blink of an eye. But that isn't the only thing, no?"
Charlotte's face went red at this, however Samantha stepped back with a light giggle.
"I won't pry too much. What about the last one?"
Pierre nodded after seeming to have debated with himself.
"If my comrades are all fine with this, and I am the only one who looks at you four as nothing more than monsters, then it would only show that I am stubborn. I want more than anything to see criminals pay for their wrongdoings. I want to see a world where the punishment for crime is high enough to completely discourage crime from occurring in the first place. Can you all ensure this?"
Trevor smiled in his typical overconfident manner, and fixed his tie.
"That much is easily done. As dictators, anyone who goes against our law is no less than the scum of the earth, to be eliminated. However, as I said before.... our justice is one which is defined by us, and as such, there may be instances where injustice in the eyes of others may be justified in our eyes. If you are willing to accept that, then we will show you what our justice consists of."
Pierre looked straight into the eyes of Trevor, and nodded firmly.
"I accept this. Please show me your version of justice."
Trevor's smile extended from ear to ear as he heard this.
"Very well. We will do exactly that."