Herald of Steel

857 Captured Zanzan Nobles (Part-2)

Although Alexander did not show, internally, he was extremely furious with that man.

And it was not because of the threats he had made.

Those Alexander only saw as the barkings of a mad dog.

But what really ticked him off was how that man had surely tortured other innocent people to death.

So taking the dagger, Alexander plunged it deep into the man's chest,

"*Aghhhhhh!* You dare! When my father… arghhhh"

Even as the man let out an ear splitting painful howl, he still could not stop from threatening Alexander, while Alexander himself only sneered,

"Noble! What noble? I only see a dog in human skin, panting like a miserable beast,"

As he then brought the huge knife downward diagonally, ripping open the chest and producing an extremely large, undoubtedly mortal wound.

"Aghhhhhh! Kill! I will…. arghhhh"

But even at this maddening pain, the man did not repent and letting out an even larger pitched howl continued to curse Alexander as he tried to twist his body to try and break free of the men holding him.

That of course he failed in.

"*Stab!* Why did I kill those innocent people?" But Alexander was not done with just that one slash, as retrieving the dagger, he once again struck, now on the opposite left side, and drew a cross, dying the man's chest and abs matt black.

"Agghh… uuhhh," It was only by this point that the man seemed to have lost his voice, possibly due to the huge blood loss as Alexander had ripped apart major veins and arteries, and started to pant as he entered his last death thrones, his eyes losing focus.

While Alexander too found himself breathing heavily.

He had only slashed twice but he felt like he had run a mile.

And the reason for this exhaustion was because he felt like his whole body was set on fire after hearing that story and his heart thumped uncontrollably in anger at how much pain the man had surely caused for no reason at all.

Just killing him with a few slashes seemed way too merciful.

But Alexander was no torturer and other than slashing the man a few more times and getting his armor splashed with blood, he was unable to properly inflict pain on the man.

"Ahghhh." And after a while of bleeding out, the man finally slumped over and went quite, utterly this last word- 'Mother!'

But although that single utterance might sound like the clue to a tragic backstory, it really was not.

That maid of a mother was no saint and that Matbar (Marquess) Kyuam was no great villain who drove the woman to death.

In fact, he could be even seen as a kind of a victim.

When he was young, that older maid had seduced him, pretending to be in love and even managing to fool him into getting her pregnant.

The reason was simple, she wanted to have first his son and thus in her mind become the main wife.

Just imagine!

A lowly commoner woman dreaming of becoming a Matbar's (Marquess) main wife.

Not just a mistress, which already would have been a tall claim, but the main wife.

Her ambitions were even higher than Lady Felicia's.

But of course that never happened, as her son was declared illegitimate, and eventually the Matbar (Marquess) was chosen to marry an appropriate noble lady, namely one of Pasha Muazz's sisters.

However, the maid mother was anything if not determined.

She was not going to give up that easily.

So very much like how Lady Felicia had poisoned and crippled Petrino's wife, this maid too poisoned and even killed that lady.

But unfortunately for her, that was where the similarities between the two ended, as, while even more ambitious than that lady, she was not even a tenth as smart.

Unlike Lady Felicia who had managed to get away with her deed scot free, with Alexander even till now unaware of it, the maid had gotten caught red handed embarrassingly easily.

And then no one's surprise, she got what she deserved.

Or perhaps even more.

For the death of their girl naturally made Pasha Muazz's family absolutely furious, and they threatened to go to war unless the maid was handed over to them immediately.

This of course the Matbar (Marquess) Kyuam's family instantly agreed to that.

In fact, Matbar (Marquess) Kyuam's father had even suggested the son be sent too, as a form of compensation, and was only dissuaded otherwise by Matbar (Marquess) Kyuam throwing a gigantic tantrum claiming the boy was his son, and was just a child.

So only the mother went.

And if you recall the various cruel plays the Muazz family did just for pleasure to their servants, well it could only be imagined just how much a maid that killed one of their own was made to suffer before she died.

Her death was neither fast nor pretty.

And once she was killed or more like allowed to die, Pasha Muazz had even made sure to send her tortured body back to Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam, and he did so in a grand display at that, tying her naked, 'whatever was left 'of her body to a large crucifix that was pulled by a horse cart.

And that sight of his mother on that crucifix- flayed, burnt, beaten, smashed, mangled, pierced, gouged, and every other horror imaginable that could be done to a human present on that body, that man's mind suddenly snapped.

From that day onward he began to get slowly more and more cruel, starting first of all with small bugs and rodents- breaking legs or ripping their wings, before moving on to farm animals like chickens and sheep, and lastly to human slaves and servants.

All under Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam's immaculate knowledge, who found himself unable to punish his son adequately because of the guilt he felt towards him and his mother.

A romantic at heart, the man had always cherished his first love and even after all she did,Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam was still unable to forget her.

So no matter what mistake his son committed, the man was never admonished, which only let his tyranny grow and grow, leading to the current tragedy.

This of course did not excuse the man from his crimes, and neither could Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam deny his culpability in facilitating his son's crimes.

But strictly speaking, the man himself never did such things, neither did he encourage or propagate such acts.

Alexander was of course unaware of such intricate details, and slitting that man's throat to put him out of his misery, he angrily turned around to sneer at the captured nobles,

"So you serve a lord whose son is such a scum like this? And you dare call your nobility!"

But if Alexander's plan was to intimidate them, he failed, as the nobles were veterans who would not be caught by a simple trap, as one of them simply replied with a brush of his hand,

"Please do not paint everyone with the same brush, my lord. He was not our lord's son, but an illegitimate offspring."

"He is nothing to us- neither a noble nor related to one."

Following this, another quickly chimed in nodding his head,

"Yes, that is correct. Even his 'so called' crimes that you say, that is simply just your word against his. You have no proof. Please do not slander!"

And lastly, another man claimed breezily,

"Whatever Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam and his sons did in their estate, it is up to them. We would never judge them."

It was apparent these men were very nonchalant about the crimes the man had clearly committed and Alexander was indeed very angry to see not even a single word of condemnation from them.

They might not have done these things themselves, but they certainly tacitly condoned, through their actions and gestures.

So Alexander gave them a harsh choice, turning to address them as such,

"Since you are all nobles, you should be aware of the sides me and Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam represent."

"And if you know your lord, and he really is as stubborn as I heard, you should know I will not be able to reach any compromise with him."

"That means once the peace treaty expires, there will be war." Alexander declared in a deep voice, before pulling a chilling look,

"With that inevitability almost set in stone, I see no reason to keep you alive."

"Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam will go to war if I kill you, while Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam plus all of you will go to war if I let to return."

"So doesn't it make more sense to make to end up like that!" Alexander pointed to the corpses lying prone on the ground while producing a malicious grin.

"That! Lord Al… Pasha let us not be rash!" And that certainly got the reaction Alexander wanted from the captured nobles, who up until now had appeared quite relaxed, with that particular statement being uttered by that bushy eye browed man, who further added,

"We… we can swear! As part of our condition for release, we can swear not to participate in any war between Lord Alexander and Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam."

"Oh? Is that possible?" To this concession, Alexander pretended to put asurprised face, like he had never even thought about it, before posing, "Does your oath to Matbar (Marquiss) Kyuam not oblige you to come to his aid when he calls?"

"No! No! We are allowed to make exceptions when our life is in danger! By Ramuh!" The bushy browed swore.

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