"As you wish, Master!" Nora imdiately interjected, stepping forward. She glanced a little unhappily at Leki, but said nothing about him.
Instead, she looked sternly at the gathered cultists, or, as she would rather call them, "Acolytes!" she bood in a domineering tone. Instantly, each one of them, including Leki, looked at her reverently. "Make way, so that the repentant can step forward."
Cocking an eyebrow, Erik watched the group shuffle around, but still not touch the bound and gagged ones in the back. anwhile, Leki stepped aside and joined his father with a complicated expression.
After the others made way, a small, sowhat sheepish group of eight stepped forward and imdiately sank down to one knee. "G— Greetings to the Wolf-Sire!" they stamred in harmony.
Erik looked at them strangely, then turned to Nora with an obvious question on his expression.
"Confess to our lord why you are here," Nora ordered, her tone low, lightly threatening.
The small group shuffled a little nervously, glancing between each other, until one of them found the courage to speak up. "I— I plotted with my friends to start a riot," she gulped, voice wavering, her head remaining bowed. "I refused to believe the princess I so admired would marry a foreigner…"
Her head snapped up, and she dared look at Erik for directly for a mont—determination in her eyes. "But I was wrong! It was the princess who saw what I did not! I wish to follow your path, Wolf-Sire! Please forgive !"
Erik looked at her curiously, and the weight of his gaze quickly forced her to lower her head again.
Another spoke up. "I plotted with my friends to try and embarrass you during the ceremony," he admitted sheepishly. "I never expected the princess to marry a foreigner before an Enkarian, and I resented it. But I, too, was wrong! It is her and our kingdom's honour for you to join the royal family!"
A third followed with a story about wanting Erik dead for usurping the kingdom's leadership, then a fourth told their own story, and a fifth, until all eight had finally gone.
Nora nodded with a self-satisfied smile at the eight kneeling converts, then turned to Erik with pride in her voice. "These eight repented their sins after seeing the truth in my words, Master! The ones in the back have remained unrepentant, but I hope you'll judge the sincerity of these eight first. If their hearts remain black, expose them, and they shall join their vile friends for last judgent!"
Erik cocked an eyebrow at her overly religious tone but didn't dwell on it. Instead, he sighed and turned to the eight in front of him… and knew he was going to need so help with this one.
"Elora, my love?" he chuckled through their bond. "Unleash your judgent for , please."
"Hehe, with pleasure," she answered haughtily. Gladly, she inspected their expression and bodies through Erik's omnisense to make her judgent. This was what she loved the most: being a hidden, but major player in Erik's day-to-day as emperor, and possible god.
Eventually, she reached a conclusion. "Most of them are actually sincere," she muttered, a little impressed and surprised. "You might need to reward Nora, considering how good she is at this."
Smirking, Erik nodded. He knew precisely how good work deserved to be rewarded. But that was a matter for later. "You said most?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.
Chuckled, Elora told him what she'd found out.
"Hmmm," Erik humd curiously, and stepped a little closer to the group of eight. Slowly, he started walking from one end to the other. The room was full of nervous energy as everyone wondered how he'd judge them.
Unbeknownst to them, however, he already had his judgent.
When he reached the second from the right repentant, sothing shocking happened—at least, to everyone but Erik.
Roaring, the kneeling repentant jumped to his feet. His vampire-red eyes flashed as tal-grey runes appeared on his hand and a kind of punching dagger ford on the back of his hand. He punched forward, attempting to skewer Erik in a surprise attack… but Erik barely reacted.
Not only did this second-ranker not surprise him, but he might as well be moving in slow-motion.
Calmly, Erik turned and grabbed the conjured punching dagger with one hand, and the man's throat with his other. Squeezing lightly, he easily shattered the dagger back into runic energy.
Ting
The room beca even quieter as everyone's wide eyes turned to Erik's attacker. But as soon as the shock passed, their expressions beca livid.
"Traitor!"
"Heretic!"
"How dare you?!"
Half the room looked like they wanted to jump this man and lynch him, only stopped by the fact Erik was still holding him.
"Raah! L— Let go! I'll kill you!" the man roared, his arms and legs flailing. "How dare you defile the princess! She was pure! A— And perfect! Until you ca along! You dirtied her!"
Gargling, he spat a wad of spit at an indifferent Erik. Naturally, the wad never even reached him. It simply fizzled away in a cloud of icy sparks when it ca within a few inches of Erik's face.
Outrage in the room increased. Even Enkai scowled at this man. Although the old third-ranker didn't think that highly of Erik, not even after what happened with his son, that didn't an he didn't think Erik at least deserved the basic respect given to soone stronger than him.
Plus, he simply felt annoyed with his man's stupidity in thinking he could even injure a third-ranker…
Erik, however, didn't care all that much. This idiot was obviously an insane mouth-breather, and not worthy of his attention.
He didn't say a word before simply tossing the idiot across the room with one hand. Roaring, the man crashed into his bound and gagged compatriots. Muffled screams and groans of pain erupted from that corner of the room, but Erik had already moved on.
"The rest are sincere," he told Nora, shrugging confidently. Instantly, the remaining seven released sighs of relief. Although they knew themselves to be sincere, that display just now had significantly increased their anxiety for a few monts there.
Nora ripped herself away from seething at the idiot and looked miserably at Erik. He watched her knees tremble as if she was about to kneel.
Rolling his eyes, Erik grabbed her shoulder to stop her. "Don't do us both a disservice by giving this incident any more attention than it deserves. Instead, let's just move on."
Nora looked at him with reluctance, yet he could see the love and devotion in her eyes rise to another level. Instantly, he smirked a little inside.
Nora nodded, and Erik smiled. Turning, he looked at the relieved seven and waved his hand. "You're all forgiven, and welco to follow my path. Go join your fellows."
"Thank you, Wolf-Sire!" they all exclaid enthusiastically and quickly returned to the others, where they were greeted with genuine warmth.
anwhile, Erik's gaze panned over to the heap of bodies in the corner. For a mont, he looked at them as his senses swept over them and Elora helped him judge them.
Then, he turned to Nora. "Keep the one who just attacked . He should be judged publicly, simply because he'll be a danger to other Enkarians. The others… you can let go."
Gasps of surprise filled the room.
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