Chapter 186: Twenty-first Episode: Chapter 5 (2/2)
The young man's eyes flashed, so did his muscles which were exposed from the sleeves. ”Old Berg, let's make a deal!”
”I'll follow your every command!”
Oscar laughed, and he whispered to the scheduling officer, ”In a while, find a reason to ask all the laborers and all the rest to leave the jetty, and let them go as far as possible!”
”But...”
The Imperial Prince put on a stern look, ”Old Berg, this was your jetty, but now it seems to be mine!”
”Yes, Your Highness!” Old Berg retreated tiredly, but he had a hunch that something was going to happen. As it had long circulated among the Imperial Guards, the veterans predicted that His Highness the Prince's forces were going to revenge the dogs from the west.
The setting sun was casting its brilliance on the surface of the rippling river. The surface of the water appeared as if it was ignited, burning with raging fire. The blinding light made people dizzy. The sailor of Imperial Guards drove the ferry through rapids with experience. A melodious lyrical military song was heard coming from the ferry.
The battalion of cavalry suddenly surged over the south of jetty from the national route, and they soon established a line formation in the open ground near the jetty. Old Berg executed the order of the Imperial Prince faithfully. The entire jetty was empty, not even a silhouette was within sight. There were only a few ferries waiting to be unloaded, and from the open porthole came the laughter of the sailors.
A military officer who looked like a commanding officer inspected the movement on the jetty for a while until he decided that the area was clear of idlers before he waved at the direction of the woodland beside the national route.
There was a sudden anger that surged in the forest. It was too far away to hear what the people were shouting about, but a short while later, the battalion was seen escorting the scattered Faran soldiers out of the wood slowly. The nearby knights were on the verge of anticipating a huge fight. They put on their visors and all their weapons were out of the sheaths. The terrified Faran captives looked around the surrounding as they huddled together like a clutch of chicks.
Finally, an officer scolded and cursed, ”You group of pigs! Hurry up each one of you! This is not a funeral!”
The captives moved slightly quicker at last. Among them, there was well-behaved veterans, frightened recruits, and some wounded soldiers on stretchers and in bandages. However, a majority of them looked as if they had just been beaten to a pulp. Their noses bled, and their faces swollen, it was obvious that they had suffered a lot.
O'Neil Andrew Morisette came out of a tent on the floodplain. He tightened his waistband as Captain Kirk Dexton helped him to fasten the buttons, but the impatient Imperial Prince soon ducked away from the aid.
”Big Aunt Spark, I'll have to trouble you again!” Oscar turned to an ugly old man behind him.
The chief executioner of the Imperial Military Court Custody bent over his back like a slave, ”Your Highness, it is my honor to serve you!”
”It's not for me. It's for the empire,” Oscar suddenly put on a stern expression and Old Spark immediately lowered his head. After forty years in the Military Court Custody, Big Aunt Spark had served before numerous important persons.
What kind of important person had he not killed before? Although he still appeared full of reverence and awe when he encountered any other nobleman, only a few really earned his respects. There was almost no one who he was afraid of!
However, O'Neil Andrew Morisette…No! No! No! Old Spark shook his head again and again. He meant His Highness the Prince adored by the God of Light, the God-chosen. This young man terrified him, his name made him trembled with fear!
Especially the gaze of this young man. It was difficult for one to read his emotions from those eyes. Even if there was, he only showed it for those whom he was familiar with. Otherwise, the Prince of the Empire was used to treating humans and other matters like how he would treat a kitten or a puppy.
”Are you ready?”
”Yes, Your Highness!” Spark hunchbacked even lower, and he motioned to Second Aunt who was right next to him. The executioner ranked number second in Military Court Custody immediately handed him a knife.
Oscar tried to feel the smooth edge of the blade with his hand, ”Ola! Can this kill?” His Highness's palm slid against the blade, but the thick, big blades did not hurt him.
Spark rolled his eyes the way only a dead fish would and pressed his voice even lower. ”Your Highness, if you want to end things quickly, a sharp knife is naturally better. If you want to make the offensive dogs suffer more, then this is the perfect tool for that.”
Oscar looked over at the captives who was getting on the trestle one after another, and his face turned even more gloomy.
”I think...slower would be better!”
”Yes, Your Highness...” the old man lifted his head finally. The smirk on his face was colder than the snow-capped mountains in winter.
The execution began and a group of captives was pushed onto the trestle. The soldiers of the Military Intelligence First Brigade ordered them to kneel on the bridge, with head towards the water on the east side of the trestle.
The captives were all tied up by their hands. It seemed that their imagination was not quite wild, or that the captives were just rather innocent. In short, even until this moment, they were still unclear of what the Titans were up to.
Four Persian warriors carried a large sofa, which had been brought over from the ancient castle back in Damorel province. The sofa was wrapped over with several beaver skins that seemed to have just been brushed by oil. It looked like the shiny hair of a West Percy girl.
The prince sunk into the sofa which was placed not far away from the trestle. Then, the Persian warriors hurried forward with a four-cornered gazebo, so they could shade their master from the dazzling red sun.
A few moments later, Colonel Sandinand came over and whispered to the Prince. Immediately, Oscar appeared to be flustered and exasperated. Then he waved his hands impatiently to dismiss his infantry division commander. Devil Sandy knew he had made the situation awkward, but he also knew that was exactly part of his duties.
”Let's begin!” Oscar waved to his left and right, and the Persian attendants immediately served him his dinner. His dinner of the night was served in an exquisitely-made meal box. The attendant opened the cover to reveal another layer, and underneath the second layer was another, and then one more.
”Oh, God! First I need an aperitif!”
The words of the Prince immediately made the nearby officers laughed loudly but the attendant served some wine. What attracted the most attention was the gold ice bucket dripping with cold droplets.
Oscar ordered the attendants to serve a glass for all the officers present, and then he took the lead to raise his glass.
”Soldiers of the Imperial Guards, the victory is ours! This wine represents...”
No one heard what His Highness speech after that because of the deafening wail that came from the jetty.
The execution had already begun. In order to spare Big Aunt Spark from being overworked, Oscar made a special request from Marshal Alan to borrow the executioner ranked second in the Military Court Custody.
Both Big and Second Aunts were indeed experts in the execution business. They were skilled in torturing as how Torry was skilled in playing with women.
The first cut must break into one inch off the back of the head. There was where the central nervous system was attached to the spine, just one knife at this spot could make one paralyze, but the sense of feel of the human body was enlarged several hundred times. The man who was lying paralyzed on the bridge made a perfect example. He felt his blood spraying out and he experienced the most excruciating pain he had ever felt, but no matter how hard he tried, he just could not struggle or move.
The knife was exceptionally blunt that the Second Aunt had to step on the other person's neck in order for Big Aunt to withdraw the knife which sunk deep into the neck.
The blood cascaded down without a stop into Showab River. When the river rose to its limit, the plasma that had not dissipated clumped around into a pool of dark mud color near the pier under the trestle. The color of it was no different from the creamy beef soup that the Prince was enjoying.
Oscar's dinner was a sumptuous banquet. The man could suffer but he also knew how to truly indulge. In front of him were a smoked sea bass, some baked mushrooms, and a flaky and crispy smoked bacon.
His Highness the Prince cut up the bacon to reveal a layer of bloody fat meat inside that looked just like a neck with a large gap. The bloody water spewed out from the gap, but the human was still conscious.
The second cut was landed, and the scream became louder! Big Aunt Spark was an experienced expert, he was an animal who had no emotions with no distracting thoughts! The second cut sunk in through the gap created by the first cut slowly, and then it saw through it up and down like chopping wood. Screams turned into sobbing as the flesh splashed in all directions.
At last, the knife finally finished its task. The skull of the man rolled over and dropped into the river.
Leaving trails of blood behind, it floated downstream silently.
Big Aunt Spark glanced over to His Highness the Prince who was seated not far away, and coincidentally he caught him swallowing down a piece of bloody fat meat.
”Oh God! It's only the first one!” Big Aunt thought as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He had never handled more than three hundred prisoners at once. If he continued at this speed, he was afraid that His Highness would be stuffed to death!
Oscar laid down his cutleries and wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin. All the military officers on the scene were relieved at this gesture. They feared His Highness would get indigestion if he continued to gobble down food.
The death penalty on the trestle carried out without interruption. The captives began to struggle and plead but no one paid attention to them. Some of them tried to jump into the river but the Imperial Guards held them back by tugging at their hair firmly.
Oscar finally could not take it anymore when the ninth head flowed down into the river out of his sight. He looked at the grinning Sandy and this short southern man quickly gestured to the captive who was the next to get on the bridge. One of the Imperial Guards then grabbed one of the captives that seemed like a ranked officer.
The man who resembled an officer was pushed into Prince of Titan's bower. He threw himself to the ground even before the soldiers behind him could do so.
”I'm guilty...I'm guilty...”
Oscar frowned, ”Only the God of Light knows the answer. Now, tell me your name, your military unit, and your rank!”
”The Third Group of the First Division of the Seventh Corps of Faran Kingdom, I...I am the deputy regimental commander! My...my name is…”
”Stop!” Oscar held his chin as he pondered and finally broke in silence after a long time. ”Have you and your team…been to Saint Hailey?”
”I...I'm guilty...” the Faran officer ducked his head.
Oscar rolled his eyes, ”Who gave that order?”
”Karlchette Nierer!”
”Karlchette Nierer?”
”Yes! That's him!”
Oscar glanced at his Duty Personnel and he noticed that the other person had already written down the foreign name.
”Who is he?” Prince of Titan asked again.
”He is a court commissioner, but I don't know exactly what he is doing. Our commander only ordered us to listen to the orders of this colonel!”
”What else did this Karlchette Nierer ask of you?” Oscar's face was gloomy as he stared into the bleeding bridge.
The Faran officer also sneaked a quick glance at the same direction, and he witnessed how his soldiers were being slaughtered brutally, just as they had executed the commoners at Saint Hailey! But he did not dare to spill a word to the Prince of Titan in front of him. He did not have the guts, even if it meant risking his life. He had no idea how things turned out like this.
Oscar took a deep breath, ”Let me answer it for you!”
Prince Titan lifted the chin of the Faran with a sheath, ”You chased the residents of Saint Hailey out of their hometown, and you tied them together, father and mother, brother and sister, and then one by one you pierced a long spear or knife through their body! After that, you hung a Major of the Imperial Guards up high in the arch of the town, and peeled his flesh with a sickle...”
”Where is that man?” Oscar slammed over the table in front of him, spilling over soup and fruits to the ground.
”I...I don't know! He...he returned to the headquarters after Saint Hailey!”
”Where is he? I'll only ask you one final time!” the Prince of Titan's hand was pressing down firmly on the handle.
”I don't know...I swear to God! I swear...”
O'Neil Andrew Morisette thrusted his knee out violently, and the Faran officer fell to the side as he spurted out blood.
The Prince of Titan turned around, and he grabbed a bottle of wine from the golden ice bucket and fiercely gulped down a large mouthful.
The soldier of the Imperial Guards dragged the bleeding Faran back. Oscar did not take another glance at the man, but he only looked at the officers who were present. The officers quickly evaded the Prince's gaze as if they all had nothing to do with him.
Without warning, O'Neil Andrew Morisette's machete was out of its sheath. The young Marshal of the Imperial Guards grabbed the handle with his forehand and swooped forward, then, as if nothing had happened, returned to his seat in the sofa calmly and kept the knife back into the sheath.
The Faran officer was strapped by his hand, so he couldn't touch his own neck. At the slit where a bloody mark gradually appeared on it, the head fell aside like a string that had been cut off. Thick fresh blood began to spurt out of the smooth wounded surface the moment it contracted the air and did not stop until half a minute later.
Oscar wiped his face in annoyance when he found that there was a drop of dirty animal blood on his face.
”Spark! What an old dog! Change the knife! Stop your shoddy work!”
Big Aunt did not seem to be bothered by it. Instead, he bowed deeply toward the direction of the bower and ordered the Second Aunt to change the weapon into sharp knife immediately. Spark had met many great people and killed many great people. He knew that all the great people had such bizarre quirks and that they were even more neurotic than O'Neil Andrew Morisette.
The Prince of Titan suddenly kicked at Colonel Sandy who had come to collect the corpse. ”What are you still doing here? We have the man's name and the man's portrait. Why are you still not out there looking for him?”
Sandy rushed out without a word and soon came the sound of a cavalry team leaving the jetty. Oscar began to search for the next unfortunate man, and finally, he picked on the general of the artillerymen, ”Where's your fleet?”
”In the river?”
”What about your artillery?”
”On the boat!”
Oscar grabbed Torry by his neck, ”I want you to get on your boat right now and then head straight up to the front of the Westerners and strike them with a few shots from time to time! I don't care how, but you must slow them down! Until we locate that dog-hybrid named Karlchette Nierer!”
Torry immediately put on his army cap and ran towards the nearest ferry without a word.
Oscar turned to the officers of the Red Tigers and the Military Intelligence System who was standing tall and proud, ”Let the whores walk slowly! Have you not heard what I have been talking about?”
The officers dispersed like they encountered a mad wild elephant immediately, as each rushed toward the troops standing by the jetty.
Oscar turned to the trestle as he still wanted to pick some trouble, but a pleasant roar was already coming from the direction of the trestle bridge. Big Aunt Spark succeeded in shutting His Highness's mouth. His hand that resembled a sharp blade set more blood under the fiery setting sun.
A headless body was thrown on a used ferry boat as another fresh life was pushed onto the trestle.
Heads with twisted featured flowed down the river, but the thick plasma still stuck on the side near the jetty. From the swamps appeared some wetland crocodiles with swollen bellies. They had been well-fed for the past couple of days, and so they swam away as they smelt the blood that flowed through the water. The wetland crocodiles of the Shawob River by Hetto Plains would always remember Church Calendar year 800 because they were the only beneficiaries of this war waged by humans.