BXBX NOVEL Chapter 413: Punishment (1).
"I see..."
If what he just heard was the truth, then the moment the two groups had mixed, Leah, and the others in her group would have been forced to notice something very strange and unsettling with the way the Beastwomen in Malcolm's camp were treated.
Only after a few days of coexisting, they were forced to face a terrifying truth. These Beastwomen were being forced to partake in humiliating and disgusting acts against their will.
Recalling one of the horrors she had personally witnessed, Roselle gritted her teeth as she stared at Cain who now had a blank expression,
"If you have any bit of humanity left in you, you will understand why we agreed to Angel's deal."
Cain frowned, "Angel's deal?"
Roselle's facial expression was as cold as the chilly wind. Before she could answer, Floki spoke up,
"Not all of us supported those behaviors. There really was nothing we could do!"
Roselle sneered, "That doesn't make you any less guilty. Some of the victims of your crimes died with tears running down their faces because they were unable to resist! You could have fought!"
Floki's frown deepened, "What are you trying to say? Should we have created internal conflict during those times? It seems you've forgotten how much of a threat the {Broodmother} was."
Galip who was standing close to him couldn't help but sneer as he looked down on the four Beastwomen,
"Heh! ASo what? You lot are just looking for pity? If you ask me, that is the nature of the world now. The strong devour the weak. If you lot didn't want to be devoured, you should have been stronger.
Keke!"
His chilling laughter made the faces of the Beastwomen even more ugly...
Cain watched all this with an expressionless look. Suddenly, a voice wormed its easy into his mind,
'I had no idea...'
Cain remained silent. Hunter didn't know what to take his silence as, but he spoke again regardless,
'I didn't know something like that happened. Had I known...'
Cain cut him short, 'It's okay. Don't worry about it.'
Hunter frowned. He couldn't detect any hint of emotion from Cain's voice. He had no idea what was going on in his mind.
Hunter frowned, 'What are you planning to do? Could it be you also agree-'
'Hunter... If you see something unpleasant on the road, what do you do? Do you ignore it, or get rid of it?'
Hunter's brows twitched, 'Well, most times, I'll ignore it. However, if it is truly unsightly, I'll make sure to get rid of it.'
Cain nodded, 'I see...'
After a few seconds of silent contemplation, he turned to the Beastmen.
"All of you, stand down for now..."
Confused looks appeared on the faces of many Beastmen. They were under the impression that they would carry out their revenge on the Beastwomen now that they had successfully escaped.
Seeing looks of displeasure and hesitation on their faces, Cain's front deepened until an unsettling darkness covered his face.
Seeing what was happening, Floki attempted to diffuse the situation. However, an unexpected change occurred. Galip stared at Cain with a sneer hanging from his lips,
"Oho... Looks like you've finally decided to show your true colors."
Hunter's eyes turned cold as he threw Galip a glare,
"What do mean by that?"
Galip shrugged, "Nothing... Just that we can finally see through that bastard's intentions."
A glint flashed through his eyes as he grinned at Cain,
"Now that we have escaped from that horrid pace, we want our revenge. What do you have to say about that? Hm? Didn't we do as you said? We fought with you after all... Is it so hard to grant just this request?!"
Cain remained silent as he stared at Galip with not even a single change in his face.
Galip took this as a sign to press forward. His voice rose by a few octaves as he continued to confront Cain,
"You weren't there from the beginning! How would you know what we suffered through?! Yes, you helped us, but don't expect us to become your slaves just because! You can't order us around."
Murmurs spread through the crowd. Although many Beastmen were silent, some of them did have expressions of displeasure on their faces as they could resonate with Galip's words.
Seeing all this drama occur, Steve couldn't help but watch with interest.
'Ohoho... I'm curious to see how you will handle this.' He stared at Cain who had been motionless for some time now.
"Ha! I see now... You were one of them!" Roselle suddenly snorted and pointed an accusatory finger at Galip who was busy trying to rile up the crowd.
"Huh? What the fuck did you just say?" He glanced at her with a sneer.
"You were one of those shit bastards that forced himself on those women," Roselle said, glaring at him.
Rather than denying it, Galip merely shrugged,
"So what? Can you blame me? They turned from regular dry humans to exotic species overnight. How can I not be interested?"
The way he licked his lips afterward and stared at her made her take a step backward in disgust.
"Despicable..."
Galip laughed, "Hahaha! Damn right! However, you lot have gotten your revenge. What do you say we shake hands on this and call it a day?" He said in a mocking tone.
Roselle ignored him and turned to Cain,
"So as you can see, I have no intentions of cohabitating with this filth. I'd rather die..."
Cain had remained silent for some time, merely observing and digesting all he saw and heard.
After a few more seconds of silence, he let out a sigh. Staring straight at Galip who wore a smug smile on his face, he began calmly,
"I'm not a judge, so expecting me to uphold every single law is a stupid assumption."
The grin on Galip's face became deeper, while the Roselle and the Beastwomen couldn't help but grit their teeth.
"Damn it! I knew they were all the same!" Kai cursed under her breath.
Lin Lin snorted as she waved her wand, "If it comes down to that, I would gladly take as many of them down with me."
Roselle and Leah on the other hand continued to stare at Cain without saying a word. It was almost like they were waiting desperately for his words...
Galip nodded in approval, "I'm glad you see it that way. Looks like we truly can coexist."
Now that they were back on Urbus, Galip was filled with confidence. And this confidence stemmed from one thing,
Now that the Beastmen had left the fragmented lands, without the immediate danger to their lives, they would subconsciously prefer choices that gave them the most benefits.
That, unfortunately, was just human nature. Even though they had undergone mutations, their brains, hearts, and natures were still that of a human.
Now that they were safe, they would obviously want to seek revenge from those who were the root cause of the difficulties they had suffered.
Galip was confident he would be able to use this to poison the minds of the Beastmen against Cain should he refuse to give them the vengeance they so desired...
There was also the probability that Cain would give in to them. However, that wasn't a bad thing either.
Just thinking about all the Beastwomen he could have for himself made fire burn in his loins.
Galip's plan was truly brilliant. However, he had made a drastic mistake. He failed to realize what lengths Cain could go to with the power in his hands.
Suddenly, Cain smiled...
The murmurs stopped...
Everyone held their breaths...
A deafening silence fell upon them. Their attention was solely on Cain. Beads of sweat poured down Galip's face as a feeling of foreboding enveloped his body.
'What...'
Cain's lips parted as he spoke slowly,
"Indeed, I'm not a judge. So far, I've tried my hardest not to impose my will upon you all. I've left you with choices, never forcing you to do anything you didn't want to."
His words carried a frightening chill that seeped through their bones,
"However, that was because I was under the impression I was dealing with humans, or creatures that were once human, not rabid beasts."
Many Beastmen frowned heavily. Being likened to beasts was a rather heavy insult, seeing that a vast majority of them now had bestial features.
Cain's face was cold despite him having a smile on,
"If you feel the urge to act like something less than a human, fine by me. You will be treated accordingly."
"So... Now that we have that of the way." He suddenly turned to Roselle.
"Will you be able to identify those involved?"
A grim smile tugged at the corners of her lips,
"Sure. My memory is very good. I remember every single one of them."
Cain's brows furrowed, "Are you sure? If you try to sabotage an innocent..."
She snorted, "No need to worry about that. We conducted a very thorough investigation before deciding to just get rid of all of them. Seems like the majority of the perpetrators aren't here though."
Cain nodded silently before turning back to face Galip,
"Just so you know, I've never really liked you."
Galip's face paled significantly, "What?"
Cain nodded his head, "Yeah. I'm sure you were a terrible person before the apocalypse as well. However, it was the catalyst needed for the ugly demons in you to rear their heads and come out into the open."
A terrifying grin stretched across Cain's face as he took a step closer to Galip,
"Unfortunately for you, you just had to finally give me a reason."
Galip took a step back as his pupils dilated. Wave after wave of killing intent slammed into him like freight trains. It was very obvious what Cain's intentions were.
"You... you want to kill me?! Why?! What have I done wrong?! Everyone! We can't stand for this!
If he can turn on me today, he will be able to turn on the rest of you in the future. We can't stand for this!"
Fully expecting at least a few people to back him up, Galip's eyes scanned the crowd. However, not a single person spoke up. In fact, some of them who were guilty of the same sins as him took multiple steps backward, fear and horror evident in their eyes.
"Floki..." Galip turned to Floki who had been standing by his side. However, the latter simply stared at the ground without looking at him.
'Damn it!'
Cain continued to take more and more steps towards Galip. Galip knew with a hundred percent guarantee, that he couldn't win against Cain in a fight. And so, he tried to do the only thing he was good at.
Running away...
However, that pan flew completely out the window, and just as he turned around, preparing to run with all his might, he ran into an obstacle.
Hunter was standing right behind him with an expressionless face.
"You..."
Unsure of what to do, he turned back to face Cain who was now only a few meters away from him.
The coward in him came back in full force,
"Wait! I'm sorry! You can't kill me! Please! It is against the law to commit murder!"
Cain's face scrunched up in disgust,
"Stop acting so unsightly... Don't worry. I'll give you a lifeline. If you can survive for a minute against me, I'll let you live."
Galip was speechless...
A small smile hung on his lips, "Now come."
Although he was frightened, that didn't mean he had lost his ability to. Seize an opportunity.
Without wasting another second, Galip dashed at Cain, after summoning his weapons.