"You..... you're insane, woman. You don't even know what you're talking about. Your delusions are far beyond reality. I'm done with this. I'll enjoy seeing you all on the execution platform."

"And I'll enjoy your expression after you kill us."

This comment irked the Commander as he walked away from the cell, but after calming himself he began to laugh to himself as he walked.

'Hahaha.... that woman.... her insanity is much worse than I thought.... at first I thought she was merely obsessed with her leaders, but now I see it clearly. She is merely nuts! She has no idea what she's even saying or doing. To think that she would make such a foolish statement. No matter how powerful someone is, there is no ruler in this world who has power over death. 'I'll enjoy your expression after you kill us?? HAHA!!! What a fool!!'

The Commander continued slithering forward, his own confidence restored.

After figuring that the woman was not simply utterly loyal, but rather insane, he felt much better about himself.

There was no way someone could be more loyal to their own leaders without being completely off the rails mentally.

Everything now made perfect sense.

There was no such thing as a sane loyalty greater than that which he had towards the provider.

'Heh.... now then.... there are a few preparations that need to be made. I should get right to them.'

----

"Melody.... they.... do you think they really killed Pliara and the soldier?", Charlotte asked.

Melody's expression became serious as she answered.

"It's almost certain. While he could have been simply saying that to aggravate us, the fact that he knew about those two means that they were likely found out and arrested as well."

"That can't be..... we didn't even do anything to save them...."

Lance was holding his head in regret.

"First you regret doing something and now you regret doing nothing. Don't regret. We're going with the plan, and everything will work out in the end. Although...."

Melody's expression became slightly irritated as she remembered the face of the Commander when he told her of the deaths of the two.

"We'll make him suffer 100 times more than what he put them through."

Pierre nodded.

"That man is a criminal.... a monster..... and the same goes for the 'provider' who came up with all these laws and this system. I can't forgive them."

Charlotte nodded.

"We'll make them pay for this."

Lance too agreed.

"And then we'll ask their excellencies to revive the two."

Coming to this agreement, the four sat quietly in the cells, awaiting the destined time.

Melody smirked lightly.

"We'll destroy this entire city if we have to. It's time to follow the example of their excellencies and become villains in the eyes of the very people we wish to take over."

----

After the workday had completed, every person in the entire village was rounded up in order to witness the sacrifice.

Whether it was the heads of the households, their spouses, or their children, everyone came to total somewhere around 1500 inhabitants.

They were all lined up in an orderly fashion according to number and district, guided by many members of the military police.

After all the regular people of the city had arrived, the slaves began moving in.

These people were those who had been sent to the labor camps due to disagreement with the current rule, or displeasing of those above them- especially so for the provider.

These people were surrounded by 100 military police. There were somewhere around 200 people who worked in the camp total. They stood away from the people of the village so as to not spread their corruption to the good citizens.

In the center of the plaza was a set of four guillotines, prepared for the outsiders who had invaded the peaceful town, disrupting the order.

Beyond these devices of slaughter was a stairway which led up to a large throne which had been prepared for the very leader of the snakemen to sit upon as he watched these people be sacrificed to him as an offering, while punishing them for their own impudence towards him.

Currently the people knelt down in their spots with eyes closed, not so much as daring to speak or look up. Even those who were slaves took these submissive stances for fear of being punished further than their current labors.

Appearing out of the building beyond the stairway was a man who had a single eye which had been gouged out. He wore a black military uniform with a four pointed star in the center of his hat, and carried a baton at his side.

This snakeman smiled with victory as he slithered out in front of the throne, puffing his chest before the crowds who had been prepared before him.

"My people of this prosperous village. We continue to live day in and day out, being provided our own sustenance through the efforts of the provider. Without this man, life itself would not exist within this town. He is the very reason for our continued existence, and his disappearance would ensure that we would fall both as a civilization and as a people. For he is the very one who turns the inedible sand itself into consumable flesh, which we thank him for day in and day out. This man is none other than our Fuhrer, the provider. You are all permitted to clap."

The crowd of people began clapping in an extremely orderly fashion, as if it was practiced. Each person clapped exactly 5 times in unison before the man continued his lecture.

"Our gracious provider will be showing his face even to those among us who are unworthy of witnessing it. To even those who have expressed dissent towards the gracious and caring rule of the provider, he will be allowing them a chance to bask in his glory. For our provider hopes that even these people will one day come to see the light of his rule, coming to the truth that we owe him our very existences."

As soon as the Commander said this, the doors to the building behind him were opened by two guards who stood by them, and coming out was none other than the black cobra with green eyes. He wore a dark green uniform with a cap and jacket similar to the other soldiers, and hanging from his neck was a large pendant which had the four pointed star on it.

The people in the crowds did not so much as dare to breathe as this man showed himself. They kept their heads to the ground as this man slithered forward, taking his own seat.

'The provider....'

'The one who produces food for us....'

'Why would anyone ever consider rebelling against such a gracious leader? He has done everything for us....'

'Without him we would not exist.....'

'We must bow further to him....'

'We must not displease him....'

Almost every single person within the village was overtaken by both fear and awe at the snakeman before them.

"You are permitted to lift your heads for 3 seconds in order to witness the greatness of the provider."

With that, every single person slowly lifted their heads, gazing upon their ruler for a brief moment.

'Magnificent.....'

'It is rare indeed that we are allowed to see the provider....'

'How amazing he is....'

"Now lower them."

The Commander ordered everyone to lower their heads, which they did immediately.

Stepping forward, the Commander then began to pace as he spoke.

"As great as our provider is, there are some who would disagree. Recently outsiders were discovered within this city, spreading seeds of rebellion and stating blasphemous things about our great provider."

'How dare they....'

'Outsiders.... they will only ever bring trouble to this place....'

'Disgusting.... to think they would spread such lies about the provider....'

'They must be punished for such crimes!!!'

Turning to the crowd, the Commander continued.

"Which is why the provider has come today to witness their execution. I am sure you all will witness today the vulgar and blasphemous lies which these four humans have been spreading, corrupting our people. Bring them out."

It was then that out of an alleyway to the side, four guards emerged pushing four humans. Each of them wore handcuffs and were held at baton point, forced along.

Among those four humans, one was a redheaded woman. She wore a strange metal outfit with red LED connecting the joints, and had a victorious expression on her face. Her hands which were cuffed tightly had been mutilated, and her fingers were missing.

The next was a man with shoulder length blonde hair. His face was serious and filled with anger and hatred, and he wore a strange outfit which seemed to be something which a human would wear to a dinner party.

Following these two was a taller male who had dark brown hair which had been spiked around messily, and he held an expression of pure determination on his face, along with the woman next to him- a beautiful blonde woman with bob cut hair who wore a red cape on her back to go with her leather armor.

These humans were forced through the area over to the guillotines where their heads were placed inside the chambers, facing the people.

"You may all lift your heads so as to take a good look at the people before you. These are the good for nothing people who are desperately trying to undermine the good that the provider has done for our city and people."

The people lifted their heads for another 3 seconds, taking a look at the faces of the four who were about to be executed.

'What the hell do these humans want here....'

'Clearly nothing good..... these outsiders will always try to go against the rule of the provider...'

'They will never understand....'

The Commander walked down the steps and went in front of the guillotines to look the four humans in the eyes.

"What do you say, humans? Do you have any comments which you wish to make before all these people?!"

Melody looked up with a smug grin and spoke softly, but her voice reached everyone in the arena, for it was dead silent.

"We are servants of the antiheroes and the Determined, their excellencies and her eminence. To all who hear us, your provider is a fraud. He cannot provide the sustenance which you believe he provides for you. I am sure that the slaves in that group over there know this well. Your leader is nothing more than a weakling who hides behind his armies of soldiers while arresting anyone who makes even the slightest comment about himself. He is scared of you people, and so he has taken it upon himself to make you scared of him."

The Commander's face writhed with displeasure at hearing this.

"Do you all hear the blasphemous statements of this woman!?!?!?! She deserves no mercy. The provider is a merciful leader, but towards someone with such blatant sin, this is unforgivable!!! Even our gracious provider has his limits!!!!"

It was then that the man known as the provider stood up from his seat and began descending the stairs.

The Commander looked up to see this with surprise.

"My Fuhrer, is there something wrong?"

The cobra merely smiled sinisterly.

"I wish to speak with these people."

"As you wish, my Fuhrer."

The Commander stood aside as the provider came down the stairs, looking the four humans in the eyes.

Each and every snakeman in the crowds behind seemed to tremble with both fear and excitement at being so close to the provider.

"You say that I am a fraud? I would rather say that your own leaders are a fraud. You do not understand the difficulties in ruling a nation, mere humans. You have come here unannounced to spread chaos. As the provider of this city, it is my duty to eliminate you, for you threaten our peace. Your leaders are clearly villains who wish only to disrupt the lifestyle which my people have peacefully lived for years."

'That is right, provider....'

'Tell them....'

'You are the one who has created everything within this city....'

'Without you, life itself would vanish....'

As the provider said this, laughing could be heard from one of the humans.

However, this person was not Melody.

It was the tall male with dark brown hair.

It was Lance.

"Heh heh heh..... are you really going to say that, after slaughtering so many of your own? Fine then. You're right. Our leaders.... they are villains.... they are trying to disrupt the peace of this city. They are trying to sow chaos within this very world. Listen up, everyone here!!!!! Our rulers are the very beings of chaos who will destroy every system in place in this wretched world!!!! We will take over this village!!!!! We will slaughter your leader!!!!! We will destroy your traditions!!!!!! We will enslave every last person here!!!!!!!!! And our masters will rule over you as true dictators. This man before you..... he is not a dictator, but a hero. Is that not what you believe!?!?! FINE THEN!!! If that is what you believe, then we will embrace that title of villain further. We will show every last one of you people what it means for this nation to be enslaved by true dictators."

The provider seemed to grimace as Lance made these statements, but he quickly fixed his expression, turning to the people.

"Did you all hear? This man and his leaders wish for nothing more than to enslave us. As I have always preached to every last one of you, outsiders are nothing more than a threat to our existence. However, worry not!! For as long as I am here to rule you, the outsiders will never prevail against us!"

The people held in their cheers, but smiled gratefully as the provider said these words.

"I permit you all to cheer."

As soon as the provider said this, the crowd erupted into screams and shouts of support and joy.

"We love you, provider!!!!"

"Please continue leading us!!!!"

"You are everything to us!!!!"

"We owe you our very lives!!!"

The provider smiled on hearing this, and walked over to the Commander.

"Be quiet now.", he said in a demanding tone.

As soon as these words exited his mouth the entire crowd became silent.

A single young boy was still clapping after the people had quieted down, and his parents seemed to look at him with evil glares.

He looked around confused.

"It seems there is another dissenter within our midst. Guards. Bring him over to the other camp."

On these orders of the provider the guards rushed over, grabbing the boy and lining him up with the enslaved people. The boy was confused and scared but quickly put his head down alongside all the other slaves.

"Now then.... it seems that the very existence of these humans is creating division among our people. They must be eliminated. However, even before that.... there is something which I would like to tell you all. At the fault of these humans, a man within our very military held dissent towards me. This man has already been taken into custody, but there is the possibility that the dissent has spread throughout the ranks of my loyal soldiers. As much as it pains me to do so, I must test them all in order to ensure their loyalty."

Each and every soldier stood on guard, paying attention to the words of the provider.

"Therefore, I wish for you all to do as your Commander has done. Remove one of your eyes, for my sake. If you are not willing to do this for me, your provider, then it will show that your loyalty lies elsewhere."

Shock spread throughout the rankings of the people, but only for a moment.

The soldiers at the front reached into their coat pockets and took out their knives, holding them to their faces.

Stab!

Stab!

Stab!

One after another, seeing the other men doing so, the soldiers took out their knives and began to carve out their own eyes.

They were all driven by the fear of being last.

The person who hesitated the most was the one who held the least loyalty. Hesitation was not allowed. Therefore, in mere moments every single soldier had carved out one of their own eyes, blood dripping from their faces and tears forming in their remaining eyes.

They all wanted to scream out in the pain, but held in their desperate cries, knowing that they could be seen as displeasure towards a direct order of their provider.

The provider smiled, yet Lance, Charlotte, and Pierre were horrified at the scene.

'This is supposed to be a hero?', Charlotte thought. 'This is the person who they consider to be their savior and hero?'

Charlotte couldn't help but be filled with terror and disgust towards the provider, even more so than before.

'If this is what they consider to be a hero..... then I am glad to serve a villain.'

The provider then walked up the stairs, taking his seat once more.

All the guards were doing their best not to fall over in pain, however many failed.

Some were leaning on each other while others seemed to be kneeling while holding their gouged out eyes.

Every single person in this area had been overcome by the furious pain.

The Commander looked at them all with pride, seeing that nobody had hesitated, yet he also felt pity for them, having felt the same pain just earlier. Even now his eye still throbbed horribly.

Yet, looking over to the insane woman, he smiled.

'How is that, woman? We have now proven that we can at least match your loyalty by removing our own eyes!!'

It was then that the provider, who was sitting on his throne, took something out of his jacket pocket.

It was a purple flag which featured a black and demonic hand that wrapped around a heart which had the contours of the world itself inscribed into it.

The demonic hand squeezed the very life out of this heart, and as this flag was raised the provider shouted out.

"You are permitted to look up. This which I hold is the flag of these outsiders. These demonic invaders intend to destroy the peace which I have worked so hard to maintain. But worry not. For I will not allow such people to exist."

The people looked up to the provider with hopeful eyes, basking in his glory yet also glaring in disgust at the flag which he held up.

The man then raised up his hand and in it a flame appeared.

"To these people.... to their leaders.... to their nation.... and to everything they represent..... I will become the flame which protects you from them."

The provider brought the flame to the flag. It spread across the demonic design, burning it away in a horrendous sight.

"Begin the sacrifice.", the provider stated from his throne as the burning flag fell to the ground, crumbling into ashes.

"As you wish, my Fuhrer.", the Commander responded.

Walking over to the set of guillotines, the Commander grabbed a rope which had connections to all four of the tools of execution.

Pulling the rope, the four blades fell onto the necks of the humans who had been placed inside the guillotines, and the heads rolled to the ground, blood spouting from their necks.

'Heh heh.... it's over. Hopefully the leaders of these people will not come and try to avenge them, but even if they do.... we will surely take them down.'

"These fools believed that their leaders would save them at the last moment. Take a good look at them now. Where are your leaders now? Where are these antiheroes? HAHAHA!!! This is what happens when one looks to a false leader. But our provider is different. He will never abandon his people, and will continuously sacrifice himself to provide sustenance for them."

The Commander walked over to look at the heads of the people.

However, as soon as he rounded the guillotines, he looked upon the heads to see something truly disturbing.

Each and every one of those four heads were frozen with arrogant expressions, as if they were smiling in victory even from beyond the grave.

'Even in death they remained arrogant.... these humans were truly brainwashed beyond repair. Just how did their leaders get them to go to such extents?'

It was then that the head of the woman spoke.

"Did you think that our masters would have to even bother coming in person? Where are they right now? They are with us. Their power strengthens us, and has saved us from death- for before the power of our masters, even death is a trivial thing."