Laying on the bed Jordan used bits of mana to probe his body, it was two days since the angels attacked and during this time Jordan just rested and tried to get his body back to working condition.

Jordan was eating through the centers of power of the beasts that died during the attack, he used the energy from the non-elemental beasts and humans with an awakened heart to accelerate the growth of his missing hand and his missing eye, while also using the mana from the brains and the centers of elemental beasts power to create a bath of mana around his second heart.

His second heart was still leaking mana but not as much as before, Jordan maintained the mana barrier around it and constantly supplied mana to it making his center of power soaked in the mana with rich purity he gained from devouring the centers of power.

Sometimes he injected a bit of the mana inside his center of power with the meaning of regeneration, this method proved to be quite effective, and maybe with the barrier he can even develop a technique to increase the mana purity inside his second heart, the only problem is that he has to constantly maintain the barrier around the center of power.

The barrier must let the blood flow while stopping the mana from escaping and letting the mana in, the barrier is thin as paper and any bit of power could break it, it's quite mentally taxing to maintain it, focusing on anything else may spell the end for his center of power.

Like that Jordan spends his time while others were completing his orders, by the end of the second day he could already move around without problems his eye already recovered and his hand partially regrew back, he still couldn't use the hand to its full capacity as the muscles in it were still reforming itself but it´s on a way to fully recover.

Well not fully, Jordan´s body rank fell from almost the fourth rank to halfway through, right now he could manipulate at max 4x times his mass, but with his body structure it was still quite good, right now Jordan weighted almost 190 kilograms (418 pounds) while being 2,5 meter (8ft 2in) tall, but there was no fat on Jordan´s body, his nutrients are perfectly balanced by absorbing everything he needs from the mana in the air so his body was all muscles, not as much lean as before, now bulkier and ripped but still flexible enough.

Knocking could be heard and Mary peeked through the door, Jordan was currently sitting on a sofa in one of the houses in the plaza, right now all the other places are occupied or being remade so for now there is no other quiet place to recover.

Jordan opened one of his eyes and stopped regenerating his center of power, he looked at Mary and asked,

"just come in, tell me, how are the camps resisting?"

Mary quickly stepped into the room saluted and began to recite "not much, the camps from which the angels came are all already under our control now we are starting to attack the rest, some of them surrender and others try to fight back but without the main power that the group of angels represented there isn't much resistance, we will gain complete control over the city in a week"

"good, and how are our new citizens?" all the humans under his rule who chose to fight against the angels who came to attack were promoted and gained citizenship, they were allocated houses, and a set of rights was written for them.

"they are all happy, they didn't expect such rewards, but there is becoming to surface a problem with currency… all the money are worthless and no one accepts them, the currency now is cigarettes and any canned food, the contribution points don't exactly work as they are written in the office and for safety reason cant be brought out where they could be falsified"

"hm… I will buy some coins when I go to the moon-platform, I will have to buy stuff for the humans anyway… for now, put up with it, did we found the book on the potions to awaken the centers of power?"

"yes we did, it´s all in the angel´s language so we are currently translating it, there are some difficult words so it will take a while"

"well that´s ok, its good that we got it, it will save us some crystals"

"also how are our new citizens making up their minds about the prisoners? Which punishment they chose for them?"

That was the other side of this battle, the humans that deflected and the humans that attacked together with the angels, Jordan showed his good side by giving citizenship to those that decided to defend what they build-up, now he is going to show his bad side to those that deflected.

It was necessary, Jordan is no saint and he will always pay back to those that wronged him, it was as part of his being, ever since he became demon the despair from the helplessness that eaten him away before he mutated now become fuel to do everything in his power to never let such thing to happen again.

As for the punishment, Jordan let the citizens vote between three options, first killing them all, second marking them as traitors by cutting off one of theirs hands and prolonging the time they will spend as forced workers, third letting them go and stripping them of any possession they may have. Jordan ordered Mary, who was telling this to the citizens, to add a message from him, the message was "this is the option I wish the least for and you should too, but if you chose it I will honor it"

It was to give them a sense of choice while not really giving them any, the humans that become citizens now became somehow grateful to Jordan and still felt some hatred to those that deflected, in the end with the rumors such as "they will die outside anyway" they made their choice.

"they chose the second choice, cutting off one hand and prolonging the forced work" that was the best option, the despair from the act itself and the hatred that will continue from it will fuel Jordan´s further demonetization for a long time.

"good… and.... how is Jane?"

"well, she is out of any danger now, she even woke up, but she isn't putting up good with losing one of her legs"

"It sucks but there is nothing we can do about it now… find her a wheelchair, I will try to talk to her after the punishment is done"

It's a shame what happened but she is still alive and that´s what matters, maybe once Jordan learns some healing spell he can try and let her regrow her leg but this will have to wait.

It was strange, Jane was probably the only human that accepted Jordan, and yet… he didn't feel all that bad about her, he felt its good that she is still of use to him, he didn't have her around because of her body but because of her mind, she excelled in managing the camp and handling the humans,

´shit… I became quite a heartless piece of shit when it comes to humans…´

But even though Jordan thought that he didn't feel bad about himself, that was what he is, he accepted that a long time ago, it was no problem for him to accept he is a demon so why should this matter, still to save at least bit of his humanity he should try and make it up to her.

"Is everything ready for the punishment?"

"yes, we only need to call everyone to the town´s square and we can begin"

A cold smile could be seen on Mary´s face, she was truly a witch, and this show is something she can't miss. Seeing Mary´s behavior Jordan smiled in response, almost a family atmosphere was in the air, unlike for Jane Jordan felt that he likes Mary and William, from what they told him both of their lives sucked, the hatred they felt was a connection that made them comrades in this shitty world and even though Jordan was their "boss" they took him more as a father figure because he took care of them more than anyone from their family did.

The trio was warped but maybe this allowed them to form a bond between themselves. ´maybe I am a heartless jerk only to humans? Well whatever´

"let´s call them then"

***

There is still much to do, conquering the rest of the town, visiting the moon platform, training with the transformation ability, allocating resources such as the awakenings potions to the citizens, reeling in the beasts so they don't bother the citizens, that was a problem Jordan didn't bother to solve as some small skirmishes were none of his concern but that changed with the citizens which he has to take care of.

But all that will wait, for now, Jordan was standing on a wooden podium, before him, hundreds of humans were standing in rows, it was like a rock concert but everything was ordered and besides some small talks and crying no one made a noise.

Some of the humans before the podium were smiling, those were the new citizens, it took only three months to change from normal humans to those that had the mentality of the middle ages when the execution was taken as a form of entertainment, those citizens were quietly talking between themselves.

Some of the humans were crying, those were the new ones that were brought from the camps William or the beasts attacked, those didn't think much about their future, they were feeling immense despair at what is going to happen.

Behind the podium there were rows of tied up humans that were also crying, approximately there were around three hundred people, they looked a bit malnourished as they didn't get anything to eat for two days, they were dirty and bruises were all over their bodies, those were the convicts that will be punished today.

Jordan spoke to the masses before him, his voice was not loud but still traveled to every corner of the town´s square.

"you all know why we are here today, it is to punish those that stand against the future that we build here, if you wanted or did not it doesn't matter you were taken here, you have the chance to leave once you repay your life, one month of work, it isn't all that much, you get food and roof above your head… and yet those chosen to take the easy way out and sided up with the enemy… this is for all of you to see as a reminder of what will happen if you decide to go against us, against me!"

Besides Jordan, there was a grill filled with red hot coal but instead of meat there was a machete being fried, there was also a wooden log, standing in front of Jordan, this is where all the hands will be cut, and lastly, there was a big bin, this is where all the cut hands will go.

Jordan took the machete and nodded toward the goblins standing around, they took young women and dragged her towards him, the woman was crying but that only made the goblin laugh, the prisoners behind the podium became restless and some tried to run away but the goblins quickly stopped them, not even if the prisoners were freed could they fight and win against the 50 goblins that were guarding them.

Jordan took the woman by her wrist and dragged her to the wooden log, the woman cried and pleaded "p-pleas-e I won´t do it agai-n… PLEASE!" With a quick swing of the machete, he got to work.

It took several hours and Jordan had to sharpen the machete several times. All the humans from his camp were forced to watch, some puked some cried but toward the end, they all knew, it's better to do what they are told because even if they wanted they have no chance against the demon and the terrifying beasts and monsters under his control.

The podium was stained with blood and one couldn't find a dry place on it, the bin disappeared, and instead of a small pile of hands was there.

All the prisoners were now laying behind the podium and tears were flowing down their eyes.

"This is the punishment you chose, if it was only on me I will kill all those that deflect, this is mercy (pointing at the prisoners) remember that"

"You are free to leave now"

Most of the humans at the square looked a bit pale, some looked completely helpless and some looked satisfied.

Jordan waited a bit before ordering a pre-prepared squad of citizens, they took care of the prisoners and took them to their quarters where they will receive further treatment.

They were bandaged immediately after the amputation and Jordan used the first circle mana from the air to create constant high temperature on the machete, still, if some died then so be it, it won't be that big of a problem.

´right now, I should create as many crystals with the negative emotions as I can´

Today it will be quite the harvest, just from the punishment Jordan felt overflowing with the negative energy but there was much more, he simply couldn't absorb it all. Jordan briefly looked at William, William looked extremely focused, pain could be seen on his face, it looks like he is about to enter the third circle.