Hazard Lands Revenge

Chapter 16 – Court (Unedited)

Author’s Notes – I’m back, time for another round of torture for you guys.

Any similarities between this novel with real life events, people or other novels are purely coincidental.

--* Mildr City, World Nations’ Central Army Base *--

Four men surrounded Nik, whose arms and legs were bound by numerous chains. Each guard carried multitudes of dangerous weapons, ranging from assault rifles to sharp blades. On their backs were massive shields that carried the symbol of a griffon, which radiated a royal aura.

Many soldiers standing on the road quickly rushed away from the group of five, as they stared both in fear and respect at the men, whilst others glared hateful eyes at the boy. They were, however, ignored by the five individuals, who continued their brisk march.

Passing through various roads, the group arrived at a massive metal wall. Before they could approach any closer two burly men approached the company.

“Is that him?” one of them glared at the crimson eyed boy with disgust.

The one standing in front of Nik replied with a grim nod.

“Alright, bring him in,” the other man ordered as the wall vanished into thin air, revealing a stone path. Seeing it, the group of five continued their march forward. Trees dotted the sides of the pathway, with an occasional soldier standing guard. Beyond the trees were large amounts of vegetation, where chirps and howls could be heard once in a while. The atmosphere would calm down anyone, but the grim red sunlight made the jungle seem eerie.

After minutes of walking, Nik and his guards had made their way in front of a marble building. To the sides of the path stood two griffon statues, which looked strangely like the ones of the guards’ shields. Dragging the boy, the four men walked towards the foot of the building.

Staring into the open doors, they saw three figures walking towards them.

“So, you’re here…” a deep powerful voice sounded off from one of the figures, containing enough pressure to force the four men to sweat out of fear. Nik stood his ground, as he stared at the middle person.

“General,” he greeted with an emotionless voice, his face held with utmost neutrality.

“That’s the Demon?” another person spoke out, her voice holding a seductive and mature atmosphere.

“He is a bit young, I do suppose…” antiquity filled the air as the other voiced out their thoughts.

Before anyone could react to their speculations, the three figures had already made their way out of the building. A gigantic man stood in between two individuals, one a fox-like lady, whose eyes glimmered with mischievousness while the other was an ancient man, who donned a pristine violet cloak.

“You four are dismissed. We will escort him towards the court personally,” the General ordered. With a salute, the four men surrounding Nik turned back towards the path and walked away.

“So, you’re the boy who’s slaughtered hundreds of our men huh?” the fox laughed, her eyes vile with venom, “You know… one of those men you slaughtered was my brother.”

“Enough, Lyra, let the Court deal with him,” an oppressive voice drilled into the woman.

“Yes, yes…” she replied listlessly as if she wasn’t affected by the General’s command.

“Come with us boy,” the old man ordered Nik. Hearing him, Nik walked towards the gigantic building, following the three eccentric individuals before him.

Observing the interior, Nik found hundreds of men and women sitting on oak benches, facing towards the front, where twelve old men watched his every movement. They were situated on raised platforms, surrounding a single stage in the middle of their circle.

As Nik was forced onto the stage by the foxy woman, the General announced Nik’s crimes, “Griffon Judges, we have brought the latest criminal of the Army, Nik Morris, who’s been charged for five hundred sixty seven murders, three hundred eighty attempted murders and millions upon millions of Eroms (Currency of World Nations, as mentioned in Chapter One document 2) in structure damage.”

As the audience listened, their mouths gaped as they stared in horror at the boy, no, monster before them. Most of the army in Mildr City has heard about the massacre Nik had caused, but no one was able to confirm how devastating it was until now. Many from the crowd radiated intense amounts of bloodlust towards the boy on the stage, yet none dared to make a move.

“Based on our previous procedures and guidelines, the prosecuted boy would be put to death, but I think we’ll have to make an exception this time. Due to reasons of insanity, I suggest that the boy is put into arrest for a year. After the end of his sentence, the prosecuted will be left under the Mission Guild until he has paid a total of one billion merits. Any objections?” one of the judges suggested as he eyed the others.

“What?! You’re letting this murderer get away with hundreds of lives with simple imprisonment? Even if he has to do missions to pay for a ridiculous amount of merits, that’s what we have been doing our whole lives in service!” as the judge made the suggestion, a man from the crowd erupted, his eyes filled with fury. It was no doubt that someone close to him was murdered.

Before he could continue his rage however, the air instantly turned red, as if a mist of blood had settled upon the audience.

“Did we ask for your opinion, Sergeant Mortel Glascias?” the judges spoke together, filling the room with a dreadful feeling. Even though Nik could somehow withstand the General’s pressure earlier, he quickly fell to his knees due to the intense amounts of force pressing down on him. The audience did not seem to feel the force, but they watched in horror as the one who had interrupted float into the air, his mouth filled with white foam.

“This is our court, pest. If you cannot abide to our rules, then we have no use for you as a witness,” with a disdainful tone, the judges reprimanded the Sergeant. Before anyone could react, the floating man was sent flying through the open door, into the stone pavement, where he laid, unconscious.

“Any others?” twelve pairs of eyes scanned the audience as if daring someone to speak up, but no one was audacious enough to even breathe loudly. Going back to the trial, if it could even be called that, the Judges once again stared at Nik, voicing their yays and nays. In the end, only three voted nay, while the rest agreed to the conditions.

“Child, you are to be detained in Trimbell Prison for a year on the highest floor. Any other criminal offense will result in one month more detention. Once your time is up, you will be joining the Mission Guild immediately. You three escort the boy to the prison,” one of the judges ordered as they collectively stood up and walked off their stage.

Walking towards Nik, the General and the two others grabbed the chains binding the boy and began to lead him out of the building.

“So, Trimbell Prison huh? I have to say, you truly have the Devil’s luck, Limperus…” Lyra whispered, amused.

“I am quite surprised that the Judges did not mention that Devil during the trial,” the General pondered, his eyes filled with confusion, “You’d think that they’ll use that as an excuse to increase his punishment.”

The violet robed elder laughed when he heard the General’s words, “You think they’d intentionally spread the knowledge of a Devil inside this boy? That would be essentially advertising that we have a potential powerhouse in the army. Don’t think that the other military branches or even the other countries won’t feel threatened by it.”

“So, even within our allies, others won’t tolerate a sudden increase in the branch’s power,” Lyra speculated. Suddenly her eyes glowed, “is that why they placed him in my Guild’s custody?”

“I believe so. Seeing as your guild is placed in all of the World Nations, E.L.E.C and Frozin Empire’s militaries, the judges believe that no one will be aggravated if a neutral party takes him,” the General stated, as he pulled once more at Nik’s chains.

Over the course of their conversation, the group had travelled across many streets and had arrived in front of a metal building, which spanned hundreds of feet wide. If one would look up, they’d find four upper floors, excluding the ground floor.

“Well, this will be your home for the next year or so, Demon,” Lyra jeered. Even though she was half satisfied with the boy’s punishment, she still felt grudge for her brother’s death.

Throughout the whole journey, not a single word slipped through Nik’s mouth. In his head, he was planning his future. Though he felt injustice of being punished for the Demon’s actions, he knew that there was no other choice. The only thing left in his mind was to conquer the being inside of him and grow strong enough to resist the military’s influence.

For now, he has to survive the prison first.

Criminal File

Nik Morris is a recent recruit to the W.N Army, taken in by the Fenlei City Brigade. According to sources, he has been deemed a Rank S Sniper and is capable of shooting targets from over a mile away. No other military personnel however, have seen him fight with melee weapons or with any other battle styles, so we cannot rank how dangerous of a criminal he is.

The criminal holds little to no authority within the military or his peers, aside from two individuals who were recruited along with him, Jasmine Griswall and Hudsonn Moulic. There are no risks of anyone trying to break him out of prison, so he is to be placed in Floor Two. The prison is to provide each and every one of his needs to allow the soldier to grow into a tamed fighter.

No one is allowed to harass him, unless he agrees. The Griffons do not want to hold another trial for hundreds of murders. Nik Morris will be given permission to use all the facilities in the prison, aside from the Sniper armory, in fear that he will use them to break out of prison.

If any other problems occur, please contact the Army General, the Mission Guild head or the Grand Patriarch.

Journal Entry 10/21/43

At last, we have gotten hold of one of the Fourteen Deities the Scroll of Larac was talking about. It’s unfortunate that the deity we have is a mere little boy, but it is a powerful being nonetheless. As of now, the E.L.E.C has found three Gods and one Demon, while the Frozin Empire has four Demons, but no Gods. Our World Nations have only obtained one God and now two Demons.

There are only three deities, all being Gods, left for us to find. We cannot allow the other two superpowers to obtain them, or else there will be an imbalance in the future, which might set off another World War. Unfortunately, the Demon that we have obtained has killed off hundreds of our men, but I guess that is negligible compared to its cooperation.

I’m sure that if it’s smart enough, it will find merit due to the fact that we practically saved his life. Only time will tell. For now, we have to wait for a year before we can send him to do missions and slowly break its free will. Our Army’s influence relies on controlling this beast, and if that massacre occurs again, I fear of the consequences…

-Judge Winston