The Almighty Ring

Jiang Fei could not care less about what Bison was going to do to T’syai, be it kill or maim, as long as he completed his task. At that moment, his remaining target was Rufus. To be honest, he had his own motives; he wanted to set things straight and recruit Bison into his own banner.

“F*ck!” Rufus gasped in horror. He felt a shiver run down his spine when he looked straight into Jiang Fei’s eyes. To Jiang Fei, Rufus was nothing but prey to be hunted down. The look of a hungry predator—that was the look in Jiang Fei’s eyes. It was scary enough that even Rufus dared not do anything to him! At that point, although it was too late, he regretted not saving T’syai earlier.

Right then, Rufus was sure about one thing: he needed to escape for his life. Instead of physically taking off, Rufus resorted to the most cowardly way of escaping. With a flash, Rufus teleported away.

“Too late for that,” Jiang Fei scoffed. With a psychic hammer ready, Jiang Fei leaped into hyperspace and slammed the hammer into Rufus’ mind.

“Ugh!”

As though he was physically hammered with a mountain-sized boulder, Rufus was knocked back into reality. The sudden loss of focus caused a chain reaction, forcing Rufus out of hyperspace and inflicting minor physical injury.

“Stay still will you?!” Jiang Fei howled like a hungry wolf before he shot a psychic needle into Rufus’ mind. Instead of being momentarily dazed, the attack felt like a piercing hot needle had gone through his brain. It was incredibly painful for someone like him to endure, and it drove him to the point of despair.

Now that Rufus was completely disarmed, Jiang Fei dropped Rufus to the ground and crushed all of the joints in his arms and legs. Not only did Rufus lose the will to fight, but he also lost the ability to move his arms and feet. On top of the pain in his head, he was losing it even more as the pain from his broken joins assaulted every fiber of his being.

“It’s goodbye now,” Jiang Fei said as he commenced Mind Wipe. A powerful burst of psychic energy poured into Rufus’ mind, and after three seconds, he stopped struggling.

“Head’s up!” Jiang Fei cried out as he tossed Rufus like a ragdoll to Bison. Concurrently, Bison was just cleaning himself up after tearing T’syai in half, the same way he did with Abel.

“You have my thanks,” Bison replied.

Bison never felt so satisfied ending those three leaders. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. They had come to him, proposing to fight Jiang Fei together, and in the end, they turned against them when he succumbed to their trickery to fight Jiang Fei alone. They clearly showed who they really were when they wanted to kill him and claim the loot for themselves.

He was done with Abel, and the satisfaction of killing him was, to be completely honest, more satisfying than killing T’syai; Abel was conscious the entire time when Bison twisted him apart while T’syai was like a mannequin. Pulling a mannequin limb from limb felt empty. That being said, the deed was done and the last one remained in his hands, motionless and brain dead.

“Oh well…” Jiang Fei sighed. Bison was indeed a brute. When he killed T’syai, Jiang Fei was still able to steal a glance despite being busy. He witnessed how Bison literally tore T’syai apart. The entire grassland around him was dyed a crimson red. Pieces of limbs and internal organs lay about.

“Thank you for helping me. From today onwards and for all the days to come, I, Bison shall serve Sir Jiang Fei until my last breath! I hereby pledge my undying fealty to the great leader of Dhiras!” said Bison as he knelt for Jiang Fei.

“I’ve heard enough. Rise and stand proud,” Jiang Fei said, helping the giant to his feet. Although he was cruel, Bison was a straightforward man. Even though Jiang Fei could not accept his cruel aspect, Jiang Fei could still use a man with a knack for ripping limbs. Furthermore, since Jiang Fei was bound to the no-killing rule, Bison could help him achieve his goals in case there were people who needed their limbs to be torn apart.

In conclusion, Jiang Fei had defeated two leaders of Ausvia and recruited Bison to be under his banner. There was a certain glint in his eyes as he smiled with satisfaction, and the remaining soldiers of T’syai, Rufus, and Abel were frightened to the core. It could not be helped. They were called in to join their leaders to fight Jiang Fei, and now that their leaders had been killed, what could they expect next?

“We’re doomed.”

“I guess it’s a good day to die.”

“I’ve heard that Jiang Fei’s a kind-hearted person. We may get lucky enough to be spared!”

“If that rumor is true, I’ll never set foot on Dhiras for the rest of my life!”

They remained rooted for fear that Jiang Fei would deliver the hammer of the gods on them.

Logically, every army, excluding Bison’s, should have been scared. Bison’s army had to be relieved since he survived and defeated the other three leaders. The truth was only as expected. When Bison was on the brink of death, too many of his soldiers had jumped ship. Of over a hundred thousand soldiers, only less than two thousand remained loyal to Bison. The other hundred thousand soldiers had clearly done something wrong, and since Bison survived, like the soldiers of the three leaders, they were scared stiff. Jiang Fei may be kind enough to spare them, but Bison was the polar opposite. The fact that he would tear his enemies apart for betraying him made them think about what he would do to his own men for doing the same.

While most of them were scared to the point of soiling themselves, a small portion of soldiers were smacking themselves in the face. Those were the soldiers who had left Jiang Fei’s banner willingly. Even though Jiang Fei had clearly stated that he would not seek retribution from them, they knew well enough that Jiang Fei would no longer accept them. Without protection from a “higher power”, they were as good as dead on Judgement Day.

“Fei! Is it really you?! Are you real?! Am I dreaming?!” Sarila howled as she rushed and hugged Jiang Fei tightly. The mental toll inflicted on her mind when Jiang Fei disappeared from the battlefield lasted for far too long. Even now, she had yet to fully recover. To be honest, she had fallen too deep into despair. The whole world became gray without a shed of light. The thought of ending her own life was just hanging there in her mind. Without Jiang Fei, without the chosen one to serve, there was literally no other purpose to live.

Kaa’lna, albeit affected by Jiang Fei’s “death”, had been checking on Sarila to make sure that she would not do something as stupid as ending her own life for a man. Fortunately, after several hours, Jiang Fei returned to the land of the living. Not only did he appear unharmed, but Kaa’lna could also sense a certain strength from him. While Kaa’lna was relieved for Jiang Fei, Sarila could not help but feel over the moon as if she was the luckiest, happiest female in all of Cait Sith.

“Silly girl! I’m right here!” Jiang Fei said as he gently caressed Sarila’s head, consoling the poor kitten. Jiang Fei subconsciously smiled; it was only a faint smile, yet it exuded the highest of confidence.

“My lord, did you achieve a new level of power?” Kaa’lna asked. She noticed the subtle changes in Jiang Fei’s behavior and demeanor. Prior, Jiang Fei was shrouded in mystery, but one could still feel a certain level of power from within. That being said, the previous shroud of mystery had only caused Kaa’lna to feel worried for Jiang Fei. The current Jiang Fei was about the same; still shrouded in mystery, however… to put it in words, she could not help but detect confidence, a strong sense of security from Jiang Fei.

“Nothing like that. I did, however, discover and learn something new!” Jiang Fei answered vaguely yet concisely at the same time.

He must have received a blessing, a miracle. No matter. The stronger he is, the better it is for me, Kaa’lna thought to herself.

“Sarila, if you’re all better now, could you please do a headcount for me? Do include the men from Bison’s army. Only the loyal ones!” said Jiang Fei as he lifted Sarila’s chin up to look directly into her teary eyes.

Sarila wiped away her tears and nodded. After some time, she returned with a report.

“We have over twenty-seven thousand men. About thirty thousand including Sir Bison’s men. Oh… by the way, while I was doing the headcount, some of our men who left before the war expressed their desire to return. Fei, do we take them back?” Sarila reported and added a question after.

“No. Since they chose to leave in times of hardship, they have no right to remain by my side to share my victory,” Jiang Fei declared. Although Jiang Fei had no intention of seeking retribution from those who chose to defect, he was strict enough to reject them when they chose to return. It may have been indirect, but Jiang Fei would be the cause of their deaths later when Judgement Day arrived.