The sun rose to its highest point, just in time to illuminate the secret camp of the Vault Dwellers deep in the canyon. From the shadow of his own shack, Silas of Ditchside waited patiently for his scouts to return. Finally, he saw her go around the stone tower at the canyon and lead a strange man into the camp in horror.

"He's Hap." The scout said. "He's going to join the gang."

Silas emerged from his hut and gave the young man a casual look. "Does he know?"

"I met him underground. The Demon Seeker took his entire family. He escaped, in a desperate shot. ”

Silas nodded, quietly looking at the man. He could sense that the young man had been given a great gift of magic—some kind of dark, deadly tabernacle. As for the rest of his personality, Silas couldn't see anything.

"He's a good boy." The scout packs the ticket and says. "And he's from Ditch Side."

Silas frowned in surprise, as if he had met a relative he didn't know.

The lad stammered to introduce himself. "I ...... I think maybe ...... Can I join your cause...... Sir. ”

All the outlaws in the camp laughed. The boy's eyes wandered between smiles, looking for clues to figure out what he had done wrong.

"There is no 'sir' here." Silas said with a smile. "Unless you call each of us that."

"Yes, long——...... Be. "The lad almost made the same mistake again.

The embarrassed recruits seemed to wonder if they should come to the camp or not. Silas placed a heavily shackled hand on the man's shoulder, hoping to remove his embarrassment.

"Take it easy, Hap. No one here will judge you right or wrong. We are very far from the town of Goubian. ”

He felt the young man's stance relax.

"I know your predicament. They're spying on you all the time, spying on you, and making you feel inferior. There's none of that here. Here, you belong. ”

Harp's eyes lit up as he stared at his toes, as if he didn't think he was worthy of this sudden joy.

"Do you know why I'm wearing chains?" Silas asked.

The recruit looked up, shy and afraid to answer.

"It's not just a weapon, it's a reminder. A reminder of where we came from. A reminder of our full capabilities, and of the liberation we are about to attain. Are you with me? ”

"Yes. Yes, I want to be liberated. ”

"Okay." Silas said. "Tonight, you will break your own chains."

When night falls, the darkened bushes on the side of the road are excellent cover for ambushes. There, Silas took more than a dozen of his most trusted mages to the ground. Beside him, the recruits were nervously picking at their nails.

"Don't worry," Silas smiled reassuringly. "I was nervous the first time. After a while, it becomes as normal as breathing. ”

Before the recruits could calm down, the rumbling of horses' hooves and wheels could be heard in the distance, like an approaching storm. In a matter of seconds, the carriage followed the road into the ambush circle of the robbers.

Just before the horses arrived, Silas signaled to his companions that an ambush had begun.

With a flick of his wrist, an old mage in ragged clothes summoned a rope of steel rattan across the road and tripped over the horse's knee. The sound of the collision was deafening, and the horses pulling the carts tumbled into the dust, and the carriages overturned over them.

The mages jumped out of their hiding places and subdued their bewildered entourage with a variety of weapons and spells. Silas jumped to the top of the toppled carriage, ready to grab the unguarded passengers in the carriage.

"Do it, recruit." He called out to Harp for the lad to join them.

Hap hurriedly jumped to the top of the car and helped pry the car door. The latch of the door cracked, and inside the carriage was a disrupted aristocrat. Silas' eyes shone with a vicious look.

"Oops...... Look who's kneeling now, lord. Silas said, holding out his hand.

The nobleman was furious. Although he was mortally wounded, his hatred for Silas remained undiminished.

"I'm not going to grovel to people like you."

"Not bad." Silas said. "I just don't want you to miss the next show."

A few minutes later, all the nobleman's guards and coachmen were standing in a line on the side of the road, their hands tied. Silas paced past them, getting to know each captive one by one.

"I grieve for you. It's sad. Silas said. You're just cogs on their big wheels. ”

Silas paused, then abruptly shifted to the tied nobleman.

"But you chose to play for them...... This is equivalent to working for their cause. ”

He turned to the group of exiles under his command and asked aloud questions.

"Brothers, sisters - these guys work for the pigs. So what are they? ”

"Pigs!" The Vault Dwellers responded in unison.

"Should we let them go?"

"No!" The mages shouted.

An imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Silas' mouth.

"They're lying!" The ragged old mage yelled from the bushes.

"You can't trust them!" Another person in the gang said.

"And what should I do with them?" Silas asked.

"They must die!" A young mage shouted, his hatred far beyond his years.

The others joined in, until at last the same voice echoed in the field: "The pigs must die!" ”

Silas nodded, as if he was gradually being persuaded by their words.

"Then it has to be."

Silas tapped the recruit's shoulder. Black smoke began to rise from his forbidden stone shackles. He closed his eyes, savoring the power he had captured.

The sight made the captives tremble with fear. Many fell to their knees, weeping and begging for mercy. Only the nobleman stood proudly, neither humble nor arrogant in the face of his situation, while Silas indifferently said his final goodbyes to the nobleman's retinue.

"I'm saddened to be able to show you the beautiful world that is coming."

The words sent shivers down the sleeve of the recruit.

"Silas, don't," Hap objected. "They're just...... Everyman. ”

Ignoring his pleas, Silas stretched out his hands and fingers, unleashing the magic stored in his gauntlet. A black cloud rolled out of his fingertips, gathering over the heads of the nobles' retinue. Almost at the same moment, they all began to scratch their throats in despair from suffocation. In a few moments, they all fell to the ground and died.

The mages fell silent, and they dutifully watched the entire execution. The nobleman whimpered silently, tears rolling across his clenched lips. The only sound came from the recruit.

"No...... Why? Hap fell to his knees.

Silas gently lifted the young man to his feet and comforted him with a fatherly hand.

"Hap, you want to help us do great things. Right here! This is our ...... of liberation"

He gently brought the recruit to the nobleman and pushed him forward.

“…… Die one prince at a time. ”

Hapu looked at the nobleman with tears in his eyes. He stretched out a trembling hand, ready to take the life in front of him. Then, his hand hung limply.

"I ...... Can't do it. ”

Silas' gentleness and patience began to dissipate.

"This person is not your friend. His wealth is built on your suffering. He prefers to see you hanged rather than show you any kindness. ”

The recruits were reluctant to budge. Finally, the nobleman spoke.

"You're a monster." His voice trembled.

"Yes," Silas said. "That's what you said when you locked me in the dark."

Silas held out a hand, the shackles still gleaming. The magic he had taken from Hap summoned the last rays of darkness. A small black cloud enveloped the nobleman's face, pulling air out of his lungs. As the man twisted and rolled, Silas looked back at the recruit, no anger in his eyes, only sadness.

"I'm sorry, Hap. You are not ready for liberation. Go ahead. Get back into your chains. ”

Silas watched as Harp turned away, his eyes dodging in shame. The recruits looked at the damaged carriage in front of them, and the long dirt road leading to Xiongdu. Silas could almost feel the lad thinking, imagining the bleak old age that awaited him.

Hap bent down, wrenched a dagger from the hands of a dead coachman, and returned to the nobleman, still wheezing on the ground.

"I'm ready."

The young man raised the dagger above the nobleman's head, and Silas' grief turned to utter joy. No matter how many people he liberates, he can make him smile.