Arthur looked at the burly man, two meters tall with a tiger's back and bear's waist, thinking it would be a pity if he died. He remained silent, pondering.
Brin refused the recruitment. The surrounding soldiers looked at Arthur, their adrenaline surging again, their desire for slaughter rising.
Arthur sighed, about to order him to commit suicide, but at that moment, an untimely shout broke the solemn standoff.
The captured bandit leaders, Stab Head and Bulgremm, were kneeling not far away, their bodies covered in wounds from the torment of the soldiers, blood flowing.
They were shocked to see Arthur showing an intention to recruit Brin, who had resisted to the end, and immediately sensed an opportunity to survive.
"Lord Arthur!!! Lord Arthur!!!" Stab Head scrambled forward on his knees, leaving two trails of blood on the ground. "We are willing to pledge allegiance!!! We wanted to surrender a long time ago!!! We are willing to fight for you!!!"
Bulgremm followed behind, crying with snot and tears, utterly terrified by this group of madmen: "It's Brin! It's all Brin!!! It's all that bastard Brin!"
"We advised him long ago that we were no match for the Black Lion! Surrendering to you early would save our lives!"
"He forced us to resist you, my Lord! We hate him to the bone, My Lord!"
Arthur turned to look at them, thinking this was truly a ladder sent when one was asleep. A mocking smile played on his lips. He said nothing, only nodded towards Lucien beside him.
Lucien immediately understood, waving his hand. Two soldiers, covered in blood, stepped forward and dragged the two men from the mud like cargo, bringing them before Arthur.
Only then did Arthur speak, slowly and deliberately, asking, "Wasn't it you who occupied the camp and resisted, neither fighting nor surrendering?"
Held up, the two men frantically began to explain, their voices and speech confused.
"My Lord! By the Seven Gods! We had long intended to surrender!" Stab Head shouted urgently, "It was truly Brin, that stubborn madman! He is the one who hated you and made an enemy of you! He was the one who prevented us from surrendering to you, My Lord!"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Bulgremm, tears mixed with blood sliding down his cheeks, echoed, "The Seven Gods bear witness! We wanted to send someone to negotiate a long time ago! But Brin stopped us repeatedly! He hates the noble lords! We were truly forced!"
Arthur's smile deepened. He shook his head as if he had heard an amusing joke: "Is he your master? Are you his dogs?"
The two men froze, then lowered their heads in shame, knowing that the young lord was right; it was clearly their own lack of firm conviction.
"No, saying that would be giving you too much credit." Arthur's smile vanished instantly, replaced by an icy indifference.
Arthur calmly delivered his verdict: "Behead them."
These two cold, light words, like two heavy hammers, struck Stab Head and Bulgremm's hearts. The two men looked up, their eyes wide.
"Their heads are to be displayed in all military towns, for the people to see."
The soldiers tightened their grip and dragged the two men away.
Stab Head and Bulgremm's minds went blank, then erupted into frantic struggles and screams.
"Why?!" Bulgremm's voice became shrill and piercing, filled with incomprehensible despair. "My Lord! Lord Arthur! Why?! Brin, who resisted to the end, gets to live! We, who knelt in submission, must die?!"
"This is unfair! Unfair!" Stab Head's cries turned into screams. "My Lord! Lord Arthur! Brin is the one who should die!"
Their questions echoed over the camp.
Arthur looked at the two men being dragged to their deaths, his voice low, his tone calm and gentle, yet every person around heard him clearly: "Because."
"Whoever I let live, lives."
"Whoever I let die, dies."
"The power is mine."
Without dignity, struggling with all their might on the ground, the two men could not even be controlled by four soldiers. They cursed and begged, but they cursed not Arthur, but Tiejiang Bulin. In their view, their execution might be reasonable, but it was not Arthur who cut off their path to survival, but Brin.
Lucien, frowning deeply as he watched the four soldiers almost rolling in the bloody mud with the two men, still unable to stop the chaos, went up and forcefully kicked the two men who were rolling on the ground. They gradually lost vitality and were finally held up by the soldiers.
Two flashes of sword light, two muffled thuds, and the cries abruptly ceased. The world instantly fell silent. The camp became solemn and quiet again, with only the crackling of burning torches.
Everyone was stunned by Arthur's simple and crude logic of power, unable to refute it. This was indeed his right. The air seemed to solidify. The captives buried their heads deeper, swallowing nervously, even breathing cautiously.
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