Demon Sword

Chapter 11

Instructor Musgal was a large man. He was so intimidating, even to the men with rougher backgrounds. His face was so scary that it wouldn’t be surprising if he had killed several men just by looking at them.

“Welcome to the Eighth Legion. Scumbags.”

Musgal said to the cadets standing in the field. One of the men booed from among the cadets.

“Scumbags? The fuck do you think you are? You’re messing with me, Gela’s…”

Musgal wasted no time pushing his way through the cadets. He grabbed the man by his collar and threw him backwards. The man flew like a plane and slammed into the wall.

Crack!

Musgal didn’t stop with a warning; he punched the man in the face again and again with his fists.

Blam, Blam, Blam!

The man’s face caved in and his eyeballs popped out of their eye sockets like a frog. He didn’t even get a chance to beg for his life. Everyone else realized he had died when his flailing limbs stopped moving.

‘A man just died.’

The cadets were shocked. Some of the weak hearted even began to puke. A man beaten to death by bare hands wasn’t a common sight, even for them.

“If you have any complaint, say it now. I’ll send you straight to God. Actually, I guess you scumbags would be going to hell.”

Musgal said, wiping the blood from his fists on his pants. He’d killed a man just for talking back. It was cruel, and unnecessary.

But it was effective.

‘This is what I need to do to get the likes of them to listen.’

Musgal looked at the faces of the cadets one by one. There were about forty in this crop. Some averted their gazes in fear, others met his gaze with anger. There were also a few he couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

“I don’t know what why you fuckers ended up here. But I do know none of you are righteous people. Murderers, swindlers, robbers… that sort of scum. Be thankful that you’ve been given a second chance, and not end up a bloodstain on the guillotine. Pray to God, and kneel to the East, where the emperor resides.”

The Eighth Legion was notorious. The majority of its soldiers are criminals or those who have nowhere else to go.

“I am Musgal, chief instructor. I guarantee you, in four days you’ll be wishing you were rather out in the battlefields.”

Musgal was overwhelming the cadets. Even the most ruthless criminals were on their toes, watching every part of Musgal’s actions.

“Hand over all your belongings. If you’re still alive at the end of the training, it will be returned.”

Musgal gestured, and the other instructors handed out the bags to the cadets one by one. The cadets hesitated before, before quickly submitting their belongings after hearing Musgal shout.

‘But this is a gift from sir.’

Jan hesitated, then slipped the sword into the bag. When the bag had started to fill up, Musgal spoke up again.

“I said, EVERYTHING. Your clothes! Even your underwear!”

“Do we need to be Nake-… Urk!”

Musgal’s boot was driven into the chest of the soldier who spoke up. The cadets stripped off their clothes without further question.

“You can answer with Yes, or No. Do not question my words. Think of me as your father. No son questions his father’s word. You will be reborn under my training. From scum to livestock of some use.”

The naked cadets stood there, embarrassed.

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Musgal walked among them, shoving them around. He sometimes grabbed them by their chins and kicked them in the shins.

“For the next four weeks, your lives are mine. If I’m having a bad day, I might beat one of you to death for no reason. But I will not be held responsible. Pray, that no woman rejects me for the next month.”

Someone chuckled at Musgal’s joke. Musgal’s eyes flickered to the origin.

‘Oh, I fucked up.’

Jan was the one who laughed. He tried to cover his mouth, but Musgal was already walking furiously toward him.

“Do you think my words were funny?”

“I admired how witty you are, Sir!”

Jan responded at the top of his lungs. Musgal scowled even further.

“Witty? Did you think I was joking? Do I look like the kind of person who would joke with you?”

There was no escape. Jan rolled his eyes around, desperately squeezing out words.

“I thought it was a joke, because there’s no way a handsome man like you could be dumped by a woman, Sir!”

The cadets gritted their teeth, trying their best not to laugh. But the other officers next to them burst out laughing.

“Ha, what a guy.”

“Pfft, pfft, handsome? To Musgal?”

“Real crazy, that one.”

It was hard to call Musgal a handsome face, even being generous; if you dressed him up in a fur coat, he almost looked closer to a bear. His chunky face looked like it was riddled with rocks. Jan seized the opportunity to continue talking.

“If I were a woman, I’d forgive you even if you cheated on me.”

“You, you..!”

Musgal raised his hand to strike, then lowered it. The atmosphere had already broken when the other officers had cracked up.

‘Phew, that was a close one.’

Jan patted his chest and glanced at Musgal, returning back to the front.

“For now, we’ll begin the nude run of initiation. We’ll run along the outskirts of Orphiel.”

Musgal began to jog. The cadets hesitated, then hurried after him at the urging of the other officers. Cadets lagging behind were whipped.

“One, two, three, four! Your voice is too small! Are your voices as small as your dicks?!”

“No sir! One, two, three!”

Around forty cadets ran after Musgal. The soldiers in the fort laughed as they watched the naked cadets. The run didn’t end in the fortress; they roamed naked through the residential area and bustling streets.

As they entered the brothels, the women laughed and waved, used to seeing the sight. Some of the cadets tried to cover their privates, but their instructors’ whips quickly struck their hands.

The embarrassment was fleeting. Later, there was no time for shame. The run showed no sign of finishing. They could barely breathe. Throats tasting like blood, and legs trembling. But they couldn’t rest.

Crack!

The officer slapped the cadet’s thighs with his whip like a jockey as he passed by.

“Get up!”

“Do you want to die?”

“You lot are on death row anyway! Are you tired? Do you want to go back? If you want to get tired, just say the word. I’ve been so busy with demonic beasts I miss slicing off a person’s head!”

The instructors whipped on the cadets who were falling behind.

‘Fucking hell.’

Jan felt like he was dying of exhaustion. He’d never run for this long before. When he began to lag behind, Musgal immediately ran towards him.

“You got off earlier, scumbag. What’s your name?”

“I’m Jan.”

“What, scum? I can’t hear you with your tiny voice.”

“It’s Jan, sir!”

“Alright, Jan, I’ll remember your name. And remember me. I’ll always be watching you.”

With that, Musgal ran back to the front of the pack. He was quite fast, despite his size.

“Haah, haah.”

Fortunately, there were many cadets in worse shape than Jan. Jan didn’t get whipped up.

‘This isn’t what I was expecting.’

Jan looked up at the sky. Tears were about to fall. He began missing his hometown.

‘I want to see Mr. Vermain, too. There must be some misunderstanding, if I can just meet him……’

Despite the vomiting and falling, no cadet gave up on running. They had no other choice. After five years of service in the Eighth Legion, they could be pardoned. It was ridiculously short, considering some of the crimes they had committed. But few survive even five years.

Musgal, running at the front of the pack, stopped. The cadets fell to the ground, thinking it was over. The sound of gasping filled the air.

“Now that you’re all warmed up, let’s go to the training center.”

Musgal said, and pointed to a mountaintop not far from Orphiel. The cadets looked up at him, faces in despair. Musgal looked at their expressions and chuckled.

“Of course, we’re running.”

Musgal began to run again, and the officers raised their whips. The cadets left a trail of vomit in their wake.

The Eighth Legion’s Training Center three was on top of a mountain. After completing the hike, the trainees collapsed in the run-down building. They were too exhausted to move an inch.

“This is crazy, they’re treating us like animals! They killed a man for talking back!”

“So? What, you want to desert? If you do, do it alone, don’t drag us into it.”

“Shut up, both of you. Hearing you two bicker is making my tired head ring.”

“You shut the fuck up, before I kill you.”

“Ha, fuck. You…”

As soon as the instructors disappeared, the cadets began to argue. Not a sentence was spoken without profanity.

“I said, shut up.”

The blond young man stood up, together with the man he’d argued, struggling to their feet.

“You’re a pretty fucking twink, asshole. Why don’t you be my bitch, I’ll let you off.”

“Hah, twink? You wanna die?”

The blonde laughed, cracking his neck, and stepped in front of the man. The man didn’t back down either. The two men stood close enough to breathe. They could exchange blows at any moment.

“Mmmf!”

The blonde leaned up and planted his lips on the other man. The rest of the cadets turned to look in shock. But instead of their tongues mingling, there was a horrifying sound.

Grrrrk!

The man struggled and pushed the blonde man away. The blond man struggled, but was soon pushed back. Their mouths were bloody. The crowd soon realized whose blood it was.

“Ptew.”

The blonde spat out a piece of flesh onto the floor. It was the man’s tongue. The man was moaning, clutching his mouth.

“Finally, some peace and quiet.”

The blonde kicked the man, and wiped the corner of his mouth. The cadets were speechless. Silence ensued.

The man who was now missing his tongue crawled out of the building, coughing up blood, went to the instructors. The instructor inspected the man, frowning. A doctor soon arrived and took the man away.

Once inside the building, the instructor walked over to the blonde man, and pinned him against the wall by his neck.

“Listen up, you little shits,” he said, “The only ones allowed to beat you a lot, are us. If the rest of you just watch this shit happening, one more time, every single person in here will die. You are all in the same boat from now on.”

The instructor released his grip and dragged the blonde man outside. The cadets could hear a ruthless beating ensuing outside.

Soon afterward, the blond man crawled his way back in. He couldn’t even make it back to his spot. People stared at him, hesitating.

Jan jumped down from the bed and helped the blonde to his feet.

“What are you guys waiting for? He’s injured. Didn’t you hear what the instructor said earlier? We’re in one boat.”

Jan pulled the blonde up to his bed. The blond chuckled, and looked up at Jan.

“You’re an interesting guy. What’s your name?”

“Jan.”

“I’m Laviris. Just call me Lav.”

Laviris laid down on the wooden bed, a mangled mess. He examined his limbs. They were bruised, but intact.

“They really know how to beat people the right way.”

“That was a little too far earlier. Biting off the other guy’s tongue. It looked painful.”

“I just nipped the tip. The bitch overreacted.”

It wasn’t long before the injured man returned to the building after receiving medical care. He glared at Laviris, before returning to his spot.

The eventful day was coming to an end. Before nightfall, the instructors dirty uniforms into the center of the building. The cadets scrambled to pick up the clothes, still wary of each other.

Darkness descended on the training center. The hungry cadets could smell food wafting from the instructors’ quarters in the distance. Only the instructors were eating.

The cadets were tired, but their hunger kept them awake.

Jan curled up, holding his stomach. He’d love to have even oat porridge right now.

‘I want to go home.’

He wasn’t the only one thinking that. So did all the cadets. But there was no place for them to return.

“Mommy.”

Someone said, Some people started sobbing.

Jan didn’t cry.