The World Is Mine For The Taking

Leon’s POV

"It’s done now," Beelzebub said as she casually looked up from my phone for only a brief second.

She was lying comfortably on her stomach while scrolling through my smartphone, completely absorbed in whatever she had decided to watch. Her legs lazily swung back and forth behind her without a care in the world, almost like she was relaxing on a vacation instead of helping capture an entire rebel force. Seeing her like this made it genuinely difficult to believe that she was the Sin of Gluttony. If someone walked into the room without knowing who she was, they’d probably think she was just an ordinary girl wasting time on social media.

"Don’t eat them," I said while letting out a quiet sigh.

"I already did," she answered without even lifting her eyes away from the screen. "I just haven’t digested them yet. Well, except for their men, of course."

Well, that was technically what I’d been trying to tell her.

Guess arguing over the exact wording wasn’t going to get me anywhere anyway, especially when she looked perfectly satisfied with her answer.

George, along with all of his associates and the armies under their command, had already been captured.

All of them had been taken alive without exception, except for their armies, which honestly made the next step much easier.

Now all that was left was to present them before the people of this kingdom.

That was only fair, all things considered.

Those people had spent years making life miserable for innocent citizens. They had manipulated others, caused countless deaths, and dragged the kingdom into unnecessary chaos. Whether they truly believed in their cause or not didn’t really matter anymore. The people who had suffered because of them deserved to witness the moment they finally answered for everything they had done.

"You really are something," Beelzebub said while lazily swiping through another page on my phone. "We could’ve just left them inside my belly and let them suffer there forever, but you’re actually making things easier for them."

"I wouldn’t exactly call this going easy on them," I replied. "Besides, I don’t think the people of this kingdom would accept that kind of ending. It’s better if they’re sent straight to the gallows where everyone they’ve wronged can watch what happens to them. That way, the people who lost their families, friends, and homes because of these bastards can finally feel like justice has been served."

"Oh, I get it now."

She slowly tilted her head to one side while wearing an amused smile that looked almost impressed.

"That’s a pretty old-fashioned way of looking at things. Honestly, I didn’t expect someone like you to prefer handling it that way."

"Maybe it is," I admitted. "Still, I think it’s the better option for everyone involved."

Sometimes punishment wasn’t only meant for the people who committed the crime.

Sometimes it also existed for the sake of everyone who had been forced to live with the consequences afterward.

A kingdom couldn’t simply pretend something like this had never happened.

People needed closure.

This was probably the closest thing they were ever going to get.

***

George’s POV

When I slowly opened my eyes, the first thing I realized was that I couldn’t move my body at all.

My arms refused to respond.

My legs wouldn’t budge either.

A cold feeling immediately crawled down my spine as I looked around to figure out what had happened.

Thick chains had been tightly wrapped around both my arms and legs, pinning me against what looked like a massive wooden cross. The restraints dug painfully into my skin, making it impossible to move even an inch no matter how hard I tried.

Then I looked forward.

A massive crowd stood right in front of me, stretching farther than I could immediately see.

"W... What is this supposed to be...?"

"G-George! What the hell is going on here?!"

"I don’t know!" I shouted back instinctively before realizing how useless that answer sounded.

Panic immediately took over.

I struggled with everything I had, throwing my entire body against the restraints in a desperate attempt to break free.

Nothing happened.

The chains didn’t even rattle enough to give me hope.

Whoever had made them clearly wasn’t messing around.

"Who the hell did this to us?!"

The people chained beside me were the same wealthy supporters who had secretly financed my plans to transform this kingdom into a democratic republic. They had supplied money, soldiers, equipment, and political influence whenever I needed it.

Now they were standing beside me.

Just as helpless as I was.

Who could’ve possibly pulled something like this off?

How did they even know we were connected?

That information should’ve been impossible for outsiders to discover.

"You monsters!"

"Murderers!"

"It’s because of you that my mother died!"

"My daughter would’ve still been alive if it weren’t for all of you!"

"You people deserve to die!"

"I always knew he was a scumbag, but finding out he was working with rebels too? Burn every last one of them!"

The voices came from every direction.

People were screaming so loudly that the sound echoed throughout the streets.

Only then did I finally realize where we actually were.

We were being paraded through the kingdom while standing on execution crosses, completely exposed for thousands of citizens to see.

"The fuck is this?!"

"Somebody get me out of here already!"

I screamed until my throat hurt, but nobody even looked sympathetic.

Where were my soldiers?

Where had all of them gone?

What exactly had happened after that battle?

The last thing I could clearly remember was...

Everything suddenly going black.

After that, my memory completely stopped.

Had I really been defeated that quickly?

Who could’ve possibly done something like that?

That strange... Slimy creature?

While those thoughts kept racing through my mind, the first stone suddenly flew toward us.

It slammed into one of the men chained beside me.

A second stone followed almost immediately.

Then a third.

Within only a few seconds, the crowd completely lost whatever restraint they had left.

Stones began raining down on all of us from every direction.

The people chained beside me were the same men who had funded my rebellion, gathered soldiers for me, and helped turn my plans into reality.

Now they couldn’t even protect themselves.

Neither could I.

How did all of this happen?

None of it made any sense to me whatsoever.

That single question kept repeating inside my head over and over again while the crowd continued shouting.

Then another stone struck me directly across the face.

Pain exploded through my cheek so hard that my vision blurred for a moment.

Another rock slammed into my shoulder.

One hit my ribs.

Another smashed against my forehead.

The barrage continued without showing the slightest sign of slowing down.

People kept throwing stones while shouting every insult, curse, and accusation they could think of. Years of bottled-up anger were finally being unleashed, and all of it was directed straight at us.

"S-Stop this! Don’t you people know who I am?!"

By that point, nobody cared about titles anymore.

Standing on an execution platform stripped away all of that.

None of those things meant a damn thing anymore once the entire kingdom had already decided you deserved to die.