My footsteps echoed through the grand corridors of the Solstheim palace, but the most melodious sound to my ears was the clinking of the black chain dragging behind me. Elena walked with her head bowed, her hands bound in front of her, while the end of that chain encircled her neck like an incredibly expensive dog collar.
Every servant we passed fell instantly to their knees, their faces pressed against the floor. Some of them trembled so violently I could hear their teeth chattering.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I murmured without looking back. "This silence. This pure terror."
Elena didn't answer. She only breathed heavily. I could feel a tug on the chain every time she tried to resist her pace, but a small jerk from me was enough to make her stumble and return to obedience.
We reached the royal dining hall. A long table made of ancient oak was already laden with lavish dishes that were supposedly prepared to celebrate the success of the Hero Summoning ritual.
I sat in the head chair—the King's seat—and patted the floor beside me.
"Sit here, Elena. At my feet."
"You... you have crossed the line, Mikhael," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Just kill me. Do not degrade me like this."
I reached for a purple grape from a silver platter and crushed it with my thumb, letting the red juice drip onto the floor.
"Dying is easy, General. In my world, death takes only a second. But serving? That is an art." I grabbed her hair, forcing her to sit on the cold marble floor beside my chair. "Now, pour me some wine. Use those bound hands of yours."
With trembling hands and eyes glistening from the sheer humiliation, she reached for the crystal bottle. The sound of the bottle clinking against the silver glass filled the silence of the room. She poured it clumsily, a few drops spilling onto the table.
I drank it slowly. The taste was far more complex than any mana potion in the game.
"King Alaric!" I called out loudly.
The King, who had been following us from a distance like a broken shadow, entered the room in a hurry. He no longer wore his ceremonial robes. He looked like an ordinary old man who had just lost everything.
"Y-yes, my Lord?"
"Summon every noble and high-ranking military official still alive. I want them to see their prideful General serving me." I smiled thinly at the sight of Alaric's turning even paler. "And oh, make sure they bring the list of holy artifacts I requested. If even one is missing, I will break one of your precious daughter's fingers right in front of them."
"Very well... immediately, my Lord..."
Alaric retreated in haste. I looked back down at Elena. She stared at me with a hatred so pure that if looks could kill, I would have died a thousand times.
"That's a good look," I said, stroking her head as if petting a house animal. "Don't let that fire die out. It would be boring if you broke too soon."
I opened a small portal from my Vault of Malice. It wasn't a sword I pulled out this time, but an artifact shaped like a black eyeball emitting a thin smoke—[The Eye of the Abyss].
"Know what this is, Elena?"
She shook her head slowly, her eyes fixed on the cursed object.
"It's a monitoring device. In my world, it was used to track enemy movements across the entire map. But here... I will link it to your nervous system."
Before she could react, the eyeball drifted and fused into the palm of her hand. Elena let out a sharp cry as a black eye-shaped mark appeared on her skin.
"Now, whatever you see, whatever you feel, I will know. If you try to run, or if you try to stab me while I sleep, that eye will detonate your heart from the inside."
I pulled the chain, forcing her close until her face was mere inches from mine.
"You are no longer human, Elena. You are part of my inventory. Just like the thousands of swords behind me, you are mine to use, to play with, or to discard."
The dining hall doors opened. The nobles began to filter in, their faces masks of terror. They saw their General, the toughest woman in the kingdom, kneeling at the feet of a stranger with a chain around her neck.
The arrogance on the nobles' faces collapsed instantly. The pride of Solstheim had been shattered.
I raised my glass toward them.
"Good evening, losers," I greeted them with a perfectly pleasant tone. "Let us begin negotiations on how high a price you must pay so that I don't turn this capital into a mass grave tonight."