Leader of Redemption

"What? Looting?!" groaned Seth.

The man certainly couldn't accept that those around him were about to do something evil to him. He thought Redemption was a friendly group that upholds a good purpose, but after seeing all of them, Seth's perception of the group faded drastically.

"Of course, it is our rule to capture anyone who trespasses on our territory. You've already trespassed, sir," Leon said, pointing at Seth with both eyes narrowed, trying to intimidate the man into doing what Leon wanted.

"You won't get anything from me. I know more about this world than you do!" Seth declared.

A woman dressed in a white military uniform that looked tight on her walked from the direction of the two-story building. She strode in carrying a black long-barreled rifle over her right shoulder, staring at Seth in awe for a moment before she took Seth's two pistols.

"Give me back my guns," Seth pleaded.

"They're mine," Frances said, showing the two pistols she had taken without guilt, a big smile clearly painted on her pretty face, with long wavy hair.

The group completely trapped Seth; he could do nothing except surrender. He was forced to let the people –white uniforms that he initially thought were part of the military but turned out to be the same as Arcada— take his belongings, a bunch of damn thieving survivors.

"Take the hoverbike, too. It's rare for a solo survivor like you to get something like that," Leon said.

The man ordered some of his men to go near Seth's black hoverbike, three people walked over to it. Seth could see it through the glances in his eyes. He tried to turn his body slowly so the people nearby wouldn't feel threatened.

One man tried to touch the hoverbike but was surprisingly shocked by the high voltage until his hair stood up, his body convulsed on the ground, and he fainted instantly.

Leon and Frances gasped in shock. They looked at Seth and left the man to get to the hoverbike. The second man tried to touch the left side of the device, but he was also electrocuted in the same way as the previous one.

"What have you done to the hoverbike?" Leon asked.

"Just planted a self-defense system. People who touch it other than me will be harmed," Seth replied, seemingly casually.

"Sorry, I just said that or shouldn't I have?" asked Seth back, smiling disdainfully at all of them.

Leon got enraged. He held a sword at his right waist, pulled it out, and saw the sword he was using wasn't an ordinary sword but a lightsaber. The man with tied hair began to step closer to Seth and put his saber to Seth's neck, trying to threaten the man.

"Turn that thing off!" Leon commanded.

"If you want me to turn it off, then you have to let me sit on it," Seth replied, turning his head to the side as he showed a flat face, utterly unafraid of the threat of Leon's blue-lit lightsaber.

"You said you didn't want to take any chances, right?" asked Seth.

The man was still looking at Leon, trying to shatter the integrity in the man's heart. Seth's question left the man with the lightsaber speechless, unable to answer the question because his heart was in such a dilemma.

"You can choose. Would you like my status or the hoverbike?" Seth asked.

"I can kill you, take your status, and hoverbike," Leon replied.

"You have no idea what I'm saying. If I die, my status bracelet turns idle. If you cut off my hand, my status goes idle. That won't work to shut down the defense system on my hoverbike," Seth said, trying to give Leon a brief explanation.

"The only way is to choose between my status or the hoverbike," Seth continued.

"STOP!"

A loud, shrill shout came from behind Seth's back. All eyes were on the person, and almost all of them instantly knelt down as if they were paying respect to someone important.

Leon sheathed his sword, grabbed Seth's head by the hair, and pushed the man's body until he fell face down on the park grass. Seth, who failed to dodge, was left groaning in pain at Leon's rude response to him.

"Who the hell are you saluting?" asked Seth in a low voice as he tried to raise his head slightly.

Seth's eyes saw hundreds of people coming back, but he could only see their feet wrapped in black high boots. Someone was standing near Seth, but the man was having trouble seeing the figure before him because of the firm grip of Leon's hand on his head.

"Is that the man with the black hoverbike?" the man asked.

Seth suspected the stranger before him was asking Leon a question, judging by Leon's response of raising his head and looking at the man he was saluting. Leon began to explain the chronology of events in the park until it really put Seth in the position of a stranger.

"Following Redemption's regulations. Strangers who are in our territory, then we are obliged to loot it, no matter what!" said Leon.

"Rules are rules. You did your job well, Sir Leon," replied the stranger before Seth, his voice heavy and firm as if he was a former military officer.

"Sir? Did he really get his title from King of England?" complained Seth, trying to break the ice.

"Stop talking, or I'll cut your fucking head off!" threatened Leon.

"Wake him up, Leon," ordered the man, Leon's leader.

Leon nodded. He began to release his grip on Seth's hair, holding both of the man's hands and allowing Seth to stand tall before the leader of the Redemption survivor group.

Seth's eyes inspected the man before him, from his shoes to the white hat he wore, commonly used by high-ranking military officials. Not only that, he was wearing the same uniform as the men from the third squad, except he seemed to be wearing a modern black coat that reached his knees. The coat was firmly attached to the suit he was wearing, with gold-colored rope-type straps binding both sides of the coat.

Using the coat, he deliberately covered the badges attached to his suit. Seth could see it clearly. Many badges that looked shiny in the sunlight were attached to the man's right and left chest.

"Is that badge yours, or did you take it from the dead general?" Seth asked.

Leon felt like the question was belittling the Redemption leader. He clenched his right fist tightly, slamming hard into Seth's stomach to knock the man out cold.

Instead of getting angry, the man with the badge laughed at the joke Seth had just said. The man's eyes were still looking at Seth, who was rolling slowly on the park grass, trying to endure the pain of the crushing blow Leon had given him.

"I like him. Let him go," said the man, the people in the Redemption group knew him as Sir Arthur Henderson.

His title wasn't just a random title. The King of England gave it to him after he saved the heir to the throne of the British Kingdom from the threat of professional kidnappers.

Arthur Henderson was indeed a military man. His rank was a three-star general, one level below the commander. He always refused to be promoted because he thought working as a commander of a nation like the USA would be exhausting.

"Return his belongings that you've looted. Take him to the main HQ. There are many things I want to discuss with him," said Sir Arthur.

Leon, who was none other than Arthur's subordinate, could not do much other than obey Arthur's words. He ordered his men to return Seth's belongings without leaving any behind.

Frances arrived near Leon, throwing Seth's two pistols that he had originally taken. Seth quickly picked up both pistols and pointed the tips of his guns at Leon, who had caused him trouble.

People began to alert, pulling out their guns with the aiming direction of Seth. However, only Arthur remained silent, watching what Seth would do to Leon.

"What will you do to him?" asked Arthur, speaking sternly.

"I'm gonna put a hole in his head and dance joyfully in his fucking blood!" groaned Seth, speaking without looking away.

"Then do it. Do you have the guts to do it?" asked Sir Arthur, trying to test Seth's wisdom.

Sir Arthur ordered everyone in the place to lower their weapons, no longer pointing them at Seth. This would prove to Arthur whether Seth would be useful to Redemption or not.

Everyone complied, even Frances. They lowered their guns, leaving Seth alone, still pointing his gun at Leon.

"Did you hesitate to—"

DOR!

Seth pulled the triggers of both pistols simultaneously. Blue lasers shot through Leon's eyeballs until they were hollowed out; Seth could see people through the holes.

Leon fell down with a spasm for a few seconds, then stopped, and his blood flowed profusely, soaking the garden grass. Everyone was in shock, and so was Arthur, judging by the man's eyes that were rounded wide.

This was the first time he had ever seen someone feel so comfortable taking someone else's life, especially when he was surrounded by so many people. Arthur smiled widely, impressed by what Seth showed him.

"How could you kill him so easily?!" shouted Frances, moving closer to Leon, who was none other than the man she loved.

"It was easy. The hatred in my heart did it," Seth replied.

"Just like you did to Arcada, isn't that right?" asked Arthur.

Seth looked back, smiling lightly as his hands began to holster his two pistols, "Just like Arcada."