After having breakfast with the Goldenslayer family, Lux, Cethus, Gerhart, and Keane left the Xeno Kingdom in order to improve their strength as fast as possible.
Simultaneously, Gaap, who had been captured by the Divine Army of Light, sat in a dark cell with his body wrapped up in chains.
He was being detained in the most secure Underground Prison in the Divine Army of Light's territory. It prevented him from using any abilities, including summoning the Golem of Destruction, Antero.
The High Council of the Order wanted his execution to be a grand event in order to show the different powers of Elysium what would happen if they dared to cross them.
Of course, they were also hoping that Lux, as well as the members of Memento Mori, would come to save the Halfling. That way, they would be able to deal with them as well.
Currently, all of the powerful Saints in the continent were staying inside the Divine Empire and constantly monitored Gaap's prison.
Since the execution was still a few weeks away, they had no intention of lowering their guard, just in case someone tried to break inside the prison and save Gaap before the date of the execution.
If that were to really happen, wouldn't they become the laughingstock of the world?
They wanted to show their might, not their incompetence to all the powerful factions of the land. With such a high stake on the line, even the Oracle of Light continuously used her Divination to ensure that not even a rat could sneak past their defenses.
The High King of Lunaria sat on a chair in front of Gaap's prison cell with his arms crossed over his chest.
He should've been the happiest person after capturing Hereswith's Disciple, but he couldn't even bring himself to smile.
Gaap had erased his entire Kingdom from the face of the world, even killing his entire bloodline.
If not for the fact that there were other Saints present when they ambushed Gaap, the High King would have killed the Halfling in order to avenge his kingdom and his family.
"What are you looking at, you pathetic worm?" Gaap asked in a teasing tone. "Want to kill me? Go ahead."
The Halfling's disheveled appearance was truly pitiful, and yet, the sneer on his face was firm as he looked at one of the people who was responsible for his Master's death.
The High King of Lunaria didn't reply. However, his hands were trembling. He was truly tempted to strangle the annoying bastard, but even he couldn't break past the barrier that surrounded the Halfling's cell that prevented anyone from going in and coming out of it.
Gaap chuckled after seeing how much the High King was doing his best to hold himself back from killing him. The frustration and helplessness in the man's eyes made him feel extremely good, despite his current situation.
"I've always referred to you as High-King because I always seem to forget your name," Gaap stated. "Humor me. Was it Mongrel?"
"Bastard, it's Mondo Vi Lunaria!" Mondo growled. "Who are you calling Mongrel?!"
Gaap smirked. "Close enough. Still, Mondo is too good for you. I'll just stick to calling you Mongrel. So, Mongrel, when do you guys plan to kill me?"
"Soon," Mondo replied. "And I will be the one to personally slice off your head."
"Ah that reminds me, your sons begged me to spare their lives when I cut off their heads," Gaap commented. "Their heads should be inside the Bounty Ring that was confiscated from me when I was captured. Did you get them back?"
The sound of gnashing teeth echoed inside the prison as the High King of Lunaria remembered the heads of his sons that had been returned to him several days ago.
Despite the great sadness and pain he felt at that time, he had done his best to give them a proper burial.
As for his wives and daughters, they were nowhere to be found. Mondo had interrogated Gaap about what he did to his wife and daughters, but the Halfling just laughed and told him that it was a surprise.
No matter what the other Saints did, they also failed to pry answers from their prisoner. Even the Oracle of the Divine Army couldn't get any leads as to what happened to Mondo's wives and daughters.
"What's wrong?" Gaap inquired. "Aren't you going to say anything? Are you content just sitting there and wishing that you could strangle me with both of your hands? Ah, let me tell you something funny. Your Third Wife was dissatisfied with you, so she had an affair with the Captain of your Royal Guards.
"She even insisted that he made her feel better than you ever did in the time you spent together. You should consider removing that crown off your head and replacing it with a green hat."
The Halfling then laughed out loud, which grated Mondo's ears. The chair he was sitting on exploded as the anger that he had been holding back gushed out of his body in full force.
At that exact moment, Five Saints materialized between the High King and the Halfling, whose laughter had still not ended.
"Mondo, stand back," the Oracle of the Divine Army commanded. "He is angering you on purpose so that you will break the enchantment of his prison. If you can't control yourself, I will have to ask you to leave."
The Saintess' voice was firm and held no room for discussion or rebuttal. The four Saints by her side eyed the High King of Lunaria with solemn expressions on their faces.
If Mondo didn't stand down, they would be forced to apprehend him and throw him into a cell, until he cooled his head.
The High King's chest heaved up and down as he tried to reign in his anger. He knew that if he really ignored the Oracle's warning, he would definitely be punished and might even be locked up until the day of the execution.
He had already begged their Sovereign to make him Gaap's executioner so that he'd be the one to deal the killing blow to the Halfling. If he made a scene today, he could kiss his only chance of revenge goodbye.
"I'm sorry," Mondo stated after he regained a bit of his calm. "You're right. I lost my cool and allowed this bastard to almost goad me into letting him escape. It will not happen again."
The Oracle narrowed her gaze. "It better be. But just to be safe, you are no longer allowed to enter the prison until the day of the execution arrives. We don't want another emotional outburst to occur, do we?"
Mondo eyed the Oracle before shifting his gaze to the Halfling, whose entire body was bound by magical chains.
Gaap sneered at the High King of Lunaria, making the latter clench his fist.
Even so, with Five Saints blocking his path, he couldn't really do anything to the Halfling, so he decided to stand down.
"Very well, I will cool off for now," Mondo replied before walking away. "But, remember this. The one who will kill that Halfling is me. If his Disciple is captured, his head is also mine."
The High King of Lunaria snorted after saying those words. He wouldn't be content with just ending Gaap's life. He wanted to personally kill Lux as well.
Only then would his anger subside.
The Oracle of the Divine Army frowned, but she didn't say anything else.
The High King was one of their staunchest warriors and supporters. Allowing him to do these two things was a small price to pay for retaining his loyalty to their cause.
"You sure know how to raise a ruckus, don't you?" the Oracle said as he glanced at the Halfling.
"Bitch, how about you untie me, so I can show you something else that I can raise?" Gaap smirked. "Although I don't have any Doomknight Gangbangers in my army, I still have plenty of ways to screw you three times over."
The Oracle merely scoffed at their prisoner's taunts.
"I'd like to see how you will react when we capture your Disciple and kill him in front of you." the Oracle sneered. "Maybe then, you will understand how foolish the two of you are for going against our Divine Army."
Gaap laughed after hearing the Oracle's words. His Disciple was indeed weaker than them and their organization, but Lux had the means to make the Divine Army's life miserable.
"Good luck with that," Gaap replied. "It will take more than trying to kill my Disciple to kill him. Don't worry, once he is done with all of you, you will regret your choice of antagonizing him."
"Words of an incompetent Master." the Oracle scoffed. "You will not be able to stop the inevitable."
The Oracle and the Saints all disappeared from the prison and returned to their stations.
She had wasted enough time talking to Gaap, and she no longer wanted to talk to him.
The Halfling, who had been left alone, chuckled as the chains that bound his body started to make subtle clinking noises.
"Indeed," Gaap said as a tinge of resolution appeared within the depths of his eyes. "None of you will be able to stop the inevitable."
The Halfling closed his eyes and preserved his strength.
The Divine Army of Light wasn't the only one that was looking forward to the day of his execution.
Even Gaap was secretly looking forward to that day, for reasons that only he was aware of.
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