Chapter 50: The beginning of the end.
Arbus's eyes slowly blinked open as his consciousness returned. A powerful wave of dizziness suddenly washed over him as he felt his head churning.
He slowly took in his current state with an expression of dread, as he realised that he had been bound with thick aTer chains, usually reserved for Tarokian prisoners.
He looked around, noticing the area was unfamiliar to him. He guessed he was most likely in a part of the forest on the south side of the village, where most Tarokian young would come to train. And where he had purposefully avoided for years.
He finally glanced up, noticing the same three figures he had seen before he passed out, standing above him triumphantly.
Dorian, Beck, and Grug.
"Finally awake your highness? Took you long enough." Grug snickered, his tone dripping with mockery.
Beck's expression mirrored Grugs.
"You really are a disgrace to the Tarokians, getting knocked out for hours by such a simple hit. Tsk, this almost feels unsatisfying."
He paused, as a twisted grin spread across his face.
"Almost."
Dorian meanwhile, simply watched Arbus with a blank gaze.
"I asked you a question before you passed out. Did you enjoy it?"
"Your break I mean." He asked with a cold smile.
Arbus gritted his teeth in indignation, as he stared at Dorian with unrelenting hatred. Every muscle in his body coiled with barely contained rage.
"Seriously? You sad shits are still doing this? I thought you got smarter over the last few months, but it seems I was wrong."
He breathed out slowly, trying his best to calm himself.
"Let me go, now. While you still have the chance to." He said with a serious expression.
Dorian, Beck, and Grug blinked, wondering if they had misheard.
Silence stretched between them for several moments.
Then they exploded into laughter.
"Hahaha!!"
"Wha-what did you just say?" Beck asked in between laughs as he wiped tears from his eyes.
Even Dorian couldn't contain his amusement, caught completely off guard by Arbus's sudden joke.
"You're hilarious, 'my prince.' Truly," he said, before his expression suddenly went cold.
THWACK!
Arbus's head snapped to the side as Dorian's foot connected with his face.
He spat out blood, wincing as he felt some of his teeth come loose.
"Stop with the jokes. They're not going to help your situation at all," Dorian said as he squatted down to meet Arbus's gaze eye to eye.
After a few seconds, his gaze shifted to Arbus's wrist.
"Seems like you've finally decided to accept the failure you are and gotten rid of that bracelet. Good for you." He said with a smirk.
Arbus didn't react.
"I'm sure you've had a wonderful time over the last few months. Hunting... eating... sleeping... doing it all over again the next day." He shook his head in pity. "Honestly, that sounds like quite a pathetic existence."
"But I suppose there's little you can do about it."
Arbus met Dorian's gaze, his eyes unblinking.
"Well, maybe it would be pathetic for you, but I enjoy it quite a bit. Living like a truly self-sufficient warrior. Bettering myself every day. Unlike a certain group of people who fail at everything and then come crawling to me to take out their frustrations."
Dorian's expression darkened as his jaw clenched.
"Even now, you won't stop running that mouth of yours."
He grabbed Arbus by his messy crimson hair, yanking his face closer.
"We overheard your conversation with Tino and Kyun earlier. It seems those outcasts haven't learned anything from their previous mistakes. I hope you weren't planning to rely on their companionship from now on." He said with a sadistic smile. ""The moment we get back, we'll report them to the village leaders. Make sure they receive their proper punishment."
"You..." Arbus thrashed against his restraints, his composure finally cracking. "You bastard!"
Dorian giggled.
"I can't believe we were forced to accept someone like you as our prince and second heir to Tarok. For years, we tried our best to show you proper respect, despite your obvious inferiority. Yet you still found ways to act like you were better than us, instead of simply accepting such reasonable gestures of friendship."
Arbus scowled.
"Friendship? You thought I would accept leaches like you three as friends? I knew your intention from the very start, and it disgusted me."
Dorian's expression darkened.
"You're right, we shouldn't have done that. We only ended up wasting our time. after all, you ended up becoming even worse than a beggar."
"It was truly hilarious to watch your fall from grace in real time."
Arbus remained silent for a long moment, studying the three faces above him.
"Let's get this over with already. You want to beat me up, right? That's what this pathetic display is really about. Then go right ahead. No matter what you do, you still can't hurt me badly enough that our natural regeneration won't heal me completely. Not unless you want you and your entire families wiped out by my grandfather enforcing the Emperor's direct orders."
Dorian stared at Arbus for several more moments before releasing his grip and straightening up.
A second later, he smirked.
"That's true, we're definitely going to do that... But not before you tell us about the girl that's been visiting you."
Arbus's eyes suddenly widened as his breath caught in his throat. The color drained from his face in an instant.
The three boys smirked upon seeing his reaction.
"Hahaha, seems you were right Dorian. There really was someone there."
Arbus realised his mistake as he gritted his teeth in frustration.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. what girl? Are you seeing ghosts now or something Doria-."
His head jerked back violently as Dorian's boot connected with his jaw again.
"Don't bother with the lies and pathetic excuses. I saw her silhouette that day, peeking through your curtains."
"Truthfully, I had intended to come check on the situation much earlier, but as you know, our village's Renegade drafting exams just took place."
"We had to train extensively and didn't have any time to waste on a failure like you."
"But now we do."
"Unfortunately, things didn't exactly work out for any of us during those exams" Dorian said, genuine frustration creeping into his voice. Beck and Grug's expressions also turned sour at the reminder.
"Which means that we'll be taking all of that built-up frustration out on you. Just like you so helpfully suggested."
"That is, right after we beat that traitorous Tarokian to death in front of you."
Arbus's eyes became bloodshot as he tried to break out of the chains with all his might.
"Stop it, Dorian! Don't you dare touch her! I'll kill you if you do! I'll kill all of you!"
Dorian scoffed dismissively.
"You and your meaningless threats. They're getting quite boring, honestly."
"I'd really like to see what kind of brain-dead idiot would willingly come visit an abomination like you. Is it one of the Tarokians from our class? Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough when we drag her here."
Upon hearing those words, Arbus launched himself forward, trying to grab hold of Dorian with his teeth like a wild animal.
Dorian reacted quickly, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him into the ground with enough force to crack the stone beneath.
"Sit. Down. And. Wait. Your. Turn," he hissed, his gaze filled with murderous intent.
"Dorian... you....sick fuck! Stop it!" Arbus grunted through shallow, ragged breaths as he struggled desperately against Dorian's iron grip on his throat.
"Go to sleep for now, your highness. This will all be over very soon," Dorian whispered.
Arbus felt his consciousness slowly slipping away, as he desperately wished that Arora would simply kill these three bastards before they could touch her.
Dorian stood up, after making sure Arbus had finally passed out.
"Now then" he said, cracking his knuckles with anticipation. "Let's go have some real fun with someone we can actually kill."