Therizo 11, Imperial Year 1644
The Secondary Workshop – Morning
The evidence was still on the table. The ledgers, the letters, the lists of victims – all of it damning. The Black Knights had not slept. They had sat in silence, staring at the proof of Orin Vex's crimes.
Vlad entered the workshop. He was not wearing the Zero mask. His pale face was bare, his red eyes tired.
"I have made a decision," he said. "Change of plans."
Hound looked up. "We're not delivering him to the council?"
"No." Vlad walked to the map table. "The council is corrupt. They will give him a show trial, then release him when the attention fades. I have seen it before."
Titan's fists clenched. "Then what do we do?"
Vlad turned to face them. His voice was cold.
"We deliver justice ourselves."
The room stirred. Sparrow leaned forward. "You mean… execute him?"
"I mean we give him what he deserves. Not a quick death. Not a clean death." Vlad's eyes swept the room. "You are angry. I see it. Hammer, your tusks have not stopped grinding. Wall, you have not released your shield since last night. Phantom, you have said nothing – which means you are thinking of all the ways to make him suffer."
Phantom's voice came from the shadows. "Yes."
"Then do it."
Hound stood. "Zero, the tenets—"
"The tenets say violence is not the answer. But they also say: when the situation calls for it, do not hesitate. This situation calls for it." Vlad raised a hand. "Vex raped dozens. He funded a demon cult. He sold organs from living people. He is not a man. He is a monster. And monsters do not deserve the mercy of a swift death."
Wall spoke, her voice low. "What do you want us to do?"
"Make him talk. Find out everything about the cult – their locations, their members, their rituals. Then, when he has nothing left to give…" Vlad drew his sword and drove it into the table. It stood there, quivering. "End him."
Titan cracked his knuckles. "I've been wanting to do this for hours."
"But first." Vlad turned to Patch. "You were a field surgeon."
Patch nodded. "Yes. I can keep a man alive through almost anything."
"Can you learn healing magic?"
Patch frowned. "I've never tried. Magic requires a spark – a connection to the gods. I don't have that."
"Then we will find someone who does. Or you will learn." Vlad's voice was firm. "We need to keep Vex alive until we have extracted everything. His pain is a tool. But we cannot let him die too soon."
"I can keep him stable," Patch said. "Sutures, salves, stimulants. He won't die on the table."
"Good." Vlad pulled the sword from the table. "Then begin."
Therizo 11, Imperial Year 1644 (continued)
The Secondary Workshop – The Interrogation
They took Vex to a side room – a storage closet that had been emptied and fitted with chains. The merchant was bound to a chair, his fat body trembling, his small eyes darting.
Hammer stood over him. "You know what you did."
"I have money—"
Hammer's fist struck Vex's jaw. The chair tipped, then righted. Blood dripped from the merchant's lip.
"I don't want your money."
Wall stepped forward. "The cult. Where are they?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Wall drew a knife. She pressed it to Vex's ear. "I will ask once more. Where?"
Vex screamed.
The interrogation lasted three hours.
Patch worked alongside the torturers, stitching wounds, applying salves, forcing Vex to stay conscious. He did not flinch at the blood. He had seen worse in war.
By the end, Vex had given them everything. The cult's hideouts. The names of its leaders. The rituals they performed. The locations of the cannibal buyers.
Hound wrote it all down.
Phantom delivered the final blow – a knife to the heart, quick and silent. Vex's body slumped.
"It's done," Phantom said.
Vlad stood in the doorway. He had watched the entire time.
"Burn the body," he said. "No grave. No marker. He deserves nothing."
Therizo 12, Imperial Year 1644
The Workshop – Aftermath
The knights gathered around the map table. The new intelligence was spread out before them – names, locations, dates.
"The cult has three hideouts," Rook said. "One in the city, two in the countryside. They have at least fifty members, plus whatever demons they've summoned."
"Then we hit them all," Titan said.
"One at a time," Vlad said. "We are not an army. We are a scalpel."
Sparrow looked at him. "Zero. The torture. The tenets…"
"The tenets are a guide. Not a cage." Vlad's voice was flat. "We will not torture every target. But Vex was not a target. He was a monster. There is a difference."
Wall nodded. "I agree."
"So do I," Hammer said.
One by one, the knights voiced their support.
Vlad turned to Patch. "Healing magic. Can you learn?"
Patch shook his head. "I've tried. The spark isn't there."
"Then we find someone who has it. Someone who can work alongside you." Vlad made a note. "For now, you are enough."
Patch nodded. "I'll keep them alive. Whatever it takes."
Therizo 13, Imperial Year 1644
The Workshop – Departure
The Black Knights prepared for the next mission. The cult would not wait.
Vlad stood at the window, watching the sunrise.
Monsters, he thought. We hunt monsters.
And we become something else in the process.
He turned back to the map.
There was work to do.
End of Chapter Forty‑Six