"Verona, Pubo, Pobi, don't do anything. This guy is serious," Brono hastily said since his instincts as a veteran adventurer was screaming at him that this Azu guy wouldn't hesitate to cut off his neck.
And based on the iron claw-like grip on his nape, Brono could feel that this guy's strength was no joke and nothing a rabbitman should possess. What kind of realm was this rabbit guy coming from to possess such strength?
He thought Azu's ripped body frame was just because he was always doing some kind of hard labor back at his home since that was the only explanation he could think of.
"You all heard your boss. Put down your weapons before I lose my patience," Viktor said with a sharp cold glint in his eyes, making the other three feel as if they were looking at a different person compared to before.
However, the seriousness on Brono's face was enough confirmation for at least Verona, who was the first to lower her weapon since Brono was someone who never gets easily scared, and if he was being scared, then it meant they were indeed caught up in some serious shit.
She did feel that Azu didn't seem like the usually timid and mellow rabbitmen she had seen before. But how in the world would she have expected him to have the strength to subdue Brono and even take him hostage?
Seraphina had her hands gripping each other firmly, hoping that these four bad humans wouldn't make Viktor kill them and put even more blood on his hands. Even if they tried to wrong her, she wanted this entire situation to be a lesson to them so that they wouldn't try anything like this again.
As a fairy, it was in her nature to protect and preserve life and always try to see the good in others. In her belief, if everyone was to judge people as black and white, then there would never be peace in the universe, and one day, it might all come to an end, all because nobody was ever willing to believe that there could be light even within the darkness.
She wanted to believe that every living being at least had some good in them, no matter how faint that might be since life itself was a pure side of the odic force. Even Viktor's life was proof of that despite the things he did in the past.
However, she also knew that people like Brono might never change their way. But she would prefer imprisoning them to killing them since killing them was no different than snuffing out every wisp of the pure odic force in their bodies which was equivalent to her going against everything she was born to protect and preserve. She considered the pure side of Odic Force to be very sacred and something that must not be destroyed no matter where it was present.
But of course, she also knew she couldn't enforce her beliefs on anyone but only advise them.
And now she didn't know what Viktor was exactly planning to do with them.
After seeing that all three of them had put down their weapons, Viktor smirked and said, "Now, all of you obediently hand over all your weapons and valuables to me. My wife and I are facing a bit of a money issue. I am sure you three can understand, but…if you people don't, I am afraid I will have to make an example to help you all understand."
All their faces, including Brono's faces, soured upon hearing this. Everyone knew that for an adventurer, only one thing was almost as important as their life. The loot from their exploits was their only source of wealth and power.
They would even kill without hesitation if someone even steals a fraction of their loot. And now someone here was asking for their entire loot just like that.
"Why the long faces? Perhaps Brono's life isn't as important as all of your loot. Tsk, tsk, Brono, look at this. Your little group doesn't really care about your pathetic life," Viktor said with a shake of his head as his blade began to press even more onto Brono's neck, cutting his skin as blood began to ooze out slowly.
"You FUCKERS! Just give it to him!" Brono gritted his teeth as he shouted since he could really feel death hovering near him, all because his three group mates were hesitating over his life!
He was their leader, and without him, they wouldn't even have a quarter of the total benefits they had reaped over all their exploits. Fortunately, they obviously didn't bring their entire wealth on this journey, though some of the goods they were carrying on this journey were not something they could afford to lose.
"Ugh, okay, fine!" Verona was incensed that she was about to lose a good portion of her wealth to some rabbitmen who tricked her and her party. She now truly felt like carving Sera in front of Azu to make him suffer and then turn him into her personal mindless slave.
However, she and Brono exchanged a subtle glance, coming to an understanding with each other that they would just hand over their goods to Azu for now and later hunt them down to get back their stuff and also get payback.
And so Verona grabbed the bags they had carried with them one by one before throwing them towards Azu.
"Look, Azu, this is a really bad idea. You have no idea the people who personally sent us for this mission. So if you steal from us, you and your wife can already be considered dead. There is no place in this world where you can hide from them. You are really playing with fire here. But if you let me go now, I can promise that we can put this behind us and even apologize for drugging you two. We really understand what we did was not right," Brono said as calmly as possible while looking at the bags that Verona had thrown toward Azu.
There was enough in those bags to live like a king in the town, and most importantly, the treasures like the white flute and other odic valuables inside didn't belong to him or his party but to a certain party which was coming from a place that could cover the entire realm with their hands.
And if he were to lose these things, it would be considered lucky if he and his party died a quick death.
So the best he could do was to try and scare Azu into letting this go and then take him down while his guard was down.
"You done?" Viktor asked in a bored tone, much to Brono's frustration seeing that this guy was either an ignorant fool or there was something he still didn't know about him.
However, just a few meters away, the twins Pobi and Pubo exchanged a quick glance as their backs reached for something behind their backs.