Aravel

Chapter 50

Lunaria was unable to feel her legs since a while ago. With her arms still strung above her head, the chains that continued to dig into her skin began causing her pain.

The orb that was in front of her kept on glowing, feasting off her strength bit by bit. By now, gravity that enacted on her body seemed to have increased several times, though it was only the effect of her fatigue.

With each part of her body weakening, her trauma only added to the pain of having to deal with the situation. Lunaria's head thumped painfully on the inside, serving as a constant reminder to her that she was in a cold, dark place alone while she suffered from the feeling of her body withering away. It didn't help that the bandits were constantly coming in and out from a separate passageway to take advantage of her current state.

The two devils from before were gone for quite some time. Whatever they were doing with such a large hoard of bandits was surely not something good. Lunaria didn't understand why they needed her yet, nor did she know about their future plans. If anything, she expected the bandits and the devils to have some sort of dispute since it was unlikely that they would be so obedient as to follow orders from a notorious species.

Her eyelids grew heavier the more she tried to stay awake. With her strength leaving her body, she became tired from simply being strung in the middle of the room. Her entire body weight was no longer supported by her toes, which barely touched the floor from the way she was placed, simply allowing the chains to painfully hook her wrists.

Disappointment was an understatement; Lunaria felt devastated that she was so easily defeated by mere tricks and deceit. As a proud dragonkin whose ego was shattered once in the past, she was on the verge of breaking from how fragile her current self was after being trampled upon years ago. The scars that were embedded deep inside her showed itself from her current emotional state, opening even more wounds that was certain to dig deep into her mental health.

"Oho~ where has the mighty princess from before gone to?" One of the thugs, who happened to be in the room standing guard, smirked at her.

Grabbing her by the top of her head, he lifted her crestfallen face, causing her to groan in pain from her hair being pulled. This only further fuelled the satisfaction and domination the bandits felt, for they were in the position of power now. Even so, Lunaria tried her hardest to look annoyed at them, despite the gut-wrenching feeling she had right now.

Of course, pain was expected from being captured. This certainly wasn't the first time something like this happened to Lunaria. When the men started beating her and used her as a punching bag strung in the middle, she simply allowed herself to be beaten without showing fear. As much as her crippling mental state was forcing her back against a corner more than ever, she still had enough control to prevent herself from shutting down completely.

"The mighty dragon princess, reduced to such a pitiful state," another bandit came forward, throwing in another punch into her gut. "What a feeling this is!"

"W... Why are you... following those men...?" Lunaria groaned, forcing herself to speak. "Don't you... have a... leader?"

"What use is following our leader if he is also willingly complying with 'their' orders?!" The thug shouted at Lunaria before making a gleeful smile. "'They' promised us wealth and power if we help them finish the task... we don't see a reason to not obey. As dumb or illogical their requests, we carried them out because of proof that they indeed possess the strength to change our lives."

"We have seen things, Hime-sama," a third thug mocked Lunaria. "We have seen what they are capable of, something you will never understand when you already obtain such power effortlessly."