CHAPTER 327: BRUTAL EXCECUTION

For a heartbeat, there was silence.

The leader of the bandits blinked. His men blinked. The guards blinked. Even the merchants hidden in the carriage blinked.

"...What?" One of the guards muttered, thinking he must have misheard her.

The leader of the bandits stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Pfft, HAAHAHAHA! What the hell did you just say? Did you hit your head on the way here, little girl?"

One of his men snorted. "Boss, she’s completely lost it!"

Even the merchants inside, who were terrified moments ago, couldn’t help but think the girl was insane. She was just a child...and yet she was threatening to kill all of them?

The guards began shouting again.

"Get out of here!" One called, waving his arm frantically.

"This isn’t a game, girl!" Another yelled. "You’re going to get yourself killed if you stay, RUN!"

The bandit leader leaned forward on his saddle, sneering.

"You really are cute, but stupid, sweetheart. You’re lucky I’m in a good mood so—"

Then it happened.

Rumble!

A low, deep rumble shook the earth beneath them.

It was faint at first, almost like a distant thunderclap, but within seconds, the ground itself seemed to shiver violently, a tremor rolling through the entire area.

"What the hell—?" the leader began, looking down at his horse’s hooves as the animal neighed nervously.

The rumbling grew stronger.

Dust drifted upward in tiny clouds. Pebbles rolled across the ground.

"Earthquake?!" A guard shouted in panic.

The bandit leader turned to bark orders, but before he could speak,

WHOOSH! CRACK!

The ground directly beneath him exploded upward, and something long, rope-like, and entirely made of packed soil shot out like a striking snake. It coiled tightly around his torso before he could even react.

"The hell is this—?!" He managed to yell, but the words were cut short as the earthen rope yanked him violently off his horse. His back slammed against the ground, and then,

SHRRRKK!

The soil itself opened up beneath him like a maw, swallowing him whole in a single pull.

"BOSS?!" The nearest bandit screamed.

Before the panic could spread, the same thing began happening all around.

The ground buckled and cracked, earthen tendrils whipping out in every direction. One after another, bandits were caught, legs, arms, torsos, before being dragged down into the dark, choking earth.

"GET THEM OFF ME—!"

One screamed, but his words were muffled as his face was slammed into the dirt and pulled under.

They vanished in seconds, their yells cut short by the heavy silence of the soil closing over them. In the span of a few heartbeats, the battlefield was empty of bandits, save for their startled, riderless horses snorting and stamping the ground.

The guards stood frozen, eyes wide.

"...They...They’re gone." One whispered in disbelief.

Cassius, watching the entire scene unfold from the back of his horse, let out a small chuckle.

"Well...that’s one way to clean up a mess. Honestly, I thought she was going to do something a lot worse...maybe tear them apart limb by limb or something. This was...surprisingly clean."

But beside him, Julie didn’t even blink. Her tone was flat, almost bored. "Wait for it."

Cassius frowned, about to ask what she meant before—

The ground rumbled again.

From the dirt in front of Aisha, the captured bandits began to emerge, not free, but bound. Earthen coils wound around their bodies from neck to ankle, holding them like insects trapped in a spider’s web. They were shoved together in a tight group, unable to even move their heads.

The leader was at the front, spitting dirt and curses.

"You little bitch! Let me go right now!" His voice cracked, panic bleeding into every syllable. "I know it’s you! I don’t know what kind of freak magic you’re using, but when I get out of here, I’ll—"

"Tear you apart!" Another bandit shouted.

"Whore!" One screamed.

"I’ll kill you, I swear! I’ll tear you to pieces!"

"Just wait! I’ll spread your legs and make you scream mercy!"

But Aisha didn’t even blink at the threats. She simply tilted her head and flicked her wrist.

The earth beneath the bandits heaved again, and this time, four massive slabs of stone-like soil rose around them, slamming together to form a towering square prison, a perfect cube of earth, sealing them away from sight.

"What the hell is she doing now...?" One of the guards murmured, stepping forward.

Inside the earthen cube, the screams ricocheted off the walls like trapped birds, panicked, wild, and desperate.

"LET US OUT!"

"What The Hell Is This?!"

"Damn bitch, Just what are you—"

"W-Wait, look! It’s closing....The walls are closing in on us!"

"Oh shit! They really are!"

They weren’t imagining it. The walls, rough and jagged with packed soil and stones, were inching forward with a slow, implacable hunger.

Every grain of dirt shifted like the grinding teeth of some colossal monster, as the air inside grew hot, stale, suffocating.

"STOP! STOP! We can’t move—!"

"STOP IT YOU WHORE! THERE’S NO SPACE INSIDE! YOU’RE CRUSHING US!"

"MY ARM, AGHH!"

CRACK!

The sound was sharp, nauseating, bone splintering under a force no man could resist.

"MY LEG, NO, NOOO!"

CRACK!

Another snap, followed by a howl that was choked off mid-breath.

The space was shrinking too quickly now. Men were forced into each other, shoulders crushed against ribs, skulls pressing against the coarse earthen walls until skin tore and blood smeared dark across the dirt.

"AHHHH! NOOO! I’M BEING CRUSHED!"

"Goddd!!!! Nooooo!"

"Gyaaaaa!"

"Hahhhhhh!"

The noise became a nightmarish hell, wet, meaty crunches as ribcages caved in, the brittle snap of spines breaking like dry twigs, muffled shrieks turning into strangled gurgles as lungs were crushed flat.

A man tried to scream for his mother, but it came out as a bubbling rasp, blood spilling from his lips as the wall ground into his chest.

Seeing all this, Cassius’s smirk faltered. He had seen death in every shape before, but this was different.

This was slow. This was personal. Even he felt a little strange seeing Aisha who was usually cute and adorable carrying out such carnage.

Inside, the bandits voices began to overlap into a single, collective wail. Then even that began to fade, shrieks warping into strangled gurgles as pressure squeezed the last pockets of air from their chests.

CRUNCH.

A spine went.

POP.

A hip shattered.

The soundscape became a grotesque song, bones splintering, joints snapping, muscle tearing wetly.

A muffled sob was cut short in mid-breath, replaced by the dull, nauseating grind of flesh being compacted into pulp.

Then...nothing.

The cube, now no larger than a coffin, gave a final shiver before collapsing into loose, harmless soil.

And what spilled out was not human anymore.

A steaming, unrecognizable heap of mangled flesh and splintered bone sloughed onto the ground with a wet thud. Bits of clothing clung to the ruin in tatters, already dark with blood.

One snapped forearm jutted out at an impossible angle, the hand still twitching in some final, nervous spasm before going still.

Blood pooled outward, seeping into the earth in sluggish rivulets, painting the dirt a deep, unnatural red.

Even the guards, men who had gutted foes and stood over dying enemies, staggered back. One doubled over, vomiting until he was dry-heaving. Another turned away entirely, muttering a shaky prayer under his breath.

From inside the merchant carriage came a chorus of retching. The stench was spreading now, metallic blood, churned earth, and the faint whiff of voided bowels.

And Aisha?

She stood there, smiling faintly, as though she’d just taken out the trash. Her hands were still, her breathing calm, like none of this even registered as remarkable. Only the faintest sparkle in her eyes betrayed any emotion, and it wasn’t remorse.

It was satisfaction...