Black Sail

"I understand," Aran said.

"Good, now you must demonstrate your power to him. Mere obedience is not enough; how can you know they are covertly following their own will, opposing you, if they do not suffer? Power should bring pain and humiliation, tearing apart the thoughts in people’s minds and reshaping them into something new according to your wishes."

Zote ordered Marcus to take action.

Without hesitating for too long, Marcus pulled the lever, and the execution platform emitted a sharp, screeching mechanical friction as it arched upward again with a violent curvature.

Duke Fabrik had already lost the ability to scream, his body twisting grotesquely like a bow being squeezed, making only the sound of the bending imposed by the archer.

"You are in control of everything now. This is a truth that defies common sense. All scholars have their own secrets. They tell people that power corresponds to obligations, but aren’t they just annoying pests that harm others? Let’s finish it here, mate, and then we’ll go out and butcher those scum who have been fooling the common folk."

Zote called Marcus "mate," patted his shoulder, and left the interrogation room ahead of him.

Now, Marcus had become Duke Fabrik’s guardian deity.

"Don’t blame me, blame... this era."

Marcus dared not disobey Zote’s order, pulled the lever twice in succession, extending the execution platform to its highest curvature. It didn’t just break Duke Fabrik’s spine, but tore him in two along the arched support structure, a kind of uneven force exertion, ripping him apart and spraying his insides everywhere.

All he felt was the force field, and the warm liquid on his face, and then he left the stone chamber without looking back.