Floki did not move away after driving the nails through Denji’s hands.

Instead, he reached calmly into his inventory once more and brought out a dagger.

It was not a grand weapon. The blade was short, narrow, and clean, its edge catching a dull glint beneath the open sky. At first glance, there was nothing remarkable about it, and perhaps that was what made it more unsettling.

He stepped behind Denji without a word.

A subtle shift passed through the crowd as they watched him reposition himself, but no one spoke. The earlier chants had faded, replaced by a quiet, uncertain anticipation.

Denji’s breathing grew heavier.

"What... what are you doing...?" His voice came out strained, stripped of the arrogance it once carried.

Floki gave no reply.

He placed his free hand firmly against Denji’s shoulder, holding him steady against the wooden frame.

Then, without warning, he drove the dagger into Denji’s back.

The blade sank in with a wet, sickening sound.

Denji’s entire body jolted violently as a scream tore out of him, loud and uncontrollable, echoing across the arena.

"AAARRGHHH—!"

Floki did not withdraw the dagger immediately.

He held it there for a brief moment, allowing the pain to settle fully, before beginning to move it.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

He dragged the blade downward along Denji’s back, carving through flesh in a single, controlled motion. The skin split under the pressure, opening as blood surged out, spilling over the blade and running down in thick streams. The wound widened as the dagger continued its path, muscle and tissue parting beneath the steady force he applied.

Denji thrashed instinctively, his body trembling, but the nails held him in place. His hands remained fixed to the wood, unable to move, unable to lessen the pain.

"STOOOP—! AAAAHHH—! PLEASE—!"

His voice broke into ragged cries, each one more desperate than the last. His breath collapsed between screams as his strength struggled to keep up with the agony being forced upon him.

Floki reached the lower end of the cut and pulled the dagger free in one smooth motion.

Blood poured from the open wound, flowing freely down his back and soaking into the wooden frame beneath him.

There was no pause.

Floki adjusted his grip on the dagger and made another incision, this time angling the blade outward from the first cut. He carved into the flesh again, extending the wound to the side with the same measured precision, as though shaping something rather than simply inflicting damage.

Denji’s screams rose again, sharper now, almost inhuman as the pain compounded.

"NO—! STOOOP—! I’LL— I’LL DO ANYTHING—!"

Floki remained unmoved.

He repeated the motion on the other side, dragging the blade outward once more, creating a widening split across Denji’s back. Blood continued to spill, the exposed flesh trembling with every involuntary movement of Denji’s body.

What had begun as a single cut was now taking form.

The structure behind him, the position of his arms, the spreading wounds across his back... it was no longer random.

It was deliberate.

The Bloody Falcon.

The crowd saw it.

And slowly, the noise that had once filled the arena faded completely.

One by one, voices died out, replaced by a heavy, suffocating silence.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

Some who had been shouting moments ago now stood frozen, their expressions drained, their earlier anger giving way to something far deeper. A few turned their heads slightly, unable to watch fully, yet unable to look away completely.

Others stared.

Not at Denji.

At Floki.

The man who stood behind him, his movements steady, his expression unchanged, as he continued shaping the punishment without hesitation.

The shift was subtle, but undeniable.

This was no longer just a man who had overthrown their baron.

This was something else entirely.

Something far more dangerous.

Denji’s screams gradually weakened, his voice breaking into hoarse, uneven sounds as his body began to give in to the overwhelming pain. His struggles lessened, not because he had accepted it, but because he no longer had the strength to resist.

Floki finally stepped back.

The dagger remained in his hand, its blade coated in blood.

He looked at what he had done, his gaze calm, almost analytical, as though assessing the result of a completed task rather than a punishment inflicted.

Behind him, the arena remained silent.

And within that silence, fear deepened.

Floki tore a piece of Denji’s clothing and used it to wipe the blood from the blade before storing it back in his inventory.

Then he strode forward and faced the crowd.

He did not speak for a minute or two, allowing the silence to deepen, exactly as he intended.

Denji’s strained cries still lingered.

The soft sound of blood dripping onto the wooden platform echoed clearly in the hush.

Floki now stood before them.

"I believe this... should be enough to show you what I am capable of."

A smile settled on his face, gentle and composed, in stark contrast to the gore he had created.

The people looked at him as if he were some kind of demon.

Not one to flee from, but one to submit to. One to stand beneath, rather than risk standing against.

"I have not introduced myself properly."

Floki spoke again.

As he moved forward toward the crowd, they instinctively stepped back.

"My name is Floki Ironside, The White Tempest of Ironside Village."

He placed deliberate weight on his title. When he spoke it, the air itself seemed to tighten, as though thunder rolled faintly across the sky.

People shivered.

Deborah, her hands resting on Thomas’s shoulders, did not share the fear of the others. What she felt was closer to respect.

If only the others had seen what their baron had truly done, they might have thought this punishment insufficient.

While Floki continued speaking, Denji bled out.

[ You’ve slain Lord: Denji Wayan. EXP +10,000, Skill Points +100 ]

[ 100x multiplier applied. You’ve obtained 1,000,000 EXP and 10,000 skill points. ]

Once the notification appeared,

Floki smiled.

Now it was time to retrieve the crystal of authority.

With Denji dead, its location was no longer difficult to determine.

Floki walked over to the corpse and drove his hand into Denji’s stomach. As expected, something solid halted his reach.

He grasped it and pulled it free, ignoring the bits of flesh and paint of blood that came with it.

The people continued to watch in silence, offering no reaction.

[ You’ve obtained a crystal of authority. ]

[ You’ve successfully conquered Wayan Village. You’ve obtained the following rewards: 300,000 EXP, 30,000 Skill Points, 1 D-rank skill scroll ]

[ Skill upgrade reference: FF = 50 · F = 100 · E = 300 · D = 800 · C = 2,500 · B = 7,000 · A = 20,000 · S = 70,000 · SS = 200,000 · SSS = 700,000 · EX = 2,000,000+ ]

[ 100x reward applied. You’ve obtained 30,000,000 EXP, 3,000,000 Skill Points, 1 SS-rank skill scroll. ]

[ Total EXP: 48,600,000 ]

[ Skill points: 3,762,900 ]

The numbers were staggering.

Floki began to consider everything he could achieve with them.

He had already secured what he needed to upgrade his territory to a City, and he had done so in less than a week.

Now, he decided, he would push his growth as far as possible before attempting to conquer another territory.

Still, there was something he needed to confirm.

"What is the minimum population required to upgrade to a City?"

[ Host is lucky. City is a scalable territory. There can be small cities and large cities. Population does not matter significantly. As long as you have more than 200 families, you can upgrade to a City. However, to reach a Great City, you need at least 10,000 people ]

"Ten thousand people...?" It was far more than he had expected.

But was it impossible? No.

Floki dismissed the notifications before him.

There were still more experience points to earn.

He stored the crystal of authority in his inventory for the time being.

Then, using the speech he had already prepared, he addressed the people and brought them under his rule.

One by one, resistance faded.

In the end, he secured all of them, including the soldiers.

[ You’ve successfully gained 676 new followers through Subjugation Conversion... EXP +3,380,000, 3,380 skill points ]

[ 100x multiplier applied ]

[ You’ve obtained 338,000,000 EXP, 338,000 Skill Points ]

[ Total EXP: 386,600,000 ]

[ Skill points: 4,100,900 ]

His total population now exceeded one thousand.

With the people now under his control, this territory had served its purpose.

His objective here was complete.

All that remained was to return to Ironside, fuse the crystal of authority, obtain the skill upgrade, and proceed with the development of his territory.

Despite everything he now possessed,

he lacked a proper mount or vehicle capable of transporting over six hundred people. He did not even have one for himself.

They would have to make the journey on foot through the forest to Ironside.

As they all began to walk out of the town, Floki paid attention to what the people were holding.

Most of them took their livestocks with them and their clothes.

He could tell from these people faces that they were professionals in different field.

They would definitely be great addition to ironside.