Solus approached Gaia and stood directly in front of her, staring down at her face with a completely blank expression.
"He broke the rules. There should be some penalties for this. Since he is no longer here, you will accept them on his behalf."
Solus tossed a knife at her feet. The blade hit the ground with a sharp metallic clink. Her shocked expression slowly dropped as her eyes drifted downward, staring at the blade on the ground. She stood completely still for several seconds, her widened eyes fixed on the knife.
She held a gun in her hand. Even though she looked helpless, her mind was working on something else. She was pretending to be weak. That person, Solus, had killed everyone. How could she leave him alone after that and blindly follow his orders?
Her hands suddenly shot up. She raised the gun and pointed it at Solus.
"Go to hell,"
She pulled the trigger without hesitation. Only a small rock shot out of the barrel. It bounced off Solus' chest with a soft tap before falling to the ground.
Solus looked down at the stone, then back at her, still wearing that same expressionless face.
"You wished it were a bullet? Did you really think I would hand you a real weapon?" he asked calmly.
Gaia's hands began to tremble. The gun slipped from her grip and hit the ground. Her eyes widened again, but this time there was no shock–only fear. A raw, suffocating fear of the person standing in front of her.
Solus said nothing more. He quietly turned around, walked over to the dead leader's body, knelt down, and began removing the cybernetic legs.
He unlatched one. Then the other. He pulled both legs out cleanly, one by one, with minimal effort.
Once both cybernetic legs were removed, Solus walked back over to Gaia. He sat down on the ground with his legs stretched out in front of him.
"Grab the knife and get closer,"
Gaia hesitated for a moment, then abruptly picked up the knife from the ground. She stepped forward and stood over him.
"Cut my leg,"
Gaia stared at him without speaking. Her face was blank. That order sounded ridiculously insane. What if this was a trap? Solus was unpredictable. She couldn't trust a word that came out of his mouth. She had no idea if he was serious or not.
Solus didn't repeat himself. He just stared at her, his face as unreadable as ever.
Gaia gripped the knife tightly. She moved it toward Solus' thigh. Before she could press it down, her hands began to shake violently.
Cutting through someone's leg sounded simple when spoken aloud, but the reality was far worse. Her hands kept shaking, trembling harder by the second. But she forced herself to push the knife down harder and harder.
The blade's sharp edge pierced his flesh. Blood flowed out instantly. His pants were soaked, and the exposed muscles underneath made her stomach twist. The sight nearly made her faint. Everything started spinning.
The knife dropped from her hands. She turned away abruptly and vomited onto the ground. After a few seconds, she wiped her mouth and turned back over, picking the knife up again.
When the knife reached the bone, she paused and looked into Solus's eyes.
"Why did you stop?"
Gaia said nothing. She returned her gaze to the leg and pushed harder. But the knife didn't cut through. The bone was too strong.
She returned her gaze to the leg and exerted more force, but it did not penetrate the bone. She acted against her will and began moving the knife back and forth, but nothing changed.
Suddenly, Solus raised his fist and slammed it down onto her hand.
The extra force drove the blade straight through. The bone cracked and snapped clean in two. The leg was now severed. Blood poured out and flowed down the ground. To stop the bleeding, Gaia wrapped a cloth around the remaining top of his leg.
Without a word, she walked around to the other side of him. Just like before, she drove the knife into the flesh, slicing muscles apart, breaking the bone, and severing the second leg.
She stood up and moved to the other side. Then, as before, she pushed the knife through the muscles, breaking the bone before severing his other leg. She wanted to bind a cloth there as well, but Solus instructed her to leave.
Without arguing, Gaia backed away immediately. She crawled several feet, then collapsed onto the ground, lying flat with her back against the dirt, staring up at the sky. Her breathing was shaky because of the trauma.
Solus picked up one of the cybernetic legs he had set aside earlier. He placed it near the exposed muscle on one side of his body. Then he opened a compartment in his cybernetic arm and pulled out several small custom-made tools.
The leg was high-end and had automatic functions. Simply bringing it into contact with the exposed muscle activated its engines and connected with the bone. Tiny internal motors and clamps adjusted their positions to match his anatomy.
Using his tools, Solus began connecting veins, nerves, and muscle tissue with precision. It took time, but he worked with confidence and practiced skill.
After finishing the first leg, he picked up the second and repeated the entire process.
As soon as blood began circulating inside, both legs powered on. The artificial nerves under the feet helped him feel the ground beneath him.
Solus stood up and jumped several times to ensure that everything was fine. He was confident in his work and knew that nothing would go wrong.
He kicked his severed biological legs away and approached Gaia. She was still in shock but snapped out of it when she noticed Solus behind her.
"Good work. It is time for your second punishment."
He squatted and reached out his hand to her.
"Give me your eye."
Gaia did not want any trouble, so she raised her hand to her head and removed the cybernetic eye. It dripped some blood, but not much. She placed it on Solus's hand before quickly withdrawing her hand.
Solus slid the eye into his pocket and returned his gaze to her.
"Now, the other eye."
"...what?"
"Do not make me repeat."
"But it's a normal eye. What will you do with it?"
"Are you questioning me?"
Gaia quickly shut her mouth. She had no desire to follow his instructions, but her survival instinct was compelling her to do so.
She raised her hand and slowly placed three fingers around her remaining eye. Her fingers pushed into the skull and pulled the eyes out of the socket. Everything vanished from her vision, and she could no longer see anything. She extended her hand toward Solus.
"Why are you giving it to me?"
"...you told me to give you the eye."
"No, no, no, I do not want that eye. It is worthless to me."
Gaia wanted to yell at him or stab him hundreds of times, but she could not bring herself to show hostility on the outside. She just sat there, helpless, with her eyelids covering the empty sockets.
"You should not waste such a valuable asset. Why don't you eat it?"
"..."
She remained silent. At that point, her life had lost its meaning. She raised her trembling hand and placed the eye in her mouth. It was warm, and the stench of blood was on her tongue. It was easily crushed by the teeth as she chewed.
It did not taste bad, but her own eye convinced her to make it several times worse than the worst thing that could be eaten. She forced herself to swallow the eye and breathed deeply.
"Good. That concludes the punishments. Now we should return."
Solus approached her and assisted her in getting up. He placed one of her arms over his shoulder and led her to the spaceship. They sat in opposing seats, facing each other.
[Authorization Required For The Ship To Return]
"Authorize."
[Authorization Granted. The Ship Is Ready To Leave.]
The spaceship took off from the ground and flew past the planet's atmosphere. When it reached the vacuum space, it slowed.
[Caution: Entering Interstellar Mode In 5 Minutes.]
"So, have you heard from your boyfriend Eden in the past four years?"
Gaia raised his head when he heard that question. She did not share her personal information with anyone other than the team members, and Solus was new, so he should not have known.
"How do you know him?"
"Oh, so he was actually your boyfriend. I just thought your face seemed familiar."
"Answer my question first! How do you know him?!"
"Well, of course, I know him because I killed him myself."
"W-what..."
"He was annoying...he talked a lot before dying...so I had to cut his tongue."
He noticed her startled expression. Her mouth was hanging open, and her eyelids were closed. It seemed strange to him.
"You were able to keep your life in the end, so I will tell you this."
[Warning: We will be entering interstellar mode in one minute. Please Fasten Your Safety Strap If You Have Not.]
"I am Solus Hesper."