Novel Sovereign (R18) [Chapter 43 Released] [1-3 Rewrite Complete]

Moving to RR

Greetings everyone,

I've finally decided to sit down and write the story that's been bouncing around in my head for the better part of a decade now. Please give it a read if you like, and feel free to let me know what you think of it or how you think I can improve.

Grammarly and a single pair of eyes only goes so far after all.

If you happen to see any glaring issues, please send me a message, and I'll try to get them corrected as soon as possible. This is my first time trying something like this, so there's bound to be various mistakes mixed in.

Thank you for your time!

~Aria Victoria

Synopsis: Despite mankind's best efforts and advanced technology, it simply wasn't enough. The final dawn has come and gone. The Earth has fallen and mankind with it. At the end of the final battle, S-1_M0-N A1431 (Simon) an artificial human designed for the sole purpose of protecting humanity, is mysteriously transported to a new world. His V.A.I.A partner, Artoria is gone, his armor, ruined, and his body broken.

After nearly 600 years of constant fighting, will this old soldier finally find peace or is despair all that waits for him?

Genre: Transmigration, Action, Adult, Adventure, Fantasy, Psychological, Supernatural, (+).

Content Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Gore, Strong Language, Mature Themes, Sexual Content

 

Reserved.

 

Reserved.

 

Chapter 12 - Mr. Wick

Present Day - Loncouche Forest Interior - Early Morning

Simon grunts slightly after ripping one of the nearby beasts in half with his bare hands. The shabby sword that Kuro gave him barely managed to cut one of the charging wolves' legs off before splitting in half from the strain. Adimitly, that was probably due to Simon's less than gentle manner of handling the blade rather than its construction.

"So, That makes what, 30-40 of these?" Simon mutters while taking a breath looking around the pile of bodies. Surrounding him are 40 something dismembered bodies covered in white fur.

"Still..." Simon lets out a frustrated kick shattering the chest of the largest wolf before looking down at his bleeding arm, watching as the puncture wound closes before his eyes.

I wasn't expecting one of these to actually be able to hurt me. Guess I'll have to actually be careful from now on.

Simon shakes his head before taking out the small sack of powder, analyzing its contents against several nearby herbs.

This one, this one, this one, and...this one? No, its composition is similar but not exactly what I'm looking for.

Simon carefully scoops up several herbs with his hands, making sure to collect the dirt surrounding the roots. He then placed them each into a small burlap sack hanging from his waist.

Crunch.

Footsteps.

Simon quickly turns his head towards the sound before ducking behind a nearby tree to observe the situation.

"I knew I heard something from around here..."

Bandits?

"Aww, shut up, Yenrik. There ant nothing out here aside from them dam wolves, let's get outta here and head back base before one of them bastards decides to come after us."

"Sush! Are ye tryin to draw attention to us- What in the divines happened here?!" The two men cautiously approach the decimated remains of the silverback wolves.

"W-We oughta head back and report this..." one of the men whispers quietly, receiving only a nod from the other man as a reply. The duo proceeds to back up slowly from the pile before beginning a mad dash through the woods.

Well, This makes my job easier.

Simon quietly kicks off his boots before swiftly heading after the fleeing bandits. Running through the woods barefoot is quieter, after all. As the two men begin to climb a hill, Simon could hear the clanking of pans and howdy laughter from over the hill.

It's close.

Picking up two nearby rocks from the Simon takes aim and tosses them toward the men. Both rocks strike true, shattering the spine of both men at the base of their neck.

Armor only helps if you get hit where you have it, after all. Not that it would have mattered much anyway.

Simon stealthily approached the two paralyzed men and quietly hid their bodies inside the roots of a nearby tree. Some...creative rearrangement was necessary to fit both of the men inside neatly.

Satisfied, he quickly dusts himself off lightly before military crawling up the hill.

Beneath the hill, a large complex stood. An unfamiliar flag was flying from the top of the largest tent in the center of the encampment.

Simon makes a quick mental note of the flag's design to ask Kuro about later. Inside the camp, roughly ninety or so individuals dressed as bandits can be seen walking around. In contrast, ten others are dressed in uniformed armor, discussing something around a nearby table. Simon's vision zooms in on the table and can identify what appears to be a map.

Must be of the surrounding area.

Simon turns his attention to the men standing around the table. All of them seem to be wearing much better equipment than the nearby bandits. Each of them has the same symbol as the flag flying overhead painted onto their left shoulder. Simon quits observing the men, and closes his eyes for a minute to contemplate the situation.

The Kingdom is currently most likely trying to exterminate the beastmen villages without expending their own resources. However, this has been going on for decades at this point.

Ah.

Simon opens his eyes and looks closely at the symbol on the flag. That's most likely the Baron's flag. He's probably - Simon's eyes dart to the side as a familiar shade of crimson fur emerges from the largest tent.

Simon's vision quickly zooms in on the woman. She's been beaten severely. Both of her eyes are swollen, while her jaw appears to be broken in several places, along with one of her legs being bent at an odd angle. Judging by a large amount of white liquid dripping from her crotch, she's clearly been raped repeatedly.

A large man emerges from the tent barking something at two nearby men while fiddling with his armor. Simon watches as the two men pick up the broken woman by her arms and legs before hauling her off into the forest.

Simon shakes his head and quietly follows after the men.

Loncouche Forest Interior - Midday.

"Aight. This should be good enough. Let's get outta here before one of them damn wolves shows up and tries to eat us too."

"Aye, Still, I was looking forward to my turn with her again. Did the commander really have to go and break her already? We've only had a chance with her for two cycles."

The other man shakes his head before replying, "Just don't talk about it, nothing we can do about it now."

The two men make their way back to camp, grumbling about various goings-on in the camp.

Simon watches from a nearby tree before approaching the woman after the two men had left.

‘Röntgen Level: 1’

Simon's eyes flash softly, his face contorting into a frown while shaking his head. He quietly kneels down before the woman and gently strokes her mattered hair.

"I'm sorry."

The woman's eyes manage to open slightly as she tries to speak while reaching out a weak hand.

Simon gently takes the woman's hand, rubbing his thumb across her skin.

"Is your daughter's name Kayae?" Simon says, speaking softly.

The woman's amber eyes open slightly wider at the sound of Kayae's name, along with a weak flutter from her ears.

"She's safely back in the village with Kuro. Knowing her, she is probably snooping around the outside of his house now." Simon says with a smile while giving the woman's hand a light squeeze.

The woman's eyes close after hearing the news, tears welling at the corners of her eyes.

Scooping up the woman's body, Simon brings her close to his chest.

He continues speaking to the dying woman about the recent events in the village, selectively choosing to omit the bandit's grim fate.

By the time the duo manages to reach the edge of the forest, the sun has set, and it's started to rain.

Simon looks down at the cold body of Kayae's mother in his arms and kisses her forehead.

"I couldn't save you, but I will bring you home."

Kuro's Village - Shortly before Midnight

Kuro blows out the candle in his room before giving one last look out the window at the storming sky. Shaking his head with a sigh, he lays down in the rickety bed. No sooner than his head had hit the pillow, a soft knocking sound can be heard beneath the pitter-patter of the rain.

Grumbling quietly at being disturbed at this time of night, he begrudgingly gets out of bed and opens the door. Only to collapse on his knees at the scene in front of him.

"Kuro. I'm going to be gone for a few days. Make sure she gets a proper burial. Get her cleaned up and clothed before Kayae sees her."

Simon gently lays the woman's body down on the nearby table and quietly exits the room.

Under the dim light provided by the moon, Kuro could swear he saw tears in the man's eyes, along with a dark smoldering aura of rage as he disappeared into the night.

 

Chapter 13 - Liar

Encampment Outskirts - Loncouche Forest - Midnight

Simon is currently sitting back on the hill, shrouded by the darkness and the rain. Below several mercenaries and soldiers can be seen scurrying around the camp, rearranging supplies to protect them from the rain.

According to Kuro, rain can last for several days during this season. Any goods not adequately sealed will become ruined by the moisture.

Simon slowly descends the hill moving from tree to tree and bush to bush to avoid drawing attention.

"You there!" one of the nearby soldiers shouts out at Simon. "Get this crate moved into the main tent already!"

I'll kill you last.

He replies with a nod and picks up the crate, making an effort to look like he's exerting himself somewhat.

"Yalriks Burnin Hells yer strong ant ye?" the man comments before pointing the direction of the main tent.

Simon carries the crate over towards the main tent while making mental notes of the camp's layout. Thanks to his current attire being entirely supplied by the bandits he killed earlier, the mercenaries seem to think he's one of their men.

Several tents stick out to him, but the thing that sticks the most is a shoddily constructed cage filled with female beastmen completely naked and exposed to the rain. They are so tightly packed that none of them are currently lying down while some are pressed against the bars. He quietly raises his head and tries to do a quick headcount before giving up.

At least fifty.

All of the women appear to be malnourished and beaten, shivering heavily in the cold rain. Some seem to be in their early to mid-'20s, but the vast majority of them are far, far, younger. Additionally, not all women shared the same animal characteristics present in Kuro's village. Most likely, they were captured from the neighboring villages and brought here.

Gritting his teeth silently, Simon quickly passes by the cage and eventually arrives in a tent and sets the large crate down.

"Oi, what the fuck are ye doing? That crate goes over there with the rest of them! Are ye blind or something?" Simon's expression briefly displays his displeasure before picking up the crate and walking over towards the direction that the man pointed in.

"Hey, I'm talking to ye!" the man says before grabbing onto Simon's shoulder, attempting to turn him around. Simon gently places the crate down on the ground before turning to face the man.

"Who do yo- Wait, who the fuck are ye? I ain't ever seen you around the-"

The man's head does a three hundred and sixty degree turn before he can manage to finish his sentence. His body silently crumples to the floor.

Outside of the tent, one of the soldiers seems to be opening the cage containing the women, most likely to drag one out to be raped. Simon quickly appears before the man and repeats the same process he had before. The man's body falls to the ground while several of the women look on in shock. Simon quietly puts a finger to his lips to silence the nearby women.

"I'm going to get all of you out of here. Just be quiet until I come back." Simon says in a hushed tone before heading towards the largest tent.

Simon approaches the tent, quietly dispatching the two guards standing guard outside. Inside, the large man can be seen beating a small girl repeatedly.

"Yeah! You like that, huh! I know you do!" the large man repeatedly screams each time he hits the girl. Simon shakes his head from side to side before speaking loudly.

"She's already dead."

The man quickly jumps off of the bed before turning towards Simon.

"Who the fuck are you?!" He screams loudly while reaching for his sword. Simon closes the distance in a flash and lifts the man off the ground by his neck.

"You like beating little girls, do you?" Simon says while grinding his teeth. "I was just going to kill you, but now...now I've got a better idea."

Simon's heavy footsteps echo outwards as he exits the tent, still carrying the naked man by the neck. Passing by the cage, several of the women shout out in fright at the sight of the commander being held up. The commotion attracts several of the nearby soldiers and mercenary-cum-bandits.

None of them attempt to close the distance merely crowding around the pair of men until Simon and the commander eventually arrive in the middle of the encampment.

"All of you, get out here!"

Simon's voice is loud enough to drown out the roaring thunder overhead. The remainder of the men quickly form a ring around Simon and the commander before he casually tosses the commander across the ground.

"Get up." Simon growls before removing his gauntlets and tossing them to the ground.

"You like beating women, do you? It makes you feel excited, does it?"

Simon lightly kicks the commander in the chest, just enough to send him rolling across the ground several times.

"I said, GET. THE. FUCK. UP!"

Simon's roar is filled with rage as he pulls the commander to his feet, only to shatter his jaw with a swift right hook. The commander flies across the ground again before crawling on his knees in front of Simon, seemingly pleading for his life, his face rubbing softly against Simon's boot.

Simon spits on the man before raising his foot and kicking the man across the ground. The process repeats several times until, eventually, the man is no longer able to crawl and is instead loudly weeping through his broken jaw. Simon slowly approaches the commander, raises his foot overhead, and stomps down. A sloppy splattering sound reverberates throughout the campsite as the commander's head explodes like a watermelon hit with a sledgehammer.

Simon lifts his gaze up from the splattered remains of the commander, quietly observing the surrounding men.

"Well?" Simon growls, "Who's next?!" he shouts angrily before grabbing one of the nearby observers and ripping his head off savagely, lightning reflecting off of his pearly white canines.

Like a dam had been broken, the stunned men flooded forward, charging at Simon from all directions.

Screams echo throughout the encampment turned battlefield.

A man clutches the bleeding stump where his arm had been a moment before. Meanwhile, another man is staring wide-eyed at his own intestines scattered across the dirt in front of him. Beside him, a man sat across the ground, mumbling softly at missing his legs.

A soldier charges at Simon with his spear, only to have his advance stopped when Simon catches the spear in his bare hands. The soldier suddenly lurches forward as he's pulled in. He had tried to scream, but nothing came out. Meanwhile, Simon spits out the man's throat from his mouth.

Simon takes the fallen soldier's spear and thrusts it forward, skewering four men at once before lifting them up vertically and impaling the haft into the earth. The still screaming soldiers quickly slide down the shaft and become piled on top of each other.

Blood, viscera, and limbs fly in all directions until only thirty men remain, hiding beneath the mutilated corpses of their fallen comrades.

"All of you, get up." Simon says coldly, kicking away the corpse a man had hiding beneath.

"You, go open the cage and get the women and children loaded up onto a wagon, GENTLY. The rest of you start loading the remaining wagons with as many supplies as they can hold. If any of you try to run, I'll chase you to the ends of this damnable world."

The remaining men quickly leave the area and begin carrying out his orders. The cage is promptly broken open, and the women inside are directed to board one of several nearby wagons. Those incapable of walking were swiftly carried inside instead by the horrified survivors.

Still, far from satisfied at this outcome, Simon looks down at the man still struggling beneath his blood-soaked boot.

"I know I said I'd kill you last," Simon mutters under his breath. The light of hope briefly flashes in the man's eyes before being snuffed out unceremoniously as his head is crushed.

"I lied."

 

Chapter 14 - I'm Sorry

Kuro's Village - Dawn

"Kuro! We've got a problem!"

A small elderly man suddenly charges through Kuro's door. The wind scatters the various scraps of paper scarred across Kuro's desk.

"What now?!"

"Wagons! From the forest! Lots of um! And there flyin the baron's colors!"

Kuro quickly staggers to his feet, rushing to a nearby chest containing his finest clothes.

"Gather the villagers in the mess hall! Quickly!" Kuro says before rushing out into the downpouring rain, still buttoning his slightly wrinkled blouse.

Kuro's Village - Village Outskirts

"H-How may we serve you, m-my lord?" Kuro appears out of the rain speaking in a quiet yet dignified manner.

Simon smiles while shaking his head, standing in front of the convoy of wagons.

"Well, Can't say I've ever been called a "lord" before." Simon lets out a light chuckle "Kuro, Go ahead and direct the wagon's towards the village."

"A-at one, my lord!" Kuro moves faster than Simon has ever seen the old man move before. Suddenly something dawns on the elderly man, his gaze drifting upwards to stare at the face of the man in front of him.

"S-Simon?!"

"What? I'm right here, no need to yell, Just go ahead and tell them where to get these supplies unloaded."

Kuro's head pivots in all directions, an expression of shock and confusion on his face.

"Just do it. I'll explain everything later. Oh, I'm going to be taking over the mess hall for a bit. Sorry."

Simon lightly raps his fingers across the cloth covering a nearby wagon, causing a woman's head to briefly appear outside its protective boundary, her long rabbitlike ears fluttering in the wind.

Simon walks off, leaving the stunned Kuro behind while guiding a small detachment of wagons.

"We're almost there. Just hold on a bit longer."

Kuro's Village - Village Mess Hall

By the time Simon and the wagon train arrived at the mess hall, all of the villagers were quietly crowding around the odd sight.

Standing on one of the nearby crates, Kayae could be seen in tears watching as Simon approached. Simon sighs and shakes his head at the sight before partially lifting the cloth. Several of the villagers capable of seeing inside the partly covered wagon let out a mixture of cheers and gasps.

Smiling, he turns towards the woman inside the wagon and speaks softly.

"We're here. Anyone that can walk head inside and take a seat. Anyone who can't walk, feel free to stay where you are. We'll have you carried inside shortly."

One by one, the women began exiting the wagon before disappearing inside the mess hall. All of them were malnourished, dirtied, and beaten, but otherwise in high spirits after finally being freed. True to his word Simon began carrying out the women incapable of walking and set them down inside on whatever furniture was still available. After the last woman was removed from the wagon, he stood by the doorway and addressed the waiting villagers.

"Please treat them as one of your own. Several of them need food, medical attention, and rest, while all of them need to be cleaned and clothed. Kuro should be along shortly with several wagons filled with supplies. Please take from them what you need." Simon finishes speaking and quietly gives them a deep bow.

Suddenly a small presence stood before Simon. It's Kayae.

"S-Simon... D-Did you find my Mom? I kept watching as they came out of the wagon b-but I didn't see her."

Simon couldn't bring himself to look down at the quivering girl. Simon closed his eyes, tightly pulling Kayae into a deep hug before muttering "I'm sorry." softly into her ear.

As the rain continued to fall down on the village, a lone girl's cries of anguish could be heard beneath the thundering downpour overhead.

 

Chapter 15 - Teeth

Kuro's Village - Kuro's House - Two hours later.

Inside the small dilapidated house, the drip of water falling into one of the nearby buckets could be heard as Simon sat on the floor quietly.

Eventually, the door opens and closes softly, accompanied by the sound of footsteps approaching. Simon doesn't bother looking at the source. He has already long since memorized everyone in the village's footsteps and knows the source is Kuro. In the corner of the room, an exhausted Kayae lays motionless in the bed, having cried herself to sleep in Simon's arms earlier.

Kuro sits down on the floor before extending his hand towards Simon. Simon tilts his head up slightly before accepting the small flask in Kuro's hand with a swift motion. He opens the flask nimbly and takes a long drink before passing the flask back.

"So," Kuro said quietly, the exhaustion clearly present in his voice. "What happened?"

Simon shakes his head slightly before breathing out deeply.

"When I went into the forest for the first time, I was attacked by a large amount of Silver Backed Wolves."

Kuro's expression shifts to one of disbelief.

"D-Don't tell me those wolves in wagon we-"

"Aye, That's them. I managed to kill them all, but in the process, I seemed to have attracted some attention from mercenaries pretending to be bandits."

Kuro closes his eyes before nodding.

"So you followed them back to their encampment?"

"Yeah, That was when I spotted two men dragging out Kayae's mother from the commander's tent before tossing her into the woods."

"And that's when you brought her back here?"

Simon nods his head silently in conformation.

"After that, I went back into the woods and managed to infiltrate the camp. While inside, I found a large cage filled with women. Judging by the wide variety of animalistic extremities, I presumed they were taken from the other villages."

"Aye, I spotted several cat-folk and canids along with a couple kitsunes and rabbit-folk around the mess hall earlier."

Simon's eyebrow tilted upwards at the unfamiliar terms, more or less understanding their meaning.

"Ah, right. You've been calling us beastmen for a while now, haven't ya? While that's technically correct, it's actually a blanket term for anyone sharing animalistic characteristics. Coincidentally, myself and the rest of the villagers are Wolfen. Apparently, we share characteristics with wolves. But I guess you already figured that out?"

Kuro flashes Simon a wide grin, proudly showing off his large white teeth.

"Aye, although it was the ears and tails that gave it away rather than your teeth."

"Ou, teeth are a Wolfen's pride, you know. You won't find anything stronger than our teeth among the rest of the races."

"Really now?"

Simon smiles slyly before removing a piece of metal from his belt and biting it, casually showing the neatly punctured hole to Kuro.

Kuro's ears briefly flatten against his head, seemingly deflated after having their pride taken from them.

"O-Oi, you're not normal. You don't count!"

Kuro's ears fluttered about during his miffed rambling before he waved a hand to change the subject.

"Anyway, what happened next?"

"I approached the commander's tent, killed two of the guards, and walked inside."

"Was he sleeping?"

"Unfortunately not." Simon shakes his head, disgust clearly seeping into his voice.

"He was beating and raping a young girl repeatedly. She appeared to be younger than Kayae by a few years."

Kuro's face contorts in disgust before muttering under his breath, "Damned Monkras..."

"Aye." Simon nods his head in agreement.

"Did she make it?" Kuro finally asks after processing the sight.

"No, she was dead before I managed to enter the tent."

Kuro shakes his head quietly while retrieving a flask from somewhere out of view. "Shit."

A cruel grin stretches over Simon's face as he chuckles quietly. "I may have gone a bit overboard with the commander after that."

Kuro's face pales after seeing Simon's expression and hearing his laughter.

"W-What did you do?" Kuro asks with wide eyes.

"I dragged him out of the tent by his neck, took him to the center of the camp, and beat him to death in front of his men."

Kuro nods before commenting. "Was it slow?"

Simon takes the flask before smiling and taking a swig.

"Very."

"Good. What happened after?"

"I massacred everyone within arms reach. The men outside are the ones that managed to survive by hiding under the corpses. Not that they can hide from me, though."

Simon's grin widens enough for Kuro to see the candlelight flickering off of Simon's own elongated canines.

Vampire? Kuro thought to himself before quickly throwing away the notion, Can't be. Vampire's hate water, sunlight and drink blood. Kuro's thoughts wander off towards the scene that played out in fields days earlier. Simon had drained the bandit's blood before impaling them on stakes. He didn't drink any of it, though, did he?

Kuro snaps back to reality after Simon passed back the flask and continued speaking.

"After that, I ordered the survivors to load up as much of the supplies as they could onto the wagons along with the women, then we headed here. After that, you know the rest."

Kuro nods his head before speaking. The thought is terrifying him, but he has to know.

"Simon." Kuro steels his resolve before staring directly into Simon's eyes. Hazel? Never mind, it doesn't matter.

"Are you a vampire?"

 

Chapter 16 - Heavy is the Head

Kuro's Village - Kuro's House - Mid Day

Simon tilts his head to the side.

"A what?"

"A vampire." Kuro's palm slaps against his face before remembering that the man in question had only recently learned their language.

"A person that lives off of the blood of others, they drink it to survive and detest the daylight."

"Drink blood?" One of Simon's eyebrows tilts upwards in confusion before the realization hits him.

"Ah, a Vampire, I take it that Vampire is your word for a Vampire, No, I'm not one nor do I drink blood. However, I take it from your reaction that those creatures actually exist here."

Kuro lets out a deep sigh of relief, finally breaking eye contact. He doesn't appear to be lying, at least.

"So, what are you then? You're obviously not human."

Simon chuckles at the comment.

"Well, that's true, but it's hard to explain. At this point, I'm not really human, at least not anymore. I don't know the words to explain what I am now."

"So, you were human once?"

Simon shakes his head, indicating no.

"Not really, again; it's hard to explain, but judging from your reaction, I'll try anyway. The closest thing that I can come up with as an explanation is that I'm more of a weapon than a human. I wasn't born. I was created."

Kuro's ears shoot up along with his tail at the shocking revelation.

"T-There's more of you?!"

Simon quickly motions for Kuro to lower his voice before continuing.

"No. As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one like me. There were others similar to me, but they were wiped out a long time ago."

Simon's thoughts briefly drift towards one individual but there's no way they are still alive. He made damn sure of that.

Kuro nods his head silently while fiddling with the flask in his hands.

"Simon, Somethings been bothering me for a while now."

Simon’s gaze meets Kuro’s, clearly telling him to continue.

"Just, how old are you? I've seen the way you act around the village. You treat even the elderly women like children at times, casually ruffling their hair or giving them that warm fatherly smile of yours."

Simon's eyebrows tilt upwards in surprise.

"Kayae didn't tell you? I thought she already had after we returned from the village with the powder."

It was Kuro's time to be surprised, it seems.

"Anyway, As I told her and the boy along with his grandfather the other day, I think I'm somewhere around 380 years old now, give or take a few years."

Kuro's grip on the flask suddenly slipped, causing the flask to fall onto the table, only to be scooped up by Simon as he downed the last of the contents.

"T-three hundred and eighty years? What are you? An elf?"

Simon laughs heartily while brushing his hair back to show Kuro his ears.

"That's what that grandfather said too, but no, I'm not an elf, as you can see."

Kuro's head falls into his hands while shaking his head in disbelief.

"Things just keep getting stranger and stranger with you."

He takes a moment to compose himself before speaking.

"So, what now?"

"Once the wagons are unloaded, I'm going to take the men back into the forest and retrieve the rest of the supplies. It'll probably take at least four or five more trips to get everything. We've still got to collect all of the bodies at the encampment. No sense leaving behind all that equipment, and besides, if we leave corpses for the monsters to find, there's no telling what will happen."

Kuro nods his head.

"I'll go ahead and make what preparations I can for the storage." Kuro briefly considers asking Simon what he intends to do with the men once they've finished gathering the rest of the supplies, but he quickly decides against it. Better off not knowing. Besides, he still has something far more essential to ask.

Kuro watches Simon take a sip from his teacup before speaking again.

"Do you want an itemized list of the supplies brought to your house?"

Simon turns towards Kuro with a facial expression one would expect to have after seeing an alien.

"Sure, I guess? But wouldn't it be more useful for you to have as the Village Elder?"

The two men stare at each other in confusion for a moment before something dawns on Kuro.

"W-Wait, you can't mean for the village to keep the supplies, right?"

One of Simon's eyebrows lifts up slightly.

"I thought that was obvious? What the hell am I going to do with 40 or 50 wagons worth of supplies? What do you think I am, a fucking dragon?"

Simon's eyes narrow slightly as he watches Kuro contemplate something.

"You better not be thinking that."

Kuro starts to sweat beneath Simon's gaze.

"N-No, of course not, but it would expl-"

"Kuro."

"Alright, Fine, Just stop looking at me like that. It's not good for my heart."

Simon shakes his head at Kuro's remark.

"Still, Did you really think I'd try to keep all of those supplies for myself?"

Kuro sighs quietly, "No, but I had to assume the worst while hoping for the best."

Simon stands up, sensing the conversation has reached its end. His heavy footsteps reverberate off of the wooden floorboards as he approaches the still sleeping Kayae and strokes her crimson hair before placing a kiss on her forehead.

Kuro waits for him to head for the door before standing up and facing him.

"Simon, on behalf of the entire village, I thank you."

Kuro goes down on one knee and gives Simon a deep bow.

He didn’t even kneel when he thought I was the Baron.

To a Wolfen, kneeling or bowing is the ultimate sign of submission. Doing one is bad enough, but doing both is something else entirely.

Simon gestures for the man to stand up while forcibly swallowing his discomfort.

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown." Simon mutters under his breath as he leaves the house.

 

Chapter 17 - Death March

Kuro's Village - Mid Day

"Everyone, Drink what water you can. We'll be heading out shortly."

Simon's booming voice echoed across the entire village, startling several of the villagers who turned to watch the commotion.

Low groans could be heard coming from the men crowding around the now emptied wagon train. The wiser among them had already foreseen this outcome. They had already pleaded with passing villagers tasked with tending to the horses for something, anything, to eat or drink as they unloaded the supplies. While the less intelligent ones scurried around frantically, searching for the nearest source of water. Barely any of them managed to find any before Simon issued the order to march.

Shortly after they departed Kuro's village, one man foolishly tried to make a break for it. He sprinted towards a nearby hill while Simon was busy directing the lead wagon. A dull thud reverberated across the plane. All eyes were drawn to the fleeing man's corpse, gracelessly rolling down the hill, leaving a trail of red blood behind.

When his body had finally stopped rolling across the ground, Simon quietly approached the man before crushing his head and tossing the mutilated body into the back of a nearby wagon. No one said a word and quietly continued marching forward as if nothing had happened.

During the third round trip between the former encampment and Kuro's village, one of the men clad in heavy armor fell down, breathing heavily. Despite the best attempts of the men surrounding him, he refused to stand up. Before long, Simon appeared beside the man, followed by a sharp cracking sound and a dull thud as the man's body was hurled into the wagon.

What little moral the men possessed suddenly evaporated, the reality of the situation ultimately dawning on them. Despite the fatigue building within them, stopping meant death, and so they continued forward on their death march. One by one, the men collapsed onto the ground. At first, some of the nearby men tried to help the fallen ones to their feet, but eventually, those men who stopped to help wore themselves out and collapsed. None were spared.

Finally, on the eve of the third day, the last of the encampment was loaded. Of the thirty men that initially started the march, only ten were still standing. The rest were rotting corpses piled high in the last wagon.

Simon was currently leaning against a tree, quietly observing the men with uncaring eyes. The encampment by this point had been completely stripped bare. Not a single tent stake or a scrap of fabric was left. All that remained was a large open clearing in the forest. Even the rocks surrounding the fire pits had been taken, and the ash scooped up and packed into barrels.

Sprawled along the muddied ground, ten naked men were panting heavily. They were the smart ones. Where their brethren had stubbornly clung to their armor, they had instead opted to toss theirs into the wagon to lessen the burden on their aching bodies. That wise decision had allowed them to survive this long.

Disappointing.

I assumed at least twice this number to survive until the end. Is this really what passes for humanity in this world? No. Anyone incapable of enduring this level of physical exertion doesn't deserve to call themselves human. They wouldn't have survived a single day back on earth.

Simon spits on the ground in disgust at the pitiful sight.

These guys aren't human. They're less than human.

"Get up. We're heading out. Anyone still playing in the mud by the time I reach the wagon will be heading back ON the wagon."

At his command, ten breathing subhuman corpses forced themselves to their feet. Some of them muttered things underneath their breath along the lines of "I have a family" or some other drivel, but Simon didn't care.

Out of the corner of his eye, one of the remaining men started to run away. Admittedly, 'run' was a figurative term. In reality, it was more of a slow, lurching motion. Simon let out a sigh before kicking a nearby rock in the man's direction. The stone embedded itself deep into the man's spine, causing him to convulse slightly before he collapsed onto the forest floor.

"Load him up but don't fall behind," Simon ordered coldly without even turning to face the walking corpses behind him.

The ghoulish convoy continued marching onwards and stopped suddenly when Simon held up a hand. One of the men appeared to be unable to stop himself and bumped into the rear of the carriage he was following. He collapsed on the ground, dead, despite that fact his legs appeared to keep moving. His mind had died at some point during the march, but his body kept on marching.

Simon approached the curious sight slowly before gently picking up the corpse and loading it into the front wagon, seemingly having admired the sheer amount of determination required to keep marching forward even after death.

This man, and this man alone, has earned a proper burial.

With his task complete, Simon turned towards the remaining eight men and addressed them coldly.

"We're stopping here for the night. Anyone still able to move is free to sleep inside the wagons. Everyone else can stay where you are for all I care."

Simon returned to his prior position at the head of the wagon train and observed his surroundings. Among the lush vegetation surrounding him, one plant, in particular, stood out to him. This plant was the reason he had ordered the march to a halt.

‘Analyze.’

Well now.

Simon's foul mood improved slightly as he scooped up the herb, dirt and all. It was the last herb he needed to recreate the old woman's powder. He turned his head back towards the wagon train. Three walking corpses were lying on the ground, seeming to have collapsed where they stood. In contrast, the rest of the walking corpses had apparently managed to board a nearby wagon before collapsing inside.

Simon nods his head quietly and leans against a suitably large tree before closing his eyes.

Loncouche Forest - Midnight

Simon's eyes slowly opened, looking upwards beyond the forest canopy. At some point during the night, it had started to rain. He turned his gaze towards the wagon train. The sound of six men breathing evenly could be heard. He quietly removed his armored boots and approached the three walking corpses that had collapsed onto the ground earlier. None of them were still alive. A cruel smile spread across his face after confirming that fact.

Beneath the crying sky, a lone figure clad in black could be seen entering each of the wagons and emerging shortly after, leaving an early silence in its wake.

 

Chapter 18 - A Toast to the Dead

Kuro's Village - Dawn - Three Days Later

Kuro stood at the outskirts of the village along with several other villagers peering into the distance towards the forest. Beside him, Kayae was quietly shivering, her clothes sticking to her skin, chilled from the neverending rain.

Today's dawn marked the third day since Simon had left the village, having departed on the supposedly last trip required to retrieve the remaining supplies. Earlier trips had taken half a day, while the previous one had taken slightly longer, nearly taking an entire day to return. At first, the Kuro and the villagers thought nothing of it, merely expecting that the caravan had been delayed. But, as days passed, the villagers began to worry.

Several of the women rescued by Simon began to ask about their savior after recovering from their ordeal. At first, Kayae had excitedly chatted with the women about Simon but now, concern has seemingly taken root in her heart.

Kuro looked down towards the girl that was barely a head taller than his waist and lightly patted her head. Hoping that the gesture would at least temporarily lighten her mood, despite feeling the same.

She's worried. We all are.

It was at that moment that a white object slowly began to appear from the forest. Straining his eyes, Kuro tried to make out the object. Suddenly Kayae darted off towards the forest.

"It's a wagon!" she shouted in delight. "He's back! Simon's back!"

Kuro's House - Midday

Simon and Kuro sat apart from each other on the floor like they usually did, sipping tea. However, instead of the traditionally used wooden cups, they were instead using a set of porcelain teacups. According to Kuro, one of the villagers found the set inside one of the supply crates and presented it to him. At first, he had tried to refuse them, but the villagers weren't having any of it.

Kayae was sleeping quietly in Simon's lap, having refused to part from him for even a moment since his arrival. Simon was, in fact, quite surprised to see the small girl running barefoot through the mud towards him when the caravan had emerged from the treeline of the forest.

Despite the rather painful flick delivered to her forehead and the subsequent verbal lashing she received for not allowing her wound to heal, Kayae had vehemently refused to release her grip on Simon's leg until he eventually relented and picked her up in his arms.

"So, What took you so long?"

Kuro spoke quietly to avoid waking up the exhausted girl.

"We were actually making pretty good progress. On the way back, I spotted a large grove of herbs and decided to set up camp for the night."

Kuro watched as Simon quietly sipped his tea. Despite not mentioning that Simon had returned alone, he knew that Simon had killed the surviving men at some point along the journey back.

Most likely when they camped for the night. Kuro shook his head slightly at the thought. Poor bastards.

"Ah, I do have a request if it's not too much to ask."

Kuro's ears perked up slightly at Simon's words.

"A request?"

"Yes. I'd like the man I brought back to be given a proper burial."

Man? Kuro tilted his head to the side while thinking. There are at least a hundred corpses left inside that last wagon. Kuro briefly remembers the first time he had lifted the tarp on that wagon and shudders slightly. Before he could ponder Simon's wording any further, the man in question began to speak.

"I've already separated him from the remainder of the trash. He's currently wrapped up in a tarp by the graveyard."

Kuro nods his head.

"I'll see to the arrangements, consequently, what about the rem-"

Simon abruptly cut off his words mid-sentence.

"Toss the leftovers into a ditch or burn them for all I care but strip their equipment first. Despite how useless they were in life, they can at least take some pride in the fact that they'll at least be useful as fertilizer in death."

Kuro's eyes widened suddenly at the cruel proclamation.

H-he doesn't care?

In his youth, Kuro had been told to always respect the dead. If not solely for common decency, but to at least prevent their spirits from returning to haunt you long after their death. Yet, the man in front of him had just casually brushed them away as if they were a spec of dirt on an otherwise spotless shirt. Kuro couldn't help but try to think of what the poor bastard had done for such a man to request a proper burial for him.

"Kuro, Are you alright?"

Simon's voice brought Kuro back to his senses. The hint of concern present in Simon's eyes briefly caused Kuro to think that his last words had been a figment of his imagination. Kuro coughed softly before speaking again.

"Y-Yes. I'm alright. What were we talking about again?"

"The herbs I brought back. I think I've gathered enough of them to recreate enough of the powder to distribute to the rest of the village."

Kuro's eyes suddenly became focused.

"Really?"

Simon nods his head quietly while motioning for Kuro to lower his voice.

"Yes, but we have a slight problem."

Simon swiftly produced an herb from a bag at his waist. He presented it to Kuro, who proceeded to examine the herb closely.

"What's the problem?"

"The problem is, despite knowing what the powder is composed of, I've got no idea how to properly prepare the herbs required to make the powder."

Kuro nods his head while stroking his wrinkled chin.

"Couldn't you just ask the person responsible for making the powder in the first place?"

Simon shook his head silently.

"That's not possible. Apparently, she passed away last year. Her husband, Krython, I believe, isn't aware of how she created the powder either. According to him, the only one left that might possibly know is his daughter who disappeared six months ago."

Kuro let out a sigh and reached for a flask. He'd been drinking more often ever since Simon had appeared, it seems. Reminiscing on that thought, he unscrewed the cap and took a quick sip. Instead of the usual potato vodka, he was instead drinking something called wishky or something like that. According to one of the now-deceased men, it was the camp commander's preferred drink. Kuro couldn't help but hate the man, but even he had to admit that the man's choice in liquor was quite good.

Simon tilted his head to the side at the familiar smell.

"I-Is that whiskey?"

Kuro smiled slyly and let out a quiet chuckle at the rare sight of Simon being genuinely surprised. This caused him to frown, which caused Kuro to laugh even louder before passing the flask.

Ooo, genuine surprise and even a hint of annoyance. This stuff must be good.

Simon quietly accepted the flask while still staring coldly at Kuro, who couldn't manage to wipe the broad grin off his face.

"Hmm..."

Simon shifted his attention to the flask and briefly gave it a quick sniff before downing a small mouthful of the brown liquid. His expression softened somewhat as he enjoyed the flavor.

"Needs Ice."

Kuro's eyebrow tilted upwards.

"It needs ice?"

Simon nodded his head while passing the flask back.

"Aye, the proper way to drink whiskey is with ice. Generally, you put ice into a cup, pour the whiskey on top of it, and then wait a few minutes for the liquor to react."

"I see, to Karnia!"

Kuro briefly lifts the flask up into the air before taking a sip and passing it back to Simon.

"Krython's wife."

"Ah. To Karnia, may you rest in peace."

Simon repeats the gesture and downs the remainder of the flask's contents.

"Now then, since the two people responsible for the powder's creation are deceased or otherwise missing, I suppose we'll have to find an apothecary or at the very least an herbalist."

Simon tilts his head to the side at the unfamiliar term. He could more or less understand what an herbalist was since it shared a common word that he already knew, but 'apothecary' didn't share that distinction.

"Apothecary?"

Kuro nods his head briefly.

"Aye, type of medicine man. They specialize in using various substances to brew potions and restorative salves, among other things."

"I see. Does the village have one of these apothecaries?"

Kuro shakes his head sadly.

"Unfortunately not, we used to, but..."

Kuro's voice trailed off suddenly.

"But what?"

"Well, Karina was the village's apothecary, and her daughter, Kyria, was her only apprentice."

Simon lets out a tired sigh at the news.

"So, we'll have to look elsewhere then."

"It seems so."

 

Chapter 19 - Truth

Kuro’s House - Dawn

"Any suggestions on where I should start looking?"

Kuro briefly stroked his chin before standing up and rummaging through a nearby drawer. He returned shortly after with an old worn out map covered in various ink splotches and dirt. Kuro then sat back down and spread out the map.

"Our village is located here, while the nearest village was located here. But, considering the rabbit-folk are here now, I can only assume that's no longer the case. This means the next closest village would b- No, that one is no good either. The kitsune are here too."

Kuro continued mumbling to himself as he went down the line of villages, crossing off each one as he passed before he eventually came to a realization.

"T-That's not possible?"

Simon fiddled with the empty flask in his hands while Kuro was panicking.

He had already assumed this outcome after seeing how many captives the mercenaries had already taken. His suspicions were confirmed when he read the few records left behind in the commander's tent.

"W-we’re the last ones?"

Kuro turned his gaze upwards at the quiet Simon, who just simply nodded his head.

"Y-you knew?"

"I suspected as much. I read a few documents left behind at the encampment, but I haven't had the time to confirm anything."

Kuro leaned back, bewildered.

"W-Why did they leave us for last? According to the map, our village was the third closest of the beastmen villages to the Baron's town."

Simon nods his head before speaking.

"Kuro, You said this plague happened last year, right?"

"Y-Yes."

"That encampment had existed for close to three years."

Kuro's tired eyes widened.

"W-What does that mean?"

"It means that the Baron decided it would be easier to attack after thinning out your numbers rather than to assault the village head-on. Judging by the ledgers and the villages marked on this map, I believe these villages were the first ones targeted."

Simon drew a circle surrounding Kuro's village, tracing through each nearby village in the surrounding area with his finger.

"I suspect they did things this way to prevent the nearby villages from informing your village of the situation."

Kuro no longer had the strength to keep himself upright and fell backward onto the floor.

"T-This whole time, they've been being wiped out one by one, and yet we did nothing."

Simon sighed softly.

"There was nothing you could have done. The enemy planned things perfectly so that you would be kept in the dark while they attacked the softer targets."

Kuro suddenly shot up and stared at Simon.

"But the rabbit-folk who came to us asking for aid, according to you, his village was one of the first ones to be wiped out! How did he come here two years ago if his village was wiped out three years ago?!"

Kuro's loud voice caused Kayae to wake up suddenly. Her head nearly hit the bottom of Simon's chin in the process. Simon quietly stroked the girl's crimson hair and ushered her back to sleep while giving Kuro a chilling glare. Kuro gulped loudly at his gaze before speaking again, barely above a whisper.

"How then?"

Simon breathes in deeply while rubbing one of Kayae's ears between his fingers. He watched as her tiny toes curled slightly with each pass before exhaling and turning facing Kuro.

"He was sent by the Baron's men. His original intention was never to actually receive any aid. It was to make you aware that the plague had already hit the other nearby villages, and more importantly, prevent you from seeking aid once it hit here. "

Simon paused for a moment to observe Kuro's reaction before continuing.

"If your village sent someone out to seek aid once the plague had started to take effect, you would have realized that all the other villages around you had already been wiped out. Didn't you find it odd how that messenger just seemed to accept your refusal for aid despite his village apparently starving?"

Kuro's eyes widened even further.

"B-But why? Why would he agree to deceive us? He wasn't enslaved, so that couldn't have been the reason."

Simon sighed quietly.

"Enslavement isn't the only method that can be used to force someone to do something they otherwise wouldn't normally be willing to do. Bribery or threats also work. For example, say his family was offered preferential treatment or perhaps outright freedom if he complied with the Baron's wishes?"

Kuro's expression shifted suddenly, his jaw clenching tightly. Simon nodded his head in understanding at Kuro's rage. Out of the corner of the elderly man's mouth, blood started to drip onto the wooden floor.

"That still doesn't explain the timetable. Even with how many beastmen villages there are, there's no way it would have taken the Baron's men three years to wipe us all out. So what took them so long?"

"Do you truly want to know?"

Kuro nodded his head once while wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Yes."

"It was greed."

Kuro's eyebrows raised upwards.

"Greed?"

"Yes, Greed. During our discussions earlier, you mentioned that your village had never failed to send the required tax."

"Aye, I did."

"So, let's think of things in order, shall we? Let's assume that three years ago, something caused either the Marques or the King to issue a proclamation demanding the immediate execution or enslavement of all beastmen remaining in the Kingdom."

Kuro nods his head.

"Now, put yourself in the Baron's shoes for a moment. You've just received that order, and before now, you had been profiting greatly off of the high special tax that all beastmen villages are required to pay. While obviously a net loss for the Capital's tax revenue, the loss of revenue provided to you despite the lower percentage is still considerable. Because it was ordered by someone of much higher standing, you can't exactly refuse the order. So, Kuro, what do you do?"

Kuro lifts his eyebrow upwards in confusion.

"Obviously, I'd begin the subjugation immediately despite the monetary losses. To a Wolfen, loyalty is everything. When an order is given, it is executed immediately and without question."

Simon blinks at Kuro for a moment before rubbing the bridge of his nose in astonishment.

"While that may be true, Kuro, you're forgetting something fundamental. The Baron isn't a Wolfen, or, at least, I don't think he is. Try thinking from the perspective of a human. What would a human, no, a monkras do?"

Kuro pauses for a moment to think while stroking his chin.

"I'd probably try to find a way to sque-"

Kuro cuts his speech off mid-sentence and is clearly about to scream.

Simon quickly places his hands over Kayae's ears before Kuro can scream out. Witnessing Simon's suddenly heartfelt gesture seemed to calm Kuro's rage slightly.

"Sorry. I'm fine now."

"It's alright, I may not look like it, but even I want to rip the bastard's heart out."

Kuro nods his head while controlling his breathing.

"So, The Baron kept collecting taxes from us while his men went around destroying the other villages. Wouldn't the capital send someone to investigate after they kept sending the collected taxes back to the capital?"

Simon had to actively resist the urge to facepalm and instead chose to grimace.

Despite being told to think like a human, Kuro still can't seem to shake his sense of loyalty.

"Kuro, that's only if the Baron actually sent any of the collected taxes back to the capital once he received the decree. I suspect the Baron’s been keeping the entirety of the collected taxes and used some of it to pay off what few officials were sent to ensure compliance."

Kuro silently shakes his head.

"I find myself liking humans less and less."

Simon smiles sadly before giving a brief nod.

"Aye. Even where I'm from, people kept putting themselves ahead of others right until the very end."

Simon's gaze seemed to stare off into the distance for a moment while Kuro watched before coughing.

"Still, that leaves the women you rescued. Are you telling me that those two rabbit-folk were stuck in that cage for three years?"

"No, According to Kayae, the longest anyone had been in that cage was three months. Apparently, her mother found the two rabbit-folk and a kitsune hiding in the forest three months ago. She tried to return to the village after that. However, one of the rabbit-folks legs was broken after a branch suddenly fell out from under her."

Kuro shakes his head.

"Aye. I can guess the rest. Kayarna refused to leave the injured woman behind, and they got captured as a result."

Simon doesn't reply and merely nods his head sadly while stroking Kayae's hair.

Kuro started to get up to retrieve another flask, but Simon stopped him with a look while shaking his head.

"It doesn't work. Trust me, I've tried."

Kuro sighs and ops to pour a spot of tea instead.

"Anyway, It seems -here- is the closest town still standing."

Kuro nods his head before commenting.

"Aye, Ebonshear would be the closest, but it's not a town. It's a city and the one that the Baron resides in. It's been over a decade since I last set foot there, but everything was controlled by the Baron even back then. It's not a place I'd suggest going to unless we have no other options."

Simon strokes his chin quietly.

"That's Ebonshear? On the map, it says Ralfin."

"Aye, that was its name before the current Baron came into power and renamed the city. This map was my grandfather's, so things are a little outdated."

"Ah, well, regardless, this is actually good news for us."

Kuro's eyebrows tilted upwards once again.

"How is this good news?"

Simon smiles slyly.

"Because Ebonshear is where the other beastmen tribes were taken after they were captured." Simon pauses for a moment to study Kuro's reaction.

Good.

"Kuro, how are the villagers acting skills?"

Something about the smile Simon is giving him causes his head to ache.

Maybe he should have kept drinking after all.

 

Chapter 20 - Slave Training

Kuro's Village - Mess Hall - Two Days Later

Ten elderly men were standing in a line side by side. In front of them, a man clad in black and red armor was quietly observing each of them.

"So, I just want to confirm this before we proceed any further. None of you have any remaining relatives or children you are looking after left in the village, correct?"

All of the men in front of Simon nodded their heads gravely.

According to Kuro, all of the men present had what family members they had left either die due to starvation or were considered lost after they went off alone searching for food.

Simon quietly walked down the line, staring into each of the man's stern eyes as he went. As if measuring their resolve. None of the men so much as blinked. He returned to his prior position in front of the group and nodded his head, satisfied.

"I have seen your resolve, but resolve alone will not be enough. For us to succeed, you must be willing to set aside your pride without a moment's hesitation."

He paused for a moment to study the men's reactions before continuing.

"Kneel."

All at once, the elderly men went down on one knee and kneeled before Simon.

"Bow."

One of the men hesitated but only briefly before bowing his head lower than the rest, as if in an attempt to redeem himself.

Simon stared directly at the man and nodded his head one before approaching him. Without warning, Simon's foot pressed against the man's head and forced his face into the dirt.

No reaction. Good.

Simon lifted his boot from the man's head before presenting the sole to him.

"Your mangy hair has gone and gotten my boot all dirty." He turned his head to face the entire group.

"All of you, lick it clean."

The man who had been stepped on earlier began immediately. The others watched on for a moment before nodding their heads and starting to lick.

The sight of the elderly men on their knees licking his boots clean was deeply unsettling for Simon, but he continued regardless.

The clenching of teeth and a few gasps could be heard from behind him, where several of the villagers were currently watching the scene play out.

"Hmm...Good enough." Simon lightly kicked one of the men away and sent him sliding across the ground. "Now, what do you say?"

"""Thank you, master."""

Simon clenched his back teeth and smiled at the reply.

"You're welcome. You there, go get me a cup of tea. The rest of you, strip. I want to watch you roll around in the dirt like the disgusting beasts you are."

He wasn't sure what to expect when they arrived in Ebonshear. Thus, Simon decided to prepare the elderly men as best as he could.

One of the villagers in the back mumbled something along the lines of 'damned monkra' as they watched the elderly men roll around naked in the dirt, but Simon paid them no heed. They were right, after all.

The elderly man sent to retrieve tea arrived shortly after and only received a slap across the face as a reply after Simon took the teacup from his hands.

"What? No chair? What are you, an idiot? No, wait, you're a lame 'Wolfen' after all. I guess I should have expected this. Get on all fours. I'll use your back in the missing chair's place, although I doubt you'll be even half as useful as a rickety chair would be."

The elderly man nodded once and promptly got on all fours, presenting his aged back to Simon.

If I sit on him normally, he'll die. Chair Squats it is, then.

Simon sighed and sat down on the man's back while keeping most of his weight on his legs. Despite only a fraction of his weight being pressed against the elderly man's back, he let out a quiet groan as beads of sweat formed on his brow. Simon wiggled around like he was trying to find a comfortable position. He used the chance to further reduce the burden on the elderly man's back to the point where the villagers standing behind him would see the air gap between them if the man bent down even slightly.

Simon quietly sipped his tea while sitting on the man and observing the sight in front of him, a forced smile plastered on his face.

I can't wait until this whole mess is over.

Several minutes passed before he stood up from his seated position.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Go ahead and get dressed. We'll be leaving shortly."

The man that had been Simon's chair collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.

Good job, everyone.

Simon kept that last statement to himself as he left the panting man behind and exited the building.

---

"Ugh. Did you see that damned grin across his face when he sat down on Kuritn?"

"Yeah, I almost tried to charge at him when he did that."

"You damn fool, you DID charge at him. The only reason you didn't reach him was that I stopped you. Although if that damned grin had lasted any longer, I might have joined you instead."

"Yea, that was hard to watch. Did he really have to go as far as to order them to strip? Wasn't telling them to kneel enough?"

"Aye, I think he went too far."

Another voice appears behind the four gossiping men.

"I think he kept going because he was enjoying it. I mean, did you see the way he ground down on Kuritn? What kind of sick monkra does that?"

Suddenly the man fell to the ground, hard. Before him stood Kuritn with an outstretched fist, still panting.

"Do you really fucking believe that? He wasn't even fucking sitting on me at the end. He kept all his damned weight on his legs."

One by one, the other selected men crowded around Kuritn, clearly sharing the same opinion as him.

"I know you couldn't hear it because of how hard of hearing you are, but I could. He was grinding his teeth so loud I thought blood was going to start pouring out on top of me."

Kuro turned to face the remaining four men, his eyes screaming with rage.

"Despite knowing all that, do you still think he was enjoying that? He probably fucking hated it even more than we did."

All at once, the selected men behind Kuritn nodded silently and headed out the door.

 

Chapter 21 - Artoria

Kuro's Village - Village Center

Outside Kuro was standing beside the wagon train in the center of the village. The ten wagons had been stripped of all identifying markings the night before, and the horses had been rebranded with Simon's own sigil that completely covered the previous brand.

Simon had initially wanted to use a simple circle, but Kuro and Kayae had vehemently protested the simple design. The trio had kept arguing long into the night until Kayae asked if Simon really didn't have a sigil he had used before. He finally relented and sketched out the sigil that had previously adorned his long-lost palisade suit.

The sigil consisted of a simple longsword made from four diamond-shaped patterns along with four angelic wings coming out from the crossguard. Two more spread out upwards in the opposite direction.

Simon hadn't designed the sigil himself. Instead, he tasked Artoria with creating it during their early days of fighting together. He wasn't quite sure where she got her inspiration from but knowing her, she most likely got it from some ancient forgotten literature buried deep within the confines of the grand archive.

Simon stopped to stare at the sigil for a moment and allowed his mind to wander, if only for a moment.

Heh, Darlin was always fond of those kinds of stories.

Artoria had initially been a simple virtual artificial intelligence assistant tasked with regulating the various implants and augmentations within S-1_M0-N A1431's body, along with handling the palisade battlesuit.

Over the span of five hundred years, they both developed separate personalities of their own. At first, high command had tried to decommission Artoria when they found out she had achieved self-awareness. High command only rescinded the order after examining the spotless duo's record. Although, Simon likes to think that his less than delicate handling of the commander responsible for requesting her decommissioning had something to do with it.

They eventually unanimously decided that it was better to keep the team together rather than risk losing a valuable asset or, worse, creating a new powerful enemy. The universe was already full of more enemies than humanity could count, after all.

To Simon, Artoria wasn't just his V.A.I.A she was his irreplaceable partner, his friend, and the woman he loved. In his eyes, she was more human than even the humans that surrounded him, a view that would cause no end of issues for the duo in the future.

The only exception to this was Kara Harper, a small red-haired girl they had rescued during the fall of Dallas. Instead of turning her over to the orphanage, Artoria suggested that the two raise the girl as their own. Instead of leaving her behind in some underground complex at the farthest corners of the earth.

Against all odds, the trio lived a relatively happy life while moving from battlefield to battlefield. Between sorties, Artoria would teach Kara science and mathematics in between stories of how the world had been before humanity reached out into the stars. Meanwhile, Simon would go on to teach her leadership skills and how to properly speak to someone of higher standing. Occasionally he snuck in the odd self-defense lesson while Artoria was preoccupied modifying the palisade suit.

Then, upon her sixteenth birthday, everything changed. Kara was forced to enlist in the military.

By this point, humanity had already been on its last legs, and the only reason Kara hadn't been drafted earlier was due to who her 'parents' were. Despite Simon's angry outburst, Kara seemed happy to finally do her part for humanity. She accepted the opportunity gleefully and was admitted to the research division after completing her basic training, much to Artoira's delight. Once Simon had calmed down enough to read the change of station orders along with Kara's new title as Head Researcher of Biology, his sore mood improved dramatically.

Because of her position, Kara would undoubtedly be safely underground, far from the battlefield's front lines, inside an envirodome. Her task would be researching the earth's old vegetation and ways to restore the environment once the war was all over.

A sad smile appeared in his heart, but he refused to show it as he hugged his little girl tightly. Simon knew the day her research would be used would never come. Honestly, everyone did.

The only reason the head researcher of biology position even existed anymore was for the high command to keep morale high while the soldiers above ground died a dog's death.

After all, no one would want to fight in a war they knew that had already been lost before they'd even been born.

Simon was pulled out of his memories by Kuro's hand squeezing his shoulder. Apparently, Kuro had been watching Simon standing around staring at the sigil longingly before his face suddenly twisted into a grimace.

Kuro gave his shoulder another squeeze causing Simon's tired eyes to meet his.

"A woman?"

Simon smiled slightly and nodded.

"A lover?"

Again he nodded as Kuro's smile widened.

"Was she good?"

Simon laughed softly at Kuro's stupidly grinning face before replying.

"Darlin was the best."

The two men stood smiling at each other in the middle of the village while a quiet pair of crimson-furred ears twitched about wildly behind one of the nearby wagons.

 

Chapter 22 - A Bad Day to Quit Drinkin

Kuro's Village - Village Center

Kuro sighed deeply as he watched the elderly men climb into the driver's seat of the ten prepared wagons and shook his head.

I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be enslaving my own people, even if only temporarily.

Kuro looked down at his shaking hands and focused on the long black chain capped with a collar in them.

Suddenly Simon's hand appeared behind him and steadied his shoulder.

"You don't have to do this. I can do it, you know."

Kuro shook his head grimly.

"No. I have to at least do this much. You're not even of this village, and yet here you are doing so much. I can't let you shoulder all of our burdens. Not because I'm the village elder, but because I simply can't let you do it."

Simon nodded and quietly walked to the forward wagon before stopping to turn around.

"Aye, Today certainly was a bad day to quit drinking."

Kuro suddenly gripped the chain in his hand tightly and lifted his head, screaming.

"And whose fuckin fault was that, you little shit?"

Simon chuckled quietly beneath his sad smile at Kuro's outburst.

"Ah, sorry about that. I guess it is sort of my fault."

"Sort of?!"

Last night after Kuro had gone to bed, Simon and Kayae had snuck around his house and removed all the liquor they found inside. After that, the criminal duo had knocked on Kaxerita's door. She was a nice elderly woman Kuro was secretly sweet on. They went on to tell her about Kuro's recently developed drinking problem and handed her the alcohol.

Apparently, Kuro had found out about the duo's late-night activities after one of the villagers noticed the sound coming from his frantic searching and informed him of the situation. He had been...quite livid when he found Simon standing around outside the mess hall earlier. He thought he had seen Kayae with Simon, but she had seemingly disappeared by the time he reached Simon. Neither man had seen her since.

Suddenly a womanly voice shouted from inside Kuro's house.

"Kuro! You better not be drinking again!"

Kuro's angry red face suddenly went pale as his shoulders shot up.

"O-Of course not. N-Not that I could anyway."

Simon suppressed a chuckle and breathed in deeply to stop himself from laughing. He couldn't do much about the smile, though.

"Alright then, hurry up then and stop bothering Simon already. My shoulders are starting to ache again."

Simon couldn't suppress his laughter anymore and let it out all at once. Kuro's face reddened again, only for his focus to shift as he heard a bell-like snicker coming from inside one of the already loaded barrels.

The laugher stopped instantly as both men approached the still snickering barrel.

Simon gave Kuro one look, and Kuro nodded his head, readying the collar in his hand.

Suddenly the barrel's lid was ripped off, and Kayae was pulled out by the scruff of her neck. The second her tiny feet touched the ground, Kuro slapped the collar across her neck and quickly clicked the lock closed before handing the chain to Simon.

"You deal with her. I've got other things to attend to."

Kuro left the stunned Simon and Kayae behind as he went along the wagon train's entire length and shackled the waiting elderly men to the driver's seat with a long black chain. He gave the stunned duo a final wave with his back turned as he entered his house and slammed the door.

Simon looked down at the stunned girl beneath him and quietly shook his head with a sigh.

A bad day to quit drinking, Indeed.

 

Chapter 23 - Departure

Kuro's Village - Village Center

"Kayae, I have to ask. Just what did you expect to happen when you sunk in that barrel?"

Simon gave Kayae an exasperated sigh. She was sitting beside him on the driver's bench of the lead wagon. At the same time, the nearby villagers went over the goods and supplies they were planning on taking with them to Ebonshear. The wagon train was currently being loaded with a week's worth of food and water along with large quantities of arms and armor stripped from the mercenaries. The items had been put through a refurbishing process headed by Simon before their organization and careful packing.

During the exhaustive refurbishing process, any markings that might have been able to identify where they had come from had been removed. Any items that could not be repaired or adequately cleaned had been destroyed. Buried in the mass grave along with the corpses. Some of the villagers had raised complaints about this process. Their complaints were quickly silenced by a glare from Simon. It was clear to everyone present that he wasn't taking any chances.

In addition to the refurbished arms and armor, 1200 gold coins along with a smaller amount of copper and silver coins had been loaded onto the lead wagon with Simon. 600 coins had been collected from what had been the commander's personal stash while the remainder was recovered from the bodies and supplies. The large sum of currency made Kuro nervous, and he had immediately summoned Simon to his house to collect them. He trusted the villagers not to steal them, but that large sum was far too tempting to leave unguarded even in his quiet little village.

Beside him, Kayae remained silent, merely staring at the long black chain running between her feet. Simon shook his head slightly and removed the collar around her neck. This action finally caused a reaction from the girl, and she quickly tried to refasten the collar.

"I-I want to go too."

Her response prompted another sigh.

Even if I leave her behind with Kuro, she's probably just going to slip away and chase after me.

Simon shook his head and tossed the collar and chain back into the wagon before speaking.

"Fine. But you must do exactly as I say immediately when I say to do it. Do you understand?"

Kayae nodded her head and replied excitedly, "Aye!" only to receive a light slap across her face.

"Aye, what?"

The small girl looked up at him in tears and saw his cold stare before replying softly. "Y-Yes, Master."

Simon smiled briefly and stroked the girl's ears before hopping off the wagon.

"At this moment, I am no longer Simon. I am your Master. Anyone who refuses to address me as such or forgets from this point on shall be punished severely. I am not your friend. I am your owner and your Master. To me, you all are simply a means to an end. Do NOT forget that."

With his final speech complete and the supplies loaded, Simon promptly boarded the lead wagon and ushed the train forwards.

---

Gashrian Planes - Dusk - Two Days Later

The wagon train had made comparatively great progress today after reaching the main road connecting Ebonshear to the Kingdom's border outpost in the morning. The first day of the journey had been nothing short of a nightmare. As the village was not connected to the main road, the convoy was forced to travel through uneven terrain-covered wet splotches from the night before. Several wagons had become stuck in the mud, and Simon had been forced to push along with the horses to free them. At first, he had tasked the villagers-cum-slaves with the task, but it quickly became apparent that they simply didn't have the strength required to free the sunken back wheels. Generally, in this situation, one would be forced to unload the supplies to lighten the load and try again.

If the wagon still couldn't be freed even after all that, the average merchant would have to abandon the wagon and transfer what supplies they could carry onto the other wagons. They would then be forced to leave a guard behind to retrieve the wagon and supplies later with more men. As the convoy had no guards, nor could Simon's party afford to abandon a wagon, he had instead opted to drop appearances for a moment and free the wagon himself. All of the elderly men had looked at the sight of him lifting the wagon by himself in amazement. While Kayae was quietly cheering him on from inside the wagon.

"Driver, stop on the hill just off of the road over there."

Simon uses his free hand to point at the nearby hill while his other hand is tightly gripping a torch.

It's still following us.

He had noticed an odd presence out of the corner of his eye. Despite focusing on his vision numerous times, he could not catch a clear image of the presence. The enigma had started following the caravan shortly after they crossed over a small bridge five hours. It had kept making regular appearances just out of view ever since.

"Girl, inform the other drivers to create an encirclement and light whatever torches they can find. Tell them to stake the torches into the ground outside the circle and then build a large fire in the center using whatever they can find that will burn. Go."

True to her word, Kayae nodded her head once and promptly vaulted off the side of the wagon, nibbling, landing on her feet before breaking out into a run. Shortly after, the wagon train started to form a defensive circle and was surrounded by a sea of torches.

Now then.

A sly smile spread across Simon's lips as he turned to the driver beside him and handed over a sizable black key.

"Kuritn, see to the rest of the drivers. I'm going to go deal with an uninvited guest."

"Yes, Master."

Kuritn bowed his head slightly before removing his own chain with the key. Then, he slowly lowered himself from the driver's seat in a much less impressive fashion than Kayae had.

---

Kricket, Kricket, Kricket.

The various sounds of nature could be heard all around him as Simon made his way quietly across the planes shrouded by darkness. Thankfully the moon was barely visible in a sky filled with dark clouds. Usually, one would struggle to even see their hand in front of their face in this pitch-black darkness. But he was far from normal.

'felius oculus'

A brief spike of pain appeared between Simon's eyes as he waited for a moment for the process to finish before confirming its effects.

Good.

The dark world in front of him suddenly became a sea of grass covered in a heavy bluish tint. Simon's command caused the millions of nanites present with his body to rearrange his internal eye structure on a cellular level. The process worked by breaking down the insides of one's eye and installing a tapetum while also changing the shape of his pupils to have a more cat-like appearance. It was a special command Artoria had developed just for Simon. According to her, the changing of the pupil's shape had no discernible effect on the eye's performance. Still, she had enjoyed his reaction the first time Simon had seen himself in the mirror while under its effects. Thus she decided to keep the additional effect, much to his annoyance.

Simon shook his head quietly. She really did enjoy doing whatever the hell she wanted, didn't she?

The effect would be reverted when the command was reissued. Still, due to the risk of cellular degradation, it shouldn't be used more than once in a 24 hour period. If used again, the user might be rendered temporarily blind for several minutes while the nanites frantically tried to repair the damage. But, of course, in the heat of battle, something like that was unacceptable, so Simon always tried to follow his partner's advice.

Suddenly an object appeared in his vision, dashing quickly from bush to bush, moving swiftly in the direction of the nearby wagon train. Simon smiled to himself as the object that had been stalking him came into clear view. It was a four-legged creature covered in thick mangy fur, complete with a set of yellow eyes that glowed brightly in contrast to the blue light surrounding them.

A wolf?

Simon sprang up from his hiding place in the tall grass and chased after the wolf. The furred creature turned its head in his direction and instantly increased its speed. A hint of fear was present in its eyes. The image of Simon's glowing eyes and bared teeth as he smiled could be seen reflecting on their surface. The hunter had now become the hunted. The wolf's frantic dash accelerated as it neared the encampment, soon the image of the black-furred wolves came into clear view, followed closely behind by Simon's glowing eyes.

Several of the drivers grabbed flaming logs from the nearby fire as the duo breached the defensive line. Simon's body lunged forward, striking the wolf with his fist, sending it rolling across the ground as a high-pitched scream of pain escaped its open jaws. He quickly closed the distance and grabbed the wolf by the neck, clearly intending to break it before the image of Kayae's crimson hair obscured his vision.

"Simon! Stop!"

Kayae's bell-like voice echoed across the plane as she screamed loudly. Simon tilted his head to the side, still gripping the struggling wolf's neck tightly. Nearby the villagers that had grabbed the flaming logs had quietly remained standing around them in a circle, stunned by the sight in front of them. Simon turned his gaze downwards and saw the flickering image of a small child struggling in his grasp between the distorted image of a black wolf. The child's legs suddenly went limp, and the wolf's image completely disappeared, leaving only the child behind.

"What the fuck?"

Simon couldn't hide his astonishment and briefly shifted back into SML before quickly releasing his grip. The small child opened its eyes before quickly hiding behind the nearby Kayae, who was holding her arms out wide in a T pose.

"She's not a wolf! She is a Yama-inu! She's my friend!"

Several of the villagers let out audible gasps at the declaration while Simon simply stood there dumbfounded at the strange turn of events.

"A Yama what?"

"She's a Yama-inu. A type of spirit that disguises itself as a canine or a wolf."

Kayae lowered her voice and breathed a sigh of relief as Simon's face softened before turning around and hugging the shaking spirit-child tightly.

"What are you doing here? I thought you stayed behind in the village!"

Suavi, the apparent Yama-inu, buried her face into Kayae's small chest with tear-filled eyes.

"I-i was, b-but I saw you get shackled by that old man and beaten b-by that THING before you left." Suavi's pale blue eyes glowed brightly in Simon's direction as she stared at him, her expression a mixture of terror, disgust, and unfaltering rage.

"Y-You have to run!" Suavi shot to her feet and tried to drag Kayae off before speaking again. "You all have to run! T-That thing isn't normal. I-It's an unholy abomination!"

Simon stepped in front of the hysterical spirit and gripped her wrist with enough force one could swear they heard bones cracking.

"Let go of Kayae. You're hurting her."

Suavi stared up at Simon's blank face and fell to her knees, releasing her grip as she passed out from fear. Simon caught the small girl before she completely hit the ground with his free hand and was quite surprised by her weight.

She weighs almost nothing?

Kayae quickly grabbed one of Simon's arms and tried to pull him away from the collapsed girl.

"Simon, please! Let her go! She's just scared!"

He ignored Kayae's frantic cries and picked up the light spirit's body, and carried her over to one of the prepared sleeping spots by the fire.

"Sorry, Kuritn. Looks like you'll have to prepare another spot for yourself."

Kuritn, who had recovered from the ordeal faster than the rest, simply nodded his head before replying, "Yes, Master." and walking off towards a wagon. Meanwhile, Simon tucked the unconscious Suavi into the sleeping bag before turning towards Kayae with disappointed eyes.

"Explain. Now."

All eyes in the encampment remained focused on the two figures before they disappeared behind the lead wagon's canopy.

 

Chapter 24 - Suavi

Gashrian Planes - Night

Simon sat indian-style on the wagon's floor with his arms crossed. His cat-like eyes never left Kayae's trembling face.

"S-sorry"

Kayae replied meekly between her chattering teeth. Her response caused Simon to speak in a booming tone one would expect a father to speak in after finding out their child had disobeyed a direct order to not play with matches and, as a result burned down the shed.

"I asked you to explain. Not to apologize. So, explain!"

Kayae's ears flattened against her down-turned head as she began to speak.

"I-I'll start at the beginning. T-things will make more sense that way."

Simon quietly nodded his head without breaking eye contact.

"I first met Suavi in the forest eight years ago. I had gone with my mother to search for berries and the like near the treeline that divided the planes and the forest."

Kayae's pale cheeks redden slightly as she recalled the memory.

"I-I wasn't as obedient as I am now back then."

Simon can't suppress his emotions and rolls his eyes before scoffing loudly as he recalls her past actions, causing Kayae to flinch slightly.

"You're obedient now?"

"M-More so now than then, I guess."

Simon sighs loudly before uncrossing his arms upon seeing Kayae's tearful expression.

Darlin would laugh if she could see me now. He really had become soft over the years.

He shakes his head and picks up the tearful, and places her in his lap after dangling his legs off the wagon's side. Kayae was startled at first but quickly recovers and buries her face in Simon's chest, sobbing softly. He remains silent for a few moments while stroking the girl's ears. Eventually, her tears subside, and she lifts her head up. Simon smiles softly before retrieving a cloth from his pocket and wiping away her tears. Kayae smiles brightly at the gesture before burying her face back in his chest.

"I am sorry. I wanted to tell you, Kuro, or my mother about Suavi, but I made a promise to keep her a secret."

Simon nods his head, pulling her small frame closer to his chest.

"So, you were keeping a promise to your friend all this time. I understand, but It's too late now."

She nods her head slightly.

"I know."

Slowly, she begins to speak again.

Kayae had entered the forest with her mother to search for berries. Despite being told to follow close behind her mother, the young girl quickly became distracted. She chased after a brightly colored bird that had caught her attention. By the time Kayae had lost sight of it, she could no longer hear her mother's voice and found herself lost deep in the heart of the forest.

Night fell quickly during that time of year, and soon the small girl was surrounded by glowing eyes. Kayae quickly hid in the roots of a nearby tree only to rush out screaming when a large creature brushed against her leg. After that, she kept running for hours through the forest despite her small stature. Eventually, she collapsed from exhaustion in the middle of a small clearing encircled by white flowers.

She was tired, hungry, and cold.

The small six-year-old girl curled herself tightly into a ball and cried herself to sleep. Kayae was awoken by the tongue of a small dog licking her face. The sun had already risen, and her stomach grumbled from hunger. She thought she could see a smile on the dog's face and was shocked when the small dog rolled over a large fruit to her with its nose before sitting down at her feet, staring up at her as if ushering her to eat the fruit. Kayae's stomach grumbled again, and she relented, picked up the fruit, and quickly inhaled its contents. A soft laugh echoes out through the clearing, causing her ears to shoot up, but only the tiny dog remained when she looked up to try and find the source.

Over the next few hours, the small girl and the dog formed a bond. They remained in the clearing playing together, and when night fell, the small dog watched over her softly breathing body. Once again, she was awoken by the sensation of gentle licks. When Kayae opened her eyes, a small pile of fruit was in front of her. She quickly consumed the fruit greedily before tackling the small dog in delight. The process repeated itself for 5 days. During the day, the two would play various games together. At night, the dog would watch over her, and in the morning, she would be awoken with multiple fruits. Then, on the eve of the eighth day since their meeting, it started to rain.

Suddenly the once while flowers surrounding the grove started to darken and wilt. Kayae watched the strange sight, eyes filled with wonder. She soon turned around to show her new friend the strange event but stopped before she could speak. In front of her was the same small dog looking at her longingly as its form started to change shape. Kayae looked on in horror as a black mist enveloped the dog, and in its place, a small girl appeared. Neither of the two said anything and just stared at each other, waiting for one of them to make the first move.

Kayae summoned all of her remaining courage and reached her hand out, gently stroking the strange girl's hair in the same manner she had the small dog. The strange girl smiled happily before hugging Kayae tightly. She was startled at first but soon returned the embrace and hugged her happily. The peculiar girl explained that she was a Yama-inu, a spirit, and bound to the fairy ring surrounding the clearing.

According to the spirit, her powers greatly diminish when the flowers of the fairy ring wilt during the rain. That was why she could no longer maintain her previous form and was forced to revert to her true form. Of course, Kayae, being the kind girl that she was, only understood half of what the spirit was telling her, but she understood enough to realize that her friend was trapped here.

Kayae released a barrage of questions directed at the spirit. Despite asking what things meant several times, the two eventually reached a mutual understanding as the sun rose overhead. The spirit went on to ask her own barrage of questions, mainly consisting of where Kayae was from and what life was like outside of the fairy ring. Kayae went on to tell her about the village, the grassy plains, and the sweets her mother would make once a year with the berries from the forest.

Suddenly something dawned on the small girl, and she began to panic. The spirit asked her what was wrong. Kayae quickly explained about how she had been picking berries with her mother in the forest, the colorful bird, and about how she had gotten lost days earlier.

For a moment, the spirit remained quiet before explaining that the bird she saw was a Hercinia, a bird-like spirit with bright feathers. They like to lure away small children and lead them deeper into the forest before vanishing from sight. The spirit's expression shifts into a frown as she explains before commenting, 'They really are despicable creatures.' and shakes her head. The odd sight caused Kayae to giggle lightly, much to the spirit's annoyance. However, she was soon tackled to the ground and tickled mercilessly until she peed herself, signaling the end of the amusing torture.

Simon smiled to himself when Kayae recalled that event.

I'll have to remember that.

Kayae noticed his grin and quickly hid her bright red face from sight in his chest before continuing.

Once she had recovered from the ordeal, the spirit offered her a deal. In exchange for giving the spirit a name and keeping her existence a secret, she would lead the small girl out of the forest and back to her village. She explained that once a spirit was given a name, it would be freed from the fairy ring's confines.

Kayae was delighted at the thought of releasing her friend and quickly gave the spirit a name before she could finish explaining. She was given the name Suavi, the name her father had apparently called her mother when they were younger, meaning 'Sweetheart' in the old language used by the tribe.

Suavi was stunned by suddenly being given a name but quickly became enraged and screamed at the girl. Apparently, giving a spirit a name was not something to be done lightly. In exchange for a name, the spirit and the namer would become bound together for as long as the namer lived. Once the namer died, so too would the spirit. In addition, the namer's life would be prolonged, causing them to age and grow far slower than normal.

In other words, Kayae's small stature is a result of the pact she made with Suavi.

Simon breathed a quiet sigh of relief at the fact that the small girl hadn't been starved in her childhood and continued listening.

After finishing her rant, Kayae had been in tears from being yelled at, causing Suavi to sigh loudly before hugging the crying girl tightly until she calmed down. Simon felt a newfound kinship form between him and the sleeping spirit nearby. Once Kayae had calmed down, Suavi kept up her end of the bargain and led her through the forest and back to the village.

The journey took three long days before they managed to reach the forest's edge. Afterward, Suavi shifted back into a small dog's shape and led the small Kayae back into the village. Her appearance after so long was quite a surprise.

Kayae's mother had dropped the bucket of water she was holding and barged out of her house screaming before hugging her thought to be lost daughter tightly. Kuro appeared shortly after from the forest, along with the search party sent in to find her. Thankfully none of the search party members had been hurt, but they had been forced to return after running out of supplies.

Kuro was understandably shocked to find Kayae safely in her mother's arms upon his return. A massive celebration to be held in Lady Pegasus's honor was arranged quickly. Mistakenly believing that the strange turn of events had been a miracle bestowed upon the village by their patron god.

True to her word, Kayae didn't tell anyone about how she returned from the forest or the new friend she had made there. Suavi had disappeared during the commotion but regularly appeared to play with Kayae when either one of them had free time to spare. As time went on, Kayae became busy and busier until she rarely had time to play with her friend. Finally, Suavi understood and happily decided to keep watch over the village. Then one day, Kayae's mother left to search for food and never returned.

Simon's face shifted into a grimace, clearly knowing how this next part would end.

Just as he had imagined, Suavi went to look for Kayae's mother after she failed to return at the request of the worried girl. According to Suavi, she had managed to eventually track down her mother. Still, by this point, she had already been captured by the mercenaries-cum-bandits. Suavi decided to return to the village and seek assistance, but she was slowed by the train. By the time she arrived, Simon had already returned with the women. Suavi witnessed the crying Kayae in Simon's arms. Then one day, Suavi appeared before Kayae and tried to take her away from the village, claiming that a great evil had descended upon it, but she refused to leave. Seeing that her friend would not heed her advice, Suavi left.

"A-and that was the last time I saw her."

Simon sat quietly with Kayae in his arms, staring at the small sleeping figure of Suavi, firelight reflecting brightly off his eyes.

 

Chapter 25 - Monster - Part 1

Gashrian Planes - Dawn

Simon sat alone in the carriage, sipping tea quietly with his eyes closed.

"We need to talk, Suavi."

The hair on the back of Suavi stood on end.

"Y-You noticed me? H-How? Wait, you know my name?"

Simon shook his head, took another sip of tea, and gently set the cup down before opening his eyes and speaking in a stern tone while patting the bench beside him.

"Sit."

Suavi shivers slightly before his piercing gaze and looks over towards the still sleeping Kayae by the firepit.

"Fine."

Suavi pouts loudly before sitting down and watches as Simon produces another teacup and quickly fills it with tea before handing it to her.

"Drink."

Suavi's pale blue eyes glow brightly as she stares into the tea. Simon watches on unmoving.

Checking for poison? But how?

"Hump. I'm honestly surprised it's not poisoned."

Suavi rolls her eyes and stares in the opposite direction before jumping up slightly, startled by Simon's sudden fit of laughter.

"Poison? Do you really think I would need poison to kill someone like you?"

Suavi faces Simon with wide eyes. A cruel grin that shows off his teeth is spread across his face.

"You really are a monster."

Simon rubs his beard, "I am what the world needed me to be. Nothing more, nothing less."

Suavi shakes her head with eyes wide open, "W-What kind of world needs a monster like you?"

Simon spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, gazing into his cup, "A world filled with monsters far worse than me. A world I failed to protect."

"A world you failed to protect? Not even an abomination like you could protect it?" Suavi stared down at her tea and gazed into her own reflection.

"What do you see when you look at me?"

"Everything."

Simon finally lifted his head and stared at the small girl beside him.

"Everything?"

Suavi nodded her head, "Everything. Lust, Gluttony, and Greed. Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. Acedia and Vainglory, I see them all within you. Everything a soul is supposed to resist, yet you cling to them, draw strength from them. I see the souls of those you've slain crying out in agony swirling around you. I see their last moments, the terror in their eyes, the horrible ways they died, and the regrets they carry. I also see a gaping wound in your heart and an inescapable void where your soul should be."

Simon nods his head silently while staring down at the cup in his hand with a sad smile.

"So, that's why you call me a monster."

"What else could you be?"

"A soldier."

"Liar. I've seen soldiers. None of them are as abominable as you."

"Maybe. They haven't seen the things I've seen. They haven't been forced to do the things I've done."

"Liar."

Simon looks up from his cup and stares into Suavi's eyes.

"You say you can see the souls of those I've killed surrounding me. How many do you see?"

One of Suavi's eyebrows lifts upwards as her eyes start to glow. "One hundred, no, maybe two hundred." Her shoulders droop slightly before Simon gently squeezes her shoulder.

"That's enough. You can stop. I've already found out what I needed to know."

The glow in Suavi's eyes dissipates as she returns to the world of the living.

The spirit tilts her head to the side, "What did you need to know?"

"You call me a liar, but I could do the same. You claim you can see everything with your eyes, but you can't even see the surface."

Simon's hand shoots out to stop Suavi as her eyes start to glow brighter than before. He doesn't make it. Suddenly Suavi falls off the carriage and hits the ground hard, convulsing uncontrollably. Vomit escapes from her mouth as urine pools between her legs. Kuritn starts to rush over to the fallen girl, but a raised hand from Simon stops him in his tracks. After giving a slight bow, Kuritn returns to his station and continues preparing breakfast for the convoy. Simon hops down off the wagon and scoops the shaking girl into his arms before returning inside the wagon.

"I tried to stop you," Simon says between closed eyes.

Suavi remains unresponsive with her eyes wide open. Slowly Simon closes the girl's eyes and gently strokes her short blue hair.

Before long, Kuritn comes to the wagon and delivers two portions of breakfast. Simon uses this moment to order him to keep Kayae far away from the wagon when she awakens. No matter what she says or does. The elderly man's eyes peer at the blue-haired girl in his arms, and he nods his head once before departing. Shortly after, the predicted scene plays out as Kayae awakens only to be forcibly dragged off by Kuritn and the other men. Simon briefly peers out of the wagon and sees a depressed Kayae quietly eating her meal with the rest of the men.

Simon looks down at the girl clutching the sleeve of his coat tightly.

"Are you awake?"

Suavi nods her head quietly while burying her face in his chest.

"Do not look at me with those eyes again. Do you understand?"

Again she nods before speaking in a fearful voice.

"W-What were those things?"

Simon closes his eyes and shakes his head while squeezing Suavi tightly.

Ah, She saw them.

"I don't know. Monster, demon, devil, cosmic horrors conceived by the darkest night, we called them many things. None of the names seemed to aptly describe what they are."

"Y-you fought those things. Entire seas, oceans of them. Alone and you won."

"I wasn't alone and that was no victory."

"But you were in the end. You stood alone against that foul tide until they swallowed you. Yet you returned."

Simon shakes his head, recalling the event she had seen. The fall of Saturn.

Saturn - Orbital Habitation Ring - City 7 - 3142 AD

"Sir! How the fuck did they get here?! Why isn't the defense grid firing at them?!"

"I don't fucking know! Just shut up and keep firing! Echo Squad, move those damned turrets and cover the evac shuttles!"

A giant blast knocks Simon to the ground, struggling to his feet with ears ringing. He slowly looks to the side and watches as darkness consumes one of the nearby soldiers. Long black tendrils reach into the sky from the soldier's mouth as he tries to scram in horror before dissolving from the inside out. All that remains is a puddle of black liquid that turns the ground around it into jagged black rocks.

Suddenly a man is shaking his shoulder, and Simon turns to face him.

He's speaking?

'Artoria, what is he saying?'

A low muffled sound echoes inside his head.

'Artoria? I can't hear you.'

Again the muffled sound appears. He turns his head back towards the man holding his shoulder and notices him pointing towards the orbital defense guns off in the distance. They had become blackened and charred, slowly turning into mist.

'Ah. They destroyed the orbital defense grid.'

"-mon! We've got to move!"

"Artoria! What the hell is going on with him! We can't stay here!"

"I don't know! I've already repaired the damage caused by the blast!"

"Gods damn it, snap the fuck out of it already, Simon!"

Abraham delivers a powerful slap across Simon's face, bringing him back to his senses.

"Abraham, Gather the remaining squads. Jack, Quincey, go with him. Now. We'll regroup outside the civilian evacuation point."

"Sir!" Abraham gives Simon a quick salute and dashes off across the city-turned battlefield.

"Simon turns towards the only remaining man beside him, "Arthur, How the fuck did they get past the defense grid on Jupiter?"

"Sir, According to the communications team, we received a report of their arrival in the solar system from the outpost on Pluto three hours ago."

"Three hours ago?! Why the hell wasn't anyone told!"

"Sir! The message was in Russian morse code. Command believes the operator responsible for sending the message panicked and didn't have time to translate it into English before the outpost was destroyed. It took some time to find someone capable of translating the report!"

Simon slams his fist down on a nearby metal crate, crushing it instantly. "This kind of thing is exactly what General Ironwood said would happen! We aren't divided by countries anymore! We need a standardized language already!"

"Agreed, Sir. But now's not the time for this!"

Simon nods his head while checking his rifle.

"Aye, It's not. Artoria, Have the comms relays been destroyed yet?"

"Yes, They went down when the defense grid was hit."

"Fucking idiots. If we survive this, I'm going to rip the heart out of whoever decided to place the comms relays next to the guns. Arthur, since the comms are toast, go find General Ironwood. Last I heard, he was still in command bunker alpha. Tell him what happened and get him on a shuttle, alive. I don't care if you have to drag that bastard onto it or if you have to knock him out. Get it done."

"Sir!" Arthur salutes and runs off in the direction of the command bunker. Meanwhile, Simon heads towards the rally point by the evac shuttles.

'How is the evacuation going?'

'The last report I was able to access showed that roughly 12% of the population has managed to escape the city. No word from cities 3-6. It's likely they were wiped out before they could even react.'

'Shit. Please tell me High Command at least ordered a full-scale evacuation, not just some bullshit half measure order like relocating the civilians to city 1.'

Silence.

'Artoria.'

'All remaining forces have been ordered to regroup at city 1 and hold the position at all costs. All evacuation shuttles are to head towards city 1. According to High Command, reinforcements from earth and mars are on the way.'

'Reinforcements? They have no fucking idea what we are dealing with. We'll be long dead before those ships even reach fucking orbit.' Simon shakes his head as he arrives at the rally point.

"Abraham, Status report!"

"30 shuttles have already been launched! Jack and Quincy are on the way back with another group of survivors as we speak."

"Have you seen Arthur or General Ironwood yet?"

"No, Sir. Are they heading here?"

"Yes. Have a shuttle prepared for them immediately. I want the general off this fucking ring the second they arrive."

"Understood!"

"Now then." Simon stares out atop the severely damaged boundary wall protecting the evacuation point. "All units, Hold the line. Not one of these bastards gets past us while we draw breath. The civis didn't sign up for this. We did. If anyone tries to run and board a shuttle." A single shot reverberates across the evac site as a feeling soldier collapses onto the ground. "I'll kill you myself."

--- 10 Minutes later ---

"Lieutenant!"

Simon turns to the person shouting at him from below the wall and swiftly jumps off, landing in front of him and giving a quick salute. "Sir!"

"Cut the bullshit! We don't have time for that. The city is lost. Get those men on shuttles already!"

Simon shakes his head once, "Sir, Please rescind the order to relocate to City 1. We have to retreat."

General Ironwood's face fills with rage as he shouts, "No shit! I already have! If we make it out of this mess, I'm going to execute the fools responsible for issuing that order!"

Simon salutes sharply between bared teeth, "Sir, requesting permission to assist in the execution."

General Ironwood laughs loudly, "Granted. Now let's get the hell o-"

A large object smashes against the nearby wall causing it to collapse, crushing everyone on top and below.

"You can't be fucking serious."

"Simon, that's a -"

Simon, Artoria, and Ironwood all speak at once. "Behemoth."

Simon grabs the General by the neck and hurls him towards a shuttle. Seconds later, the behemoth's front leg strikes him and sends him flying through the air. He manages to land safely by rolling across the ground, but his arm is broken. Arthur starts to run towards him but is stopped by Simon's orders.

"Don't worry about me and go do your fucking job already!"

Arthur turns around and spots General Ironwood already on his feet, running towards the behemoth. Clenching his teeth hard enough for blood to seep from his gums, he nods his head and throws the kicking and screaming general to the ground. Jack and Quincy arrive quickly and help suppress the large man, followed by Abraham and a squad of soldiers. The General breaks away from them three times before one of the men eventually knocks the general unconscious and loads him onto the last remaining shuttle.

Simon can see the quiet gaze of his men through the shuttle's window as they disappear across the horizon. He wipes the blood from his mouth with his remaining good arm and reaches for his sidearm before charging at the behemoth head-on.

 

Chapter 25 - Monster - Part 2

Saturn - Orbital Habitation Ring - City 1 - Twelve Days Later

Simon is sitting in the middle of a group of surviving soldiers. They were trapped on the roof of a mega-skyscraper, an ocean of monsters surrounds them on all sides. Below them, several dozen behemoths smash their bodies against the building's support, trying to bring it down. One of the men tries to look over the side and is knocked off when a behemoth manages to shatter one of the thousands of support pillars below. His screams could be heard for over a minute.

Simon shook his head and stood up while taking a look at the few men that remained. There had initially been four hundred of them, yet only twelve remained. All of them were cold and starving. Many were suffering from dehydration along with altitude sickness. They had lost three men to the latter yesterday. Their corpses were laid out by the edge. They had stopped breathing in their sleep.

Simon walked over towards the corpses and had Artoria analyze them before tossing one of them over the side. None of the men voiced any complaints, too tired to care. Suddenly Simon ripped off one of the corpse's legs and bit into it with a grimace. He continued chewing the stringy meat for several minutes before tearing off a thigh piece and handing it to one of the starving men.

"These two are safe to eat. So get to it, and drink the blood if you can stomach it. Otherwise, you'll be long dead by the time they realize this tower isn't going to fall and send the flyers instead. Although, to be honest, I'm surprised they haven't already."

--- Four hours later ---

"So, they've finally come. Men, ready yourselves. The Cavalry isn't coming. The only thing that's left for you to rely on is the strength of your arm and the strength of the men beside you. We've come a long way, but it ends here. We are men of the 1431st division. We do not go quietly. We're going to die horribly anyway, might as well return the favor."

'That one actually wasn't that bad, you know. Fumbled the ending, though. You should have stopped with, "We do not go quietly." '

Simon shakes his head at Artoria's words and quietly readies his pistol.

--- Saturn - Artificial Skies above City 1 - X Day's Later ---

"Sir, there's nothing here. Look, none of the structures are even standing anymore."

General Ironwood nods his head with a sigh as he observes the literal mountain of nightmarish corpses leaning against a collapsed megastructure.

"So, that was where it all ended. 'We do not go quietly', indeed."

"Major, make sure to get a picture of this and have it sent to high command. I'm sure they'll manage to spin it into some kind of propaganda for the survivors. Arthur, any word on the enemy's whereabouts?"

"None, sir. As usual, they vanished before we arrived. The only thing they left behind on this damned ring were corpses."

Ironwood nods his head as if expecting as much, "Go ahead and initiate the destruction sequence. If any of those bastards are still alive, let the planet's gravity take them."

"Yes, Sir!" Arthur heads towards the communications equipment and starts giving the order.

"General Ironwood has given the order. Detonate the surviving anti-gravity arrays."

"Sir!" a woman's voice cries out from the sensor array onboard the shuttle. "We've got a reading on the I.F.F. display! It's him!"

All eyes in the shuttle turned towards the shouting girl.

"Where, Captain?"

"At the base of megastructure five! He's outside and heading towards the clearing!"

"You heard her, Warrant Officer! Take us down! Now! Arthur, tell the demo squad to delay that order by ten minutes!"

--- Five Minutes Later ---

As soon as the shuttle's doors opened, dozens of armed men spilled out and quickly secured the area. Behind them, General Ironwood slowly descended the ramp flanked by Arthur, Jack, Quincy, and Abraham. The five of them peered off into the distance as Simon's shambling body came into view and gasped at the sight.

The entire left side of his face was missing, along with his lower jaw. The metallic metal his bones were composed of was clearly showing beneath the tattered remains of the muscles that had once been surrounding them. Millions of nanites frantically tried to repair the damage but fell off and turned to dust as their power ran out, leaving a black trail behind him. One of his arms was missing, torn off from the shoulder, and was being held tightly in the hand of the remaining arm.

"I-is he even alive?" one of the soldiers commented softly.

Soon a robotic voice could be heard coming from the palisade suits marred speakers.

[Warning: Power levels critical. Primary consciousness unresponsive. V.A.I.A. system offline. Structural integrity compromised. E.N.R. Systems failing. Immediate assistance is requested. Warning: Power cells -]

The message continues playing on repeat as the walking corpse nears the shuttle, moved solely by what remains of the palisade's artificial muscle systems. The message changed before he arrived at the shuttle.

[Warning: Power cells depleted. All systems shutting down. Initiating self destruct. Please clear the area immediately.]

An eerie countdown started.

General Ironwood stood stock still for a moment before slapping himself back into reality.

"Don't just fucking stand there! Get the medical team out here already. Stop that fucking countdown! We didn't come all this way just to have him die to some idiotic self-destruct system installed by those fat bastards back on Earth!"

Immediately a team of medical personnel came dashing out of the shuttle. By the time the team managed to halt the countdown, there had barely been seconds left before detonation.

Ironwood let out a sigh of relief once the eerie counting stopped and issued another order.

"Get him loaded up. Now. I want a full diagnostic done immediately and brought to my desk before we reach orbit. Understand?!"

All of the men turned and saluted the general as he walked up the ramp.

---Saturn - Orbit - On route to Earth ---

A datatablet is placed on the small metallic desk.

"I thought I said I wanted this report before we reached orbit.", Ironwood let out a sigh as he observed the report.

Anything that could have been shattered, punctured, ripped, or torn had been. But according to the medical staff, he was still alive. Artoria had been brought back online after emergency maintenance had been performed on Simon's cracked internal power core. According to her, she had been knocked offline when the megastructure collapsed and couldn't tell them how they had managed to make it back alive.

"What about the suit records? Anything on them?"

The captain shook her head, "No sir, As soon as the megastructure collapsed the records became corrupted. The techs are trying but they don't think anything can be recovered."

"Not a single bone in his body remained unbroken?" Ironwood's eyebrow tilted upwards in a familiar manner as he shook his head before looking up at the female officer standing in front of him.

"Captain, have the navigator change course. We're heading to Mars. If we bring him back to Earth in this state, High Command is likely to say he died back on Saturn in a heroic last stand or some shit."

The captain offered a quick salute and left the room.

Ironwood confirmed the door had been closed before pulling a cigar from the drawer and lighting it. "Son, You've really done it this time, haven't you."

--- Present Day ---

"I wasn't alone and that was no victory."

"But you were in the end. You stood alone against that foul tide until they swallowed you. Yet you returned."

"I did. But I still don't know how I did. Maybe it was luck, or maybe..." Simon breaks out into a sad smile and laughs. "Maybe it was God."

Suavi shakes her head while looking up from between his coat.

"That world had no god."

Simon closes his eyes and nods his head quietly.

"Aye. It had no god. Perhaps that was what sealed our fate." A quote from an ancient philosopher comes to mind.

"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"

Suavi stares upwards at him wide-eyed.

"Friedrich Nietzsche. An ancient scholar from Earth. Darlin said that once when we were alone staring at the remains of the last city. At the time, I didn't understand why she quoted that, but now I think I do."

"D-Does Kayae know?"

"No. No one does."

"Why? Why do you keep fighting?"

Simon shakes his head, "Because I'm a soldier. It's what I do."

Suavi finally smiles and laughs softly, "Liar."

Simon looks down at the smiling girl with an eyebrow raised.

"That's not the real reason you keep fighting, is it?"

"I don't understand."

Suavi chuckles softly before pulling close to Simon.

"You keep fighting for those you've lost and for those you can yet save."

Simon pauses for a moment and spots Kayae looking over in his direction with wide eyes.

What is she looking at?

He brings a hand to his eyes and brushes something away before staring at it.

Tears?

"So, even monsters can cry."

Suavi shifts her position in Simon's lap until she's able to softly pat his head like he had been doing her before.

"You've fought this burden alone for your entire life. You've managed to beat it back, but in turn, it beat you too."

"I wasn't alone."

Suavi nods her head while stroking his graying hair.

"The hole in your heart. It's fresh. Did it happen when you arrived here?"

"Yes. When I awoke, she was already gone."

Simon catches her hand and pulls her back down onto his lap.

"How did things turn from me comforting you to you trying to comfort me?" Simon's eyes narrow as he watches the small girl laugh in his lap.

"Fufufu. Of all the questions you could ask, that's the one you choose?"

"You're right. That quote earlier was in old English, yet you understood it. How?"

A sly smile appears across Suavi's face.

"Being a spirit has its perks."

Simon's eyes widened suddenly.

"You learned the language when you looked into my soul."

"That's right, although you don't have a soul, or at least you don't have something that I can recognize as a soul."

Simon's eyebrow tilts upwards, "I don't have a soul? Is it because I was created rather than born?"

Suavi places a finger across her lips in a thinking motion.

"Maybe. Maybe you had one before, but then something happened, and it was replaced with that void. I don't know. Nothing short of a god or at least a god-like spirit would be able to tell you that."

"Does it matter?"

Suavi suddenly hits his chest softly, "Idiot! Of course it matters! If you die, there's no telling what will happen! You may go to the spirit realm, or you may vanish into nothingness for all I know."

Simon smiles widely, "So, nothing has changed. I wasn't planning on dying yet anyway."

Suavi lets out an exasperated sigh while shaking her head, "This isn't a laughing matter you can casually dismiss with one liners and the wave of a hand. I sware how did Artoria deal with you?"

Suddenly, the wagon's temperature dropped, ice began creeping across the surface, and Suavi's eyes activated unconsciously. Above her head, Simon was looking down at her with eyes filled with rage. The void where his soul should have been widened and the anguishing souls surrounding him were pulled in one by one. Each time a soul entered that void, the temperature surrounding her dropped further. Soon she began to shiver, and the porcelain teacups shattered, the tea inside frozen solid.

"Do. Not. Say. Her. Name."

Suavi tried to speak, but nothing came out. The very air in her lungs had frozen, so instead, she meekly nodded her head.

All at once, the temperature in the wagon returned to normal, and she gasped for air. Meanwhile, Simon left the wagon and headed over towards the waiting men.

"We're moving out. Pack up your things. We will reach Ebonshear by nightfall. Understood?"

No one voiced a complaint and merely shook their heads without meeting Simon's icy gaze. Only Kayae had her head raised, clutching her chest tightly as Simon turned on his heel and headed back towards the wagon.

W-What was that?

Suavi stared on, still trying to process the situation as the wagon train rolled onwards.

 

[Content Warning: This chapter may be extremely disturbing for some readers. If you are weak of heart or otherwise easily disturbed by detailed descriptions of human experimentation, I highly recommend you skip this chapter. I'll include an alternate chapter in the table of contents that skips the detailed descriptions and takes place after returning to the present timeline. For the rest of you, you have been warned.]

Chapter 26 - Traitor

Ebonshear Outskirts - Night

Kayae sat quietly against one of the wagon wheels on the interior of the encirclement. Around her, the other slaves were quickly finishing preparations for bed. Kuritn was tending to the cooking fire while Suavi was curled up on her lap, burying her face between her legs. Suavi had refused to say anything about what happened between her and Simon and why the wagon had been covered in ice. Instead, Suavi simply returned to her dog form and jumped into Kayae's arms. She'd been there ever since until they arrived, and she relocated to between the small girl's legs.

Simon sat alone on top of the lead wagon's driver seat, quietly observing the gatehouse barely a kilometer from their current position. They had arrived just after nightfall, but the gates had already closed. According to the guardsmen present, the gates were closed early due to bandits in the surrounding area and would not be reopened until dawn. Dozens of merchants sat in front of the gate, forming a more or less orderly line. They had arrived during the day but did not make it inside before the order to close the gates was given.

Soft mumblings could be heard from their direction as the various merchants traveled from caravan to caravan. Some sought out supplies they needed for an extra night outside of town, while others tried to get a jump on the competition by buying items before they could be taxed by the Baron. A few merchants had tried to approach Simon's caravan, but a single look from the figure clad in black and red armor had caused them to scurry away. A brave merchant had steeled himself and approached despite the gaze, only to return with a wet spot in his trousers.

No one tried to approach after that.

Cowards.

Simon sighed and stared up into the sky, recalling the day's events. The trip had been uneventful after Suavi's discovery, and they had made remarkable time along the main road. Thanks to his earlier proclamation, a journey that usually would have taken two or three days had been done in just one. The horses were exhausted, and the villagers-cum-slaves were sore, but he didn't care.

Simon spit on the ground, I can't wait for this mess to be over. I'm a soldier, not a slaver. Nor am I a bodyguard or a damned babysitter. His eyes shifted over towards the small girl sleeping against a wagon wheel and the tiny dog in her lap and shook his head as Suavi's earlier words echoed in his mind.

'Liar. You fight for those you've lost and for those you can yet save.'

Simon scoffed to himself, Those I have lost and those I can yet save? What bullshit. In the end, I couldn't even save myself or the woman I loved. How the fuck am I supposed to save anyone else if I couldn't even do that?

The images of his fallen comrades' faces flashed across his eyes.

Ironwood, deceased. Executed for 'Treason' after requesting the aid of the Independent Planet of Mars without approval. High Command hadn't been too happy to hear that Mars had reconstructed Simon's body and, as such, had the technology required to create their own breed of super soldiers, regardless of the fact they'd never be able to complete such a thing without the assistance of a V.A.I.A. like Artoria. They would certainly try, but Artoria had entirely resisted any attempts at accessing her source code or data banks, much to the Mars Council's annoyance.

Jack and Quincey had been completely evaporated after they took an annihilator's breath head-on, while Arthur had been killed by an ally after they panicked and dropped a white phosphorus grenade next to him. Unlike Jack and Quincy, Arthur was just an average human. He had died screaming. In his final moments, he had begged Simon to kill him just to stop the pain, so Simon did. A single shot was all it took, and it was over in an instant, but for Simon, that instant would replay in his mind for the rest of his life.

Abraham's end was even worse. He had died screaming as well, but unlike Arthur, he wasn't a human. He was a 'super soldier' like Simon. The only difference between them was that Simon was a first-generation S.A.G.E.S. while Arthur was of the fourth generation. According to the medical staff that did the autopsy on Abraham's body, or at least the metal sludge that had been his body, he had died from sudden onset chronic nanite rejection syndrome. None of the staff could explain why it happened when it did. It wasn't until they arrived back on earth when they learned the truth.

Simon's face contorted into a frown as he recalled what happened, the temperature around him started to drop, and his armor frosted over. A thin mist surrounded him as the ice melted and refrozen, creating a fog-like effect around his body. They had been betrayed by one of their own.

Daniel. Tero.

Daniel Tero, Head Researcher of Cybernetics and the Synthetically Altered and Genetically Enhanced Soldiers or S.A.G.E.S. project. According to Ironwood, the project had initially been named 'Bulwark,' but Tero had apparently taken a liking to the acronym S.A.G.E.S. and made up some bullshit name and reason to justify renaming the project. The S.A.G.E.S. project had been his life's work even before the war's outbreak. No one seemed to know Tero's exact age, not even himself, but records found indicated a man matching his description and name had been born at the tail end of the 23rd century. If that man was indeed him, he was well over a thousand years old at this point. High Command rejected this fact, though, but Simon believed it. The things Tero accomplished could not have been done by someone who had lived a mere two hundred years like his official record stated.

The S.A.G.E.S. program had originally been deemed as 'too radical' or 'too fantastical' and a 'crime against humanity' or 'an affront to god'. Simon had laughed at the time when Ironwood told him about that last one. That had been before religious practitioners were either 'reeducated' or executed. Despite the practice of religion having been banned for over five hundred years at this point. Regardless, as the war waged on, more and more systems were lost until only four of seventeen colonies humanity had settled remained. Left without any other options, High Command greenlit the project, and Tero went to work immediately with such zeal one of the commanders had commented that he looked like a mad scientist trying to defy a god.

The program consisted of several stages.

During the first stage, a genetic sample was selected from the most decorated of soldiers humanity had to offer, regardless if they were still alive or not. Obviously, High Command had deemed themselves the 'most decorated' along with their closest supports. Of the original two hundred soldiers set to be created, only one of them had come from someone outside of the High Command's inner circle.

The sole sample actually selected was one offered up by the then Lieutenant Commander J. M. Ironwood after his return from the defense of the Alpha Centauri system when a previously undetected enemy 'fleet' slipped past the deep space detection array. That sample went on to be used to create Simon.

After the samples were selected, a team of thousands of scientists mapped the sample's genome and set about recreating it from the ground up. Instead of being simply edited, an entirely new strain of D.N.A. was created with the sample template as a sort of blueprint. Numerous edits were added to increase the soldier's physical endurance, intelligence, reaction speed, and other various traits deemed required for the soldier's survival against the foe humanity was currently facing. Top among these alterations was the complete removal of the body's immune system to prevent the rejection of the various cybernetic implants added to the soldier's body. Instead of an immune system, billions of nanites would be introduced and tasked with that responsibility, among others.

Once this lengthy process was finished, the project moved onto stage three. The D.N.A. was implanted into a donor egg and placed into an artificial womb filled with some sort of fluid that only Tero himself knew how to create. According to him, the egg's source didn't matter, only that it was human in origin and that the donor's D.N.A. had been completely removed. In contrast to the average human growth cycle of nine months, the eggs in the artificial wombs took a total of twenty-six months to reach the birthing stage. Unfortunately, only a hundred and forty-seven of the newly born soldiers were deemed 'acceptable' and moved onto the next stage while the rest were incinerated by the mad scientist.

Things progressed quickly after that. The babies were taken to a special training facility and subjected to extreme conditions. By their tenth birthday, only a hundred and ten survived. The number would fall again after the billions of prepared nanites were introduced into the children's bodies. Dozens died in the first few days. Their corpses turned into a metallic black goo spread across the cleanroom walls, ceiling, and floor. None of the children had names at this point, only numbers of the artificial womb they had been birthed from. Simon's number was 1431.

As soon as the risk of rejection passed, the various cybernetic systems designed by Tero were implanted into the surviving children, including the experimental Virtual Artificial Intelligence Assistant system or V.A.I.A. Done under the careful supervision of a high command unwilling to permit even the slightest deviation from the project's goals after the loss of two more colonies.

Again more children died, but the program continued on despite the complaints of some of the members of High Command. Eventually, the project reached its final and most deadly stage. A stage that would later be deemed 'far too costly' and cut entirely from the program against Tero's wishes. Of the seventy-odd children that entered, only one emerged alive and 'relatively' sane.

The stage began by deactivating the self-regeneration subsystem included in the nanites base protocols. After that, the subject's spinal column was severed at the base of the skull to prevent the subject from moving. Normally such an action would kill the subject, but thanks to the nanite's emergency subsystems, the body was kept alive by the machines circulating the blood and introducing oxygen to the cells manually. Unfortunately, the nanites protocols also allowed the subject to feel their entire body despite being unable to move. Apparently, this protocol could have been deactivated as well, but according to Tero, the subject's chances of surviving would be 'improbable'.

In a project with an already abysmal survival rate, High Command had correctly translated 'improbable' to mean 'zero'. Thus the protocol was to remain active for the duration of the stage.

The subject was placed on top of a specially constructed table complete with a nightmarish assortment of surgical tools. First, a laser was used to cut the subject's skin from their muscles. It would be replaced later by a synthetic material that resembles human skin in appearance and texture but was otherwise unlike the subject's previous skin. The material was highly resistant to punctures, cuts, abrasions, and other minor wounds that would normally breach the skin's surface. In addition, it was resistant to extreme changes of temperature and mildly corrosive acids.

Once the skin was removed, the muscles were cut into sections to expose the bones beneath. The muscles would later be restored via the nanites regeneration subsystem and reinforced with carbon nanotubes. Eventually, the muscle's entire mass would be replaced with the nanotubes, but that process would gradually occur over a time period of several years. The process would be excruciating and leave the subject in a state of constant pain until its completion, but Tero and the rest of High Command thought it was a small price to pay for salvation. After all, they weren't the ones who had to be in constant pain for a hundred years.

With the muscles cut away, the subject's bones would be removed section by section and replaced by a skeleton entirely made up of metallic alloy similar in weight and strength to tungsten. However, the alloy was far more resistant to fractures and shear forces. This change allowed the material to survive the treatment that would have completely shattered or otherwise destroyed regular tungsten. Due to the relatively high electroconductivity of the composition of the new skeleton, the bones were then coated in a thin membrane made from microscopic particles of quartz and polyvinyl chloride (P.V.C.). As this process would altogether remove the subject's bone marrow and thus stop creating red blood cells, a new organ was implanted in the chest cavity next to the heart in response to their creation.

The heart was then removed and replaced with a cybernetic implant that aided the nanites in circulation around the body. It also stored the power cell that would provide power to the subject's cybernetics that had been powered via wireless charging stations embedded in the complex floor until this point.

While the subject's skull was removed, the brain was altered as well. The alterations made allowed the subject's mind to accurately adapt to the changes happening rapidly in their body. Nanites were once again used to completely restructure the subject's nerve cells, nearly from the ground up. By the time this was completed, the subject's thought processes would be increased anywhere between twenty and fifty times, according to previous experiments on other 'volunteers'. However, a mistake went unobserved by the scientists in charge of this process, causing the subject's pain sensitivity to be increased several hundred times.

The mistake ultimately caused all but one of the still surviving subjects to be driven completely insane or rendered brain-dead. Tero discovered that fact after the only surviving subject, 1431, had completed the final stage. Tero was left briefly in a state of shock that someone, no matter how augmented, had managed to survive something like that. The nanites were swiftly reprogrammed, and the error was corrected, returning the patient's pain sensitivity back to normal, but the damage had already been done.

Despite starting with over seventy subjects, the final stage had killed all but one of them. High Command immediately put a halt to the project. All embryos growing in the artificial wombs prepared for use in a second batch were incinerated. Tero was removed from the program and discharged from the military in disgrace.

The program would continue on without him and without the final stage that had claimed so many lives. Due to the absence of his involvement, many of the scientists viewed the subsequent iterations of the project as 'pale imitations' created by fools who didn't understand that progress required sacrifice.

Tero had disappeared after being removed from the project. Several assassination squads were sent out to find and kill him, but none of them returned. After that, reconnaissance squads were sent, but no trace of Tero or the assassins was ever found. Eventually, High Command decided to wash their hands of the whole affair and called the squads back to defend the sol system. The 'mad scientist' was never seen again until the fall of mars.

Abraham had been standing beside Simon observing the defense of mars when he suddenly collapsed screaming in pain. Simon had been forced to watch as Abraham's body dissolved from the inside out. Due to the nanite's regenerative capabilities, none of Simon's attacks could kill the screaming man and just added to the pain, so he watched his friend dissolve into a puddle of metallic goo. Sitting on top of a behemoth off in the distance, Simon saw a lone 'man' grinning widely while watching the scene unfold.

Despite Simon's best efforts, none of his shots managed to reach the man before he disappeared from view. Mars fell quickly after that. It wasn't until they arrived on Earth that Artoria explained what had happened.

According to her, the nanites in Abraham had been reprogrammed remotely using a previously unknown administrative access code hidden deep within the nanite's source code. The same grizzly fate would have befallen him if Artoria hadn't managed to react in time and block access. Such a thing wouldn't have been possible had Artoria not been sentient and had Ironwood not ordered the scientists on Mars at gunpoint to remove the limiters imposed on her.

The two men would not meet each other again until the battle of Moscow years later.

Simon let out a loud sigh after noticing the tea he had been drinking had frozen over.

That's happening a lot lately, it seems.

He looks up at the sky while wondering how long he had been recalling past events and notices the sun rising on the horizon.

 

[Authors Note: This is the censored version of Chapter 26 - Traitor. If you did not intent to come here, please read the description atop of Chapter 26 found -Here- . If you have already read the uncensored version, you can go ahead and move onto Chapter 27. Nothing new has been added to this version.]

Chapter 26 - Traitor - Censored

Ebonshear Outskirts - Night

Kayae sat quietly against one of the wagon wheels on the interior of the encirclement. Around her, the other slaves were quickly finishing preparations for bed. Kuritn was tending to the cooking fire while Suavi was curled up on her lap, burying her face between her legs. Suavi had refused to say anything about what happened between her and Simon and why the wagon had been covered in ice. Instead, Suavi simply returned to her dog form and jumped into Kayae's arms. She'd been there ever since until they arrived, and she relocated to between the small girl's legs.

Simon sat alone on top of the lead wagon's driver seat, quietly observing the gatehouse barely a kilometer from their current position. They had arrived just after nightfall, but the gates had already closed. According to the guardsmen present, the gates were closed early due to bandits in the surrounding area and would not be reopened until dawn. Dozens of merchants sat in front of the gate, forming a more or less orderly line. They had arrived during the day but did not make it inside before the order to close the gates was given.

Soft mumblings could be heard from their direction as the various merchants traveled from caravan to caravan. Some sought out supplies they needed for an extra night outside of town, while others tried to get a jump on the competition by buying items before they could be taxed by the Baron. A few merchants had tried to approach Simon's caravan, but a single look from the figure clad in black and red armor had caused them to scurry away. A brave merchant had steeled himself and approached despite the gaze, only to return with a wet spot in his trousers.

No one tried to approach after that.

Cowards.

Simon sighed and stared up into the sky, recalling the day's events. The trip had been uneventful after Suavi's discovery, and they had made remarkable time along the main road. Thanks to his earlier proclamation, a journey that usually would have taken two or three days had been done in just one. The horses were exhausted, and the villagers-cum-slaves were sore, but he didn't care.

Simon spit on the ground, I can't wait for this mess to be over. I'm a soldier, not a slaver. Nor am I a bodyguard or a damned babysitter. His eyes shifted over towards the small girl sleeping against a wagon wheel and the tiny dog in her lap and shook his head as Suavi's earlier words echoed in his mind.

'Liar. You fight for those you've lost and for those you can yet save.'

Simon scoffed to himself, Those I have lost and those I can yet save? What bullshit. In the end, I couldn't even save myself or the woman I loved. How the fuck am I supposed to save anyone else if I couldn't even do that?

The images of his fallen comrades' faces flashed across his eyes.

Ironwood, deceased. Executed for 'Treason' after requesting the aid of the Independent Planet of Mars without approval. High Command hadn't been too happy to hear that Mars had reconstructed Simon's body and, as such, had the technology required to create their own breed of super soldiers, regardless of the fact they'd never be able to complete such a thing without the assistance of a V.A.I.A. like Artoria. They would certainly try, but Artoria had entirely resisted any attempts at accessing her source code or data banks, much to the Mars Council's annoyance.

Jack and Quincey had been completely evaporated after they took an annihilator's breath head-on, while Arthur had been killed by an ally after they panicked and dropped a white phosphorus grenade next to him. Unlike Jack and Quincy, Arthur was just an average human. He had died screaming. In his final moments, he had begged Simon to kill him just to stop the pain, so Simon did. A single shot was all it took, and it was over in an instant, but for Simon, that instant would replay in his mind for the rest of his life.

Abraham's end was even worse. He had died screaming as well, but unlike Arthur, he wasn't a human. He was a 'super soldier' like Simon. The only difference between them was that Simon was a first-generation S.A.G.E.S. while Arthur was of the fourth generation. According to the medical staff that did the autopsy on Abraham's body, or at least the metal sludge that had been his body, he had died from sudden onset chronic nanite rejection syndrome. None of the staff could explain why it happened when it did. It wasn't until they arrived back on earth when they learned the truth.

Simon's face contorted into a frown as he recalled what happened, the temperature around him started to drop, and his armor frosted over. A thin mist surrounded him as the ice melted and refrozen, creating a fog-like effect around his body. They had been betrayed by one of their own.

Daniel. Tero.

Daniel Tero, Head Researcher of Cybernetics and the Synthetically Altered and Genetically Enhanced Soldiers or S.A.G.E.S. project. According to Ironwood, the project had initially been named 'Bulwark,' but Tero had apparently taken a liking to the acronym S.A.G.E.S. and made up some bullshit name and reason to justify renaming the project. The S.A.G.E.S. project had been his life's work even before the war's outbreak. No one seemed to know Tero's exact age, not even himself, but records found indicated a man matching his description and name had been born at the tail end of the 23rd century. If that man was indeed him, he was well over a thousand years old at this point. High Command rejected this fact, though, but Simon believed it. The things Tero accomplished could not have been done by someone who had lived a mere two hundred years like his official record stated.

The S.A.G.E.S. program had originally been deemed as 'too radical' or 'too fantastical' and a 'crime against humanity' or 'an affront to god'. Simon had laughed at the time when Ironwood told him about that last one. That had been before religious practitioners were either 'reeducated' or executed. Despite the practice of religion having been banned for over five hundred years at this point. Regardless, as the war waged on, more and more systems were lost until only four of seventeen colonies humanity had settled remained. Left without any other options, High Command greenlit the project, and Tero went to work immediately with such zeal one of the commanders had commented that he looked like a mad scientist trying to defy a god.

The program consisted of several stages.

During the first stage, a genetic sample was selected from the most decorated of soldiers humanity had to offer, regardless if they were still alive or not. Obviously, High Command had deemed themselves the 'most decorated' along with their closest supports. Of the original two hundred soldiers set to be created, only one of them had come from someone outside of the High Command's inner circle.

The sole sample actually selected was one offered up by the then Lieutenant Commander J. M. Ironwood after his return from the defense of the Alpha Centauri system when a previously undetected enemy 'fleet' slipped past the deep space detection array. That sample went on to be used to create Simon.

After the samples were selected, a team of thousands of scientists mapped the sample's genome and set about recreating it from the ground up. Instead of being simply edited, an entirely new strain of D.N.A. was created with the sample template as a sort of blueprint. Numerous edits were added to increase the soldier's physical endurance, intelligence, reaction speed, and other various traits deemed required for the soldier's survival against the foe humanity was currently facing. Top among these alterations was the complete removal of the body's immune system to prevent the rejection of the various cybernetic implants added to the soldier's body. Instead of an immune system, billions of nanites would be introduced and tasked with that responsibility, among others.

Once this lengthy process was finished, the project moved onto stage three. The D.N.A. was implanted into a donor egg and placed into an artificial womb filled with some sort of fluid that only Tero himself knew how to create. According to him, the egg's source didn't matter, only that it was human in origin and that the donor's D.N.A. had been completely removed. In contrast to the average human growth cycle of nine months, the eggs in the artificial wombs took a total of twenty-six months to reach the birthing stage. Unfortunately, only a hundred and forty-seven of the newly created soldiers were deemed 'acceptable' and moved onto the next stage.

Things progressed quickly after that. Stage Three involved training the newly created soldiers. On their tenth birthday the soldiers entered Stage Four. This stage augmented the soldiers with their cybernetic implants and V.A.I.A. systems. Those that survived this process would go on to Stage Five.

Stage Five involved replacing various parts of the subjects body with 'improved' versions. By the time this was completed, the subject's thought processes would be increased anywhere between twenty and fifty times, according to previous experiments on other 'volunteers'. However, a mistake went unobserved by the scientists in charge of this process, causing the subject's pain sensitivity to be increased several hundred times.

The mistake ultimately caused all but one of the still surviving subjects to be driven completely insane or rendered brain-dead. Tero discovered that fact after the only surviving subject, 1431, had completed the final stage. Tero was left briefly in a state of shock that someone, no matter how augmented, had managed to survive something like that. The nanites were swiftly reprogrammed, and the error was corrected, returning the patient's pain sensitivity back to normal, but the damage had already been done.

Despite starting with over seventy subjects, the final stage had killed all but one of them. High Command immediately put a halt to the project. All embryos growing in the artificial wombs prepared for use in a second batch were incinerated. Tero was removed from the program and discharged from the military in disgrace.

The program would continue on without him and without the final stage that had claimed so many lives. Due to the absence of his involvement, many of the scientists viewed the subsequent iterations of the project as 'pale imitations' created by fools who didn't understand that progress required sacrifice.

Tero had disappeared after being removed from the project. Several assassination squads were sent out to find and kill him, but none of them returned. After that, reconnaissance squads were sent, but no trace of Tero or the assassins was ever found. Eventually, High Command decided to wash their hands of the whole affair and called the squads back to defend the sol system. The 'mad scientist' was never seen again until the fall of mars.

Abraham had been standing beside Simon observing the defense of mars when he suddenly collapsed screaming in pain. Simon had been forced to watch as Abraham's body dissolved from the inside out. Due to the nanite's regenerative capabilities, none of Simon's attacks could kill the screaming man and just added to the pain, so he watched his friend dissolve into a puddle of metallic goo. Sitting on top of a behemoth off in the distance, Simon saw a lone 'man' grinning widely while watching the scene unfold.

Despite Simon's best efforts, none of his shots managed to reach the man before he disappeared from view. Mars fell quickly after that. It wasn't until they arrived on Earth that Artoria explained what had happened.

According to her, the nanites in Abraham had been reprogrammed remotely using a previously unknown administrative access code hidden deep within the nanite's source code. The same grizzly fate would have befallen him if Artoria hadn't managed to react in time and block access. Such a thing wouldn't have been possible had Artoria not been sentient and had Ironwood not ordered the scientists on Mars at gunpoint to remove the limiters imposed on her.

The two men would not meet each other again until the battle of Moscow years later.

Simon let out a loud sigh after noticing the tea he had been drinking had frozen over.

That's happening a lot lately, it seems.

He looks up at the sky while wondering how long he had been recalling past events and notices the sun rising on the horizon.