"A day's march from Itzes lies the border of Gerf, and along that border the Normal Army forces were positioned guarding against any unrest that may flow over. As night began to settle, many soldiers began to drink and eat around campfires, some sentries were posted but they were not alert, the Gerf Kingdom was not an enemy of the Holy Empire so an attack was unlikely. However, if the soldiers were to quiet down, they may have realized that the night was eerily quiet, as if holding its breath in anticipation."

"Inside a tent two individuals are arguing. The one standing was a beautiful woman with tied back snow white hair. She had an elegant face and wore thin shining silver plate mail fitted to her body. At a quick glance she may seem like a trophy warrior, but should one look into her blue eyes they would see a cold gaze hardened by duty, battle and loss. At her waist hung a plain arming sword and around her neck a silver pendant in the shape of a scale could be seen, indicating the rank of Holy Knight."

"The other individual was sitting eating a meal, he wore a thin white cloak with the Holy Empire sigil of a scale and sword stitched onto the left chest part. Around his neck hung a gold pendant in the shape of a book indicating the rank of Inquisitor. He was bald and if one were to look into his brown eyes at this very moment they would see it was laced with annoyance and impatience at having his meal interrupted..."

-----

"Sir. The soldiers are being too lax, movement was recently spotted near the border. What if an enemy were to attack?"

"My dear, there's nothing to worry about, the Gerf Kingdom wouldn't dare attack the Holy Empire, there is always movement near the border, Gerf is poorly managed and bandits run around freely. Any unrest that does flow over would run back the minute they saw us."

"Sir that may be, however this behavior is unfitting for soldiers of the Holy Empire!"

"Holy Knight Luna, I am the commanding officer of the Normal Army here and if I say there is no need, then there is no need."

"But Sir Inquisitor Bruckus..."

"Enough! Holy Knight Luna, you were sent here because you caused a ruckus at your last post, moving again would reflect poorly on your record so don't pester me further. You're dismissed, Holy Knight."

I stared at him angrily for a few moments, he didn't even look up from his meal and kept eating, what a glutton. I quickly conducted a chest salute and stormed out of the command tent.

Damn that Inquisitor, he's letting the Normal Army be so lax, I hope he chokes on his food. As I begin walking to my tent brooding, I begin to hear whispers from soldiers as I pass their camps.

"Hey, hey, isn't she Blade?"

"Blade, the Blade? You mean the one who killed hundreds at the Dirk Kingdom border?"

"Yea that's right, I heard she was a beautiful maiden with white hair, that has to be her!"

"Woah, she is beautiful, but all that shiny army, can she really fight?"

"Shhhh! She's a full Holy Knight, she could chop us to bits..."

"But what is she doing here then?"

"I heard she got too blood crazy at the Dirk border and went on killing long after her commander ordered her to stop."

"What, she looks so fragile though, could she really be so bloodthirsty... Hk!?!"

"She's looking, shut up!"

I glared at the two who were just talking and they quickly quiet up and return to their meals. I sigh and massage my forehead as I keep walking. Jeez, who came up with such a dumb nickname, 'Blade' really? Is it just because I use a sword!?!

Don't they know the Dirk Kingdom is majority lizardmen, they fight by biting you! If you saw your comrades being torn apart alive you'd be upset too. But what did they do after I avenged my comrades, they punished me! They sent me to this lazy border saying I needed to cool off in a quieter zone, what an understatement, this border hasn't seen conflict in years.

At this rate I won't make Inquisitor anytime soon. I looked up, I had finally reached my tent, I pushed open the flap and walked into the interior.

Standing in the tent is another woman of similar height to me, she greets me warmly. "Luna, you've returned."

"Yea, I'm back Zera."

Zera seems quite slim compared to me but mostly because she was wearing a simple white cloak similar to Inquisitor Bruckus, the cloak indicates a contract that focuses on spell attacks, as a result the contractors generally do not enter melee and need to move around easily, so wearing armor would generally hold them back. Zera had jet black long hair and red eyes, although she would normally wear her hood up. Zera was also a Holy Knight and we had been together since we were trainees. Even though I was very annoyed I smiled at her, we had been through so many battles together and she even followed me after I was punished.

"You seem upset, was it the Inquisitor?"

"Ugh, don't get me started. The inquisitor is as lazy as his soldiers and the soldiers all love to discuss rumors like children."

"Mmm well, that's to be expected, nobody would be happy being sent here, there's no way he will advance any further here so perhaps he's given up on that. And the soldiers are mostly young graduates seeking glory in the armies, most of them actually are children."

Then Zera hugged herself and began to blush.

"But the rumors are wonderful, they call you Blade right? The beautiful maiden warrior who coldly strikes down her enemies, a beauty to be admired from afar, if you get too close you'll be cut too..."

I blush a little bit and motion for her to stop.

"Ehhhhhh!?! What are you talking about, im n-not cold to people like that!"

Zera stared at me deadpan.

"When we were in trainee school you only had two friends, one was me and the other was your sword."

"That's not true-"

"Also, out of the 26 boys who asked you out you turned down 24 of them and for the other two, you beat them up so bad they quit trainee school..."

"Y-you were keeping count?!?"

Zera nodded seriously. "At first it was just interest, but then it was like counting the number of times you've been stabbed, you can't help but remember the pain of each."

"Eh? Stabbed?"

Zera put her hand over her heart making herself look delicate.

Zera dramatically placed a hand over her heart. "Luna you're too pretty, none of the boys ever asked me out. Every time they asked you it just reminded me of how lonely my heart is!"

"Eh, that's just because you always kept your hood up, look how cute you are without your hood!"

I pull down Zera's hood and start hugging her, she starts blushing and as she tries to push me away we both laugh.

"Haha, don't play coy with me, I know you were keeping your hood up on purpose."

"Of course, I don't want stupid boys looking at me all the time."

As we were laughing together, suddenly the ground shook violently and a large explosion sounded out, we nearly fell down.

Zera and I got up then ran out of the tent and were greeted by shouting and the sound of metal clanging on metal.

"Enemy Attack!! Wake up, w-wake u..... Hk! Ggrgl...."

A soldier who was running by yelling to wake up his comrades was cut off by a sickly black arrow piercing his throat. His eyes opened in shock and as he continued to try and scream nothing came out but the gurgles of blood and quickly that stopped as the life left his eyes.

I glanced briefly at the dead soldier before my eyes then shot into the distance trying to discern where the shot came from. Archers! Where are they? How did they infiltrate this deep into the camp?

Twang!

I hear the twang of a bowstring and see the glint of metal catching the firelight. I quickly shout out and shift my body to guard Zera.

Please god let me make it in time!

Clang!

Moments later a black arrow clangs against my plate armor, if I hadn't been there that arrow would have hit Zera for sure. I yell out behind me.

"Watch out Zera! There are archers around, stay close!"

"Jeez! This isn't the kind of attention I wanted... Did you see where the shot came from?"

"Not clearly, but I'll be ready for the next one."

Twang!

I hear another bow string sound out, I can clearly see the arrow this time. Hk! No good, they are aiming for my defenseless head, however, it's too slow. I subconsciously use a movement ingrained into my muscles from years of training and battles. I draw my sword in a blur and cleave the arrow mid air.

I smile fiercely into the distance. That was close, but I've got you now scum.

"I see them Zera! 100 yards ahead at the base of that tree."

"Got it! Leave it to me."

Twangs of the bow sound again but now that I know where they are I can easily cut down the arrows. Zera steps out from behind me and clasps her hands together and begins to chant, lightning begins to spark around her hands as her cloak flutters from an unseen power.

"Great lord Paragon, God of Purging, I beseech you to uphold your contract as I uphold mine. Grant me thy power to strike down the corrupt! Burn the wicked! Cleanse the unclean! Grant me thy purging shock!"

Zera's arms shoot out and from them a lightning bolt surges forward crying out with a thunderous roar. For a brief moment the night sky is lit up but then the lightning quickly finds its target. The tree, and any archers around it, are blown to bits, nothing but a scorched crater remains. No more bow shots follow.

Lightning still crackles a bit around Zera but her cloak settles down, her face is calm and collected, no joy or hate is found on it. Hmph, emotionless as always when it comes to battle.

"Zera your chants take too long, one of these days it will get you killed."

"Nonsense, all power comes with its price. And besides, I have the cute Blade to protect me."

She winked at me. Pfffft this girl.

I scoff back. "Hmph! Think you got the archers?"

"Of course, no foe can escape the purging bolt of my lord, they are most certainly destroyed, may their cleansed souls rest in peace."

Zera clasps her hands together and offers a brief Holy Empire style prayer.

Yea, those archers are definitely dead, even I would struggle to take that strike head on. Zera's contract grants her strong spells from the God of purging, but stronger spells usually require longer chants to call them out, that's why she's no good in close combat.

"But what's going on? I thought the border of Gerf was supposed to be generally safe?"

"Me too, I don't know what's going on but we've been infiltrated. Tsk! I told Bruckus this would happen. Lets go, we have to meet up with him to get a grasp of the situation."

Me and Zera quickly ran through the camp, along the way we saw many soldiers bodies punctured with black arrows. Seems the archers had been busy, I saw a certain pair of soldiers dead by a campfire. One had an arrow in their neck, the other was punctured twice through the chest, their eyes long dead still had lingering terror and pain infused in them.

I recognize them, they were the two who were talking about my rumors before, I look a bit closer, they really were young, just teens. I look sadly at their agonized faces and hands clawing at their wounds, they seem to have gone through immense pain before they died.

"Looks like those arrows have poison in them, were dealing with some questionable individuals here."

I grasp the hilt of my blade tightly and even my knuckles go white, fury threatens to take over, but I quickly loosen my grasp and drown out the fury replacing it with a smoldering cold.

"Yes. Lets go kill them all."

Zera looks at me a bit sadly then nods.

"Mmm, lets go Luna."

We continue running and I try my best to ignore the soldiers bodies lying everywhere, tsk, this is even worse than at the Dirk border, at least we were safe even in our own camps there. Soon we near Bruckus's tent and as we round the corner it comes into view. Both me and Zera stop dead in our tracks and stare in shock at the view before us.

Where Bruckus's tent was supposed to be there was only a large flaming crater, it seems we had found the source of the recent explosion. Looking around I realize many other tents were on fire or littered with arrow holes, they were all officer tents.

"Dammit! They are targeting our command structure, they didn't know about us because we are newly transferred, they've been planning this..."

"Indeed, but look, I don't think Inquisitor Bruckus is dead, I suspect, something like this couldn't kill an Inquisitor."

Zera was pointing to a litter of unfamiliar human bodies near Bruckus's tent. They were all wearing black or red garbs and had their mouths covered by scarfs. They carried crude dark daggers or similar crude bows. They were all burnt severely or had limbs completely burnt off.

"Inquisitor Bruckus serves the god of purging so most likely these flames are his, he survived the surprise attack but the enemy was waiting for him and attempted to finish him off."

"You're right! He must still be alive, we need to go help him, how do we find him though?"

Zera points further out where a long line of recently burnt bodies lie.

"We need only follow the burnt bodies and I suspect we will find him soon, but what of the soldiers? They are in a panic."

Tsk! Useless soldiers, nothing but boys! But they did indeed need help.

"We took care of the archers and it seems Bruckus has most of their attention at this moment, you go and round up the soldiers, I'll go help Bruckus."

"Very well, I will bring backup as soon as I can. May the gods protect you Luna."

"Yea, you too!"

Zera and I separate as I start to run following the trail of burnt bodies. My eyes narrowed, some of the wounds looked extremely painful and gruesome, burnt flesh bubbled or eyes melted away. The power of an Inquisitor was truly frightening. However, Bruckus was facing who knows how many enemies himself, he definitely needed help.

As I kept following the trail of bodies I realize that I was straying further and further from camp. This isn't good, the farther out one gets from camp the harder it is to receive backup. Tsk, Bruckus was walking into a trap as he was fighting, getting led on by being able to easily slaughter the enemy. I look back at the scores of dead bodies and shudder.

"So many lives just for a trap..."

I have a bad feeling about this.

I begin to pick up speed, running faster, I can begin to hear the roars of flames and screaming ahead of me. Soon I burst out into a clearing and there I see a world of flame.

In the middle of the clearing stands Bruckus littered with various wounds from open cuts to arrows sticking out of his legs and shoulder. His face was drenched in sweat either from the heat of the surrounding fire, pain from his wounds or both. Surrounding him on all sides were scores and scores of the darkly dressed intruders, some rushed at him with daggers while others stood back and shot at him with bows.

"Hmph! Filthy intruders you dare attack the Holy Empire's forces!?! Come then! Come and be turnt to ash by my lord's fierce flame, unclean is the only way to describe you filth, and all unclean must be burnt away!"

Bruckus then shot out his hands to both sides and beams of intense flame shot out from each palm and even Bruckus's sleeves began to burn up from the intense heat. Any hit by the beam had their limbs severed, head removed or were cleanly cut in two. The beams left flaming black marks against the ground and I had to jump clear as one of the beams came too close for comfort.

I stared in half horror, half admiration as within minutes the hundred souls that had been surrounding Bruckus were snuffed out.

Isn't this too much?

Bruckus finished his attack and quickly grasps the arrow in his shoulder, yanking it out, clenching his teeth. I ran over quickly now that it was safe to get closer.

"Inquisitor Bruckus! Are you all right Sir?"

Bruckus turned his head to look at me in surprise, surprise was quickly replaced by annoyance. Why was he annoyed?

"Sir?"

"Tsk. Yes Holy Knight Luna, as you can see I have dealt with the issue."

"Yes Sir, it was amazing, we should head back to camp and regroup, I sent Holy Knight Zera to round up the remaining forces."

"What?!? Under whose orders would you do such a thing Holy Knight Luna?"

Huh!?! Why was Bruckus upset that I sent Zera to regroup the remaining army?

"Sir, the enemy had infiltrated the camp and many soldiers and officers have been killed, our forces are extremely weakened and disorganized, we must regroup."

"Nonsense! I can handle this myself, return to your post and have the soldiers stay in camp."

"Sir!?! What do you mean to do, this attack was very well planned, you don't know what other traps are waiting out there."

"ENOUGH! You. Will. Not. Interfere. Understood?"

Bruckus was looking at me with eyes full of rage.

But why? Hundreds of our own soldiers are dead, killed during their sleep or meals, don't you care about them? This is not how an army commander of the Holy Empire should behave. Bruckus, just what has gotten into you?

No matter what you say Bruckus, it is my duty as a Holy Knight to speak up against you here.

"Sir-"

But before I could respond an unassuming voice rang out in the clearing.

"Oh, the Inquisitor is here as expected, but there's also an unknown little bird? My lord has truly blessed me with a rare opportunity."

There walking out of the forest was a man garbed in a hoodless blood red robe with a simple dark leather belt holding a similar crude dagger as the others. He was a middle aged gentleman and his black hair was graying in some places. He had some wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes which held a faraway expression, as if he was looking at something that wasn't really here. 

Unlike the others his mouth wasn't covered by a scarf, he had a gentle smile which in any other situation would seem kind, however in this clearing littered by burnt corpses, it only left a feeling of foreboding.

I quickly brandished my sword towards the garbed man and yelled out.

"Are you the leader of this attack? Tell your forces to surrender or else we will crush you here."

The man turned his gaze to me, and for a moment his eyes seemed to come into focus and really look at me. My entire body froze and a cold sweat spread throughout my body, it was as if those eyes had already seen my death a thousand times over and I could feel each of them weighing me down. But then, as soon as it came it stopped and the unfocused look returned to the man's eyes.

"Surrender you say? Mmmm, if we were to surrender little bird, what would you do to us?"

"We would take you captive and then question you about your backers and intentions, then you would be taken to the capital to answer for your crimes according to the law."

"Hoh, what crimes have we committed little bird?"

"You scum! You attacked the border of the Holy Empire and slaughtered its citizens, hundreds of Empire soldiers are dead!"

"No need to get upset little bird, I'm just trying to grasp your proposal, mmm, say, what would the punishment be for that crime according to the 'law' "

"That is not for me to decide, should you surrender and cooperate though, there is a chance your lives may be spared."

" 'May be spared'  mmm, little bird... do you not dangle false hope in front of us?"

"I do not, should yo-"

Bruckus held out his hand cutting me off. "Enough Holy Knight Luna." He then turned his eyes back to the robed man.

"No, even if you surrender here you and your men will be executed, there is only one answer to your crimes and it is death. Great Purging lord I beseech you, let me strike down this filth, grant me your purging flame."

Before I could even speak up, Bruckus had shot out a flame beamat the man. However, the man didn't move and his face didn't even flinch. Before the beam could reach him, a scarfed soldier like those dead on the ground jumped out from the bush and intercepted the beam with his chest. Very quickly the beam was burning through the man's chest, however he stood un-flinching.

Bruckus scoffed. 

"Hmph, a single puny filth can't save you."

Just as the beam was about to pierce through the scarfed soldier's chest another jumped out from the bush and stood behind him intercepting the beam as it pierced through his comrade. But even two lives weren't enough to stop Bruckus's intense flame.

One after another a scarfed soldier would exit the bush and stand to intercept the oncoming beam. I stared in horror as within a few moments over 10 men had been pierced through by the beam, all standing silently impaled.

Even though Bruckus was an Inquisitor, his spell wouldn't last after going through so many meat shields and it quickly dissipated. As it dissipated the impaled soldiers no longer had anything holding up their body and they plopped dead onto the ground. I stared at the 10 impaled bodies, their unwavering sacrifice scared me, however, I was even more terrified to find that the man's face hadn't changed a bit and his gentle smile still remained.

There was a long moment of silence as nobody talked.

Bruckus started laughing.

"HA! Interesting, truly interesting. Such sacrifice is rare to see in filth, what reason do you have for attacking the Holy Empire nameless man?"

"Oh, thank you for the compliment Inquisitor. You may call me Pravus. As for why we attacked the Empire it's for resources."

"Hmph! I should've known you'd be after the Empires coffers, although it's strange, usually the greedy types aren't so motivated to give their lives..."

"Sorry, I wasn't clear. We are after the citizens."

"Hoh? What do you need slaves for?"

"Nay, they are not meant to be slaves but to be offerings to our lord, we will kill them."

"You scum!"

"Bwahaha! What a ridiculous reason, you must be stupid then, you'd have better luck in the Gerf Kingdom, you could probably run around freely for the most part."

"Indeed, we started here in Gerf because it was very loosely managed, however, we've already exhausted all they had to offer."

My eyes widened hearing that, if the Gerf kingdom had anything it was bodies, it boasted a huge population, how could they run out of people. 

"W-what?"

"Hmm? It's quite clear is it not little bird? We killed them all, all the unguarded border towns, we already went to them one by one and killed them, either they were too busy fighting their wars with the Dirk Kingdom to send any support or they just didn't care. But either way, we've already exhausted all of the easy pickings and now we've come here for what the Empire has to offer."

"How many?"

Pravus tilted his head in confusion.

"Little bird?"

I clenched my fist tight and stared coldly at him.

"How many did you kill."

"Oh! Mmm, it was about 10 towns, we captured around 10,000 people. Hmmm, but they weren't all sacrificed, we offered them the chance to join us of course and some took up our offer, those who accepted us joined our ranks in service of the lord. Those that didn't, they were offered to our lord of course."

"Bwahaha! 10,000 people for an offering? What foolish god do you serve to need such a sacrifice for power?"

"Nay, it was not for power, it was just inline with my Lords will. Our Lord does not grant us any power, we simply follow his will because we believe it. None of us have contract powers, it is part of the will to throw away your contracts to join us, of course many die in the process, but that is also part of his will."

"You lie! This camp was attacked with explosions before, what could cause such an effect besides contract spells, don't act mighty with me, all men seek power."

"Oh, we have the Inquisitor to thank for that, your camp was so poorly guarded that we could move in barrels of explosives unnoticed."

Pravus bowed slightly towards the Inquisitor, his face still unchanged.

"You have my gratitude."

Bruckus seemed unaffected by the jab, in fact, he was smiling.

"It matters not, you and your forces will die here and you won't step an inch further into Empire lands."

"Oh, I'm afraid we already have. We sent out an advance party the minute we started the attack on your camp, they are headed to the nearest Empire border town- Little bird what are you doing?"

I grasp my sword tightly and lean forward aiming all of my killing intent on the man in front of me. I had heard enough, I had to slay this man here and quickly pursue the other forces.

"God of Justice, grant me your swift judgement."

Instantly a burst of power flows into my feet as I blast off from the ground shooting forward at an incredible speed. I near Pravus in an instance and swing down my sword to finish him.

Shink!

My sword sinks into something meaty before slowing down and finally stopping. A splash of blood and gore spray out blinding me for a moment before I blink to clear away the muck.

As my vision clears I see my blade sunk deep into someone's skull. However, it wasn't Pravus's skull, it was the skull of another scarfed soldier who had stopped the blade with his own head moments before it reached Pravus! The other edge of the blade was inches away from Pravus and bits of brain and blood had been splattered all over his face. And yet, he still wore that same look and that gentle smile, unfazed.

Demon. This was the face of a demon.

I rip my sword out and prepare to attack again but then 4 scarfed soldiers appear from the bush and rush at me with daggers. Tsk! I quickly back up and cleave the hand of the first one and deflect two while taking the last one with my armor. They quickly recover and pounce at me again, although weak individually they are fearless and unwavering.

"God of Justice, let me slice through the corrupt!"

Quickly my sword flashed out in a horizontal arc and three of the scarfed soldiers' heads were cut off. The last one doesn't even flinch at his comrades' deaths as he jumps at me and forces me to impale him onto my sword. I stare in shock as the scarfed soldier continued to lunge at me while impaled on my sword, I flinch back my face avoiding a fatal blow, quickly he loses strength as he bleeds out and in his last moments he drops his blade then leans forward and impales himself deeper onto my sword while he grasps tightly to my sword arm.

Heavy!

He's not holding his own weight anymore he's hanging onto my sword arm dragging me down! Tsk, let go! I quickly use my other arm to release his death grip and push him off my sword blade which is now drenched in guts and blood. I look up and I see 4 more scarfed soldiers walking out from the forest.

More?  Can't you see it will be the same?

I glance at the four bodies at my feet. These four unknown men who threw their lives away for what? I couldn't help but remember the bodies in the camp and how Bruckus was not even concerned at their deaths, of how this man in front of her used hundreds of lives just for a trap and sacrificed them without shedding a tear. I thought back to the Dirk border wars, I pictured my comrades getting torn apart by a sea of lizard men, screaming and crying. What exactly were we fighting for?

I grasped my sword tightly and looked up coldly at him.

"Insane. You're all insane."

"Nay little bird, you're mistaken."

"THEY CAN'T BEAT ME! They are weak and pitiful, they will just get cut down for nothing!"

"Little bird does your sword not feel slick?"

My sword?

I grasp my sword and feel my grip slide a little bit. Why was it sliding? I look down and realize the grip and my glove are covered with blood, so much blood it was making me unable to grip the sword with my full strength. This blood was from that impaled soldier?

"You are correct to say we are weak little bird, but you are wrong to say we cannot beat you. When our blood coats your gauntlets, your grip will slip. When our bodies are impaled upon your sword you will be able to use your sword no longer. When our life blood splatters across your face as you strike us down, you will be blinded. And when you realize there is no hope and turn to flee you will slip on a pool of blood. At that time you will realize that the weak can indeed beat the strong."

I felt a chill flow across my back. I kept staring at the blood on my gauntlet and sword guard. To beat the strong by sacrificing a hundred to one? A thousand to one? Just how many would die if this man ran free.

Slowly I see the cold emotionless feeling I was trying to maintain being taken over. Taken over by the same burning feeling I felt back at the Dirk border when I saw my comrades getting eaten alive.

I stare at the scarfed soldiers bodies around me. They looked like normal people besides their clothing. I'm certain they were forced to choose between death and whatever drug was fed to them to make them serve. Would I be able to slay them if I saw my friends among them?

No, I wouldn't, which is why... I grasp my sword tightly with both hands and let the raging flame inside me take over as my face scrunches up in fury.

I must slay this demon here.

"God of Justice, I see the demon. I hear the demon! He stands before me now, grant me your strength, grant me your speed and grant my blade the sharpness to deliver your divine judgement!"

I feel power flow through my veins as my legs, arms and blade shine a cold blue. I crack the ground as I stomp with all my power propelling myself forward. Four scarfed soldiers stand in my way but I easily cleave through all four and keep running towards Pravus.

Pravus had changed, but he wasn't afraid. He was grasping his sides and shaking as if containing a great sense of joy. His usually unfocused eyes were looking straight at me full of joy and his gentle smile was replaced with a grin far too wide.

"Yes, yes, YES! YES! Such fury, such EMOTION! YES LITTLE BIRD, such emotion is thanks to my lord, I yearn for it, I live for it, it is my greatest reward! So come, come and cut down the weak with your burning blade, stomp forward and be buried alive!"

As soon as Pravus finished talking hundreds upon hundreds of scarfed soldiers rushed out from the bush running directly at me.

Any sane person should stop and run or feel fear at the horde approaching. If I was sane I should've stopped and ran to regroup with Zera. But I was beyond sanity at this moment, all I could feel was burning fury.

Somewhere deep down I was screaming at myself to stop, to realize this man was just buying time, to realize this horde of enemies should be saved not slaughtered.

Somewhere deep down I was afraid, but not afraid of the enemies approaching me. I was afraid because I had started grinning. I was afraid that it was a grin just like Pravus wore. I was afraid I was insane too.

But soon that voice was drowned out by a burning thought, an obsession, a fury.

I didn't care that there was an enemy approaching the nearest Border Town.

I didn't care that the horde rushing me were victims too.

I didn't care that my chances to survive were slim.

In my mind there was only one thought.

Kill.