In the reflection of the river, I see someone that I can hardly recognise. There's no longer a big red and black scar on the face in the reflection, but the person in the reflection is someone much older, with countless wrinkles throughout his whole face. Maybe the thick stubble and head full of grey hair makes it worse.

Finishing drinking the crystal water flowing down the river, I stand up and start walking back to the caravan, and my party. I ended up joining the cat-woman's party, the one who sat at my table more than two weeks ago. The party consists of Lekana, the cat-woman with black hair and fur, Tagaro and Nagoro, the twin dog demi-humans with dark brown fur, and lastly me. The decision was based on the fact that it was better to stick to someone who has more information than I do, at least for now.

Since then, I've learned quite a bit.

The reason for the through check of every ship that arrives in the current kingdom, is an epidemic of "possessed". As far as the cases were described to me, and what the "possessed" did to me, it looked very similar to what happens when you swallow a demon pill. But there are a few major differences.

First, all of the "possessed" turn randomly, some during their sleep, killing their loved ones lying with them in the same bed. Some during walks, and some during meals. The core problem is that no one knows what the reason is, or how to stop it. The epidemic affects everyone, old and young, men and women, all races and species. The only trace people were able to find was that before the event, the victim's mana purity starts rising rapidly.

Second, and the most alarming one, the "possessed" fall into an enraged state and start firing magic spells as if they were skilled Mages with decades of experience. I was thinking it was some kind of advanced form of devil pills, which is simply mixed with water and randomly triggers, it would fully explain all of the symptoms and behaviours, but there's something that destroyed that theory. The magic and spells the "possessed" start using belong to every group of elemental and arcane pillars.

That makes no sense.

Rage pills are one thing, with the destructive flow of the internal mana they generate, it sends the user into a type of berserk mode, but a watered down version. They're not that hard to make, as a skilled pharmacist can easily create a simplified one out of the wide range of dangerous, but widely available chemicals.

Demon pills on the other hand, work a bit differently, as they're simply a concentrated amount of dark mana, which on contact with the internal mana of any living being corrupt and bend their will, opening their gates to dark forces. Turning them into a dark spirit's puppet, commonly referred to as a "demon".

Funny thing is, I don't think that those demons and the common spirits are too different from each other.

Demon pills are a bit harder to make, but still rather easy for those with power. All you need is innocent lives, suffering, and a lot of blood. The nobles in Dead Desert were doing just that. Images of a huge bath full to the brim with the blood of children, with several tiny skulls floating in it. Their screaming and begging for help fills my mind, I try to breathe deeper, to stay in control.

Not yet.

Not yet.

I've seen a lot in my life, things that common men would laugh about, creatures that old people tell children stories about in the hopes of keeping them safe. I've seen the mindless violence of common men, arrogance that knows no bounds, selfishness that borders on absolute regard of anything but their own personal gain, darkness of the soul that shouldn't be possible, madness of-

I have seen some things....

But I have never seen or heard about Fire or Water element pills on the level of Devil pills. I mean yes, there are similar things, elixirs that improve the attunement with specific elements or pillars, but they're not the same thing. They could never corrupt, turning the Mage into an empty husk of carnage and destruction, or at least I haven't seen it yet.

The way people "awaken" also bothers me, I can understand if Devil pills were crushed and mixed with water, food, or air, causing mass hysteria, like in the Age of the Corrupted, but the issue of the spells...

Doesn't matter, not my problem, I shouldn't think too much about it.

And onto the subject of important business, as I've recently learned, there will be some kind of an organized "Tournament" by the Endless Empire, which is actually the four large islands north of this continent. I've seen them on the map several times, but didn't think too much about them, just another region, nothing more. But my new party explained to me that it's the most advanced and powerful kingdom that exists, and all the countries on the continents are very loyal to them. Essentially, if you digest and rephrase what my party said, every single leader in every country in the "world" are just vassals that are appointed, or controlled by the Endless Empire.

Anyway, returning to the subject, as far as I understood it, the "Tournament" is organized in order to find the most promising candidates. There are prizes and titles for the winners, but that isn't important, what is important is that after the tournament, many are approached with a proposition. Those propositions may come from different kingdoms, nobles, even royalty, and they range from job offers to marriage proposals.

For the past several years the Amazons have co-hosted the event, with their own "criteria" and prizes. The past year's gift was so lavish that they even exceeded anything the Endless Empire offered, and some even started calling it the "Amazon Tournament", to the great dissatisfaction of the Empire. If those Amazons are truly the Amazons I know, and they'll actually be present during the tournament, this means that they were somehow able to cross the Endless Ocean and get here.

There's a big part of me that doesn't believe that it's a coincidence that the Empire and the Ocean have "Endless" in their names. Oh, and the people here also call the ocean the "Endless Ocean", but for a different reason. The ocean "belongs" to the Empire, and anyone who desires to travel through it has to receive a permit given by a high ranking official from the Endless Empire.

What's the chance that people on different continents decided to call the same ocean with the same name?

Was it decided before the hemispheres lost each other, and they simply kept the name?

Or maybe there's more to it...

Anyways.

There's an option of simply taking a ship and following them, but if it was so simple, the location of the Amazon island would be publicly known a long time ago. Therefore, the only other way I can currently see, is to somehow hide inside of their ship, which by definition should be able to cross the Ancient Ocean. With my body, which doesn't produce ambient mana, this shouldn't be an issue. I have several ideas on where and how to begin the infiltration, but before I attempt to test or look into any of it, I need to verify the identity of those Amazons. I'm about ninety-nine percent sure that my theory, about where I'm, is right, as it would explain a lot of stuff, like languages, races, and more.

If on that altar, on the South Pole, where I somehow ended up, I would've traveled in the opposite direction, would I already have been on the South Twin continents?

[If the idea with the Amazons does not work out, we can always try to return back by crossing through the South Pole.]

This option is closer, maybe harder, but closer.

[Of course.]

[And it is not in any way connected to the fact that the Amazons have a significant debt that they are due.]

[I mean, what are the chances that even in this situation, that we somehow ended up in, we would take a great risk to pay back a group, to whom we have held a grudge for many years.]

[What a coincidence that would be, right?]

When I finally return to the caravan, the official guards, sent with the caravan by the kingdom's orders, glare at me hatefully, but the moment I turn my eyes in their direction. When I turn to meet their gazes, they turn away.

About a week ago, the caravan guides made a mistake, and we ended up going through very rocky terrain where water was scarce. The kingdom's guards shared a little of their supplies with everyone, as by their words,

"It is natural for the kingdom to take care of their citizens."

But when they got to me they outright refused, claiming that the foreign abomination of a cripple is worthless to the caravan and to the kingdom, and the water would simply be wasted on me. Spending several days without water wasn't an issue, I've been in much worse scenarios.

In the past, all of the interaction I had with people was as a Blood Brother, and I got used to the hate, fear, and scorn, as it became a normal part of my life. But this is the first time I was called "abomination" by fellow humans not because of the group I belong to. Hate between species is a common thing, it's hard to find a place in the world where such a thing doesn't happen, or wasn't in a very tense state.

Is it because I'm a bit taller?

Or maybe it's because of my skin and hair colour?

The feeling is kind of strange, this bias against me, but it's not because I belong to the Blood Brotherhood.

Should I be happy about this?

When the caravan found this river a few days ago, it was quickly decided that we would camp here. But just as we finished setting up tents and started preparing food, a large drake attacked out of nowhere. The drake took the lives of several guards and injured many more. It continued nearly unhindered as no one could stop it, even the advanced spells from the powerful Mages simply bounced off the creatures thick scales. The kingdom's guards men's leader ordered a retreat, only for the command to be canceled a few minutes later, as the drake was lying dead, my sword plunged through its eye socket.

As the one who killed the monster I had full rights to the body, and what to do with it. In the end, I decided to sell the salvageable parts to anyone willing to pay, and by the results it looks like there are many parts of the drake which cost a small fortune. There was even a small fuss about who will get the claws, and out of spite for these greedy creatures, I organized a small auction where they feverishly battled each other for every single claw. Needless to say, I gathered a small fortune. I shared all of the meat that was left with everyone in the caravan, as there was no way for me to eat the whole thing, the people quickly organized a huge barbecue.

Well, everyone except the guards.

The leader of the kingdom's guards was in a hard situation, but maybe because of pride, maybe because of other reasons, he never tried to smooth the situation over. The caravan leader, a fat man in his early fifties, pleaded with me to share some of the meat with the kingdom's guards, as by his words,

"It would greatly increase the chances of the caravan making it to the destination safely."

He also threw a few words of camaraderie and friendship, but a week ago, even after I was denied the water, he didn't try to "help" the cripple. Even more so, his henchmen approached my party members several times, encouraging them to not share their supply of "precious water", as it could "greatly displease" the guard leader.

These sleazy guys are the same wherever you go. The concept of "camaraderie" and "friendship" is foreign to them. He didn't even care about the people or the guards whatsoever, he was simply attempting to get on the good side of the guardsman's leader. As in the future he could use this debt as leverage for something else. My only answer was nearly the exact same as the words said a few days ago.

"They are worthless to the caravan and to the kingdom, and meat will simply be wasted on them."

And with that statement, the guard leader's face turned a deep purple, an expression filled with hate was on his face, but he didn't dare to do anything.

After the "fight" with the oversized lizard, not only the guards and caravan travellers, but even my party became cautious of me. The two idiots, Tagaro and Tagoro, who are constantly attached to Lekana, stopped glaring at me and started flinching every time I came close to them. That change was expected, as the same thing happened many times before, in different regions and tribes. But strangely, there's a new....exception, and I'm not sure I like that.

"...and so since that mistake I am very careful with the spices I use to cook the fish with." finishes Lekana, another monologue of the best ways to cook her favourite meals. I breathe out deeply, only to regret it instantly, as Lekana turns back to me.

"What about you? Does your homeland have any famous special recipes? Where were you actually born? Was it a city of a village? Is it sunny there?"

This is one of the rare cases that I sorely misjudged the character of the person, as someone like her, who spends half of the day with an open mouth, could never be an information broker.

I don't answer, as she continues to look at me and await my answer with a very curious and enthusiastic expression, while the drake meat is slowly being cooked on the fire. I don't know what to do here, should I continue ignoring her, or strictly say no? Is there even a good option here?

"I mean, you look really interesting, with your size and strength, so your tribe or kingdom should have very unique and amazing food. You must have been a great warrior there too! After you easily ripped out the arm of that orc in the guild, I knew that you were very strong. But after seeing you kill that huge drake so easily, I now know for sure, that you are from a very strong tribe."

After a short pause she continues with wide open eyes.

"Oh wait! Is it possible that you have run away from your homeland and do not want to talk about it at all?"

What?

"If so, I am very sorry that I have been pestering you for so long about something you do not want to remember about. But rest assured I will help you find a new homeland, and after that you will share your homeland's cuisine with me!"

I slowly look at the twins, expecting them to interfere and do something, but they simply look away, as if they have nothing to do with the situation. Lekana not noticing any of that, continues talking with an even more enthusiastic voice.

"Maybe if I listed the local cuisine of every place I know,it would be easier to find the place you would like to live in the future!So in the south-east there is this strange kingdom of Mach, which belongs to the Nurak coalition,they have a famous traditional soup made out of rotten fish!Can you believe it?I though-"

Right now, I'm debating whether I should go and sit together with the guardsmen and share my food with them.

In the best case scenario, I will finally be able to sit in silence, awkward, tense silence, but still silence. In the worst case, this chatterbox will make sure that not only I will have a headache. And in the case of the guardsmen themselves, they'll either die out of shame, because a cripple took pity on them, or suffer this "thing" together with me.

Sounds like a good plan...

...

"They didn't pay extra even after you shared that huge amount of drake meat with the guards! What misers!" Lekana huffs with disgust.

"They even sat and glared at you with their red eyes as if you were the bad guy there. What the hell was their problem? Did they not get enough sleep?" She huffs again and continues without missing a beat.

"The barbecued drake was a bit too chewy for my taste, but still tasty nonetheless. The soup you made later though was divine. If we ever find another big drake it would be great if you could make that soup again."

I look at the twins and they respond the same way they have before, turning away and feinting as if they don't notice the situation. The most ridiculous part of it is that Lekana isn't always like that, only when the subject gets to food. And somehow it's nearly always on that. The only periods where she isn't talking is when we're fighting or sleeping, and even that isn't fully true, as late in the night she sometimes mumbles some kind of recipes, albeit being deeply asleep.

The only redeemable qualities I found in her was that she isn't hopeless with her sword, not a sword-master,but still very skilled. And while she chatters away about another recipe from some foreign kingdom, she may drop a few pieces of important information about the region.

I look at the crystal ball again, which is actually the guild card, now it has changed its colour from pale yellow to green. As I learned, there should've been a colour between them, orange, but because I killed a drake I was quickly promoted to third level adventurer. What class it corresponds to in the "new land" guilds I don't know. At some point I started calling this region the "old land", and the other side of the planet, where I'm originally from, the "new land". It's kind of wrong from one perspective, as this land is "new" to me, but this is the "old" land, where humanity came from.

Right?

So much of what I know can no longer be believed, there is nothing I can be be of anymore.

Opening the map, I start looking through it again, and planning the path north, but there's so much I don't know, so many unknowns, that the plan could change at any moment, but for now I should stick to the original one. The tournament will be held on the western island of the Endless Empire, and there are a limited number of ways to get there as far as I understood. There were many cities, borders, and regions that Lekana spoke of, but I simply don't care, their past, their present, their future isn't important to me.

[Everything was and will be but a pebble on the road, nothing more. Do not forget that.]

The healing is progressing, but much slower than before, though there is a specific reason for that. As an additional task, I started experimenting with healing my toes while walking, and not focusing on it directly. In the future, I won't have the luxury of asking anyone for a few hours of rest so I can heal. With the Brotherhood there was always either a healer or potions, and you were never truly alone, so there would always be a few moments to catch your breath. That's no longer true, as they're all dead.

I am alone, and no one will come.

There will be no help.

The face of a young guard which was part of the last caravan flashes across my mind. His eyes when he found me cutting my toes, and the horror that was plastered across his face throughout the whole journey. It was the first time someone found me experimenting, and I expected a reaction, but not as extreme. I'm pretty sure that it's not common to find someone behind a huge rock, sitting alone and cutting his toes, but his eyes told me a totally different story. I've been more careful since, there's no need to attract attention right now.

Nonetheless, there's some pretty good news, as I can already feel the difference. Not only in general healing speed, but in the strength of my muscles and bones. The speed and agility also increased, and the way I killed the drake is good proof of that. The fact that I did it with only one arm is a very good sign, with two I could do even more.

[Why did you stop? Please continue.]

[We have killed the greatest beast that has inhabited this land. It was a full fifteen meters long!]

[Fifteen! That size is something out of ancient legends!]

[And its jaws had nearly half a meter long fangs! Those jaws could swallow a pony in one bite!]

[We are truly the mightiest of warriors that ever existed! People will surely write ballads of that battle, and soon after, they will become legends that will go down in the history of the whole world!]

[Kings would gather around to hear the story and to give you a handshake! Children would jump out of the crowd just to see our face! Women would stand in line just for the opportunity to suck your cock!]

[The beast was so fierce that there would be separate legends about it! Did you see its bone-thin limbs? It surely was at full strength! Just remembering as it ran around with the speed of the fastest duck and dragged its limp leg around gives me goosebumps!]

[Please tell me more about the epic battle, as I passed out half-way through because of the sheer awesomeness of the whole thing.]

[What's wrong? Please, continue.]

[Worm.]

[Don't forget why we are here.]

I won't.

...

Another caravan, another road. This time it's through an endless forest. The group is much smaller this time, less than a few dozen people, with no kingdom guardsmen in sight. One of the reasons for that may be because we're crossing the border into another country, and the task of guardsmen generally doesn't include the protection of its citizens on the borders. See a foreign army, report to their higher-ups. Which results in a haven for bandits and fugitives all around the world. Those that decide to cross the borders are generally more careful, as they know exactly what to expect.

As if to prove the point, a huge animal leaped at us from the tree top, landing on Nagoro's back, toppling him over. His twin brother, Tagaro, instantly reacted and screamed at the creature, which leaped away to a tree about fifty centimeters in diameter when it saw the brandished sword. After the creature's landing, it screeches at us, showing its rows of razor sharp teeth in its over sized head, which looks like a two meter long mix of a bear and a squirrel. A moment later my sword separated it horizontally, cutting deep into the tree it was on, sending a rain of blood and wooden chips flying around.

Slowly the tree creaks and finally falls down with a loud sound, announcing to everyone in the forest that something happened here. Looking around one more time to check for enemies, I turn around and find someone staring at me with huge eyes and open mouths. A second later a person exploded in rage.

"WHY DID YOU KILL THE MEPAK?!!"

Another voice continued,

"It was just playing!!"

"What if the forest spirits attack us for that?"

After several minutes of cursing, I was explained to that the creature, a "Mepak", with razor sharp teeth, was a herbivore and very playful. It's a sort of guardian of the forest, that they often play with adventurers and don't mean any harm, and the most they could do is steal a piece of equipment or food.

Herbivore? With teeth like that?

After a brief talk, the group decided to hastily leave the area so that the "forest spirits" wouldn't find us and punish everyone for what I did.

As soon as we started walking, people quickly calmed down, and in near utter silence we continued to travel through the forest. The silence was quickly broken be Lekana, who started asking me how I've never seen a mepak, and didn't my homeland have them. The fact that people became so scared and agitated, made me tense up.

Are the mepak something like the roots of Livae or the eyes of Nhlar?

If the oversized rodent is an "eye" to something like Nhlar, then I should expect an ancient local creature to awaken and start hunting me. Maybe I should prepare for the night. Thankfully those bear-squirrels aren't connected to Livae, that's not likely at all, because if they would be, we would all be dead the moment I tried to attack it.

Fucking Livae, I still remember how after one of my brothers shot down a small bird with an arrow, the whole forest came alive and merged into a single enormous treant, which could easily tower over mountains. Thankfully we had several powerful fire Wizards with us.

Fucking Livae.

Anyways, after several more questions I calmed down, as all the information, fear, and "forest spirits" stuff is based on local religious beliefs. My direct question on "What do forest spirits look like" was answered with "No one knows for sure, not many have seen them". By habit I started analyzing what little was known about the creature, going through the usual questions like,

"How can I find it?"

"What can I use to bait it out?"

"What can its weaknesses be?"

and many, many more. But I stop the thought process. I'm not a Blood Brother anymore, and I'm not here to hunt it down. There isn't even a reason to hunt it.

Habits that have been burned into you for years by life and death experiences are hard to remove, and there's no one to blame. The forest was always my battle ground, and because of that, whenever I enter one I instantly flip into this state, even after so many years. Cults and corrupted creatures like to hide in forests and rural areas, close enough to civilization to hunt their prey, but far enough to be able to hide from patrols and serious hunters.

If I encounter a local cult....

Their existence will help me reach my goals, they'll create chaos and panic. Making my targets vulnerable, unfocused, and easy to hunt down.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Ha.

[We can use them.]

[Do not dismiss the idea.]

[Yes, they are evil, and they should be killed. But there is more to the world than black and white.]

[COME TO YOUR SENSES! WE CAN KILL THEM LATER.]

[There is no reason to make the whole world your enemy right now!]

[COME TO YOUR SENSES!!]

No.

They must be erased from the face of the Earth.

...

Everyone is sitting in a half-circle around the camp fire, trying to keep themselves warm while the freezing cold wind blows through the dark forest. Even the area that we're currently in, which is surrounded by huge stones, doesn't protect us from the wind. A few are sitting bundled together around the fire, a few are in the corners under several cloaks, trying to keep themselves warm.

"Why are you not cold at all?!" Lekana squeezes through her chattering teeth.

"There are barely any clothes on you, and you sit there calm as if it is a summer day!" She squints her eyes for a very long minute after which she moves closer and stretches her fingers to my neck. The moment her cold fingers touched my skin her eye shot wide open.

"By the spirits, you are so warm! It is as if you are burning with fire!"

She quickly put both of her hands on my neck and closes her eyes in content. I slowly turn my at her in confusion, but in the next instant she jumps into my lap and nuzzles into my chest, covering herself with the cloak I'm currently wearing.

In shock I turn to the twins, which look back at me with nearly the same shocked expression. Our eyes meet for a few long seconds, but a moment later my eye twitches as the twins react the same way they have before, simply turning their gaze away, as if telling me that it isn't their problem. The fuck? She's your problem, not mine.

Turning my head down, I look at Lekana's face which is stuck in a state of pure bliss with her eyes closed tight. What the hell is wrong with this woman? Is she really that cold? Or maybe this behaviour is common in this area? But it isn't likely, as nearly everyone in the whole group is looking at us with a very strange gaze. Less than a minute later Lekana falls down on the ground and curses loudly.

"HEY! If you didn't like it you could have just said it!"

But I'm not looking at her as my sword is already in my hand, and my eyes focused on an area away from the camp.

"Show yourself." I growl at the darkness.

A few seconds later a small group of about a half-dozen people appeared from out of the said darkness.

"We are very sorry. We saw the campfire and thought that....maybe we could take cover from the cold..."

After a brief discussion it was decided to let them stay, as it isn't an "adventurers" spirit to send people away when they're in need.

The new group started telling their story, about how they're from Mach, which is in the south-eastern region as far as I remember. They also told us that they're travelling north to better land in the Nurak Coalition, which is, as I recently learned, a set of over a dozen smaller kingdoms which banded together. The new group didn't look as strange as Lekana was telling before, so a question came out involuntarily.

"Do you really eat rotten fish?"

The people from the new group started smiling and laughing.

"Not really. We have this one region which has a special local dish with fermented fish, but not many eat it, but it somehow became a famous form of entertainment for foreigners to see if they can eat it and not puke. The rumours grew so much that nowadays we don't even try to prove them wrong."

"We don't actually like fish that much." another adds.

Lekana looked at me with huge eyes and mumbled quietly.

"You listened..."

She quietly moved closer, sitting near me with and sheepishly smiled. I looked at the twins again, but their eyes were fixed on Lekana with tender smiles on their faces. There must be something in their past to explain her behaviour and weird actions, but I don't want to think or look into it. Because there are other things, far more important things to do and think about. I continue staring at the campfire and cycling the mana around the body, experimenting and trying to make all the bones and muscles in my body denser and stronger.

The campfire dances under the wind, and somehow my mind starts seeing faces of uncountable number of people who's lives I have ended. It would've been much easier if the faces belonged to the countless scum I've killed, but sadly the faces don't belong to them. My mind doesn't remember the faces of all the dark creatures I've killed, all the evil, all the corrupted, they all merge into a blank white mask of corruption which never truly takes a specific form. But the faces continue to appear, as I slowly remember one by one the innocent lives I've taken, the people I couldn't save, those that disappeared into nothingness.

I do not dare to look.

I have no right to do that.

Never had the right.

Never will.

...

Mikraz is an ancient city whatever way you look at it. What looks like ancient ruins are littered throughout the whole walk to the city gates. The number of crumbled pillars increases the closer to the gates we are, notifying everyone how big and majestic the city was, and what history these stones could tell. As I continue to walk, I counted at least three layers of wall that crumbled.

Just how big was the city before?

The group that merged with ours during that cold night is still with us, they became friends with everyone quite fast, maybe because they joked a lot, maybe because they cooked several tasty meals and shared them with everyone.

When we arrived at the city's gate, the queue of people who wanted to enter stretched for at least a hundred meters. The day passed very slowly, and the noon sun continued to shine brightly upon us as the queue slowly advanced, centimeter by centimeter. Several hours later it was finally our turn, but the moment I saw an old man with bright white eyes looking at one person after another, the hair on my back stood up.

Seer.

Not good, I always had problems with them.

Looking around I start thinking of any possible options if things go bad. The guards aren't attentive, only one is standing near the seer, everyone else is either playing a card game or talking between themselves. I can always simply skip this city, even if the travel to that island would become harder and more dangerous, it would still be possible.

The eyes of the old seer continued scanning one person after another in our group, his hoarse voice dismissively announcing they're okay. But when his eyes stopped on me, the old man froze like a block of ice. A very long minute passed as the seer stared at me with his huge unblinking eyes, in which for a second I thought I saw pure horror. It took a lot of concentration not to look away or simply rush through into the city. But when the guards around reacted and put their hands on the pommels of their swords, I was already prepared to end them, only to be stopped by the old man's voice.

"E-everything is okay! He just....reminded me of someone I knew, nothing more."

The guards relaxed, most of the returned to their previous tasks, a few glared at me and the seer, but in general the whole thing de-escalated as fast as it started. And somehow the procession resumed, but as I was passing the old seer I heard something like a faint whisper.

"...beg you spare us...."

I turned to look at who said that, but found no one, and the closest person to me, the seer, was already looking at the next person, with the same neutral expression. I looked at him for another long second, but couldn't confirm that it was the seer.

Hearing things...

Am I losing my mind now?

[You just found out?]

As I walk into the city, I find a huge bursting mass of people running around throughout the whole street. Merchants are shouting something about their products, trying to make sure that everyone in the noisy crowd hears them. It takes some effort to break through the crowd, but with my height it's not hard, as I stand nearly a head taller than everyone else. The whole group continues after me, as if I'm a huge ship breaking through ice, making a path for the smaller ones. I but a small piece of meat and ask the seller for the path to the guild hall. The old man who sold me the meat skewer looked at the coins for several seconds, flipping it from one side to another, and after biting it to check that it's real, dismissively points in a specific direction and apathetically says "center".

It took some time to break through the crowd and arrive at the guild building, and after a brief report, my party received a gold coin, with some kind of face print on it, each for escorting the group. Trying not to waste even a single day, I asked about the soonest caravan going north. After a brief look into the catalog, the young receptionist told me that a big caravan is actually planned, but it's going to depart in several days and we need to apply beforehand, as there are many adventurers planning to join, but a very small number of guard slots are available. It didn't take long to apply for the quest and receive the instructions to meet the leader of the caravan on the specified date in front of the northern gates.

Exiting the guild, we started looking for an inn to stay in, and by the recommendation of the receptionist, together with my party I arrived at the "Dancing Bear", which is quite close to the northern gates. The owner of the inn, which could easily be mistaken for an actual bear, quickly booked us and gave us keys to our rooms. After looking at the rooms, we went down to the first floor and ordered today's special. The "special" is nothing special, soup with a lot of vegetables and a small piece of meat with the bone, bread, and an alcoholic drink. While we were eating, Lekana continued to steal glances at me, which brought a small smile to the twin's faces.

[Are we going to continue to play the idiot?]

[Aren't you going to say anything?]

[Maybe it could-]

Enough.

Get real. We both know that IT will never happen.

Do you really think that there's someone who would genuinely want to be with us?

Do you really think that there's someone who would enjoy our company?

Do you really think that there's someone who would voluntarily spend their time with us?

Why are you quiet?

Answer me. Do you truly believe that?

Get real.

You were telling me the same thing some time ago, and now the roles somehow reversed.

Ironic, isn't it?

It will always be the same, nothing changes.

They'll all show their colours sooner or later, and by the amount of they they already wasted, quite soon they'll either openly make a request, or drag us into something.

Do not forget what we are. And what we will never be.

Do not dream of something that will never happen.

[Deep down, we both would want you to be wrong.]

...

While Lekana and the twins spent all their free time looking around, trying local dishes, I was very busy and it looks like I'm at the very last item on my list of tasks.

"Wow. You know, I am the biggest information broker in the city, but I think your expectations of me are a bit overestimated."

"Is is a problem of money?"

"Sadly, no. But I will say this, if you somehow find a way, or learn of a piece of information about a way to reach the Amazon island, I will pay a hefty sum for that myself."I sigh and throw a gold coin on the table.

"And what would that payment be for, dear customer?" the bone-thin man in his late forties says.

"You know yourself." I say, glaring at him.

"Oh." he replies with a huge grin. "It is always a pleasure to deal with an experienced customer."

I stand up, but continue looking at him in silence.

"No one came to me today, and no one asked any questions."

I nod and walk outside of the room, instantly a guard starts following me, who guides me to an exit to the back alleys in the middle of nowhere. The door closes quietly behind me.

I sigh deeply and curse at the useless attempt. I thought that maybe in a bigger city, someone would know something, but I learned nothing, and the money was simply wasted. There was a part of me saying that it will be a waste of money to buy his silence, but nonetheless I shouldn't leave a trail behind. That always results in a great regret in the future.

Regret huh.

I start walking back to the inn, briefly glancing at the people around and what they do. Their culture is unexpectedly similar to the one in the Blood Empire. No, it's called the Sun Empire now, and I shouldn't forget that.

Anyway, even though there should've been no contact between the two sides, everything looks so similar that you could've mistaken it for the same thing. But of course, there are several things that are a sure giveaway that this is another region. There are no dwarves, or elves, and the humans have a bit different features, but one way or another they're all the same.

Same brothels.

Same bar fights.

Same people.

For the past few minutes I've seen three pickpockets stealing from naive onlookers, several small scuffles between what I assume are adventurers, and hundreds upon hundreds of fake smiles from merchants which are trying to swindle youngsters and old people anyway they can.

There should've been several thousand years of no interaction, but this side of life is the same on both sides. Is it that way because this is our core, and it naturally appears? Or is it simply what society eventually grows into? I feel a presence behind me and slowly turn around, only to be face-to-face with Lekana, who has a hand extended as if about to tap me on my back.

"Oh. You felt me in this crowd?" she says in astonishment, but her words are barely heard over the noise of the crowd.

My eyes trail behind her, and I find the twins in the same location as they always are, behind her like a shadow. They nod their heads in greeting, and I nod my head in reply.

"Did you finish your stuff? Will you join us on the way back to the inn?"

I silently nod again, to which she reacts by smiling even wider.

As we walk, she continues to talk about something, but more than half of what she says is lost under the thundering noise of the moving crowd. We continue walking, and we soon exit the market area and the crowd gets quieter. Lekana continues talking, and I finally understand the subject she has been chattering about for the past ten minutes. Sea food, clams, octopuses, and more.

There should be a limit to gluttony...

We finally arrive at the inn and order lunch, which quickly arrives at our table. Lekana starts devouring the dish like she was starving, the twins on the other hand eat slowly, as if savouring every bite. In contrast to them, and everyone around, my jaws move monotonously, as if I don't even try to taste the dish, because all of my thoughts are still stuck on the way to find any more information before reaching the island.

The unprepared die first.

It simply cannot be that no one knows of a way to reach the damn island, but with the last probe, I confirmed that if anyone has that information, it may only be the top brass. And if that's true, it seems that they don't want to share it. And that means that I'll either have to force the answer out of someone high-ranking, or continue with the plan of hitchhiking my way back.

There must be other ways.

[And there is, through the South Pole, back the way we came.]

Several loud screams explode somewhere outside, far away, and slowly the whole inn grows quiet. Some start whispering between themselves, others are looking in the direction of the screams. The screams grow more and more, and soon people start standing up and walking outside to see what is going on. Another bar fight? People will always find a reason to fight, and if they can't find it they'll create one.

Looking over the heads of the inn's crowd I see groups of people trampling over a standing group, like they're running from something in horror. The two groups merge into some kind of blend of flesh and mindless violence. Several seconds later a much bigger crowd starts pouring out of the street, which leads to the city center, trampling over the crowd which was trying to run away. Everyone is looking at the whole thing with wide eyes, not understanding what is happening.

"POSSESSED!!!" someone screams out of the running crowd.

Nearly instantly people start running around, gathering their stuff, drawing their weapons, as if preparing for war, but I just stand apathetically. What the hell is wrong with them? Are the "possessed" really that dangerous? A few loose magicians shouldn't be an issue.

Less than a minute later a crowd several times bigger, behaving like hungry animals crashes into everyone. They start ripping people apart, turning them into a shower of blood and gore as everyone around me screams in horror at the sight.

But I continue to stand looking at the scene, petrified, as the scene before me distorts, showing me the same picture of the same scene. But with all the buildings destroyed, coloured red with blood and body parts of men, women, and children. In the next instant it distorts back to the scene before me. The distortion happens several more times, flipping back and forth, until it finally stops with the image from my past. The period of time that I deemed the darkest in my life, the period when I had to personally give orders to give the city to the blood, one after another, the time when I truly earned my accursed title.

"Possessed" meant...

My body stats trembling as I remember my hands killing one human after another, one child after another, as their eyes stare back at me accusingly. My eyes notice a single figure standing behind the feral group, laughing as people are ripped apart. The figure's head turns in my direction, and his face comes into full view, a pale, white face with bright red and yellow veins patterning the skin.

An inhuman roar explodes somewhere near me, but I don't understand where exactly, and my body starts moving with colossal speed. In less than a dozen heartbeats later I appear before the figure as it looks at me in astonishment. The creature wanted to scream something, but it doesn't get the chance as his body is vertically split in half by my sword.

"B192 secure the position! D52 look for the next target! B115 help B192! A399 cover me!"

I scream as I sit on my knee and start examining the body of the creature, looking for proof that I'm wrong, that it's not what I think it is. My eyes scan the internal organs of the body again and again, looking more into the guts and stomach of the body for a pill, or at least something that looks like it, but there is nothing. With mechanical movements I stand and say with a cold voice.

"Corrupted Shepherd found. Give the city to blood." I announce the result of the analysis and the same order as I have done more than a dozen times before.

Before I know it, several dozen feral creatures try to bury me under their mass, and only through pure strength I throw them off and start cutting the corrupted down one after another.

"D52 status!"

As I rip apart several more ferals, I repeat my order.

"D52 I SAID STATUS!!"

A huge crowd of ferals jump on me and bury me under their pure mass once again. My chest is slowly being crushed under the sheer weight of the bodies on top of me, but I persevere, and the mana starts boiling in my veins. Strength slowly fills my body as I slither through the bodies, finally getting out of the mass grave. Not wasting even a second, I command mana to start flowing into the hand holding the sword, and in response it moves with colossal speed and strength, ripping more and more ferals apart as they try to surround me. I don't know how much time passes, but I finally stand on the mountain of dead ferals and their body parts.

"A399, I SAID FUCKING COVER ME! D52 ARE YOU DEAF?! WHERE IS THE DAMN STATUS?!!"

I turn around and find the area empty except for the hundreds upon hundred of dead bodies, and a small crowd standing far away with their weapons drawn, staring at me, petrified. I continue looking around for my brothers, until I stop like a stone statue. My memories start returning, like a cold knife slowly cutting through my chest, bringing clarity to my mind.

They are not here.

They were never here.

They died a very long time ago.

What was I even doing?

What happened?

More screams explode throughout the whole city as corrupted and feral fill the whole city, and everyone starts fighting for their life. Screams of horror slowly fill the whole city as people attempt to run away from the carnage and leave the city.

But there is no "leaving" anymore.

The flock always follows the shepherd.

The city is lost.

To blood.

I notice as a person appears to the side of me, and moving my head slightly I recognise Lekana a few meters away from me, with the twins as always behind her, looking at me with horrified eyes at me.

"W-we should leave the city!" she quickly stammers.

With her trembling hands, she reaches and takes mine. Gripping my hand harder, she tries to pull it. But I stand solid, not moving even an inch. Her scared eyes look into mine, searching for a reason, but I continue staring at her, thinking deeply about what I'm about to do.

"W-what's wrong?" she whispers.

A moment later she releases my hand and takes several steps away, as if sensing that something is very wrong.

[She is tainted.]

There are no symptoms yet, I can't confirm it.

[Hypocrite.]

No.

[Symptoms do not show in the beginning of emergence.]

[One person more, one person less, they are all doomed one way or another. The chance that they know how to purge the corruption from the body and block the mental attack is minuscule.]

I will not kill the non-corrupted.

[Waiting once again huh?]

[That is why our brothers are dead. But this time there will be no one to sacrifice their lives to save ours.]

[Why stop there? Why not leave the city itself? Who knows, maybe it will magically survive this experience.]

The corrupted are HIS minions, they must be erased from the face of the Earth.

[Good, at least on something we can agree.]

To [To] Blood [Blood]

I grip the handle of the sword harder and start sending mana all around the body in a specific way that I was taught a long time before. The way to maintain the mind when the Shepherd is near. Looking at Lekana one last time, I start walking through the fleeing crowd of people and the mountains of dead bodies littered throughout all of the streets in the direction of the city centers.

Strangely, I don't encounter any ferals at all, as if they disappeared all together. But I know better, as Shepherds are never alone. And there hasn't been a city that survived the emergence even once. This means the worst possible case for me, which is that they have gathered together and are planning to attack as a single body, and I'll have to purge them all together, at once, alone.

I finally arrive in the city center and look at the view that is standing before me. The square's fountains water is all coloured deep red with blood, thousands upon thousands of feral corrupted fighting, what looks like a small group of about half-a-dozen people, whose auras are visible even to the naked eye. Behind the uncountable number of citizen, turned corrupted, are at least a hundred Shepherds, who are giving orders, launching catastrophic spells. Each of the spells is so powerful that every single one of them that hits a building, destroys and rips it apart like it was made of paper.

Suddenly all of the Shepherds, like puppets on strings, simultaneously turn their heads in my direction. For a few long seconds they stare quietly at me, until they simultaneously pointed their fingers at me and screeched at me like enraged gargoyles. Nearly instantly all the ferals stop their attacks on the small group and turn in my direction. With a blood-chilling howl, the whole square explodes into action as thousands upon thousands of ferals, like enraged animals leap in my direction, running on all fours.

Mana starts circulating with more strength than it ever has before, because this body is stronger and more durable. The closer the wave of mindless hate and destruction comes, the more intensely the mana flows. With each breath the temperature in my body starts rising, the blood pressures increases, vision tunnels, until a high-pitched whistling buries all of the sound in the world. With a voiceless roar I leap at the enemy mass, my arm blurs with speed, and I feel my very flesh as the sword cuts through the air until it meets flesh, sending body parts and organ across the walls of the buildings and the square's stone floor.

Less than a dozen seconds and a hundred bodies later, the sword in my hand starts breaking apart as bits and pieces of metal falls off it, until what's left in my hand is a handle and less than a third of the blade. My instincts scream and I leap aside as the place I was a second ago explodes in blazing flames after being hit by several fire spells. Looking at the origin of the spells I find the Shepherds glaring hatefully at me.

More blood.

I throw away the useless thing and switch to the only thing I have left, my body. I start ripping apart the endless waves of flesh with my bare hands, stomping their bodies into a blood paste, evading each and every spell that I can, or throwing the closest feral body at the spell if I can't. Even though I have only one hand right now, it doesn't hinder me at all. In the past I've had fewer limbs than than now and still continued to fight.

More destruction.

More [More]

MORE [MORE]

MOPE!!! [MORE!!!]

I stare back at the corrupted, whose numbers have dwindled by at least a third, between me, the fire spells, and the group with the huge aura still fighting them, even though the target of every corrupted was solely me. The corrupted were always fucked up in some rational way, or to put it even better, chaotically directed into senseless violence with the final goal of destruction of the target. But this is a totally different level. They "see" me, they "perceive" me, and they want me dead

This isn't a coincidence.

Is it YOU?

Are YOU there fucker?

I am coming for YOU.

The still moving corrupted is trying to break free, screaming, thrashing around, as her long hair is moving around. She continues to struggle and screech in absolute hatred, only for my jaws to clutch her neck stronger, until a audible crack resounds across the area, silencing the creature, as her body stops moving. Her neck slowly starts stretching under the weight of her head, until what's left of the neck is no longer able to hold it, and the head rips away and falls down, rolling several times. The corrupted stare back at me as they bundle together, trying to construct a meat shield of protection around the Shepherd.

What's wrong?

Why did you stop?

Come, meet your end.

A bone chilling screech descends upon the whole area, as I start hearing loud flaps of huge wings coming closer and closer. Looking in the direction where I believe the sounds is coming from, I curse as a wyvern with at least a hundred-meter wide wingspan quickly approaches the huge square.

Elder wyvern.

How the fuck did this shit get here?

The wyvern does several circles around the square and lands on one of the tall towers with a crash, nearly destroying it as pieces of the stone tower fall to the ground. It's huge eyes scan the area for several long seconds in nearly absolute silence, until the eyes stop on me and the huge lizard screeches once again, nearly rupturing my eardrums in the process. During the whole moment I didn't move a bit, as my eyes were glued to the wyvern, or more precisely the body of the wyvern, and the yellow and red veins that patterned the huge body of the accursed thing.

Corrupted elder wyvern.

Is this YOUR answer?

FUCK YOU.

The wyvern's lungs start rapidly inflating as its eyes shine brightly, and spurts of fire escape its massive jaws. I curse and start running away from the square as fast I can. A few moments later the group with the auras follow me, only for the endless wave of corrupted to jump on our heels like a packed of starved animals.

I hear an enormous explosion and not wasting even a second, I leap into the closest alley, which is barely more than a meter-and-a-half wide. The moment I step inside I make a sharp one-eighty turn around and I see the group with the huge aura follow me a second later. They run past me, deeper into the alley while I continue to stare outside at the main road.

A moment later an endless mass of corrupted ferals appeared, trying to follow us into the alley, only to be choked in this narrow path. As I hold down at least three stories of fearls, which are climbing over each other trying to reach me, only to be ripped apart or thrown away by me. The whole attempt to break through into the alley took less than a few seconds, but that was enough as a fiery hell consumed them in a blazing inferno. The corrupted continued to try and break through, and plenty of burning or melting creatures leaped out of the blazing inferno trying to reach me, only to fall down and crumble into small charred pieces.

The blazing inferno continued to eat the building away as they walls slowly turned red and melted away. I took several steps back until my back hit one of the members of the group with the huge auras. He jumped away and looked at me terrified, as if he saw a monster, and pointed his weapon at me.

You're the one with the huge aura, not me. I am but flesh and bones.

The fire is slowly subdued and my legs start moving into the still burning inferno. As I walk outside, I'm hit by a bright red and white light coming from the melting stone walls and cobblestone ground. The very feeling reminds me of being in the deepest part of the volcano with magma flowing just a few meters away from me. I can't stand still, I need to move or the damned creature will corner me, and that'll be the end.

Not yet.

As I take several step further, trying to walk on top of the smoking, black stones, rather than the ones shining a bright red-white, my shoes start sizzling and melting away. My eyes quickly scan the area and find what I'm looking for, underneath a very melted body. I start walking quickly, trying to not stand on one foot for too long, but this doesn't help as the shoes continue to sizzle even after they leave the ground.

I roll the body over and try to retrieve the sword still clutched in the hands of the half-melted mass, that looked human less than a minute ago. I finally rip the blade out of the mass and grip the handle of the sword with the blade shining bright red from the heat. The moment my hand touched the handle, it exploded with pain as the skin of my palm started sizzling against the handle. With a strong impulse, I numb the feeling in my hand, but the smell of burning skin and flesh doesn't disappear.

My instincts scream and I leap away as the place I was standing is enveloped with burning heat. I turn in the direction where my instincts pointed me to, and I see several dozen Shepherd leaping at me with spells ready and weapons drawn, ready to take my life. I grip the sword harder and leap at the enemies, evading whatever spell I can, but nonetheless several of them hit me, even after I used the other Shepherd as a shield, and sparks of pain shoot throughout my body and I simply command the body to numb the pain. But something happens that I didn't expect, they all leap at me at the same time, but instead of attacking me they latch onto me with a death-grip, weighing me down, like an animal caught by a snare.

A much louder instinct screams at me and as I turn back I find the huge wyvern lunging at me with enormous speed, its huge jaws wide open, trying to swallow me. Abandoning everything I send all the mana in body into my legs and demand they move, they do. My legs explode with colossal strength, carrying me, and several corrupted, fifteen meters into the air as the huge jaws of the wyvern bite into the ground where I was just a second ago. I try to move my legs, but they don't respond at all, as now I can feel that too many of the muscles in my legs are ripped apart, the most I can do is some slight movement.

Gravity finally wins and I crash against the back of the massive creature, tumbling several times as the bodies of the corrupted gripping me acted as a cushion and ended up ripped apart against the razor sharp spikes on the wyvern's back. As soon as I finally break free I try to let the sword go to clutch at the spike but to my horror the handle fused together with the flesh on my palm and got stuck to it, as if they were glued together. Cursing, I plunge my sword into the body, hoping to find a crack, and it does as the sword pierces through a crack, stopping my body sharply. My momentum was so high that it nearly ripped my shoulder from the torso, but in the end it somehow stayed together.

The damn creature, as if feeling that I'm on its back, starts thrashing and jumping around to try and throw me off. I clutch the sword for dear life as hard as I can, hugging the back of the wyvern with my own body, trying to hold on. After about a minute of fruitless attempts, the fucker runs into one building after another, sending building pieces into the air as dust fills the whole area and hits my face. But still nonetheless I somehow held on, because if I slipped off I would end up buried under the rubble forever.

I held onto the creature with all my might as it started thrashing around more, rolling over trying to throw me off. Closing my eyes I continue holding on for my life as the damn creature jumps through another dust cloud. The whole thing has lasted for about two or three minutes, but for me it felt like hours. The creature started thrashing around more, but in a bit different way, and when I notice that the sound of burning becomes quiet and the only thing I hear is the angry screeches of the wyvern and strong wind whipping by my face, I open my eyes. Looking around I curse once again as I'm already at least several hundred meters in the air, with the city below me growing smaller and smaller every second. As if that wasn't enough, after reaching a specific height, the accursed creatures started doing rapid turn and barrel rolls, trying to throw me off while I clutched the sword for dear life and as my body was growing colder from the freezing wind.

The creature, as if finally calming down, started gaining more height, but with every second I felt as if its body grew hotter and hotter, until I started hearing my bare skin sizzling against its burning hot scales. Looking up, I finally realize what its trying to do, but it was too late to do anything to stop it, as the wyvern already breathed out an enormous cloud of fire and rotated its back against it.

I WILL NOT DIE.

Screaming at my body to move, I somehow found the strength to leap to the side, away from the center of the fire cloud while the strong wind nearly glued my body to the wyvern's back. My body hit something, and by pure instinct I plunged the sword into it, and together with my momentum it slid deeper into some kind of flesh. The fucker screeched as we dived into the cloud of fire, nearly instantly my body screamed as I felt my whole body burning and melting at the same time without the possibility to make it stop.

As we finally broke through the fiery hell cloud, my lungs sucked in freezing cold air, but it doesn't make it any better as my lungs are so burned that they barely functioned. Demanding my fingers to grip the pommel of the sword harder as I felt my bones creaked under the pressure. Switching to my legs, I command them to move, and slowly, tremblingly, they obey as I stand on my knees upon the wyvern's wing.

Lets see who dies first fucker.

Sending mana into my hand and knees I find my balance, and I start cutting deeper into the leathery flesh of the webbing on the oversized cave lizard's wings. The creature screeched in absolute horror and hatred, but when it turned to look at me, I felt desperation in its eyes, and like a trigger, caused me to redouble my efforts with even more determination. The huge reptile continues thrashing around, making one maneuver after another, trying to throw me off, and it succeeded, but only in making it worse as the blade cut deeper and deeper into its wing. The wound growing bigger and bigger, until the sword's blade cut through the whole wing and I'm thrown away.

Falling down as the whistling of the strong wind consumes nearly all the sound around me. I somehow reorient myself in the air and look around, until my eyes find myself in the middle of an absolutely blue sky. I would say that the view before me is one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen, but there's something that destroys the entire scene, which is an over sized lizard bat falling down not far from me, screeching in confusion and hatred.

I WILL KILL YOU.

Somehow find strength in my body, I reorient myself once again as I direct myself at the wyvern, which is trying to fly as its falling down, screeching in confusion. After about a minute of non-stop failures in an attempt to stabilize itself and fly, its eyes somehow turn in my direction and absolute hatred reflects in them. The hatred consumed the whole creature, as it somehow find the strength in itself and directs itself at me. The corrupted thing starts quickly approaching me with its jaws open wide as if trying to swallow me whole.

YOU [YOU] WILL [WILL] DIE [DIE]!!!

Reorienting myself in the air once again I evaded the wyvern's dive, and after several seconds of fumbling in the air, my body turns back in the direction of the creature, which once again tumbles around and tries to fly with its only healthy wing, but fails. The temperature of my body starts increasing once again as I make the mana flow faster and faster, and my vision tunnels again. With my vision slowly turning red and black I dive at the creature with my sword in front of me like an arrow, and just as I'm about to hit it, a strong wind redirects me slightly and I miss the creature by just a few meters. I tumble around once again and finding my balance, performed the action again and again, as if possessed with a single goal in my mind while the creature screeched in horror, as if understanding what I'm trying to do.

After several more failed attempts my sword finally finds its target, the only healthy wing of the corrupted lizard. It screeched in horror and hatred once again, thrashing around, trying to throw me off. Only for the sword to cut deeper as it did to the other wing. Sending more mana into my legs, the knees start pushing against its wing with more force as the sword slowly slides across the flesh, cutting deeper and deeper, until it cuts through and I'm once again sent tumbling through the air.

My hatred doesn't calm down, as once again I reorient myself in the air and look back at the falling wyvern, only to find the horrified lizard screeches at a very high pitch. But in the next instant its eyes shine once again and it suddenly calms down and looks at me with absolute hatred not losing out to mine even a bit. Not losing even a moment, it somehow reorients its limbs and lunges in my direction like a feral. Using my sword and barely moving body, I reorient myself and evade the attack. The creature attempts the attack once more, but that doesn't change the result, as I'm smaller and harder to hit. The wyvern is about to make a third attempt, but it looks down and the hatred disappears from its eyes and screeches in horror. Following the creature's gaze, the hair on my body stands on end as the city below is quickly growing bigger and bigger, and there's less than a dozen seconds until we hit it.

I will not survive the fall.

[No]

[NO]

[NOT YET!]

With my whole body nearly freezing at what I'm about to do, I demand its absolute obedience and my body turns in the direction of the wyvern. Diving in the direction of the wyvern, I find it flailing around. When its eyes meet mine the blazing hatred returns to them, it opens it jaws and lunged back at me, trying to kill its killer. As the jaws rapidly approach I don't even try to evade them, on the contrary, I direct myself right into its mouth. A fraction of a second later the world turns black and I hear the sound of two mountains crashing against each other. The sound quiets down, only for it to be replaced by another one, which is as if several huge earthquakes hit at the same time. The pain and feeling start disappearing as my mind drifts away.

No.

NO!

NOT YET!

NOT [NOT] YET!!! [YET!!!]

...

"Please, spare them!" screams an older man in his early forties clutching two children to his chest. "Take my life, but leave my children alive! Please, I beg you!" The man tries to say more, but he and his two children are split in half by my sword, their bodies separate into a pool of blood and flesh.

A young man in his late teens wearing black and red armour with tears in his eyes, leaps at me, his sword aiming at my neck. I easily swat the attack away and crush his ankle, as his scream resounds throughout the area. My sword instantly moves to his neck.

"B117, Brother, Sir, please, he is a young Brother. He does not understand! He-" my Brother, A98, says but stops sharply as he remember that the young man is just a few years younger than I am. I take a glance at my Brother, A98, and turn back to the young man under one of my legs, who is looking at me with hatred in his eyes.

"Bring me a 'late' one." I growl.

Less than a minute later a child, with light brown hair and hazel eyes who's less than ten years old, is brought before us, trembling and looking around at me and my Brothers standing around.

"B34. Look at me." I say to the young Brother near my feet. His eyes start jumping between me and the child and he squeezes out,

"No. Don't touch her you monster."

"I won't."

By my command, the child is cuffed with a chain around her leg fixed to the ground. As she starts wailing loudly, expecting us to torture her.

"Heal him." I command and nearly instantly a healer casts a healing spell on him, after which B34 jumps up and away from me.

I take out a short dagger and throw it to him, which he promptly catches, still glaring at me. He positions himself himself between the child and me, as if protecting her from me.

"You won't kill her." he growls back.

"I will not."

B34 continues glaring at me until a creature leaps at his back and bites deep into his neck. Screaming he plunges the dagger at whatever is clutching onto his back several times. He breaks free several seconds later and leaps away. In mid-air he rotates and looks at what attacked him. In shock, my younger Brother stares at the corrupted child, blood dripping from her eye sockets and neck, which growls and tries to leap at him, but fails as the chain is holding her in place. My Brother looks at his dagger which has the fresh blood of the child on it.

"I will not. You will."

B34 looks at me, then back at the child, as the chain that holds her continues to rattle.

"No." he whispers. "We can...we can saver her, there must..."

Nodding at the chain, I tell my other Brother what to do, which he quickly carries out. The child no longer held back by the chain once again leaps at B34 as he tries to wrestle against her, until the dagger in his hand plunges through the heart of the corrupted child, and she crumples to the ground.

B34 starts breathing deeply until he falls on his knees and starts crying, touching the child. Tenderly clutching her body to his chest.

"No." he quietly whispers.

"Survive." I growl.

"No."

"For the living." I continue.

"No." he repeats.

"We need you-"

I stop when I notice his eyes turn half-dead. A moment later a dark aura starts escaping him. Clenching my jaw, I hear teeth grind against each other. Walking to B34 I draw another dagger from my hip.

"B117, Brother, let me do it. I brought him, I must release him back to Father myself." A98 says.

"No Brother." I state shortly, "I bear full responsibility for this, and I will not allow this to consume you. Direct your hatred at me, no one else."

I silently plunge the dagger into the heart of my younger Brother. His body slumps to the ground, his weapons and gear lightly rattle against the ground.

I look at my Brothers one by one, then back to B34's body. By tradition we should recite a verse, but it will not happen, no matter how many times we try, those words just feel empty.

We lost another Brother.

How many more do we need to lose for this world?

How many more will it take?

...

An eternity later, physical pain returns as the presence of the damned and dead slowly fade out of my mind. The torrents of their screams of pain and hatred quiet down, and silence returns to it, but only for a short time.

A single eye slowly opens as bright light assaults me, and my eye shuts down, only for me to force it open seconds later. This time my eyes open together much slower as they try to take in what's before me. I see a tiny light far away, so far that it feels nearly non-existent.

But it's there.

There is light and there is pain.

It is not the end.

Not yet.

I slowly move my hand to my face and try to remove whatever is caked around my eyes, but I fail, and I only feel something very wet and hard touching my face. A very dark idea starts to appear in my head. After at least a dozen minutes, my eyes finally regenerate enough for me to start seeing what's around me. Turning my eyes the left, I finally see my hand, or at least what's left of it, a single white and black bones sticking out of burnt flesh.

This will take a while to heal.

Very quickly, feeling begins to return to my body, and I start feeling an extreme burning sensation below my waist. Using what's left of my only hand, I turn my upper torso and neck around, and a strong acidic smell hits me before I can even see what's wrong. It takes several seconds of looking for me to understand what it is I'm looking at. Until I notice white objects, bones, sticking out of the amalgamation that should've been my legs.

Meat stump cripple once again.

Trying to piece together what I remember last creates a very nasty theory. Stomach of the elder wyvern. Well, at least I'm alive. But it isn't enough. Growling, I command whatever is left of my limbs to move, as I don't want to melt away in the stomach of the damned creature. My torso and the stump of my left arm start moving, carrying me, centimeter by centimeter towards the light at the end of the meat tunnel.

I will not die.

An eternity later I crawled closer to the source of light, and I find a razor sharp, white protrusion blocking the path. Teeth, mouth, an exit, just a bit more. Looking around I find an area with several broken fangs that created a wide enough path for me to get out. I start crawling to it until I finally reach the exit, and like a slug, fall into a world of white light and random noises.

I hit the ground and air escapes my lungs, but I don't get an opportunity to take the sweet air in, as something in me screams that there's danger near me. Looking around I try to find the origin of the danger but the whole world is a blur of colours and shades of white and black. It takes a few seconds until a smudge, half-a-dozen meters away takes a more crisp form and I notice a short, sharp object in its hands. As the image of the figure becomes clearer, I see yellow and red veins in its pale face.

Corrupted Shepherd.

The figure starts screaming something and pointing at me with the dagger in its hands, then the dagger returns to the are near its chest, where my eyes notice another silhouette. The view of the silhouette becomes clearer, and the seething hatred starts burning again, the silhouette is a young girl barely over twelve, a child, whimpering with tears in her eyes.

Images of thousands of similar situations flash across my eyes, all ending with the body of the innocent child in a pool of its own blood. As if telling me the future that awaits the child, the mind demands action, and in response my blood starts boiling once again as the pressure in my skull starts increasing rapidly. The whistling in my ears replacing all of the sound in the world.

I don't know how, or even where the strength came from, but the stumps of my legs twist and explode with enormous force, carrying me towards the creature. In response the eyes of the creature flip from hatred into horror. Throwing the child away, the creature thrusts its dagger at me with burning eyes, and I feel the cold blade tearing through my chest, but it doesn't stop me, the pure momentum carrying me onto the corrupted, toppling it. Falling down on the creature, we come face to face as my eyes meet the corrupted's, pure hatred reflecting in them like a bonfire. The ugly face riddled with yellow and red veins, twists in rage upon looking back at me.

I need to destroy the creature, kill it, erase it from the face of the Earth.

My jaws close upon its neck, an audible crunch resounds around the area nearly instantly.

Somehow twisting my body, I rip out a huge chunk of flesh from the neck of the abomination under me, the thick blood starts dripping down my jaws. Spitting the flesh away, I start breathing heavily but only choke, as there's something huge stuck in my lungs that's stopping me from sucking in the sweet air my body demands. I try to stand up, but fail, as I'm quickly reminded that both feet are missing. Rolling around on my back, I look down and see the dagger still embedded in my chest. Stretching my left hand towards it, I try to get it out but fail as there are no fingers to grasp the pommel.

I hear a series of rapid footsteps, and a silhouette appears and bends near me, quickly pulling the dagger from my chest. Nearly instantly, I feel the weight of two hands push against the area on my chest where the dagger was stuck, as if trying to stanch the bleeding. Moving my eyes to the face of the silhouette, it takes several long seconds for the image to become crisp, and I recognise the familiar white face with black hair and ears. The only difference is that Lekana's face is filled with tears as she's crying and screaming something, but I don't understand what it is.

Closing my eyes, I try to breathe deeper and reassess the damage to the body this time, and start healing immediately. But suddenly, I feel an incredible warmth cover my whole body, as if I was submerged into a hot bath in the middle of winter. Clarity quickly returns to my sight and hearing. Not understanding, I open my eyes and blink several times as strength returns to me. It takes several more seconds for me to recognise this familiar feeling, one which I have been so used to, but was left without for a very long time.

Healing.

I instantly jump up, feeling hale and healthy, as if I had months of time to heal my injuries. Looking down at myself, I find my feet and left hand there, as if the events of the past hour didn't happen. But there's another feeling that I nearly forgot, and slowly my right arm comes into view, with the palm and fingers clenching and unclenching. Looking to the side, I find a group with a huge visible aura around them. A young woman in her early twenties in white standing close to me with round eyes.

"Pam did you level up your healing skill? I have never seen such a fast effect!" someone behind her says.

"No..." she whispers, nearly inaudible.

In the next instant, someone attaches herself to my chest and starts crying and cursing me in the process. Looking down I find Lekana clutching me, burying her face in my chest. My eyes return to the group with the visible auras, looking closer I find a very strange facial feature, one I haven't seen in this region before, but I have seen back in the Empire.

Such features, aura, and unbelieveable levels of healing....

Heroes.

As if a dam opened wide, an unstoppable torrent of questions fills my mind.

How?

Here?

Why?

A voice deep inside of me screams that there is something is very wrong here.

Suddenly, a random question pops up in my head.

Why were they here?

Getting healed right now would be the best possible moment for me.

And best moments do not happen.

Except if they were scripted.

By someone.

The goddamn theater play isn't over.

But who's the puppeteer?

HE wouldn't want this.

HE tried to kill me.

It couldn't be HIM.

Someone else...