Tales of the Old World Demon Lord

Chapter 49.5: Side Story - The Grand Admiral

[Eternum Calendar 1972]

-Errick Rommel's PoV-

In the end I lost. Dagda had grown to be too powerful and I had failed to realize that fact.

[Internal Systems Failing…]

Too many damaged parts and too little time to initiate the self-repair program. No, even if I could repair myself in time the fact that he could push me back to this brink means it’d be meaninglessly to continue. I’d just be destroyed over and over, as many times as I reconstruct myself…

Right, useless.

[Core Functions Shutting down…]

It’s over.

Ah… am I going to die like this? How pathetic of me, the one who was hailed as the Grand Admiral of the Sovereign armada, reduced to a fumbling coward. I wonder when it all changed. When did I start to become so weak and complacent? Has my stay in this world truly influenced me to this extent?

[Requesting Initialization of Self-Repair…]

Request denied.

Really, these primitives are far too much trouble, so weak and vulnerable. I grew too soft and now I’m playing the price… I suppose I’ve lived long enough.

It was a long, arduous life but I can’t say that it was at all unsatisfactory. In the end I was taken out in a glorious battle against the strongest god of this world…

Yes, this death truly isn’t a bad one.

[Initiating Program RE8111]

“Initiating what?”

A strange program was activated from within myself.

…

“Admiral…”

Before me was a vast and unending darkness that stretched literally into infinity. Where it began and where it started was all a complete mystery to me, yet as I continued to gaze into it something had deeply resonated within my heart.

Although this eternal night has me completely surrounded it wasn’t as though it was smothering me. In fact I was able to see my own silhouette perfectly fine. So if I had to make a comparison it would be the kind of feeling one would get if they stared off into deep space. A vast and un-starry sky; a hypnotizing darkness, I felt as though if I just kept staring into it I would either lose myself or find peace.

Beneath me I could feel the sturdiness of the hardened ground. It was a shade of black that was a little lighter than that of the shadows above so off in the distance I could see some sort of corrupted horizon of darkness forming.

Still, standing within this empty void that was neither cold nor hot, I was left to compare myself to this infinity. ‘I’m an immortal,’ in the past I thought that to myself many times and followed through with the grace and grandeur that this title carried. However standing here I could truly start to feel the weight of my own insignificance. ‘Immortality… what a joke,’ is all I could think to myself as I let out a bitter laugh.

Indeed there was a time that I believed everything ‘he’ talked about… No, even now I still believe in them but I have lost the will to continue living by them.

Humans were titanic creatures, they may be dwarfed by the grand scope of the universe but in our own rights we were ‘infinite’. We conquered the planet, the moon and even set our sights upon the stars. Eventually, I believed that we would catch up to the grandeur of the universe. Yet in the end we were never able to attain that glorious next step, for that we have only ourselves to blame.

‘He’… Sovereign talked about the unity of man and the potential we could achieve but ironically he was betrayed, by his closest friend no less. Well, I’m sure Edmund Weisner had his own reasons for doing what he did and even Sovereign seemed to have realized that in the end. It’s a distant memory now but I sometimes think back fondly at it, about a time that no one in this new world remembers. As ‘infinite’ as he believed us to be, ‘time’ washes away everything with a curse known as ‘eventuality’.

The ‘future of mankind’ that he would constantly talk about, it was not the perfect utopia that everyone wanted. Such a thing would be impossible to establish. Yet even if it was possible I believe that he would want to have nothing to do with it; Sovereign believed in many things but ‘peace’ was never one of them.

Peace, freedom, gluttony, stagnation, hesitation, desperation… and eventually extinction. ‘If we achieved peace, we would stop growing as a species,’ or so he would say, but he did believe that we should all strive for peace… just that we should never actually achieve it- that this was how it was supposed to be.

Certainly after Sovereign died there was ‘peace’, then slowly the world choked on itself… slowly it stagnated. Nothing changed and we found ourselves wasting away. It’s funny when I think back to this point. If Sovereign hadn’t died back then; if Edmund never betrayed him, then this entire world, this new world would never have been born.

I can’t help but wonder to myself that if he still lived whether we would have already conquered even the distant stars. In the end I suppose it’s a meaningless point to dwell on, now that the situation has devolved into this state all we can do is strive on. Perhaps in the future there maybe another ‘Sovereign’ that tries to do the same…

If that time comes, I wonder if I would be able to stand behind him.

As I was lost deep within my own thoughts something peculiar happened to this abyss. The ceilings started to crack as a stream of bright white light started flooding in. As the darkness caved in more and more the smothering light started fill the void.

Yes… it was like this the first time I came to this new world. The age of darkness was banished; with Sovereign slain and the Confederacy gone the new world began. It was an unpleasant change, to see everything that we’ve worked so hard for be washed away by the passage of time. The curse of eventuality stood triumphantly over our history and accomplishments.

Bit by bit, the crack in the abyssal sky widened and started to disintegrate the darkness. It was the same; I was once again powerless to stop this change and could only stand and watch. It was mortifying but eventually I would get used to it. Time corrodes even the strength of one’s undying conviction.

Such a horrifying thing.

…

The darkness was devoured by the light and once that light subsided I soon found myself before a very familiar scene. Standing before me now was a moderately sized home, red bricked roof and brown walls, three floors, a large back garden filled with beautiful and colorful flowers, an elegantly designed front gate…

I remember this place; or rather I could never forget it. This place… it was my home. It was my home before everything, before even the birth of the Confederacy. Ah, despite the painfully grand length of time that has passed since then I could still remember this scene as clear as day. Inside my house my beautiful wife would be waiting for me, my adorable daughter would jump out at me to greet me as I returned.

However… I gazed down at my own body, covered by plates of darkened metallic armor. It was no longer the soft, warm skin as a normal human… so if I were to approach the house like this would my family even remember me? Would they accept me as part of their family?

I sighed… no, even if they didn’t this was what I had chosen to become. I was not coerced into this but from the freedom of my own humanity I decided to become this. Of course this was after my family had already been…

“Admiral.”

“?!”

A deep, nostalgic and authoritative voice. When was the last time I had heard this voice? I turned my metal plated helmet head to the side, gazing intently at the owner of this voice with my singular mechanical red eye.

“Sovereign…”

I spoke out his title… his name. Neatly combed back jet black hair, evil-looking and menacing green eyes that could pierce through your very soul, slender but knife sharp features, standing there in his white lab coat over his business suit…

He perked up his glasses with his left hand and stared back at me.

“Indeed, it’s been a while, Admiral.”

“Been a while? You’re already dead so either everything up until now was an illusion or…”

I trailed off but Sovereign seemed to have understood what I was trying to say. He smiled back at me. What an evil smile, it’s a mystery as to how he rallied the undying support of countless millions with that kind of expression. It was just the most perfect smile befitting of a sadist.

“It’s the latter… this had all been preprogrammed of course.”

“Preprogrammed?”

He nodded.

“In the beginning stages of the USSC there were two main projects, the [Human Immortalization Project] which aimed to create immortal psychics and the second… the [Human Mechanization Project], for the soldiers who wished to continue fighting even after death… of which you were the first. [RE8111] It was then that this program was installed into every subject and was set to activate when you came very close to losing your life.”

Of course, how can I forget the two most prominent projects of the Confederacy? Our goal was to combine those two projects together to create the ultimate super-soldier. In any case ‘if I came close to dying,’ I see, so my fight with Dagda was already over. Due to a miscalculation I had lost so now I’m sent here.

“Is that so? Then may I ask what program this exactly is?”

“As I said this program would only activate in the event that you came close to losing your life a second time. Well, I called it a ‘program’ but it’s more like a ‘reminder’. Since your body is no longer made of flesh and blood you can be easily rebuilt but the human mind is still very prone to faltering from great setbacks, thus this ‘reminder’ would be activated once you reached that point.”

I see, truly something he would come up with. So then my next question…

“Reminder?”

“Yes, you’re well aware of my firm beliefs, are you not?”

What Sovereign believed in above everything else… well there could only be one answer to that question. Of course what he believed in was…

“The power of the ‘human will’.”

“Indeed, I’m glad that you knew me very well Admiral. Even though your body is that of a machine’s, you are still undoubtedly human; you are the living epitome of human achievement. So then, let us rekindle that deep, burning ‘human will’ that you have lost.”

He smiled once more. Evil.

“What are you talking about…?”

“Papa!”

A chill ran down my back as I froze in place. A small, soft voice came calling from behind me but I was too afraid to look back. How long ago was it that I had heard it? I felt as though I could cry but with this body of a machine’s I couldn’t… eh?

I felt something slide off from the side of my face. Warm, watery… when I touched my face something was wrong. It was warm and soft…

“Papa~!”

Slowly turning around I faced the owner of this soft voice. She only came up to my waist but she latched on tightly with a smile. She looked up to me with that bright blue gaze of hers, her blonde hair softly rubbing against my clothes. I was hesitant but I reached out and stroked her hair, silky and soft… just how long has it been since I’ve felt her hair like this?

I crouched down and embraced her wholly.

“Papa~? I- is something wrong? You’re smothering me~”

Tears fell down the side of my face, I couldn’t help it. My daughter… Felicia Rommel. How I’ve missed you.

“Felicia…”

I called out to her. Unable to free herself from my tight grasp she simply accepted the situation allowed me to continue. Perhaps she sensed my uneasiness but she in turn tried to calm me down by stroking through my hair.

Truthfully I understand that this is probably all just a simulation created by Sovereign’s program, yet even then I’m still grateful. For me to have this kind of chance to see my family again, even like this, I can feel my heart gradually finding peace. For just a little bit more, though I’m entirely unsure of how much time had actually passed, I stayed like this. I never wanted to go.

“Admiral.”

Sovereign placed his hand on my shoulder. Was it time?

“Papa…”

Felicia started to speak with that soft, gentle voice of hers. I eased my grip and she pushed me back slightly but smiled as she continued.

“Thank you for not forgetting about me for all this time. It was a short while but mother and I, we were both happy because you were there for us. However, papa still has a job he has to do right?”

“Felicia…?”

I could feel my heart pounding hard through my chest. Despite just having been reunited we were going to part ways like this so soon. However, I should still be thankful that we even get to say our goodbyes; back then I couldn’t even see them off as they were taken from me so suddenly.

“Papa, I trust you. That you can do the job that you have to do without looking back… we want to always see the strong papa that has tried his best to protect us. That’s the kind of papa I love, so please… don’t give up.”

Felicia took a few more steps away from me and smiled brightly. Seeing that I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

She was right, nothing was over. There was still a job that I had to do. My family, Sovereign and the Confederacy are all gone but there are still people that require my help. It was just a little bit, but I’ve come to think that the residents of this new world aren’t so bad, some have even inherited the will of our world. So to do what I couldn’t do back then, I will protect the ones under my providence to the best of my ability.

I turned back to see the vile, arrogant and evil man that was the closest being to a god I’ve ever seen.

“Thank you Sovereign. Even if this was just a simple recreation, the fact that I could even see them like this was enough for me. I see, so this is the ‘human will’ you’ve so proudly boasted about; the strength that draws a person to do their utmost. To see your ambitions through or to protect the people you love, it is the power to help accomplish those goals.”

It truly was just a ‘reminder’. He had shown me what it was that I had fought for all this time. Even if my family was gone there was a reason I continued to fight and even now that reason hasn’t completely diminished.

I do not completely hate them, these primitives of the new world. They’re weak, annoying and demanding but I’ve watched over them for so long I’ve come to enjoy their company. They’ve even taken to calling me a ‘baron’… Those fools, if I die here then it would also be a death sentence for that village under my protection.

If I died here… Dagda would continue to rampage. He’d destroy everything.

I guess it is still a little too early for an immortal to die.

“It was never anything complicated to begin with; all anyone needed to do was realize.”

“Haha… I suppose that’s true.”

After a brief silence Sovereign nodded and spoke up.

“Admiral, there is one more thing I prepared. Since this program has been activated it must mean that you have lost and are on the verge of dying. Well, I suppose ‘dying’ is not really the correct word for you, but either way the fact that you’re in a losing situation is no different.”

“Indeed, I may have underestimated my opponent a little. The new world has their own method of accomplishing what they desire, but I’ve looked down on them a bit too much since they were primitive. This is the price I’ve paid.”

“Whatever the case, whoever the enemy is or how powerful they are, none of it should be a concern to the USSC. We are beings that have climbed to the top of this world and had our sights set upon distant stars. There is no spawn of this world that is greater than us… and I shall prove that to you.”

“Prove it? How, though I don’t like to admit it, the opponent is this new world’s ‘God’.”

“Be it a god or a devil, it doesn’t really matter. There is no heaven in the clouds and no hell beneath the soil, however there does exist something above the clouds.”

I had an ominous feeling, a creeping sensation against my back. I couldn’t hold back my smile, if he truly was talking about what I was suspecting then surely. Above the heavens there is an even greater power, the one mark left behind by humans that nature had dared not to disrupt.

“I see… certainly it exists- a way to prove our superiority… the [Skyfall Project].”