The kings' voice bellowed throughout the empty room. Reverberating off the stone walls, making his question seem all the more menacing and threatening.

Alex wondered for a minute how he should answer his question. He himself had too many questions about this situation so it was hard for him to find an answer.

After a moment of wondering, he answered, shaking his head in mock sadness, "It was horrible your majesty, our village was attacked and left horribly devastated"

"But that's not the worst part sire, everyone was killed. I was the only one who survived, call it a stroke of luck. I barely got out of there myself."

The king spoke up once more, questioning who attacked, "Tell me child, who was it that attacked your village."

This was a hard question for Alex, he truly had no idea. He just knew soldiers were slaughtering innocents. He didn't know how to respond, so he responded the best he could.

"I'm not very well educated your highness, I can't tell you for sure. I can however assure you it was an army, a rather small one at that. I can also give you is the insignia they wore as their coat of arms."

"No need" responded the king

"There is one thing I am puzzled on, hopefully you can fill me in on where this army is?"

"Surely you don't mean to tell me you outran an entire army boy."

Alex not nervous in the slightest responded "This sire is where the story gets all the more interesting".

Alex wanted to cover all his bases, he wanted to make sure this could not be tied back to him at all. He was planning on making up a story, while this could be dangerous long-term he did have a solid alibi in case that ever happened. He could just mix fact with lies! The best lie was a half-truth after all.

"Sire a person was summoned, they killed everyone!"

A frown visibly formed on the king's face. This was indeed a problem, all summoned were wild in personality. And now getting another wildcard in the times of war was a big issue. The biggest being whose side could they get this person on.

Now you might be wondering why not just remove the uncertainty, especially if they've harmed both sides. The problem is all summoned people were great assets, while they were very dangerous to nurture, if it was pulled off huge profits could be made. Not just the power they possessed, but politically they were great bargaining chips.

"Tell me, boy, what powers did this summoned person have?"

"I didn't get a good glimpse of him sire, I was focused on getting out with my life."

The king sunk back in his chair more, thinking.

"That's all I had to ask" the king turned to look at the guard next to Alex, "Take him away, leave him with a permit into the capitol"

The guard responded, "Right away sir, is there anything else you need?"

"No, just get out of my sight, I need to think"

Alex had truly gotten lucky on this day. Not only had he gotten away with the murder of an entire village but he had also gotten a fast-pass into the capitol. He didn't know he needed one, thankfully he now had one, else that could've been a sticky situatuion had he arrived without one.

Alex was also a little curious as to why the king himself chose to question him. He figured that he'd have someone to do that for him, he just figured things worked a little differently around here. Little did he know however he had just barged into the plan of an entire kingdom.

Alex was soon ushered out of the throne room by the guard. The guard did one more courtesy before turning around to leave. Clearly, they had a lot of respect for the king.

---

As the doors closed, leaving the king alone, he stood up and walked to a window. Looking out towards the horizon he thought the clouds seemed a little darker than usual. A sign of danger to some, but for the king, this dark symbol foretold the great war that was about to come. He knew that the Ventraxians would surely strike back harder now that they had lost.

He wondered what he needed to do, he loved this country, he didn't want to see it fall. He hoped that he could find a solution. He had truly wanted to send out people to look for this mysterious summoned person but he knew it was too late. If the king had just heard of this then someone else had already located them. His network was truly too outdated, he could never match his opponent.

The king gripped the banister of the window, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

"I will not go down without a fight, you may be stronger, but I will never lose.".

---

In a different location, two scouts opened a door and almost threw up by the sight they say. A skinned bag of flesh, barely resembling a human, and two rather intact corpses. These scouts had seen a lot of fucked up shit in their days but this took the cake, they wondered how someone could be so cruel as to murder a family with such brutality.

These scouts naturally belonged to the Ventraxians. And just as the king thought, they already knew their army was defeated. Right now they were trying to ascertain as to why. Their first stop was the village of Paracer. Their army was designated to go through this spot two days ago. They were supposed to receive a report two days ago.

As the scouts scoured around the city for clues they noticed something odd. There was no sign of any humans, normally this wouldn't be strange as their army was ordered to kill everyone, but there was literally nothing. There were no corpses, just the signs of a battle. They knew something had happened but didn't know what.

They did discover signs of a ritual summoning, they had their first clue. Their second was this house they found, it was less destroyed than the others. Inside was the gruesome scene they were looking at currently. Another clue was the skill used to kill this family. Naturally to ensure they didn't miss anything they inspected all three bodies for clues. And they did find some.

The people were killed with extreme proficiency, a skill that could only be replicated by true experts in the field of anatomy. This struck odd with the scouts, no one of this level should be in this village.

While one of the scouts was inspecting what seemed to be a child they heard some odd noises. Ragged breathing.

---

Escorted out of the castle Alex was on his own again. He was given no more time or explanations. The guard that escorted him seemed annoyed at the job he was given and rushed through it quickly.

Alex still recalled the scene of the guard shutting the door in his face when he went to ask a question. He also remembered the guard locking the door in his face.

Alex was a petty person, he would remember that. But for now, he needed to continue with his main goal. Alex felt around in his pocket to make sure he still had the permit, it was a rather interesting thing. It resembled a piece of paper from earth but had some strange characteristics. Mostly the rune-like inscriptions running along on the border. Other than that the material itself felt different from paper.

Now behind the massive fort that previously blocked his path he felt envious. He wanted a castle all too himself, he was a man for vanity, and as such this unique aesthetic fit him perfectly.

Regardless, he needed to take action to acquire. And so he did, with a step forward, down the now gravelly path he embarked on his journey to the capitol.

---

Some time had passed, Alex was feeling a lust, he had a boner if you could believe it. He was imaging skinning a person head to toe. And that itself put him right on the cusp of, well.... you know....

As luck would have it he spotted a caravan down the road. He had only been running for an hour and he had already ran into someone. Quite different from the desolate roads he previously embarked on.

Spotting a new target Alex took an even greater step forward. With a burst of speed he never had before he reached his target. He had a maddening glint in his eyes, a horrible shit-eating grin, and his trousers were, soaked.

There were 3 people on board this small caravan, they seemed to be transporting some vegetables and other small goods.

Their horses whined and stopped

"AYE, WHATS ALL THIS THEN!" shouted a bald man driving the carriage

"Is everything alright out there?" a feminine voice sounded from behind the comfort of the caravan walls

The caravan driver squinted his eyes as he stared down the road. It was dawn, almost 3 hours from sunset, so it was hard to see. Some lanterns posted on the end of his caravan illuminated down the road some odd 5 meters. There he spotted something, fast-moving violet dots running at them directly.

The caravan driver made squinted his eyes even more as he leaned forward to get a better look at what was approaching them. Then he spotted it a demon! The thing approaching them had just stepped into the light, there he saw a man covered in blood, mostly centered on his hands and mouth. But the worst part was his eyes, he felt like he would be devoured in one small gulp. He felt his life flash before his eyes, his family, his wife, his daughter. He wanted to scream but nothing came out, but when he thought of how he would never get to see his family again he finally muttered something out.

"WHAT THE FUC..." He however could never finish his sentence. He was gone, all he ever had been had just been erased in just one second.

Alex turned to see a head peeking out of the caravan, a woman. His favorite. Alex definitely enjoyed torturing women more than men, they just tended to have more to share with him. That is why he didn't bother saving the man from torture.

"EEEIIEIIEIEIIE" a girlish scream voiced out from the silhouetted head. It quickly ducked back in and cowered beneath a chair.

"Whats wrong elise?"

"SHHHHH, STAY COMPLETELY QUIET."

This however served no benefit. The prey had already been marked by the predator. Alex felt even more lust as he reveled in her fear. He wanted to give this woman an even bigger scare. With precision, he rammed his hand through the flimsy cloth covering the caravan. He proceeded to grasp the mother by the neck, lifting her with one arm. The child watched in horror as her mother was being choked to death.

A loud snap reverberated throughout the dark woods. It brought the daughter to her already soaked knees. She had no idea why this was happening to her. It was surreal. She had never even seen blood before. She was immobile, already almost completely broken. This went against everything her sheltered life led her to believe.

Another loud noise resounded. Alex crushed the head off its neck, completely dislocating it. The face was petrified with eternal anguish, scratch marks could be seen on the upper portion of her neck. The daughter couldn't move, she was now completely immobile. As her mother's body fell lifeless to the floor she wanted to run away. And when she saw the head of her mother fall next to her she wanted to take her own life. The eyes made her want to die, completely still full of life, looking into those eyes she felt her life pass her by. The memories of love, the memories of her childhood.

Alex forced his way inside to find the beautiful doll almost ready for real fun. Azule eyes, blue hair, great proportions for what seemed to be an 18-year-old. A beautiful yellow dress adorned her body as if the perfect addition to her already beautiful features. Alex's hard-on grew even larger. He crouched down to look her in the eyes.

The doll looked up to meet his gaze, still not believing the reality around her. Alex felt her dip even further into madness, he felt her absolute despair as she realized she was faced with a monster. His wide grin had actually managed to rip some muscles, he was smiling so wide he actually tore his facial features. The small amounts of blood trickling at the corner of his mouth brought despair to the woman.

Alex picked her up by the throat. Although she may have been emotionally destroyed, physically she was still fine. She started squirming in his hands, kicking him. Nothing she did moved Alex though. Alex proceeded to edge her on the cusp of unctuousness for the next 5 minutes. Just barely giving her time to breathe.

He then dropped her to the floor, he choked to gather air, coughing furiously. The pain made her forget her life for a moment. Her only instinct was to survive, the adrenaline thankfully made the pain subside a lot. Alex didn't hold back all that much and still used an insane amount of grip strength, it crushed her neck.

Alex crouched down again, meeting her weak eyes. He felt aroused, ever since he had gotten to this planet he noticed the enjoyment he got rose significantly. He grabbed one of her ankles, took out his knife, and held it close to her toes. She looked back with abject horror as the color of her complexion paled. Alex cut off each and every one of her digits, leaving her with nothing but mounds for hands and feet. He did it slowly too, real methodically.

She screamed and howled begging for help, but no help came. By the end of it, she was dead in the eyes, she had almost stopped feeling pain around the eighth digit. Her nerves were fried, but Alex had more up his sleeves. He bent down to her head took out his knife, holding it up to her scalp.

She started crying she couldn't believe what was happening. All that was going through her mind was the thought 'I can't wait to go home and see mom after this'. Clearly in denial of what was happening. Alex proceeded with caution, careful not to do it too fast. He enjoyed the spasming of her body as he cut piece by piece. He had already 'enjoyed' himself 23 times, and this made him do it once more. Sadly the flesh can't support this torture, by now he was already basically dead. Mostly due to blood loss, but also shock. Her body just couldn't withstand the severe torture Alex wanted to do.

Alex instantly felt bored, no reactions gave him no joy. He finished her off quickly, cutting off her head.

.....

> skill gained x2

.....

He stood up and proceeded to clean up the mess he made.

Little did he know he had killed an important figurehead of the capital. But would he even care if he found out?

---