In an old farmhouse, roof creaking and swaying under the force of the wind, eight people stared at each other. Eight people and two Iferes. Seven of them stood on one side, all men, some younger, some older. All Menoraz Army soldiers.

Facing them was a young man, holding his rifle so tightly the handle was threatening to snap. Besides him were two Iferes, as angry as their companion.

And, between the two opposing groups, laid two bodies. A woman and a young girl. A mother and her daughter. Both had their necks broken, their clothes torn and cast aside. Their legs were forcibly spread open, their gazes still carrying the terror, fear, and pain they felt before they died.

Drake didn't say anything. He just looked at the seven men... No, the beasts, the monsters before him. He felt a fire burning inside him, and felt the need to kill each and every one of them for the atrocity they had committed. And so he did.

The soldiers only recovered from their shock and surprise from being caught in the middle of their deeds when Drake lifted his gun, aimed it straight at one of them, who had his pants down to his knees, and squeezed the trigger.

The young man didn't even have the chance to make a sound before a hole opened in his chest, and he was pushed back by the impact, tumbling to the ground.

The second soldier was reaching for his pistol when a tendril grew from the wooden walls, and curled around his neck. Another grabbed his waist, and then Kniivar pulled.

"Arghh!!!"

His scream of agony was cut short as he choked. Kniivar increased the power he was putting into Wood Realm, and twisted the vines. With a horrible tearing sound, the skin, and then muscles in the man's neck were ripped apart.

Uncaring for the blood that splattered on him, Drake glared at the murderers. They didn't deserve to be called soldiers. They didn't deserve to be called humans. They were beasts, worse than any creature Drake had ever met. They didn't just kill. They forced themselves upon the two women. R*ped a child. He was going to put them down, like the animals they were.

The time it took for Kniivar to rip a man's head off of his body was the same it took for the other five monsters to reach for their guns, forgotten on the floor when they attacked their helpless victims.

Drake didn't care they couldn't defend themselves. He pressed the trigger again, and a man's head exploded. A quick death, more than he deserved.

Frainer took action too, using Telekinesis to lift someone up, and smash him against the walls, the ceiling, the ground... When he was over, the body was a mangled mess of broken bones and regret.

By now the three other murderers had grabbed their weapons, and were trying to fight back. Drake didn't give them a chance. He shot one of them in the leg, and then Kniivar finished him off by using Poison Claw. Frainer used Nightmare Clouds on another one, who ran around screaming until Drake shot him in the back.

He didn't feel guilty for killing him this way, even if he had promised himself to never kill anyone who couldn't defend themselves. The people before him weren't human beings, but monsters, and would be put down as such.

The last man stumbled backwards in abject fear at seeing his friends being disposed of so easily. He tried to aim at Drake, but he used the butt of his rifle to smash the man's chest. He felt it cave in and bones break under his strike.

The beast wearing a Menoraz Army uniform fell down, wheezing in pain. He was crying, tears and snot running down his face. That angered Drake, and he smacked the man's face. What right did he have to cry after what he had done?

"P-Please... Please, I didn't do anything! It was them! I couldn't stop them! Please! Don't kill me! P-Please! Please..."

Drake just stared at him. He was too angry to say anything. His gaze jumped between the man and the corpses of the women he had ravaged, and he clenched his fists. The monster curled up in a ball when he saw that, crying and begging for mercy.

"Please... I'm sorry... Please..."

Seeing the sorry sight, he hesitated. The man was young. Younger than Drake. His snot-covered face had freckles and a small stubble. Feeling Drake's hesitation, the monster... Man, clung to his leg, begging more and more.

"Argh!"

Roaring in anger, Drake threw his rifle aside. He couldn't kill someone like that. Not even after what he had done. He hated himself for those feelings, this sense of justice and morality that didn't allow him to kill a surrendered enemy. And so, he stabbed the soldier.

It wasn't a controlled blow. It held all his anger and hatred behind it. It carried the weight of vengeance for the family that had been killed. He felt the knife plunge into the man's chest and hit a rib as the beast coughed blood all over him. So he pulled the blade back, and stabbed him again. And again. And again. And again, again, again...

The young man's eyes had long lost focus, but Drake kept stabbing him. He knew there was no going back. He couldn't act like nothing had happened. He knew this might have blocked his path to becoming a ranger. But, interestingly enough, he didn't regret it.

He understood now. People were monsters. It didn't matter if they came from Menoraz, Lapidum, Flare, or any other kingdom. Very well. If, to deal with monsters, he had to toss his dreams and ideals aside, he would do it. He would gladly do it.

"Tutu! Tututu..."

Feeling an invisible force holding his arm, he looked back at Frainer. The Spirit-type Ifere was worried about him. Drake tried to smile reassuringly, but failed.

Staring at his hands, coated in blood, Drake shuddered, and stumbled back. Kniivar was by his side in a second, helping and supporting him. Her fur got stained with blood, but the Ifere didn't care. Instead, she looked towards the bodies of the family. It took Drake a second to understand what she meant.

"Yes... You are right. Help me, please."

Getting up, he left the house. After finding a shovel in a toolshed nearby, he searched for a nice stop, under a tree, and started digging. Frainer and Kniivar helped by using Telekinesis and Wood Realm to shovel huge amounts of dirt and soil.

It was a gruesome job, but one he didn't mind doing. The family deserved a decent burial, in the land they had worked and died.

It took him an hour to finish the two graves. One, bigger, was for the family of three. The other was for the worker that stayed with them until the end.

He didn't pray. He didn't believe in gods, nor in the Mystic Iferes. If they existed, they didn't care for what transpired in the mortal world, and, as such, didn't need to be worshipped. Instead, Drake just buried the four bodies. Later - much later - he would pass on to the police chief the task of finding their relatives, if they had any. Now, he had something else to do.

Without bothering to clean himself of the blood and dirt, he went back inside the house. Staring at the seven bodies, he spat. They might wear Menoraz uniforms, but they were worse than any criminal he had ever faced.

Bending down, he pulled at a metal string hanging on the neck of the corpse close to him. He didn't care for the name in the dog tag. Stuffing it into his pocket, he went around the bodies one by one, taking them. When he was done, he left the bodies as they were, and rode away on his Yscalent. Away from the farm, and towards the sounds of explosions.

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General Lilac was talking with her aids when she heard the noises outside the meeting room. People shouting and grunting, and then silence.

Exchanging a glance with Ruli and Sarah - the two women had become close friends in the last few days, and Sarah's input in strategy had been proven surprisingly useful - General Lilac gestured for one of her subordinates to open the door.

Before the man did so, said door was flung wide open, and Drake strode in. His clothes were smeared with dirt and not-quite-dry-yet blood. His hands and arms were in a similar situation. It was as if he had climbed out of a body pile.

And his eyes... His eyes were burning with anger and rage. His expression was cold, but he was exuding a dangerous aura, one that made every soldier in the room instinctively reach for their guns. Minxa and Kilqia both stepped in front of General Lilac, growling, to shield her of any harm.

The officer didn't think it would come to that. Drake was anything but stupid, and whatever reason he had to emit such pure fury, she doubted he would attack anyone.

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Drake sped past the first soldiers he met. The guards around General Lilac's headquarters wanted to stop him, raising their weapons, and telling their companions to attack, but Drake stopped them by showing a badge. Some even recognized him as the guy who had come back from Lapidum territory with a handful of scouts, and just assumed he had important intel to report.

Like that, Drake rushed through corridors, pushing aside soldiers and officers, ignoring their complaints. Some shouted at him to stop, others yelled he would be punished for his disrespect. He didn't look back. He didn't care. Each and every one of the blue-coats reminded him of the seven murderers. He wondered how many were like them, all honorable and glorified in their uniforms, but just waiting to turn against their own people when no one was watching.

The two guards outside the room where General Lilac was conferring with some of her subordinates were the only ones that tried to stop him. When they saw he didn't even glance at them properly, they raised their firearms, and aimed at him.

One of them fell unconscious as Frainer used Dreamscape on him. The other, who hadn't expected Drake to actually take action against them, had his gun snatched from his hands, and then smashed against his own face. Yelling as blood gushed from his nose, he took a few steps backwards. Before he could reach for his sidearm or call for help, Frainer put him to sleep too.

Kicking the door open, Drake glanced at the people in the room. General Lilac, with a bandage around her arm and a dirty uniform, stood on the center, besides a table. In front of her were two Iferes, growling at Drake.

Ruli and Sarah, as well as Holber, were in one corner of the room, looking stunned at him. His eyes passed over them as if they weren't there. As for the other majors, colonels, and generals in the room, he gave even less f*cks about them.

"What's the meaning of this?!"

A blue-coat with many stripes on her uniform stepped in front of him, blocking General Lilac from his view. Drake growled at her.

The vision of the young man covered in blood and behaving so animalistic shocked her, and she couldn't help but take two steps back. Her gaze wandered to the unconscious guards outside, especially the one with a broken nose.

Before she intervened again, Drake rudely shoved her aside. That got even more exclamations of anger from the surrounding officers, but he didn't give a sh*t about it.

He only stared at General Lilac, and approached her step by step. The Iferes in front of her grunted threateningly, and one of them started growing ice needles on it's back. Ignoring it, Drake put his hand inside his jacket, and pulled out seven bloody dog tags.

Under the astonished gazes of the people in the room, he threw them on the table. They splashed blood on the maps that were spread open on it, but at this point, no one cared. All eyes on the room turned to the names on the dog tags, and, more importantly, the coat of arms on them.