"Oh, f*ck off..."

"Love you too."

Completely ignoring the anger reaction that General Lilac had to her appearance, Satre walked around the room, scanning it. She smiled slightly when she saw a general with his wrist tied up and locked in place. That would be the one whom Drake beat up. He looked like he deserved it.

Sneering at the hatred-filled glance the general threw at her, Satre walked right up to General Lilac and offered her hand in a greeting. The older woman didn't take it. Instead, she stared at the ranger intently. Satre stared back.

"What's up with all the animosity?"

That seemed to tick General Lilac off. The officer stared at Satre, and then at her own clenched fists, as if deciding if she should punch the ranger or not. In the end, she decided that just screaming was enough.

"Animosity?! You sack of sh*t ranger! You have the guts to come here again?! After what your little trainee did?! Screw you, Satre! A*shole..."

Even when she was being berated so harshly, Satre's grin didn't fade, nor did she back away. She knew the old general had a lot on her chest, especially after Drake's... Situation. Not only that, her sources also informed her that Menoraz Kingdom had suffered a brutal defeat on another battlefield, losing hundreds of kilometers of ground in a matter of days. It was understandable General Lilac was angry, and now she had found someone to vent it off on.

"Feeling better?"

General Lilac wasn't. But she had calmed down after her outburst. Her heaving chest slowed down, and her flushed face returned to normal. There were still flames of anger burning on her eyes, though.

"What the f*ck do you want, Ranger Vollue?"

Satre shook her head slightly, and looked at the other people in the room. Generals, colonels, majors, and whatnot. She gestured towards the door.

"All of you, out."

The officers stared at her for a long while before finally realizing she was talking to them. When they did, their faces flushed red with anger. High and mighty as they were, when had anyone ever talked to them like that, ordering them to get out of their own command center?

"You! Who do you think you are?!"

"Do you want to die?!"

"You f*cking bitc..."

"Enough! You heard the ranger! Get out!"

The generals swirled around in shock when they heard General Lilac yell at them. They never expected that she would actually tell them to screw off like the ranger wanted.

Still, while they all wanted to complain very much, none dared to. They were soldiers, after all, and soldiers didn't talk back to their superiors. More importantly, General Lilac was pissed, and no one wanted to face her wrath.

Hesitantly, the officers filed out of the room, not forgetting to throw some glares filled with anger at Satre, who promptly ignored them. They were all important and powerful people, but she was a ranger. That meant she didn't give a damn about what they thought of her.

It was very likely that her mentality was being affected by Drake's experiences. After what he told her, she couldn't help but be on guard and feel a certain amount of disgust for the Menoraz Army officers present in the room.

"They are out now, Satre, so spill the f*cking beans and f*ck off."

"What a dirty mouth you have today, Isa."

"Yeah, I wonder why. And don't call me that."

The ranger nodded slightly, swiping her glance over the maps and projections around the room. General Lilac didn't stop her. She wouldn't run off to tell Lapidum Kingdom about them, and if she truly wished to do something, the entirety of the Menoraz Army wouldn't be able to stop her.

"All right, let's be serious now, Isabella."

"I've been serious the entire time. Be quick instead."

"Hum. I want you to agree to a truce."

"Truce?!"

"Yes. Truce, cease-fire, resting day, holidays, whatever you want. Just halt this war for now."

The ranger didn't even get to finish speaking and General Lilac was already showing an expression of incomprehension.

"Are you out of your f*cking mind?"

"Nope. I'm very sane, in fact. And you know that, Isabella. I don't think I need to tell you what a ranger does during a war between kingdoms, do I?"

If Drake was there, he would probably be shrinking back and trying to hide. Even though Satre was speaking calmly, her words hinted at something that would surely cause General Lilac to explode.

However, that was not what happened. For a moment, General Lilac's eyes flashed with a sharp and cold light, but it soon disappeared. Then, she sighed, and slumped down on her chair, groaning.

"No. No you don't. But remember who started this war, Satre."

"Who started it doesn't matter to me. What I want to know is who will end it. You and Bloodborne? Or the Rangers of the Confederation?"

Hearing this, General Lilac sat straighter in her chair. At the same time, Minxa and Kilqia - who had, until now, laid on the ground quietly - stood up behind her, facing off against Selyes. Having spent most of their lives with a companion, all three Iferes understood human speech pretty well, and, more importantly, they could feel the change of air around the two women. There was no mistaking the naked threat behind Satre's words.

"Are you saying the rangers will interfere?"

Shaking her head, Satre sat down, carelessly pushing aside a few maps. She tapped her finger on the table a few times, deciding how much to tell General Lilac.

"Will? We already are interfering, Isabella. I am the first, but not the only one. Enough blood has been spilled already, especially for a war such as this."

"Humm... So, you noticed."

"How could we not? Something shady is going on, Isa. Something not even Elder can see through. And I'm not talking only about Lapidum and Menoraz. The twelve kingdoms... And even more."

Shocked by the information, General Lilac's eyes opened wide, and she didn't even register the way Satre called her. She was well aware of who Elder was, and if even him couldn't understand the undercurrents... That was bad news. Especially those vague last few words. They were enough to cause even the Dreaded Angel of Menoraz to feel scared.

"Who... Who told you that?"

"Boss did."

Shaking, General Lilac laid back on her sit. She already expected it, but still... If the big boss of the Ranger Corporation said it, then it must be true. He was someone who was only under the Mystic Iferes, and had no reason to lie to small characters like her.

"Uff..."

Silence reigned in the room for the next few minutes. The military woman was absorbed in her own thoughts, while the ranger just watched the former patiently.

Finally, General Lilac raised her head again, and met Satre's eyes. There was resignation, but also a small sliver of relief, in her face.

"I can agree to a truce, if for no other reason than the fact that I too felt this war was too rushed."

"But?"

"But it doesn't depend only on me. I'm fairly sure Bloodborne too will agree if a ranger talks to her. However, His Royal Majesties King Ampharus and King Marcus still have the final say."

Before she even finished speaking, Satre was already nodding, acknowledging the truth behind her words. A monarch's words were law, and that was sustained during times of conflict. But all the ranger needed was General Lilac's word.

"Don't worry. I will handle Bloodborne. In regards to Ampharus and Marcus... There's something in the works to convince both of the old fogeys to make the right decision."

General Lilac was staring at Satre the entire time, and discovered the ranger had a weird look on her face as she said that. She didn't make any questions, though. The ranger had already told her more than she should have, and wouldn't say another word regarding this.

Just like that, they once again relapsed into silence. Ideally, Satre would have been able to convince General Lilac to start the cease-fire right. Realistically, the ranger knew that would never happen, and was more than happy with what she already got.

Satre was well aware that General Lilac carried a lot on her shoulders. Not only the lives of half a million soldiers, but also the expectations of an entire kingdom. Immaterial as they were, the thoughts of over a billion people weighed quite heavily on a single person's mind.

But, it wasn't her place to say anything regarding that. General Lilac was an old veteran. Any words of incentive or pity, she had heard a thousand times before. Besides, Satre was a ranger. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage a soldier to fight and kill more than they already did.

Still, it was hard for her not to feel a certain amount of pity towards the older woman. For several long decades, General Lilac had fought almost nonstop. When it wasn't against Lapidum or some other kingdom, she was put against rogue Barbarians, horrendous criminals, stampedes of wild Iferes, and whatnot.

This was the life General Lilac had chosen, and it was impossible for her to walk out of it. She would only rest the day she died in battle. Just like a ranger.

"He's a good kid."

"Hum?"

Absorbed in her thoughts as she was, Satre didn't notice at first that General Lilac had gotten up and was speaking to her. The soldier walked to a corner of the room, where she found a bottle of vodka and two tumblers.

"Drake. Brash, stupid, and arrogant like any ranger. But he has his heart in the right place. He can do what I can not."

"What's that?"

"Give up on Menoraz Kingdom, and fight for all instead of some. I thought of becoming a ranger when I was younger, you know?"

She didn't. Gladly taking the drink offered to her, Satre perked up on her chair, interested in the story the general was telling.

"It was... Right after that battle. My commanding officer came up to me, and congratulated me for my feats in battle. He said: Do you know what those dogs are calling you? Isabella the Slayer. Isabella, the Dreaded Angel of Menoraz."

Downing her drink, and completely ignoring the fact she was on active duty, General Lilac poured herself another one. Her eyes were glazed over, lost in the past. Satre just listened.

"They all seemed to think that I should be proud of those nicknames. That it was a huge honor. Maybe it is. I can't see it, though. It disgusted me, the look on their faces. They stared at me as if I was some type of walking idol they could carry around and show to the populace. I had just killed hundreds, for Ingenum's sake! Every time I closed my eyes, I could see the battlefield running with blood, and I in the center of it!'

Absentmindedly patting Kilqia, General Lilac sat down again, and glanced at the badge on Satre's chest.

"That was when I thought of becoming a ranger. To get away from all that, and become free. But I couldn't. I love this country. I don't even know why. I just do. I will sacrifice my life to defend it, Satre. And I will sacrifice countless others if needed. But Drake doesn't carry the same shackles as I."

"Yes... Indeed, he doesn't."

Satre's voice was barely audible, a whisper in the quiet room. Be it the memories and responsibilities General Lilac was burdened with, or the promises the ranger had made, none of them were worth being proud of. And Drake had already started to accumulate his own burdens. Knowingly and willingly, but it didn't make it much better.

"I defend one kingdom at the cost of countless lives, Satre. You, Drake, and the other rangers... You try to protect all, and in the process, stain your hands with more blood than mine will ever hold. Don't let Drake loose himself in this path, okay?"

"I don't plan to. But, in the end, he is the one in charge of his destiny. I can at most nudge him in what I think is the right way."

"That's more than enough. This world needs more people like you. And yet..."

"And yet, it would be much better if we didn't exist, right?"

General Lilac nodded heavily. It was true. If rangers didn't need to exist, this world would be a much better place. But unfortunately, it wasn't. As an ancient general once said, the rangers needed to exist, and they existed as the answer to one simple and dark question: why let thousands become killers when you can have a few become mass murderers?

Satre didn't necessarily agree to the statement, but she couldn't deny that sometimes it fit almost too well. Rangers killed more people than anyone else in the twelve kingdoms. In exchange to that, normal people didn't have to fight and kill to defend themselves. They could live their blissful normal lives, complaining about their normal problems, without ever knowing that normal simply didn't exist outside their safe cities.

It was Satre's turn to down her drink, and push the depressing thoughts away. She extended her hand for a refill, only to have General Lilac stuff the bottle in her hand.

"Convince Bloodborne to agree to a truce, and I will follow. Now, f*ck off. Until you end it, I have a war to run."