Chapter 3 - Revenant

Unknown Location - Midnight - 3 Days Later

Simon glanced up at the sky and let out a tired sigh. I’m glad this place has actual rain instead of acid, but it’s been raining for three days straight at this point. He thought before focusing on the three moons ominously floating overhead, occasionally peeking out behind the dark clouds. That will take some getting used to.

He shook off the thought as he pulled his left foot out of the soupy mud beneath him, a wet slurping sound accompanying the pouring rain.

He traveled in the same direction for the last three days without stopping. Not a single sign of civilization had appeared throughout his journey.

A few times his mind had wondered if there was anyone else here in this strange new world.

His fears were put to rest on the dawn of the third day as the terrain surrounding him slowly shifted from an unending sea of mud and into a somewhat spongy grassy plain. Similar to how the ground had been during the battle of New Orleans. Before, they had tainted the ground, at least.

Probably the only time I’ve ever thought the void rock was an improvement. Simon thought as memories of the sloping wet trenches, floating bodies, and constant flooding filled his mind. The smell was the worst part, though.

Simon continued his journey onwards for several more hours before an emotionless female robotic voice spoke to him, no trace of his once loving companion left within it. Simon felt his chest ache where his heart would have been, just for a moment, before pulling himself together and observing the notifications.

WARNING: Power Levels: [CRITICAL] >

“Well, that’s unfortunate.” He said aloud, startling some smaller nearby creatures. He watched as a rabbit-like creature with a long reptile tail burrowed into the soaked ground with a raised eyebrow. Fur and scales? I’m honestly not sure how to feel about that.

Simon paused for a moment and watched three more snabbits enter their own holes. Soon an all too familiar smell filled his lungs. Smoke. Where?

His tired eyes strained against the darkness for several minutes before eventually locating the source, still quite a distance away. With nothing to lose, he offered one of the few staring rabbit-lizards a shrug and took towards the rising smoke.

Fire?

As Simon presses on, the once obstructed image of smoke becomes clearer and clearer. The soft outline of several small buildings appearing in the distance. His eyebrow tilted upward as he observed the building’s shoddy construction. Wood? Perhaps wood isn’t that rare here.

Although he hadn’t seen any trees here, he wouldn’t be surprised to learn they existed here. This place has grass and flowers, after all.

Suddenly, one of the wooden buildings within view bursts into flames, followed by several high-pitched screams that pierce into the night.

Simon’s intrigued expression quickly shifted to a serious one as he picked up his pace.

“Stop fuckin around and take the girl already!” Hedley, the bandit group’s leader, shouted. It’s just one fucking village, he thought to himself. This shouldn’t have taken anywhere near this long. For Divines’ sake, they’re all still Level 8.

“Let go of me, you filthy bastard!” Kayae screamed as she fought against the burly man hauling her out of a partially burnt out building as one of her many kicks landed against the man’s exposed stomach.

The girl’s crimson eyes glowed slightly as she cast [Identify] on the man. [Warrior] - Level 78. It returned, much to her dismay.

Normally, her [Identify] skill would have failed because of the level difference between them, but fortunately for her, her friend had shared some of her secrets with her.

Kayae could now identify targets up to Level 100 thanks to her friend. Lot of good it does me now, she thought to herself, kicking the man again.

“Oi! Elder! Stop crawling across the ground already and tell us where the damned food is!” Hedley said, stomping on the elderly man’s head. A sharp cracking sound came from the Elder’s nose while the other bandits looked on with glee. “Hurry up already! Or the next house we burn will be yers.”

Behind them, some of the more industrious bandits were dragging out some of the few resisting villagers. Quickly grouping them up in the village center.

“I’ll bite your fucking dick off!” Kayae screamed as the bandit dragging her laughed out loud while using his free hand to untie the cord holding up his leather pants.

“Oi! No fucking the merchandise!” Hedley yelled at the now pantless man before facing the Elder. “Do ye really want to do this?”

Kuro, the Elder, merely wiggled his head slightly in the dirt indicating no, “T-the plag-“ he mumbled softly, coughing as dirt and mud filled his lungs.

Hedley screams out in rage, kicking the Elder across his face, “The plague this! The plague that! Do you really expect us to believe a village this size doesn’t have any food stashed away?!

Demons take you! I tried to be reasonable, but no. Fine! We’ll do this the fun way! Men, take the kids. Kill the rest. Search the homes and burn this slum to the ground!”

Hedley lifted his foot off the Elder’s face and turned around before tossing his own torch through a nearby open window, landing on a bed. The hay immediately caught fire and quickly ignited the dry wood inside. A moment later, the thatch roof bursts into flame.

One of the captured villagers let out an anguished cry as their home burst into flames, before everyone’s attention turned to the bandit leader, cursing aloud and holding a hand against his bleeding side.

Kuro stood motionless beside the leader with a savage grin on his face. His previous meek demeanor had all but vanished as a blood-stained knife fell from his hands, falling to the ground along with the elder. Completely spent and exhausted.

Hedley started to kick the man before noticing that he’d already passed out. “Divine hells,” he said aloud while limping off towards one of his men, his group’s only healer.

Behind him, the still struggling girl finally lands a solid kick on her captor, causing him to yelp in pain as his jewels were forcibly rearranged.

The man quickly dropped the girl and delivered a kick of his own into the small girl’s rib cage.

The sound of cracking bone followed by an eruption of bile filled the burning village as her crimson eyes quickly faded into unconsciousness.

“Revenant!” one man shouted as a lone figure appeared in the distance, revealed by the flashing lighting overhead!

“Form up!” Hedley shouted, while the nearby villagers quickly huddled together in terror. Just what we fucking needed, he thought to himself as the figure rapidly closed in on the village.

“Bandits?” Simon said aloud.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one larger man shouting orders while looking in his direction. The ragtag group quickly formed ranks with weapons drawn, while another man delivered a sudden kick to a small humanoid figure on the ground.

Time slows down as he forces in on the figure. A small girl with crimson hair stared at him with wide eyes as bile dripped from her mouth. He stands motionless for a moment as the light in her eyes fades.

The image of his own adoptive daughter flashes in his mind as something within him snaps. Rage fills his heart as he rushes towards the man, quickly surpassing his previous speed.

The sky returns to darkness as Hedley and his men focus out into the open field, trying to spot the incoming monster. The clouds above blotted out the light of the moons, while the lightning ceased altogether. The only light remaining coming from their torches and burning buildings surrounding them.

All eyes turned to the man dragging a girl. A large figure suddenly appeared out of the darkness. Terror fills their hearts as the man’s leg is swiftly ripped from his torso and quickly embedded into his chest. A loud groan escapes the man before his shattered spine pokes through his leather armor and his body is tossed in a nearby burning building.

Screams fill the air as Hedley’s men charge at the creature, only to be quickly torn apart themselves.

“W-what the fuck?” Hedley mutters to himself as he watches the gory display. Something primal within him screams at him to flee, to get as far away from here as he can, but his legs refuse to move. Urine drips down his legs as the lone figure slowly approaches him, casually tossing the corpse of one of his men into a raging fire.

D-Divines save me. He thinks to himself as a hand grips around his throat.

Simon’s eyes rapidly flick from man to man as he coldly assesses the situation, a frown still present across his face. Fourteen swords, seven axes, two mauls, five spears, a handful of shields. No projectile weapons aside from a few primitive bows.

Screams reverberate off the surrounding buildings as bodies are torn in two. Warm blood mixes with the cold mud as the bandits continue to fall. A single bandit appears out of the shadows behind him, their dagger aiming at his exposed back.

Simon’s icy gaze stops the man as his body turns around. The steel blade snaps as it strikes against his skin. He watches as the man’s terrified eyes widen before gripping the shattered blade and driving it into the man’s throat.

Simon feels the blade slide through the bandit’s flesh before feeling it scrape against his spine and exit the other side. The man collapses to the ground, his body limp now that his spine was severed.

Simon pivots his attention to the next group of men as one of their swords glows slightly. That’s odd. He thinks to himself before stepping away from the wild strike and grabbing the man’s neck before snapping it quickly. The man’s head rotates around his body before another bandit’s sword slams into his back, quickly becoming stuck in the dead man’s armor.

Curses fill the air as one bowman fires an arrow in Simon’s direction, only to have his arrow caught and returned to sender. The archer fell backwards, an arrow sticking out of his forehead, as a man with a shield stared at the lifeless body in horror.

Several bandits with shields take this momentary distraction to charge at Simon’s exposed back with shields raised, clearly intending on disrupting his balance or perhaps even knocking him to the ground.

Simon calmly steps to the side and allows the train of men to pass. With their target missing, the charging men quickly lose their balance and collapse forwards into his waiting arms. The men flail wildly as Simon’s arms constrict around them. The sound of buckling metal and snapping leather fills the air, before blood gushes out of the crushed men’s mouths like an unholy fountain.

Simon drops the deceased men to his feet, staring at a lone man in the center of the group. He had remained motionless throughout the entire fight, clearly terrified of the monster in front of him.

Several of the surviving bandits fall to their knees, mumbling in some unknown language as he slowly walks towards them. Two of the kneeling men find enough courage to flee and rush off down the thoroughfare, only to collapse as scavenged weapons erupt from their chests.

Simon’s frown intensifies as he finally reaches the center man and swiftly lifts him up into the air by his neck. The remaining bandits quickly decide to take their chances and abandon their leader, sprinting off into the distance.

No honor among thieves, I guess, Simon thinks to himself before pulling an arrow from the captured man’s quiver and tossing it like a dart towards one of the fleeing men.

A body drops with a quiet splash before being followed by another. The odd phenomenon repeats itself several times before the last survivor finally realizes what’s going on and begins running in a zigzag pattern.

T-that doesn’t actually work, you know. Simon thinks to himself with a raised eyebrow as he reaches for another arrow, only to grasp air. He shrugs slightly before tearing off the empty quiver and throwing it at the fleeing man.

Lightning returns to the sky as thunder roars overhead as the feeling man’s head explodes into a gory mess. Simon watches in amusement for a moment as the headless corpse runs a few more steps, collapsing on the ground and convulsing violently.

That was a pretty good distance, Simon thought to himself as he shifted his attention back to the man in his arm. The once struggling bandit simply hung there limply, his terrified eyes shaking wildly.

A soft groan escapes from an elderly man as he finally sets up. The village elder, perhaps? Simon ponders before noticing the blood-covered knife in his hand and the still dripping wound on the bandit leader’s side.

“Ah,” Simon says aloud as he drags the captive over towards the kneeling elder.

Simon drops the man to the ground with a splash, causing some muddy water to splash across the elder’s face, bringing him back to reality.

Simon presses the small blade back into the elder’s hand before helping guide him to the bandit’s throat.

Kuro’s eyes widen at the strange presence in front of him and winces unconsciously as a warm hand wraps around him. He looks up at the muddy figure with gray eyes before glancing down at the terrified man beneath him.

He feels the warm hand guiding his knife towards the bandit leader’s throat. Kuro’s fear quickly turns to hatred as strength returns to his hands, guiding the knife into the soft flesh.

His cold gray eyes watch as the man struggles beneath the knife’s pressure, his lifeblood slowly seeping into the ground. Kuro continues to apply pressure to the man’s throat until the light finally fades from his eyes.

Kuro sits there motionless in the blood and the mud for a moment before finally noticing that the warm presence surrounding him is gone. He looks up and spots a man’s outstretched hand, the rising sun and parting clouds obscuring the rest of the figure with light, aside from the outline of a small girl curled up in the figure’s arm.

With a smile, Kuro drops the knife and grasps the helping hand.

Suddenly, a ray of light shines down on the blood-stained earth. At the end of the beam of light, a single mud-covered figure appeared, carrying a small girl in his arms towards the center of the village.

“Finally,” Simon mutters out softly as he looks up towards the now parting skies.

Simon approaches the still panting elder before casually holding out his free hand. He watches as the elder’s eyes try to focus in on him before eventually shifting to the girl beside him and ultimately takes his outstretched hand.

Simon lifts the Elder to his feet with a careful motion. He wipes the mud from his face as he looks around the ransacked village.

No signs of electricity. Men wearing leather and metal armor, swinging swords and axes. No concrete or metal structures and wooden buildings? Simon’s eyebrow tilted upwards as he observes one of the nearby houses before his gaze falls to the unconscious girl still nestled into his arms. His eyes become fixated on the pair of furred ears growing atop the girl’s head, along with the fluffy crimson tail curled tightly around his wrist.

“Darlin, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” He mutters softly before an emotionless robotic voice chimes in.

< SYSTEM: V.A.I.A. Status [NULL]. >

A.V.A.L.O.N. >

< A.V.A.L.O.N: Query received. [CONFIRMED] S-1_M0-N A1431 Current Location is not [KANSAS-EARTH] >

“No fucking shit, Sherlock.” Simon says aloud while shaking his head.