To kill is to survive, to survive is to kill continuously. That is the only truth i will give you, because this is, after all,t he only truth, for everything else is relative.

?????

"Lord Andrew"

"Yes, Golind?"

Andrew had just come back from his visit to Murgin, when Golind walked to him, looking very worried.

"The scouts have seen an army of two hundred Inquisitors marching this direction"

"You don't seem very nervous about it"

"Oh, i'm very worried ,but if it's you, i'm sure we can do it"

"Well, if you think i can beat two hundred Inquisitors then we have no problem"

"What do you mean, my lord?"

"Those are not Inquisitors, they're Templars"

"Templars?"

"They're like the Church's army, but they're much less dangerous than the Inquisitors"

"Wait, really?!? We're not doomed after all!"

".....I thought you trusted in my victory?"

"Sorry, but the Inquisition is just too strong. Even the weakest of them can destroy this village in seconds"

"Ok, ok, you're scared of them, i understand. Now, though we have to prepare for the battle"

"Yes, my lord! ATTENTION ALL WARRIORS, PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

Andrew ordered the 10 goblin black knights to come with him and told Golind to prepare the remaining 66 fighters for an ambush, giving every one of them 5 dark magic bombs he managed to craft, for a total of 330 bombs. It almost made him faint, but it was necessary at least that much firepower to defeat two hundred soldiers, who also were ready to sacrifice their life for the Goddess. So Golind placed the fighters on top of the trees on the human road and returned to Andrew, who was waiting in the forest to give the signal for the ambush, while quickly recovering his strength thanks to a technique called [Meditation],that served to restore internal energy, be it mana or anything else, but required a lot of concentration.

"My lord, the preparations for the ambush are ready"

"Very well, now we just have to wait"

Andrew had a calm face, but he was actually very nervous, after all this would be his first battle. It would have been much harder and unpredictable than the destruction of Gorwyn. He would have to give it his all.

Then suddenly a man dressed in white came out of a bush. He wore light armor ,had only a short sword and his expression was one of confusion. He must have been a scout of the army, to check if there was anything strange in the village. When he saw a boy speaking with goblins he understood he had to know something about the zombies and tried to run away. Like a flash, Andrew jumped at him, trying to stab his heart with Perditor, but a cold sensation and a strong bumping assaulted his head, making him miss and hitting his leg. The templar fell to the ground, screaming from the pain and trying to crawl away, but Golind and the others stopped him.

"My lord, what's the problem? Why didn't you kill him?"

"I-I don't know! I'll just do it now!"

He lifted his sword in the air, with the resolve to struck his enemy down, but his muscles wouldn't obey him.

"WHY CAN'T I SWING DOWN?!?"

He didn't understand, he couldn't understand. He had killed so many people, this was just one person, and a trained fanatic soldier too, why was he hesitating? Why couldn't he kill him? Why couldn't he slay this man that menaced the life of his friends?!?

*Could it be.......i 'm scared? Scared to kill?* He thought.

No.I t was impossible. It didn't make sense.J ust some days ago he killed more than a half a thousand people, he shouldn't have problems killing one person. This.... this should be easy!

"Much harder to dirty your hands yourself, isn't it pal?"

He heard the voice of the God in his head.

"Murgin? I thought you could only talk to me at the Altar!" Since the voice he was hearing was inside his head he responded instinctively with his mind.

"More power, bigger range, dear pal"

"Anyway, what do you mean? What's the difference between this and Gorwyn?"

"Simple, as i said, you're doing it yourself"

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SAYING?!?"

"Andrew, what was the first criteria for the evolution of weapons in your world?"

"Uh, what has that t_"

"Answer"

"...Efficiency, obviously"

"Wrong"

"Eh? Then it's power"

"Wrong"

"What?T HEN IT'S PRACTICALITY!

"Wrong"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS IT?"

"Cowardice"

"Uh?"

"You think the humans from earth evolved their weapons for things like efficiency? No,they evolved because they were scared. Scared to kill"

"That's nonsen-"

"Think about it. From stones, you turned to lances and hammers, then to bows and swords, then cannons, then guns. Can't you see, the more time it passed, the more distance got between the killers and the killed and the killings became quicker. All that to ease the guilt of taking the lives of others. And now you earthlings can kill millions of people 10000km away with the push of a single button."

"B-but, t-that's-"

"It doesn't matter what the arms makers said, even if they were convinced of the power of their weapons,

they, humans, everyone has a subconscious, instinctive fear of killing others"

"...Then what am i supposed to do?"

Andrew was almost crying, damning his weakness and fear, that trampled his resolve.

"You get used it. That's the only thing to do. Kill till your instincts, your conscience and your guilt stop screaming to stop it, till you can slaughter your enemies and protect your loved ones. Believe me, i passed trough this. It will hurt, hurt a lot, but in the end you'll be happy, because you'll be able to protect anyone in difficulty. And,anyways ,wherever you go, in the end it's kill or be killed, isn't it?"

"...Yes, you're right. It's so sad and wrong, but you're right"

The fear, the mercy for the man in front of him, the pain of the guilt, all disappeared quietly from Andrew's heart.

Only the resolve to kill his enemies and protect his loved ones remained.

His sword who had stood still for what seemed like an eternity for Andrew and a mere five minutes for those around him, swung down. Perditor cleanly cut the head of the templar in half, dying itself in red.

"My lord,w-what could have been the problem? You just s-stood there for five minutes"

"It doesn't matter now Golind, now my resolve is ready and so is my Perditor. Also stop calling me lord, we're friends after all"

"But, my lo-"

"Goliiiind"

"As you wish, my l-,A-a-andrew"

"Thank you"

Andrew smiled at him ike a child, knowing that now he could protect his friends.

"A-andrew, please stop smiling. You just killed a man, it's really creepy"

"Oh, shit, you're right. Ehm...it's just that i finally managed to make my resolve, that's why i smiled"

"Oh, i see,that makes me very happy indeed"

Golind smiled back. He would never have thought that the person he revered could be so...normal: having difficulty to steel his resolve, fearing to kill someone and desiring friends.

Then one of the scouts came out of a bush, panting.

"Uh, uh, leader...uh, my lord, THE TROOPS ARE HERE!"

"I see. Golind, prepare to give the signal"

"Yes, A-andrew"

"Still getting used to it?"

"...Yes"

Andrew summoned Steve, who immediately began cuddling with his master.

"Hey, calm down, buddy, you've got a job to do. Go check on the white troops coming"

Steve tilted his head up and down,then went towards the templars. Andrew could see what the little guy saw: the enemy had

already completely entered the perimeter of the ambush.

"Time to begin Golind"

"Indeed it is A-andrew"

Andrew gave off a smirk at Golind's awkwardness ,then he shouted.

"BEGIN THE ATTACK!"

And while he was shouting this, a voice was resounding trough the Abyss, listened by no one but its origin.

"Now, pal, begin, begin walking

THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUS GENOCIDE

FOR YOUR HEART IS STEEL, YOUR MIND IS THE MIRROR OF TRUTH, YOUR MERCY IS INFINITE AND NONEXISTENT AND YOUR CAUSE IS JUSTICE.

WITH DIVINE FURY YOU SHALL SMITE THESE FOOLS BLINDED BY THE MADNESS OF THE LIGHT AND SHOW THEM THE WISDOM OF THE DARKNESS!

FOR THAT IS YOUR MISSION, YOUR NEW CALLING, YOUR DARK GUIDE AND BIBLE!

MAY ALL THE EVIL THAT HIDES IN THE LIGHT BE DEVOURED BY THE DEEPEST DARKNESS OF THE ABYSS!

NOW RISE, ABYSS GAZER, RISE AND BRING JUDGEMENT UPON THEM!

P.S.Can you feel it now Mr. Leafyeyes417? Can you feel the feels? CAN YOU FEEL ANDREW NOW?

CAN YOU FEEEEEEEL IT?!?!??!?!?!?!

(Just kidding, loved the comment)