I look down at my bloody sword. All of the Empire's filthy scouts have been taken care of now and their screams silenced. I let them suffer for a while longer because it is necessary. I think I understand why demons are seen as evil. It’s not because they are, but because it’s the most efficient. I can still taste their thick emotions even now. A mix of fear, hopelessness and grief. I never thought it would feel so good.

I got so much more power out of them than I ever did from the admiration of my men. Of course it doesn’t mean I’m going to turn into a mindless slaughtering machine. But the Empire’s men do not deserve any mercy, and if their suffering can serve my purpose, it’s a win-win in my books. I just have to be careful not to let this feeling take over too much and limit it to my enemies only.

I can still feel his energy roiling under my skin, waiting and eager to be used. How much suffering has he caused to have amassed this much power? How much misery? I’ve got an inkling now, but I also understand why. Demons aren’t inherently evil. They are simply efficient and smart. Negative emotions are simply easier to bring out in others it seems. A man fearing for his life will go through such powerful emotions it's simply incomparable to anything else.

I also understand why demons do not hide that well. For me to collect any power or whatever they need to know it’s me. I need to be the target of their emotions. Hard to be secretive when you need them to know it’s your doing. I look around at the sentries and scouts laying on the ground, eyes open and unmoving forever. It won’t take long for someone to find them, and they’ll probably know that the scouts picked the right direction.

I can’t stay here and start to make my way back, but before I go I sneak a look at the very large camp a distance over. I’m… not sure we can fight them. As powerful as I am, I don’t think I can safely wield enough power to slaughter an army. Plus they are bound to have some highly skilled individuals, or some kind of measures against army killers. No, I can’t take that risk. I start to jog back towards camp and I try to think of a way to get away.

Do they know where we are headed? They might as we’ve been moving in a rather straight line. It shouldn’t be too hard to keep a lead against such a huge force however. They are bound to be slowed by the sheer number of soldiers in that camp. But it means we’ll probably have to keep ourselves on hard terrain just in case. From what I know we are still a bit away from the half-beasts last bastion.

The only question now is, do we just run or do we try something? I believe that in the right terrain and under the right circumstances we could slowly chip away at their morale and eventually rout them. Then we wouldn’t have any food issues either. It’s a risk I’m not sure I should take. I know the former slaves are willing, but the new recruits are still rather weak and do I really want to risk the others?

I ponder the benefits versus the risks on my way back to camp without making any real progress towards a decision. It doesn’t take that long for me to stand at the entrance of the camp. I’ve still not made my decision either and so I go looking for Tibald for his input. To my surprise he comes out of the camp and meets me instead.

“Boss, where have you been?” He hisses at me and I grimace. Right, I didn’t tell anyone that I left after the scouts. I know I should have but I had to act fast or lose them. Plus I wasn’t gone for that long, right?

“Sorry, I had to hurry, didn’t have time to tell someone.”

“Where did you go? Or was it an… internal emergency?” He looks at me worried.

“No, nothing like that. I spotted some scouts snooping around and went after them.” I go over what happened again and I wonder if I really didn’t have the time or if I was just too excited to think like a leader. I would have never done this before, going off on my own.

“Alright, but why did it take you two whole hours? Nobody knew where you were and I had to keep it on a lid.” He tells me, clearly unhappy. I open my mouth to say something to defend my actions but I know it’ll be a lie before I even say it. So I don’t and think for a second.

“I… shouldn’t have gone. But I did gain a better understanding of myself by going.” I tell him honestly without giving all the unnecessary details.

“Thank you for holding the fort down in my absence.” I put my hand on his shoulder as I say it and he nods towards me. Good man. We look at each other for a moment and I think about my dilemma again. I’ve been reckless enough for one day.

“We have to move out. There’s an army close by that is after us. We’ll keep to rugged terrain to make the pursuit harder and try to outpace them.” Besides, if they do catch up, I could always harass them while the rest runs. The thought makes me more excited than it should and I catch myself. Am I eager to torment people? No, not people. Brudian scum. Big difference.

“Alright, I’ll get everyone packing.” Tibald tells me and goes off. I see more than one of the former slaves looking at me and I see relief in their eyes. Did they think I was gone? Strange. I compliment a few of them and drink in the positive emotions they give off. It’s something. Clearly not as much as when I made those scouts and sentries suffer. But on the other hand I think it’s good to have an alternative. I’m afraid I might go insane if all I want is to inflict suffering. Inspiring others is… good. The thought feels a bit off and strange but I leave it for now.

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I pack up my own things and it doesn’t take long for us all to be on the move again. The rolling hills continue while we try to discreetly take the paths between them to stay more or less hidden. To my surprise, it doesn’t take that long for bad news to hit us. The army has been spotted and they aren’t that far behind us. Did they follow me back? No, that doesn’t sound right. I guess they know the direction their scouts take and if they don’t come back… well. It’s an easy deduction.

Our sentries and scouts have spotted each other now so we all know they can’t be that far behind. Troublesome but I am curious how well I’d fare against an army. Could I do it? The thought makes me excited and I’m tempted to try it. But what if I fail? I look around at all the half-beasts with their heavy packs on their backs as we make our way towards their villages. I’m feeling awfully cocky right now. I know I would never have even considered the risk before. On the other hand, I was never this powerful either.

Still, I can’t take such a huge risk and instead I push everyone to go faster. We set a higher march pace and continue. There are some mountains close by we could use to hide in. It’s still rather far away, but it’s an option. I turn to look for Tibald and he somehow seems to know it and appears before me.

“How far away are they?” I ask him. It’s not that I’m worried, but if we have to fight them, I’d rather it be on my terms rather than theirs.

“I’d say thirty minutes behind us? But they seem to be gaining.” He tells me and I frown. How are they gaining on us? It’s a whole legion of five thousand men. They should be slower than us.

“How fast are they gaining?” I ask, still frowning.

“At this pace the scouts tell me they’ll be on us by nightfall.” Nightfall? That is a dangerous time to engage in any military battle. So much can happen in the darkness. I feel my face and notice a grin on it. I know it’s not my grin, but it also is in a sense.

I’ve been trying not to think about it, but I think it’s getting rather clear. I’m not really Reagan any longer am I? Of course I am to a certain degree, but I’m also him too now. Like a strange blend, only it doesn’t feel strange to me. Because it is who I am. Both a leader of men and their worst nightmare, depending on who you ask. Is it wrong? I’m not sure I care that much anymore.

Tibald seems to notice my grin and his brows furrow. He knows what it means, or he thinks he does at least. I guess he isn’t completely wrong. I start to go my own way but he gently puts his hand on my shoulder to stop me. I turn to look at him and he draws back his hand while looking conflicted.

“Reagan, I know I’m not the boss, but shouldn’t you include us in your plans? You aren’t alone in this, you know?” I stop in my tracks. He is right. One hundred percent right. They all decided to follow me in this endeavor and I should make use of them.

“Right you are. Walk with me, we need to talk to the scouts.” I tell him and we make our way to the front. I need to know how the terrain looks up ahead if I want to plan anything. I still have to make the decision though. Fight or flight? Is this opportunity good enough?

—

“General Lormant.” The scout stands at attention in front of me and I check my posture internally. My back is straight and my position impeccable. Good.

“At ease. Report.” I tell him in a curt and clipped way. As the general I have to set an example and I won’t be anything if not perfect in front of the troops.

“We are slowly closing in on them, but they changed course an hour ago and we are coming up to a pass with cliffs rather than gentle hills. We suspect they might try something with the darkness of the night coming down.” He tells me. Good lad. Of course I suspected as much when I heard they were changing course earlier but this all but confirms it.

“Thank you. Dismissed.” I tell him and he turns away perfectly before walking out. I see him relax as soon as he is out of my tent and his straight back goes back to sagging a bit. I can’t fault him for it, he at least showed me the best version of himself.

The carriage I’m in wobbles something fierce on the uneven terrain, but the table in the middle of it is fastened to the floor. A map is held in place by magnets and I study it to see where this Reagan fellow is taking us. It looks like a textbook ambush, which is rather boring. And here I was hoping for something more. Of course I shouldn’t underestimate him just in case, and I won’t.

It doesn’t take much longer for the sun to draw closer to the horizon and I can’t help but smile at the coming fight. The carriage stops and I walk out of it. A camp is being set up and I see countless tents and fires getting set up. I walk towards the center of the camp and come up to a rather large tent. I head inside and see a huge man in plate armor waiting inside. He nods towards me and I nod back.

“Idrian, a pleasure to see you.” I nod to my guest.

“General.” He simply responds while tilting his head back.

“Are you and your team ready?” I ask him while taking a seat.

“We are, sir. And I won’t make the mistake of underestimating him like my colleagues have.” He says with a polite smile. Good. I spot the mithril plate embedded into his armor. I usually hate hiring adventurers as they are hard to control and rarely follow orders properly, but I guess Idrian is an exception.

We’ve hired them before and they are nothing if not professional. The best part is that the whole team is mithril rank. Every individual as opposed to the team as a whole. Some might not think there is much of a difference but I do. A good team can make it to mithril rank because of their teamwork and synergies, but in the end an individual that is truly in mithril rank will be almost as effective as the whole team. It also means a whole team of them is… a lot.

Reagan might have survived from a single mithril rank before, but we won’t make the same mistake again. Plus we have over a hundred mages ready and I’m not even talking of the army filled with proud officers of the empire. His little plot in that pass will not stop us. The flaps to the tent open and the rest of the mithril rank team joins their captain while officers start walking in too.

It seems everything is ready to finally take down this thorn in our side.