After Aurora’s death, Joshua headed to the nearest Plague Rat nest he could find. He needed to take out his pent up anger and stress, as his rage threatened to kill Threads back at base for his inability to protect her.

They swarmed him like a horde of locusts with two large razor-sharp front teeth that contained a rotting disease that could kill within a day. Their bite was contagious. Without a healer with purification or detoxification magic you were signing your death warrant fighting even a few. One of the camps of people stationed in a nearby gas station had been wiped out completely by a swarm.

Joshua desperately needed to release the building pressure in his chest that threatened to explode at any moment. He placed his shield down on the grassy forest. It was the stupid move of a hurt man, but he needed to hurt something to relieve the pain. He didn’t have Legion or Aegis back then, so it was a metal sword assembled by William, the local tinkerer.

He got to work.

As their claws and teeth tore shreds into his hastily crafted armor, he lost himself in the slaughter. Every swing of his blade painted the ground green, as even their blood was toxic.

“You weren’t worthy of her!” he screamed aloud while activating his skills, one after the other. The infected vermin clawed for every open piece of skin not covered by armor as he tore through their ranks. One jumped at his face as he brought up his blade and bisected it into.

Continuing with his fluid motion, he swung hard to the right with all his strength and took out three more that had the misfortune of approaching him. Others tried going low, but he continued the slaughter until his armor was in tatters and his sword became chipped and thick with gore and bile. The nest was destroyed, and the pests were slaughtered. However, his anger still felt like it would rip out of his chest to engulf everything.

“I need more!” he shouted between heavy breaths. “I’m made for more!” That’s when he heard the voice.

“Joshua.”

He no longer stood in the gore-soaked remains of the Plague Rats nest, but in a massive throne room that could only be described with one word; Authority. Large white columns spread to the heavens, each with a sigil of a different weapon carved upon it. He glanced up, as there was no ceiling, only the open sky and the sun. The very notion of what he saw defied all human logic and his knees began to buckle from an unknown pressure.

“Joshua!”

The mere mention of his name pushed him to the floor, sprawled like a child. It was like gravity itself felt him unworthy to stand. The force attempting to push him down relented just enough for him to look in the direction of the voice’s source, a massive ivory throne.

Atop it sat a being whose beauty stole Joshua’s breadth away. Golden hair cascaded down her slender shoulders onto an armor of absolute white with golden trimmings. She sat with her right leg crossed over her left and her cheek resting on her right fist.

“You interest me, boy.” She said with no change in her bored demeanor. “Your kind has been a disappointment since you’ve been reinstated. I thought after Arthur that I’d find someone interesting,” she said glancing back at a hulking armored figure standing behind the throne. “But you’re all so very weak.”

He winced as a headache lanced its way into his brain, like someone sticking a hot poker directly in and twisting it ever so slowly.

“You don’t have any memories of your previous heroes? Pathetic. What have your rulers been doing?” She stood from her throne as her eyes focused acutely on him.

“Your warriors are treated like disposable cattle? What honor does a protector have if their family isn’t cared for after their passing?”

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“How do you expect to create more fighters, if you don’t care for the ones you have. You seem to be completely under the control of the bookkeepers and politicians?”

“Your race is completely useless!” she spat from beautiful, pearl-colored lips.

She descended the throne towards Joshua with rage flaring in her eyes. He couldn’t turn away, even if he wanted to. To him, this was sheer beauty. It was apparent that she entered his mind to get the answers she sought, but he was no one’s puppet. With what little strength he had left, he chose to strike when she got close. Joshua would definitely die, but he would die as himself. He would die under his own terms.

Another step, this time the floor cracked beneath her heel.

As this being walked closer to, Joshua steeled himself for the end. He’d lost a lot of people to this point, and Aurora was the last he’d stand. It wasn’t supposed to be like that, and he always knew that she really loved him. It was all his fault. He just talks and everyone listens, like a cult leader.

The thoughts echoed in his mind, hammering like a drum. Her next step produced another thunderous cracking sound, only louder and heavier. When her foot lifted, electricity seemed to crackle like gum stuck to the bottom of her bare feet.

Absolute power stepped and knelt in front of him. She cupped his sharpened jaw line in her impossibly smooth hands and smiled with large sharp teeth. He had given up surviving this encounter. He would strike out, even at his dying breath, to take a piece of the enemy with him.

“I stand here, as your death, yet defiance is what I see on your face.” She said with a hint of approval.

“Your memories showed me your background as a warrior of your species. Even before mana infused your world, you took it upon yourself to train the next generations as an instructor of combat techniques and a code of honor.” Her features softened as the force that threatened to crush him did as well. She turned to walk back to her throne with her back turned confidently.

“I don’t like to mince words or waste my time. I offer you power, for loyalty.” She said nonchalantly while sitting upon the throne.

“Do you have a sense of my character, boy?”

He stood slowly, as the pressure on his body fully subsided. He had thought about rushing her from behind as she walked. However, as he stared at her back, he realized the hulking figure was no longer behind the throne. He felt the large, looming shadow behind him before he saw it. That decision would have been his immediate execution.

“I do. You value a warrior’s code. Strength over pretty words.” he pronounced while trying to maintain eye contact with a god made flesh. “What power would you offer me and at what cost? I’m done being the pawn of men who talk with their wallets and desires. I understand your power, but I’d rather die on my feet than live on my back!” he said as the weight, again, seemed to increase slightly.

“ I am no man. I offer you two boons as my Archon,” she stated while lifting two of her slender, armor-clad fingers.

“One is the understanding of Force, a Master Law that can only be taught by a higher being. Its application will be for you to learn and understand. All are bound to the lower laws and elements of their System.”

She put her middle finger down.

“The second gift I will bestow is a real weapon.” She said coyly with a predator’s smile and impossibly sharp teeth.

“I gift you a sword and shield that will offer you the power you seek, while also protecting my significant investment in you.”

These two items together will amplify your Force power, significantly. They will not answer to a weak user.”

“The price of these gifts will be your absolute loyalty. I give you power, but you must work for me.” She said while staring directly at him.

She lowered the last finger and formed a gauntleted fist. It was the unmistakable look of someone inferring a specific point.

“Do you understand my meaning, boy?”

Joshua took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and considered the circumstances. There was no other choice if he wanted power. Real power. With enough of it, maybe he might finally be able to breathe. He brought his emotions under control and a plan started to hatch in his mind. The Last wave. If he can just push them hard enough and become the strongest himself, he could save Humanity.

“I understand and I agree,” he said boldly.

She smiled that predator’s smile and said simply, “Excellent. Your advance class is now, Juggernaut.”

“Get to work, my Archon!”

Joshua knelt as the power flowed through his body. This was what he was missing. This is what he needed to tip the scales in his favor.

Light suddenly threatened to blind him, forcing him to cover his face. There, in front of him floating, stood Legion and Aegis ready to be put to use.

“I’ll get it done, my Lord!” he shouted from the depths of his soul.

Contract initializing…