“With the brightest star freed and brought into the fold of humanity and its three planets under early colonization, the fleet was preparing itself for the next step of liberation in the Centaurus constellation.

On the three Epsilon Centauri planets constructed by the false gods, we discovered minerals and substances with properties we had never encountered before, some bordering on being impossible by our previous understanding of the universe.

In honor of humanity's past, these discoveries were given names based on our myths and what little literature could be found from our time before the enslavement. That any at all survived the destruction of Earth was a miracle in itself or would have been if we worshiped any gods.

Back In the Sol system, the Magi took Mount Olympus on Mars as their own and created a great citadel on the mountain itself. They began construction on a citadel that would mirror it in orbit, standing stationary above their new headquarters, ready to protect.

The ruling house on Mars, Adelhelm, contested this occupation. They claimed Mount Olympus as their property and proclaimed they would take up arms to protect their land.

The Magi, while powerful and with their arcane arts and mysteries they had been studying since their inception, would not be capable of fighting a war against one of the greater houses. They pleaded with the emperor for intervention, and the emperor granted it on two conditions.

The first condition was that the Great House Adelhelm would be the emperor's wardens of the Magi on Mount Olympus. No secrets were to be kept from Adelhelm, no doors should be locked, and should the representative of Adelhelm demand an operation put on hold, it would stop until the emperor reviewed the project.

The second condition was that the Great House Adelhelm was given priority in using the new materials that came out of the Epsilon Centauri system.

The Magi deliberated as long as they could, but every minute that passed brought their extermination closer.

Great was the emperor, and the great houses were surprised when they finally agreed to the terms set down by the emperor. The common belief was that they would rather relocate to someplace else and leave Mount Olympus in the hands of Adelhelm, who had let it stand undisturbed all this time because of its natural beauty.

In hindsight, the first of the two things that came out of their choice to stay should have triggered some sort of alarm. What was so special about Mount Olympus was that the Magi were willing to let a Greater House have oversight over their doings there.

The second thing that The Great House Adelhelm would become the premier producer of personal armor, weapons, gadgets, and, more recently, smaller interstellar crafts.

The mark of the three-pronged crown on a shield would become the mark of the highest quality, and even today, items made in the forges of Mars stamped with the mark of Adelhelm are considered superior to any other manufacturer.”

- Elistar Iscariot, Grand Magister during the second Kingfisher dynasty.

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There is nothing like the anticipation of clashing with the enemy head-on, knowing that blood is about to be spilled and life can end at any moment. Stopping my AI from administering a drug cocktail to calm me, I felt my heartbeat hammering in my ears.

Moving forward at almost three hundred and forty kilometers an hour, I plowed through the enemy ranks, dragging them into the gravity field I had created in front of me. Their bodies were sucked in and pressed into a small ball.

The first of my targets was coming up fast. It was a thin-limbed, four-meter-tall trollkin with a large feathered staff. The AI had flagged the blueish trollkin for being in the middle of conducting ritual sacrifice to unleash some sort of devastation on the legions. That was not acceptable at this time, so the gangling tall troll would have to be put down.

When I was In range, I canceled the gravity field and watched the ball of dead enemies hit the trollkin like a cannonball, sending it sprawling again. Then I was on it, with my shield leading the charge.

My shield smashed into the face of the trollkin as it was starting to get back up. I watched it slide a few meters backward, but the attack stopped me in my tracks. Running towards it, I thrust my blade at the trollkin belly, only to have my feet kicked from under me.

Damn, it was fast. Annoying but a temporary setback was all I had time to think before I sensed something descending towards my head. The servos in my suit helped me turn my side roll into a spin that took me a dozen meters away from where I had lain.

I watched the trollkin pull its staff out of the ground where my head had been. Fast, faster than I was currently.

Reaching out to my domain, I tore a portion of it open, letting the inky darkness fill me. The hungering void subdued my feelings until all that was left was the need for battle, and I held on to that need so that I wouldn't lose myself completely.

I could feel the flow of powers across the battlefield. Different domains were vying for control, to overcome, to subdue, or to destroy. They fought for dominance as much as we fought to win here on the battlefield. In my cocoon of battle lust, it was a distant thought until...

They fought for scraps trickling down from Chaos, trying to become more than they were supposed to be. Each had been given much and a purpose, but that was not enough. It never was.

I knew my purpose. I contained Chaos itself.

Without me, there would be but a possibility among an infinite amount of possibilities.

Without Gaia, they would just be dust roaming the cosmos.

Without Lux, they would not have any purpose to exist.

They were the children of our children, yet they never seemed to learn. Cycle after cycle, nothing truly changed. No new spark was ignited.

It was all the same. Greed and hatred. How could they be so insecure? They were among the very few lucky enough in existence to have a predefined role.

They tore down their parents, and then they tore each other apart. For what?

Shaking my head so fast it almost turned me dizzy, I cleared it enough to bring me back to the fight. This has been happening more and more recently when I filled myself with my domain. It started getting worse when the Magi asked us to give up our Spirit stones,

For a timeless moment, I was not myself. Something else seeped into me, and it scared the shit out of me, and I had a feeling it didn't even notice my existence. Its presence was enough to turn my mind into nothing, and I could only drag myself back when it withdrew. What if it one day chose to stay?

I had not mentioned it to anyone else yet because the moment was over so quickly that it hadn't affected my battle prowess, but I was starting to remember more and more from the episodes.

With a sigh, I focused on the trollkin, who had managed to take one step in my direction. The step was so slow I could take a nap and still have time to deal with it.

Stretching my eighth tentacles up towards the sky, I willed them to split in two at the end and those sixteen to split again until my shadow looked like a dark tree.

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Pouncing on the trollkin, I moved at a speed where colors bled into each other.

My tentacles wrapped-up limbs and piercing flesh, feeding me the life and spirit energy from the trollkin. Moments later, I brought the torso with the still attached head of the trollkin in front of me.

Trolls and their subspecies were truly one of the most resilient beings out there. I knew that if left alone, it would be up and causing havoc within a day, maybe even sooner, depending on how old it was. Even now, without limbs, it was snapping its jaws and calling me things in its language I luckily couldn't understand.

With barely a thought, my blade imbued with the void slashed through its neck and the head was separated from the body.

The feeling of victory was short-lived. The next thing I knew, I was flying away from the battlefield with the entire right side of my armor crushed into my flesh.

A quick check told me the suit enchantment for self-repair was still operational as the AI administered a doze that sent my nerves in that side of my body to sleep. It would last a few minutes as long as the nanites could repair my armor and the enchantments could be redrawn.

Turning my head in the direction I had come flying from, I saw a damn giant. Its enormous form eating up the distance between us. The tree trunk it had chosen to be today's deliverer of death and destruction held above its head.

That is it. I wasn't getting out of here in time, and the armor was too damaged even to let me execute an emergency ejection, which was just stupid beyond belief.

The ground rumbled with each step the giant took. Looking up at the maelstrom of power the planet`s tyrant brought forth, I wondered why we didn't just call it a hurricane. Admittedly, if it was a hurricane that seemed to span the entire sky. A Magi had once explained it to me; it had something to do with the flow of power, but I wasn't paying enough attention to remember the details.

Bringing up a strategy map, I could see I was deeper in the enemy lines than intended. No, that wasn't right. I was where I was supposed to be. Our lines were being driven back.

I was just about to send my squad a message explaining how I died and for them to raise a glass or three in my memory when the sky started burning. What the pimple on the emperor's left ass cheek was going on now?

.

The giant stopped just a few steps away from me to look up. Its dumb face looked as confused as I felt.

It was raining fire, or the command had decided that we needed victory at any cost and was starting an indiscriminate bombardment of the planet. Casualties didn't matter if a new planet could be added to the expanding empire. Liberation was the only goal, no matter how far we had to travel.

Well, there were worse ways to go. At least I wouldn't go alone, I thought as my smile grew, glancing at the damn giant.

To my surprise, the fireballs started slowing down a few hundred meters above the ground.

Oh, those crazy bastards. I started chuckling. I was never going to live this down.

The interplanetary manned craft came to a halt a few meters over the ground before fully descending, cockpit first towards the ground. Four thick legs stretched out wide and made contact with the ground.

When it was settled, the cockpit slid up to what had been its rear part, and it now stood at the top of a stationary weapons platform. Then, it opened fire.

Beams of particle lances, smart bullets and auto-cannon rounds started spewing forth from the craft.

The giant was cut from shoulder to hip by a particle lance, and I watched in fascination as the top half came tumbling down before the legs gave out. An ocean of blood soaked the ground where it fell.

Finally able to start moving again, I managed to get up on my left knee, but most of my right leg was still unresponsive.

My chat pinged.

Pilot Cassie Burnet B-427: That you Smiley? Did your squad leave your sexy ass behind again? It's alright; there's just more for me. By the way, you still owe me a drink.

I couldn't help but chuckle.

Smiley: Screw you, Cassie. I didn't think the command gave you a go to take the sky.

Pilot Cassie Burnet B-427: Oh, I know you want to. Command didn't, but they didn't say anything about crashing into the ground.

Smiley: Glad to have you, little lady. Welcome to the party.

Pilot Cassie Burnet B-427: Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet of what my baby can do. Watch this and weep, unbeliever.

The back of the craft rose a bit and was slightly detached, only connected to where I imagined the main corridor was in the craft. This made it capable of moving the cockpit around, then the legs straightened out, and then the damn thing stood up and started walking toward the enemy.

Well, shit…

Pilot Cassie Burnet B-427: The last one to the city is a rotten egg. See you, slowpoke!

Finally able to stand fully up, I gripped my sword, and the tactical map showed that I would soon be overtaken by our lines again. Can't have that.

Finding myself a new target, I set off under a burning sky.

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With a jolt, I woke up. Something was slammed against my neck. Whoever it was hadn't accounted for the Awakened barrier.

There were two people, one still dealing with the recoil of slamming his sword into my barrier and the other one keeping a watch on the hallway.

Without consciously thinking about it, my tentacles slid free, and moments later, I was holding two dead would-be assassins. Both had died from tentacles piercing their hearts.

Then I realized what I had done and cursed myself for being a scared dumb-ass. I should have left one alive for questioning. Neither of the assailants had given off the power of an Awakened.

Well, at least I could salvage something from this mess. Lily was not having a good week. I almost felt bad, but at the prices she demanded for her rooms, she could afford it.

Standing up, I moved the hold my tentacles had on the two bodies to hold them by the neck instead, which brought the entire scene to a whole new level of macabre as blood was soaking their clothes and being splashed liberally across the floor.

Their clothes didn't add anything to tell me who had sent them, just a few hidden knives and the one by the doors sword. Good quality, though, so I planned on keeping them or selling them when the city guard had its turn here.

They just looked like two people you walked past on the street but didn't really notice. In fact, looking at their faces, I had the feeling they were too ordinary as if intentionally chosen because of how forgettable their faces were.

The clothes, though. Dear lord, I wanted my clothes made from the same material as whatever that was. Smooth as silk but thick like wool. I could stretch it to ridiculous lengths, but it just snapped back in place. I would have to see a tailor about it tomorrow, maybe in something other than the dark gray, brown and blue the assailants were wearing.

Alright, it's time to set the scene.

I placed one body at the side of the bed where I had slept, partly on its side facing me. Limbs were appropriately spread, and the sword was placed just outside the reach of the right hand.

The other body was placed at the foot of the bed. Drawing the sword of someone else when they are on the ground is strangely more difficult than I first thought, but I managed. I made sure to mark it in my head where I would place it later.

Then, It was just a matter of picking up my sword that had been resting against the bed frame by my head. I made sure to leave the scabbard and keep the scabbard in my left hand, so I didn't forget it when people eventually came. It was hard enough to take a few blows, and it would look suspicious if I didn't use everything I had against two assailants.

First, I cut the bed a few times at different places, lamenting that I was ruining such a marvel of comfort.

The next step was liberally coating my sword in their blood and stabbing and slicing their clothes, making sure to keep the blade with fresh blood. Dead bodies bled differently than living ones, as I understood it. This was the closest I could think of to creating some wounds from the battle. It probably wouldn't hold up to scrutiny from a specialist, but I doubt the city guard intended to make this a big chase with how few actual clues were around.

Making sure my sword followed the same trajectory as the tentacle, I showed it into the wound leading to their heart and twisted it around a few times. Luckily, the angle wasn't too steep for a sword fight.

Then, it was just a matter of moving back and forth in the blood, smearing it across the floor so no one could really tell if someone had boots on or not. Probably overdid it, but a lot of people would be walking into this room soon, so hopefully, no one would think too much about it.

I cringed as much as the child in me wanted to giggle at the next part. Wait, I'm still a child.

Smacking the sides of the two swords together, I started yelling, stomping around and cursing at the top of my lungs for about twenty seconds as I finished my little dance over the body by the end of the bed and placed the would-be assassin sword by its left hand since he didn't have any calluses on his right hand as I heard doors being thrown open from down the hall.

The first to come hurling in was Mira. She flung the door open and threw herself in with the hammer raised, ready to strike. Hair flowing, dressed in a nightgown, her eyes blazing with the promise of fury and the promise of violence.

I have to say. While she wasn't ugly-looking normally, I wish I had one of those devices I remembered that saved the image of a moment so people could look at it later. She would have loved seeing herself like this, a goddess of war stirred from her slumber by mortals foolish enough to incite her just wrath. I almost made myself chuckle at the portrayal, but I managed to hold it. She did look fearsome.

A few seconds later, Egmont and Hartwin came barreling in, almost tripping over themselves when they tried entering the door at the same time. Both were brandishing what looked like what had once been the legs of a chair.

I hadn't expected them to come running. It surprised me, and I had to reevaluate some of my plans.

From light starting to seep through curtains, dawn would be on us shortly. It looked like this would be another long day.

“It's alright, It was only these two. No one else got attacked? The children?”

I said, realizing how exhausted I actually felt. I almost wanted to get back into bed, but that was probably a bad idea at this point.

Mira wasted no time and started checking me over for wounds despite my assurances.

“Hartwin, can you have the night staff summon the city guard and bring the Madam here once a gain? It would seem things are not as safe here as I was advertised.”

I must be Lily's worst nightmare at this point. Her establishment reputation would be in tatters unless drastic measures were taken. For a slight moment, I felt bad, but then I remembered she was more than willing to curry favor with my aunt without even making sure she did her due diligence. No, sympathy was not on the table anymore between us, but maybe we could work out something mutually beneficial to slowly build up some respect, at the least. I would have to see how my plans panned out.