"How many have fallen?" The Aksha asked over his earpiece as he flew in the air with his jetpack.

"We have lost contact with over fifty, Commander!" A voice replied.

Fifty soldiers lost. I had predicted it would not be so simple with how magic can overpower technology. But fifty...Manusya thought, grimacing at the lives lost.

I have to hurry there.

"Send me their location," Manusya said.

In the augmented reality interface of his mask, red dots appeared down in the forest. He made his approach and flew to where the enemies were. As he made his descent, he could see the Naga squad standing with the corpses of Osmanian soldiers on the ground. Seven Hydarian soldiers wearing green armour that resembled a serpent. In the centre of their formation, a man wearing green armour and long flowing black hair held the neck of a limp Osmanian soldier. General Vaius squeezed the man's neck, breaking it instantly with the sounds of twigs snapping.

"Oh, is the main character of the play finally here?" General Vaius turned to see Manusya.

Without a word nor any intention to have any dialogue, Manusya drew his handgun and fired at the general.

"Ward!" A Naga soldier shouted.

A transparent blue shield of magical energy appeared in front of General Vaius and blocked the incoming bullet.

General Vaius tossed the lifeless body aside and clapped. "Those projectiles, they are certainly effective indeed! An entire legion of our proud Hydarian army was wiped out just like that. Oh, how powerful would we be if we get our hands on them."

This man's aura...it's repulsive. Manusya thought as he stared at him, feeling unnerved.

"Say, I was going to kill you and enjoy wiping out your kind." General Vaius said. "But I sense potential here. Why don't you share your war technology with us? Perhaps we can come up with a diplomatic solution to this Osma-Hydarian situation. Mayhap as allies? I am sure the King will change his mind if he knew the technology that he could gain here."

"These weapons are better in our hands than the savages." A Naga soldier chimed in.

"Over my dead body," Manusya said as he rushed forward and drew his vibrosword.

"Oh, that can be arranged!" General Vaius clasped his hand and inhaled air into his lungs, before exhaling a great quantity of green gas from his mouth.

"WARNING! UNKNOWN GAS DETECTED. ANALYSIS...SUBSTANCE IS LETHAL. COMMENCE QUARANTINE, WITHDRAWING 70 PERCENT POWER". The exosuit that the Aksha was wearing fired out warnings suddenly.

Manusya stopped briefly, he noticed that the suit was now heavier and he could not move his body to its full extent anymore.

What is this? Manusya shouted in his mind.

"You can survive my toxins? How fascinating! Perhaps if I pry that mask off your face!" General Vaius rushed forward and withdrew his sword.

One soldier went to their knees while two others touched their shoulder as if providing support. The kneeling soldier carried a staff and pointed it towards Manusya.

"Pierce!" They shouted.

Projectiles made out of fire shot at high speed towards Manusya. The rest of the soldiers withdrew their swords and charged at Manusya with their general.

Manusya took the fire projectiles head-on as the integrity of his suit decreased. Without a chance to recover, he clashed swords with the four charging at him. His vibrosword should have cut through the enemies' swords like butter, but instead, they were exchanging blows like normal.

They're able to enhance their equipment as well! Manusya thought. He analysed multiple magic he did not recognise had been used.

"Your swordsmanship, I had never seen it before, fascinating yet again!" General Vaius said.

"Fuck this!" Manusya shouted. He released RNI nanobots from his exosuit that would be used to create the illusion that he was using magic. He activated the exosuit's electrical shock ability and with the help of the nanobots, he made it seem like a magical bolt of lightning fired out from his hand, striking two soldiers who were attacking him. They were incapacitated instantly as they received the full shock.

"OH!" The maniac Naga muttered.

Without giving them a chance to retaliate, Manusya rushed forward to the only other soldier remaining who wielded a sword and with CQC, took him down with punches enhanced with an electrical jolt.

Manusya pulled something from his back, a rifle issued to UPF soldiers during the war of humanity's past. It was not a rifle that shot out bullets that the new Osmanians had manufactured, but rather a weapon capable of firing plasma energies that could pierce anything. Its black sheen and blue grow illuminated the snowy forest.

I did not want to resort to using this, but I cannot let them kill another soldier! He said in his mind as he pulled the trigger.

"W-ward!" One of the soldiers cast nervously as he was not familiar with the sight of the mysterious weapon.

A shield appeared in front of the three soldiers. It was, however, swift and instant. The plasma pierced through the aetherial shield instantly and created holes in their bodies.

"W-what!?" For the first time, General Vaius was shocked at what he saw. "What in the manner of!? TELL ME! What is that!?" He screamed.

Manusya aimed the plasma rifle at him. "Surrender now. I will treat you as a prisoner of war and capture you with dignity." He said.

"YOU!" General Vaius shouted. "ANSWER ME!"

Manusya looked at him blankly. "I will not. Now, surrender."

The mad general began slowly chuckling, before laughing uncontrollably. After a while, his eyes became furious.

"This was not the duel I had imagined. Where is the thrill? Where is the rush of blood? No, this is unfair. This is despicable." He said menacingly.

"Fair?" Manusya said. "Fair? Those unarmed civilians you massacred and raped and defiled out there, did they die fairly. I've heard of you."

General Vaius looked at the Aksha blankly. For the first time in his life, he felt...fear.

"You stand against humanity. You are a monster. You shall be put down!" He rushed forward with his sword with a battle cry.

Manusya aimed the plasma rifle at the approaching general's head. In the corner of his eye, he saw the corpse of Esteban, the illusion that followed him, smiling. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, before resolving himself and pulling the trigger. The man's head disappeared from existence, smoke coming out of the stump of his neck, which burned hot enough to cauterize the wound and not spurt out blood.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Well done!" the zombie Esteban said. "And I thought the hole in my head was bad!" he massaged his forehead wound.

"Shut up. That was necessary." Manusya muttered.

"Of course it is! Killing always is in war." Esteban said with a thumbs up.

"You say whatever you want. I just ended the bloodshed." Manusya replied.

Esteban laughed. "Ended it? You massacred thousands today! Sure, you can massage your morals by saying it's the infamous Serpent Legion, famous for being cruel. But what about the few soldiers that were freshly drafted to the legion? What about the medic that followed them? The cruel men who still had wives and kids waiting for them?" He said.

I can't. I can't save everyone. Manusya thought. He knew all of this suffering was the direct result of his tampering with the repopulation. But after living with the Osmanians, would a monotonous, loveless, and cultureless life that carried the legacy of the UPF be worth it? Would he want to continue that cycle?

"I will create that world," Manusya muttered.

"Hmm?" Zombie Esteban said.

"I will unite everyone."

----------------------------------------

The next day after the battle.

Around three hundred soldiers of the Serpent Legion who survived the ambush and guerilla warfare became prisoners of war. They were currently being kept just outside of the forest fortress that the Hydarians had built as their outpost, in makeshift tents. The plan was to release some of them as messengers for the Hydarians to warn them of committing more invasions. After negotiations, the hope was to establish negotiations on the release of the prisoners of war in exchange for Osmanian children and labourers who were taken to the Hydarian homeland. Ahmi was personally hoping his wife and child could be one of the people who will be returned. The Convocation of Osma was also hoping for the establishment of a proper border between Osma and Hydaria if diplomatic negotiations were successful.

This is the best I can do for now. Manusya thought as he wrote down a document in front of him.

It is too early to take over other nations like Hydaria. I must bid my time and gather strength for Osma. He thought.

A knock came on the door to his office.

"Commander, the prisoner is ready." An Osmanian soldier said behind the door.

"Thank you. I will be coming." Manusya got off his desk and put on his Aksha uniform once more. He exited the room and walked downstairs to a holding cell. As he entered the room, General Ahmi was already waiting for him, as well as a restrained Serpent Legion soldier.

"Commander." Ahmi saluted the Aksha. "This is the soldier who claimed to have useful information about the Hydarian royal family."

Manusya turned to the man. It was a plain-looking Hydarian with brunette hair and a well-built body. He had been stripped to his undergarments. He was sitting on a chair with his arms tied behind his back.

Hmm? That's strange. Manusya thought.

"What is your name?" Manusya asked.

"M-Markus! I am from the 13th Squad of the Serpent Legion." The main said timidly.

"And you claim to have information about a weakness of the royal family?"

"Yes! P-please! Just spare me! I will tell you if you guarantee my release." The man begged.

Manusya walked forward and touched the man's chin and lifted his head.

"P-please!"

"Enough with the act," Manusya said.

This man, my AR emotion scan tells me he is perfectly calm and collected. And yet he acts scared like this. Manusya thought.

"W-what do you mean, sire?" The man panicked as if he had done something wrong.

"You are calm. Unnervingly so. You are hiding something. Who are you?" Manusya said.

General Ahmi perked up and aimed a handgun at the restrained man after hearing the Aksha.

'Markus' was suddenly engulfed in flames that blinded Manusya and Ahmi. After they readjusted their eyes, a different man sat on the chair. This man wore an elaborate red outfit with a helmet resembling a phoenix. Manusya had seen him before, in the royal palace of Hydaria. Astra, the leader of the Solarius, the Hydarian anti-monarchist faction.

"You far exceed my expectations, Lord Aksha," Astra said with a deep, calm voice.

"Astra..." Manusya muttered.

"It's you!" Ahmi was also there and had seen him. He trained a gun on the mysterious man.

"Please. If I meant any harm, I would not have approached you like this." Astra said as he raised both his arms in a show of non-aggression.

"Forgive our rudeness." Manusya gestured for Ahmi to lower his gun, to which he complied. "We simply did not expect an honoured guest today, especially in this damp cell."

Astra shrugged his shoulder. "That is partially because of my theatrics. I like to...observe first. And certainly, did you exceed my expectations. I had high hopes of you and the Osmanians repelling the invasion, in some way or another. But I must admit I was half expecting a...struggle? Perhaps a heroic defence of protecting your precious homeland against evil invaders. And after several days of gruelling combat, you find yourself the victor! But what I found, instead, was a complete massacre." He said.

Manusya, hiding behind the mask of the Aksha nodded. The men were both wearing masks, hiding their true faces. "We apologize we could not meet your dramaturgical expectations, nonetheless."

Astra chuckled. "A man capable of lighthearted talk. I like you."

"Like what our Aksha said, we did not expect an honoured guest today." General Ahmi interjected "What do you want, Lord Astra? From our point of view, we know that you are not our enemy. Perhaps even sharing the same ideals."

"Right..."Astra muttered. "That is indeed another point I am impressed by. From my investigation, none of you had stepped a foot inside Hydarian soil, nor was there any direct flow of information between Hydaria and Osma. And yet...you know of my organisation and my standing. Impressive. Truly."

"We try," Manusya replied.

I was going to find him after this. Who knew he would come to me first? Manusya thought.

"As for what I am here for. This is our first meeting and it would certainly be rude if we go straight into business like that. But you know who I am saved me a lot of trouble in explaining. I know that our goal is the fall of the Hydarian monarchy, and thus we have a common enemy." Astra explained.

"Do we, Lord Astra?" Manusya asked. "What do you intend to do after your organisation brings them down? Are you simply going to replace them with the new government? How can we be sure you will bring stability to the region?"

Astra nodded. "Clever questions indeed. But not one I would answer now. You see, I like to examine potential allies first-hand before extending a hand. And Osma truly has my approval. I do not intend for us to enter any sort of relationship, I believe that should be built slowly through trust and cooperation. And cooperation is what I am here for. Tell me, what can I do to help your nation? In return, I will tell you what you can do to help us. And we will see if we have common grounds there." He said.

Can we trust them? Manusya thought. It was difficult to assess whether the Solarius, despite having the same common enemy as them, would be good allies. He still lacked information. Perhaps it's better if we hear him first.

"Lord Astra, with your arrival here, I believe it should be within our courtesy to hear your request first before we can give you a reciprocal request," Manusya said.

Astra nodded. "Very well. I have not truly seen your country, but I know how powerful it is now. You know that there is an ocean in the west, beyond the mountains, and in the south. Once you have developed enough to traverse the oceans, we will need your help there. But do not fret, I know that development is inevitable and you don't have to make a decision now, so if you still wish to help us then, we will be in touch with you." He said. "And as for what we can do to help?"

Manusya thought deeply. The Osma needs to be stronger quickly. How can we do that? An idea sprung into his mind.

"Osma is a country built first by the people of the Osma reaches, but that would not be its future. We know that in the future, a diverse range of cultures and people will choose to call our lands their home. To develop quickly, we will need immigrants. We know there is a war out there, and the southern islands and beyond are also colonized cruelly by various nations. We want you to spread the word that there is a new nation that will bring hope and prosperity to anyone who has suffered a great injustice, but want to rebuild their lives to be something better." Manusya explained.

General Ahmi pondered in his mind. With his military mindset, he did not even consider such things were needed to develop in the future.

"Interesting," Astra replied. "A multiethnic nation, eh? A deliberate one, at that, while some other nations are obsessed with racial purity. And what about Demi-Humans? Would you truly accept them?"

Demi-Humans...Groups of humans that have been altered genetically through aetherial mutations. I have heard of them, many are treated as practically slaves. Manusya thought. I don't see why they should be excluded.

"Yes. Everyone. Of course, we will have our own methods of screening them later to ensure the people we are accepting are truly genuine. Do not worry about that part. Simply spread the word everywhere, to the continent and the colonies. Can you do that?" Manusya asked.

"Very well. That is easily within our current capabilities." Astra nodded. He stood up suddenly. "Then we will be in touch! Thank you for your hospitality and fare you well." He nodded and disappeared in a tornado of flames.

"Hospitality? In a cell?" General Ahmi muttered.

Manusya turned to the general. "Let's get started. We will be very busy in the next few months."

A new chapter had been opened. One where Osma finally showed itself on the world stage and Hydaria's shame was revealed to everyone. A nation of hope had sprung up overnight.