XIV.
“It’s bloody cold out!” Yokgu roared, before his chest reddened and he stomped off somewhere. I would shrug, but he was right. This mountain pass was no Zhongnan, I supposed. This march was more like when the soldiers of a certain country tried to invade another during the wintertime with nothing but the clothes on their backs during that ancient war… World War II? Or was it IV? Heh, I still sometimes entertained who or what I was in my fractured past when the memories surfaced in my mind’s cloudiness from time to time. I’ve spent my past life learning about histories and events, but I would not have guessed I would need the knowledge beyond school.
There was no time for that, because we were woefully underprepared for the supposed “Golden Lands” winter.
There were dead bodies dotted along the mountainside, preserved perfectly in the ice like a cruel version of purgatory, with spears stabbed inside of them. Red flags and drapes were tied to their shafts, indicating solid grounds and safe passageways. I gave some of the men some talk, they could come along right and easy, be the Overlord’s food or end up as one of those dead bodies frozen and forgotten trying to escape the march. Luckily, demons were not men, and due to my impassioned belief in them they weren’t up to protesting, save for the orc. So as we got to walking, the frost settled.
Yokgu did his own thing, of course. We have been fellow soldiers for a long time according to him, but with my perception’s sudden departure from how normal time worked I was not so sure about that. “Sudden” to me meant three years ago for him. Equals, he said. He wanted to be equals. I did not mind, really. I was sure something broke in me about the concept of time the moment it was brought up to me. Yokgu could have been the one placed in charge and I still would not have cared. I told him that, but he laughed me off. As long as the crew stayed busy walking and no one arguing anymore. Eventually, we would have to stop for breaks and I was sick of this unrelenting frost.
A tough spot, sit down to think about the freezing future and die or march right into the blizzard anyways with no reprieve.
There had to be something I was missing.
“Doctor,” I called for the first creature that Overlord gifted me. He did not have a name, but he was a birdman like Caspan and even had some of his workaholic tendencies. Apparently, he was a reflection of my memories.
“Yes, Captain?” He grunted at me.
“Tend to the wounded,” I instructed him. The other gift, an Abyssal Demon stood watch over all of them. Their armies were extremely tough demonic bugs from an ocean of lava in the Hells, possessing many limbs and compound eyes. I hated looking at him, so I let him do his thing. The other gift the Overlord brought me was a squadron of fifty Undead. According to him, I summoned those myself as the Ruler of Death. I recalled possessing no such Skill. Speaking of Skills, I decided to dive into my Status Skill. There had to be something in there to help with this weather or we would never make it to the White Tower. Even if we did, our morale was shattered like the ice we stood on.
Explain to me how to use magic, Skill, I queried the Status furiously. A gust of wind slapped a lock of my hair against my cheeks as I did. I had an idea what to do with those Undead, but I needed magic beyond a tiny fireball. The Reaver mages needed to reserve their magical energy for the real fights, whereas I could potentially use my power to solve this issue.
Alert: The Ruler of Death can exercise Her Will over Magic.
No shit, really? I spat, but the glob of spit froze before it landed on the ground. The window continued.
Alert: Spend Souls to exert will over Magic?
I looked at the amount of Souls I currently had. Over 9000. I stared at that number that the kill counter displayed to me. I was not so sure what promoting an S rank Stat would do but I knew I would not survive long enough to see it promoted anyways if I did not use it. I did, however, have a slight feeling of dread when it told me I needed a total amount of 10000 souls was required for the Strength or Dexterity Constellations those S rank Stats promised me. When I inquired about the max amount of souls needed because I am bad at math, it simply said I did not have enough. I sighed. I can’t let this opportunity pass, though I have been saving souls up for a long time.
Do it, I confirmed to the window in my head. The kill counter drained all the way down to zero, immediately making me feel like I did something horrible. The same dread I felt when I evolved Power Breaker.
Alert: Souls spent. Unique Skill “Magic Operator” has been successfully integrated in the System. Raise Intelligence Stat to increase potency. (Current rank: B)
A Unique Skill? I nearly blurted out. Another one? Or does this mean that—
Something wondrously light settled upon my skin before I could complete another thought, like a cloak of the finest material. I checked my bare hand, noticing an intense glow flashing upon it. It was just like when the cyclops transferred his magical energy to me— only much more pure than back then. This is magical energy! The glow flashed intensely for a second before settling fully within my skin. My head spun and I stumbled. I did not even realize I stood up. My eyes were covered with translucent windows, similar to the normal Status windows, but through them I saw galaxies and stars spread across the skies. The windows multiplied and outnumbered even the blistering snowflakes, each with kaleidoscopes of cosmic forces within them. My magical energy was tied to these and all I needed to do is draw it out. The shimmering windows suddenly vanished and I was alone again.
I shivered. Blast it all, I was still cold. I trudged past a few grumbling soldiers, with Yokgu himself with them. He growled at me, since I allowed him the luxury to be that way towards a superior. Yet he seemed to resent me this time around. I was not in the mood to hear his complaints, and with this new magical energy circulating throughout my body I had a lot of experimenting to do.
“Finally done brooding in the corner over there, huh?” Yokgu scoffed. I ignored him. “Captain, hmph!”
“Shut up,” I made sure my tone was colder than the snow pelting our helmets, which did the trick. A shambler was nearby, which made the perfect target dummy for my new tests I had in mind. The Unique Skill, Magic Operator, seemed to interact with my Intelligence stat alone instead of simply abiding by the attunement of the moons. It did not care about the elements and I seemed to have authority over whichever one I could visualize. Therefore a specific spell reaching out to the Moons or Gods would not be needed, I felt like a mad scientist as I commanded the zombie to stand still with my mind. Apparently, the Ruler of Death had that authority. I needed to only visualize what I wanted the magic energy in my body to do. Light him up.
Immediately, two things happened: First, I felt something jolt within me. It was not a terrible feeling, but rather one such as dashing naked from a standstill, or like jumping into a cold lake. It acclimated in less than a second, but there was much more left over energy. Secondly: It appeared my test worked, a window only I could see appeared right before the undead and released a jet of flames out of it. The zombie immediately became unwillingly engulfed in magical flames, but it still stood where I commanded it to stand. Hot damn. I stood next to it, enjoying the strange solace a burning corpse could offer. Even the snow it stood on melted.
“Interesting,” I muttered. Soon, a crowd of soldiers were gathered around the burning zombie.
“Captain,” Yokgu seemed to start apologetically. “You think he’s going to last?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “But I don’t care. Hey, you. You good?”
I poked the burning zombie, and received a moan in response.
“I assume that means he’s good,” I told a stunned Yokgu. “Now get some rest.”
I set off to set more of them on fire, mainly to test the limits of my magical energy and to get used to the feeling of using magic. Status windows releasing flames was a new thing to me, but I was sure this Unique Skill will help me tremendously even though its price was way over my head. I was curt with Yokgu, but I was beginning to think he was planning on challenging me soon. When most squadrons in the Demon army perceive their command is weak or incompetent a foolish one could try and take him down, initiating a takeover of the group. I suspected this was the case, as I believed he was hiding a Skill from me. I would have to deal with him sooner or later. Or perhaps, this was the cold messing with my head.
The zombies did last all night, and even started to shamble with us while the magical flames kept their warmth. I realized the duration of these fires was kept and maintained by my magical energy. The windows were no good on their own, as jets of flames pouring out of them would kill my men and drain me of my energy eventually. I still felt good, even after using so much power. Just how strong was B rank Intelligence? I decided I should make that Stat rank S as soon as possible.
“So you’re the Ruler of Death’s Doctor, right?” I overheard Lee asking the creature, but decided not to intrude. It was not like I wanted to be able to see and hear everything it could, but somehow the ability did not hinder me. It was like having a surveillance feed at the corner of my vision at all times from the eyes of the undead and the Doctor. “N-Not that the Captain wants me to call her that or nothing.”
“Huh, Ensign Lee?” The Doctor seemed to be working on the Fair demon’s leg, which was covered in frost.
“It’s just weird, you know?” Lee continued. “She’s the bringer of Death! Yet, you’re a Folly magical caster.”
“I could implement euthanasia for frostbite into my daily rhetoric if that suits you, Ensign Lee,” the Doctor retorted. I chuckled to myself, as I watched the flaming zombies make their march back towards the unit.
“No, no, no, uh, I’ll, I’m good, Doctor,” Lee protested, only to switch the subject again. “Not to be weird or anything—“ He nearly was interrupted by a scoff from the Doctor. “I have a question. Not to be weird, sure, but yeah. Folly magic doesn’t affect, you know, the lower regions, right? Specifically the size, right?”
I watched the Doctor pause his ritualistic healing, evidently trying to process what he had just heard.
“That is a weird question,” he confirmed, but did not mention anything about what his magic affected.
“I’m proud of what I have, you know,” Lee seemed oblivious to the Doctor’s lack of interest. “I could— and have— live it up with the finest Lovers of the Hells’ Circles, you know? Even could rival a succubus!”
“Mmhmm,” the Doctor tried to remain engaged as he worked, but simply ran out of things to say.
“I heard from Yokgu, the Captain’s lover was a Succubus. Someone told me she was loved by a famous pirate, but ah, the Succubus was her first,” Lee went on. I cocked an eyebrow. I would definitely be disciplining that orc now. “D-Don’t tell her I said this, but, I think she is really cute. Beautiful, charming. A murderous cloud of death, with eyes of the same crimson skies of the Hells’ mightiest peaks have to offer.”
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“You know, Ensign Lee,” the Doctor snapped something shut, and infused it with magic. Lee yelped in pain as he did. “I won’t tell her that. But I will tell you one thing. Folly magic won’t grow your size, although I have heard some dark Unleashed magics are potent when it comes to love making and member size alteration. Try not to freeze to death.”
“Thanks, Doctor,” Lee groaned but snapped straight to attention. “Hey, wait a minute. What did you just say about my length?!”
We continued our march. Flaming, moving corpses proved to be efficient for heating the unit along although it made me feel like a walking target. Tensions, however, did not improve. It was clear to me that we were lost, despite the magic scroll and maps explaining to me that we should have reached the White Tower a long time ago. We were in someone’s or something’s high ranked Cold Illusion spell.
Visibility was getting low, with the fog rolling from the tips of the mountains. Yet, I instructed the men to continue much to the chagrin of a certain orc. There had to be an inconsistency in this spell and either I was going to find out what it was or freeze. After more pointless walking, something outlined itself within the cloak of the blizzard. I halted the unit, sensing something was ahead before my own Status Skill alerted me. Bingo. A Crowned Entity was ahead of us, but the question of whether it was friendly remained. Anything surviving out here long enough was going to mold a Crown out of them, I groaned.
“What is it now?” Yokgu’s irritating voice growled into my ears. What was with this guy? I wondered.
“Someone dangerous is ahead,” I told him. Rather than waiting for me to investigate, Yokgu stormed ahead of me to where the Crowned Entity was, buried within the wreckage of a wagon. “Wait.”
“You mean this?” Yokgu wrenched out the Entity, revealing a bloody and emaciated human. “This thing is dangerous?”
He laughed before my men. Ah, the challenge was beginning. Something long extended out of the human. I realized it was not a human, as I saw its tail broken in two places and a frozen bloody string coming out from between its legs. I folded my arms.
“H-Help me,” it begged. The poor thing must have been desperate, using the last of her strength to call for help from an advancing Demon army.
“What’s this about, Yokgu?” I finally addressed his obvious lack of respect for my authority. It was not like I have had a leg to stand on from their frame of reference, since we have not reached our destination and demons tend to get bored when they do not get to kill. Yokgu tossed the helpless beast woman back into the rubble.
“I think the cold has gotten to your brain, Nameless,” he sighed. “All this fame, Tusks, and ordering us around… It’s all so inefficient when you can’t even tell a harmless creature like that is what it is! Harmless!”
He was drawing closer to me and the men formed a circle to watch. I wanted them to see what happens to those who disobey. He paced, while I stood.
“I think you’ve gone soft, harmless. Light Voice,” He sized me up. Heh, that was a nickname I have not heard in awhile. The orc was taller and physically bigger than me, but he did not possess a Unique Skill to come close to me. I sighed, while secretly trying to come up with the most evil thing I could respond with. This simply was camp drama. However, I wanted to end it quickly.
“You think you can win against me?” I asked him, snapping my fingers. Immediately, all of the flames on the zombies vanished within the howl of the wind. As I stood stoically, I realized that the Insect demon creation took flight before anyone else noticed. Yokgu let out a bittersweet laugh. Murmuring and shivers spread across the unit. Some doubted me, others doubted him, and most were itching for a fight to break out.
“You think a little lightshow like that can scare me?” He growled. “I will put you down, and take what has always been mine.”
“Sure, sure,” I chuckled. I dropped my weapons to the ground and let the cluttering noise fall upon his shoulders as a final warning. The silent Insect demon was in a position to decapitate Yokgu’s foolish head, but I commanded it to fly back down and enjoy the show. “You can let the other 9797 souls screaming my name in the Hells know all about how you defeated me.”
That comment shook the audience from the implication that I remembered every individual I slew, but Yokgu was simply a thick headed man. He let out a roar, and a Power Body infused fist came crashing towards me. That skill was much more powerful than even Commander Ake’s Power Axe, honed from who knows how many battles. My CON Stat was quite low, sitting at a mere Rank C. However, I knew my S ranked STR Stat could be used to empower my body. The magical energy and that Skill were more than enough to handle such a devastating blow. The fist collided with my cheek, raising the snow and ground into an avalanche within its explosion. At least, I think it hit me. I could not feel it.
After the dust settled, the men still standing gasped in horror at the fact that I stood there in the same nonchalant stance I was in before taking the blow. Yokgu’s face wrote shock upon each crystal of ice falling from his fist, unable to speak. I cracked my neck, and slowly approached the motionless orc. I chuckled. I guess he did manage to make my cheek break into a sliver of blood.
“Fall in line,” I warned the rest of the men. They were too overwhelmed in awe or fear by Yokgu’s strength, I assumed. “This is what errant behavior before a superior gets you.”
With that, I released a single kick to his legs, shattering them before I knelt down to get to work on the rest of the fallen Yokgu. I felt a little angry, but I would not admit it. Where was it from? Was it his treatment of that beast woman? After the countless slaughters, who was I to judge over one life? Every punch broke bones, and I realized Yokgu’s face was no longer full of pride. He was at my mercy like everyone else here, and would succumb to the cold and my beatings soon. I kept punching anyway.
“You talked so much, with such little strength behind that Skill,” I chastised the orc in between blows. Something was wetting my cheeks, stinging the tiny wound. I was crying? Why? Suddenly, a wave pushed over me, and I could not control myself even if an entire army was watching me. “After all the training and reformations our Unit had these years together, and this is all you could do to me? Couldn’t even put me out of my misery!? The battles before I had a Skill? The nights of starvation and spent inside those stupid trenches together? I hate how little you have hurt me! It should have been you standing as the leader! How could you not kill me with the best of everything you’ve got?”
I almost connected a killing blow to his temple, but I noticed his disfigured lips were slowly moving and stopped before smashing his head to match the powdered snow with the dust of his bones.
“Y-You’re the one for me…”
I was not interested in looking at a former friend of mine. I left all bloody and reignited the zombies. I felt something make a pit in my stomach that I had to teach a harsh lesson to the rest of the class. Guilt, a pit in my throat that was going to choke me for the first time since I arrived in this world. I checked myself and stood up, savoring this feeling even if it was awful. I was tired of feeling hollow yet the men cheered for me. Thanks for that, you stupid orc. I sighed, and snapped my fingers so the flames could go on. There was one order of business left to attend to, the beast woman in the wreckage.
Since the number of souls defeated still remained at zero, it must mean she was still alive in that tent even after getting thrown.
“She survived a Power Breaker,” Lee spoke in awe to a group of soldiers somewhere in the crowd. “It barely broke her!”
“To the face, to the face!” Ongran muttered. “That means we must worship her. Such strength deserves to be—“
More reverence was washing over the crowd as they huddled near the burning corpses. I decided that was enough eavesdropping, so I continued my search. The Crowned Entity had to be nearby still, but she was not going to survive out here for much longer now that we had ruined her shelter. At the corner of my eyes, I sensed a glowing light twinkling within the blankets of white. There she was!
“We’ll be staying here for tonight, if it isn’t obvious enough,” I informed the rest of the soldiers, though they seemed in high morale even after my sudden mental breakdown. I slung the girl’s body over my shoulder, stepped over Yokgu and summoned the Doctor over to me as the soldiers watched in excited anticipation. “I had enough action for today.”
They saluted in unison, and immediately the camp preparations began. I forgot that simple violence sometimes went a long way through a Demon army. There was no field manual for captains, and I was promoted probably due to a sudden change in numbers according to the higher ups. They had no concern over a frozen over orc that had a Power Skill, nor the fact that he was my friend or that he was going to die out here. We were fated to die here on behalf of a General miles and miles away, taking orders from an even more powerful higher authority. Therefore, I spent the next two hours hiding away and agonizing over the fact that I had just cried in front of all of those men. Gah! How embarrassing, me! I beat myself up. You’re a captain! Act like—
“My liege, one out of the two individuals, has been fully healed. The beast has already recovered,” the Doctor informed me. I did not realize the creation could telepathically communicate with me, but I made it give the beast woman over to me. Crowned Entity, or not, she could navigate these places much better than I could. “Shall I restore the orc’s body?”
“No,” I choked and finally broke my silent fuming. The Doctor thanked me, and informed me the woman would be there soon to restore my composure, since it has been awhile since I have even spoken to a human, let alone a woman. Two individuals, but not the orc must have meant… I shook my head after realizing the creature was pregnant.
“M-My Lord,” the Crowned Entity whispered, though her voice was healthy and alive. Should I be diplomatic? Did Crowned Entities pose a challenge to me anymore?
“Come in,” I sighed. There were no alerts in my system, and I hoped it would stay that way. Was this woman the key out of this illusion?
The first thing I saw entering the tent were ears. Pointy, furry cat ears. Right, it was a beast-woman. Her face seemed human, minus the human ears and whiskers. She looked like she had seen better days. Immediately, she prostated herself before me. The area between her legs and her ragged dress were bloodstained. She must have gone mad, I mused. But up in this mountain and freezing hell? Somehow, there was someone who had even worse luck than me here.
“So, tell me,” I finally croaked. “How does a beast-woman end up in a spell like this and survive for so long?”
“I-I!” She squeaked after glancing at me, but composed herself. I supposed my red eyes did not sit well with a lot of people. “I was exiled, My Lord.”
“Exiled?” I asked. “I guess that’s why you’re desperate enough to ask enemies for help.”
“You’re no enemy! You’re a Nameless! My Master took me, then his wife banished me and accused me of seducing him,” the beast woman smothered her face in the snow after I turned. Her tail was shaking in fear. I guess I never was someone cats liked in my old life. That trait must have continued in this life as well.
“And that thing…” I muttered aloud. He did not make it to this journey here, but I realized that was for the better.
“I journeyed here towards my old village, My Lord,” the beast-woman eventually started. “But, I lost… the baby and my way.”
You’re too smart and resilient to be a mere slave. I observed her body language more closely, though she was stricken by the world and by my presence she was able to keep her composure together before the Doctor and under the eyes of the soldiers outside. A spy? This act was too difficult to derive its meaning, as someone this powerful could destroy this army easily before facing me.
“What’s your name?” I asked her. “And get your face off the ground. Don’t care for that stuff.”
The beast-woman’s ears perked up, but she simply remained still with her legs crossed before me. A warrior’s pose, but it was a person that had cat ears. I stifled from groaning over how ridiculous this situation was, and awaited her answer.
“E-Emma, My Lord,” she stammered.
“I’m afraid, Emma, that most of the villages around the mountain have been wiped out,” I told her. Hard news or not, what is out there is much worse. “What remains of Krisha is nothing but rubble and wild Demons.”
The beast-woman’s face fell, for a second, and I felt bad for telling her the bad news. She suddenly cracked into tears, and began to weep. Was I supposed to hold her? I did tell her that her homeland had been razed by the Pits and there were no survivors. It dawned on me, that while we might be winning and conquering there are many more who lost because of us. This creature has had a hard life before I even came along, and I made it exponentially worse. Would holding her be a selfish thing, since I was involved directly with Krisha’s downfall? Instead, the woman fell against me, unbothered by my armor. So I held her there, awkwardly.
“You’ve gone through a lot,” I told her. It was the truth. She went through Hells on earth, even more than me. For a while, I always ignored the suffering of others. When I first got here, I was scared that I would not be alive the next day and could not imagine the opposite side like this. Now, I wonder if I should. This woman, Crowned or not, must be desperate regardless of what I felt. “Do you know of a way out?”
I finally broke the question out, but was quick to pull it back.
“It would be wrong to help the enemy, I suppose,” I drew away.
“My Master’s wife was a Cold Mage,” Emma peered through cracks in the tent’s entrance. “She said when the Cold Moon Falls, illusions become much harder to break, but much harder to believe.”
“I see,” I lied. When it came to magic, I still had no idea what to make of it when it involved the Moons. All I knew was during certain nights, it made fighting against Moonfall attuned mages a pain in my side. “We move out tomorrow morning, and you are welcome to stay here with me until we get out or leave now. I will not have my men attack you if you do leave. So which will you do?”
“I’ll stay with you!” Emma spoke without hesitation, almost like she was begging me. A sense of deja vu hit me, but from where? “Please, My Lord.”
“Very well,” I flopped back down on my mat, ignoring whatever the cat woman said anyways. “We’ll find a home for you anyways—“
I was cut off by the feeling of warmth gathering by my side. A bushy tail wacked my leg. Perhaps cats did like me in this life, so I rolled my eyes and went to sleep.