A lone crow circled the air, moving away from his flock to search for fresher food. Down below was any scavengers' dream. A abandoned battlefield littered with millions of dead bodies for miles. The soldiers belonged to the many Factions of Nostalisk but, currently not one Faction is scavenging this mass graveyard. Currently they are more busy with each other to even think of sending over troops to scavenge the dead and, more likely, bury or burn the dead too. As such, the scavengers of Nostalisk are free to eat as much as they want for four months. Plus, two weeks ago, a group of people were chased down by soldiers and killed, giving the scavengers even fresher meat.

As the crow circled around, his sharp eyes spotted one of the fresher bodies. A young woman with long curly grey and brown hair wearing a whitish dress that looked to have once been yellow. After a quick look around to make sure there were no predators or other scavengers around the woman, the crow tucked in his wings and dove down and landed right next to the woman. He has been here once before to eat her flesh and has already picked out his favorite perch.

It was the handle of a small axe, or hatchet, that has been modified for war. A crude weapon and one that surely did the woman no good in the end but it must have been important to her. There were signs that the axe has been well-kept and, if one were to look close enough, they would see writing on both sides of the wooden handles, or shaft, of the axe.

After a quick rest on the axe the crow opened his eyes and studied the woman's body, looking for a new place to eat. That was when he caught a strange scent. It smelled like fresh meat but was mixed in with something rotten. After sniffing the scent some more the crow realized what it was. It was the scent of a Mauta dā phula, only different and less flower-like. In fact, the scent smelled worse than the smell the flower has when in full bloom.

As the crow tried to figure out where the smell was coming from, the stomach of the woman bulged. The crow's eyes widened in surprise. He knew the woman was pregnant but he couldn't get to the body due to the dead soldier that was lying on top of it. That doesn't change the fact that the baby inside the woman couldn't possibly be alive. The woman died two weeks ago, after all. Yet, right before the crow's eyes, the woman's stomach and womb split open and the dead soldier's body slowly slid off her split-open stomach.

Blood was pooling around the woman and from her stomach and womb rose a dark blood red and black pulsating cocoon. The crow instantly realized that the cocoon was the source of the smell of Mauta dā phula he was smelling. As it rose higher and higher the stronger the smell got, and the more blood pooled from the woman despite her being a two week decayed body.

Then, when the cocoon was almost entirely out of the woman's body, it stopped and the pulsing died down until the cocoon was perfectly still. The crow waited for something to happen but, when nothing did, the crow flew down to investigate the cocoon. However, the moment the crow was about to land on top of the cocoon, a hand burst out of the top. The crow let out a startled cry and, in his panic, flew directly into the shaft of a long axe, causing him to fall to the ground.

Meanwhile the hand, light tan in color with already developed black and red fingernails, or claws to be more exact, started to grope around until it found the cocoon. Upon touching the cocoon, the hand started to tear it open. It didn't take long for another hand to join the first one and, soon after it did, the cocoon was split apart as a head poked through. Then came the rest of the body.

The crow watched, horrified, as a pale petite girl, looking to be perhapes four years old, climbed out of the cocoon on all fours. Every signal fingernail was long and curved and red and black in color, including her toenails. She had hair, long black hair that resembled barbs at the end reaching all the way down her back, becoming brown the closer the to the tips and the brown becoming bright red at the tips. Sweat and a red substance, probably from the cocoon, coated her body, and some of her ribs were visible through her skin.

Then, the girl looked up at the sky, giving the crow a clear view of her large red eyes. The crow had never seen eyes like those on any humanoid but he does know what they resembled. Those eyes resembled a predator's eyes. Either be it one from the Wyrm family, one of the many large lizards, or large felines in this world. The only difference is that this girl's eyes seemed to melt into itself, like her eyes have too much liquid in them.

It was only when the girl's head snapped towards the crow did the crow snap out of his trance and try to fly away. Only, he couldn't. The crow realized, with a shiver that made his body freeze, that his left wing had impaled itself on a spike when he fell to the ground, trapping himself. He was now at the girl's mercy.

So, with a sigh only a crow would be able to make, he looked back at the girl only to find her cradling the woman's...her mother's head in her arms, staring intently at her face. Then, after a long silence, the girl spoke, or tried to.

"Mar," The girl said, her voice tiny and somber. The crow was sure he saw a red tear fall from her eyes.

The girl continued to say 'Mar' in many different ways, the lisp she had growing worse instead of improving. It was only around ten minutes of this did the girl finally stop and noticed something lodged in her mother's throat. With a cock of her head she leaned down to sniff at the object before she quickly yanked it out. The crow nearly had a heart attack, thinking the knife the girl took out was going to fly out of her hand and right into his chest but his worries were for naught.

The girl examined the knife, or dagger, in her hand, marveling at how the sun shined on the shiny silver color of the dagger, tracing her finger around the black engravings. Then, she put the dagger in her mouth and started sucking on it. After a bit of sucking on the dagger the girl dropped it, not interested in it anymore. Instead she walked over to the axe that was the crow's second favorite place to perch.

When she got close enough she ran her finger through the carvings on it, entranced by how the wood seemed to shine and, with a small frown, started to read what was on it.

"...Ahh...Ayet....Ai.”

The girl's eyes shone with excitement as she started repeating the name, her voice sounding less somber and frail and more like an actual child.

"Ai! AI!"

The girl stood up on her two legs, using the axe as support, and started chanting the name, doing a little unsteady dance that ended when she finally lost her balance and fell down on the ground. Unaffected by her fall the girl sat up and ran her hands ran down the shaft, stopping when she hit a black leather pouch next to the blade of the axe. In the pouch was a shiny knife similar to the axe, only it had a black leather handle instead of wood. The blade had patterns on it like the axe had on its shaft and was curved, shaped like half a circle or a quarter moon. Excited at this new discovery, the girl grabbed the blade and pulled it out, accidentally nicking herself in the process. She froze, then proceeded to look at the finger she cut herself on before putting it into her mouth. It tasted odd but at the same time, sweet. This was to be expected. After all, this is the first conscious time the girl has ever had something to drink. To her, in this hot humid area, this was probably the best thing she has ever tasted. In fact, it was the first thing she has ever tasted.

After playing with the dagger for a while the girl put it back into the pouch and proceeded to try and pull out the axe...

....only the key word here is try. No matter how hard the girl pulled the axe wouldn't budge. After twenty long exhausting minutes of trying the girl collapsed on the ground, out of breath with tears forming in her eyes, these ones being normal in color. Then, she started bawling, throwing a tantrum for the first time in her life.

It was during this tantrum that the girl saw the crow again, and this time she stopped her crying to study it. She scrambled on all fours and reached towards the crow with her left hand. The crow started panicking now, flapping its free wing in an attempt to get free, cursing himself for not trying to escape sooner while the girl was distracted.

The crow didn't manage to escape by himself. Instead, the girl grabbed his body and lifted it off the spike. The crow was confused at how gentle the girl's hold of him was but he quickly went back to panicking when the girl wrapped her right hand around his body and brought the crow to her mouth. However, the girl didn't eat the crow like he expected but instead started studying him, examining his wings, feet, and tail. After her clumsy and rather uncomfortable examination of the crow was done, the girl set the crow down gently...

....only she put him down right where she grabbed him. The crow quickly flapped his wings and managed to escape the girl's clutches, narrowly avoiding being impaled on the spike a second time. The girl watched the crow catch his breath next to the spike, glaring at the spike, before she turned away, her attention going back to the axe.

With narrowed eyes and a pouty face, the girl stood up, using the axe as support, and got ready to attempt to move the axe again when she tripped and went behind the axe, landing face first on top of a dead soldier. After rubbing her head, the girl noticed what she was on and her nose curled up at the smell of rot. Yet, despite the smell, the girl didn't run away. Instead she started studying him, mainly studying the old gash on his chest and the faded old silver sword sticking out of his chest. The girl knew right away that he was dead, like how she realized her mother was dead.

But, when the girl started looking around, she came to a realization. It seems that everyone here shared something in common, despite the fact that they're all dead. They all had things similar to the dagger she found in her mother sticking out of them, or had gashes that were clearly made with said things sticking out of a good majority of the bodies.

So, if they died from those strange objects, then what used those strange objects to kill them?

The girl, upon realizing that, spun around and ran to the dagger she had dropped earlier. Upon reaching it, the girl's eyes glowed brighter, anger shining through them.

Something took her mother from her. Something took a great source of comfort and warmth to her. And that something took it with this strange object.

The girl grabbed the dagger and held it up to her face. After studying the dagger, she smiled again, this time showing a mouth full of sharp teeth. A manic predatory expression was on her face as the girl realized her mission.

She'll find that thing that killed her mother...

....

....

....

....and she'll kill them.

. . . . . . . .

....Six Years Later......

Notalsk never changes. There is still sand and bodies everywhere. There is always war and always bloodshed.

Those thoughts were running through General Obaskis’s head as he watched his captors slit the throat of one of his rookies. The rookie started choking as he fell down, convulsing. His tormentors laughed at that before they started to kick him. Nearby, a tall man with rather clean silver armor sat on top of a barrel, a red feather adorning the top of his helmet. He watched what was going on with a neutral expression on his face. His name is Issac Narton, General of the 4th and 5th army of the Sellsion Empire and now a part of the war against the Nation by working with the rebels who want to overthrow it.

The rebels, despite wanting to overthrow the Nation, still shared their views of the wars fought daily by every other Faction. They viewed it all as pointless. Both wanted the wars to stop and, as such, stopped getting involved in it.

So, with that being the case, what did the Sellsion Empire have to gain from supporting rebels? After all, the Empire Faction love fighting as much as any Faction does. In fact, the separate Factions that make up the Empire Faction constantly fight each other. Getting involved in such a matter as this, especially one they consider stupid and cowardly. The answer is they can not only get one of their biggest rivals off their back, but they can puppet it, controlling the Nation and giving themselves more power in the process.

Needless to say, General Obaskis hated the Empire Factions and the rebels with a burning passion. Not only were the rebels too blind to see that if they overthrow the Nation, it will not only solve none of their problems but they’d be playing right into the enemy's hand! The last thing he and his soldiers were expecting in an area cleared and safe from enemies was said, enemies. The General had many questions, mostly on how they got through. Part of him did know or had an idea.

'We have a traitor in our midst. Most likely more than one too!'

Now normally, even caught off guard, General Obaskis and his soldiers were not to be messed with. However, most of his soldiers were replaced by rookies for a training exercise. And, for extra measure, General Issac Narton brought ogres, giant muscle-head warriors good at following instructions and great at killing. They fought his skilled soldiers while the rest slaughtered the rookies.

To General Obaskis, the very idea that the rebels fight for the safety of the people agreed to work with the Sellsion Empire is just laughable as it is pathetic. That isn't even mentioning the strong possibility that the rebels themselves dress up as soldiers from the Gerneck Nation to slaughtered and razed villages. It didn’t work out once most people realized that the Gerneck Nation would never do it but to the people in the village, they usually react to what they hear and see other than facts or to even try to look into things.

General Issac Narton’s eyes went down to the captured general and for a moment, the two generals' eyes met. With a snort, Issac got up off the barrel and walked over to Obaskis. Once there, he swiftly kicked him down to the ground. After a painful groan, Obaskis got up back to his sitting position, refusing to give Issac any fear.

“You know, for someone as smart and wise as you, you sure are an old fool.”

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Obaskis said nothing as Issac continued on,

“You know that, despite your strong warriors, your Nation stands no chance of winning. Your continued struggle will worsen your situation and make it easier for us to control your pathetic kingdom.” Issac said with a snarl, his hate obvious.

Issac was enjoying this. He was what one would call a brave coward. When things are going well for him, he won’t back down unless the situation gets way out of hand. He’ll do what he wants and be as cocky as he wants because he believes he has the advantage so high that nothing could change it.

He was right in a way. Even if the rebels lost the war, the Nation wouldn’t be able to get revenge on the Sellsion Empire. Not only would they be too damaged to mobilize an efficient army, but declaring a war they would lose would just give the Empire what it wants. The only reason why the Empire hasn’t officially declared war yet is because they knew they had pissed off a couple of their neighbors, and one of them just so happens to have a Warmonger among their ranks.

From Issac’s point of view, with no one coming to help Obaskis and his troops and the backing of the Empire, he was looking pretty good. Unfortunately, Issac is about to learn how unpredictable life can be.

'CRUNCH'

Issac turned to look at what had caused the noise. What he saw baffled him.

There was the biggest and toughest of his ogres, the red skin giant known as Crashin, lying in a puddle of his own blood. The giant reinforced black steel spiked club he uses as his weapon was even cut in two. But, surprisingly enough, that wasn’t the strangest part. The strangest part was the large gaping hole of blood and mush in his chest and the small but polished hilt of a weapon in it...and the small and petite hand that rose up from the bloody mess and grabbed the top of the hilt.

Out from the pile of gore came a small girl with dirty short blonde hair. She wore a dirty grey simple dress that looked to have been pink at one point and looked horribly cheap. She wore no shoes and looked no older than six or five and wore a black leather pouch strapped on her chest and back and by her waist like a belt.

The oddest part, and the most creepiest, was her eyes. Her eyes were a crimson red and glowed, looking completely unnatural, like a predator’s eyes on a human body. And, to add to the image, she was covered from head to toe in blood, some of it stained on her hair and dress. Some of them were old while some looked new, probably from the ogre she just killed.

The girl lifted the weapon out of its resting place with what looked to be some effort, though it couldn’t have been much considering the fact that she lifted it with one hand. The weapon itself was an eye-catching but simply plain old axe for cutting down trees, though it looked like it was fashioned into a war axe at some point. But in the hands of that girl, it looked like a weapon a Reaper itself would be proud of.

The girl looked at Issac and smiled, revealing sharp teeth. It wasn’t a smile of malice or anything, but the smile of a child finding something dear or exciting to them after a long time of absence.

“W-who a-re y-y-you!?” Issac demanded, cursing himself for being afraid of a child.

'There is no way someone like her could have killed Crashin. No. It must have been a fluke or he was hit with a cannonball. Yeah, that has to be it. So get ahold of yourself, Issac!'

“Oh. My name is Ai. You’re Issac, right?” The girl asked, seemingly taken back with the sudden question. Just like her smile, the girl spoke with a tone that held no malice. It was only simple curiosity. It was, with all things considered, how a child of her talks.

“Wh-what if I am!?” Issac asked, composing himself the best he could as he glared defiantly at the girl.

“....”

“....”

'Why the hell is she giving me that blank stare!?' Issac thought angrily, becoming unnerved at the silence and black expression the girl had on. Finally, she scratched her head with her free hand, her fingernails red and black and curved like claws.

“....Are you not General Issac? Um...sorry about your big guy then. I guess I got the wrong tar-“ The girl started, looking apologetic and most definitely disappointed, but Issac cut her off, not knowing if she was making a fool of him or not.

“I AM THE GENERAL, YOU STUPID GIRL!” Issac shouted, his patience all gone.

The girl cocked her head in confusion.

“Ehh? You are? Then why’d ya say you aren’t?”

Meanwhile, General Obaskis chuckled. He knew the mind of a child of a young age. He had a little sister and little brother before, so he knows that, no matter what Issac says, he won’t win against her. She lacks common sense like all young children do.

Perhaps sending that, Issac decided to not argue any further.

“So what do you want, little girl?” Issac asks, his cheeks slightly red from the realization that he was getting worked up over a child.

Issac pulls out his cutlass and points it at her, the sword was a fine blade with bits of jewellery on it with a hilt dusted with gold.

“And think carefully before you answer," Issac added, hoping to scare this girl away. He knew he could never get the pride he lost from arguing with her.

The girl, without hesitation or worry, pointed the head of her axe at Issac, or more at the silver dagger he had stored away on his belt.

“You have and used a Palitherine Dagger, right?” The girl asked, her voice becoming a bit more serious.

Issac heard of that name before. People in the East call the fancy dagger Palitherine while, in the South, which is where he comes from, the dagger is called Pallerd's Dagger. With a bit of a sly and smug smile Issac lowered his cutlass and took out the fancy silver dagger.

“You mean this?” Issac asked, flipping the dagger in the air before catching it.

The girl’s face instantly lit up and her smile widened, making her look extremely cute. A faint blush was even on her face and even he glowing red of her eyes did nothing to hide the sparkles that appeared in them.

“So you do have one! Thank you," The girl exclaimed, jumping up on down despite standing in the middle of a ogre's intestines and ruined ribcage.

Issac frowned. He honestly did not expect a reaction like this. If anything he thought the girl would ask him for it. She still might so Issac decided to speak first, hoping to strike a deal.

“Say, you seem to have some skill. Why don’t you join me? I promise I will treat you well.”

Issac wasn’t joking about this. His mind finally accepted that she killed Crashin all by herself in one blow. Sure she got the drop on her but a child with that skill at this age! Needless to say she is valuable.

'If I can raise and train her properly, I can give the Empire a powerful tool. I may even get a reward!'

“Sorry, I can’t do that," The girl said, breaking Issac's train of thought.

“Hmmm?” Issac got out, in disbelief that a mere child would reject his offer.

The girl closed her eyes and cocked her head slightly to the left, her smile still the same, though now there was something else to it. Something dark.

“I’m here to kill you ya see," The girl admitted before, in a flash, she jumped off the corpse she was on, splattering blood and guts everywhere, and landed a couple of feet in front of Issac, causing the ground to crack when she landed.

“You see, Mother died by that knife, and that means she couldn’t be with me. So I’m killing everyone with that knife so they can feel what mom felt," The girl told Issac, the blush on her face grew and her smile changed, now showing all of her sharp teeth.

“And, you also see, I haven’t had the chance to kill another target in so long that I’ve been playing with almost everyone I see! I’m so happy to get to play and kill you that it will almost beat the taste of that dagger!”

The girl let out a blissful sigh, the blush on her face growing even more.

Issac and everyone that could else took a step back. They all came to one conclusion.

She’s crazy.

Some of the archers following General Issac drew back their bows and fired at her. Yet, instead of the arrows piercing her body, the girl simply swung her axe, causing enough wind to be seen. The arrows clattered onto the ground, knocked back because of the wind. When the last arrow hit the ground the archers realized with a shock that the girl had disappeared.

The archers started panicking and began searching around for her. It didn't take long for them to find her, She was running on all fours at them at a speed that shouldn’t be possible, closing the gap between them in two seconds. With a jump up into the air, and a quick twirl, and swung her axe, chopping one archer's head off and cutting the throat of another one in one swing.

She landed on one foot and jumped again, carrying her momentum, and brought her axe down on the chest of another unfortunate archer before spinning around, dodging a spear that was thrown at her. The last remaining archer in the group pissed his pants at her eyes locking on to him. He just barely managed to grab an arrow and aim before she was upon him. Just in case that happened, the archer had jumped back, getting far out of her reach. However, the girl thrust her axe forward like a sword. The spike at the tip of the axe cut through the hardened bow like it was nothing and continued until the axe head stabbed him in the chest.

The girl let out a tiny giggle at the sight of the archer trying to free himself from her axe before she darted forward, lifting the archer up into the air and above her head, and spun her axe around extremely fast. The result of her strange but fast and fluid move was a rain of blood and dismembered body parts of the now dead archer.

With the last of the archers that fired at her dead, the girl's eyes then locked onto the soldier who had thrown the spear earlier. The person who threw it was a female ninja, not that the girl actually knows what a ninja is. She had been sent on this mission as a bodyguard to General Issac. Skilled, experienced, and a quick-thinker, she was by no means cannon fodder. Yet, even she knew she couldn't kill this girl. Even with all her special training and the missions she went on, she shuddered at the sight of the girl looking at her.

The smile on her face was one of satisfaction and hunger. A yearning for more. It put any battle maniac to shame.

The girl wasted no time sprinting towards her, closing the gap in her weird on-all-fours sprint at an alarming rate. Before she could reach the ninja, twelve soldiers stepped in front of her. They weren’t going to let their sweet victory be defeated by one little girl.

The girl didn't pause in her tracks. Instead, she seemed to have switched targets entirely, her eyes no longer locked onto the ninja but the twelve new targets in front of her. In her mind, twelve was better than one.

She was on the soldiers in seconds. The closest soldier raised their sword, only he never managed to raise it over his shoulders before an axe cut him clean in half. Another soldier attempted to do the same thing but fared no better, the girl stabbing him in the neck with the end of her axe. He fell to the ground, choking on his own blood.

The girl gave the remaining ten soldiers no chance to rest or prepare themselves. With a manic laugh of pure glee, she leapt high in the air, twirling her axe, before spearing another soldier and quickly cutting through another one before they could act. One soldier raised his sword to block an incoming strike only for his sword to break under the impact. He fell down, clutching at the large slash on his chest. Another soldier darted forward, swinging his sword. Seeing it from the corner of her eye, the girl passed the axe to her right hand and flicked it forward. The sword met the axe and bounced off, throwing the soldier off balance. A second later, the soldier fell down, impaling himself on the top of the girl's axe, which happened because the girl had moved underneath the falling soldier, timing where he would fall perfectly. His legs were cut off from a swing so fast none of the soldiers saw it.

The other soldiers backed off. Perhaps the fact that this little girl was much more of a threat than they realize finally reached them. After all, she did cut six of them down in less than forty seconds.

The girl tossed her axe casually in the air before catching it in her right hand with a small giggle, her eyes going to each and every one of them before smiling, letting out another giggle. She leaned forward a little before lifting the axe and resting it on her shoulder. Even as more and more soldiers closed in, the manic and smug smile on her face didn’t change. She felt no fear and her expression showed it. Her expression only showed she wanted more, that she can take more.

An ogre accepted the challenge and stepped behind her and raised his club over his head. Unlike his boss, he was green skinned and wielded a giant mace. He swung down and struck the ground, hard! He looked down, expecting to find a bloody pulp. Instead, he registered that he saw nothing before he suddenly face planted on the ground. He couldn't feel his legs. The next second he felt sharp teeth bite at his neck. He started screaming, his screaming going up in volume once he realized that the girl was eating his neck, but they quickly turned to gurgles as the girl bit her way through his vocal cords. It took ten seconds of eating for her to eat through the bone and decapitate the ogre. Once done, she stood up, wiping her bloody and messy mouth, her red eyes locking onto each remaining soldier. Then, she let out a giggle before sighing, her sigh sounding like she was satiated but not completely. Once again her expression proved that. Her eyes had a hungry look in them and in no time at all they met the eyes of another ogre. She licked her lips and flashed him a toothy smile, showing off her sharpened and bloodied teeth. Seeing this and taking into account how much loyalty he had towards General Issac, the ogre promptly ran. Soon everyone started to followed suit. They didn't care if they still had numbers on her or how skilled they think they are. They weren't anywhere near loyal enough to stay with Issac and face the monster in front of them.

The girl's eyes lit up and she started laughing as she started to chase after the soldiers, attacking any she got close to, either cutting them down or biting off chunks of flesh and leaving them to bleed out. By the end of it, two more ogres and at least twenty soldiers more lay dead. The last causality was the personal assistant of Issac, who was currently clutching his gut, staring at his intestines. In the girl's hand was a dagger curved like half a moon. She used it to gut her last victim for no real reason.

Issac was all alone by the time the girl walked over to him. He was trembling and crawling backwards away from her. Seeing this, the girl seemed disappointed. With a slight pout she put away her dagger and pointed the head of her axe at him.

"It's less fun if my targets don't fight back. You must have some skill, right?"

The girl cocked her head and begged him with puppy eyes. Issac just stared at her before whispering, "Monster," then proceeded to fall unconscious. The girl blinked in surprise and took a step forward, planning to poke him with the spike at the top of her axe's head. In a flash, Issac lunged forward, his blade speeding towards her neck.

'Cowardly as this may be,' Issac thought triumphantly, 'they fall for it every ti-'

Issac never finished his line of thought. The hand that held his cutlass was chopped off and the girl's axe was buried deep into his right leg, crushing the entirety of the bones in his right leg.

He spat out blood and crumpled down on the ground, clutching his stump with his left hand. The girl took her axe out of his leg, ignoring his cry of pain, and swung the axe at the ground, leaving it standing with the top of the shaft, known as the hilt, facing up.

"Aw, what a shame. If you were just faster...and a little more skilful and less obvious, you may have gotten me!" The girl said with a slightly disappointed sigh, "Then again, the likelihood was that even then, it would probably be a scratch. Oh well. In your next life, you should try harder."

With nothing in her way the girl reached into Issac's pockets and pulled out the dagger she was looking for. With a winning kid-like smile, she quickly licked the dagger before putting it away in the black pouch. With the dagger secured, she lowered herself until she was right next to Issac's head. She grabbed it and stepped on his chest and started pulling. With a wet tearing sound she quickly ripped his head off, her claws deep into his flesh. She studied the head with a satisfied smile and proceeded to take a huge bite out of it, her jaw going through the metal of his helmet and his skull with what seemed to be little issue. After she swallowed, she dropped Issac's ruined head onto the ground and picked up her axe.

It was at this moment that she noticed General Obaskis and his captured soldiers.

"...How long have you been here?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the left.

"Since the beginning," Obaskis replied, his eyes full of caution and his forehead sweaty.

"Oh. Okay then," The girl said before spinning sharply around to walk away. Then, she abruptly stopped and spun sharply back around, pointing the head of her axe at the captured soldiers.

"Say, do any of you own a P-" The girl began but was cut off.

"We don't. Only the Empire does," General Obaskis interrupted, sensing the danger.

"...."

"...."

"....Okay!"

With that, the girl spun around once again to walk off.

"Hey, Kid! How would you like a job?"

Hearing General Obaskis's words, the girl stopped once again and turned around, only this time with a pouty expression on her face.

"I am not called Kid! My name is Ai. And no, I already have a mission."

"But with our help, you'd be able to find your targets much faster. Not only that but you'll be able to have some more variety in food, clothes, and some help backing you up," Obaskis offered, his words quick yet slow enough to not sound rushed.

Ai stayed silent, considering the offer.

"....Sorry but-"

"And you'll get to fight more frequently so your boredom will be curbed. In fact, I would dare to say that you will even like this job."

"...."

"...."

"...I'm in. So what is this job?" Ai asked, a slight lisp in her words.

"Can you free me and my men first?"

With a sigh, Ai walked over, dragging her axe on the ground. When she reached Obaskis, she cut him free.

"Join me in our fight. That is my offer. Trust me when I say you'll like it," Obaskis told Ai, getting right to the point in case she changes her mind.

Ai searched Obaskis's eyes, trying to figure him out. Obaskis had already figured out this girl quite some time ago. He knew a battle maniac when he sees one.

"This won't interfere with my mission?"

"It won't. Even if one of our own killed your mother, I will personally help them get what they deserve."

Ai was silent for a moment before smiling a big toothy predator smile. The other soldiers couldn't help but shudder. Even Obaskis sweated a little. Yet, undisturbed by this, Ai reached down and offered her hand.

"Deal!"Ai shouted, her predator smile changing to a beaming one full of excitement.

Obaskis smiled and grabbed her hand. He could tell it was small and soft even through his armor, yet he could feel the power residing in it.

"Then welcome to the war."