Chapter 47: Prince and the day of reckoning (3)

Fearless sat on the bank of the reservoir, Erinys beside him, resting her head on his laps. Fearless stared at the rolling ripples on the lake, playing “A crown of iron” with a heart-shaped leaf pressed against his lips. The blades of grass at his feet colored in the vibrant red of autumn, an unusual sight on earth for sure, but this was Escana. The grass growing on the bank had so much red in them that it almost intolerable for Fearless, as if reflecting his inner rage monster.

Fearless knew that he needed to be calm, more so now than ever, more so than any game in the Final of a ROC World Cup that he has ever played.

It’s almost an hour since he inspected that accursed village. Yet, still, Fearless has yet managed to calm himself down. Fearless focused on the song, finding his tranquility within the ominous chords and the draining notes. “A crown of iron” was the theme song of the Empire back in the game. Its chords were arranged ominously, full of suspensions, as if preluding the chaos and bloodshed for those who stood against the war machine of the Empire. Fearless found it was such an irony that he was playing this song to find his peace.

Fearless thought that he was being stupid. If he wanted to find peace, “A crown of iron” was a terrible choice. However, sometimes, a man had no control over his action, music made that choice for him.

His thought kept returning to that accursed ground.

Before Fearless called Ironback to accompany him to that village, he has already sensed its strangeness.

That entire village was locked down by hundreds of Bloodbeard’s worms, armed by bows and arrows, crossbows and bolts. There were guard towers erected around the village enclosure, each stationed by a fully armed squad. These worms guarded this village with a clear sense of purpose and duty, completely different from the rest of the lazy worms of Bloodbeard. It was as if they were guarding a national treasury.

That’s why it was baffling to Fearless that Ironback, a commander of a thousand man of Bloodbeard had no idea what the purpose of that village was. It was stupidly baffling.

The moment Fearless went inside that village, the captives gathered at the entrance and watched him with hollow eyes. Fearless was surprised to find that none of the captives was bounded by shackles or collars or chains. They were obviously given an incredible amount of freedom by Bloodbeard’s worms, to the point that they were allowed to possess primitive wooden weapons.

A bunch of questions propped up within Fearless’ head when he looked into those hollow eyes. Some, he could immediately answer. Some only create more unanswered questions within his head.

However, the more he thought, the stranger the case became. He felt a strange cloud of rage ballooned within his belly but he had no idea where that rage came from.

Fearless’ eyes flickered around the gathered captives, counting over four hundred. He counted fast. However, the number was much lesser than the original number that he has expected. Fearless has expected that there would be at least one thousand captives, one-third of the total population from the number of houses that he has previously counted.

By questioning the guards and Ironback, Fearless quickly discovered that Bloodbeard has sold most of his captives to traveling slavers. He did not quite believe in his ears. Thousands of people were sold to traveling slavers. How? He could not imagine that scene.

Ironback also told Fearless of the number of women who were distributed evenly among Bloodbeard’s ranks as pleasure workers and toys.

Fearless listened to the worm while hiding his disgust and fury. He has yet seen those women, perhaps, he has not paid enough attention, Fearless told himself.

The guards told Fearless that half of the captives inside this village had mostly died from wounds, sickness or hunger, or killed.

Among the captives locked up inside that village, most of them were grown men. There was no elderly people or children as if Bloodbeard has these all executed to avoid wasting provisions on them.

At first, Fearless was confused by why these villagers were being kept like that. He could not understand. He found no reason for Bloodbeard to keep these villagers like this. If Bloodbeard wanted to use them as servants and slaves for his horde, they would not be kept isolated in this village. They would be chained, collared and whipped into servitude. If Bloodbeard wanted profits, he would have sold these people to slavers just like the thousands of people before them.

Why did he keep these four hundred?

Fearless gazed into the hollow eyes.

What is Bloodbeard’s intention?

What does he want from them?

Fearless repeatedly asked himself those questions while observing the captives. There was something strange about them. It was as if he understood the case and yet not at the same time. It felt strange and eerie.

When Fearless asked the worms guarding the village regarding the number of provisions given to these captives, they told him the number readily. Just by a quick estimation, Fearless could see that amount was far from enough to support this group of four hundred. He pressed on, “How long it has been like this? Has this amount change, increase or decrease, since the beginning?”

“No,” the worms replied, shaking their head.

From their reply, Fearless deducted that Bloodbeard did not intend to sustain this group of captives.

Then why did he keep these four hundred?

Grudge? Setting example?

No

Fearless could not find the logic within Bloodbeard’s action.

Why?

By Fearless’ standard, Bloodbeard was a fool. However, Bloodbeard was far from being a complete moron. A complete moron would be a perfect description for the new leader of Ekar’s unit and One-eye, but not Bloodbeard.

Why?

Fearless observed the captives for clues. He thought he was onto something from looking at those hollow eyes, something intangible and invisible. However, he could find none in reality.

He cursed, wishing that his observation skill were at the level of his sister. Thùy Dương’s nearly photographic memory and incredible observation skill could probably pick up some hints just by observing these captives. Her observation skill was so great that she could instantly spot a liar with her eyes. When she and Fearless were together, they became a perfect lie detector.

Since Bloodbeard kept these people, it’s only logical to conclude that he must have wanted something out of them. Therefore, if Fearless had to look for hints, these people would be his source.

However, Fearless could not see anything. These captives all had that hollow expression on their faces, devoid of hope and will for future. They all had that same haggard look with swollen cheekbones and skinny frames. They had bruised and wounds.

What is the purpose?

Fearless could not see how keeping these people in this environment would benefit Bloodbeard in any way. Thus, he decided to interact with the captives. He approached a captive, leaving Erinys at the entrance. Ironback followed Fearless from behind, sword gleaming. The guards nocked their arrows and drew their bows.

“Do you know why you are being kept like this?” Fearless asked the man a brutal question.

It was a brutal question because it was asked with an emotionless voice. It was a brutal question because it lacked a sense of decency and sympathy. Fearless was even surprised by his coldness. Of course, if he approached a person with that kind of brutality, his answer would not aid Fearless’ work progress. Fearless did not expect otherwise. That was the basis of a conversation.

Of course, Fearless understood that better than most people. If he wanted to coax this man to give him answers, even if this man had the answer to Fearless’ questions, this man would not give Fearless the answers unless Fearless became even more brutal.

There were a thousand methods for Fearless to approach people and to coax them, but that brutal question should never be one of the methods.

Fearless thought that there must be something wrong with him. He decided that he would approach a different man.

“Do you know why you are being kept like this?”

This time as well, Fearless repeated that question with an unchanging brutality in his voice. There was no sympathy or warmth in his own voice. Fearless thought that he must have been affected by this strange atmosphere. He reset his emotions and approached a different man, “Do you know why you are being kept like this?”

That fuckup question kept repeating itself within Fearless’ mouth, again and again, and again and again. Fearless had no idea why he kept asking that question. He told himself that if he asked this question like this, it would be better that he asked Bloodbeard in person.

It was weird and uncharacteristic of Fearless to be this brutal to people, he could clearly sense that. And yet, Fearless could not stop himself from repeating that question to every man he approached.

Some men gave Fearless something for his brutal question. That something was quite a strange substance. Fearless has yet to decide what that substance was. Then, Fearless approached the women.

Most of the female captives who gathered at the entrance stood in a large group of the thirties. They were armed with sharpened stakes and pikes. They showed a reaction to Fearless’ approach, a reaction that unmistakably born from terror and distrust.

Thus, Fearless told Ironback to stay back and the rest of the worms on the guard towers to lower their weapons.

Fearless slowly approached the women. “Don’t be afraid. I will never hurt you.” He spoke to them warmly, approaching them until the swaying point of their pikes and stakes were centimeters away from poking his body.

Ironback decided to intervene but Fearless has already predicted that, raising a hand to stop the worm from interfering.

Yeah, this is me…

For the first time since he arrived at this village, Fearless felt like he was himself.

“My name is Fearless. I know that it may look this way but I’m not with these brutes. I’m here to help you,” he whispered to the group in a volume that only a few of them who stood at the front most could hear.

They looked confused, unsure and afraid. In their confusion, they instinctively turned to look at one woman, helping Fearless to identify their leader.

Their leader was anything but pretty. Hideous she was, like a monster in those horror zombie flicks, deformed by a sick horrendous burn. Her scalp was all but eaten by cracks of charred scabs, oozing heinous yellow goo. Her face was grimly hidden underneath layers of bandages, hiding facial muscles and brown scabs, beyond nauseating, compelling even the toughest-minded men to avert their gaze. Her lips inflamed, wretched, a choke full of burst water bubbles.

However, without a doubt, she was this group’s leader. Her eyes, sunken but far from hollow, glaringly shone in a defiant blue, penetrating, full of distrust and hatred. Her eyes contained an indomitable will, authentic and proven unlike that fabrication of a gaze that Fearless taught Erinys. With these eyes alone, she could strike fear into a man’s heart, reminded Fearless of a person, a sun that shone at midnight.

Fearless found his heart tightened. An old friend of his was there, inside his chest, squeezing the beats out of his heart. His breath ran thin and quiet. However, not once has Fearless averted his gaze from those glaring blue orbs. The longer he gazed at them, the more painful it got, a much-welcomed pain, a morbid addiction of his.

“I hate my lack the strength to fight these brutes.” Fearless gritted his teeth, “I hate my inability to not provide you protection at this moment. I hate myself for not having the ability to save you all right here right now. However, I promise you that this situation will change. Please give me some time.” Fearless whispered. He gazed into those blue orbs and the other thirty pairs.

His voice, emotional, quivered by a perfectly contained yet unadulterated anger. A trained performer he was, not this time, there was no need for that performer to appear. His eyes reflected their doubts, terror, the brutalities they suffered, darkened and hollow as if he was one of their own. His eyes reflected a pitch-black sky, hollow of hope, harboring a fear of deceits and traps.

However, word alone was far from enough to win the trust of those forbidding blue orbs.

A small star appeared on that pitch-black sky, a faint glimmer, weak and doubtful. She was probably the youngest of the clique, and the most innocent, hiding beside her leader and a myriad of swaying pikes. Hot dew swelled within her innocent windows.

Fearless reached out his hand to clean it. Sharpened points stabbed his reaching out hand like thorns, drawing red.

Before Ironback and the worms did something stupid, Fearless stop them cold with a pointing finger and a sharp glare. His will was perfectly contained within his fierce glare, no word was spoken.

The worms froze on the spot like a statue.

Fearless has expected that result. He meant for this result to happen.

This is more like me…

“It’s alright. I will never hurt you. I will not let them hurt you as long as I am here. I promise,” Fearless whispered kindly, paying no attention to the red dripping arc on his wrist.

Those blue orbs blinked once and the forest of sharpened stakes parted slowly, afraid still but lack in distrust.

The hand that picked roses must know the point of sharp thorns. A small graze and a few drops of blood were a cheap price for the trust of these scarred and tormented souls.

Fearless did not wait to ask the leader for permission. He slowly brushed that innocent dew with his thumb. “It’s terrifying, I know. But please, you have already lived thus far. Don’t waste it. Please hold on for a little bit longer. Give me two days. I promise that I would save you all.” He spoke earnestly, warmly looking into the misty eyes of that scarred soul.

“I will make it right. I promise. Please hold on for just a little bit longer.” Only these words, Fearless said them with strength and resolution despite the volume of his quiet whisper, his eyes were looking into the feral blue orbs of the leader of the clique, his hand holding hers.

That young girl sniffled, followed by another and then another. The leader of the clique only looked into Fearless’ eyes, her eyes full of distrust still, her cracked lips quivered with unspoken words as she squeezed Fearless’ palm.

Fearless lightly nodded his head, “I won’t promise that I can bring justice to you. But I promise that these scoundrels will pay for this.” He told her and she quietly choked the life out of his fingers.

After that, the women readily spilled everything Fearless needed to know regarding their situation.

Ice was the name of the leader of these women, a fitting name. She told Fearless everything. Everything... from how Bloodbeard and his worms overran her village within the dark of the night, killing and sacking and raping. How she protected herself by pouring the boiling animal fat on her lamp over her body. How she lived and led this group of hers within the enclosure of this accursed ground.

Ice told Fearless everything he asked with a lucid voice, emotionless, cold and unapologetic.

“Two more days, I beg you. Please, hold on for just a little bit longer,” Fearless whispered to the group his parting words. His eyes steamed white just like theirs. He held their hands, all of them to convey his sincerity before he left. He stole a quick kiss on Ice's cracked and burned lips, much to her surprise, “Thank you for surviving and telling me this story. You have done a great job of protecting your friends. You have done something that even a man like me probably could never do. Please continue to do so. Two more days and this hell will end. You have my promise.”

As soon as Fearless stepped outside of that village enclosure, he gathered Ironback and the leader of the guards Moss, questioning if they understood the meaning of the village and if they understood the meaning of his actions.

Neither of them could give Fearless an answer. Thus, he asked if they were blinded.

“You have seen what I was doing with those men and those women. And still, you have no answer?”

The two of them deliriously shook their head.

“Ironback, you a leader of a 1000 man unit aside, Moss, you are a leader of a 500-man unit. Don’t you want to be more than that? Are you really satisfied with just being a leader of a 500-man unit forever? Is this the end of your ambition? Also, the new leader of Ekar’s unit is a great fool. He cannot do shit. Soon, I will dismiss him and reassign that unit.”

The two moronic worms in front of Fearless turned at each other, looking confused and unsure, then turned to stare at Fearless.

“Moss, don’t you want to lead a 1000-man unit?”

“Yes…”

“Then do me a favor, be smarter, be more attentive, be more responsible starting from this moment. You guarded these people for almost two months and still, you do not know why you must keep them alive like this. How is it even possible?”

“I’m sorry for my stupidity, Master Advisor.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that you are sorry. I only ask you to be smarter and more attentive from now. If you have received an order, ask yourself why were you given such order. If you cannot do that, ask your leader.”

“Yes, Master Advisor.”

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“Good, I find the way you set up your guard around this village acceptable. Keep up the good work. Fatten these captives up for the next two days. Give them more food and water and tell them to keep it a secret from Ashtorá.”

“Yes, Master Advisor,” Moss repeated the same reply. On his face, it was an expression of doubt and confusion.

“Don’t you dare YES, Master Advisor when you don’t even understand why I give you that order.” Fearless pretended to snap, gnashing his teeth.

Moss wordlessly curled his body by instinct.

“Show them kindness. Win their hearts. You will be their leader soon. Those four hundred will be added to your unit soon, along Ekar’s men. They will be your men and women soon. Understood?”

“Yes, Master Advisor.”

Obviously, the fool did not understand anything. But Fearless had no need to go deep into that.

“Ironback, right now you are a leader of a 1000 man unit. Right now, I am lacking a personal unit and a right-hand man to execute my will on the field. Do you think that you are up to it?”

“Master, I would not fail you.”

“Prove it with your action. From now on, when you receive an order, either from me or Ashtorá, always ask the question why. You must learn what’s going on around this army at any time. You must be even more attentive and smarter than Moss here.”

In the end, Fearless never explained to Moss and Ironback the meaning of his action. The two fools were too dull to see through that. Their eagerness for promotion clouded their sight even further. If FY were there, he would probably be proud of Fearless.

The art of speaking many words to say nothing at all and the art of making empty promises were something FY initially taught him to deal with the media and fans.

Fearless told the two worms to gather at the rampart at dusk and left with Erinys at his side.

Fucking Ekar, that fucking disgusting worm. Should not give him such a quick dead…

Ashtorá, don’t expect any mercy from me this time. There is no excuse for you this time.

The moment Fearless has confirmed the purpose of that village, he knew exactly where to point his finger at. He knew the perpetrator of that insanity and the one who decided to adopt such insanity.

That village was created to breed more worms for the horde of Bloodbeard, a place to turn good men into worms. It was a place created to drive people to think like worms, to act like worms and to live like worms, an absolutely disgusting place.

Fucking hell, in the game, it was just a stupid mechanic…

The amount of provision provided every day, the number of women and men, and the falsehood of freedom, those conditions were ideal to transform these people into worms. In the game, Bloodbeard’s army increased proportionally to the number of their successful raids and skirmishes. He converted his captives into his bandits.

Ekar, even in death, you are a major fucking pain. Fucking worms.

Never before has Fearless cursed his lack of interest in Ekar’s character like this.

That place taught its captives to deal with their own hunger and scarce provisions by stealing and robbing, preying on weaker targets. That place taught its captives to yield to their desires and freely acted on their desires, raping, robbing, killing, whatever they wanted.

Is this the real reason why Bloodbeard’s army kept multiplying with every successful raid and battle?

Fuck, it’s just a fucking mechanic.

Fuck you Ekar. Fuck you Bloodbeard. Fuck this world. Fuck you all.

Fearless focused on playing his song. However, he kept relapsing. He stared at the ripples on the lake and concentrated to count the number of ripples. He desperately kept his fury under the control. He did not bother to heal that wound on his left wrist.

Even though he has told Erinys to rest, she could not, probably sensing his anger.

You don’t know pain. Is this why you do this kind shit?

To understand pain? Is that even a reason? Is that your excuse?

Fearless took his fury to his song. He felt a strong itch to talk, to voice out his fury and ire, otherwise he might go insane at any rate.

Fuck you. Born as human and choose to live as a worm. What the fuck? You have a fucking brain inside your skull. Why are you using it for this kind of shit?

Because you feel no pain? Is that what it is?

Or do you believe that by turning all the people in this world into worms like you are, you will stop being a worm?

Fearless was a balloon full of hot air. Fearless felt like if he didn’t blow out his hot air, he would explode. He wished that he had a convenient power to wipe all of these worms of Bloodbeard and Bloodbeard himself in an instance, something like an ability to drop a nuke on these worms or something simpler like a Death Note.

If only Kira was an actual god, Fearless would definitely join his religion and even speak of his gospel.

At one point, “A crown of iron” became The Cranberries’ “Zombie.” Fearless just drown himself within its chords.

But then, he never got the chance to complete the song. The lack of drums, bass, and electric guitar did not prevent Fearless from playing the song, but a tear in the leaf did. Fearless was seethed with fury, crunched the torn leaf within his palm. He thought that he might go mad at any rate. Perhaps, he has gone mad. Otherwise, he should have stormed Bloodbeard’s room and stick Enfermé right through the worm’ ribcage by now.

“After that, I don’t know… nuke these worms to kingdom come or something…. Arggggg”

Fearless had no idea how long it took him to reset his emotion. If that were a game of ROC, he would have rage-quit by now. He tried to think about something else, his next priority.

The Hound of Hyrios

Fearless did not find the Hound of Hyrios among Bloodbeard’s captives. He searched but he could not find that person. Fearless asked the whereabouts of that one-arm man but it seemed that the women have even seen that man.

However, Fearless did not expect that his search for that person would be so easy. That person was a secret character in Hyrios’ single mode campaign and did not appear in the other campaigns.

Fearless imagined that person would be locked inside a dungeon or a jail, not that worm-breeding-place. It made more sense to Fearless when he imagined that. Bloodbeard would not allow such a dangerous person roamed around with that kind of false freedom.

The affiliations of the Hound of Hyrios were linked to two warlords, Hyrios and the Teddy Bear. Thus, Fearless tried to dig up the memory he had regarding those two specific campaigns.

In the Teddy Bear’s campaign, if players decided to take liberty at the canon history, the Teddy Bear would snap out of his grief and become extremely reckless due to the assassination of his protector and strategist.

Despite the lack of military experience and many other weaknesses, that Teddy Bear could surprise the heck out of everyone, especially in one of his Bad endings. He was a rare character, loved by many fans for his Bad endings rather than his Canon ending and Good ending.

Usually, the other playable warlords had one or two Bad Endings, one Canon Ending, and one Good Ending. That’s the norm. The Teddy Bear, however, had seven Bad Endings in total, the most out of all the playable warlords. It was as if people just loved to see him suffer. He was a character that was doomed from the start, destined to fail, fated to suffer.

The Teddy Bear was not a Might type general like Bloodbeard or Iliva, which meant he possessed a terrible HP, armor rating and damage rating. He cannot use spells either. His skills did not support combat situations. The number of his negative perks were equal to his positive perks. His other attributes were also terrible for a warlord with the exception of his average Leadership.

Thus, players and fans gave him the nickname “Teddy Bear” due to how soft and weak he was. The only type of Bear that cannot fight is a Teddy Bear, hence the nickname.

The Teddy Bear’s character was designed with a common setting among the many warlords in ROC, meant to be protected by his fortifications and supported by his followers rather than riding warhorse into the battlefield like Hyrios or Bloodbeard.

The Teddy Bear was a warlord designed for a defensive oriented play style. The correct way to play the Teddy Bear’s faction is by using his massive wealth to support ally forces. He can send his gold and provisions to his allies. He could help them to develop technology or build fortifications. He was more suited to play as a Supporter or a Defender role in the Multiplayer mode.

Yet, in his campaign, the Teddy Bear mostly acted like a Raider-type general similar to Bloodbeard and Hyrios, and sometimes even Ender 02. However, that was not his role. His attributes did not support that kind of play style.

It was as if he had a death wish, the Teddy Bear would lead his force and charge headlong into his enemy’s lines without a proper military tactic to back him up. He advanced without logic or rationale to support his actions. He fought with reckless abandon. Of course, with that kind of recklessness, it was unsurprising that he deservedly had those seven Bad Endings. Thus, his single mode campaign was one of the hardest campaigns for new players who were still learning about the game.

In his campaign, no matter how early players crushed Bloodbeard’s faction with the Teddy Bear’s faction, the Hound of Hyrios never appeared. It was such a strange thing. The Hound of Hyrios only appeared during Hyrios’ campaign. Thus, he was remembered as the Hound of Hyrios and not “The Hound.”

Fearless has never questioned why this character only appeared in Hyrios’ campaign and not the others. The game treated the Hound of Hyrios as a secret character and thus Fearless had taken that information as such. He has never questioned, nobody did.

Why?

Since Fearless has never asked himself that question before, he asked it now.

Did the Hound avoid meeting the Teddy Bear?

By the time Fearless asked this question, the sun was red like a yolk, descending on the eastern sky.

Fearless did not forget that he had a speech to deliver to the worms of Bloodbeard. He turned to look at the rampart, a wooden podium has been completed.

It’s about the damn time.

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All of Bloodbeard’s worms had already returned from their missions, standing in separated big squares in front of the rampart, their leaders in line in front of them, either had a look of expectant on their faces or a look of terror and dread when they saw Fearless.

Fearless saw Bloodbeard standing among the lines, talking, probably questioning the leaders of his troops regarding of the assignment Fearless has given them.

When Bloodbeard’s eyes met Fearless, Fearless quietly flexed his thumb over the rampart, signaling the bandit lord to get up there. Bloodbeard did, quite reluctantly parting with his worms. However, Fearless can see through that reluctance that Bloodbeard displayed was only a guise, after only knowing the bandit lord for just two days.

Fearless approached the worms, chasing after their report despite already knowing the result from reading their expression alone. He complimented those who have completed their assignments. Those who didn’t, Fearless only said that they will have another chance to redeem their failure.

Slowly, Fearless walked toward Ekar’s unit. He has made them stood on the same spot through the length of the entire day, from morning to dusk, without giving them any order. And from the look of it, they did, standing on this same spot, without eating or drinking, most of them.

When Fearless looked at that sight, he understood that their loyalty was shaped by Ekar’s fear tactics. Fearless has only reaped the harvest that born from the seeds that Ekar sowed.

In a way, Fearless owed them an explanation for making such an order.

“Do any of you know why I make you stand in this place for this entire day?” Fearless asked. A brilliant smile on his lips shone almost as brilliant as the red setting sun.

The new leader of Ekar’s unit whose name Fearless has yet to learn shook his head. His lips white drained of blood. His face colored by the marvelous combination of fatigue and terror, only to match by the glistening effect from the amount of sweats oozing out from his forehead.

“Anyone? It does not have to be your new leader. Come on, someone give me an answer.” Fearless swept his eyes through the rank of Ekar’s units. Wherever his eyes swept, the worms gazed at the ground, avoided meeting his gaze. If they had dared to meet his gaze, they would not stand in this square from morning to dusk.

Fearless sighed disappointedly and turned his back against them.

“Well then, I will give you an entire night to think of the answer. Otherwise, the same thing will repeat tomorrow. You, all of you will stand here from dawn to dusk to think of that answer,” said Fearless as he climbed the rampart. He has finished giving them his reason for making them stood through the day.

Suddenly, Fearless turned around, smiling like a sunflower, “Otherwise, run, all of you. Tonight, it’s your chance to escape, your only chance to escape me. Use a horse or whatever may suit you. I am a patient man. I can wait. I promise that I would wait until the first light of dawn to shine on this land. Only then, I would take my time to chase after you. Until then, surely, you must be able to cross a considerable amount of distance. How do you like that suggestion?” Fearless beamed his sunflower smile on all of Ekar’s worms. Only his eyes were not smiling.

He prevented the worms from deserting with all but a single smile and a bluff.

“Leaders of Ekar’s unit, all of you, at morrow dawn, you must be able to report to me of the people in your unit who decided to leave us tonight. If you miss a name, just a name… well, what should I do to you?” Fearless scratched his stubby chin, pondering, “Hmmmm,” dragging the suspension, making the worms even more nervous.

“Ah, I know.” He excitedly clapped his hands together with a childlike innocence. “The area around your previous leader resting place is a little lacking in decoration, don’t you think?” Fearless asked coldly whilst that warm and beautiful sunflower smile still pasted on his lips. His voice and expression could not be more mismatched. “I believe that it needs some decorations. Tonight, I will plant more pikes on that ground. Though, I have to admit that I am a little dull. I have no idea what to decorate on those pikes. Leaders, maybe you can provide some helps. Hmmmm?”

With that, Fearless has made sure that no fool among Ekar’s unit would be allowed to escape alive through this night. He has given them a chance to escape yesterday night, but they didn’t. He climbed the rampart, this time for real.

He scaled the stairs slowly, escorting Erinys with him.

Bloodbeard has already been waiting for Fearless atop the rampart. “Uncle, you are scaring them.” Bloodbeard spoke to Fearless. He was smart enough to realize what Fearless was doing with his army just by talking to them. He understood that Fearless was merely scaring his army to teach them that Fearless was the one in charge of it now, aside from instilling a sense of purpose.

Bloodbeard was keen. The bandit lord could obviously start to see a connection between his own assignment and his men’s assignments. He obviously believed that other than instilling fear and discipline into the troops, Fearless was preparing for the battle with Hyrios. However, Bloodbeard kept his mouth zipped, probably because he has yet seen the complete picture that Fearless was painting.

Bloodbeard was guessing, only guessing at the moment. That explained why he did not complaint about the second hint that Fearless gave him.

Bloodbeard was keen to see all of that, but unfortunately not keen enough to see through another layer of Fearless’ plan.

“You don’t need your soldiers to love you to make them fight for you. You only need to make them fear you to make them obedient. Isn’t that what you have been doing?” Fearless replied with his usual arrogance.

“But not to this degree,” Bloodbeard sighed a bit.

“I have a perfect reason to instill this amount of fear on these fools. Or are you afraid of watching your men suffered this kind of hardship?” Fearless mocked. His lips curved arrogantly.

“… No, uncle. You can do as you wish with them.” Bloodbeard sighed again.

“That was stated in the clauses, right?” Fearless did not hold back on his arrogance.

“Yes,” Bloodbeard admittedly replied with a little pause.

“Good job on holding it back.” He said quietly.

One sentence that meant for both Erinys and Bloodbeard, however the two of them would understand that sentence differently.

Erinys did not react to his word, staring blankly at the setting sun as she was previously commanded. Bloodbeard, on the other hand, reacted, twisting his neck. The bandit lord stared at Fearless.

“You were upsetting me on purpose? All this time?”

“I’m training you. If you cannot control your temperament, your enemies would take advantage of that sooner or later.” Fearless scoffed.

“I thought that it’s just your character…”

“It is my character, fool. And quit that stupid grin of yours. That’s disgusting. Real man doesn’t grin like that.” Fearless twisted his face to show Bloodbeard his open disgust.

“…well, this is the first time you praise me for something,” Bloodbeard replied, blushing as if he was a maiden in love. He was not completely desensitized to Fearless’ arrogance, he was making an effort to cope with Fearless.

It was such a big wonder that a small compliment, one that recognized Bloodbeard’s effort in coping with Fearless’ overbearing attitude, would do to the bandit lord. If this were a dating game, Bloodbeard’s affection parameter would have exploded beyond the maximum value at the moment.

Fearless has done nothing but smashed Bloodbeard’s pride with every chance he had for a moment like this. Winning a person’s affection was just this easy, even if that person was Bloodbeard.

Fearless aligned the podium, leaving Erinys to stand alone, holding to her coin. For whatever reason, Bloodbeard decided that it’s cool to climb the podium with Fearless.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Fearless furrowed his brows and asked.

“…I thought that you told me to come here to relay your speech…”

“The fuck? I have told you that this is a fucking lesson. I’m still teaching you, right now, and I don’t require your help.”

“…but…” Bloodbeard had a doubtful look on his face as if he questioned Fearless’ ability to address 6000 worms with his voice alone, without the help of .

“Get down. Stand on my left, watch and learn,” Fearless snapped. In his entire life, nobody has ever questioned the title “Loudspeaker” which he gained since his primary school years.

Fearless took a deep breath. “Maggots, can you hear my voice?” he thundered with the volume of a dragon’s roar.

Erinys had to close her ears by reflex. Bloodbeard wore a stupid “Oh, I see” look on his face when Fearless darted him a provoking gaze.

“Can’t you?”

Bloodbeard’s worms replied confusedly and disconnectedly. Fearless took that as his cue to continue.

“Just in case you have not known who I am by now, I will introduce myself. I am Fearless, Prince of The Alliance, greatest champion to the Reign of Chaos.”

Fearless deliberately kept his name and the name of The Alliance untranslated. Technically, he wasn’t lying… yet.

“Maggots, do you know why I call you that? Maggots, all of you, nothing but a bunch of maggots. That’s all you were in the past and are at the moment, and that’s all you will ever be in the future, maggots.”

Can’t you see that you are cursed, maggots? The lot of you? Have you ever asked why you are the way you are, maggots? Have you ever look at the night sky and searched for your star?

If you have not, I have already done that for all of you. I have spent an entire yesterday night to search for your stars. I have spent a night to ask the gods.

You are cursed. I tell you. You are cursed, all of you, from the moment you are conceived within your mother’s womb.”

GOD, this is fucking therapeutic. If I don’t get this shit out today, I might as well go insane tomorrow.

Fearless took another deep breath and thundered again.

“The gods and their disciples cannot tolerate your presence. They forbade your existence in their sacred sanctuary. Nature loathes you. Fire does not bless you. Strength will not aid you. True will not find you.

You are cursed from the very moment you were born. The first flame made a grave mistake when you were merely a fetus in your mother’ womb, it forgot to give you its blessing. You are human like everyone else, but only from the outside, only your look. Deep inside, you know that you are not. You are beast, no worse than that, maggots, the lot of you. You are unneeded. You are cursed.

Look at the night sky, search for your star, and tell me that I am wrong. Deny me! Maggots, tell me that I am wrong.

Search for your star! No, before that, have you even looked at yourself first? You defile the sacred ground of Escana with every step you take, smearing everything you touch with that putrid smell of sludge, feces, blood and mud that emanate from your body. The fields, that you have set your feet on would die and wither, its soil would harden, frosted and barren. The lives that were touched by your hands would be destroyed.

You cannot create or grow anything with your accursed hands. You can only live by stealing and robbing things that are not yours. And for what? Just to live another day so that you would repeat the same things tomorrow and even the days after tomorrow?

That’s pathetic and miserable. That’s pitiful.

Yet, that’s your star. That’s your fate.

That is who you are and what you will be to the day you die.

Let that thought sink in to your head, maggots!”

Humankind’s History has showed that it’s always easier to blame something or someone rather than addressing the obvious elephant in the room, on Earth and on Escana. It is always easier to antagonize someone else or something else for your suffer rather than pointing out your mistake. It’s easier to blame the star you were born under, your fate and your destiny than blaming your action.

The Great Temple and the Imperial Family of White Winter got away with facing the result of their mismanagement and crimes by blaming everything on the witches. They got away with that in the canon history of Escana, unsurprisingly since the game developers took their inspirations from similar events from Earth’s history.

“You all are maggots, but that is perfect. You are cursed by that star that you are born into. And that’s great.

Craxus was born like that.

Don’t believe in the story that you were told by people who knew nothing. Don’t believe in the story told from the mouth of people who cannot see stars.

Look at the night sky, the star of Craxus shines even this day still. It tells us his story.

I tell you Craxus was born cursed just like you all. Sinintee did not give him his blessing from the moment he was born. Wonten did not give him his gifts either.

He was no king from the day he was born. He was no son of a noble or son of a rich man. He was born a lowly peasant. And he was cursed from the very moment he was conceived just like you lot.

Nobody has told you that. But it is true.

Craxus was meant to die, doomed by his fate, eaten by Karijard.

Yet, he wasn’t. He became the greatest hero this land has ever had, his name, a legend. No child grow up in this land and know not of his name.

Craxus, the great Dragonslayer, the little Conqueror, the Great Emperor.

He was born cursed just like you all. He was born fated to die like a maggot, yet he was not.

How? How did Craxus overcome his star?”

Fearless paused his speech for over twenty seconds before started again.

“Before I tell you that, I will give you a prophecy.

You all are going to die. All of you. You will be killed by Hyrios, king of the Great Plain. His army is coming for you. You can run now, back to White Winter or wherever you came from, but that’s useless.

Hyrios will find you. That’s the decree of your star. His arrows will find you. His horses will trample all over your corpses. Your skulls will decorate his throne. That’s all you worth.

You were born maggots and you will die as maggots.

That is the will of your stars. You were born only to be killed by Hyrios, all of you. You accursed beings, you were born to glorify Hyrios and his legend.

Do you loathe such unjust fate of yours?” Fearless shouted.

A few hundreds of Bloodbeard’s worms answered. “Yes.” Seethed with fury.

“Do you loathe such fate? Answer me!” Fearless shouted again. “Do you loathe it?”

A few hundreds suddenly became 6000. “Yes.” The air shook, trembled to the fury of the frenzied worms.

“Louder!”

The worm received Fearless’ order, shouting from the top of their lungs.

“Louder! Louder! Let all the winds on Escana hear your voice. Let the gods know your will. Do you loathe such fate?”

The frenzied worms of Bloodbeard shouted back in perfect harmony. Their voice drowned out even the famed wailing winds of the Dragon Corridors.

“Good. Great. I will now tell you how Craxus won against his star.

He fought. He fought against Karijard. That’s how he won against his fate.

Fighting. That’s the only way you can win against your star. So, fight, I tell you. Fight against your star. Fight against your accursed destiny.

Fight, and you may die just like your star have dictated. Fight and you may prove that your star is right all this time. Run you will die, hide you will die, fight you might die as well.

So what?

We will die eventually, all of us.

Will you die running and hiding like cowards? Will you die as maggots?

Or will you die fighting for a chance to win against your star?

Fight! I tell you.

Fight and you may arrive at the hall of Mistress Death a human.

Fight and you may win.

If you don’t fight, how can you win?

You cannot win over your star by running. You cannot win over it by hiding. You win over your star by fighting against it.

If you don’t fight, you won’t win.

So Fight, maggots! Fight and I will lend you my help.

Know that Fearless of The Alliance is with you in this battle.

Fight, fight to tell this world that you are more than the maggots they think you are.

Fight! Fight to prove to the gods above that they have wronged you!

Fight! Fights and make the gods admit that they have wronged you.

Fight! Make the gods correct their mistakes.

Fight, maggots.

Fight, maggots fight!

Fight and prove that you are not maggots by winning.

Fight to prove that you are human.

Fight!

Fight!”