When Violet and Demon got into Fort West, the floor was already soaked with blood. Neither the Voyagers nor the Purifiers were the best at disposing of human remains.
As the two got off their motorcycles and stored them into their watches for further use, the rest of the Voyagers met up with them.
“The local garrison is on its way to the other villages. It’ll take them a while to come back.” Violet went straight to the point. Although she herself was back here, she still had quite the toys to keep an eye on the unsuspecting garrison.
“Good. That'll give us time to get ready.” Jean nodded. “If we can terminate this garrison, we will have free reign over dozens of villages. We can cause terror unopposed.”
“I had a small battle with the garrison.” Violet frowned slightly. “Their Formation has its advantages. While their attacks are weak, their defenses are dangerously strong. It’s like trying to break a turtle’s shell. It’s just frustrating.”
“Get me in the middle of their so called Formation and I can show them who’s boss.” Ares commented, wiping the blood off the blade of his axe.
Jean glanced at Ares. The man looked like a brute, but she suspected even that was on purpose. From his look to his weapon to how he talks and acts, Ares wanted everyone to think he was just a mindless warrior because it would make people not just underestimate him but also trust him. If given the choice, no Voyager would dare mess with him because one misstep, and he could chop your head off with no regard of the consequences.
Ares has passed 2 missions as well. You don’t pass 2 missions by being a brute.
“It’s slightly more complicated than that.” Violet went back to the time when she faced Konos and his men. The 800 men were able to generate a shield around them that divides up the damage. She doubted even the combined strength of the Voyagers could break open the turtle shell.
Then again, the power of the Voyagers was more than just their own powers…
----------------------------------------
The Voyagers were effective at their slaughter. More importantly, the Matrix kept everyone inside the Fort. Not a single soldier or villager got out. In other words, Commander Konos and his 800 men had no idea their home was already lost.
As of the moment, the garrison was patrolling near the villagers that Konos thought would come under attack soon. But eventually, Konos would return home empty-handed. That was when the Voyagers would ambush them and take them out.
Jean sat down next to Demon. The man was just finished with reviving at least three dozen bodies that were mostly intact. He needed them to stand at the walls and tell the returning garrison everything was fine. Well, at least until the trap was sprung.
“Can you reanimate Voyagers?” She suddenly asked curiously.
Demon looked at Jean, who had an innocent smile on. He considered ignoring her, but decided against it. Once again, Voyagers valued strength above everything else, and someone with a private army was never someone to be ignored.
Plus, as someone who joined the mission as barely a recruit, Jean’s potentials were limitless.
“If you get killed, I can bring back your body, but not your soul. It will no longer be you who is controlling your body.”
“So like a puppet.”
“Yes.” Demon nodded. “A puppet. All the bodies have left is their physical strength. Of course, I’m just at the early stage of my power. There’s no telling what I will be able to do in the future.”
Jean nodded.
“By the way, is your real name Demon? I don’t know anyone who would name their child Demon...” She always found it odd that some Voyagers had names that obviously weren’t natural. Berserker? Vines? Rogue? Mirage? Seriously?
“We get to choose our names. Didn't the AI that explained everything to you after your recruit mission tell you that?” Demon replied with equal curiousity. “You get to choose what you’re called. I chose Demon because that’s who I want to be to my enemies. A demon. A creature of endless death and horror. Also, it differentiates us from those pathetic locals.”
Jean rose her eyebrows.
“Pathetic locals?”
Demon glanced at Jean again.
“You have just passed one mission, right? It’s normal for you to have some sympathy…”
“Do I look like I am being sympathetic?” Jean cut him off. A look of annoyance was on her face. She knew it wasn’t her best interest to make Demon think she was just a soft rookie. Showing weakness could help her in some cases, but certainly not this one.
“Oh. Sorry.” Demon recalled back to when Jean fought alongside them. If she was being soft, then so was everyone else in the team. “My point is, after a couple of missions, you get this feeling that you’re superior from the locals, and it’s true. We can travel through worlds while they are imprisoned in their own for the entire duration of their short lives. We have seen and heard things they couldn’t even imagine. We have fought in wars beyond anything they could possibly comprehend. Eventually, even if we are biologically the same, we are like two races.”
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“And when that happens, killing them will be like stepping on ants. You don’t feel anything about doing it. It’s just a necessary thing to do to get to where you want to go.”
Jean nodded slowly. But deep down she was still confused about one thing. Demon seemed to be getting into a lot of details for a small talk aimed to kill some time.
“Fair enough, I don’t see the point…”
“My point is, the sooner you get into the correct mindset, the easier it will be for you.” Demon explained further. “I have seen Voyagers who slaughtered thousands without sympathy, only to descend into a wild frenzy even after the battle is over. For this type of Voyagers, striking down someone, even a fellow Voyager, is like breathing. They usually die off after a couple of missions because they messed with the wrong person.”
“And if I can think of the locals as mere ants, then whatever cruelty I do to them, whether if it’s executing them or burning them alive or drowning them, is justified. It no longer matters to me. I can behead a child and then go to sleep like nothing happened. At the end of the day, I can still keep my true self intact. Is that the idea?” Jean concluded.
“Yes.”
Jean was silent as her mind turned. It was an interesting view. She herself had no fear of snapping mentally and becoming a mindless killing machine, but she realized this was a key piece of information nonetheless. If she used it well, it could do more work than an army of Purifiers.
Eyeing the white haired Voyager, Jean decided to get deeper with the conversation. She didn't have an overwhelming advantage on this stage, which meant she needed allies. Violet brought her into this, but she gave Jean a dangerously familiar feeling. Everything she did since she met Jean, from the bar to the sex to joining the mission together, was carefully planned out. It was as if Violet was playing a game of chess, and Jean was one of her pieces. As a former player, she knew all too well how dangerous it was to be a chess piece.
In one sentence, Violet wasn’t reliable.
In that case, Jean laid her eyes on the other Voyagers. Cassandra seemed to be with Violet to the bones. Blink was patrolling the castle walls, and Ares was walking around the battlefield and waving his axe randomly. Jean had no idea what he was doing.
That leaves Demon.
“Is Ares one of the maniacs you talked about? Should I expect his axe to land on me anytime soon?”
Demon turned around and made sure the two were alone. Jean wanted to make friends with him to gain an ally, and the same thing was going on in his head. Reanimating the dead seemed like the ability of the ultimate boss in a horror film, but at the level of Demon, it was an awkward power. His army of the dead was better at being cannon fodders and disguise than real combatants. Sure, he had other means of attack, whether it was his Voyager set or other deadly toys, but expecting them to take down fellow Voyagers at his level or stronger, if it comes to that, would be plain stupid. He needed a friend, and Jean was a good choice.
“I don’t think so. Just between you and me, I think Ares is just pretending…”
“Really, why would he do that…”
“Oh. It could be so that…”
As the conversation between the two Voyagers dragged on, neither of them noticed a distance away, Violet was watching them. Her face was devoid of expression.
Cassandra walked up to her.
“Mistress.” She lowered her head in whole hearted submission.
If another Voyager was here, he or she would be shocked. Voyagers rarely showed submission to each other because in most cases, it was impossible to force another Voyager to submit. The chance of getting into the same world was slim if one of the two sides didn't want it to happen, and Voyagers were forbidden from really hurting each other in the City of the Voyagers. Without methods of enforcement, who would willingly submit to a comrade?
Plus, it wasn’t uncommon for Voyagers to get a spike in their power in a mission. If you treat someone like a slave now, then a mission later, you might’ve made a powerful enemy who wanted you dead. This was just a dumb thing to do.
The way Cassandra talked to Violet was just plain odd.
“Cassandra, my dear.” Violet whispered. “A couple of minutes ago, Jean came to me. She handed me what she claimed to be half of the storage in the local armory.”
“Yes, mistress. I convinced her to. It’s a show of respect.”
“You did very well.” The purple-haired girl commented as she glanced at the two Voyagers in front. “It is important to remind them of their place.” Them. Not her. “And how are the others doing?”
“Ares pretended like he didn't understand my offer.” Cassandra seemed a little annoyed. “He is a mad dog. Forgive my insolence, but I don’t think he will be a reliable asset. We can try to manipulate him. If we can’t, we’ll just take him out.”
Violet suddenly smiled.
“That’s what he wants everyone to think, silly.” She flickered her fingers. A distance away, Jean and Demon seemed to have done talking. “Voyagers don’t pass two missions by being mad dogs. Anyone with a decent intelligence can see it.”
Behind her, Cassandra knelt down on the floor.
“Forgive me, mistress.”
“Just keep an open mind next time. Underestimating someone is a quick way to defeat. We don’t want that, do we?” Violet made sure to wait a few seconds before letting Cassandra get back up. “And Blink and Demon?”
“Blink refused to make a stand as well. As for Demon...he made it clear to me that he only wants to get the mission done and claim the reward. He doesn’t want to get involved in anything else.”
Violet nodded.
“In that case, let’s hope they can come to a sense soon.”
“It will be a shame if we have to kill them all, along with the rest of the expedition.”
If other Voyagers were here, they would be shocked. Most of the Voyagers in this mission were of relatively similar caliber. It was nearly impossible for one of them, even two, to destroy the dozens of other Voyagers.
Cassandra stared at Violet zealously.
“Whatever happens, I will be your blade!”
Suddenly, Violet held her hand up, and both girls went silent. Seconds later, Blink appeared. She glanced at the two suspiciously before speaking up.
“The local forces are back. 800 strong. They should be at the gate in three minutes.”
Violet nodded.
“Assemble the others. We have people to kill.”