Editing Dantega:Volume 7 Chapter 1



Chapter 62: The World's New War




(PART 1)



It has been two months since Satan began his rise to the role of God back at the castle of Troy. 

The world has once again been thrown into a dark abyss of despair as the man leading atop the high-rise of hate rules it with an iron fist. 

Those who oppose him, die.

And those who were overcome with fear decided to join him for the future fight with the Army of Heaven. It was said in the Bible that Satan would rise once more a thousand years after the battle of Armageddon, and it would seem that dire prophecy has been fulfilled. It’s only a matter of time before the second Apocalypse comes; the only difference now is that the great Army of Heaven is no more.

The Anti-Christ singlehandedly destroyed that benevolent mass and there’s no telling just how few are even alive to fight in another epic battle.

This is the black outlook on what the future looks like for the world, and for Heaven itself. 

Man has no knowledge of any of this, but Satan knows full well that his position this time is far more advantageous than the last.

There’s only one thing keeping him from fulfilling absolute victory...

The millions of human rebels that refuse to give in; the people that continue fighting no matter how bad their lives have become. These people have formed an army called WORLD, and they continue to be a particularly sharp thorn in Satan’s side.

WORLD is formed up of all manner of man; from the furthest reaches of the planet, they have put away past grudges and joined hands in fighting a common foe. Whether it be the La’Juutians, Eiyalazonians, Trojans, or the dozens of smaller countries planted across the Earth’s surface, they’ve all allied with each other under one specific goal.

Win the world back from the hands of tyranny.

There is no leader officially recognized in WORLD, it is more like its mass is one giant man opposing its will on the one enemy that can destroy them. However, if one were to look into the depths of the bigger picture of this organization, it would be obvious who is pulling the strings and making the tough decisions that can change the planet.

It isn’t one man, rather, it’s ten.

Ten Knights of La’Juune have taken it upon themselves to fight an unreasonable battle for people they once considered enemies. 

And the leader of that group is none other than Jeffrey Durbin. 

Although he is nothing without his allies, his allies are nothing without him; he’s the unofficial Commander and Chief of all who chose to oppose the tyranny of Satan, thus making him Satan’s biggest target.

Though he’s happy to be of such use to his comrades, he still finds this whole situation to be one giant pain in the ass. That’s just the way he is, he might not admit it to one of them personally, but his occasional sigh and awkward facial expression explains openly what words can’t.

Speaking of that very sigh, he lets out a big one as he looks at a map of the world sprawled across a large oak table. Next to him is Queen Diana of Eiyalazo, and surrounding them two, and the perimeter of the table are about ten men all dressed up in uniform.

“We’ve done well to contain Satan’s army as close to the border of Troy as possible; but pockets of the army of Hell that got past our defenses are engaging our troops in the middle of each country. I’m thinking that they are attempting to weaken the forces that are protecting our Capitals in order to send in all out assault in the near future.” A man said as he points at few blood red flags that signify the army of Hell.

Jeffrey zones out on the map and mutters something under his breath, he’s analyzing the current position of each battalion and stationary bases to come up with a contingency plan of sorts. The reason he’s doing this is because he’s specifically paying no mind to the advancement of Satan’s troops, he’s more worried about how his own plans for an offensive strike would pan out.

“Sir?”

“Shut up I’m thinking.” Jeffrey quickly replies.

It’s times like these that cause the other high ranking officers of WORLD to wonder just what he calls these meetings for.

“Alright...” Jeffrey says, slightly slamming his palms on the wood table.

This gentle bumping noise was enough to make all the others stand astute and await his next orders.

“The pieces are finally together for her plan to work.”

“..?”

“I’m sure you guys know who the new leading Battle Strategist for La'Juune is right? Well, she and I have conjured up a plan that will allow us to end this war before Satan even knows what hit him. Actually, I can’t really say that I had all too much to do with it, it’s more or less just her usual masterful work applied to a stupidly massive scale.”

“Rain Von Ronheim?”

“That’s right. Being that you all are from Eiyalazo, you are bound to know what her specialty is.”

“You can’t be suggesting...”

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting. We’re going to use our allies around the world and surround the Capital of Troy with every last resource we have.”

“But if it fails we’ll be left defenseless!”

Jeffrey shrugs his shoulders and replies to the man’s objections with a quip, “What is life without a little gamble right?”

“We’re talking about the lives of every last member of WORLD and the citizens we vowed to protect! Gambling with their lives is something we absolutely cannot do!”

Jeffrey points his finger at the heart of the map and says, “You see those red flags don’t you? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they keep getting closer to those very citizens you’re so adamant about. And there’s nothing we’ve done thus far to stop them. We’re dead either way; it’s just that one way would result in a quicker defeat than the other.”

“.....”

Jeffrey’s right, Satan’s army of Demons are simply too strong to hold back; the only way to defeat them is to cut off their mobility by surrounding them. Working their way in from every angle in a giant world wide circle would equally distribute the power of Satan’s army instead of having that powerhouse military blitzkrieg its way in one or two directions. It forces them to spread outwards awkwardly in order to keep itself from capsizing.

Naturally, WORLD’s forces are under the same amount of pressure, if not more. But in this case, they have nothing to defend but their offensive. Losing is losing no matter which way they go about this; in fact, this could quite possibly be the only way they can do both at the same time.

“So, I’m taking your silence as a non verbal agreement with mine and Rain’s plan. Though, it wouldn’t make much of a difference cause we’re going to do it no matter what.”

“...Then when do we start?”

“Immediately. Time isn’t on our side unfortunately, it could take a while before we gather all our available troops to organize properly and fully surround the country of Troy, so it’s best not to waste any time.”

Everyone stays silent for a few awkward seconds, the reason for this is because the plan itself is at such a large scale its going to take a while to wrap their minds around it; having to begin preparations right away is a bit of a shock. It just seems so sudden to jump right into a plan that can and will drastically change the future of the human race as a whole.

Diana, who’s been quiet for this entire time finally decides to speak. 

She looks Jeffrey square in the eye and asks, “Is this plan really feasible?”

“Of course it is.” he answers in a sure-fire way.

“Then as the Queen of Eiyalazo, I give you permission to command every last soldier of my army to fight for you.”

Quite the kind and trusting gesture to say the least.

Jeffrey shrugs his shoulders and replies “Hey we’re all on the same team here; I had hoped you’d have seen that by now.”

“I understand that, I really do. But our country’s soldiers won’t fight under the word of just anyone, by me doing this; it’ll ensure their absolute loyalty to WORLD and its cause.”

“Hmmm, then it’s settled. I’ll brief the rest of you on the specifics and how to carry out your duty from the castle within a couple hours, that’ll allow you to soak it all in I’m sure.”

With those words, Jeffrey adjourns this meeting and walks out of the room, leaving the others to gather their thoughts.

Diana follows him into the hallway and slightly speeds up to walk to his side; she takes a deep breath and asks, “You’re going... Aren’t you?”

The two enter the hallway and right away the destruction of the battle a couple months back is evident in the girth of the castle. Just to the left of them is the massive hole created by the antenna that Jeffrey used to defeat Dice. If they were to walk up a couple flights of stairs, they be in the spot where the top of the castle literally got sliced off; the construction workers have been working non-stop to fix these damages and are still not even close to finishing.

“If you’re talking about me going to the front-lines, you’d be correct.”

“.....”

“What’s with that look? You’re giving me that ‘You’re gonna die out there you know?’ look. I don’t like that kind of vibe.”

“Well I can’t help but feel that way, you’re plan seems so dangerous.”

“All battlefields are dangerous, but it’s me you’re talking about. My survival percentage has got to be at least 25%.”

“That’s not comforting at all!”

“Hey I think those are great odds all things considered. Besides, why do you care anyways?”

Diana’s shoulders jump and she lowers her head slightly, allowing her long pinkish hair to hide her face. After a slight pause as if she’s tried really hard to find the right words, she looks up to Jeffrey with a cute expression and answers,

“Listen Jeff...”

(Ahh Jeff, I’ll never get tired of that.) Jeffrey accidentally let his thoughts wander as Diana fumbles her words.

“You’re not listening.”

“Sorry sorry, keep going.”

Diana takes another deep breath and says, “It’s hard to explain... But I feel like I owe you something for all you’ve done for me and my country, I can’t begin to put into words how grateful I am.”

“I’ve just been---“

“Doing your job I know, you always say that.” Diana interrupts, “I’d like to think that it’s not all about work for you; and that you’ve enjoyed your stay in this castle... With me.”

“It hasn’t been bad that’s for sure; though I gotta say, most of you guys are stuck-up pricks. Not really my scene.”

“.....”

Jeffrey can see how disappointed she looks after he said that, it’s almost like she’s a teenage girl who just got a bad present for her birthday. That certain glare that’s supposed to be directed at the guilty parent is beating on him like someone with a hot laser. There is no man in the world that’s immune to the dejected look of a pretty girl.

Even though she’s 36 years old, she still has that youngish air about her, to add to that is her young looks; one would certainly think she’s at least ten years younger than her age. If Jeffrey knew Daey and had just met her mother, he’d think Diana would be the older sister by a couple years or so. Those attributes to her appearance makes her intimidating to most men, and even though he’s rather tough, he stills feels a slight pressure when he’s around her.

This cute look of hers doesn’t escape the eyes of Jeffrey, and he knows exactly why she’s making such a pouting face. The truth is, the two of them have got along wonderfully the last couple months. Maybe it’s because she calls him Jeff, or maybe because they’re allies brought together by an unreasonable situation, but he really feels that their personalities counter balance each other’s well.

Normal people wouldn’t dive so deeply into something like that but that’s just the way he functions on a day to day basis. What he finds interesting is that Diana can know this little quirk about him, or whatever others he occasionally shows, and still find it easy to converse with him as if his personality is actually normal.

“Those stuck-up pricks aren’t anything like you. Something tells me you were just waiting for me to say that so there you go, and I meant it.”

“Who says I care about something like that!?”

“Your face does, you are absolutely terrible at hiding your emotions.”

“I can’t help it... I seem to have lost my ability to cage myself in since ‘he’ died.”

Jeffrey knows exactly what she meant by that; before King Gile was killed by Dice, she was a miserable woman stuck with a man she didn’t love nor care about further than the fact the he was the father of her children. He’s so sure of this because Diana consoled in him a couple days after his death.

She told him that it has always been that way; one of those typical arranged marriages that never end happily ever after. Gile never seemed to be attracted to her except when the two were in public in order to save face; in private, the interactions between them could be akin to that of two strangers. He’d consistently take in mistresses to keep himself occupied and only touched her the very few times he’s wanted a child.

As a woman, it’d be blasphemy if she did anything like find another man while being the Queen of such a socially strict country. She couldn't risk it in fear of what the repercussions might be to her own safety, and to the emotional well-being of her kids. 

It’s this very fear that has caused her to feel extremely isolated; she hasn’t actually smiled truthfully in the presence of Gile since Niera was born fifteen years ago. Since then, she’s been completely untouched and quite lonely, losing her two daughters and watching the decomposition of her son’s mental health is enough to drive any average mother into becoming a manic depressant.

Diana’s different however, she’s become strong through her loneliness over the years and is able to handle difficult situations with as much grace as physically possible. None the less, she’s still hurting, and is increasingly becoming more susceptible to revealing that to people; especially to Jeffrey, who has an innate ability to see right into her heart.

“Don’t let that hold you down; it’s not a bad thing for a leader to show emotion. The worst kind of leader is a non human one.”

Diana takes his words and sets them right into the middle of her mind. After pausing for a second, she jumps as if realizing something and says, “You’re right!”

“Hah?”

“Maybe I should show my people that I’m just like them! This country’s leadership has always had a class separation from their citizens brought upon us by the Kings of our past... I can end that you know??”

Jeffrey can see how excited she is, the shine in her eyes is enough evidence to broadcast that this is something she really wants to do.

“Umm...” he mumbles as he looks away from the adorable expression she’s wearing. “And how do you intend to do that?”

Diana grabs his hands and again looks him square in the eye; she gets uncomfortably close to him and answers, “I have a perfect plan! I’m going to go with y--“

“Hey...”

Diana is interrupted by the soft voice of someone other than Jeffrey. She can’t see him, and neither can Jeffrey for that matter. The two look around a little until they shift their gaze down the hallway and spot somebody around waist high in their peripheral.

He is sitting in an expensive looking wooden wheelchair and looks very feeble as his legs obviously appear not to carry any ounce of life. Over his right eye is a black eye-patch that gives off the impression opposite of the usual tough guy accessory. This eye-patch adds to the distinct paleness of his weak face.

“D-Dice... You scared me.” Diana said, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of her crippled son.

Dice’s eyes shift to the hands of his mother that are holding the hands of the man that put him in that chair. 

With a slight frown he says, “I see you’ve moved on quite well since father's death.”

Diana quickly lets go of Jeffrey and replies, “It’s not what you think! I---“

“Hold it.” Jeffrey interrupts, he steps in front of her and takes a couple steps toward Dice. “Listen kid, your father was a piece of shit whether you like it or not. And your mother has every right to choose who she wants to be with, that just happens to be me. Since we both feel the same way and it makes her happy, you don’t have to be such a pain in the ass about it.”

Jeffrey obviously said that in order to defend the feelings of Diana, though there’s no truth to his statement; Diana still slightly blushes upon hearing him say that.

Dice sighs and shrugs his shoulders. “I can’t say I care much about the way she feels... But truthfully, I can see that you just lied through your teeth assuming that I’m an emotionally broken man because of what happened a couple months back. I won’t deny that I don’t want my mother to be anywhere near you for what you’ve done to me, but don’t take it too personal, I hold this emotion towards all of you.”

“Hmm?”

“You damn La’Juutians, all you do is lie, cheat, and steal.”

“Dice!” Diana shouts, a frown has surfaced on her face.

“It’s fine.” Jeffrey interjects, “I’m interested to hear what he has to say.”

Sure enough, Dice continues his anger-filled rant. 

“You people lie in order to manipulate others into doing what you want, you cheat in such ways that you always have an advantage, and you steal from others what you don’t have of your own! Just like how you stole Rain, you’re trying to steal my mother the Queen as well!”

“Come on kid, you’re still going on about that?”

“Stop calling me kid you bastard! I’m the Prince of Eiyalazo don’t you get it!? I won’t let some low life La’Juutian come in here and treat me like this. After all you and your country have done to me, don’t you think you at least owe me some respect!?”

Dice has been treated this way by Jeffrey for a while now and is finally fed up with it. Like he said, he is the Prince of a country; he shouldn’t be talked down on by anyone well as a La’Juutian soldier. To add to that, Jeffrey is only four years older than the twenty year old Dice.

Jeffrey’s eyebrows turn steep and he blows an angered air out of his nose. He leans down to Dice’s level and throws his hands on the handles of Dice’s wheelchair in order to look him straight in the eye.

“Think about it long and hard Dice" Jeffrey sternly says, "Do either myself or my country really owe you anything? I now know for sure that you have things mixed up... You are the one that owes us.”

“What!? After taking away my legs and my right eye you honestly think that I actually own you!?”

“Absolutely... Have you seen the sacrifices my country has made for you to keep that worthless life of yours? My King saved not only your life, but saved your soul from damnation for the girl you said he stole from you. The King of La’Juune, sacrificed everything he had, and everything he was supposed to have, for you. He saved the lives of you, your mother, Rain, and the whole of your country. He saved Eiyalazo from becoming what Troy is today through your body.”

“Khh...”

“That being said, as far as I’m concerned, you owe my King, and the country of La’Juune a lot more than the price of your right eye and your stupid legs. So until you realize that, you’ll always be a kid to me.”

Jeffrey stands back up and starts walking away. 

This puts Diana in an awkward position; she’s forced into choosing a side without saying who it is she’s choosing in the first place. 

It all depends on her next move, will she stay with Jeffrey? Or go to the side of her crippled son?

She thinks back on who is wrong and who is right in this situation and surprisingly the answer comes easy; she rushes to Jeffrey’s side and leaves Dice behind.

“I sure hope you get it now; we’re all on the same team. The person who tried to take your soul is trying to take over the world, if we don’t stop him, then we’re all done for.”

“You can say that so easily...” Dice replies, he pauses for a moment and shouts, “Because you can actually do something about all this! What am I supposed to do in this chair!? How am I supposed to fight?? I’ve lost everything already! My body, my country, I’ve lost Rain! What else am I worth with all of that gone!?”

It’s more than apparent that Dice has not been able to cope with the happenings of two months prior. Jeffrey can stuff all the logical facts into his ears but it still won’t ease the pain. As far as the young Prince is concerned, all is done; there’s nothing to live for if he’s just going to be a miserable and useless man.

“Your job is not done yet...”

“..?”

“You may have lost everything that you hold dear, but you have yet to lose the world. And even in that chair, you’ll be able to fight for it in your own way, and you’ll be able to find meaning in your life. I’m sure of this... You are a whiny bitch, but I believe you’ll find a way to make it happen. So I leave this country in your hands kid; don’t let your mother down.”

Jeffrey exits out of sight alongside Diana and leaves Dice to his thoughts.

As much as Dice hates him for what he’s done, he still takes his words into consideration and deeply thinks about what he meant.

(I haven’t lost the world..?)

"He's right..."

A girl's voice comes from behind him. 

Walking to his side is his personal bodyguard named Evelyn; she overheard the conversation but remained hidden as to not interrupt. She rests her hand on his shoulder and sends warmth all throughout Dice's cold body. Through thick and thin, she's always been there for him, whether he appreciates it or not is a non issue.

"Things may seem bad now, but they will get better, they have to. And I'll be there by your side to make sure that it does." she said with a kind smile.

Though he doesn’t get it right away, there’s a little spot somewhere deep in his heart that still believes his crippled body can affect the outcome of this war in favor of humanity if he just uses his mind. If Jeffrey is truly leaving, then the country of Eiyalazo is entirely up to him.

A strong sensation of wanting to prove his provoker wrong surges through his body as he grits his teeth and balls his hands into tight fists.

“I’ll show you Jeffrey, you bastard Knight of La’Juune..." He slightly leans up in his wheelchair and shouts into the hallway, "I’ll show you what I'm worth!”



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



Rain is leaning her head against a bed in the massive King’s suite of La’Juune. 

The bed frame is surrounded by curtains to keep the light out. The evening sun paints the room orange and the tint of that color shining through the dark curtains gleams a transparent red. The room is so quiet it’s almost eerie. There should certainly be life in this room, someone should be talking and laughing pleasurably to fill this room with something other than solace.

However, only one sound can be heard; the faint sound of breathing coming from a boy lying under the covers of this large bed. And this girl is holding the hand of that boy as she leans on the edge of the bed, zoning out on his sleeping face. 

The sight of the boy who’s been sleeping for two months is peaceful to say the least, his body has yet to deteriorate like a normal comatose person without life support would. It just might be because the nature of his coma that he’s able to stay relatively untouched by the merciless hands of nature; if one didn’t know any better, they’d think that he was just laying down for a nap.

“Noah...” she says softly, “I’ve completed all the preparations needed to wake you up. The others, they’re working hard for your sake as well. The entire world has united, just like what you wanted.”

She knows he most likely can’t hear her, but continues to speak as if this is her release from the bleak facts of his conditions.

“The world may have been able move on to the next phase, but I’m still stuck on the point where you were awake, talking to me, holding my hand..." She pauses for a moment and gently smiles. "Making my heart race unnecessarily. I’ll be stuck on that point each day as I work for it to become the future.”

Rain leans up off the bed and finds determination in her heart as she looks at the sleeping boy. “It starts now Noah, I’m making the move towards waking you up today; the planning phase is over and it’s time to take action.”

She pauses for a long moment and takes a deep breath when she struggles to say, “In order to take that action I’m going to have to leave your side.” Tears begin to fall down her face as she continues, “I don’t know how long this is going to take, it could be months, or even years... But I promise you that by the time I come back, you’ll be awake.”

Rain reluctantly releases her grip on his hand; she leans to his face and kisses him on the forehead.

“So this is goodbye Noah...”

Rain exits the quiet room and after walking down a couple flights of stairs, she enters the bustling military ballroom of the castle. Hundreds of soldiers and high ranking officers are all in their little groups talking about the upcoming plan proposed by Jeffrey and Rain.

This room brings back memories for Rain, this is where Noah saved her life when she was attempting to kill Ash Alworth. Although the last time it was completely empty, the room itself is enough to overwhelm her with the fiery burn of resolve.

She smiles confidently and walks toward her La’Juutian allies, people begin noticing her presence and start to stand astute as a way of showing respect to their leader. A far cry from the person she was before she met Noah; at that time she was just a seventeen year old girl that was filled with hate due to the unfortunate circumstances of her family.

Now, she stands tall and proud at the fact that she went through all of those times of hardship and made it out to become a person that can change the world for the better. She’s steadily gaining strength from Noah even though he’s in a coma, and she’s using that for both his good and the well-being of the people.

“We’ve gone through all the logistics of your plan. Truth is, we figured that out last month when you two first came up with it; all we needed to do was wait for the position of Satan’s army to get where we wanted it.” London reports to Rain, he just got done briefing all the soldiers and officers of what will happen within the next few hours.

“Good, then are we ready to go?”

Elise comes up from behind London and answers for him, “London stays here and leads from the castle, you and I go to the front-lines in the north, with that I think we’re set. The rest of the soldiers are all ready to move out.”

“What about the other Knights? They’re part of this plan as well.” Rain asks.

To which London answers, “They’re working on their own schedule, at least Celestia is. But I’ve sent word of our plans to them, they’ll decide on what to do from there.”

“Should we really give them that much freedom? This battle is going to decide the outcome of the war; I hardly think that it’s appropriate to allow them to make decisions that can possibly hurt our chances.”

“I can see where you’re coming from, but I can assure you that we as Knights will only make decisions that will help lead towards victory. That’s just the way we work.” London replied as straight faced as ever.

“He’s right.” Elise added. “Since Jeffrey is in Eiyalazo, he’ll surely lead the charge on Troy from the east. The rest of them are wildcards. But I can tell you that Celestia and Allia are in charge of a battalion just south of the border of Troy. Celestia has made a good number of weapons that are inflicting great damage on Satan’s army; it’s very likely that they’ll lead the charge from the south.”

“It’s those ‘guns’ right? I hope the distribution of those weapons to the rest of the soldiers on the front-lines is going well.” Rain says.

She’s heard of what happened down south in the old La’Juutian weapons plant, since then, Celestia has copied the weapons she saw and has been giving them to the soldiers. The only problem is that there hasn’t been a mass distribution of these weapons to all of WORLD’s forces, that's because the loss of the weapons plant, and the lack of knowledge pertaining to the mining of gunpowder. Although these are large setbacks, it still hasn’t hindered them from producing enough rifles to deal an incredible damage to the Demons of Hell.

“It’s going about as well as it can be considering the basement of the La’Juutian castle as become the main weapons factory.”

When he said that, he’s referring to the fact that since the plant was destroyed, the top secret weapons have been built underneath the castle. They did this because they consider it to be the safest spot in all of La’Juune.

Rain leans her weight on her left leg and rests her hand on her right hip, she smiles knowing that things are falling into place and says, “Alright, then let’s get going. We shouldn’t be wasting anymore time.”

“Wait.” London says.

“What is it?”

“We have one more wildcard that can win this war outright before the forces of WORLD even reach the Capital of Troy.”

“Huh? Why haven’t I heard of this??”

“To be perfectly honest, Jeffrey wanted this to be an absolute secret.”

“Well are you going to tell me or not?”

“Yeah, now that we’re leading such a blatant charge on the enemy, there really isn’t any need for secrets anymore. Here’s the deal, we have a spy in the Trojan castle.”

“What!?”

“I’m sure you’re familiar with him... His name is Heinrich Zimmer.”

Rain’s eyes grew wide upon hearing that, Heinrich is the man with the two different colored eyes that betrayed Rain back during the Night of the Ball. 

He’s nicknamed the ‘Chameleon’ because he is able to create any kind of personality in order to fulfill his mission. As the ace of the Dravic Branch of La’Juune, he is considered to be a soldier on the same level as the Ten Knights, and as you have learned by now, that is not something to be taken lightly.

“How did he get in so quickly??”

London shrugs his shoulders and says, “Beats me, that guy is just that amazing. He’s been sending us coded intel on the happenings in the castle for close to a month and a half now.”

“Then he’ll be able to...”

“That’s right, he’s the crucial piece of our battle plan that will allow us to always be one step in front of Satan. It’s very likely that he’s the most important member of WORLD.”

“Unbelievable... So we have an insider as well.” Rain puts her hand on her chin and adds this fact to the slim chances of victory regarding this battle. 

Knowing that they have someone like him working behind enemy lines, their chances certainly just raised exponentially.

Elise throws her arm around Rain’s shoulders and gestures her to look around the crowd “Now that we’ve got that over with, I want you to look around; everybody is getting a little jumpy.”

Rain does so and sees that all of the soldiers are standing astute and glaring at her in a way that shows they are expecting orders from her. As the leading Battle Strategist for WORLD, she is essentially the mastermind behind all that happens in this war from here on out, an incredibly massive responsibility for a seventeen year old. However, if she can make the right decisions and wake Noah up as a result, it’s a responsibility she is more than willing to shoulder.

She smiles and puffs her chest out in pride when she shouts, “Everyone! Let’s move out!”

“Yes mam!” They all shout back in unison.

With that, the portion of WORLD that contains the strength of the mighty La’Juutian military moves out. 

Their destination will be all over the world until they converge on the Capital of Troy in order to stop Satan’s sure destruction of all that they hold dear.

None of them know what the future holds for them, but one thing is for sure, they will fight together as one in the World's New War.



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



Ash is out walking the streets of the quiet Capital city of Troy; what was once a bustling city filled with life is now dark and filled with the overwhelming feeling of death. 

It’s cold here, not just because of the northern weather, but because the city, along with the whole country of Troy is spewing out the aura of one giant dead body. Whatever life this country once had has been replaced with fear and darkness, brought on by the power of Satan.

“Another awful day...” Ash says to herself as the clouds above her begin to darken and the smell of rain reaches her nose.

She sighs as she carries a small bucket of the season's last batch of apples before winter hits and some bread; the weather is going to cut her shopping day short so she decides to go home. 

While walking along the sidewalk, she gazes upon her hometown with eyes full of pity as she sees the state of the people in this town.

There are homeless people lying outside in the cold, impoverished by the restricting rule of the Devil; Satan has used thousands of homes as dorms for his legions of Demons. This has resulted in a mass exodus of Trojan citizens; the only problem is that they literally have nowhere to go. Satan has barred all people within the Capital walls from leaving; anyone who tries is immediately killed. 

Having such an unreasonable rule thrown on them has brought the city into the desperation found only in ghettos. There are still lucky people like Ash who have been able to keep their homes, but it’s only a matter of time before they will be kicked out as well.

Being kicked out of your home is pretty much a death sentence, it will be snowing in Troy soon and those left outside have almost no shot of survival. Another possibility is that once you’ve been evacuated, Satan’s army will take you away and supposedly relocate you. 

Not even one person forced to relocate has ever come back.

The people of Troy all live with this fear, the only way out of it is to join Satan’s army and fight against their fellow man.

“Will this ever end?”

She catches glimpse of a couple atrocious looking Demons walking towards her on the same sidewalk, she walks into the road to avoid them as is costume for humans to do, and nervously watches them walk by. 

One has an extremely bulbous head and a short stubby body, its face is so wrinkled she can barely see his eyes. The other one is over eight feet tall and has long hairy arms that almost drag to the floor, it looks like an ape but looking at its human like face, there are four eyes ranging from the top of his forehead down perpendicular to his nose.

These types of disfigured Demons have become a normal sighting for Ash and the other citizens of Troy, over the last two months she’s learned to avoid eye contact with them in order to sway away any temptations of confrontation. Most of the time it works, but this time, the two demons stop and turn to her.

This causes her shoulders to jump; she starts speeding up her walk and begins to panic when the two monsters start following her.

“Hey!” One says, ordering her to stop.

Ash doesn't listen, she knows that if she stops she’s as good as dead.

“If you take another step I'll kill you!” The little one yells.

Again, Ash doen’t listen, she starts running as fast as she can and the two demons give chase.

(Damn it what did I do wrong!?)

The two pursuers behind her shout their demands at her as their horrid voices seem to give extra speed in the movement of her legs. 

She cuts the corner to the left but before she can even gain any distance...

SMACK!!

“Gaah!?”

Ash runs into someone and is floored onto her back, the apples and other items she had bought earlier roll across the ground and into the street.

She immediately tries to get back up in order to keep running but a sharp pain in her back sends a paralyzing shockwave throughout her entire body, causing her to fall back to the ground.

“Ahhhh!” she groans as blood begins to soak her light blue shirt from a wound that has surfaced on her back.

The wound came from the large shard of glass that impaled her back at the castle, it’s been over two months since then but an injury that large takes a lot longer to fully heal. Knowing that she’s lucky that she even survived that, she’s been trying to take things easy since then; but sadly she’s been thrown into a rough situation and her body just can’t handle the stress right now.

“Are you okay? You’re bleeding.” asked the voice of the man she had just run into.

Feeling a strong tinge of desperation because she’s lost her mobility, she looks up to him and shouts, “Please help me! Demons! They’re coming!”

She’s not really expecting some random guy to help her, but she’s in such a bad spot she simply doesn’t have any other option. Just having the presence of another person next to her gives her some kind of hope, that is, until she gets a proper look at who she had just run into.

The man has two different colored eyes, one being green and the other being blue, his bright blond hair ripples as the a cool breeze just happens to blow. 

Ash is stricken with a fear that the demons chasing her could never possibly inflict, the sight of this certain human is far more frightening than any otherworldly creature.

“NOOO!!”

A sudden surge of adrenaline releases her body from its paralytic state and she hurriedly gets halfway to her feet and tries to flee in the opposite direction. She doesn’t even get to a full standing position when her path is blocked by the two demons who started chasing her in the first place.

“!!”

“Got ya!” 

The short, bulbous headed demon grabs her by the hair since her crouching position is about the same height as his standing.

“Yaaaa!!”

Ash screams as he throws her to the ground and the two start laughing. Even though she’s been through the horrors of war and all the dangerous situations that go along with that, she’s found herself in a position far worse than any she’s experienced thus far. She’s been caught by soldiers of Satan’s Army, a Trojan citizen's worst nightmare.

Since his hostile takeover, Satan has been sending troops to round up randomly selected citizens in order for them to choose sides. Some choose to join his army, some refuse. But one thing is for sure, none of the people taken away have returned to their homes.

The reason why Ash was so frightened by the sight of the multi-colored eyed man is because he has been the one leading the troops that have been abducting citizens over the last month or so. He’s so feared by the citizens that just the mere calling of his name sends shivers down their spines.

Heinrich Zimmer...

Naturally, not every citizen of the Trojan Capital has been tempted, this is a very big city and there are hundreds of thousands of people that live here. However, at the pace Heinrich is setting, it’s only a matter of time before all are taken away to an unknown place and are forced to do unknown things.

Proof that he’s out doing the same deeds are standing menacingly behind him in a platoon of about a hundred demon gatherers. These creatures that range in all sizes have their bodies completely covered in black robes so any features on them are blocked from sight. It really adds to the aura of death spewing from the mass of them.

“Oh?” Heinrich mutters as he catches sight of the demons he has control over manhandle Ash angrily. “Is she on the list to be taken to the castle?”

“I don’t know I haven’t checked.” The tall demon replies.

“Then do you mind my asking why it is that you’re chasing her?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there haven’t been many women walking around the streets lately. Other than the ones we pick up in the draft, they all stay inside. Since we’re not allowed inside private homes without orders, this is a rare opportunity.” The small one answered.

The tall one adds, “We’re under the impression that the men of this city are hiding them from us, so seeing one walking around is a chance we’re not passing up.”

“Hmm...” Heinrich puts his hand on his chin and asks another question.

This one causes Ash to take a sharp inhale.

“What do you intend to do with her?”

Expecting a certain answer, Heinrich is almost surprised when the short demon replies,

“We’re gonna eat her.”

The breath that got stuck in Ash’s chest puffs out of her mouth in shock. 

They said it so effortlessly that there’s no way they’re lying; they actually intend to eat her. 

Not all demons are the same, most individual demons have completely different preferences that the other, so it shouldn’t be all too surprising that these particular two choose to eat their victims instead of any other kind of assault. 

Still, the thought of being slaughtered like a pig and being devoured turns Ash’s face blue.

“I can’t allow you to do that.” Heinrich plainly states.

“Hey hey, don’t get full of yourself because you’re Satan’s little human pet. We’re still far superior to you.”

“That may be the case, but orders are orders. Unless that girl’s name is on the draft, you are not allowed to touch her. If you insist on breaking direct orders from Satan, then I’ll have no choice but to kill you both.”

“Then check and see if her name is on the list.” The tall one hisses.

Heinrich turns to her and asks, “What’s your name?”

This is the moment of truth, if her name is on that list, her rights as a human are no more and she more or less becomes cattle. 

She takes a few deep breaths and contemplates lying to him; that’s when she figures it won’t do any good, there’s a high possibility that the forged name could be on the list as well. She could always make one up, but if that name isn’t listed at all, then they’d know she was lying and kill her on general principle.

“A-Ash...” she says raspedly through a dry throat, “Ash Alworth.”

“Hmm...” Heinrich mumbles as he glares at her, he then turns to the other two demons and says, “She’s not on the list yet.”

“What!? How can you tell!? You don’t even have one!”

Heinrich points his finger to his head and replies, “I have a photographic memory, I read the list of names before I come out here so they’re all stored in my head.”

“Lies! You’re just trying to protect this girl! I knew you were nothing but a soft human!”

“Soft?”

“That’s right! No matter how you look at it, you’re---“

SCHHLLINNKK!

The bulbous headed demon halts his speech and glares at Heinrich in confusion; it’s only now that he notices a sword shining under Heinrich’s swaying black robe. Looking closely, he can see that there is an off-white substance dripping from his blade.

“Wha..?”

Is the last thing the short demon says as his big fat head splits vertically right between his eyes. An odd, white colored liquid spews from it before he drops dead onto the ground.

The tall one didn’t even have time to react when he feels the sensation of his lower legs going numb just below his kneecaps.

“..??”

He looks down to his legs and sees two crisp lines of dark green blood just below his knees pointing parallel to the ground. He doesn’t know what caused him to bleed, but he has an odd feeling screaming at his subconscious telling him not to move.

Unfortunately for him, this choice is not his to make.

Heinrich viciously kicks the demon’s legs in a swiping motion and sure enough, the demon’s legs fly away like a table peg that has just be hit with a sledgehammer.

THUNK!

The rest of the demon’s upper body lands heavily onto the sidewalk and he is engulfed in a severe pain.

“GGGGRRRAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!”

He screams disgustingly as he grabs at the knobs that once held the limbs that made his horrid figure stand tall and proud.

Heinrich peers down on him squirming in pain and panic as if he was watching a butterfly that just had its wings ripped off. Heinrich isn’t seeing any kind of relevant being, he’s simply watching a bug.

“Whether you like it or not, I’m your boss; having any of my underlings talk down to me is an intolerable offense.”

Not giving the demon a chance to reply, Heinrich swiftly moves his sword and lops off its large head; sending blood spraying into the street.

The green and blue eyed man takes a slight sigh and turns to Ash, who’s more than amazed that a human was able to defeat two demons so easily. 

He puts his hand in his breast pocket and pulls out a white handkerchief, he tosses it to her and says, “Ash Alworth huh..? Interesting.”

His words send her into confusion but she’s too afraid to speak; she just stares up at him as he continues.

“Anyways, you’re not on the list, so I suggest you get home before another one of my unruly underlings take another attempt at your life. Do you need medical attention?”

Ash nods her head left and right, telling him that she doesn’t.

“Good, I’ll be off then.”

Just like that, Heinrich and his platoon of gatherers walk down the street past the corpses of their dead comrades and continue on with business as usual.

No one knows how many people are to be drafted into Satan’s army on this day, but the ones not taken should be grateful.

Being one of those lucky people, Ash stands to her feet and starts walking shoddily down the sidewalk, leaving her groceries behind in a pool of off-white and green colored blood.

Holding the handkerchief of the man who’s leading such a group into committing unknown atrocities, she almost gets sick while holding it and tosses it in front of her, she steps on it and moves forward.

(What an awful man...) she thinks to herself as she puts one leg in front of the other.

Rain starts dropping on her head as if to add an extra tinge of misery to her already awful day. 

Soaking wet, she bits her lip and says to herself, 

“At least... I’ll be going home to ‘him'... Right?”



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



After walking for what felt like hours, she finally reaches home. 

It’s a house about two miles from the center of the Capital that holds the castle. Her home is sandwiched between others and one can consider her neighborhood to be more akin to the likes of a suburb. The only thing missing are front yards, each house has a stoop that leads inside. 

In normal times, this is quite a piece of real-estate. In Troy, the closer the home is to the castle, the more valuable and luxurious it is. Under the current time-frame however, the closer to the castle you are, the worse off your living situation is. Those wealthy folk that lived so close were either killed in the initial attack, drafted, or have been homeless since the takeover due to the housing of Satan’s army. 

Ash’s house was on the verge of that very problem, but the demon activity luckily had stopped about a half mile away.

This two story house made of stone and wood is very well built and gives off a warm feeling, it seems especially so considering the cold rain that’s soaking the city at the moment. Hoping to warm herself up, she unlocks her front door and enters; as soon as she does, all hope of feeling warm is obliterated when the same sense of cold that the rain is carrying hits her like a bone chilling breeze on an arctic winter’s day.

The house is quiet and dark, the sound of rain pelting the roof beats on her ears as she heads to the bathroom to tend to her wound. 

Since the injury, she’s been trying to avoid this very thing; every time the scar has healed up nicely she’d do something that would open it right back up again. A good amount of her wardrobe has been ruined because the cut in her back just doesn’t seem to want to heal properly.

It constantly hurts and she’s always sneaking winces in when a certain ‘somebody’ isn't looking; she has been pretending that it has not bothered her at all over the last couple months in order to save face for someone who’s suffering a lot more than she is. 

Ash has been feigning strength for this very purpose.

Putting the final bit of disinfectant and gauze on her back, she throws a new shirt on and walks out into the living room.

“He’s not here...” she says as if looking for someone.

In the corner of this room is a spiral staircase that leads to the one upstairs bedroom. She takes a deep breath and makes her way up to the second story. It doesn’t take long for her to reach the shut door where ‘he’ sleeps.

With two gentle knocks, she asks, 

“Zurvick... Can I come in?”

“.....”

No reply comes from within.

Not hearing anything in return, she twists on the knob and is surprised to find that it isn’t locked, with yet another deep breath she enters. This room is darker than any other in the house and the rain drops landing on the roof are exemplified here because of it being upstairs; the blinds are closed making it quite hard to see.

Ash adjusts her eyes and looks to the corner of the room where the bed sits, no one is under the covers, but sitting on the ground and leaning against the bed’s edge is a man. He has his arms wrapped around his knees and his head lowered into the crease between his chest and his legs.

“Hey...” Ash says as she inches closer to him, the wooden floor creaks with each step.

Zurvick slowly lifts his head up and greets her with dead looking eyes. His hair has grown a little longer in the last couple months and his very light beard is much fuller; his usual young appearance has aged as the wrinkles under his eyes are evident due to his lack of proper sleep.

This is without a doubt, the face of a broken man. 

Zurvick has been stuck in this state since the incident at the castle. 

If it weren’t for some retreating soldiers that just so happened to live through the battle and caught glimpse of their King on the way out, Ash would certainly be dead. They took her deep into town and patched her up with their knowledge of general first aid, they tried their best for what they were trained for as soldiers but it was certainly not their forte. It explains why Ash is still having major problems with it months later, the only thing she knows how to do is keep it from getting infected, the rest she just has to hope cures itself.

“I’m back...” she says, trying to spark any kind of emotion from him.

“Oh... I see.” he responds in a flat tone.

That reaction is enough to steal any kind of chance at a conversation. 

Truth be told, all Ash wants is a slight reaction to her presence, anything that tells her he appreciates what she’s doing for him day in day out. She isn’t unreasonable enough to hold something like that against him, but she needs help in sharing the worries that everyday life has piled on her back. Having Zurvick depressed and shut in his room is doing nothing but adding to her woes.

Ash would love to tell him about what had happened earlier with those demons and Heinrich Zimmer, if he was his normal self he’d certainly comfort her any way he can. All he’d need to do is smile and she’d be able to forget about the fear that’s still causing her hands to slightly shake.

But sadly she can’t, with Zurvick the way he is, she has to be strong. Not just for him, but for herself. The pressure of survival is mounting on her, and the constant pressure of fleeting time is causing her heart to break. If only he’d acknowledge her struggles in the least, she’d be able to deal with it. 

A big part of her wants to cry into his chest over what had just happened to her, but she knows that if she shows him tears, it would only add to his own deep despair. Even though Zurvick is in such a state, he’ll still feel something if Ash is hurting in any way, unfortunately that feeling of his has more of a chance to kill him than help him.

Ash drops her head as her hands remain planted against her side; the silence between the two has now lasted for almost a minute. The rain dropping on the roof and the water sliding down the windows are the only sounds filling the room.

A few very long, deep breaths escape through Ash’s chest as if she is expelling the pain in her heart.

“Alright!”

Looking Zurvick square in the eyes, she smiles and says rather loudly, “Zurvick, I’m going to save you.”

“.....”

“I don’t know how, but I have a feeling that if I can save Troy, you will come back and lead the country. Even with the Queen gone, you’re still the King, even with your wife gone, you’re still the same man. That being said, there’s no way you’ll just stand here while your people are suffering, and on a personal note, there’s no way you’ll just lay here as you watch me fight for you.”

Ash stands to her feet and walks towards the door, she doesn’t go before leaving him with some final words. 

“When you’re ready, you’ll come help me. I’ll be out there fighting to save Troy, and I honestly believe that once you join me, we’ll win it back”

Ash shuts the door and the warmth she brought in with her exits the room and leaves Zurvick cold and alone once more.

Conflicting feelings arise in Zurvick’s broken heart, if she’s right about him, he’ll get up and join her in the battle to save Troy. The only problem is that Ash is wrong about him, he’s only been the person he was because of Lelaine and his daughter Trojia, with the both of them gone, he’s no one special at all. Without them he’s no King, he can hardly be called a man; he’s nothing but a background character with nothing to live for.

“I can’t do it anymore Captain... Troy is finished.”

Hearing those words exit his own mouth, he’s stricken with a jolt of shock. 

Can he really say that about himself and about his country? 

Is he really complacent with the way his life is now? 

Is there really nothing to live for now that his daughter and his wife are gone?

“.....”

He grits his teeth and clinches his fists, his legs shake as if wanting to get up and follow her but they simply won’t move. It’s only now he realizes that there is still something to fight for, that certain girl who’s doing everything she can for him.

He still has something to live for, and her name is Ash Alworth. 

His brain understands this, now if he can only convince his unmovable body to get up and help her.


Ash walks down the stairs and enters her own room, she moves past her bed and opens the closet. At the floor of the closet is a chest that she quickly unlocks, the locks making a loud clunk while doing so. Opening it, she finds some armor and the Trojan sword she’s used her whole career as a soldier in the army. She grabs that sword and holds it up, it’s almost nostalgic because she hasn’t touched it in a couple months, that’s the longest she has been separated from it since she was a regular girl.

“If I’m going to fight, I’ll have to get in to the castle somehow...”

She ponders the few ways she can do that and grasps onto an idea.

“Okay, there’s only one way to do it.”

She unsheathes her sword and swings it confidently. 

With a smile she declares her next move.

“Heinrich Zimmer... I’m coming for you!”



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



Heinrich Zimmer enters the castle gates, followed by his hundred or so demons and about fifty people rounded up in the day’s draft. This one seems odd though, instead of adult men, they are mainly elderly, and he has been ordered to grab women and children as well.

Since this is such an off occurrence, Heinrich turns to his men and orders, “You all stay with the citizens and take them to the recruiting area; I’m going to ask Satan what he plans to do with them.”

The demons clad in black don’t answer but follow his instructions. They lead the Trojans toward the recruiting building connected to the moat about a quarter mile from the entrance of the castle.

Heinrich makes his way to the top of the castle after quite the walk; he then enters the same room where Lelaine committed suicide. Standing on the same balcony where she jumped is the body of Sturgess in which Satan resides, he’s also clad in back and gives of a strong sense of intimidation.

Not affected by this in the least, Heinrich walks to his side and asks, “You had me gather women and children along with old men, they aren’t what one would consider army ready, so I’d like to know what you want me to do with them.”

“You’re right about them not being army capable, but that’s because they’re not for the army... They’re for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes, let me show you. Come with me.” 

Satan walks back in the room and gestures Heinrich to follow him out into the hallways of the castle.

The two walk in silence for a few minutes until they cross the main lobby of the castle and exit out of the back door. It just got done raining so the smell of wet grass fills the moist air as the sun attempts to break through the dark gray clouds. It’s almost serene as the sunlit drops of moisture fall like feathers to the ground.

To Heinrich’s surprise, he sees the fifty or so people he gathered from town lined up in the garden against the edge of the moat. He’s sure he ordered his demons to move them to the recruiting area on the other side of the castle; he figures they must’ve had no intention of doing so in the first place.

“You know Heinrich... I know who you are.” Satan says, glaring at him as if expecting a certain reaction.

Naturally, if Satan knew that Heinrich is actually a spy for WORLD, there’s no limit to the amount of torture he’d go through before he was killed. Any regular man would break out in a cold sweat upon hearing the Devil say something like that.

However, Heinrich is no regular man. 

“Oh?”

“That’s right; you were the second in command to the 1st Royal Division of Eiyalazo.”

Completely opposite from who he really is, what Satan is mentioning is just another top secret mission assigned to him by the King of La’Juune.

“And?”

“I also know that you were the reason why Rain Von Ronheim lost Tronoble... You see, I was watching you through her eyes at the time, so when you didn’t come to the rescue that night, it had me wondering just why you didn't show up to help?”

“Because from my point of view, the city was already lost by the time I was to carry out my orders.”

The way he answered that so smoothly should leave no doubt as to why he left Rain and the Prince alone. Though the truth is that he had planned on abandoning them all along to ensure the Knights of La’Juune’s victory.

“Fair enough.” Satan says as he walks to one of his demons and is handed an odd looking weapon.

Heinrich recognizes this weapon, but only from a short briefing given to him by Jeffrey. He told him about the happenings at the weapons plant and that these guns are capable of killing on a mass scale. It’s definitely a gun, but it’s shaped differently from what he’s been told, which makes him wonder just what Satan has in mind.

“Take this.” Satan says, handing it to Heinrich. “Do you want me to tell you how to use it?”

Heinrich takes the gun and analyzes it up and down, its barrel of fourteen inches is shorter than a stock rifle and has a handle at the front end of the short barrel for grip. In between the trigger and that handle is a large rounded clip that holds a hundred bullets.

“No, I think I got it covered.”

Seeing enough, Heinrich pulls back the lever that moves the bullet from the clip, into the barrel of the gun. The clicking sound signifies that it’s loaded and ready to fire; he then holds it in front of him as if handing it back to Satan.

“Very good Heinrich, you never cease to amaze me... That’s my only worry with you.”

“.....”

“When I first met you it was only a few days after my takeover of Troy, yet you somehow found a way past all the guards of my castle and had the courage to meet with me personally. You were the first human to pledge allegiance to me voluntarily, it’s almost as if you expected it to happen... Not only that, you’ve carried out my every will without revealing even the slightest bit of emotion, for a human that has betrayed his own people, it almost seems too good to be true.”

Heinrich’s heart-rate should certainly be speeding into a frenzy right now, Satan was pretty much spot on when he said that.

The Chameleon actually ditched Eiyalazo and went to Troy as back up for the Knights in case they needed help during the battle, but before he could even get to the Capital, the battle was already a few days lost. He knew right away what needed to be done, he firmly planted himself next to the man that has the power to directly oppose God, he allied himself with the man looking to destroy the freedom of every human on the planet.

Surely he’d be nervous when that incredibly powerful man displays his distrust for the lowly human, however, Heinrich doesn’t even flinch.

“Would you like me to tell you why?” Heinrich asks.

Wanting to hear an explanation, Satan replies, “I do, though, if I don’t like your answer you can consider yourself dead.”

“I go to where the power is. With the King of Eiyalazo dead, I’d be fighting for the losing country in world war. I have no intention of being a part of that, my allegiance lies where victory can be found, all other loyalties before that mean nothing to me.”

“So you’re saying that if I were to look as though I am about to lose this war, you’d abandon me as well?”

A tough question to say the least, Satan has caught Heinrich in a hypocrisy that has the potential to destroy him.

As if expecting him to ask that, Heinrich answers, “To be perfectly honest... I would.”

“.....”

“I’d ditch you and find a way of protecting myself, that’s the kind of guy I am. But you see, I wouldn’t have joined you if I thought there was any possibility of that happening. In my mind, there is no way that the army of Hell, filled to the brim with powerful demons equipped with a multitude of otherworldly weapons, could lose to an army of sword wielding humans. No matter how great in size the army of man becomes, it is simply an impossibility for them to defeat you. That being said, am I not the most rational man? What makes more sense, aligning with the obvious victor to secure a future? Or joining an already lost battle so I can claim myself as a human at the last moment before I die like a dog? I’m not so hung up on human dignity, if I have to worship you as God in order to obtain victory than so be it.”

“You make a valid point...”

“I know I do, so now you know where I stand; you can trust me as long as you see victory in your future. If at any moment you feel that your victory is in jeopardy, kill me before I get a chance to betray you. It doesn’t make a difference to me, losing and dying are exactly the same thing.”

Satan stares into Heinrich’s two different colored eyes, there isn’t an ounce of dishonesty in those eyes, in fact, considering what he said, they are so honest they can be considered the most untrustworthy of all.

The two glare at each other for a few moments when Satan breaks the silence with a slight laugh. 

“You are different from any man I’ve ever met... So much so, that I wish to give you the gift of power. I just need the final piece of proof that you have abandoned your humanity.”

Satan pushes the gun back into the chest of Heinrich and points to the people standing in a line at the edge of the moat. 

In a very serious tone, he says, “Kill them all. Once you’ve done that, I’ll no longer carry any doubts on who’s side you’re really on.”

“Understood.”

Heinrich doesn’t even give himself or Satan any time to think about it. He points the gun, starting from the left and pulls the trigger whilst moving the gun to the right.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!!!!

Bullets rip through the bodies of the innocent sending puffs of red wet smoke pluming in the air. The limp bodies fall into the moat one by one as the final bullet hits the last person on the right; the poor people didn’t have the chance to scream, it all happened so fast.

Elderly men, women, and children were all gunned down viciously by their fellow human as if their lives were meaningless.

After the last body dropped, the sound of the water rippling against the moat’s walls and the distinct smell of blood hits their senses. The red tint taints the already moist sky and utterly ruins that peaceful serenity that once warmed the area. That hollow sound of subtle noises after a great number of deaths echoes off the surrounding walls of the castle and into the ears of both Heinrich and Satan. 

One of them loves that sound, the other seems completely indifferent to it as if hearing that or nothing is one in the same.

“Huahahahaha! You truly are different from any other man!” Satan exclaims, seemingly giddy at the fact that Heinrich committed such a massacre so effortlessly.

Heinrich hands the gun back to Satan and asks, “Do you trust me now?”

“I do. You are now the only human who can claim such an honor, all other humans are only considered worthless followers through my eyes, but you hold a special spot... For that I’ll give you a reward.”

With his open palm, Satan bangs it into Heinrich’s head. It’s not like this hit was very hard, but for whatever reason it gives the Chameleon a terrible headache that swirls around the inside of his skull like a bucket filled with water that’s being rotated quickly.

Holding his temple, Heinrich asks, “Do you mind telling me what this reward is?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. But for now, just know that you are no longer able to betray me. If I fail, you fail as well. That is the price you are forced to pay upon receiving my reward.”

Heinrich regains his composure and stands astute. 

With a slight clearing of his throat he says, “Understood... Then I’ll take my leave.”

He turns around and smoothly walks back into the castle, leaving Satan and a trail of death in his wake. 

Any normal human would be on the verge of throwing up after killing so many innocent people; any normal person would be horrified knowing that he has pretty much just sold his soul to the Devil. But not Heinrich, he’s only weighing his options rationally as he makes his way to his designated room in the castle.

To him, the deaths of those people were necessary for not only his mission, but for the greater good of mankind; it’s sad, but it’s a reality that people are going to have to die before things can ever get better. 

In regards to his soul, that is also under the same premise, if he has to sacrifice himself to secure a future for the others, then so be it. Of course, he’d rather not have to sacrifice anything if possible, but if it came down to it, he’d do anything, even killing others. He basically functions in a way that’s the complete opposite of what he had told Satan earlier, he just did a magnificent job of hiding it.

He holds his chin and says to himself, “Well this really puts me in quite the bind... In order to abstain from anymore unnecessary deaths, I’ll need to kill him quickly. But if what he said is true, then I can’t lay a hand on him...”

Whatever Satan has just done to him has really limited his options, his original plan literally has to be overhauled, it only took a few minutes for everything to blow up in his face.

“Maybe...” he says as if he’s just conjured up something. “If I can get someone else to do it, then I’d be able to save myself, and complete my mission... But who? Who can I get in the castle that has the resolve to put his or herself in that position?”

That’s when it hits him. 

There’s a certain girl that he’s been told of that the Knights of La’Juune hold in high regard, even King Noah risked his life for her because she is simply seen as that important. 

There’s a girl that stood up to the power of Satan on more than one occasion. 

It was said that this girl possesses moral values that far surpass the likes of an average human.

He's only heard of her through words written to him by his La'Juutian comrades, but he's now able to put a face onto the name of that Trojan girl. She is actually someone he just had a run in with a couple hours earlier.

“That’s it!” he exclaims to himself, getting excited.

Because he’s no longer around Satan, he no longer needs to act; this is a rare and genuine feeling brewing in his chest.

“With my help, someone like that can definitely find a way.”

His hurried footsteps begin to echo throughout the castle, he now has a new mission to find that girl and bring her to the castle. He smiles; already thinking ahead on what it is that needs to be done. Before long, he’s exited out of the front door of the castle and begins his search for the girl.

A golden ray of sunshine gleams off of his blond hair as if showing him the way, with a tone full of determination; he says one last thing to himself.

“I’m coming for you... Ash Alworth.”






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