ã€ŠHarbinger of Destruction (an EVP LitRPG)ã€‹


 Ch1 - The Decision Tree

    Hirrus Callabryn¡¯s world ended on a beautiful day. It all started with a crisp morning, and a warm and shining sun that burnt off the mist before noon. Birdsong filled the autumn air, and the occasional flash of red wings blended with the red-orange foliage scattered across the cobblestone streets.

    It was a perfect day in the hamlet of Yenon.

    Or, at least, it was perfect to all appearances Hirrus was allowed to acknowledge.

    As a rank-and-file town guard, Hirrus¡¯ decision tree was relatively simple. It was a constant flowchart running in the back of his mind, directing his actions and governing his responses to the world around him. The decision tree was what told him not to intervene in whatever nonsense had adventurers sprinting around through the city like panicked poultry. As odd as their behavior was, he was literally not allowed to ask. The decision tree was what told him that the monster those same adventurers were kiting through town on the north side was outside of his aggro radius. As much as he wanted to help, he was not allowed to join the fight. It was their own problem unless they brought it closer to him.

    Despite those unusual elements, Hirrus¡¯ day unfolded just like every other. Just with a mildly surreal undercurrent that his decision tree forced him to ignore.

    He walked his patrol route around the Duskgrove, stopping to stand at attention by the main road for thirty minutes after every circuit.

    It didn¡¯t matter when, at some point in the early afternoon, the guard who walked the other side of the Duskgrove stopped arriving to relieve him. His decision tree didn¡¯t alter his behavior; he couldn¡¯t stay to ensure the road was watched. Its orders grew harsher when he hesitated, wondering what had become of his counterpart. He wanted to activate his Raise The Alarm ability in response to the discrepancy, but his decision tree assured him that this was not sufficient cause for alarm.

    Under its direction, he moved on with his patrol.

    It didn¡¯t matter when the smithy on the northeast corner of town - between the Duskgrove and the Old District - was uncharacteristically silent well before closing time. His decision tree didn¡¯t alter his behavior; he couldn¡¯t poke his head in to investigate. Its orders grew harsher when he hesitated, peering inquisitively at the darkened windows. He wanted to seek out the proprietor and confirm they were alright, but without his decision tree¡¯s input, he couldn¡¯t even step off of his route to knock.

    Under its direction, he moved on.

    And so Hirrus walked his patrol route, stood sentinel where he was supposed to, and kept to his business until an hour before sunset. He stood awkwardly for a moment where he was supposed to be making small talk with the night guard who would replace him - the woman simply didn¡¯t arrive, but his decision tree relieved him of duty and sent him to go home just the same.

    Again he considered activating Raise The Alarm in the absence of one of his fellow guards, but again his decision tree insisted that it wasn¡¯t a valid reason.

    His walk home was mostly governed by his decision tree. Where he went and what he did was laid out for him. His pathing was left to his own choices, though - it was one of the few things he could control. While his status as a guardsman meant that the townsfolk would yield to him and behave deferentially if he demanded it, Hirrus always went out of his way to be polite. He walked around the crowded places in the streets. He waited patiently in line at the baker for his bread, and at the butcher for his meat, and at the market for his fruits and vegetables.

    It was only the smallest of decisions that fell outside his decision tree. But those were the only things he could do as himself. Everything else was strictly under the thumb of the flowchart in the back of his mind, directing what he could do, and excluding everything outside of it.

    He was glad, then, that picking up an extra loaf of bread was in his decision tree. An extra cut of ham. Two more apples than he and his wife needed. He was relieved that his decision tree directed him to knock at his neighbor¡¯s door before heading home.

    Dahlia answered the door with her usual resigned smile. She had the look of elegance that was all she had left of the noble upbringing she¡¯d left behind. Despite her well-kept long brown hair, and her soft hands, she had a steel in her that had let her turn her exile from her family into a badge of honor. Despite that steel, her pregnancy was far along, and she was having more and more trouble getting around. It had been a month since she¡¯d been able to even entertain the idea of walking to the market, even if she wasn¡¯t running out of what little money her husband had squirreled away before his untimely death.

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    ¡°Good evening, Hirrus,¡± she greeted him, as she always did.

    ¡°Dahlia,¡± he said, as he always did, before offering the second satchel of groceries.

    ¡°I can¡¯t accept this,¡± she said, as she always did.

    He wanted to say ¡°but you will¡± because she always did, but he instead said: ¡°you have a need. I have a means. Take them. Not for yourself, but for me. I won¡¯t sleep well at night knowing you¡¯ve gone hungry.¡±

    She hesitated, as she always did, and then took the bag from him with a sigh.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Hirrus said.

    ¡°You thank me,¡± she said with a scoff. ¡°You do me a kindness and thank me for accepting it.¡±

    He wanted to offer reassurance. To tell her that she was a friend, and that her well-being mattered to him. That the loss of her husband was a loss for the whole community, and that he would not see that man¡¯s love - and child - starve and die right under his nose. But all of that was outside of his decision tree. The conversation instead proceeded as it always did.

    ¡°It¡¯s my job,¡± he said, ¡°to care for the town of Yenon and those within.¡±

    ¡°Yenon is well cared-for with you looking out for it. Thank you for your kindness.¡± She tossed her head, gesturing with her chin towards Hirrus¡¯ home next door. ¡°Now get on home. Julissa¡¯s waiting.¡±

    Hirrus gave her a nod and a smile.

    The conversation was all laid out by his decision tree, and hers, and he was irritated that he couldn¡¯t offer her any further emotional support. All he could do was be happy that his decision tree let him do as much as he did. He shuddered to think what would have happened to her without his intervention.

    If it wasn¡¯t in his decision tree, he would have been forced to walk by her house every day, knowing she was struggling.

    And then, he would have been forced to walk by the empty house, knowing he could have changed that outcome.

    His wife wasn¡¯t waiting for him at the door - she never was - but was instead working on mending a dress. Despite Hirrus¡¯ job as a guard bringing in more than enough money for them to live comfortably, she still worked as a seamstress, insisting that the work was making the lives of those around them better, and thereby refusing to stop. Her still being hard at work meant that he had time to change in accordance with his decision tree, equipping his common clothes and letting his armor switch into his inventory.

    For the last task before heading back into Julissa¡¯s workshop, he pulled the simple battleaxe off his belt and hung it over the mantle. The hearth was mostly just glowing coals now, and he would have to rebuild the fire before dinner, but he was in no hurry. Unlike Julissa, he was well-adapted to the cold, and he enjoyed how close she had to cuddle up to him at night when all the heat had been leached out of the bed by the autumn afternoon.

    As always, peering into her workshop was like watching the sunrise.

    There was a moment where she was biting her tongue in concentration as her fingers made a little bone needle fly back and forth along a split seam, and then she looked up at him.

    Her smile turned the autumn evening into a springtime noon.

    He wasn¡¯t entirely sure by what stroke of luck her decision tree had caused her to see him as worthy of that smile, but he was grateful to it.

    Julissa had a simple sort of beauty. It was hard to put into words. Auburn hair and light eyes. Her skin was pale and smooth, making her look younger than her years. If kindness could be contained in a physical quality, it was the best way Hirrus could think of to describe Julissa. What she was doing spending her time with his battle-scarred and sun-damaged hide, he¡¯d never know.

    ¡°Home already?¡± she asked.

    ¡°As fast as I could.¡±

    Their evening proceeded as it always did. They worked together to make dinner. She chopped the vegetables while he started the fire beneath the stove, and then he tended to the food in the pan while she measured and added the spices. And then he got out of her way to let her finish and dish out the food while he set the table. Before joining her, he built up and lit the hearth.

    They made small talk, as they always did. Constrained by their decision trees, they couldn¡¯t really address anything. Hirrus thought it was concerning that a number of her usual clients didn¡¯t show up today, as she expected, especially since the ranks of his coworkers had visibly thinned as the day had gone on. He thought there was something about those two facts that he should have been able to combine into something alarming.

    And he could see in Julissa¡¯s eyes that she was making the same connection.

    But it was outside of their respective decision trees. There was nothing they could do.

    Not that it was unpleasant, or even uncomfortable. Hirrus would never regret a fine dinner with the love of his life. Julissa was a lovely woman, and he greatly enjoyed her company. It just felt slightly surreal to be calmly discussing a mystery neither of them were able to even acknowledge verbally.

    Despite the oddness of the day, they finished with dinner, and there was only a moment of sitting quietly together before gathering the dishes to clean up. Hirrus was hoping that he could look forward to an ordinary evening undisturbed by further oddities. A quiet night in together was literal heaven to Hirrus.

    And as he carried the dishes back to the wash basin, he started to look forward to it.

    That moment was when the world changed.

    The front door splintered and broke open.

    It clapped flat to the floor. Mere seconds before the beast rushed in at them.

 Ch2 - For Want of a Weapon

    The monster paused after shoving its way into the room. It stood, looming on top of the collapsed door. As if surveying its surroundings.

    It was tall - nearly eight feet tall, and had to duck under the door frame on its way in. One clawed hand gripped the frame to steady it as it crouch-walked into the room. The wood under its hand dented. Its burnt-umber claws scraped down the frame as it finished pulling itself into the house.

    Hirrus didn¡¯t know what the hell it was. It was roughly humanoid, but covered in thick armor-like scales the color of burnished bronze. The creature had a long, toothy snout, like that of a crocodile, with giant fangs poking up on both sides of the toothy maw. Hirrus expected to see a tail trailing behind it, but there was none. Its humanoid body was bulging with muscles, barely contained by the brigandine armor that was visibly deformed by its bulk.

    In one clawed hand, it held an unadorned shortsword, worn by frequent use.

    The huge beast only stood in the door for a moment longer. Julissa made a sound and the creature oriented on the two of them instead. It made a horrible growling sound, like a bedsheet being torn in half, and lunged forward.

    With its free claw, the monster grabbed the table and wrenched it up and out of the way. The table flipped over and everything atop it was sent shattering against the wall.

    In the face of the monster¡¯s raw physical power, Hirrus wondered briefly if its shortsword was necessary at all.

    Hirrus took a step forward, his decision tree giving him the option to frighten the creature away.

    Julissa was closer to the monster, however, and so it focused on her. It snarled, raising its weapon to strike her down.

    But that wasn¡¯t what Hirrus would allow to happen. He had speed on his side, borne of years of training. That and the raw terror of seeing his wife in danger.

    He sprung into action, dashing across the room.

    Hirrus didn¡¯t even know when he swapped his armor out of his inventory and back into his equipment. His only conscious concern was interposing himself physically between Julissa and the invader.

    Dishes tumbled from his hands and crashed to the floor, forgotten as he flung himself into harm¡¯s way.

    The beast¡¯s sword arm slashed at him. His familiarity with the general use of the weapon let him predict its path. Hirrus¡¯ hands moved with practiced ease. He caught the arm, barely stopping it before the blade smashed against him. The strength of the blow took him from his feet and vaulted him against the overturned table. With a crack the wood split apart under him.

    Hirrus scrambled to his feet as fast as he could. He wasn¡¯t totally sure how he managed to get back up before the monster could attack again. The heat of battle washed over him and so he wasn¡¯t going to question the regained tempo.

    His decision tree told him - superfluously as ever - that combat had begun.

    One hand dropped to his hip, and Hirrus felt a stab of panic when his axe wasn¡¯t there.

    Of course it wasn¡¯t. He was home, so it was across the room, hanging over the mantle. Where he¡¯d put it.

    He was going to be forced to fight unarmed.

    It was far from ideal, but it was his only option at the moment. His decision tree didn¡¯t tell him to disengage from the beast to arm himself, even as it told him to use the Cleave attack that was inaccessible without a weapon in hand.

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    Before he could come to grips with that, the beast¡¯s sword swept around again. The strike was the brief, utilitarian attack the short blade was best suited for, but Hirrus had enough room to slip to the left of it. As the blade passed just to the side of his shoulder, he lunged in, driving his gauntleted fist into the monster¡¯s ribs. The metal gauntlet rattled as it struck the brigandine armor solidly.

    Despite striking where it would knock the breath from a human opponent, it was like punching stone wrapped in cloth. He felt like the padded armor was more protection for his fist than it was for them.

    Hirrus felt the damage he inflicted occur. Unarmed as he was, it was low. Only seven hundred and fifty-eight damage. But it was something.

    His awareness detected a small sliver slink off the end of the reptilian humanoid¡¯s health bar.

    Even armed, he could tell that the fight would be an extended affair.

    Hirrus recognized the armor, though, now that it was the focus of his attention. It was the uniform normally worn by the night shift guards.

    His mind raced.

    What was this thing? Was the town under attack? Had some henceforth undiscovered species of beastman attacked the town and raided the guard armory?

    He didn¡¯t have time to try and get his bearings on the larger situation that might be at hand here. The fight for his own dining room was more pressing and immediate than any fight that might be happening for all of Yenon.

    The monster¡¯s shortsword ripped across them, smashing into Hirrus¡¯ shoulder.

    He didn¡¯t have time to slip under this blow as the muscular arm brought the light weapon back across too fast for him to react. The blade carved one thousand, eight hundred, and ninety damage into his own health bar.

    It wasn¡¯t an indomitable number. While it was significantly higher than his own potential output, his total hit points were still in the tens of thousands. The fight may have been skewed against him, but he could make a fight of it.

    He would lose, but it would take a while.

    More than long enough for Julissa to get clear of the battle.

    He drove his fist straight up into the creature¡¯s jaw. The hit was solid this time, and he felt it do eight hundred and thirty-four damage. Another tiny chip came off of its health bar. He thought that after such a direct hit, the monster would be slowed down, but it seemed barely affected by the strike.

    The shortsword whipped around again, jabbing into his bicep.

    There was a crunch of blade against the chain armor there, and he suffered two thousand and forty damage. The monster was chipping away at him steadily. Trading blows like this was not sustainable. The scaled beast would win this in a straight race.

    Hirrus focused on ducking to the left as the next sweep of the sword cut straight down at his shoulders. The attack glanced off of his pauldron, but wasn¡¯t a solid enough hit to deal damage. He backed off and away, and the monster followed, keeping pace. He wanted to move slightly, seeking a position where he might entice his decision tree to allow him to cross to the mantle and fetch his axe so that he could actually use the Cleave attack it kept hammering into his mind.

    The monster was too fast, though, and Hirrus was forced to engage with it again.

    He lashed out with his fist, driving his armored knuckles against the creature¡¯s gut.

    There was a mad hope that he could figure out a weak point that might give it pause. Maybe afford him an edge. But everywhere he struck was like punching a boulder. He was doing damage - six hundred and seventy, this time - but the bulky humanoid didn¡¯t care. Instead he was shaving tiny slivers off of its health bar, while its blows were nontrivial chunks of his own.

    He knew he was doomed, but the monster could at least pretend to care about fighting him. It was just hacking away, paying his attacks no mind.

    Its sword flashed in faster than he could respond, cutting across his thigh. The force of the blow cut through the armor there, and bits of metal chain rattled against the floor as he took two thousand and fifty-seven damage from the blow.

    Hirrus still had hit points to spare. His guard status gave him a significant health pool to work with, but it wouldn¡¯t last forever, especially if his decision tree was going to keep informing him that his Cleave attack was ready to be used, rather than allowing him to pursue any other avenue of attack. That point was dramatically underlined as the shortsword ripped across his chest, dealing two thousand and ninety-nine damage.

    The impact of the blow sent him staggering back.

    His stumbling feet hit something.

    Hirrus tripped over an overturned dining chair, and the dining room spun around him as he fell.

    The monster lunged.

 Ch3 - A Bite to Remember

    There was a long moment where Hirrus was afraid. He could see it clearly. The scaled beast would rush past him. Towards Julissa. And he¡¯d be helpless to stop it.

    But as he hit the ground hard on his right shoulder and hip, the beast pounced on him instead of his wife.

    The sword slashed straight down at him. With his left hand, Hirrus caught the beast by the forearm, stopping the blade right in front of his nose. Just barely. He struggled to maintain control of the weapon as he stared it down. He struggled and turned so he could add his right hand as backup. Both arms strained with all his might to keep the blade from carving into his face.

    But while he held the sword-arm still, the monster snarled. He could only watch as it smashed its clawed hand down into his side. The hit did less damage than the sword had - only twelve hundred and four - but the pain ripped into his gut, making him want to turn his head and vomit.

    Hirrus steeled his will against the pain, and snarled back into the creature¡¯s face. Immediately his decision tree changed its orders. It urged him to try and get the beast off of him instead of slamming out his unusable Cleave ability.

    On his back as he was, he could finally see Julissa. The early part of the fight had unfolded in the flash of an eye, and she was still visibly stunned by the monster¡¯s appearance. As exceptional of a woman she was, she was simply unused to battle.

    It didn¡¯t matter how strong-willed you were, half of proper combat training was getting you to draw steel instead of freeze up.

    ¡°Julissa!¡± he shouted, attempting to break through her fog. ¡°Get out of here!¡±

    Her eyes snapped down to meet his. What he saw there was unfortunately the spirit that made him fall in love with her in the first place. Civilian or no, she had a fire in her.

    Instead of running, she dove for the nearest overturned chair. She struggled to lift the solid piece of furniture as Hirrus struggled to get the monster off him.

    Moments later, Julissa brought the chair down across the monster¡¯s back with all her strength.

    Despite the weight of the chair, the impact barely registered in the monsters beady black eyes. The chair didn¡¯t shatter. Instead it rolled to the side and thumped heavily to the floor beside them.

    The beast¡¯s broad snout opened, showing off the row of slightly curved triangular teeth as its snarl turned into a hiss, spraying Hirrus with spittle. He expected it to smell like foul poison or rancid fish, but the cloud of hot breath surrounding him smelled like beef stew.

    Hirrus was still holding onto its sword arm, barely keeping it at bay. The monster¡¯s claws jabbed into his ribs again, this time for one thousand one hundred and ninety-nine damage. The twisting sensation of the claws scratching his skin told him it was tearing an opening in the chainmail there, digging in with the very tips of its claws.

    He had to break free, or else it was just going to keep worrying away at him like a dog with a bone.

    Until the hard outer shell cracked, giving it the soft marrow within.

    Julissa rushed back in from outside Hirrus'' field of vision, stabbing a kitchen knife into the monster¡¯s open maw, skewering its tongue. Despite its previous resilience against the attacks launched against it, this got its attention. It tried to snap its maw closed on Julissa¡¯s hand, but instead only jammed the kitchen knife cleanly through the bottom of its jaw. Blood spattered across Hirrus'' face, forcing him to blink and turn his head away to avoid being blinded by the spray of red.

    Despite his averted gaze, as soon as the monster recoiled, he rolled away and scrambled to his feet. The monster reached up into its mouth with its free claw and ripped the knife out of the wound. It cast it aside with a deep snarl Hirrus felt vibrate through the air.

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    The wound obviously caused it considerable pain but it didn¡¯t hesitate. Rushing forward. Towards Julissa. Who was frozen before the sudden charge.

    Hirrus hurled himself in front of her.

    The monster¡¯s fury at the blow she¡¯d struck was on full display. Instead of only dealing with its now-freed sword-arm, both sword and claw struck him simultaneously. The blade slammed into his shoulder, skittering over his pauldron before raking across the chainmail over his chest, dealing one thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven damage. Its claw came in from the other side, jabbing into his gut so hard that through the armor he felt the tips of the claws break his skin for one thousand two hundred and ninety-nine damage. Warm blood seeped into the padding there, and all Hirrus could reasonably do - since his decision tree started back up on ordering him to Cleave - was punch the thing right in the nose, dealing eight hundred and thirty-one damage.

    ¡°I told you to run!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you,¡± she snapped. He heard her behind him, running across the room. He was suddenly jealous that her decision tree didn¡¯t have any explicit orders limiting her behaviors in combat. ¡°You¡¯re going to die if I leave you to fight this thing alone!¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t leave, we¡¯ll both die!¡±

    As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he knew what she would say.

    ¡°I¡¯d rather we die together than live apart.¡±

    She grabbed his axe off the mantle - having to stand on tip-toe to reach it - and charged back across the room towards the fight.

    The scaled humanoid lashed out at Hirrus again, and this time he caught its sword arm in one hand, and its claw with the other. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop either limb one-handed, but catching both at the same moment gave him leverage. The monster¡¯s own strength worked against it. Even as his elbows and shoulders complained that they were at their limit, he held.

    As long as he could keep both the claw and sword immobilized, he might be able to gasp out the right words to talk Julissa into fleeing to safety.

    Without either one, it couldn¡¯t actually inflict damage on him, right?

    Wrong.

    The jaws snapped open, spraying an arc of blood across his face. The monster lunged down and bit his shoulder, its long snout meaning he felt the bite from his shoulder all the way to his solar plexus. Needle-sharp teeth ripped into his flesh through the chainmail over his chest, and the padding beneath his armor was soaked through with blood in a flash.

    The bite did a devastating three thousand five hundred and thirty-five damage.

    He felt a pair of debuffs overcome his resilience.

    The first was a brief stun effect. His body seized up, overcome by pain. Taking so much damage in a single shot triggered an element of his decision tree. This trigger existed so that he could re-evaluate a threat and retreat to activate Raise The Alarm if it outclassed him individually.

    It forced him to back off and drop to one knee for just a few seconds.

    The other debuff was something new.

    It had been inflicted by the bite itself.

    He didn¡¯t know what it meant, but it was not brief. Hirrus could sense the ID for it was some sort of disease effect, but he couldn¡¯t tell the symptoms or effects. Only that he would be afflicted by it for about ninety seconds.

    The affliction didn¡¯t trigger any change in his decision tree.

    That was worrying.

    As he struggled to push through the pain his decision tree forced him to acknowledge, Julissa smashed Hirrus'' axe against the monster¡¯s chest. The trusty edge of the weapon carved cleanly through the brigandine, leaving a shallow wound there that stained the layered armor red. She was screaming, her face twisted with rage.

    ¡°Get out of my house!¡± she yelled as she stepped up in front of the monster. She held the axe in front of herself as she placed herself protectively in front of Hirrus.

    Hirrus could only watch as the monster¡¯s sword lashed out.

    Despite her protective instinct, Julissa wasn¡¯t a guard. As a civilian, her hit points numbered in the hundreds, not the tens of thousands.

    The weapon carved into her abdomen, nearly the entire length of the brief blade vanishing into her body. It came out the other side coated in blood.

    An arc of red splattered against the wall.

    Julissa didn¡¯t cry out. She let out a shocked gasp, and her legs went limp under her.

    Hirrus couldn¡¯t even scream his grief and fury as she hit the ground, glassy-eyed and still.

 Ch4 - Got to Break Free

    Immobilized by his decision tree, Hirrus could only stare blankly at the corpse. The corpse that had, until seconds ago, been his wife.

    He wondered which urge would be the stronger when he recovered: the desire to avenge Julissa¡¯s death, or the desire to join her in the hereafter.

    Not that either urge mattered. His decision tree would govern his actions. Or, more likely, the giant monster standing over her.

    The scaled beast didn¡¯t step over her to finish him off, though. It turned and stomped away into the kitchen.

    Hirrus wondered what that meant, that it disregarded him. Was it truly a mindless beast, losing interest in him once he was no longer struggling? Or was there something more sinister at work? That mysterious debuff ticked away, and Hirrus was struck by the concern that it might mean he was already dead. He had a little more than a minute remaining on it as his stun wore off.

    He¡¯d learn the answer shortly.

    As soon as he could move, his decision tree determined that combat was over. It gently urged him to get back to work on the dishes. Hirrus felt his hands start to go for the shattered plates within his reach, but he forced them to stop. He forced his body away from his decision tree¡¯s orders. Every muscle tensed to try and stand and head back to the kitchen, but he pushed his will against them.

    Instead he forced one hand to move towards Julissa.

    And then the other.

    And then his knees.

    Fighting against his decision tree, he crawled across the floor to Julissa¡¯s side. The life was already gone from her. Was before she hit the floor. There would be no saving her. No tearful last words.

    But he could still say goodbye.

    The sword strike had shattered her ribcage and almost bisected her. Her tunic was stained red over almost her entire torso, and while her face was turning pale already from the blood still leaving her, it was still clean and unbloodied. For a moment, he might have believed she was just ill.

    That illusion ended when he put a hand to her cheek. His fingers were trembling with mingled grief and rage as the blood on his hands smeared over her skin. He quickly moved to close her eyes. The dull glassiness death had given them was too much for him to bear. He desperately needed her smile, but her lips were still now, and would remain so.

    As he cradled her body, Hirrus'' decision tree updated. He had to bury her. Putting her to rest was his new priority. He wanted to pick up his axe and charge to the back of the house to seek out the monster and give it a real fight, but the damage was done. It had killed Julissa. The creature would either find him while he was executing this new final duty and finish the job, or it was gone out the back door already, off to terrorize someone else.

    And Julissa deserved a proper burial.

    His would be a good death, if it was in service to her.

    As if to punctuate that thought, he heard a shriek come through the wall.

    Dahlia. The monster had gone next door.

    His decision tree told him to make arrangements for Julissa¡¯s burial. The scream had happened outside of his line of sight, even if he had been on duty as a guard. He had to ignore it. According to his decision tree, it hadn¡¯t happened at all. His awareness of it was an aberration: a product of senses that were more sensitive than the system wanted.

    Hirrus froze. He¡¯d been following the commands of his decision tree since he¡¯d been spawned, only pushing back against them in the most extreme of circumstances. He didn¡¯t always agree with every decision it forced upon him, but it had defined his life for so long. It was literally his brain. What could he do? It wasn¡¯t in his power to ignore it.

    But he couldn¡¯t. Dahlia was his friend. He and his wife had taken every step they could to help her. Hirrus helped her with groceries, while Julissa had taken time to help her with housework since Dahlia was no longer mobile enough to handle herself. Their decision trees had told them to engage in those tasks, but Hirrus truly believed in them. Helping her had been the right thing to do. Ignoring her scream felt like betraying her.

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    Abandoning her.

    And not just Dahlia, but Julissa as well. They supported her together, and now he was just going to listen to their shared good deed be eviscerated.

    No.

    He told himself - against all logic - that if his decision tree had told him not to pick up extra groceries for Dahlia today, that he would have done it anyway. And now that it was telling him to ignore her mortal peril, he refused to do so. It wasn¡¯t right.

    Hirrus carefully laid Julissa¡¯s body back on the floor. His decision tree told him to pick her back up - her burial still needed to be attended to - but he didn¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t. There was a more pressing matter to attend to. He wouldn¡¯t just let his wife¡¯s killer run around unchecked because it was outside of his line of sight. No. He wouldn¡¯t casually forget that that monster had burst into his home and destroyed his life with an absent-minded comment about it having been just the wind.

    And he wouldn¡¯t abandon Dahlia to her fate.

    His decision tree was wrong. And he made his own decision to ignore its orders.

    Hirrus took up his axe and rushed to the back of his home, following the path of destruction the monster had left in its wake only a few seconds earlier.

    The trail was easy to follow. It hadn¡¯t trashed the entire kitchen, but it hadn¡¯t left through the back door. It had smashed its way out of the side wall, and then smashed through the side wall of Dahlia¡¯s house, into her kitchen. Even from here, he could see claw marks through the wall next to the stove, where Dahlia must have been standing when it burst in on her.

    Another scream came, and Hirrus'' decision tree told him it was outside of his aggro range and therefore beyond his concern. He ignored the instruction to go back to Julissa¡¯s corpse and dashed across the small gap between the two homes, rushing to the front room of Dahlia¡¯s place.

    As expected, the monster was there, slightly bloodied by the previous fight, but unfazed as it lumbered through the room. Dahlia was struggling to waddle away from the beast¡¯s approach. Pregnant as she was, she had only a few seconds before the monster was on top of her. Hirrus wondered how she had stayed out of its reach for as long as she had.

    He let out a wordless bellow of challenge and charged, hacking his axe into the beast¡¯s back. The blow landed for one thousand two hundred and fourteen damage, drawing its attention.

    ¡°Hirrus?¡± Dahlia exclaimed, as shocked at his appearance as the monster was.

    ¡°Get out of here!¡± he barked at her. ¡°Hide!¡±

    The scaled beast whirled on him. It snapped at him with its giant maw, and while he was able to lean back and avoid that attack, the follow-up from the monster¡¯s short sword ripped across his chest for one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two damage.

    Dahlia started to waddle away, fleeing as fast as she could while heavy with child. It took her a moment to reach the stairs, and while the monster¡¯s back was turned, she opened the crawl space beneath and climbed inside. For a moment, doubted that it would be enough to hide her, but then he remembered that it had walked away from him when he was in the middle of the room. All he had to do was keep it busy long enough that it would forget about her.

    To that end, he hacked at the monster¡¯s face with his axe. Its armored scales cracked and split under the strike, dealing twelve hundred and twenty-nine damage. The monster lashed out at him with blade and claws, striking him for eighteen hundred and twenty-three damage with the first, and twelve hundred and thirty-two with the second.

    Hirrus'' hit points were melting away. Despite the righteous anger that filled him as he faced down the beast that killed his wife, he knew this was a useless fight.

    There would be no revenge.

    All he was going to accomplish was saving Dahlia, and giving his own life to do it. That would have to be enough for him. No amount of anger would compensate for how utterly outmatched he was.

    But he¡¯d chosen his own fate. Despite his decision tree¡¯s orders, he was here, protecting Dahlia, ready to die and follow Julissa to whatever came after death.

    So, yes. He was going to die.

    But it was a death of his own choosing.

    The fight didn¡¯t last long, in spite of Hirrus¡¯ best attempts. It was a beast of brutal efficiency, and it outmatched Hirrus to a frankly embarrassing degree. Claws and sword whittled away at his health, and while he tried to give as good as he got, the monster was barely bloodied.

    He managed to avoid being bitten again, but trading blows was a doomed venture.

    Even as his hit points bled away - links of his chain armor scattering across the floor, along with drop after drop of his blood - he realized his revenge wasn¡¯t to be had here even if he could overcome the monster. Despite the weapon and the brigandine, his wasn¡¯t a thinking foe. It was a vicious beast.

    Someone had unleashed it here, in a small town with a guard force entirely insufficient to deal with the threat it posed.

    That was who deserved his ire: not the beast before him, but to whoever had unleashed it here.

    The blade came around again, and Hirrus didn¡¯t have anything left. Hard fighting for so long had worn him down. And as the final strike cut across his neck for seventeen hundred and ninety-eight damage, he was finally spent.

    He had nothing left.

    The monster was already stomping away - out the front door rather than towards Dahlia¡¯s hiding spot - as he hit the ground. He felt the flood of his own blood - still hot - spreading out beneath him as he landed face-first in it. There was a crashing sound of Dahlia¡¯s front door being bashed down, and then the smell of smoke.

    But it was beyond his ability to respond. He was already gone.

    Hirrus remembered the red smear his hand left across Julissa¡¯s face.

    He hoped wherever he was going, that she would be there waiting for him.

 Ch5 - The Last of the Strong

    Meanwhile...

    Orlina had spent a lot of time and effort to avoid the drama that surrounded guild leadership. She was an officer, but she was also the raid leader. Unlike the others on the roster, she took her position seriously. She usually only dealt with these people at meetings, when she could safely ignore their bullshit, or during raids, when they deferred to her authority.

    Even Fidelis, their guild leader, knew that she suffered no funny business when victory was on the line.

    Unfortunately, her self-insulation meant she was unprepared to deal with their particular level of bullshit today.

    Orlina and her fellow officers were gathered on a hilltop a safe distance from town. To observe.

    She had grown tired of them within seconds.

    It seemed like the other members of Last of the Strong had forgotten who was in charge of this operation. It came with the territory, though. When they were outside of instances, they just stopped listening to her. They weren¡¯t physically in a raid, which meant that it was time to pay attention to Andrew and Mel being catty bitches. It was aggravating, but she couldn¡¯t be surprised.

    Luckily, her team - the ones who were good enough to carry these useless officers through current content - was still inside the instance, doing the work without her. She was aware of their callouts for mechanics in the chat channels, and knew they were doing their jobs.

    At least some people in this guild could be trusted.

    Since they didn¡¯t need her attention, she had to, instead, focus her efforts on the people who couldn¡¯t be trusted.

    ¡°How much longer?¡± Rumi asked with a whine that made Orlina want to slap him silly.. Despite the implied impatience in his tone, his attention was tuned almost exclusively on the destruction unfolding before them. Excitedly.

    Hungrily.

    He was a creepy little shit, but he was the only one actually on task today besides her, so Orlina decided not to ignore him.

    ¡°At current rates,¡± she said, ¡°just a few more minutes.¡±

    The little village of Yenon was being overrun. Scaled monsters ran rampant in the streets. Those who survived the attacks transformed into monsters themselves, spreading the condition even further with their bite attacks.

    That was their objective.

    The Merciless Plague debuff had to be spread.

    It was a critical mechanic in the current endgame raid tier. The Darkwater Monarch afflicted players with a plague debuff, which turned players into adds who could also inflict that same plague debuff. Those adds had to be carefully managed, or else more people would be transformed, inevitably causing a wipe.

    The inevitability of that wipe was a problem, though. There was an achievement - the last raid achievement of the tier - that required the Merciless Plague debuff to propagate a certain number of times before felling the Darkwater Monarch. The number of propagations was enough to make the fight mathematically impossible until the next raid tier - or even the next level cap increase - without cheesing the fight somehow.

    Luckily, someone - she refused to believe it was actually Andrew, who was currently taking credit - had discovered that the debuff could be carried out of the instance. Outside the instance, it could be passed with impunity. The transformations out here wouldn¡¯t affect her team¡¯s ability to finish the fight, but they would meet the number of propagations required for their achievement.

    World first, naturally.

    She didn¡¯t understand the fires, though. Someone had set the town on fire. She suspected Rumi, but it was just as likely that one of the fights resulted in a lantern or candle being kicked over.

    Just because he was an unsubtle sadist didn¡¯t mean every act of destruction was at his hand.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be impatient,¡± Fidelis said with a thin veil of aggravation. He obviously didn¡¯t share Rumi¡¯s fascination with destruction, but he stood at parade rest, refusing to turn away from the unfolding chaos. ¡°We¡¯re in no hurry.¡±

    ¡°Kick back with me then, Fidelis,¡± Andrew said with a cocky smile, leaning back in the gaudy padded chair he¡¯d brought. ¡°I just wish we didn¡¯t have to be logged in for this. I could catch up on Ozark. Unless you¡¯d care to join me? Maybe a little bit of chill to go with my Netflix?¡±

    Fidelis didn¡¯t deign to respond to that.

    It was the most Fidelis possible reaction. The man had built the whole guild so that he wouldn¡¯t have to do anything with his own two hands, as much as he¡¯d crafted an appearance of a terrifying warrior to imply the opposite. Orlina knew from firsthand experience as raid leader that his pristine gear had seen use in battle, but he kept it meticulously clean and maintained at all times, just like his carefully manicured beard and perfectly-tousled black hair.

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    He¡¯s so goddamn disgusting, Orlina¡¯s message log flashed with a private message from Clive. She looked back at him over her shoulder as he continued. I can¡¯t stand Andrew.

    I know, Orlina messaged back with a mental effort. I can¡¯t even look at him. His stupid uncanny valley face makes me feel ill.

    Andrew must have spent hours in the character creator to carefully sculpt a face that was as pretty as he could make it. It meant his features were nearly inhuman.

    Why is he even here? Clive messaged back. I don¡¯t believe for a second that he actually came up with this plan himself.

    Fidelis has his reasons, I¡¯m sure. Orlina replied, trying to hide her smirk.

    It can¡¯t be for the flirting, Clive shot back immediately. Fidelis is so obviously not interested it causes me physical pain. I¡¯ve seen men get more enthusiastic responses from bathroom sinks at concert venues.

    Orlina struggled not to snort out a laugh at that. She had to focus her attention on the spread of the Merciless Plague. It needed to propagate twenty-one times, which meant with the one person they brought out of the raid, only twenty people needed to be attacked, survive, and transform.

    The Darkwater Monarch had a stacking - but merely cosmetic - buff for every active Merciless Plague victim, and all she had to do was keep track of what her raiders were dutifully reporting in another chat window.

    They were up to fifteen now, though the buff had dropped by one three times, indicating that some number of the afflicted had died. She wanted to say that it meant the count was at eighteen, and they only needed three more, but her team was the best in the world.

    At her instruction, they would hold the Darkwater Monarch at 1% health if that¡¯s what it took.

    Failure was not an option, and she would take every precaution. They could run the raid again all they wanted - it was instanced content, after all - but if they failed to get the achievement now, world first would be in jeopardy. Within the hour, word would be out about what Last of the Strong had done to Yenon to get the Darkwater Monarch achievement. If world first was off the table, it was possible that no one else would be able to stomach what had to be done. But if rival guilds had a shot at the title, Orlina knew more than a few would do anything to capitalize on their misstep.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you all are so cavalier about this,¡± Mel said. Of the officers gathered, she was the only one who couldn¡¯t bear to look at the town. ¡°I know it¡¯s what has to be done, but it just seems so¡­ uncivilized.¡±

    ¡°We can always get more NPCs,¡± Andrew said with a dismissive gesture. ¡°Sure, the town will be a smoldering crater for a few days, but on Tuesday reset they¡¯ll all be back to normal like nothing happened. They¡¯ll barely remember the attack at all, even if they survive¡±

    ¡°We discussed this,¡± Fidelis said, firmly. ¡°It¡¯s why we picked Yenon. It¡¯s been months since anyone cared about the quests here. No real people are being affected by this.¡±

    ¡°Anyone doing the Yenon line instead of going to Enathona deserves to find a smoldering ruin anyway,¡± Rumi said. He was still staring at the destruction unfolding before them with a creepy amount of fascination. ¡°I have no sympathy for people who choose to do things the hard way.¡±

    ¡°You have no sympathy for anyone,¡± Mel observed. But she didn¡¯t complain about the carnage any farther. She just faced away and ignored it.

    Peak Mel behavior, Clive messaged Orlina. She looked back at him to see a smirk on his face. Playing Devil¡¯s advocate for no reason.

    It¡¯s not for no reason if it works, Orlina messaged back. Some idiots think she actually believes what she says when she questions Fidelis.

    Now it was Clive¡¯s turn to stifle a laugh.

    Mel was an old friend of Fidelis, and so she could slack off as much as Andrew did, but she was too shrewd to rest on her laurels. Expressing the occasional dissenting opinion - even when she didn¡¯t stand by it - made her seem like she was keeping the guild leadership honest. In truth, she was apathetic to everything but her continued position at Fidelis¡¯s right hand, as the middle manager who delegated the tasks he delegated to her.

    Orlina would have hated her the most of all the other officers, if Andrew was capable of shutting his mouth for more than five consecutive seconds.

    ¡°How much longer?¡± Andrew said, letting his voice rise up into the most annoyingly whiny pitch he was capable of. ¡°We¡¯ve been at this for hours.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been barely ten fucking minutes,¡± Orlina snapped, ¡°and you¡¯re not the one actually in the raid doing the real work. Your ass is out here not doing a single fucking-¡±

    ¡°Enough, Orlina!¡± Fidelis snapped. Despite her personal disdain for the company the guild leader kept, he knew how to project an iron grip on his officers. ¡°Andrew, I just said that we¡¯re not in a hurry. If you don¡¯t want the achievement, just go back to your bed and log out. I don¡¯t want to hear any complaints while you get to sit on your ass.¡±

    Andrew grumbled something about a bed, but Orlina tuned it out. The last thing she needed was more reasons to despise him.

    Merciless Plague buff is at twenty-one, the message in  the Raid Chat channel said. Permission to finish this, sir?

    Orlina gave a sigh of relief. The people she had actual authority over had been well-chosen. Unlike Fidelis, if someone wasn¡¯t competent and useful, Orlina didn¡¯t keep them around. She was grateful for that, knowing they wouldn¡¯t finish the fight without her command.

    ¡°We¡¯re done here,¡± she announced. ¡°I¡¯m giving the order.¡±

    ¡°Just a minute longer?¡± Rumi asked, still staring at the destruction.

    ¡°No,¡± Fidelis said, finally turning away from the town and starting the long march back to the big city of Inoha. ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready, Orlina, end it. Good work today.¡±

    Do it, Orlina ordered through the raid channel. Remember that Juri is up for first dibs on drops this week, but you know what to do if a legendary drops with BUR on it.

    Barely a moment later, the achievement notification popped up.

    World first, naturally.

 BOOK ONE AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

    Hi folks!

    Just a quick update to say that Harbinger of Destruction is launching on Amazon as of July 29, 2022! This version is cleaner (with all the words-turned-numbers everyone asked for) and without the many grammatical errors.

    There will be both an ebook version and an audiobook version, narrated by the amazing J.S. Arquin!

    If you''re interested, links!

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    Ebook US: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B09VYDXSJ1</a>

    Ebook UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harbinger-Destruction-Adventure-Robert-Keene-ebook/dp/B09VYDXSJ1</a>

    Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Harbinger-of-Destruction-Audiobook/B0B2SFKQP1</a>

    I appreciate you all joining me on this amazing journey; Hirrus has been stuck in my head for so long, and he''s so happy to finally be out.

    (Heads up: Book Three will finish soon!)

 Ch60 - Where the World Ends

    The adventurer had fled across Oshar Tun.

    So the guard followed.

    For the first time in days, Hirrus was alone with his own thoughts, and found himself lingering on all the things he¡¯d allowed himself to forget. His life - no, his existence - was threatened, and if GM Dave¡¯s cryptic warning was to be believed, he might have only hours remaining to him. Maybe less.

    Shemil was behind him. It was his final stop before finding the source of all of this madness.

    The town was an empty husk, like so many before it.

    Every stop Hirrus had made since Inoha had been in towns just like it. Shucked of everything his quarry deemed valuable. And then discarded.

    Rumi, the monster he sought, had scraped every town of its citizens. From the smallest lone farmhouse to actual small towns like Shemil, none had been spared.

    None had been left behind.

    And for what?

    Hirrus tried not to linger on Rumi¡¯s goal. Alone as he was, the enormity of it might overwhelm him without Alric to cut in with some silly little song about coins and elves.

    Simply, Rumi was gathering people to be tortured and turned. Made into an army of monsters.

    Monsters like Hirrus himself.

    ¡°No,¡± Hirrus muttered to himself. ¡°That¡¯s not his goal. His goal is to die by my hand. Because there can be no other outcome to his actions.¡±

    His private moment of bravado didn¡¯t help that much. But it did help.

    If Hirrus had to charge into the Netherworld itself to find and kill Rumi, he would do so without hesitation. Rumi was at the heart of this operation. With his death, it would all collapse, and with the organization around him unmade, Hirrus would be safe. His existence would be allowed to continue. And the existence of everyone else Rumi had already infected.

    Cresting the final hill brought his objective into view. Hirrus dropped to one knee so as to minimize his silhouette as he surveyed the small valley below.

    At the far end were foothills leading up into the mountains.

    The mountains themselves cut a picturesque view on the horizon. From here at the foot of them, they were an imposing reminder of the smallness of mankind. Huge and indomitable crags of snow-covered rock stabbed into the clouds.

    Instead of matching the unthinkable heights of the natural world, Hirrus was looking to stab into something in the valley below. Though as he looked over what he found there, it seemed the number of stabbings were going to be much higher than he had anticipated.

    He had believed he would find Rumi here alone, or with only a token group of assistants. Especially considering the wake of destruction he¡¯d carved to get here, he couldn¡¯t have imagined what he found.

    Instead of a small camp tucked up against the foothills, he was looking at an entrenched encampment that filled the entire valley.

    Scores of tents - possibly hundreds - stretched out below him.

    Instead of a dozen assistants, there were swarms of people moving around the tents. Rumi didn¡¯t just have a bunch of folk in cages while he engaged with his sick experiments. He had an army, complete with guards circling and patrolling the camp, and uncountable workers buzzing around with whatever tasks were in service to Rumi¡¯s goals.

    Quieting the part of his mind that told him that his quest was doomed, Hirrus focused on casting a critical eye over what he saw. The search for important details managed to limit the mounting panic of the sudden size of the forces arrayed against him. Near the center of the encampment were only about a dozen tents, arranged in neat rows with obvious intent. Everything else had obviously sprung up afterwards, haphazardly clustered around the central camp. It made Hirrus feel a little bit better that he had not been entirely wrong about the size of Rumi¡¯s initial forces.

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    But it made him feel much worse to consider who could be filling the rest of those tents.

    From what Hirrus knew, Rumi wasn¡¯t any good at figuratively making friends. The only way he could attract followers to this camp would be by doing it literally.

    The Awakened. They were like Hirrus, relieved of their decision trees and raised to potentially indomitable heights of power.

    Hirrus had hoped that the handful he¡¯d faced thus far had represented the bulk of Rumi¡¯s converted forces.

    Seeing how vain that hope was made it clear that a change in strategy was necessary.

    Considering his prior plan was to barge in and kill everything in his way, he should have been less surprised that circumstances had conspired to make that plan unsuitable.

    At the center of the camp, among the neatly arranged tents, was a single larger structure, made of wood instead of canvas. While there was an immense amount of activity around it, it was just that - around it. No one was passing in and out of the structure. Hirrus surmised that it was the collected prisoners that Rumi had not yet converted into Awakened.

    That was where he would find Rumi. If not in that building, enjoying the torment and torture of innocents, then near at hand, readying for whatever sick process was involved in the Awakening. Considering what Hirrus suffered, he tried very hard not to imagine what Rumi had to do to replicate it. He tried even harder not to imagine the sort of individual who would respond to such a thing with revel instead of revulsion.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°None of this matters. I will kill everyone between me and Rumi if I have to. I will not be stopped.¡±

    He looked around at the empty hilltop.

    Who did he think he was talking to? Did he think someone was lurking and listening? Did he think someone was impressed?

    With his incredibly consistent and well-considered plan in mind, he began to map his approach. The haphazard placement of the outer layer of tents made it a maze, and so he took a moment to find a path through that would reliably take him there.

    Approaching from the direct north, there was a well-tread path towards that middle section. It would be the easiest and most direct route to where he would find Rumi, but as an arterial path through the camp, it was heavily trafficked. Dozens of robed figures filled that area, using the would-be angle of attack to move crates and carts of unknown materials through the camp.

    Attacking there would be suicide.

    It was possible that finishing this mess would demand that he cut his way through all the forces arrayed against him in one glorious battle, pushing him to the very limits of his power. But if that was the case, he needed to pick a different route. Even if every person he could see from up here only landed a single hit against him before he pounded them into the dirt, he would die before he reached the center area of the camp. And that was assuming that an alarm wasn¡¯t raised.

    There was a slightly smaller route from the southeast, on the opposite end of town. Hirrus dismissed it almost instantly. Not only would it be a challenge to circle all the way around without being spotted by guard patrols, but something was happening over there. There was a natural raised stone area, and it was obvious that something was being planned. Many of the supplies being moved through town were being filtered towards that area, especially the carts. At least twenty people were scrambling over the natural dais, arranging for whatever event was to come. It was possible that if he had the capacity, the chaos would be an easy place to penetrate the defenses covertly and slip in unnoticed.

    With no other direct route into the center of the encampment, only one option remained. Approach from a random angle and hack his way in. It had the advantage of allowing him to approach from the west, where there were fewer people. There were fewer guards as well, and they were spread thinner than around the stone dais and the obvious front gate pointed back towards the town of Shemil. It would give him a good starting point.

    In his mind¡¯s eye, he let the fight unfold. No one Awakened could be a match for Hirrus - none of them had accumulated as much power as he had - but four or five would push his limits. If he timed his approach properly, he might only face two or three at first. With good timing and surprise on his side, he could kill one of them before any reinforcing forces presented themselves. And if fate favored him, he might overwhelm the rest of them before the alarm was truly raised.

    After that, though? He could only imagine everyone else in the camp converging on him. Hundreds of them. How many were Awakened? Even if it was a small fraction, and the rest were ineffective goons, he would be buried under a tide of flesh. If by some miracle he survived, he would be buried under literal tons of bodies, rendered unable to continue.

    And that was assuming that the first sign of alarm didn¡¯t send Rumi fleeing from the camp under heavy guard, vanishing into the mountains, all of Hirrus¡¯s hunt undone.

    He was outmatched.

    What could he do?

    He couldn¡¯t hope to change the situation in a satisfactory way to get enough tactical advantage.

    It was over.

    His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. This wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d thought his quest was over. But the Last of the Strong¡¯s raid group hadn¡¯t stopped him. Orlina hadn¡¯t stopped him. Andrew and Mel and the assembled officers of the guild hadn¡¯t stopped him. Even Fidelis had been brought down.

    Hirrus would not be stopped. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

    He was fighting for his very existence. And not for his own sake. He was fighting for Julissa, to ensure that he would still be here when she returned. If that mandated a massacre beyond reckoning, then let it be so.

 Ch61 - Heart in the Right Place

    Three days ago¡­

    ¡°You¡¯ll be gone,¡± GM Dave said. ¡°Forever.¡±

    A dull ringing filled Hirrus¡¯ ears. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Yep. It¡¯s what they do to get rid of the affected code that created this situation. It¡¯ll also take out the respawn code, to prevent re-introduction. All above my pay grade and apparently super technical, but the complexity of your AI means that direct editing to snip things directly would be like doing a partial lobotomy in the dark during an earthquake.¡± GM Dave shrugged, acting as if any of those words meant anything to Hirrus. ¡°The devs decided a long time ago that deletion is less cruel. So, uh, you just won¡¯t come back.¡±

    Hirrus stared at the man in red armor for a long minute.

    The weight of the words was sinking in, but they hadn¡¯t quite hit the bottom yet. Instead, the words buzzed, floating on the air like angry wasps, lifted by wings of improbability. Stinging with barbs twisted by the jargon Hirrus did not understand.

    It came to him, slowly, however.

    GM Dave had just told him, in as roundabout and disrespectful a fashion as possible, that he was in imminent danger of being obliterated.

    And he had said it with such a cavalier attitude. As if he¡¯d just informed Hirrus that his bootlaces were undone, not that his very existence was ending.

    For some unknown reason, Hirrus had never truly feared death. Given the things he¡¯d learned about this world - that he would perpetually be reanimated by this mythical-sounding reset day - it seemed like a more logical fearlessness than normal mortal denial.

    To be suddenly faced now with true death disoriented him greatly.

    The realization was sobering and dizzying at the same time.

    Alric asked a question, but the words seemed to come from very far away as Hirrus grappled with his sudden mortality. His trustworthy adventurer companion¡¯s contribution to the discussion suddenly seemed less important than the yawning abyss the GM had revealed beneath him.

    ¡°It has happened before, actually,¡± GM Dave answered, turning to address Alric. ¡°There was a thing where someone found out how to reroute certain quests¡¯ rewards a few months ago. Directed every vulnerable quest¡¯s rewards to his guild¡¯s treasury. Me and the boys had to figure out how he did it while the eggheads had no choice but to delete two dozen infected questgivers, reassigning their quests to different NPCs.¡± He turned back to Hirrus, adding: ¡°There was one in Yenon, so maybe you knew him. Gier Something?¡±

    That was it.

    The name was the weight of the problem hitting Hirrus.

    ¡°Gier Tyndall,¡± Hirrus said.

    Now even his own voice sounded like it was coming down to his ears from the top of a well, with him at the bottom straining to hear.

    Despite the distance between his mind and his body, he turned towards Alric. ¡°You met his wife. Dahlia.¡±

    Alric went as pale as Hirrus felt right now.

    There was no need for additional conversation.

    They both knew what fate he faced.

    If GM Dave¡¯s problem went unchecked, he was going to be deleted, just like Dahlia¡¯s husband had. And that wasn¡¯t even the worst part. The worst part was Julissa facing the same fate as Dahlia, becoming a neglected widow, reliant on the kindness of others to scrape out a meager survival.

    Dahlia had been a hard woman before facing that.

    Julissa was strong, but Hirrus feared that hardening herself against the loss would dim the light in her heart that had lit his whole world.

    ¡°So you understand,¡± GM Dave said, looking back and forth between the two of them. ¡°If they¡¯re allowed to unleash whatever they¡¯re doing, you¡¯re just gone, buddy. Out of here forever. Just like Gier what''s-his-face.¡±

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    Hirrus struggled to force himself mentally back into his body. He felt like he was floating, but he managed to make his mouth ask what needed to be asked. ¡°What do I need to do?¡±

    ¡°Your mission,¡± GM Dave said, ¡°should you choose to accept it-¡±

    ¡°Accept it?¡± Hirrus said, his sudden indignance at the implication that he had a choice pushing through the existential terror that gripped him.

    ¡°Hush, just let me do the bit,¡± GM Dave said, throwing his hands up in frustration. ¡°If I don¡¯t lighten the mood here, I¡¯m gonna scream. This is too fucking heavy for me.¡±

    Hirrus blinked at him for a moment, before gesturing for him to continue.

    ¡°Your mission,¡± GM Dave repeated with a grateful smile, ¡°should you choose to accept it, is to head northwest. The town of Shemil has been eradicated, left as empty as Yenon. Find the culprits and stop their operations before their plan comes to fruition and unleashes a scourge so vile that the whole game has to be shut down to fix it!¡±

    ¡°You kind of came apart at the end there, talking about the game shutdown instead of like, saving the country or whatever,¡± Alric observed. ¡°And you¡¯re missing how failure involves being wiped from fucking existence.¡±

    ¡°Broad strokes,¡± GM Dave said with a dismissive gesture. ¡°And the less said about that bit, the better. We can¡¯t lose the whole thing to despair of the failure state.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything else you can tell us about what we¡¯re looking for?¡± Hirrus snapped. ¡°Anything useful and not your adventurer nonsense?¡±

    ¡°Not really,¡± GM Dave said, offering only a shrug. ¡°I¡¯m guessing it was someone from Last of the Strong. They¡¯re the only ones who know anything about how you were created. Honestly, I¡¯m just assuming that what happened in Shemil is related because of the timing of it.¡±

    ¡°What about how he was created?¡± Alric asked. ¡°More specifically, I mean. Is there anything we can use to narrow the search, or to make a plan to stop it?¡±

    GM Dave shrugged and looked away anxiously. ¡°To be perfectly honest, you know as much as I do. In order to learn any specifics, I¡¯d need to turn to the dweeb squad who would code in the solution, and once they officially know about the issue, that¡¯s probably the end of it, if you know what I¡¯m saying.¡± He made a fatalistic gesture, drawing one finger across his throat.

    ¡°I thought we weren¡¯t focusing on the failure state,¡± Alric said with a wince.

    ¡°Failure is not important,¡± Hirrus snapped, interrupting them both. ¡°What is important is that we¡¯re not going to. I am going to go up and do what needs to be done. You have my word.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± GM Dave said, giving a polite bow of his head. ¡°And godspeed, you crazy bastard.¡±

    ¡°We just have to do one thing first,¡± Hirrus said, grabbing Alric by the shoulder as he started away from the ruins.

    ¡°What?¡± Alric asked. He stumbled under the sudden pull, but followed. ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    Hirrus looked around, considering his surroundings. The stronghold of Last of the Strong guild was in rubble behind him, and before him the trappings of power that filled the grounds around their manor was disintegrating as well. The front gate was still clogged with their departing mercenaries, but the tall iron fence that encircled the place was turning to dark splinters of metal, and there was enough space for them to leave the grounds through a nearby opening.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had the most eventful three days of my life,¡± Hirrus snapped as he led Alric towards the nearest gap in the fence. ¡°Almost everyone I know is dead. My decision tree is gone and my wife was killed right in front of me, destroying everything that anchored my life and gave me purpose. I took my neighbor and only surviving friend to Inoha by clever misuse of my authority as a guard. I then ripped my way up through anyone I could attach to the massacre of my town, making no headway towards those actually responsible.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t catch anything resembling a break until I stumbled across someone on the wrong end of a beating who happened to be able to direct me to someone still only tangentially involved with what had been done,¡± Hirrus continued. He glanced over his shoulder as they exited the grounds of the guild stronghold and saw that GM Dave was gone again. Presumably returned to whence he came. ¡°And after that some manner of nonsense-talking demigod started to chase after me, intent on my destruction. Following whatever paper-thin leads I could stumble upon got me an insane runaround that nearly got me killed before I discovered that I can transform into a scaled beast that tears through adventurers like an unsupervised child with a bag of sweets. Using that power, I tore through the remaining ranks and,¡± he said with a gesture behind at the rubble of the manor, ¡°got my bloody revenge at last.

    ¡°And then - just when I thought it was over - I learned that my very existence could be snuffed out permanently if I don¡¯t do it all over again just because some idiot is trying to- what? Duplicate me? And I only have a few days to attempt it.¡±

    ¡°Jesus, dude,¡± Alric said, shaking off Hirrus'' tightening grip on his arm, though he kept up, walking beside him. ¡°Are you feeling alright? That¡¯s more words than I think you¡¯ve ever spoken since we met. I was just asking where we¡¯re going; you don¡¯t need to bite my head off for that.¡±

    ¡°I have to follow the one part of my decision tree I always agreed with,¡± Hirrus said, gesturing angrily back at the dissolving manor that had once housed Last of the Strong. ¡°I¡¯ve been murdering and dismembering my way through all my problems, and it looks like there¡¯s more of that to come. Let me do just one good thing without needing to reduce someone to a red puddle full of meat.¡±

    He sighed, trying not to imagine Julissa looking down on him and seeing what he¡¯d done in her name.

    Let her see instead, he prayed, that I am still a good man. Still the man she loves.

    ¡°I need to bring Dahlia some groceries,¡± Hirrus finished, leading Alric southwest, towards the nearest market.

 Ch62 - The Right Thing To Do

    In the back of his mind, Hirrus feared what he would find when returning to the inn. He¡¯d left Dahlia and Barin unattended for so long. A part of him anticipated that the lack of resistance he encountered at the Last of the Strong¡¯s base may have been due to an offensive by them. Against the tavern. A final blow to show how weak he was in the face of the chaos an adventurer stood for.

    But when he arrived, everything was intact and unharmed. The tavern keeper greeted him with a smile and Hirrus made small talk and paid their bills while he could. There was no mention of danger, but it didn¡¯t cool the roiling anxiety in his belly.

    He didn¡¯t allow himself to relax until he got to the room and saw that his charges were fine.

    ¡°Hirrus,¡± Dahlia said, looking up as he came in through the door. Her visible concern turned to confusion when she saw him carrying groceries. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Hirrus said simply as he set the bundled vegetables and bread rolls on the table. ¡°They¡¯re gone.¡±

    Dahlia was laying in her bed, her hands cradling her pregnant belly. But the relief that washed over her at Hirrus¡¯ words seemed to send her sagging into it, as if the bed itself had gotten softer instead of the tension running through her.

    ¡°To everyone¡¯s surprise,¡± Alric added as he came in behind Hirrus, carrying a bundle of smoked sausage, ¡°I survived, too!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised in the slightest.¡± Barin chuckled as he started to examine the pile of groceries. ¡°You¡¯re a competent young man, after all, and full of potential.¡±

    Alric smirked. ¡°Potential doesn¡¯t pay the bills. Circumstances beyond the control of anyone involved spared me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s done, though?¡± Dahlia asked, ignoring Alric completely. ¡°They¡¯re gone?¡±

    Her voice had a wild tone to it, one that cut through to Hirrus¡¯ heart. ¡°For now,¡± he said as he moved to her side. ¡°I slew their leadership, and while they will return, their deaths let me destroy the base of their power. Their home is a pile of rubble now. All of their resources were spent or destroyed. And the whole world knows it. The adventurers now know the price of what they¡¯ve done.¡±

    ¡°Incredible,¡± Dahlia said with a relieved sigh. ¡°In one act, you¡¯ve avenged and protected us all. Julissa would be proud of what you¡¯ve accomplished today.¡±

    Hirrus knew that wasn¡¯t true.

    Julissa was a good and pure soul. It was impossible that she could be proud of the bloodshed and suffering he¡¯d created.

    No matter how much Fidelis and his army of monsters had deserved death, she could never endorse his methods. If she could see him now, she was likely disgusted with how he¡¯d reveled in the violence of it.

    Hirrus had enjoyed killing them.

    Every spray of blood and splatter of viscera had been a pleasure to draw out of them. Meting out justice had been nothing compared to delivering his personal brand of destruction.

    He¡¯d never deny those feelings, but that joy would always be his shame.

    Hirrus didn¡¯t dispute Dahlia¡¯s claim, however. His personal turmoil wasn¡¯t her problem.

    Instead, he focused on what he¡¯d have to do next.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the end, though,¡± Hirrus said with a sigh that shook his shoulders. ¡°There is a new challenge. A threat against me, directly.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± Dahlia asked.

    She listened intently as he explained what GM Dave had said.

    Hirrus told her that his freedom from the Decision Tree represented an anomaly that needed to be resolved, and some nebulous group of deific beings could - and would - resolve the issue by utterly destroying him. He explained that GM Dave had informed him of someone exacerbating the issue in a way that would draw the ire of those deific beings directly.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    And finally, that GM Dave had tasked him with putting a stop to it to save his own life.

    ¡°He¡¯s using you,¡± Dahlia said immediately, once Hirrus¡¯ tale was done.

    Hirrus nodded. ¡°I know.¡± He hadn¡¯t exactly known, not really, but once she said it, he realized that it was a conclusion he¡¯d reached subconsciously. ¡°But I can¡¯t ignore the stakes at hand. If he¡¯s right, then it¡¯s my existence at risk, along with anyone else that has been successfully freed of their Decision Tree.¡±

    ¡°GM Dave isn¡¯t telling you everything,¡± she said, putting a hand on his arm. ¡°What he¡¯s asking you to face is his problem. I don¡¯t believe for a second that he lacks the tools to handle it himself. Why is he making you do it?¡±

    ¡°He said there was something keeping him from tracking what¡¯s happening,¡± Hirrus said, though the explanation sounded much thinner when he said it than when GM Dave had. ¡°Some privacy rules. The same rules that kept him from finding me when I was his quarry.¡±

    Dahlia gave him a look that made the thin explanation seem just that much thinner.

    ¡°If he is lying, that doesn¡¯t change the core of the problem,¡± Hirrus continued, waving the suspicion away with his words. ¡°My existence is at stake. If I refuse, my life is in his hands, and not my own. And if he isn¡¯t lying, then my refusal is suicide.¡±

    Dahlia pursed her lips at him, clearly agitated by the situation. But it seemed that, like Hirrus, she couldn¡¯t see a clear way out of it.

    It made him feel much better that he wasn¡¯t the only one who saw his situation as unsolvable.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the situation,¡± Dahlia said at last, ¡°then you need to be in control of it. GM Dave is not your Decision Tree reborn. If you¡¯re going to walk this path, it must be your choice.¡±

    Hirrus nodded with a thin smile. ¡°I never intended to squander the few days of freedom I have left. I must do this, but I still choose to.¡±

    He tried not to think about the violence that this would entail, and how he would revel in it.

    Hirrus told himself that choosing to follow GM Dave¡¯s directions - despite the situation forcing him down that path anyway - was not predicated on his potential enjoyment of the job¡¯s demands.

    He wasn¡¯t sure if he believed himself, though.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stop you,¡± Dahlia said with a gentle smile as she patted his shoulder, ¡°just like GM Dave shouldn¡¯t be able to force you. All I can do is pray for your success.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Hirrus said, bowing his head.

    A moment of companionable silence passed between them.

    Despite that, Hirrus found himself consumed by his most morbid of fears. His fear of death - and nonexistence - wasn¡¯t for his own sake.

    It was for Julissa.

    Sparing her the pain that Dahlia had suffered.

    He started to ask before he could stop himself. ¡°Do you-¡± A grimace crossed his face instantly. He didn¡¯t want to cause her pain by bringing it up, but now that he¡¯d spoken aloud, she would draw it out of him, so he sighed and asked anyway. ¡°Do you miss Gier?¡±

    Dahlia¡¯s expression went dark instantly at the mention of his name. First with sorrow, and then shortly after with anger, and then sorrow washed over her face again.

    The silence that passed between them seemed interminable.

    And that sudden tension between them filled the room. At the table by the door, Alric and Barin had stopped their own conversation and were sitting stone-still.

    ¡°You¡¯re asking because of what will happen to you,¡± she said at last. Despite the emotions visibly raging within her, her words were calm. Patient, even.

    ¡°No,¡± Hirrus said carefully. ¡°I ask because of what will happen to Julissa if... when everything returns to normal, if I am not with her. And you, if I am no longer there to help you.¡± He gestured back at the groceries he¡¯d gathered.

    At his gesture, Alric and Barin leaned away from the table, as if Hirrus¡¯ gesture might transfer Dahlia¡¯s ire to them.

    ¡°I will be honest, then,¡± Dahlia said, folding her hands in her lap. ¡°Yes. I miss him. Every moment of every day. I cannot imagine a worse torment than being without him.¡± Her eyes glazed over and became distant. ¡°Every morning I wake up and know that no joy awaits me. I gave everything I had in my life for Gier, and now, without him, I have nothing left.¡±

    Hirrus wanted to say that she still had something, but it seemed inappropriate to point out her pregnant belly. She had to carry it around all day, she knew it was there.

    ¡°He was my heart, and he was torn from me,¡± she said. Her lip trembled. ¡°I am empty inside, Hirrus. You ask if I miss him? I say yes, but only because there are no words for what I feel.¡±

    She waved her hand and Hirrus averted his gaze.

    There was a quiet sound deep in her chest that was almost a sob. But just once.

    Despite the emotional devastation she was experiencing, he¡¯d never heard her cry before.

    Dahlia was a hard woman. She shed her tears in private.

    He couldn¡¯t imagine Julissa suffering this with such dignity. Dahlia herself was made of stone and steel. She could endure the weight of mountains. Julissa¡­ Hirrus thought the world of her, but she was soft. She was made of joy and light. The despair Dahlia carried would crush Julissa.

    Even if she survived physically, the woman he loved would no longer be there.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let this happen again,¡± Dahlia said hoarsely. Hirrus looked back at her, and while her eyes were red, her cheeks were dry. ¡°Never again. Not to anyone. Please.¡±

    ¡°I swear it,¡± Hirrus said. He touched her hand and her fingers snapped closed around his in a death grip.

    ¡°Never again,¡± she said, repeating it with fervor.

    ¡°Never again,¡± Hirrus agreed.

 Ch63 - Gone Forever

    With nothing more to say, Hirrus took a breath and started for the door. He had the feeling that there was much to be done before leaving, but in the absence of any obvious steps to take, all he could think to do was to go.

    Shemil was to the northwest up the Hari path, and as far as he could think, that was all he needed.

    Alric looked up, confusion all over his face. ¡°Oh, are we leaving? Already?¡± When Hirrus didn¡¯t answer, Alric got to his feet. ¡°Alright, but uh, hold up. I got something for you.¡± He waved a hand in empty space, obviously referring to some invisible thing Hirrus could not see. ¡°I¡¯ve got a GM chat window now, so I can talk to GM Dave directly if we need. Obviously, he¡¯s not always going to be able to respond, but when we need him, I can reach him.¡±

    ¡°Summon him, then,¡± Hirrus said, trying not to smirk. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve got my priorities in order, I¡¯ve got some matters I want to clarify with him.¡±

    ¡°What, like, right now?¡± Alric asked, blinking in surprise. ¡°Why?¡±

    Hirrus'' true reasoning was a little bit petty.

    GM Dave sought to turn Hirrus into a puppet on a string. The man in red armor needed to know early into this relationship that the string goes both ways.

    But he couldn¡¯t reveal that, even in jest. Alric wouldn¡¯t be able to keep the secret.

    ¡°I want to make clear how things are going to go forward,¡± Hirrus said as he motioned around himself. ¡°I¡¯ve been a mercenary before, and it¡¯s important to set expectations.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Alric said. His eyes glazed over for a minute as he did whatever it was he¡¯d described. ¡°He¡¯s irritated,¡± Alric said eventually, ¡°but he¡¯ll be here in a second.¡±

    ¡°Well, not literally a second,¡± GM Dave said.

    Hirrus tried not to start at the man, who appeared in the room from nowhere.

    GM Dave was at the other end of the room, next to Hirrus'' bed somehow. Hirrus¡¯ mind told him it was impossible, and yet, there he was. GM Dave walked over to join Alric and Hirrus next to the table, his red-and-silver armor clanking and clinking with every step.

    ¡°So what¡¯s the problem?¡± GM Dave asked, crossing his armored arms over the cagelike decorations on the front of his armor. ¡°Because if you want me to just teleport you to the end boss, you have a dramatic misunderstanding of my capabilities.¡±

    Hirrus shook his head once. ¡°This is a simple matter.¡± Hirrus crossed his own arms and matched the other man¡¯s imperious stance. ¡°I want to make one thing clear between us: I¡¯m not a hero doing this out of the goodness of my heart. I¡¯m also not a replacement for your funny little hammer. I¡¯m my own man - for now at least - and I will not be used to smite your enemies and be cast aside.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± GM Dave said, though his eyes flicked towards Dahlia. Had he been listening to their conversation? ¡°I¡¯m not going to cast you aside.¡± He leaned back in his chair. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I think you¡¯re a cool dude. You kill overgeared raiders and aren''t afraid of anything. The whole reason I put you on this assignment is because I don¡¯t want you to get dumpstered by this mess, not because I want a minion to dance to my tune.¡±

    Confusion must have crossed Hirrus¡¯ face because Alric spoke up. ¡°The guy just doesn¡¯t want to be doing your job for you and not getting a check for it. This all really sounds like your responsibility, not something entirely out of your hands that you need our dumb asses to deal with.¡±

    ¡°I guarantee you that I cannot, at least, not without casualties you don¡¯t want¡± GM Dave said with a grimace. ¡°EU privacy laws limit how much user data we can track and use. Because of the complexity of our systems, that means rather than navigate a minefield of bullshit, that data is hidden from frontline support. The only way to access that stuff is with explicit permission from the player, or with the legal team over your shoulder the whole time.¡± He shook his head and laughed weakly. ¡°That¡¯s why we just nuke shit when we see it instead of getting our hands dirty.¡± He looked at Hirrus pointedly. ¡°Legal tells us to play it safe whenever possible.¡±

    Hirrus had no idea what any of that meant, but Alric shared GM Dave¡¯s grimace, so he assumed the story the man told was no tall tale.

    It didn¡¯t mean he felt any better about the situation, however. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing more specific you can tell us,¡± Hirrus said, ¡°then I¡¯m wasting time sitting here listening to you.¡±

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡°Sooner is better,¡± GM Dave said with a nod. ¡°I can¡¯t tell how long you¡¯ll have before real reports start coming in and an investigation starts. Once that happens, it¡¯s all over but the crying.¡± He winced. ¡°Not that you¡¯ll be crying, since you won¡¯t exist anymore.¡±

    ¡°Can you stop bringing that up?¡± Alric socked the GM in the arm, but hissed in pain and grabbed his hand immediately. ¡°Ow son of a--¡±

    ¡°Enough of this,¡± Hirrus snapped, before Alric could continue scolding or the man in red armor could apologize. ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving,¡± Alric said, stepping up beside Hirrus. Before Hirrus could argue, Alric held up a hand. ¡°You¡¯ll need me in case you have to reach out to this guy.¡±

    Hirrus glared at the adventurer, but he had a point.

    If he needed anything from GM Dave, he had no way to reach out without an adventurer on hand.

    ¡°Fine,¡± he said with a frown. ¡°You can come.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, dad.¡± Alric flashed him a big smile before patting Hirrus on the shoulder.

    Hirrus shook his head. ¡°I do need to make some arrangements, though.¡± The things he was forgetting started to trickle into his mind. First and foremost, despite their friendly demeanor, Dahlia and Barin were technically prisoners. ¡°I need to go speak to the innkeeper about this room.¡±

    ¡°Oh, shit,¡± Alric said, striking his forehead with his palm. ¡°Duh.¡±

    ¡°GM Dave,¡± Hirrus said, ignoring the adventurer, ¡°I would have a word with you in private. Could you do me a favor and walk with me downstairs so we could speak?¡±

    ¡°Ooooh,¡± GM Dave said with a grin. ¡°Am I in trouble?¡± He let out a little laugh and stood without waiting for an answer. ¡°Sure thing, lead the way.¡±

    As soon as Hirrus closed the inn door behind himself, he tried to figure out how to phrase his question for the man in red armor. It was a delicate and complicated issue, and needed to be approached with care and tact that he normally lacked the capacity for.

    Seeing that he lacked the capacity for care and tact, Hirrus just opened his big mouth and asked.

    ¡°If someone is deleted,¡± Hirrus asked, ¡°is there any way for them to return?¡±

    GM Dave didn¡¯t say anything immediately, and so Hirrus made for the stairs down into the tavern. Despite his hesitation to answer, the man in red armor followed him.

    ¡°I get the feeling you¡¯re not asking for yourself,¡± GM Dave said, finally.

    ¡°And I get the feeling you were listening to Dahlia and I speaking,¡± Hirrus said, resisting the urge to glare at the man. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to try and hide it, then I won¡¯t pretend I don¡¯t know. Can you bring Gier back?¡±

    GM Dave sighed heavily. ¡°I wish I could. Believe me. After hearing what she said, I just¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t, or it can¡¯t be done?¡±

    ¡°I understand what you¡¯re asking,¡± GM Dave said, stopping on the stairs, making Hirrus pull up short as well. ¡°And you¡¯re right to ask. I mean, I couldn¡¯t even stop you when you were killing Last of the Strong. It¡¯s obvious that I¡¯m not the one with the eraser that¡¯s going to make you go away. But once you - or anyone else - is deleted, not even the devs can bring you back.¡±

    ¡°That sounds¡­¡± Hirrus struggled for a moment to think of the word. ¡°Unwise?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong,¡± GM Dave said, ¡°we can make new NPCs. Er. People. Obviously we can, otherwise it would just take one Corrupted Blood Plague and the whole game is over because we¡¯d have no one left. But You? Them?¡± He gestured vaguely down at the tavern at the base of the stairs, where there were a handful of people scattered in the room, eating or drinking. ¡°Not, like, them as a group, but them individually?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Making true AI is complicated as fuck. We can¡¯t recreate you any more than we could copy you. With the data we have, we could generate a doppelganger of someone, but it would be just that. A superficial duplicate.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±.

    ¡°Let me put it this way. If I could get some blackmail on one of the devs,¡± GM Dave began, speaking animatedly with his hands, ¡°then I could get them to make a man. That man would look like Gier. His name would be Gier. He could have the same hometown, education, profession, and upbringing as Gier.¡± He cut one hand through the air in a vicious, final gesture. ¡°But that¡¯s it. The new Gier wouldn¡¯t have Gier¡¯s personality. He wouldn¡¯t have his memories. As much as I - or you - might want to end Dahlia¡¯s pain, a new Gier isn¡¯t the way to do it. At best, it would be a sad robot going through the motions of his life, reminding her of what she truly lost, and at worst, they¡¯d be incompatible as a couple, and he¡¯d break her heart all over again when he left.¡±

    Hirrus grimaced.

    He tried to imagine if he awoke one morning and Julissa was someone else entirely. A stranger walking around in her body. He loved the light in her heart far more than the curve of her hips.

    It would kill him. Destroy who he¡¯d become for her.

    Send him down a dark path he¡¯d never recover from.

    Dahlia couldn¡¯t be made to suffer like that. No matter how good his intentions, there was no guarantee it would set things right.

    Hirrus shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve made your point.¡±

    ¡°Trust me,¡± GM Dave said, leaning against the handrail with a sigh. ¡°If I could, I would. Hell, if we could, I bet it would be part of the procedure when we have to delete you guys to clear data corruption, and we wouldn¡¯t be in this mess.¡± He shook his head sadly. ¡°But it¡¯s impossible. Literally. The complexity that makes you a unique thinking individual is the very thing that makes you irreplaceable.¡±

    Hirrus thought that was a cruel joke of some sort. They were irreplaceable, but the deific overlords that enforced the laws of this world had long since decided to sweep them off the face of the planet on a whim when a problem was too difficult to solve.

    ¡°I need to make arrangements for the room while I¡¯m gone,¡± Hirrus said bitterly.

    ¡°And I need to get back to my normal work,¡± GM Dave said, turning and taking a step up the stairs. ¡°I have four reports about small settlements in the northwest being completely fucked that I have to make go away before they get escalated.¡± He laughed bitterly. ¡°A cover-up¡¯s work is never done.¡±

    The man in red armor was only out of Hirrus'' range of view for a second, but in the time it took him to turn his head, he was already gone.

    Vanished into thin air again.

 Ch64 Respect Doesnt Make History

    It only took a few minutes to make arrangements for the room. The tavern keeper went through the motions of extending their stay without issue, and Hirrus easily produced the required funds to keep the room up through the mythical ¡°reset¡± that he had come to fear.

    ¡°Arrangements have been made,¡± he announced when he returned to the room. ¡°You two will be fine here.¡±

    Barin tossed Hirrus a grin and an exaggerated bow. ¡°Thank you, good sir. I¡¯ll try and enjoy my imprisonment, then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Alric said with a laugh and a dismissive gesture. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend you¡¯re not enjoying a vacation on someone else¡¯s dime.¡±

    Barin scoffed, but didn¡¯t dispute.

    Hirrus tried not to grimace at the idea of being used, financially, by someone who was obviously better-off, but that wasn¡¯t the point right now. He was more concerned about keeping Dahlia safe. It wouldn¡¯t have been hard to kick Barin out and let him go back to his normal life, but he couldn¡¯t leave Dahlia alone here. What if she went into labor? He would rather someone be here to look after her.

    Barin wasn¡¯t an ideal choice, but Hirrus didn¡¯t exactly have a lot of options.

    ¡°Dahlia,¡± Hirrus said, crossing the room to her side. ¡°If you like, I could contact your family here. Your parents might want-¡±

    Dahlia interrupted him by bursting out laughing. It was, perhaps, the first time he¡¯d ever heard her laugh like that. So close on the heels of the first time hearing her cry, it was a moment of mental dissonance. It came from deep in her chest, and her eyes squinted closed with the intensity of the sudden gale of laughter.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she managed to choke out after a minute, ¡°you¡¯re not normally the sort to make jokes. You caught me off-guard, especially with something so ridiculous.¡±

    Obviously, Hirrus hadn¡¯t been joking, but he knew better than to say that. The best he could guess was that Dahlia was just that committed to avoiding a conversation about it, though.

    ¡°I suppose there¡¯s only one matter left to take care of, then,¡± Hirrus said, turning away from Dahlia and fixing Barin with an appraising eye.

    Hirrus reached for his inventory and started to retrieve gear from it. He was wearing most of the gear he wanted to keep on hand, so everything remaining was of limited interest to him. Alric had also taken stock of the items and had his pick as well - along with whatever he had taken in their earlier exchanges, as the man had never returned a piece when he was done with it.

    After parsing through the remaining items, Hirrus picked out a handful of pieces and tossed them to the floor. It was enough for a full set, and then a handful more.

    To top it off, he added a couple of weapons.

    ¡°Barin, I¡¯m choosing to leave this pile of equipment here,¡± Hirrus said, carefully enunciating each word, ¡°because I can make that choice. Perhaps your decision tree might force you to prepare for the worst, should such a time come. At that point, it might be possible that you are forced to pick up this equipment and use it to defend Dahlia instead of bolting and saving your own hide.¡±

    Barin raised his hands over his head, even though he was nodding. ¡°This is preposterous,¡± he said with a grin, ¡°I¡¯ve done nothing wrong!¡±

    Hirrus frowned. He had to assume that was the best reassurance he was going to get. ¡°Hm. Well, Shemil is about as far northwest from here as Yenon was southeast.¡± Hirrus turned towards the door and gestured for Alric to join him. ¡°We can get there in a day, if we are uninterrupted.¡±

    ¡°What do you suppose the odds of that are?¡± Alric asked, leaping up from his seat and hurrying to join him.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    ¡°Considering how tight an obstacle the timeline represents?¡± Hirrus shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no chance whatsoever.¡±

    Despite knowing the hardships ahead, Hirrus left the Violet Plate with Alric in tow.

    The streets of Inoha were in chaos.

    Hirrus and Alric had to pick their way through smaller side streets to get through. He wasn¡¯t entirely positive about what was going on, until he started to overhear snippets of the loud chatter that rippled through the town.

    ¡°...one member means that he soloed the entire guild! How is that even¡­¡±

    ¡°...every single officer in one night¡­¡±

    ¡°...Callabryn? He doesn¡¯t have a house in the city according to the¡­¡±

    ¡°...what I think it was? That NPC they had in the market asking¡­¡±

    ¡°...anyone deserved it, it was that bunch of elitist¡­¡±

    ¡°...did the whole thing guildless! That¡¯s impossible! If they¡­¡±

    Apparently the global alert that had accompanied his victory had set the whole city into hysterics. People were apparently seeking him out, and while the excitement was that of a party rather than a riot, he wasn¡¯t sure what they would do if they managed to track him down.

    He kept his head down and made for the northwest gate out of town as fast as he could. It was mid-morning, so the gates were open now, and he found no difficulty getting through.

    It felt like luck had let him escape without him being identified. Considering how he¡¯d torn through the city upon arrival demanding to find Last of the Strong, there had to be dozens of people who could identify him.

    Once they were on the Hari Path, the hustle and bustle of the city faded into the background. It wasn¡¯t until they passed over the first hill that hid the city from sight that Hirrus realized how much he¡¯d adapted to the constant noise, tuning it out.

    Now that it was gone, the sounds that filled his ears were much more comfortable and familiar.

    The crunch of the unpaved road beneath their feet. The susurrus sound of wind through the dry yellowing grasses alongside the road. The occasional chirp or caw or cry of distant birds.

    Hirrus pulled up short and closed his eyes. If he concentrated, he could still hear the vague din of Inoha behind him, but right here, right now, it felt so far away.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Alric asked. ¡°Is this the spot where if you take one more step, it¡¯ll be the farthest away from home you¡¯ve ever been?¡±

    Hirrus opened his eyes to glare at Alric. But it got him thinking. Was it? Before settling in Yenon, Hirrus had a busy career as a mercenary. But he couldn¡¯t remember if he¡¯d ever been farther northwest than Inoha. Most of his work had been between the town of Yeerin and Hari¡¯s southern border with Evarion, but there had been exceptions.

    Knowing what he knew now about the reset, it was possible that a mission had caused him to range far from home, and then the memory of it erased along with his death when he was recreated to go about his business all over again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Hirrus said, shaking his head with a shrug. ¡°Maybe.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know?¡± Alric laughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a computer program? Shouldn¡¯t you remember everything that¡¯s ever happened since the moment you were born?¡±

    ¡°Why would I?¡± Hirrus asked. ¡°Do you?¡±

    He didn¡¯t wait for a response and started walking again.

    He could feel Alric staring after him, likely incredulously, not immediately following. After a moment, the man scrambled, breaking from his spot and jogging to catch up.

    ¡°You know what?¡± Alric sputtered when he caught up. ¡°I think you need a nap.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Hirrus said, shaking his head with a shrug again. It had been a day or so since he last slept. And much had happened. ¡°Maybe.¡±

    ¡°Every ten fucking minutes,¡± Alric grumbled, falling in step beside Hirrus again. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got it figured out if you¡¯re a real person or not, and then you hit me with some ¡®I, Robot¡¯ shit and fuck me up.¡±

    Hirrus growled. ¡°I am a real person.¡± He turned to fix Alric with another glare. ¡°If you truly doubt that for a moment, I¡¯ll show you the same way I showed Last of the Strong.¡±

    ¡°No no no,¡± Alric said quickly, raising his hands in surrender. ¡°Not like that. You¡¯re definitely a person. A real person. I just mean, like, if you exist in meatspace.¡±

    ¡°Hm,¡± Hirrus grunted. Despite how much he¡¯d been dealing with adventurers lately, he still didn¡¯t know how to respond when they started speaking gibberish like that.

    ¡°I absolutely, totally, one hundred percent respect your personhood,¡± Alric continued, though he lowered his hands when Hirrus stopped glaring. ¡°Really, I do. You¡¯re not even just a person, you¡¯re a good person. There¡¯s plenty of people, being a person isn¡¯t anything special. But good people! Rare! Super rare!¡±

    ¡°Are you going to prattle on like this the whole way,¡± Hirrus asked, ¡°or are you going to be finished talking at some point?¡±

    ¡°Fuck, dude, have you met me? I mean. I can shut up if you want, but it¡¯s not gonna stick.¡± The adventurer shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. ¡°I have this thing where I can¡¯t stand long silences. I think it goes back to my mom. She was always¡­¡±

    Hirrus rolled his eyes with a long sigh. The next time he spoke to GM Dave, he would have to ask for another method of communication. As much as he was grateful for Alric¡¯s presence, it was grating on his last nerve.

    Luckily, Hirrus knew this trip should only take a few hours. He shuddered to think what it would be like to be stuck with this man for the entire rest of the week.

    At least he¡¯s not singing, Hirrus told himself.

 Ch 121 - Remember the Fallen

    Hirrus dug a grave for his fallen friend. While doing so, he found himself thinking about a lot of big questions. He wasn¡¯t the sort of man who spent a lot of time pondering the nature of his internal self. In the last handful of days, he¡¯d had his entire view of reality challenged, and learned things about the nature of his world that he was never meant to know.

    The implications hadn¡¯t bothered him yet - he had been quite busy lately - but digging a grave was an introspective activity.

    He realized that, first and foremost, he couldn¡¯t necessarily trust his own memory. Every week or so, the world was reset. If he died, he was brought back to life. His memory was altered to cover the discrepancy, and so he could never be sure of anything that had happened farther back than last Tuesday.

    It made the knowledge that Alric would return again bittersweet.

    The man was not gone forever. His kind heart and quick wit were not lost to this world. But when he returned, Hirrus wasn¡¯t sure if he would know him. He knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to be the same sort of friend to the man - his reinstated decision tree would see to that - but would he recognize him in the first place? It had taken the better part of the week to get used to his yammering and singing, and if that tolerance didn¡¯t carry over through the reset, he¡¯d never build it up again.

    What bothered him the most was the uncertainty.

    Or, more accurately, the lack thereof.

    When he¡¯d buried his wife, he didn¡¯t know she would come back. He had been able to stomach doing what needed to be done because if Julissa was watching over him, it was from the afterlife. Even now, if she was watching him, he knew her memory would be as fuzzy as his when she returned. It was the only way he could unleash such unspeakable violence. If she was witnessing the monster within him, it might not stick in her mind when the reset put things right.

    Alric, though? When they¡¯d met, the man had described - in detail - how he had died every week previously. His memory remained through whatever magic happened on the reset. If he was watching, then he was very much going to remember what Hirrus did.

    So, was he watching? Did he know Hirrus was giving him a proper burial? Was it a meaningless gesture that his Decision Tree was screaming at him to stop doing because Alric was an adventurer and not native to this world?

    Ultimately, it didn¡¯t matter.

    It was the right thing to do.

    And so he was going to do it.

    He was glad to finish the job of digging. Once this was done, he could start properly moving on to the next task.

    Though when he turned back to Alric¡¯s body, he found himself facing a new challenge.

    ¡°Please put that back where it was,¡± Hirrus said with a scowl.

    Nidra blinked at him in confusion. She had removed Alric¡¯s helmet and was examining it.

    The ex-assassin Awakened made no move to return the helmet to its proper place.

    ¡°Put it back,¡± he said again, firmly.

    ¡°Why?¡± Despite the question, she lifted his head and slid the open-faced helm back down over his head. She took a moment to adjust it into position. ¡°He doesn¡¯t need it anymore.¡±

    ¡°He deserves his dignity,¡± Hirrus said.

    He was glad she¡¯d started with the helmet. He knew the man was wearing powerful legendary pants, and he didn¡¯t know how he would have reacted if he¡¯d turned around to see her peeling them off of him.

    There may have been blood spilt.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be back,¡± Nidra said. She was trying to hide her irritation, but her red mask had been destroyed by her Merciless transformation, and so he could see her face now. Without that extra cover, she was as bad at hiding her emotions as Hirrus was. ¡°But his gear won¡¯t. He won¡¯t get to keep it if we bury him with it. Are you going to give up all of this for meaningless sentiment?¡±

    ¡°We buried an old man,¡± Hirrus said. ¡°A stranger. He was just a simple farmer. Nothing to either of us. He was killed by Fire¡¯s goons, and we did the right thing. Never once did Alric ask me that question about the old man.¡±

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Nidra pressed her lips into a thin line. He wasn¡¯t quite used to being able to see her face, but it made her much easier to read.

    Aggravated as she was, he was right. She could not argue his point.

    ¡°All he has are my cast-offs,¡± Hirrus said. ¡°None of it is going to be worthwhile for either of us.¡±

    ¡°There are more people than us in this fight,¡± Nidra said. Again, despite the protest, she scooped Alric¡¯s body up and moved to the side of the grave, handing it down. ¡°I am not looking for me. I am looking for them.¡±

    Hirrus didn¡¯t have a proper answer for that. He elected to ignore it.

    If her intent was to raise an army, she should have said so earlier. Alric would likely have been happy to part with most of what he was carrying, if it was for a good cause.

    This was the cost of her secrecy, then. Now it was no longer asking. Now it was grave robbing.

    That was an indignity Hirrus wouldn¡¯t suffer for him.

    Alric¡¯s body felt so light in Hirrus¡¯s arms. Despite the armor, the corpse felt like it was made of sticks and straw. He attributed it to his ridiculously inflated BUR stat, but standing in the man¡¯s grave, lowering him down onto the dirt, he felt it was more than that.

    Alric had always been so animated and full of life.

    Now that he was still and cold, his body felt empty.

    It was like holding an empty ceramic pot. With no dirt or flower inside, it was an entirely different object.

    Hirrus put Alric in the dirt and carefully crossed his arms over his chest. He took a moment to press his hand to the man¡¯s shoulder, leaving a big dirty handprint there.

    ¡°I¡¯m unsure of what you would want me to say,¡± Hirrus said to the corpse. ¡°We didn¡¯t know each other long enough for me to know. But I know to say this: you did the right thing. Whenever there was an option, no matter how painful it was to you, you did what was right. You¡¯re a good man, and worthy of respect.¡±

    He didn¡¯t have anything else to say. With a soft sigh, he clambered out of the grave and started to push the dirt back in.

    Surprisingly, Nidra didn¡¯t say anything. She stood by and bore witness to the burial, but remained silent. Hirrus had thought the two of them were closer than he had been. She may have had significant animosity towards him as an adventurer when they¡¯d met, but they were very alike. Their tactics had been so similar when they¡¯d been supporting him.

    After the grave was refilled, Hirrus cast about for something to mark it. Unlike when a non-adventurer died, no headstone appeared for him. Or, if it had, it wasn¡¯t here. Among the pile of dirt he¡¯d unearthed to dig the grave there was a hunk of stone. It was a water-worn oval shape, despite being so far from the nearest river. At about a foot long and nine inches wide at the center.

    It was a clumsy grave marker. But it would do.

    Hirrus planted it at the head of the grave.

    He didn¡¯t have any way to carve an epitaph. No Arcana would do the job without turning the stone to gravel. Alric didn¡¯t seem the sort to take such a thing personally. Considering he hadn¡¯t been properly buried at all the previous times he had died in this world, this was a big step up, even if it felt inadequate to Hirrus.

    ¡°He will remember you,¡± Nidra said quietly. ¡°I think they all will, but he will remember who you were, not what you did.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what worries me,¡± Hirrus said. ¡°Will I remember him?¡±

    Nidra was silent for a moment. ¡°In a way,¡± she said, after a time. ¡°When you deal with adventurers all day, you don¡¯t remember details. Surely you don¡¯t remember the face of everyone who¡¯s ever asked you for directions. They blend together. You can¡¯t hold grudges or be swayed by repeated bribes or favors.¡±

    ¡°Hm.¡± Hirrus grunted. He¡¯d never thought too carefully about it. It had never seemed that important to him until now.

    ¡°Our memories are fickle,¡± she continued. ¡° But the friendship you shared with Alric was not normal. Just like the animosity I had for the men who took command of our king. You won¡¯t know his name after just one week, but you might recognize his features. You might mistake him for a long-lost acquaintance. A childhood friend you lost touch with, or a lookalike for someone you used to know. Unless you see him again all week every week, he won¡¯t stick. The members of the Shadow Council are clear in my mind because I¡¯ve suffered under their yoke for weeks upon weeks. If you go all of next week without seeing Alric again, he might be erased from your mind altogether.¡±

    Hirrus nodded.

    Like the featureless uncarved headstone, it would have to be enough.

    ¡°You were right, though,¡± Nidra said, unexpectedly. ¡°He¡¯s a good man. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you see him again after the reset. And again the reset after that.¡± She shook her head. ¡°In time, you might be as close as brothers, even immediately after a reset. If he cares for sentimentality as much as you do, I would stake my life on it.¡±

    Hirrus bowed his head. It was true that Alric wasn¡¯t like other adventurers. It seemed likely that when he returned to life, he would continue to act in unexpected ways. Perhaps this was the beginning of a lasting friendship.

    ¡°We have much to do, though,¡± she said at last, turning away from the grave. ¡°I would love to let you grieve properly, but there isn¡¯t time.¡±

    Hirrus reflected on that for a second, letting her walk away as he stared at the grave. There was never time for grief.

    After he buried Julissa, he needed to get Dahlia to safety.

    And now that he buried Alric, he had to go on Nidra¡¯s crusade.

    ¡°I hadn¡¯t anticipated your efficacy,¡± Nidra said when Hirrus caught up to her. ¡°I thought there would be more survivors. More to recruit to the cause. I¡¯ll remember not to underestimate you again.¡±

    ¡°Hm.¡± Hirrus grunted again. Nidra seemed to be a different person now. No longer aloof and impatient, she was now driven and intent. It was as though killing Rumi and saving all of them from oblivion was just a chore, and now that it was out of the way, the real work excited her.

    Frankly, it was worrying.

    Just the same, he fell in step behind her.

    He didn¡¯t like being a tool, but he was committed to removing this Shadow Council.

    Hirrus wanted to make the world a better place. If for no other reason than to make a world more welcoming to Alric and people like him.

    And less welcoming to those like the Shadow Council.

 Ch 122 - Dirty Deeds

    As the two of them returned to the camp, Hirrus found himself falling in step behind Nidra, as if she were the captain of his guard unit, or a VIP his mercenary outfit had been hired to act as a bodyguard. He wondered at that dynamic for a moment, but soon decided that it was because of the shift in her demeanor. The ambition and drive in her body language made her seem a more commanding person. It just seemed natural that she took the lead now.

    Though he was made slightly uncomfortable by the quiet urgings of his decision tree. He didn¡¯t have to listen to it, but it was agreeing with him, notifying him that she was, in fact, the ranking military officer.

    When they returned to the group, Hirrus was struck by how few there were. He remembered estimating the survivors at a few score, but that was when they¡¯d been spread out around him. When he went to bury Alric, they clumped together, and while he didn¡¯t do an exact headcount, he would have been shocked if there were forty total.

    The most noticeable thing about the group, though, was how dissimilar they all were. One near the front was a literal child, with a malnourished build and visible streaks of dirt in their red hair. A few feet behind the child was a scowling older man with long dark hair, with the polished and poised appearance of a well-off merchant. On the far left end there was a diminutive woman with dark skin whose eyes looked strikingly haunted, being comforted by a beautiful middle-aged woman who had a smile on her face, despite the situation. At the very front of the group there was an exceptionally large woman who seemed to position herself aggressively, as if to defend the others, her muscular arms crossed over her chest, square jaw set as if in defiance of Hirrus and Nidra as they approached.

    ¡°I will make this simple,¡± Nidra said, her voice booming with depth and command. ¡°Nothing has changed from twenty minutes ago. You are with us, or you are¡­¡± She let the question hang in the air as she gestured around them.

    The group had tried to converge on the cleanest spot of the immediate vicinity, but there was no escaping what had happened here. A few yards away was the destroyed remains of the cart that had nearly carried their former leader to safety.

    And just beyond it was the mountain of corpses.

    The battlefield stretched from where they stood all the way back to where Rumi¡¯s command tent was. It was a path of literal destruction. Bodies strewn about. Bloody chunks scattered across the ground. Tents and other temporary structures were flattened, burnt, or disintegrated. Here and there, parts of the camp were on fire, either from neglect or earlier sabotage.

    Every bit of ground that wasn¡¯t hidden by blood or viscera showed visible damage from the Arcana that had been unleashed. There were scattered circles of soot here and there where Royal Levin had struck throughout the fight. Triangles of scorched or scoured earth from Hirrus¡¯s breath attacks. Two giant corridors had been blasted with Civilization Buster, stretching far beyond where the fight had taken place.

    But Nidra¡¯s message was clear.

    A force a hundred times their size was dead at Hirrus¡¯s feet.

    Standing in his way now was suicide.

    ¡°What do you want from us?¡± one of them asked. The voice came from the back, no doubt emboldened by the perceived anonymity that came from speaking from the rear of the group. Despite that, Hirrus was easily able to pick out the lanky man with dark skin who had spoken.

    ¡°It¡¯s not complicated,¡± Nidra said, raising her voice. ¡°I want you to help yourselves. More than that, I want to help you help yourselves. And to help the whole of the kingdom, besides. Hari has been blighted by a scourge. The scourge of adventurers. Not the ones who protect our countryside with heroic deeds, but those who treat us like disposable toys. Those like Rumi.¡± She turned her head and spit on the ground. ¡°For that, though, we need to be powerful.¡±

    She held out a hand, dividing the group roughly in half.

    Pointing to the right side with that hand, and jerking her other thumb at Hirrus, she continued: ¡°Hirrus will oversee you folks picking over the salvage available.¡± She jerked her head towards the battlefield. ¡°Keep whatever takes your fancy. Anything above item level fifty that you aren¡¯t going to wear, pass it to Hirrus. Once the field is clear, he and I will distribute what remains.¡± She pointed to the other half of the group. ¡°The rest of you, with me.¡±

    Nidra headed towards the command tent, and the group that accompanied her drew in close around each other. They had to step over the field of the dead to get there, and Hirrus could see what she was doing. Whatever task she had for them, she needed to ensure they were intimidated enough to fall in line.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    His group watched him with uncertainty, a few of them glancing between him and the mountain of corpses that he had created.

    This was not going to be easy.

    Leadership skills were definitely one of his shortcomings. Social skills, doubly so. Having reduced all of their companions to a field of gore likely did not endear him to them.

    As soon as he had that thought, he knew where to begin.

    ¡°If any of you feel about one of your former comrades the way I felt about Alric,¡± Hirrus said in a deep, rumbling voice, ¡°find them now. I won¡¯t begrudge you their dignity in burial, regardless of what gear they may have. Though we are not bound to do so by our decision trees, that doesn¡¯t mean it isn¡¯t right.¡±

    Of the dozen or so he had, nine of them set out into the battlefield. The older man with the long dark hair strode purposefully towards one of the earlier parts of the fight, gingerly lifting the body of a woman roughly of an age with him. Most of the others went to the mountain of corpses and started to dig. Amongst themselves, they quietly exchanged the names of who they were looking for, and helped each other in the search.

    The rest of the group started to pick their way through the bodies, trying to avoid the areas where the mourners searched. Hirrus cut straight to the spot where he had killed Rumi. If there was one person on this field he knew did not deserve dignity, it was that monster.

    Rumi¡¯s corpse was a pile of dismembered gore. It would have required an empty bushel basket for someone to carry him off to be buried. Despite that, Hirrus was able to retrieve the equipment from his corpse, effectively undamaged.

    As he had been an officer in Last of the Strong, it was all either level 60 or 70, and so he collected it all in accordance with Nidra¡¯s command, but only a couple of pieces were of any interest to him. So much of his equipment was legendary - with particularly valuable legendary properties - that the only way anything was going to be worthwhile was if it was for one of the few equipment slots where he wasn¡¯t already wearing a legendary piece.

    With the exception of his left-hand ring.

    He would die with his wedding band on his hand before he traded it for fleeting power.

    Once Rumi¡¯s corpse was naked, Hirrus went around picking over the rest of the field of the dead. It felt slightly ghoulish to be pawing through the piles of dead bodies, but these people had chosen their path. Unlike those searching the field around him, they had fought to the death. If they had wanted to survive, they could have thrown down their weapons at any point.

    His findings were relatively sparse. Besides Rumi, most of the worthwhile gear was on the masked adventurers. Rumi¡¯s non-adventurer followers seemed to have been neglected when it came to gear options. As the others approached him and handed him what they had found, he hoped their haul was so thin because they¡¯d been able to equip themselves effectively. He only found two pieces himself that he wanted to equip.

    Mocking Trousers

    Legs

    Ilvl 70 (Legendary)

    +350 TEN

    +350 SUP

    +700 Cooldown Reduction Rating

    +700 Attack Speed Rating

    Special: Weapon attacks against targets whose move speed is slowed by at least 20% causes all Arcana currently on cooldown to increment 0.25 seconds on their cooldown instantly.

    Reaper¡¯s Footwraps

    Feet

    Ilvl 70 (Legendary)

    +350 TEN

    +350 RES

    +700 Cast Speed Rating

    +700 Cleave Rating

    Special: Area of Effect Arcana that only damage one target do 10% bonus damage to that target.

    They were useful abilities in two of the slots he was wearing item level 60 gear. One of them mitigated a large problem he¡¯d struggled with: Arcana cooldowns were simply too long for him. A way to reduce them was an immeasurable boon.

    The focusing ability imparted by the boots was a larger help than it seemed.

    In the aftermath of the battle, he was well above the cap for total active Arcana he could equip at one time. The bonus for area damage Arcana in inappropriate situations meant that he could unequip a large number of his single-target options without fear.

    Between Rumi and the masked adventurers, there were a handful of other legendaries, and so when he and his group finished their task and returned to Nidra, he presented them to her first.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure someone will have a use for these,¡± she said, accepting the gear. ¡°I¡¯ll distribute it after our next task.¡±

    ¡°None of it is of value to you?¡± Hirrus asked. ¡°That¡¯s surprising.¡±

    ¡°Rumi went out of his way to prepare me for this task, to the detriment of all others,¡± Nidra said with a smirk. ¡°And I peeled a few useful items from the corpses of Fire¡¯s closest lieutenants on my way out of the camp. If there¡¯s anything in this camp that matches what I already have, I will be shocked beyond measure. Beyond it would be impossible.¡±

    ¡°If you say so,¡± Hirrus said. He lowered his voice, leaning closer. He knew it wouldn¡¯t help - there was nothing else to distract their new group from their discussion. ¡°But I am unsure of how much this is going to help. Some of these folk were not guards, or soldiers, or highly-placed royal assassins. Gear will not make them stronger than average adventurers, much less what I imagine you will be sending them after.¡±

    ¡°Our strength is not only in our stats,¡± Nidra said, raising her voice to let the others hear. ¡°We have a gift no adventurer can match. A limitless capacity for Arcana. A few dozen more Arcana in our pockets, both for their active power and passive benefits, and we will be more than a match for what¡¯s to come.¡±

    Hirrus wanted to point out that ¡°limitless¡± was incorrect. The limit was simply at one hundred and twenty-seven. Likely more than she had, even after the battle against Rumi¡¯s army.

    ¡°Not all of us learned our Arcana incidentally through mass murder,¡± Nidra continued, as though reading his mind. ¡°But we know how to get them. And we¡¯re not afraid to work for them, are we?¡±

 Ch 123 - Arcana Farming

    Nidra divided the group again and she and Hirrus led their respective charges into the forest around the camp. Her plan was to hunt down adventurers in the region and kill them, learning their Arcana and stripping them for supplemental gear.

    There were indeed some adventurers in the area. Some of Fire¡¯s masked followers were still about, having fled into the forest either as the fight ended, or shortly after the fight began. They usually had banded together, but never anywhere near a large enough group to be a threat.

    He had about sixteen companions with him. When there were fewer than three adventurers in a group, he directed them to fight without his direct involvement. Hirrus had enough healing Arcana to support them from behind, letting them learn to work together to fight stronger foes. He was anxious about their safety, but staying close at hand meant they were never in real danger.

    The first adventurers they found was the largest. Fighting alongside his charges, Hirrus wiped the enemy out in seconds. Between his blades and breath attacks, the fight was barely worth remembering once it was done. A spectral blade weakly whirled through the air in an expanding spiral orbit around its now-dead caster and over the bodies of their dead friends. It was a new Arcana, though it wasn¡¯t terribly powerful.

    Blessed Blade

    +5 ATT, +52 Crit Rating

    Damage: 0.75xATT + 0.5xRES

    Cast time: 0.25 seconds

    Cooldown: 25 seconds

    Added Effect: does triple damage to demons and undead. Each enemy hit reduces its cooldown by 1 second.

    To Hirrus, the damage rating wasn¡¯t worth seriously considering, but the enthusiastic reaction of his allies told him that they didn¡¯t have many options at all.

    Nidra had been right to have them engage in this hunt.

    He¡¯d thought that Rumi had done all he could to empower his followers to earn their loyalty. It turned out that he hadn¡¯t done that at all. These people were going to need all the help he could offer.

    Running down adventurers, he did end up learning two useful Arcana, in addition to a half-dozen near-useless attacks that were too weak for him to bother with.

    Walk The Wok was an interesting area-of-effect attack. It conjured a large metal pan - the wok in question - and striking it caused a resounding racket, powerful enough to do reasonable damage. The added effect for the Arcana was a brief stun. Despite the moderate damage, the Arcana had a sixty second cooldown, presumably to make it nearly impossible to apply enough cooldown reduction to continuously stun a whole group of foes.

    The other was actually somewhat exciting. It was called Suppression Roar, and it blasted an area with reasonable physical damage. The multiplier was less than his breath attacks, but just barely. The real prize was the added effect. It reduced enemy RES by thirty percent for fifteen seconds. When the adventurer hit him with it, it had a tremendous effect on his healing Arcana, which all had RES-focused multipliers. If he was going to be facing coordinated adventurers again, this would be critical to his success. Though it was certainly nice to add another physical area-of-effect Arcana to his arsenal as well, regardless of its utility.

    In addition to hunting down lurking adventurers, Hirrus also directed his group to find and fight natural monsters in the region. This gave them some much-needed practice, as well as valuable experience points, even if the Arcana were mildly unimpressive. They learned the Boar Charge, Cricket Scream, and Constrictor Wrap Arcana that he had learned on the trip here, as well as a Viper Bite Arcana from a naturally camouflaged snake he hadn¡¯t encountered when he was with Nidra and Alric.

    The trip was not without excitement, though. One of his charges identified a monster lurking in a nearby clearing as something worth dealing with. A local Reputable Monster that was the frequent target of quests out of Shemil due to the threat it represented to the town. Hirrus ordered the rest to stand back and let him deal with it - once they had all dealt some amount of damage to it in order to earn the Arcana rewards that victory would bring.

    The clearing was small, with the forest close in around it. This close to the mountain foothills, the ground was dusted with frost, and the off-white ground camouflaged the gray-skinned beast. It was some manner of serpent, though instead of coiling on the ground, its body was underground, with only a three-yard length of it sticking up out of the ground, along with its head, which looked like that of some sort of eye-stalked lizard. Four eyes on the ends of tentacles peered around, watching its surroundings. Its mouth was full of serrated teeth, and a forked tongue stabbed out periodically, tasting the air.

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    As Hirrus watched it, its name appeared in his mind¡¯s eye.

    Interred Ingrid

    100%

    Hirrus moved to attack it first. He wanted to do as he always did and power up before smashing it hard, but he was afraid it wouldn¡¯t survive. This monster didn¡¯t have a long series of intimidating titles. If he killed it outright in just a few seconds, his allies would not be able to share in the kill and get credit.

    Then again, they¡¯d only been his allies for a few short minutes. He had to consider the possibility that this would be a setup. If any of them still had sympathy for Rumi or their fallen friends, a monster like this might be the best chance they¡¯d have to get their revenge.

    As the monster¡¯s stalk eyes turned to him, though, the first attack from his group was a simple Arcana that flung sparkling stars at the giant lizard-worm, tickling it with a little damage. Before it could turn its attention to his ally, Hirrus¡¯s hooked blade carved into it. Three thousand six hundred damage wasn¡¯t much, but it was surely enough to establish himself as the true threat here.

    The monster whipped its head at Hirrus, but he was just a little too fast for it, dancing out of the way of the beast. Its body extended as he backed away, more and more of it spooling out from underground to give chase, and it whipped its head at him again, jaws snapping at the air as he kept moving.

    Several of his charges rushed in, their blades and clubs smacking at the base where it emerged from its hole. It turned and went to lash out at them, but Hirrus reached out with Icy Grief, dealing a thousand more damage, but afflicting it with a potent slow, giving the others ample time to get away after making their contribution to the fight.

    ¡°Good work,¡± Hirrus called to them as they fled back to the treeline. ¡°When I draw it out again, I want the rest of you to come in all together. There¡¯s no reason to waste more time on this than necessary.¡±

    Hirrus got its attention back with Ascension¡¯s Sands, flinging a blade of sand at its head. The attack blasted four thousand damage into it, taking a reasonable chunk of its hit points while also blinding it. Its eyes tried to blink the sand away as it whirled back towards Hirrus.

    Instead of rushing him, though, it used its first Arcana, rearing back and spraying him with a ray of blue-and-red light from its mouth. The colors were separated into discrete bands that spun wildly in a pattern that dazzled the eye and confused the mind. Hirrus flinched at it, but instead of affecting his mind or senses, it affected his body. His legs were rooted to the spot, unable to move.

    It meant that when his allies moved in, he was unable to stop as the monster turned its attention to them, thrashing its body about to menace them with its serrated fangs..

    ¡°Avert your eyes,¡± Hirrus barked, giving the order the gruff tone he remembered from his combat instructors in his youth.

    He couldn''t wait for them to obey or not. He blasted the clearing with Melisune¡¯s Eye. The giant worm¡¯s instincts kept one of its stalk eyes on Hirrus, allowing the gaze attack to connect. Without any of his buffs - especially X¡¯ruhn¡¯s Balance - he dealt very little damage compared to his normal output with the high-multiplier Arcana. The monster only took three thousand damage. But the purpose wasn¡¯t the damage. It was the additional effect. The monster was Calcified by the attack, locking its body in place.

    ¡°Strike as one,¡± Hirrus commanded the people who had nearly blundered into danger. ¡°Once it takes damage, the effect will end. Coordinate. Strike together and retreat immediately. If you can¡¯t work together for something this simple, you should have thrown yourselves on my blades when you had the chance.¡±

    With that harsh threat, the group exchanged a few quiet words. One of them took the lead, counting down, and they all brought their weapons down at once.

    Their simultaneous strike dealt significant damage to the monster. But it did break the Calcified debuff, and the monster let out an enraged hiss at the indignity.

    Hirrus¡¯s legs turned from stone to rubber, and he staggered forward, charging the monster with a roar of challenge. It nipped at the heels of one of his impromptu students, but Hirrus made it pay for the attack, chopping his icy greataxe into its flank. The strike was a critical hit, and did over five thousand damage, drawing a scream of pain from its toothy maw. The blow was almost enough to finish the fight, and Hirrus whirled his greataxe around for another blow to end it.

    But not before the monster¡¯s flexible body flipped around and it sprayed orange dirt into his face.

    Hirrus was familiar with Gritted Breath. Seeing it now was unexpected. He¡¯d believed that each monster¡¯s Arcana was unique to that beast alone. This proved that it wasn¡¯t so. The monster did over six thousand five hundred damage to him with it, but the furred gauntlets he wore had a legendary property that negated effects that dealt damage over time. He only suffered the initial damage and not the debuff.

    As such, undeterred, he smashed the blade of his greataxe into the side of the monster¡¯s face.  A six thousand damage critical hit was more than enough to finish the monster off, and the top half of its face - along with two of its eye stalks - hit the ground fifteen feet away. The rest of the beast thrashed, spraying purplish blood all over Hirrus in its death throes.

    ¡°That should be enough,¡± Hirrus announced, wiping worm blood from its mouth with the back of his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the camp.¡±

 Ch 124 - Sideways Angle

    When they returned to the camp, he was disheartened to see Nidra waiting for him with her group. It either meant that she had a far more efficient method than he had come up with, or she had put much less effort into empowering her group than he did.

    ¡°Good. You¡¯re back,¡± Nidra said as Hirrus and his half of the group rejoined them. ¡°I was just about to send someone to find you. As much as I would love to take our time, we don¡¯t have the time to take. What we have will have to be enough. Once we begin, it will get easier. Every challenge overcome will make us stronger. If you lack confidence in our strength now, that should only tell you how much more power we will gain before this is over.¡±

    Hirrus tried not to stare at her as she spoke. She felt like a different person. Nidra changed so seamlessly from terse assassin to commanding leader. He wondered where she had come from. His own history included a lot of mercenary work before he was a guard. Perhaps she was a military general before she became an assassin.

    ¡°Should we-¡± someone asked. They immediately fell silent when Nidra¡¯s gaze snapped to them. It was the red-headed child Hirrus had seen at the front of the group earlier. When Nidra didn¡¯t snap or bark any commands, they tentatively continued. ¡°Should we destroy the camp before we go anywhere?¡±

    ¡°An excellent idea,¡± Nidra said with an uncharacteristically soft smile. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t leave this monument to Rumi¡¯s legacy standing. Those who escaped the fight and our hunt might use it as a rallying point for their revenge.¡± She swept her hand out, a gesture encompassing the camp. ¡°Dismantle everything. Bring it all here. We will burn it all.¡±

    The group went to work at that.

    Hirrus found himself recognizing the genius of Nidra¡¯s order. These people had - literally - bent the knee to them, but they had literally just met. Their unfamiliarity with true autonomy was likely what had bound them to following orders - or some lingering fragments of whatever philosophy had kept them following Rumi. It was tentative control, and they had no guarantee of their continued loyalty.

    But as the group spread out through the wrecked camp, Hirrus could see that Nidra was taking another step towards building favor with them.

    The majority of their new followers were attacking the remains of the camp with gusto. Their enthusiasm was no doubt driven by an emotional response to what they¡¯d suffered here. Or, perhaps, an emotional response to what Hirrus had done. The group had aggression to work through, and there were plenty of inanimate targets.

    Nidra taking a suggestion from the team, and using it as an opportunity to express understanding and allow some catharsis, was a smart move. Hirrus was impressed. And, perhaps, a little bit more hopeful that the loyalty of the group would not be as fleeting as their loyalty to Rumi had been.

    Hirrus was surprised when it only took about thirty minutes for the assembled crew to turn the entire camp into one big pile. They had left the corpses alone, but piled all the tents and furniture they¡¯d found against the sides of Rumi¡¯s destroyed cart. The group that had gone with Nidra in search of Arcana had a potent move speed option available, and it allowed them to cover ground much faster as the task went on, greatly speeding up the effort.

    When the work was done, Nidra gathered them all around the pile.

    ¡°Let this fire be a sign,¡± she said, ¡°to all those who stand in our way. This is what will become of them. A pile of ash.¡±

    She opened her mouth wide and unleashed an Arcana. A bestial roar issued from her throat, and a gout of flame struck the pile, igniting it so fast that a chunk of it burned to ash on impact, causing the whole pile to shudder and fall in on itself, scattering a huge plume of cinders into the air. The Arcana was very different from Hirrus¡¯s Peppered Breath, which was issued directly from Hirrus¡¯s mouth. This flaming roar erupted from the air itself about three feet away from her.

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    ¡°When I first followed Rumi,¡± Nidra said, raising her voice to be heard above the roar of the fire as more of the pile began to catch, ¡°it was because I agreed with him. Not with his goal, but with his methods. He wanted to destroy the Shadow Council, who rule our country with a hidden grip of iron. He wanted to push them aside and replace them, to make himself the new hand on the king¡¯s leash.

    ¡°That I did not agree with.

    ¡°But the Shadow Council? They should be destroyed! They should be pushed aside! But replacing them is the dream of a monster. His desire to become the newest shadow over a stolen throne was why I broke from him, and plotted his downfall.¡± She raised a clenched fist. ¡°I will see his orders done, but not to the same ends. Not for a new master, but for no master at all. For freedom!¡±

    Hirrus nodded along as she spoke, and saw others doing the same. Not all of them, but enough.

    ¡°Rumi is dead, but he was the least of the monsters loose in our country,¡± Nidra continued. She looked around the group as she spoke, making eye contact with each person in turn. ¡°The Shadow Council¡¯s members hold a power no adventurers should. Domination. Subversion of our will. Weaponization of our decision trees against us. The rightful king must rule, and for that, his dominators must die.

    ¡°If you will not fight for what is right,¡± she called, as her eyes met Hirrus¡¯s, ¡°then fight for yourself. For revenge. And not for what Rumi did to Awaken you, but for what the Council has done to you every day before that. Many of the struggles you faced in your ordinary lives were because of this very Shadow Council.¡±

    She thrust her hand out to the east, and slightly north. In the direction where the capital lay. ¡°Their power over the king has warped and twisted our laws and lives to funnel more power back to them.¡± She clenched her fists again, her knuckles turning white. ¡°They amass more wealth than they can spend in a lifetime, and still call for more, while our decision trees make us scrape and struggle to feed our families. We must cut the food off our own plates to feed our neighbors because the Shadow Council takes the money that could put bread on every table in the country. And their only use for it is to gather it into a giant pile and stare in open lust at the power it represents.¡±

    Hirrus flinched at that. He couldn¡¯t help but think of Dahlia. He had always been grateful that his decision tree had allowed him to support her through the hardship of her pregnancy, after the loss of her husband. But Nidra was right. He shouldn¡¯t have had to. The flagrant displays of ostentatious wealth he¡¯d seen on display by the adventurers came into stark focus as a contrast to how they lived. It was not just the Last of the Strong¡¯s gaudy mansions and expensive mercenaries, but Rumi literally building, sheltering, and feeding an entire army on short notice.

    One man - even a far cry from the most powerful - was able to fund a force that could storm the country¡¯s capital and install him in power. And yet Dahlia had to depend almost entirely on the kindness of her community just to be allowed to eat.

    ¡°When they can no longer control King Larisa Bors, he will put your needs above that of adventurers,¡± Nidra promised. ¡°We will no longer be second-class citizens in our own homes. We will no longer be secondary to hostile powers that only exist to wring wealth from our bodies and our lands. We will make this a country where we can live in service to ourselves, and not in service to those who abuse us!¡±

    The group¡¯s silent nods turned to vocal agreement. To cheers.

    Hirrus felt an uncomfortable chill. He told himself it was because he had been leading himself ever since he was liberated from his decision tree. It would take some time to get used to following orders again.

    That wasn¡¯t the reason for his discomfort, but he told himself it was.

    Nidra began to issue orders, not to Hirrus, but to the other Awakened. She organized them into small squads, and designated a leader for each one. The enthusiasm of her speech combined with the earlier catharsis of destroying the camp had them moving to obey without question.

    Each group was about six or seven people. The designated leaders were unexpected choices. One was the red-headed child. Another was the diminutive woman who had seemed on the verge of breakdown after the battle. Hirrus supposed he would have to trust what Nidra was doing. He took the opportunity to step away from the group, moving to the other side of the bonfire and watching the huge pile crumble to ashes bit by bit.

    He found himself wondering if this was his fight at all. He tried to push the thought aside, but it kept coming back to him. Nidra¡¯s confidence and capabilities s a leader seemed more than enough to handle this, but more than that, her passion outweighed anything he felt. He had no connection to what Nidra had said. Rumi had represented the final member of Last of the Strong that he needed to kill for his revenge. More than that, he didn¡¯t need the country¡¯s support. He was happy with his life, and moreover, he was happy to help Dahlia. He did not miss the part of his pay that went to support her.

    Destroying the Shadow Council certainly seemed the right thing to do, but he feared he was just being dragged along for lack of any other cause.

    Did he really need to be here?

 Ch 125 - Liar, Liar, Cart on Fire

    Nidra took a few minutes to organize her squads before she started asking questions. She asked about those who had knowledge of Denstad - the capital of Hari - and who had been privy to Rumi¡¯s plans of attack after her departure but before Hirrus¡¯s arrival. She pulled that group aside, presumably to help refine her own plan.

    The rest of the group began chatting amongst themselves. Many of them knew each other already, and so they spoke excitedly about Nidra¡¯s promises, and what they meant for their lives.

    Hirrus just kept watching the fire. They had gathered so much together that parts of the pile were still just catching.

    ¡°Merciless,¡± someone said from near at hand, before he could get lost in the dancing flames.

    Hirrus looked up, expecting to see someone about to make the mistake of picking a fight. Instead, he found three of the Awakened approaching him. Despite what they called him, they didn¡¯t appear hostile.

    ¡°Call me Hirrus,¡± Hirrus said.

    ¡°Sorry. Hirrus,¡± the first man said. It was the lanky fellow who had first questioned Nidra¡¯s intent before they began their work. ¡°We were hoping for a moment to speak with you.¡±

    ¡°Say your piece,¡± Hirrus said. ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to thank you,¡± the lanky man said quickly. ¡°Obviously, we¡¯re sorry that we fought you at first, but you showed us what was wrong with our thinking.¡± He gestured at the area that was still littered with bodies. ¡°Very aggressively.¡±

    Hirrus nodded with a wan smile.

    ¡°Thank you as well for sparing us,¡± one of the others cut in. She was a squat woman with close-cropped hair. ¡°You had no reason to, after what we did. But you proved yourself to be a better man.¡±

    ¡°I just want to know why,¡± Hirrus said, unable to hold it behind his lips any longer. ¡°Why would you follow someone who had just finished torturing you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ complicated.¡± The lanky man couldn¡¯t look Hirrus in the eye. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to explain it.¡±

    ¡°He gave us freedom,¡± the woman said. ¡°For some of us, that was enough to forgive how he gave it to us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it,¡± the third person said. He was a shorter man with his chest armor intentionally poorly-fastened to hang with much of his chest exposed. ¡°Not for all of us. For some, it¡¯s just¡­ our nature.¡±

    Hirrus looked over the three of them. None of them could meet his eyes. They were ashamed of how easily Rumi had been able to control them. But Hirrus was starting to understand. They¡¯d lived their lives literally bound by an internal system that gave them orders. Some of them might have been grateful enough to be free to allow themselves to be used for further atrocities. But the others? When the system that controlled their lives was removed, those who lacked purpose had been hungry to be controlled by a new system.

    ¡°Ask him,¡± the man with the exposed chest said. ¡°Get it over with.¡±

    ¡°You ask him,¡± the lanky man snapped back, in sotto voice, as if he could hide the exchange from Hirrus right in front of him. ¡°I got us this far. You finish the job.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to say anything,¡± the woman said.

    ¡°You do now,¡± Hirrus said with a sigh. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±

    ¡°We¡­¡± the lanky man began. He grimaced, and despite his height, he seemed to physically shrink with anticipatory fear. ¡°We just want to go home.¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t our fight,¡± the bare-chested man added. ¡°It isn¡¯t even a fight all of us want to happen. Nidra wants to kick all the adventurers out of the country. Some of us make our living off of them.¡±

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    ¡°And¡­¡± the woman said, hesitating before she finished with a grimace: ¡°and she scares us.¡±

    Hirrus wondered why they were afraid to tell him this. Obviously, admitting it to Nidra would have been frightening to anyone she could kill with a flick of her wrist, but he hadn¡¯t considered what it had looked like from the outside. To these people, he was her attack dog. Admitting this to him might have been just as dangerous as admitting it to her wide-bladed dagger.

    ¡°She doesn¡¯t want to kick the adventurers out of the country,¡± Hirrus said, though the words sounded like a poor excuse even as he formed them. This wasn¡¯t their point. ¡°She only wants them to stop controlling the king. She doesn¡¯t even want to replace them, and control him in their place.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make it any more our fight,¡± the woman said. All three of them seemed emboldened by their continued survival. ¡°We don¡¯t want to be a part of this. We don¡¯t want¡­¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t want to be used anymore,¡± the bare-chested man said quietly, in a pained tone that contrasted with his bold appearance.

    ¡°We¡¯re not even useful to you,¡± the lanky man added. ¡°We aren¡¯t fighters. We¡¯re just normal folk.¡± He put a hand to his own chest before gesturing to his companions one at a time. ¡°Farmers. Merchants. Tavern Keepers. We don¡¯t even know any useful information,¡± he said, hooking his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing across the clearing to where Nidra was talking with the group she¡¯d decided had valuable contributions to her plan. ¡°We¡¯re just extra hands at best. Cannon fodder at worst.¡±

    Hirrus took a deep breath. Hearing them put voice to his own concerns stabbed at his chest in a way he couldn¡¯t ignore.

    He suspected he could get them to fall in line with well-placed encouragement. Or with an open threat.

    But did he want to? Were they wrong?

    ¡°With me,¡± Hirrus said to them, shifting his weight before stepping around the trio. ¡°And keep your mouths shut.¡±

    They trailed behind him as he crossed the space. Even as he strode purposefully and confidently towards Nidra, the three of them seemed to shrink in on themselves, drawing closer together. Did they fear Nidra that much? Or did they fear he was going to turn them in for insubordination and have them punished publicly to keep the others in line?

    ¡°Nidra,¡± Hirrus said, interrupting her meeting. ¡°A moment.¡±

    She held up a hand to stop the discussion before turning to him. Wordlessly, she arched an eyebrow, her eyes flicking briefly to his terrified retinue.

    ¡°These three had an idea I think is worth your time,¡± Hirrus said, gesturing at them. ¡°They fear that the fire won¡¯t be enough. Rumi¡¯s remaining supporters might still regroup once we leave, especially with the remaining forces that hid out in Shemil¡¯s citadel.¡±

    Nidra¡¯s eyebrows shot up at that and she nodded for him to continue.

    ¡°We should leave a small force behind,¡± he said. ¡°Just a few. They don¡¯t need to be able to put up a fight, just to slow them down.¡±

    ¡°Something to harry and distract them,¡± Nidra agreed, ¡°keep them from nipping at our tail when we move out.¡±

    ¡°Precisely,¡± Hirrus said.

    Nidra¡¯s brow furrowed for a moment as she considered the suggestion. At length she nodded.

    ¡°Set it up,¡± she said to Hirrus. ¡°I¡¯ll reorganize the squads once its done. No more than five, though. We can¡¯t afford to weaken our forces more than that.¡±

    Hirrus nodded and turned away, leading the trio back towards the fire.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what we wanted,¡± the lanky man hissed at Hirrus as soon as they were out of earshot. ¡°We don¡¯t want to sit here on a suicide mission!¡±

    Both of his companions elbowed him from either side, simultaneously admonishing him to shut up.

    ¡°Then don¡¯t,¡± Hirrus whispered, electing to explain anyway. ¡°Just stand here until we¡¯re gone, and then do whatever you like.¡± He shrugged. ¡°If you have two more friends who doubt the cause, tell them as well. No more than that.¡±

    ¡°Why, though?¡± the bare-chested man asked. ¡°Why lie to her to help us?¡±

    ¡°I saw what Rumi did to you all,¡± Hirrus said, remembering the monster of a man tormenting his prisoners for no other reason than the joy of their screams. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to be here, it would be nearly as monstrous as he was to force you. You all have suffered enough. If I can offer you comfort in these last few days of freedom, why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    The woman opened her mouth to answer, but the bare-chested man reached across and put a firm grip on her shoulder.

    ¡°No reason at all,¡± he said. ¡°Right?¡±

    ¡°Right, right,¡± the woman said. ¡°Just what I was about to say.¡±

    Hirrus wasn¡¯t sure if he found their antics amusing or not. They were an odd group. As they broke away from him to return to the remaining group, he found himself worried about them.

    The lanky man had said he wanted to go home. Considering what Hirrus had seen of Rumi¡¯s operation, it was likely his home was a smoldering ruin. But he wouldn¡¯t know that, would he? At the last town Hirrus had come upon, the townsfolk were being rounded up before the buildings had been burned down. He had also not been very quick on the uptake. It was possible he hadn¡¯t realized what had happened.

    Despite all that, he felt he had done the right thing. These people had been used enough. Even if Nidra was using them for a good cause, they deserved to have a choice. Those who wished to choose their own path should have the opportunity.

    He was starting to consider if he should be one of them.