《Eusberia》 Chapter 1. The Crash I awoke, lying in an uncomfortable position on something hard and metallic. There was a nasty ringing in my ears as I heard knocks, blows and steps. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed people walking by me. The clatter of boots, the screams of people, a siren¡¯s shriek. My eyes readjusted and I blinked slightly, seeing a flashing light in an unknown room. Where am I? A man with a dishevelled dark-blue uniform ran past me with panic on his face, and then after him another one, and another. Their startled eyes told a story of how they were in a rush to get somewhere. I didn¡¯t understand what was happening; my head hurt and spun as if I had hit it somewhere. I suddenly felt someone inject something into my shoulder, after which my mind began to clear as I regained my sense of self, yet I still had no understanding of what was happening. I was too weak to ask any questions. ¡°Staff Sergeant!¡± A man¡¯s voice called out somewhere to my left. Turning my head, I saw a man with pale skin, wearing a medical uniform that was stained with blood. His face was panicked as he put a palm on my shoulder. ¡°Are you alright? You seem to be¡­¡± His eyes turned from me to a device he held in his hand as he used it to seemingly check my health. ¡°No physical injuries,¡± he recited, ¡°just a small concussion and chance of amnesia. Great. You¡¯ll live, now stand up and help me.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± I said with incomprehension, still not knowing where everyone around me was rushing off to. It seemed as though my throat decided to dry up at that moment, and so I coughed. The medic patted me on the back and helped me get on my feet, which made my head swim and see spots in my vision. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± I asked while I was trying to steady myself. ¡°The shuttle crashed,¡± the medic replied cooly, picking up a scanner and first aid kit. ¡°Many are dead or wounded, and I need your help.¡± At this moment I started to look around, though it was still hard to do so, and slowly began to process the situation I was in. I was standing in a vast hall, lined with metal plates for walls, the ceiling of which was damaged as wires and other assorted devices hung from it. I didn¡¯t immediately realise that I was somewhere in the troop landing bay; all the seats were smashed, dozens of bodies laid on the floor, some bleeding out, some already dead. Some soldiers with dark blue uniforms cleared out the rubble, taking out the crewmembers who had died, while others helped the wounded who were bleeding out on the floor. As I shook off the dizziness, I realised that the floor I was standing on seemed uneven. Then I remembered where the nose of the shuttle was, I was looking right at it. It seemed to be pointed down. The next moment, another voice, one more familiar, yet still unknown, bellowed out, ¡°Attention! Depressurising! Everyone, put on your breathing masks!¡± A soldier with a bloodied face came from somewhere and began handing us masks, after whom a girl ran, handing us the assorted filters. ¡°We don¡¯t know if the environment outside is breathable, so put them on, quickly!¡± someone shouted in a commanding tone and, looking back, I saw an officer, judging by the ¡®1+¡¯ on his shoulder straps. ¡°We must first help the survivors! Don¡¯t let them die in the ass-end of nowhere!¡± While the lieutenant was shouting, I affixed my mask, just like everyone else had, and followed the medic into a different compartment. Rubble was everywhere. Wires, fittings, and metal plates all stuck out at the wrong angles. The lighting in some of the shuttle¡¯s compartments had failed, plunging many rooms into absolute darkness. Most of the equipment that had been salvaged from the ship was smashed into bits and pieces and it wouldn¡¯t likely be useful, even as salvage. But even worse was the sight of dead bodies that littered the floor. There were many, too many, and it looked like hell on earth. I knew that the shuttle could carry up to five hundred people and seeing the bodies made me think that most of us had already died. I felt uneasy. The medic, meanwhile went through a broken door into the next room, turning on the flashlight attached to his head, finding a wounded crew member who was pinned between a fallen piece of the ceiling and the floor. He was conscious and surprisingly calm, not batting an eye at the fact his life was in danger. ¡°Why are there only the two of you?¡± the wounded man grumbled as soon as he noticed us. Only his arms were visible, the other half of his was body likely crushed, beyond saving. His hopeless situation, however, did not deter his dissatisfaction that only two rescuers were coming to help him. ¡°Give me my tablet, I¡¯ll get out myself!¡± shouted the man to the medic. Scanning the wounded man, the medic responded indifferently, ¡°The airlock to the compartment with the droids isn¡¯t opening, so until we can get a plasma cutter to open it, you aren¡¯t going anywhere.¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± the wounded man spat. ¡°And what do you think I should do? Lie here and drop dead?¡± ¡°Hey!¡± I heard a woman¡¯s voice from somewhere behind the rubble. ¡°Do you need a cutter? I can hand one over!¡± ¡°How?¡± I asked, looking over the wreckage. It would be impossible to pull apart, much less squeeze anything through it. ¡°The airlock at the stern, in the landing bay, can open, and there¡¯s a hole in the hull here. I can give it to you outside,¡± said the woman. ¡°Great,¡± the doctor answered, turning to me. ¡°Staff Sergeant, go to the landing bay and open the airlock, get the cutter and take it to the engineers, tell them what to do. They¡¯ll figure it out. ¡°Order acknowledged and received!¡± I answered automatically and ran to the stern of the shuttle. But who is he, anyway? I thought, trying to remember anything, anyone, yet all I got were vague impressions. Passing through a few compartments where chaos reigned supreme, I found myself in the aft compartment, where four soldiers stood, rifles at the ready. The four were without helmets and had flashlights on the muzzles of their rifles. Upon seeing me, they all stood at attention and saluted me, placing their right palms to their temples. I didn¡¯t expect such a reaction on their part. One of them spoke to me. ¡°Staff Sergeant, it is good that you are alright. What are your orders?¡± I quickly explained to them what we needed to do, despite not remembering any of their names, ¡°We need to open the airlock. The fifth compartment has collapsed and a soldier behind the rubble has a cutter. We need it to open the airlock to the droid compartment. We need to meet them outside and get the cutter. Is that clear?¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± the soldiers said in unison and I could only nod. ¡°Then get started.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± they responded as they moved away. One of them approached the control panel on the wall and began to work his magic, after which the airlock opened and the ramp lowered ¨C or, rather, fell. What we saw next stunned us all. The shuttle was filled with the sound of fierce winds and a monstrous downpour. A lush, dense jungle appeared before my eyes, covered in the hurricane¡¯s rain, and in the distance, there was a whole path of fallen trees, almost in the shape of a welcoming arch. Further away was only an impenetrable grey fog. Black clouds constantly let loose lightning. If it wasn¡¯t for the glare behind the clouds, I would have thought it night. Thunder rumbled as the rain flooded whole sections of the forest, turning the earth into brown rivers of mud. Though we were on another planet, its gravity seemed to be similar to Earth¡¯s, as was the atmospheric pressure and composition. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Just in case, we all checked our masks to make sure there were no leaks. Everything seemed fine. Still, catching an alien disease in these conditions would be easy, so we took a big risk when we ventured out onto the ramp. The four soldiers pointed their rifles forward out of habit, their light illuminating the puddles outside. After a brief look, one of them responded, ¡°Clear!¡± I grabbed a gun, holding it in my right hand. It felt almost natural, giving me a sense of security and calmness. Despite the feeling, I still felt naked without a combat spacesuit. Venturing into unknown territory without reliable protection gave me a feeling of helplessness, as if I were a small child going down into the basement for the first time. Having examined the area, and with the rain not letting up, I gave an order to the four soldiers. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The four soldiers, the names of whom I still couldn¡¯t recall, came out, sinking knee-deep into the mud, and I followed them, even as my legs screamed in pain about the ice-cold mixture of dirt and water. We didn¡¯t stick around for long, wading through to the left side of the crashed shuttle, trying to find the woman who had promised to hand over a plasma cutter. The left side of the shuttle had been fully enveloped by trees, the boosters severely damaged. The trees were too thick to see through. I decided to go to the other side, and the picture painted wasn¡¯t pretty, either. But then I heard it: a faint voice from the distance. ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± The woman¡¯s voice was heard. ¡°Come on!¡± I walked, climbing the roots of massive trees until, at last, a girl with coal-black skin crawled out of the bushes. She, too, had a see-through breathing mask on her face and was wearing an orange naval engineer¡¯s uniform. Her black hair was neatly hidden under a helmet. ¡°Here it is.¡± She handed me the device with an ¡®F¡¯ shape, the plasma cutter I was looking for. She then pressed her hands to her belt and began to examine the weather while looking around. ¡°It¡¯s pouring. You wouldn¡¯t get such weather on Alsis.¡± ¡°On Alsis?¡± I didn¡¯t understand, hearing a familiar word, but not quite being able to remember what she was talking about. ¡°We know,¡± said one of the soldiers behind me, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t get such weather even on Mars.¡± ¡°You have rain on Mars?¡± another fighter asked. ¡°Yeah, just not acidic ones,¡± commented a man in a dark blue uniform who had appeared behind the girl. He held a scanner in his hands, and I noticed in a panic that he wasn¡¯t wearing a mask. He waved our concerns away. ¡°The atmosphere itself is breathable, but the precipitation is anomalous. The rain¡¯s full of toxins. You¡¯ll be fine if you get wet, but do not consume it.¡± He fixed us with a stare. ¡°The toxic sediments don¡¯t affect the skin, but if it gets inside of you, climb into your coffin.¡± ¡°Shit! Well, I don¡¯t want to take any more risks! Let¡¯s go!¡± said one of my soldiers. We all retreated to the airlock. I found the engineer and handed him the hard-earned plasma cutter. Seconds ticked by as the engineer cut away at the debris, until, at last, the airlock fell with a loud clang. The droid compartment was open. ¡°Done! Activate the droids,¡± said the engineer to his helmet, after which the machines began to awaken. Droids of all types emerged, from the more humanoid to completely alien-like appearance. The machines were simple, capable only of obeying direct commands from an operator. Upon hearing the command, a dozen droids went to the damaged compartments and began to remove the debris. A few of them detoured to the medics inside. I, in turn, returned to the compartment where the first man I saw lay, a drone operator, judging by the uniform that I could see in the newly-lit area. The droids were doing a fine job. ¡°Help me!¡± Shouted the medic and, grabbing the wounded man by the arms, pulled him out. It didn¡¯t look good; the lower half of his body turned into a pulp, completely mangled. I didn¡¯t know if he would make it, much less walk, as his stomach was reduced to a bloodied sack. He grunted as the medic injected painkillers, and I didn¡¯t dare interfere. Having averted a major disaster, I decided to try my luck at remembering again. I sat down on a fallen-down beam and concentrated. Soon, something prodded at my mind. So, we were flying to Kanasis, no, from Kanasis, but we fell out of subspace into a random star system, managed to fly straight through a gas giant¡¯s atmosphere, and then survived the inevitable overload, cruising to a habitable planet for weeks. Except an accident happened in orbit, the crew evacuated to the available shuttles and then, then¡­ Nothing. All I got for my efforts in trying to remember further was a painful headache. ¡°...shit! It¡¯s as if I¡¯m without legs!¡± The droid operator grumbled as he was examined by the medic. ¡°You¡¯re not without legs, per se, you just can¡¯t feel them yet,¡± the doctor said, rolling his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s the difference? I still can¡¯t use them,¡± the operator grumbled, more subdued this time, as he controlled the droids using his tablet. I spent the next hour helping the injured crewmates as best I could. The droids cleared away the rubble, the engineers repaired what they could, and everyone else helped everyone else as best they could. Then, an airborne IFV pilot came running to us with unpleasant news. ¡°There¡¯s an emergency! The batteries are fucked beyond recognition! ¡°What?¡± I muttered to myself. ¡°But we won¡¯t be able to take off without them.¡± ¡°Yes, and without the fuel, too!¡± said somebody else. ¡°We still have backup power, but that¡¯s only enough for half a day. Of course, we could attempt to make a bio-generator out of the salvage, but don¡¯t expect it to work miracles. We managed to gather the survivors into one compartment, sixty-one people, including me. The wounded wounded were transported to another compartment. A man with the rank of lieutenant, judging by the shoulder straps, gathered himself and spoke. ¡°So, our shuttle fell behind the rest of the group and crashed here, in this jungle, and we don¡¯t even know what caused it.¡± The lieutenant''s voice became gloomy as his eyes hardened. ¡°439 people died, including First Lieutenant Muhammed and Lieutenants Kazansky and Yuan. As there are no superior officers left, I am taking command of our regiment. Everyone understand? ¡°Yes, sir!¡± We all sang out in unison. The lieutenant nodded. ¡°Is there a Staff Sergeant Kiptio here?¡± Wait¡­ Kipito? That sounds familiar ¨C wait, that¡¯s, me! I stepped forward. ¡°I¡¯m here! Staff Sergeant Boris Kipito on the spot!¡± ¡°Staff Sergeant Kipito, you are being promoted to the rank of Junior Lieutenant for an indefinite period, and platoon C1-2-2D4 will come under your leadership. Objections?¡± ¡°No, sir!¡± The lieutenant hummed. ¡°Alright, next one¡­¡± And that was when I stopped listening. Ten years of service in the Republican Armed Forces of Humanity and I finally got that promotion, albeit under such tragic circumstances. After finally regrouping the command staff, the lieutenant finally gave us orders. ¡°Junior lieutenants, gather in the third compartment. We will discuss the situation there. The rest of you, gather your things and secure the perimeter. Everyone understand?¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± We all replied in unison. ¡°Great! Get to it!¡± The lieutenant ordered. I headed with two other junior lieutenants to the third compartment, which I saw was covered in blood, while the fourth compartment, just barely in sight, held dozens of body bags. A humanoid tactical droid stood next to the lieutenant and displayed a holographic spherical map in its ¡®hand¡¯ while the superior officer addressed our group. ¡°The main group of shuttles landed about here¡­¡± The lieutenant said, gesturing towards the map that showed two red dots, the site of our crash and the landing sight of our main group. ¡°Six thousand kilometres away, give or take.¡± An enormous distance I thought to myself, slightly tilting my head to capture the reactions of my colleagues. Their faces mirrored mine. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t just our shuttle that crashed. Two more cargo shuttles crashed here¨C¡± The map whirled as a completely different region was displayed, ¡°¨Cand here. Their condition is unknown.¡± Fixing us with a stare, he continued as the map once again changed, ¡°And a cruiser crashed here. One can only imagine the destruction the ship caused to that side of the planet. The damage would be comparable to a medium-scale asteroid hitting.¡± The map altered itself once again. The presumed location of the cruiser, the ¡®Zeus¡¯, was marked in red. The yellow surrounding it was likely the most damaged area, while the green was less so. The results were not pretty. In total, the ship¡¯s crash affected 30% of the planet¡¯s surface. I could only imagine what hell we had inadvertently inflicted on the impact zone. The crash of a huge ship, carrying nearly two hundred thousand people would not have any positive effects on the local ecosystem. If there were any intelligent civilisations here, the crash of the ship would greatly alter their course, for better or worse, as long as they survived. ¡°Our current objective is to regroup with the 127th Army.¡± The lieutenant once again made himself known. We have lost all communication with our general staff. Though the atmosphere is breathable, I doubt this alien ecosystem would sate our hunger, we could starve.¡± The lieutenant shook his head, looking at the floor. ¡°Therefore, we will only use our rations and religiously filter the water. We would get to our destination using the surviving IFVs, but there is one problem¡­¡± ¡°The forests,¡± guessed one of the junior lieutenants beside me, crossing his arms. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to use them on the ground effectively, and if we switch to air mode, we¡¯d use up all our fuel.¡± The lieutenant nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s right, so we¡¯ll go about doing this in a slightly, let¡¯s say lazier way.¡± The holographic image changed and the droid showed the area where we were, a dense jungle with incessant rain and a long trail of bent and broken trees, courtesy of our shuttle. ¡°We will have to temporarily settle here and restore contact with headquarters, then send a signal for help. A rescue shuttle will come, eventually, though it would take some serious work to repair our relays. Any objections?¡± Nobody answered. ¡°That means everyone is in agreement.¡± Said the lieutenant, taking a deep breath and wiping the sweat off of his forehead. ¡°We¡¯re in deep trouble now, boys.¡± All in all, I agreed. All we could do was settle, restore communications and wait for the rescue, if we even could restore communications. Our satellites didn¡¯t orbit this mysterious planet, and the system in general had no one to occupy it. We were running out of energy, which would be used up by the end of the day, and we only had enough rations for a month. And if there was any dangerous flora and fauna, then we would have to expend our already precious supply of ammunition. I just hoped that nothing would befall us, that we wouldn¡¯t get into any kind of skirmish or conflict, that we all would survive this nightmare. I just hoped. Chapter 2. Calm Sixty-one people, thirty-two of whom were wounded and unable to walk. The remaining four hundred and thirty-nine people died in the crash of the military transport shuttle ?Persia?. Both shuttle pilots were killed. Someone was thrown out of a hole in the casing while the shuttle was in the sky, their bodies have not been found. As it turned out, the damage to the casing did not appear as a result of the shuttle colliding with the surface of the planet, but something or someone collided with the aircraft and, unfortunately, we do not know what exactly. We had to put into one compartment many corpses of our colleagues and friends, with whom we spent many months of service on Kanasis, and before that on the Moon. Their bodies completely filled the compartment, leaving virtually no free space. Seeing so many dead bodies and how few of us were left filled us with a feeling of oppression and despair in the current situation and only Lieutenant John and his confidence kept everyone in check, giving us hope that all was not lost. Meanwhile, the rain outside did not stop and continued to drown the jungle, and the energy in the shuttle was almost gone. Only batteries for lamps, tablets and short-range communication devices remained working. The lighting inside the shuttle was turned off and only dim lamps were burning inside the compartments where the surviving soldiers of the Republic Armed Forces of Man lived. The droid operator deactivated his ?children?, as he put it, and walked around the compartments throwing up his hands, not knowing what to do now. Without droids, he was like without legs, and he now walked in an exoskeleton due to his wounds and crushed legs, in particular. His legs were broken and required serious treatment. The medic somehow got him back on his feet, but as soon as the charge in the batteries of his exoskeleton runs out, he will no longer be able to walk. Engineers, meanwhile, tried to fix what could be fixed among all this rubbish. Food replicators, our breadwinners, could not work without energy, nevertheless, engineers repaired them, but alas, we will not soon be able to use them to replace our own dry rations. When energy appears, we will definitely use them. Engineers also repaired the broken airlocks between the compartments and corrected many technical faults, but it was impossible to plug the hole near the nose of the shuttle outside the shipyard. There weren''t enough sheets to repair the sheathing. Even if the hole were somehow repaired, the road to space would still be closed for us. New sheets, if we had them, would not provide the tightness necessary for entering orbit and staying in space. When the ?Persia? shuttle crashed, the retractable antenna was damaged, which is why long-distance communications were lost and, accordingly, we could not contact the rest of the army. To fix it, you need to print out the necessary parts on a special STCNC machine. This STCNC machine was not on the shuttle, but it could well have been on one of the cargo shuttles, which also crashed for an unknown reason a couple of thousand kilometers southeast, judging by the holographic map built before the crash of cruiser ?Zeus?. However, due to the densely wooded terrain, it was impossible to use the IFV to quickly travel across the surface to the nearest cargo shuttle. The journey by armored vehicle would take up to two weeks one way if possible. However, by switching to the mode of ground-air movement, it was possible, even taking into account vegetation obstacles, to get there even in a week, but moving back would become impossible and back to the shuttle would have to be done on foot, which in fact already sounded like a plan. ¡°So, this is how we solve our problem.¡± Said the lieutenant, taking off the now unnecessary breathing mask, like everyone else, revealing his thick black beard. ¡°Platoon C1-2-2D1 under the command of Junior Lieutenant Leo Fonmarin will take the IFV ?Trebuchet? and get to the crash site of the nearest cargo shuttle, search it, find and take the STCNC machine, destroy the IFV ?Trebuchet? for the purposes of the military-technological security of the Republic and head back lightly across these plains and mountains. Just in case, take one combat spacesuit to drag away the machine. The return trip will take platoon C1-2-2D1 two months. Junior Lieutenant Fonmarin, is the order clear?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Answered Junior Lieutenant Leo. He was blond with a thin build and pale skin. Like half of the 127th Army, he was a Martian, which meant he was also tall, pale and thin in build. I don¡¯t even know if we know each other. My memory has not yet fully returned, but I still remember some things in fragments. At this time, the lieutenant continued the briefing with a very, very serious expression on his face. ¡°Our task for the two remaining platoons is to get safe food. As you know, we only have enough provisions for a month, but taking into account the transfer of existing supplies of rations to platoon C1-2-2D1, it will last for a week.¡± ¡°And where will we get food?¡± I asked the lieutenant. ¡°We''ll hunt.¡± The lieutenant answered, and another officer, junior lieutenant Uwon, asked in turn. ¡°On whom?¡± ¡°On someone.¡± The lieutenant answered sternly, squeezing the pistol in his hand, ready to go out hunting himself. ¡°When you shoot someone and bring them here, the chief physician will examine the local wildlife for biological hazards. He will decide whether to eat local animals for us or not. In a week we need to quickly switch from rations to a local diet. Otherwise we will die of hunger.¡± ¡°Fortunately, we still have drugs to prevent dangerous diseases.¡± Said the chief medic, appearing behind us still with a breathing mask on his face. ¡°The problem is not at all in the safety of this food, but in its preparation. We will have to collect firewood, dry leaves, branches and light fires like in the good old days. We shouldn''t have any problems with the latter since we have a plasma cutter. We will use it to light a fire.¡± ¡°Questions?¡± The lieutenant asked and we all shook our heads and then answered in unison. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°No questions, sir!¡± ¡°Then let''s get started.¡± The lieutenant clapped his hands. Meanwhile, I returned to the aft compartment, where all the soldiers who survived the crash were located and I met with my platoon C1-2-2D4, although in fact it should have been called C1-2-2D3. We only had three junior lieutenants and, accordingly, three platoons. Of course, my platoon was short of four people and five more were wounded. As a result, only ten people, plus me, remained safe and sound under my command. The wounded of our platoon sat in the dark next to dim lamps and warmed themselves from heat generators whose energy was also running out. The doctor was just examining one of them. Although the soldiers were in a desperate situation, being far beyond the borders of their home, somewhere deep in space, who knows where, and stuck in an anomalous space on a primitive inhabited planet and also separated from the main group, they still retained a certain collective optimistic mood, apparently in order to somehow cheer up in such a desperate situation. ¡°A11.¡± ¡°Past.¡± ¡°Infection.¡± ¡°I 17.¡± ¡°Argh! Killed! But how?¡± ¡°Luck.¡± ¡°Fuck you!¡± A couple of fighters were playing naval battle on tablets. Apparently due to the lack of energy, the screens of their tablets were dim to save power. A couple of other people, it seemed familiar to me, were sitting nearby, having a casual conversation about politics. For me, discussing the topic of the politics of an interstellar state remained some kind of transcendental matter that I am unlikely to ever understand. ¡°And what? Do you think the fukults will just leave Kanasis alone? Senate didn''t just send us there, did they?¡± ¡°You do understand that the Confederacy controls most of the galaxy, right? Moreover, this is not even a state, but an unification¡± ¡°Yeah, the unification would threaten humanity by building military stations near the Republic space. Maybe they have already done this somewhere between the stars, but we don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t listen to Republican propaganda on the Internet. They can say a lot of things there. There on Kanasis there was simply a reputational dispute about the ownership of the system and the Kanasians asked the Republic for military support to protect them in case of aggression.¡± ¡°Of course, they asked to protect them because this "unification" does not want its own collapse and they need to return Kanasis to their fold by any means. Our presence there would provide at least some guarantees of the sovereignty of the planet, and this is a threat of war. If the Fucults attack, our peaceful life will come to an end.¡± ¡°There will be no war. Sending several armies there is simply a symbolic gesture from the Senate of the Republic. Do you think people and fucults are stupid enough to start a war on a galactic scale over some system?¡± ¡°Why not? If the fukults see our Republic as a threat... oh!¡± The soldiers, noticing me with the symbols ?1? on my dark blue shoulder straps, realized that their junior lieutenant appeared before them. They put away their tablets, stopped arguing, stood up and saluted as the code told them to. ¡°Sir!¡± They sang in chorus and saluted. ¡°At ease.¡± I said and everyone relaxed. ¡°I got an unexpected promotion, didn¡¯t I, Will?¡± One of the fighters arguing about politics with his neighbor was my friend, with whom we served on the Moon. Fortunately, I was able to remember this after hearing his usual relaxed and optimistic style of speech. ¡°Will you tell me what your salary is later? Maybe I¡¯ll also want a raise when we get out of here.¡± Will said with a grin and the whole platoon laughed. ¡°Okay, jokes aside. I came to tell you about current goals.¡± I said and the fighters became more serious and began to listen to me more attentively, and in the meantime I sat down on one seat next to them and started with the bad. ¡°In general, we transfer most of the rations to platoon C1-2-2D1...¡± Before I had time to finish, the soldiers began to mutter in indignation. ¡°Uh~ why?¡± ¡°Seriously, why? Everyone has enough at the expense of sevenths. What¡¯s the matter?¡± Apparently they didn¡¯t want to give their rations to other soldiers from another platoon, which is understandable, but then I raised my hand and silenced my soldiers, and then said: ¡°Alas, but it is so. You will have to live with it.¡± They did not resign themselves and continued to stand with dissatisfied faces. I continued to say: ¡°Platoon C1-2-2D1 will carry out a mission to deliver some kind of special machine from a cargo shuttle that crashed two thousand kilometers southeast of the cargo shuttle. Their journey will take two months. More precisely, one week on an infantry fighting vehicle there and two months back on foot. Therefore, we are transmitting part of their rations to them.¡± ¡°What are we going to eat?¡± The yellow-faced Itami Show, who had previously defeated his opponent in a naval battle on a tablet, was indignant. ¡°We''ll eat what we shoot.¡± I answered and Will immediately asked me. ¡°Is it even possible to eat local animals? Won¡¯t we get poisoned?¡± ¡°Get poisoned,¡± I admitted. ¡°But we will also swallow pills and use drugs in case of foreign infections, well, you know that. We all went through this on the Moon.¡± Remembering one training episode from early service, they realized what they would have to go through. They, of course, didn¡¯t like it, but if they wanted to survive and not die from a cold, then they would have to inject themselves with special drugs for biological protection from the effects of the alien ecosystem and its infections. Meanwhile I continued: ¡°Our task will be to hold out as long as possible until Platoon C1-2-2D1 returns. When they will return and bring this STCNC machine, in parts or in its entirety, I don¡¯t know. In short, as soon as they do this and bring the machine, the engineers will conjure a new antenna on the machine and then we will call a rescue shuttle from the rest of the 127th Army. That''s the plan. Is everyone clear?¡± ¡°Yes...¡± Everyone said lazily, taking out and preparing their rifles. ¡°We won¡¯t put on spacesuits?¡± Asked a sniper named Esko. ¡°For what? Are you planning to fight against the Pantorians? Hah~!¡± Will grinned as he disassembled the machine gun for cleaning, after checking how many magazines with cartridges he had. ¡°No... it¡¯s just somehow unusual without a spacesuit.¡± Replied the earthling, checking his sniper rifle. ?It¡¯s also unusual for me to be without a combat spacesuit...? I sighed and took out a magnetic key from my pocket. ¡°Limit yourself to police equipment.¡± I answered, opening one of the lockers and taking out light helmets, body armor, bags, goggles and water flasks, and then I began to hand them these things. ¡°We don''t know who we can meet here, so dress in this for now.¡± ¡°Where does this police equipment come from?¡± Asked a Martian named Forn, picking up a camouflage helmet. ¡°These are naval ones.¡± I answered, shaking to check the presence of water in the flasks. The fighters changed into the green camouflage available on board the shuttle, after which the fighters began to eat their rations for the evening. Some ate themselves, while others spoon-fed the wounded while communicating with them. One of the wounded lay silently for a long time. He suddenly began to delirium, and that was not surprising. During the crash, the ceiling fell on him, nearly piercing his skull and taking away his eyes, leaving him ultimately blind. The medic miraculously managed to patch him up, but until that moment there were no other deviations in his behavior, and now he mutters this: ¡°Sod... Sod... great Sod... I pray you... Sod...¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Asked a black girl engineer sitting next to him. ¡°He seems crazy,¡± Answered another wounded man with his arm cut off at the elbow. ¡°Sod... Sod... will come...¡± ¡°Who is Sod?¡± the girl asked and no one answered. ¡°Even I don¡¯t know.¡± The medic shrugged his shoulders and then he answered the maddened one. ¡°Sod is nearby. Calm down." For some reason the wounded man smiled. ¡°So-o-od~...¡± I didn¡¯t listen to him any further and took out a sleeping bag from one of the lockers. The compartments were lit by dim lamps, and all the surviving fighters were mostly engaged in reading something on their tablets, playing board games, arguing on political topics, or doing something else before going to bed. In general, everyone spent their free time as best they could and wanted. After some recovery from the terrible crash, where we found ourselves completely alone in some anomalous jungle, we all went to bed in our sleeping bags and fell asleep. Even though we didn¡¯t know what awaited us next, the next day promised to be full of new events. Tomorrow we will go hunting. Chapter 3. Oddities I don¡¯t know what kind of animals can be found on this planet, large or small, but alas, as a simple soldier, I don¡¯t know how harsh this planet is. While we were still in space on the cruiser, they did not tell us anything about the planet where we were supposed to settle for a while, apparently due to the fact that no unexpected incidents were expected. Moreover, during all the time we were wandering through this jungle, we could not find any signs of the existence of even insects, and the harsh downpour continued to water our heads and drown the jungle. We kept in touch with the rest of the platoon, wrapped in camouflage raincoats, essentially turning into living bushes, and due to the brown, swampy water below, we still got wet and dirty in the mud. ¡°I can not see anything.¡± Esko said displeasedly while examining the dense thickets through the scope of a sniper rifle. ¡°What about a thermal imager?¡± Forn asked next to the sniper. ¡°You''re an idiot?¡± Esko grumbled. ¡°How to look here with a thermal imager? There are these trees and bushes everywhere.¡± ¡°Half a day passed, and we still haven¡¯t found anything.¡± Will said, crouching behind me. ¡°You need to climb to a hill and examine the jungle from above.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t the wind blow away?¡± Itami asked. ¡°There was no wind yesterday either.¡± I answered, holding the bioscanner in my hands, seeing absolutely nothing on the screen. ¡°Could there be interference here?¡± Suddenly, someone snatched the scanner from my hands and examined it. ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°They may well.¡± I heard a woman¡¯s voice. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I asked Sigrun, a black engineer girl, with dissatisfaction in my voice. Alsisian examined the device, not forgetting to answer me. ¡°I''m bored.¡± She said and returned the bioscanner back to my hands. ¡°You''re right, something is interfering with the scan. Apparently somewhere nearby there is a source of electromagnetic pulses and this is not from ?Persia?.¡± ¡°How do these impulses interfere with bioscans?¡± Will asked, seemingly not surprised by the new addition to our platoon. ¡°This... this takes a long time to explain.¡± Answered Sigrun. ¡°Many factors influence the bioscanner. First of all, it catches the smallest radiation from carbon-based life forms, and only then, during processing, it separates the data from simple life forms from complex ones. The bioscanner works quite well, but does not show anything on the screen, not even microorganisms. Something is blocking all signals nearby.¡± ¡°What is blocking?¡± I asked, putting the bioscanner under my raincoat. ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure, but something is clearly strange.¡± Sigrun was also wearing a camouflage raincoat, but unlike us, she was unarmed. I still don¡¯t understand how she was able to slip past us and not get caught in our eyes or was it only me who couldn¡¯t notice her? It didn¡¯t matter now, and yet we don¡¯t need her here. ¡°Get back to the shuttle.¡± I ordered the engineer, and she responded by rolling her eyes and pointing to the north. ¡°There is one tall tree there. I saw it on the map. You can climb in and look around from there.¡± Said Sigrun throwing a hood over her head. ¡°Well, I''m off, have a good hunt.¡± ¡°Don''t trip.¡± Will added with a grin, seeing how the girl disappeared into the jungle, and then Will turned to everyone else. ¡°Did she say north?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I confirmed. ¡°Let''s go there, maybe we''ll find someone.¡± ¡°The main thing is not Zempzen.¡± Said another fighter named Ashwani, picking up his rifle. ¡°Are you afraid of them?¡± Itami asked with a grin as he made his way through the bushes. ¡°Why aren¡¯t they afraid? They are everywhere. They can even be here and give nightmares to all living things here.¡± ¡°Well, if there was a Zempzen hive here, we would have noticed it immediately.¡± I said and we then headed north. Meanwhile, the weather didn¡¯t want to improve in any way, but we didn¡¯t have time to wait for the sun¡¯s rays to appear overhead. Fortunately, this toxic water falling from the sky is still amenable to at least some filtration, and we can drink it safely. After a few minutes of walking through the jungle, I heard a voice in my earpiece from a member of our platoon: ¡°Sir, I think we have the ninth.¡± I stopped between the thickets and asked: "Ninth?¡± "Yes. Anzhey cleared his throat. He¡¯s not feeling well at all.¡± ?Oh shit. The last thing I needed was for one of my guys to catch an alien infection, especially right after the start of the hunt.? "Crap. Return to the shuttle and we will continue the hunt.¡± ¡°Understood, sir, end of connection.¡± ¡°The second group is eliminated due to the second ninth.¡± I told my soldiers. ¡°Ninth? Who is this anyway?¡± Asked Ashwani. He was a new recruit not only in our platoon, but in the army as a whole. He is not yet accustomed to the speech of the Republic Army soldiers and he still has a lot to learn. Everyone except him served in the army for more than ten years and can already be said to have created a separate language for themselves. ¡°These are people who dropped out due to illness.¡± Itami explained, stepping over huge roots and stepping into muddy puddles. ¡°Who are the eighths?¡± Asked Ashwani brushing away a large thorny bush. ¡°These are those wounded in battle.¡± Esko has already answered. ¡°And the seventh ones are dead?¡± "Yes." Itami answered and we all fell silent. It was hard to think about anything else when suddenly you remember that so many people died because of the shuttle crash. It seemed that our death was inevitable due to this series of failures, but thanks to Lieutenant John, we still have hope of surviving on this planet and returning home to our worlds. The main thing for us is to work together and together in order to return to our native harbor to our family and friends. ?My little sister is already grown up.? I remembered my family. ?I promised to return to Earth after ten years of service, but now shit has fallen on my head.? ¡°Do you want a joke?¡± Asked Will. ¡°Shut up.¡± We all answered in unison. ¡°But I¡¯ll tell you anyway.¡± ¡°You will be left without rations.¡± I threatened. ¡°Understood.¡± Will understood and fell silent. An hour later, we reached a tall, lonely tree in the middle of a flooded clearing and noticed in its trunk a human-sized hole from which an orange glow could be seen. We all immediately realized that there was someone here and clearly intelligent. I assumed that someone had lit a fire inside the tree trunk and gave the order to his soldiers: ¡°Get ready.¡± I ordered the soldiers, and we all prepared our weapons, ready to shoot at a potential enemy at any moment. Esko hid behind the bushes, aiming towards the opening in the tree trunk. Will and Itami stood on either side of the entrance to this slot, and Ashwani and I walked forward and entered the tree trunk. Forn was behind us and was in the rearguard following on our heels. Coming out of the dirty rainy puddles and stepping as quietly as possible into the narrow but high opening, I saw something that I had never seen and gave the order: ¡°Lights out.¡± I saw a glowing orange flashing stone on some kind of stand made of roots, looking as if a thousand wooden palms were holding something sacred, pressing it with sharp fingers. The stone was uneven and did not make any sounds. Its radiance was somehow strangely mesmerizing. I wanted to touch it, but before that, taking out the mineral scanner, I realized that it itself was emitting a lot of light, and not just red-hot, as I had initially thought. The mineral scanner showed a lot of strange data. Unknown material, many electromagnetic pulses, several magnetic fields and even gravitational distortion, although I could not confirm this visually. This thing was emitting a huge amount of energy, rather than absorbing it from somewhere. It is not normal. Whatever it is, it''s very strange. At that moment, Ashwani walked around me and came closer to the glowing stone. At first he looked at this light as if hypnotized, and then suddenly he grabbed the stone with one right hand, and the next moment Ashwani loudly screamed: ¡°aaaaaah~!!!!" First his hand, and then his entire body, was enveloped in a bright light. Some strange electric sound filled the space inside the tree trunk, and then there was a flash and Ashwani disappeared without a trace, and that glowing stone remained in the same place where it was. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. I was shocked by what happened. The next moment, Ashwani''s rifle fell to the ground and accidentally fired into the barrel, leaving a small burnt hole in the tree. Other fighters reacted to the sound of the shot. "What''s happening?!" Will shouted while I was in shock and backing away in horror. "Shit!" I swore. ¡°Ashwani! Damn it!¡± ¡°What''s happened?¡± Itami ran inside the trunk. ¡°Where is Ashwani?¡± ¡°Don''t go near this stone!¡± I ordered with a shout, pointing to the glowing stone. ¡°He touched it and disappeared.¡± ¡°What?¡± Esko was surprised, speaking into the earphone. ¡°Who is Ashwani?¡± I adjusted the earphone: ¡°This is no time for jokes!¡± ¡°I''m serious.¡± Esko calmly answered over the communication. ¡°Esko, what are you talking about?¡± Forn asked after also witnessing Ashwani''s disappearance. ¡°He was with us all the time.¡± "What the fuck is going on here?" Will swore. "How could he disappear?" None of us understood what was happening. A fighter disappeared without a trace and I didn¡¯t want to risk the disappearance of the others. Horror arose inside me, my heart beat like crazy. I tried my best to calm myself down and put my thoughts in order. "Let''s go back." I ordered, trying to keep a serious expression on my face. "Forn, mark this on the map as an anomalous object." "Yes, sir." Forn answered and took out a tablet and did what I ordered him. We got out and gathered together under some branch away from a tall tree and after that Will suddenly attacked Esko, pressing him to the tree trunk. "Hey!" I tried to separate Will and Esko. ¡°Ashwani disappeared, and you, bitch, are trying to joke?!¡± Will was angry. "Who is he?!" Esko shouted back with complete confusion on his face. "What just happened? What are you talking about some Ashwani? What are you even talking about?" ¡°It¡¯s worth asking you what you¡¯re talking about!¡± Will shouted with a face ready to beat his own friend for inappropriate words. "Enough!" I shouted imperiously and everyone fell silent, and then I turned my face to the sniper, asking him one specific question. "Esko, whose rifle is this?" I showed him the Ashwani rifle that I had managed to pick up. Esko took the rifle in his hands and looked at it strangely, and then asked me: "Did you find it inside the tree?" "What are you talking about?" I was surprised. ¡°You went in there with Forn, and then came out with this rifle.¡± "Ashwani has disappeared, this is his rifle." Esko''s face suddenly became shocked. "I don''t understand." "Me too, to be honest." I answered, taking Ashwani¡¯s rifle from Esko. ?Esko is not the kind of person who knows how to joke and also not the kind of person who would try to joke in an inappropriate situation. After Ashwani disappeared, he was seemingly erased from Esko''s memory. What''s going on here? We need to contact the lieutenant.? I reached for my earpiece and called the shuttle, after which I spoke directly to the lieutenant. "Sir, can you hear me?" "I hear...~shhhh~ ...interference...~shhhh~ ...what... ~shhhh~ ...say..." "Itami, climb higher with the station." Itami nodded his head and began to deftly climb the tree with the communication station behind him, amplifying the signal, after which the interference in the earpiece began to disappear. ¡°How can you hear now?¡± "Better." Answered the lieutenant. "What''s the matter?" "An incident has occurred. Sergeant Ashwani is missing." For some reason the lieutenant fell silent at that moment. It seemed to me that the interference had intensified and drowned out the entire signal, so I asked again: "Lieutenant?" "I''m on the line. Wait. Who is Ashwani?" I heard the lieutenant¡¯s curious voice in the earphone. ¡°He¡¯s not listed in the database at all.¡± "A?" I was surprised. ¡°I... will give you the report face to face. How did you understand?¡± "Accepted. End of connection." The lieutenant answered and turned off the connection. Meanwhile, I turned to face my guys, who, obviously judging by their faces, did not understand what had happened. "I don''t know what happened, but we better leave before we''re all gone." "Holy shit... we''ll leave without Ashwani... damn it!" Will was angry and was the first to go south towards the shuttle. "Let''s go." I gave the order to the others. Soon we returned as a platoon to the shuttle, where I immediately reported to the lieutenant what had happened. "So that''s what happened." The lieutenant said when he heard my story. "This is weird." A senior medic stood next to the lieutenant and shook his head with dissatisfaction, clearly not really believing what he heard, and not surprisingly. It¡¯s hard to believe in the disappearance of a soldier who doesn¡¯t exist for you, who for some reason is not in the database, in a strange glowing stone, and in the fact that everyone has forgotten Ashvani except us. "Are you trying to say that some non-existent person disappeared right before your eyes?" Fred, the chief medical officer, spoke with skepticism. ¡°Are you aware that this is unscientific nonsense? You should have proof of all this.¡± "Ashwani was there!" Will spoke angrily behind me. I covered the path between him and the lieutenant with my hand so that he wouldn¡¯t do anything stupid. "The four of us couldn''t just make it up!" "Yet Esko doesn''t even know him." Fred said and switched his gaze to the sniper holding Ashwani''s rifle in his hands. "Here." Esko handed the Ashwani rifle to Lieutenant John, who took it in his hands and began to inspect the weapon. "This is Ashwani''s rifle. I saw Boris go into the hole in the tree trunk with Forn, and came out with this rifle. I don''t know what happened, but it seems we have all really forgotten this Ashwani, whoever he was." ¡°Hmm~...¡± The lieutenant looked at the markings on the rifle that read ?RAFM-AAR-Ashwani? and said. "This rifle is not listed in our regiment." ¡°Nevertheless, it couldn¡¯t have fallen out of thin air.¡± Itami said now crossing his arms over his chest. "I have a guess, but I need to find out something." We all looked at Itami, and the lieutenant asked the sergeant: "What exactly?" Itami did not wait and asked: "How many people did we have on board the shuttle and how many of them survived?" The lieutenant did not hesitate to answer. "499 people and 60 of them survived." "Why not 500?" Itami asked. The lieutenant was about to answer something, but suddenly he became thoughtful, and Itami, in turn, continued to develop the thought: ¡°During the evacuation, we couldn¡¯t forget one soldier on the cruiser?¡± The lieutenant shook his head in response and said out loud: "It can not be¡­" At that moment we all realized the true scale of this incident. Evacuation on the cruiser was carried out in the order that the shuttles were filled. There could only be one shuttle with an incomplete crew, and it definitely wasn¡¯t our shuttle. Ashwani simply disappeared for everyone else, and not only from memory, but also from the database and, in general, from reality as such. ?This is madness! Ashwani was simply erased from reality!? I realized, gradually falling into depression from the realization of this. Itami was not silent and continued to talk, telling everyone about his crazy theory: ¡°It seems that after Ashwani touched that glowing stone outside a certain radius, everyone forgot about it. Esko was the furthest away, and we Boris, me, Will and Forn were right next to that tree almost right next to each other, and apparently that¡¯s why we still remember him.¡± "Really... that sounds like unscientific nonsense." The lieutenant agreed with the medic and himself wrote down in the list of tasks on his tablet: ?investigate an anomalous object.? "Another problem on our head." "This is not the first problem." The medic said indifferently. "About the second group of platoon C1-2-2D4." "What''s wrong with them?" I asked, a little surprised, since I sent them back to the shuttle because they were sick. "They were all exposed to an unknown infection. I quarantined them in a free compartment. They showed symptoms such as fever, weakness, large green round spots on the skin. The infection does not seem to be contagious, but just in case, stay away from them and wear breathing masks when visiting them. I still need to find out the cause of the disease and find a way to develop a vaccine. It is unlikely that human immunity will cope with the infection." "Understood." I answered. Then the guys from my platoon and I stepped aside to talk about the current situation. ¡°There are also diseases...¡± Forn said sadly, taking out and attaching his breathing mask to his face. "I''ll go check on the ninths." "Fine." I answered and Forn left, and I turned to the rest of the guys. "Tomorrow we will continue our mission. Let''s go west this time." All my fighters nodded, and at the same time I thought. ?Almost three quarters of my platoon were out after the crash. My platoon is no longer combat-ready and can do little under the current circumstances. Many guys were wounded and sick, and one was completely erased, as if from the universe itself at the very root! Calm down, Boris, you are a commander, you should not show weakness. Stay strong!? "Sir?" Asked Will, losing all his optimism in front of me. "What?" "What are the orders?" I became thoughtful, realizing that I had not let them go. "At ease. Rest." Will and I answered, Itami and Esko left. In the meantime, I decided not to indulge in gloomy thoughts and decided to leave, when suddenly another officer of my rank entered the ¡°command¡± compartment, which used to be the service compartment for shuttle pilots. Junior Lieutenant Uwon, seeing me, came up to me before he went and talked with Lieutenant John and while I had not yet left. "Wait, Boris, how''s the hunt going?" Uwon asked me, too pleased with himself. ¡°No way at all. A fighter disappeared, and the second group contracted a local disease, and this despite the medications taken before the hunt.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pity, but my guys almost got lost. They were so scared when the map started to go out from the tablets that they ran as fast as they could to the shuttle. Fortunately, no one got lost. If the map had disappeared then, we would have also gotten lost in this jungle. Boris "There''s something wrong here." "I know." I answered seriously. "It''s been wrong here from the beginning." ¡°Yeah. First we fell out of subspace, flew through the atmosphere of a protoplanet. Then there was some kind of accident on the cruiser, then something in the sky damaged our shuttle, and we fell behind the others. Failures follow us, Boris.¡± "They''re just faster." I said with a grin and we both laughed. Uwon is a good man, a Republican to the core. Always confident, loyal to the ruling party and has a large family on Earth. Surprisingly, he is actually quite an optimistic person and always knew how to relieve tension with a joke. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Boris, we got out of the Moon and we¡¯ll get out of this planet somehow. No matter what obstacles we have, we are people and when we work together we are stronger than anyone. So... I started talking to you. Well, I¡¯m off.¡± "Well, good luck." I said goodbye to Uwon. He went to the lieutenant and stood at attention and began his report, and I returned to the living quarters and sat down in one empty seat. I could still hear that annoying rain pouring down on everything outside. The local weather was too abnormal. On the map, of course, it was clear that this jungle was surrounded by mountains and steppes from the north, but according to preliminary data collected in orbit, there were few rivers at all. There shouldn''t have been a river basin here. I¡¯m not a geographer, but at first I thought that these abnormal rains were the result of the crash of our cruiser on the other side of the planet, but I threw out this option, since the weather could hardly change so immediately and quickly. We have yet to feel the consequences of the disaster. In general, if you look at the map of the continent on which we found ourselves, it was clear that it was full of a variety of biomes. Mountains, deserts, plains, forests, steppes, jungles, savannas and much more. There was only no Arctic ice, mainly because the continent was located on the equator. ?This planet would be an ideal colony for some interstellar civilization. High suitability index, Earth-like atmosphere and gravity. There are three small moons, but this planet is not occupied by anyone. Is it really just because she¡¯s anomalous?? At this time, the blind fighter continued to mutter to everyone about some Soda. "The light of Soda will envelop us... the light of Sod will protect us... plunge into the flame of Sod, ye righteous..." "Should I shut him up?" "Are you really sick?" The two fighters who were resting nearby did not know what to do with the crazy blind fighter. I, in turn, sat down next to the blind guy and decided to ask him purely out of curiosity. "Listen, tell us about Sod?" "Junior Lieutenant, I don''t think you should pay attention to him." said one of the fighters sitting next to him and added with a grin. "We''ll write ?Sod? on his face with a marker." "How funny." I snapped sternly and the soldiers laughed and shut up. The blind fighter, lying on his back at this time, decided to tell everything. "Savior, Sod, our God, our hope, our salvation... Sod... believe in Sod, otherwise he...." "Hah~! Otherwise what?" One of the fighters laughed at the blind man¡¯s delirium, and the blind man finished gloomily. "He will punish..." ¡°Please remind me in what year the Elarasian Dominion and its fanatical order fell?¡± Asked the medic Fred, examining the wounded, and I, knowing the answer, of course answered. "In 2997, during the second year of the Pantorian Invasion of the Human Sector." "What happened then?" The medic asked, examining the suddenly silent blind soldier with his medical scanner. "The Pantorans brought the ?Worldbreaker? into the system and simply destroyed an entire planet with three billion inhabitants." "And knowing this, tell me. Did their Goddess Elarasia save them?" The medic asked seriously, scanning the blind man¡¯s body, and I answered gloomily. "No." Even though the blind man fell silent after the medic arrived, his face was very stern. After several seconds of silence, he barely audibly said to everyone: "You''ll regret this." At this time, outside in the rain, the Trebuchet infantry fighting vehicle was being prepared to be sent to the crash site of a nearby cargo shuttle. The vehicle was twenty meters long, moved on tracks and had a turret with two cannons. One fired large-caliber projectiles, and the other SDP (Super-Dense Plasma). The IFV had doors on six sides, and the vehicle also had adjustable wings, under which were placed four accelerators for lifting into the air and adjustable helicopter propellers. This infantry fighting vehicle was intended to introduce mountain warfare and to bypass high-altitude and river areas, but, like any equipment, it was very dependent on fuel and therefore was not suitable for waging a long war, but was intended for rapid short-term operations. In general, we were lucky that in our shuttle there was a Trebuchet-type infantry fighting vehicle, and not some kind of amphibian for crossing rivers, otherwise Lieutenant John¡¯s plan would not have made sense at all. Several engineers attached several additional fuel tanks removed from other vehicles to the IFV body. According to the plan, these vehicles will take off on helicopter rotors, cross the jungle and end up in the east in the mountains where they will continue their journey by land. At that moment, the landing compartment opened and the ramp descended, after which the optimistic voice of Junior Lieutenant Leo was heard in the shuttle''s speakers. "Don''t be bored, guys, the journey will be long. Pack your toothpicks and march to the ?Trebuchet?. The pilot is already launching the beauty, so don''t stand still and pick it up." Not knowing what to do today, I decided to watch the C1-2-2D1 platoon leave us. Thunder rumbled, and the clouds in the sky remained just as black. Twenty people exited the shuttle in police gear, carrying rifles, backpacks containing rations and other supplies, and then climbed into the IFV through the side and rear doors. In parallel with this, the car spread its wings with two helicopter propellers. "Boris, thanks for the rations." Leo said as he got into the IFV. ¡°You can tell me in a month what the local animals taste like.¡± "Necessarily." I answered and the door of the infantry fighting vehicle closed. When all the soldiers of platoon C1-2-2D1 climbed inside the vehicle, the straightened two helicopter propellers began to spin, after which the infantry fighting vehicle began to take off little by little, filling the area with the whistling noise of the propellers, and then the infantry fighting vehicle gradually flew to the southeast. At this time I returned to the shuttle and listened in headphones to the communication between us and platoon C1-2-2D1. "It barely flies, 20 kilometers per hour. If this continues, we will fall. If...~shhhh~... then...~shhhh~... we''ll fall...~shhhh~... That''s it...~shhhh~" The connection was lost, and meanwhile the car disappeared far behind the trees amid flashes of distant lightning. At that moment, the lieutenant came and began to look, standing on the ramp in the downpour, and at the trail of fallen trees left by the shuttle. His face at that moment was extremely gloomy. "Boris, what should I do?" This question from the lieutenant addressed to me shook me to the core. Chapter 4. First contact We''re on the hunt again. This time only half the group: me, Esco, Will, Itami and Forn. Everyone else in my C1-2-2D4 platoon is either wounded or infected. As it turned out later, the sick people explored the area south of the shuttle and there all five of them caught this alien infection, which is why now those who are unable to walk are suffering, covered with some strange green round spots on the skin. Fortunately, modern medical equipment and treatments can help people recover from any disease. However, due to the lack of energy in the shuttle, the ninth will have to use only anti-infective drugs, and they do not guarantee one hundred percent survival of the sick. We can only hope that they will soon develop immunity on their own and return to duty without unpleasant consequences for the body. We, in turn, put breathing masks on our faces due to the fact that we found out that the virus entered the bodies of our guys through airborne droplets. It will be safer and more effective not to lose fighters in the form of ninths at the moment so that we can complete our current tasks of hunting alien animals to the fullest. While exploring one section of the jungle, guess what? The rain was still continuing and, apparently, was not a natural phenomenon of nature, but most likely was some kind of anomaly. It can''t rain forever, right? What little soil we saw was gradually washed away right before our eyes, exposing tree roots and bedrock with clay. We, while exploring the jungle in search of the local inhabitants of the planet, meanwhile started a casual conversation among ourselves. "Who was Ashwani?" Esko asked out of curiosity. It was strange to hear this from him, especially knowing that Esko was his best friend. At least they were friendly as two recruits who ended up in our regiment and helped each other in every way they could. "Green." Will answered somewhat sadly, pushing aside the bushes and soaking his puddles in dirty water. "On the eve of being sent to Kanasis, he was transferred to our regiment. He still had a lot to learn... now he was gone." "Hey! Don''t say that, he just disappeared." The signalman Itami objected to Will''s words. "Not just disappeared, but disappeared from everyone else''s memory," Will answered. "Do his relatives know that he even exists, that he exists? There is nothing even about him in the database. Nothing! When we returned to the shuttle, all his equipment was also gone, the rifle that fell out of his hands remained. He disappeared from reality, practically died!" "Yes, we understood." Said Forn, calming the angry Will with gestures. "And it''s clear that some shit is going on here. It''s better to hope that he''s alive somewhere, it''ll just be easier." "Who has it easier? You?" Will flared up. "All sorts of crap can happen here! It was not enough to believe in the supernatural!" "Quiet." Esko said suddenly bending down and taking out binoculars. "Someone is moving." "Spread out." I ordered. Although there are other types of plants here, our camouflage allowed us to blend in with nature; in other words, we had excellent camouflage. Meanwhile, we grabbed our weapons tighter and merged with the foliage of the local jungle, trying not to make unnecessary sounds. For the first time in two days we found someone in this dirty jungle and it was exciting for us. ?Finally we will see animals in this world...? I thought, expecting to see at least someone on this planet. Through the noise of the rain and night vision devices, we saw several silhouettes resembling people dressed in rags. It seems that these humanoid creatures were intelligent and could wrap themselves in clothes. ?Is it really civilization?? I was surprised. Five creatures dressed in gray and brown fabrics and with primitive edged weapons in the form of a spear and sword in their hands made their way through the jungle. Only two men owned these weapons, and among them were two women and another person whose gender was difficult to determine. Although this is a different type of intelligent being, it was quite possible that here, on the contrary, men had long hair and looked like women, and women, on the contrary, but I am more accustomed to calling these creatures by their proper names. ?It''s unlikely they''ll be edible.? I immediately discarded the thought of hunting them. "Natives." Itami said over the connection, holding binoculars in his hands. "They''re still coming." More humanoids also appeared in our field of vision, this time wrapped in white steel robes, armor, it seems, with cold weapons in their hands such as swords and spears at the ready. There were many times more of them and it seems they surrounded the first group we noticed from all sides while we watched from afar. ?Well, now we have definitely confirmed the existence of civilization on this planet.? I thought as I continued to watch what was happening. The creatures themselves were indeed humanoids very similar to humans with some distinctive features. This means those who were dressed in rags, since their faces were visible in contrast to the seemingly soldiers of the medieval pre-space era, and it seems that this was the case. There was a civilization of the medieval era here, which means there was a possibility that they might have gunpowder weapons, which could bring us a lot of problems considering that we currently cannot afford protection in the form of a combat spacesuit. I noticed unnaturally pale skin in the first group of natives, and green spots on their faces; it seemed that I had seen something similar in the ninth group on the shuttle. ?Are they infected too?? I suggested. Watching the first group, I realized that there was something wrong here. The five natives behaved as if they were hiding from someone, and the native soldiers in armor were in the open, apparently trying to find someone. "The pursuit." Esko noted, looking through the sniper scope of his rifle, and then added. "They are surrounded. " Taking a closer look through the bushes, I noticed how skillfully the aliens in white surrounded the first group. They deliberately created sounds of activity to lure fugitives to the areas of the jungle they needed, and they did it very well. The fugitives themselves did not pose any threat to us, and judging by the fact that they were running away, they had done something wrong to the local authorities, that is, they were criminals. "Is there something wrong." Said Forn, taking out a bioscanner on which data finally began to be displayed. "The device started working, but... there are many, many of them here. " A little later we began to notice even more aliens in white armor. There were dozens... hundreds of them and they were all chasing these five unkemptly dressed fugitives, who in turn were terrified and it was visible on their faces. They knew that they were being pursued, but they did not know where their pursuers were and this frightened them. And then came the climax. They were suddenly squeezed into pincers, instantly cutting off all routes to escape. The pursuers appeared in full view of the fugitives, approaching them from all sides. One of the fugitives, in a panic, looking around the environment, held a spear in his hands and tried to scream and attack one of the closest pursuers, but as soon as he did this, he was immediately killed... killed very quickly. "Did you see this?" Itami asked quietly with a hint of surprise. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "I didn''t even notice the blow. How did it do this?" We''ve all seen it. The native in white, who killed one of the fugitives, extremely quickly struck with his sword, splashing out a clot of blood from the body of the panicked native. One of the natives screamed in fear and tried to run up to the murdered man, but another native stopped her and somehow tried to console her, holding the girl in his arms, and the white soldiers seemed to verbally abuse the fugitives by stepping on the corpse of the murdered native and burying her in a heap of dirt. ?Here''s your first damn contact...? I sighed sadly and decided not to help the fugitives. We didn''t need them. In general, it is best not to violate any Republic military protocols related to contact with primitive intelligent life. These are decades of strict regime, even if we were on a completely different planet, but if we get out of here, the Supreme Tribunal will remember this to us. At that moment, a couple of native soldiers passed next to us, literally a couple of meters away, without noticing us because of the camouflage, our silence and the noise of the rain around us. A minute later we disappeared from their sight and were able to breathe a sigh of relief. ?It was damn close. Shit! We must not make contact.? "We need to return to the shuttle and inform the lieutenant about the natives." I told my soldiers. The bushes, that is, we stirred and walked slowly towards the shuttle, trying not to squelch our feet in the dirty water. Everything should have gone smoothly; we moved, maneuvering between trees, bushes, huge roots and boulders, but suddenly moving through the vegetation and patrolling natives, we found ourselves surrounded by them. There was no escape route in sight to slip unnoticed through the native soldiers surrounding us. They blocked all escape routes with their mere presence. I motioned to lie down and become a bush to wait for them to leave, but something was wrong. There were more and more native soldiers around us. They communicated in their primitive language and hung around us with no intention of leaving. It would seem that they caught the criminals, what do they want now? They''re not going to set up camp here, are they? This is hardly possible considering that they have nothing but weapons and bags. Now one of the natives, communicating with one of the soldiers, simply involuntarily took and pointed his sword directly at us, and now they began to gradually squeeze us into a ring, one might say into a very tight ring. They knew that we were most likely unusual bushes and somehow these natives were able to detect us. There is only one way to get out of such a situation, and I didn''t like this method because it threatened me with fifteen years of strict regime somewhere on Mimas. ?Shit! I hope they won''t judge me for this...? I hoped, deciding on one action. "We''ve come with peace." I stood up, raising my hands up, and the natives reacted quite unexpectedly, frightened by the bush that had come to life and began to speak. They pointed their weapons in my direction and did not move, passing messages to each other. At this time there were more and more natives around me. Looking at them closely, I realized that they were somewhat similar to European knights, as if they were from the Middle Ages. I didn''t see their faces, white armor hugged their bodies tightly and it seemed they were some kind of elite of elites, acting effectively and unitedly as a fighting brotherhood. My guys sat next to me and silently continued to pretend to be bushes, not daring to repeat my actions after me. At that time I went out into an open flooded area and was surrounded, pointing all kinds of native weapons in my direction. I lowered my hands and one of the native soldiers stood in front of me holding a short blade in his right hand with its tip down. "Frutext?" He said questioningly. "Hi again." I said and instantly more swords and spears were pointed in my direction. ?Crap! They may mistake me for a forest dweller, if there are any, and let me go, but if they don''t believe me... but how can I convince them of this? Shit!? At that moment, one of these knights pointed his sword in my direction, seemingly challenging me. "Provoko te ad monztrum duellium!" He said proudly, continuing to hold a one-handed blade in my direction, ready to pierce my body with it at any moment. I just lightly took my pistol out of the holster, just in case. It seems that my manipulations with a small metal but heavy object somehow made them laugh and did not alarm them at all. They were already starting to laugh, apparently thinking that in front of them was some kind of easy prey with a useless piece of metal in their hand. They even brought the same five prisoners here, who were also very surprised to see the bush come to life. "Dryadi?" One runaway woman exclaimed in surprise, but after the spoken word she was hit on the head, causing her to fall into the mud and groan in pain, holding the sore spot on her head with her hands. The native knight in front of me was still holding his sword and was ready to kill me instantly, but he was apparently waiting for my first blow, and I, in turn, did not dare to strike it. ?What a mess I am... first contact and they challenge me to a duel. We''ll have to kill them all so as not to cause culture shock in the future...? I aimed my pistol at the native, raising the muzzle of the pistol in his direction. At first the locals didn''t understand what it was in my hands, and then they started neighing like horses. "Khorrendz haeretiguz kvam ridsulus est! Ahahahahahahahahaha~!" But the knight opposite was not laughing. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and growled angrily. "Sunt tsognatai mayhai?" The native said angrily. ?If only I understood you, guy...? I breathed in disappointment, but the next moment, without any warning, he quickly attacked me, trying to strike me vertically with his blade from top to bottom, and at that moment I simply squeezed the trigger and made the first the shot merged with the noise of lightning. The native barely had time to swing his blade, but it flew past, missing some centimeters in order to hit me. The sword fell from his hands, drowning in dirty water. His face was not visible, but I clearly heard him wheezing, clearly trying to understand what had just happened. His left hand reached to his chest where a huge hole gaped from where blood flowed in a stream, rapidly coloring his snow-white armor scarlet. He tried in the last moments of his life to stand on his feet, but in the end he simply could not do it, falling backwards into the dirty water and no longer showing any signs of life, not trying to move and not making any sounds. He died. All the natives around me froze in place. They all seemed shocked by what they saw, especially the fugitives. One of the native soldiers with a spear ran up to the deceased and sat on his knees checking the dead man. After the examination, he raised his head and said gloomily: "Mortus..." Apparently, he confirmed the death of his relative, after which all the natives made sharp shudders, clearly angry. "Guys, there are strange customs here." I said with a gesture of my left hand indicating commands. "Mercilessly..." "Rro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o~!!!" Before I had time to finish speaking, the native soldiers rushed towards me, yelling madly. At that moment, the rest of the bushes came to life, raising the barrels of small arms and opening fire on the attackers. The sound of the crackle of shots no longer merged with the lightning, and the tracer and haze from the shots were hidden among the dense vegetation. Dozens of native soldiers fell instantly one after another with mortal wounds in their bodies, screaming and writhing in the mud in pain and bleeding. I didn''t stand idle either, I shot everyone I saw. My helmet automatically marked targets, and I simply shot at the natives as if I were in some kind of shooting range. I shot until the first clip in the magazine was used up. "Cover me, I''m out of ammo!" I shouted to the fighters and the bushes began to surround me while I was reloading my pistol. At first the native soldiers tried to attack us en masse, but seeing how we were killing them one after another, they began to flee and not to say that it was a stampede, rather a sure retreat. We couldn''t afford for them to escape and inform their rulers about us. Otherwise, the military tribunal will give us an even longer sentence for this bloody first contact. "They must not run away! Kill everyone!" I ordered my guys. Even though many of the natives had already hidden behind trees and bushes, the bioscanner could still see them perfectly. Our night vision devices clearly painted the silhouettes of the natives in our helmets, thanks to which we continued to kill them without any problems while targeting them. By the way, the bioscanner showed that they were trying to organize themselves, gathering in groups. I didn''t look at the bioscanner screen for too long, and therefore continued to shoot those who were still trying to approach us. "Sir, behind!" Forn suddenly shouted behind me. I turned around and saw how one of the native soldiers, having somehow miraculously survived after several hits to the body, was about to stab me with a sword. He raised his blade to strike from top to bottom, but the next moment a spear got stuck in his throat, splashing out scarlet blood, after which he choked and fell face down, splashing into the dirty water. Looking at the killer of the native soldier and my savior at the same time, I realized that it was one of the fugitives. The alien''s face was very similar to a human one, and therefore I clearly saw some hope in his eyes. He tried to say with all his appearance that he was on our side. Behind him I saw four more of his relatives. It seems they were abandoned at the beginning of the firefight, but instead of running away they decided to help us by joining the battle. Itami at that moment turned the barrel of his rifle in their direction and was about to kill them, but I stopped him in time. "Stop! Don''t touch them!" "Understood." Itami answered, turning the barrel slightly to the side and killing several native soldiers who were trying to attack the fugitives from behind. "Lancon." One native girl said something. "Get down!" I indicated with a gesture with my left hand that they should bend down and they, it seemed, understood me and did so. The native soldiers seemed to have no intention of ending, turning this patch of jungle into a bloody grove. There were also shooters among them, and arrows began to fly in our direction, crashing into tree trunks or falling straight into the water. They could not shoot at us by shooting arrows through the vegetation at random. Even though we had good equipment, it did not cover all parts of the body, which means we could be seriously injured and it was better to kill them right now, otherwise losses could not be avoided. "Esko, kill the archers!" "Understood." Esko accepted order and began killing archers with targeted shots to the head using a sniper rifle. "Itami, contact the shuttle! We need reinforcements!" "There is no connection!" ?Not this!? I got angry. Already hundreds of corpses were shrouded in the dirty waters of the flooded jungle. We managed to shoot about half of them. After we shot an impressive number of natives, they decided to retreat, and we spent our ammunition to finish off the survivors groaning in agony. At this time, the fugitives clung to Will as if he were the biggest bush of all of us. The natives muttered their ?dryads? and ?lancon? and something else in their own language. They were greatly frightened by the corpses of their relatives, they were terrified, and the males, yes males, they cried. At that moment, stepping aside, I decided to show my face to the natives. Having first removed the bush from my head, and then the breathing mask along with the glasses, I exposed my human face. One guy was surprised and said a word in his own language as if asking: "Anfrop?" "Yes. Anfrot." I answered them. At that moment they ran away from Will. "Zu dryad? Anfrop?" The white-haired girl said with some anger. ?So what do we do with them now?? I thought meanwhile. "Just don''t tell them that we come in peace." Will said cheerfully, reloading his rifle. "After what we did here, we no longer came in peace." "I know." I answered. Even though the four natives were crowded together, moving away from us, apparently afraid, one girl decided to approach me. Her face was pale and covered with green spots, her eyes were gray and her hair was black. "Alza." She said, pointing at herself with her hand and hope in her eyes. ?Hmm... it seems she said her name...? I thought and also decided to introduce myself, pointing my palm at myself and saying my name: "Boris." Chapter 5. Acquaintance The first contact with these native fugitives went more smoothly. We decided not to stand in the rain and went to rest under one huge tree branch, introducing ourselves to each other, telling our names and, unfortunately, the language barrier did not help us communicate freely and, in principle, maintain contact. We were somehow able to exchange gestures and did not always understand this or that meaning, so we started with something simple, namely with names. So, what are the names of our fugitives? A pale-skinned beautiful girl with long dark hair and blue eyes introduced herself to us as Alza. Another girl, more attractive and healthy in appearance, bore the name Niana. She was the same brunette as Alza, but was slightly shorter and had expressionless gray eyes. Ripun is the name of the guy who saved me during the execution of native soldiers by plunging a spear into the enemy''s throat. He had uncut, long dark hair, but also had distinctive red eyes, or rather red-orange irises. It looked very strange, even though I understood that I was dealing with aliens of the humanoid type, but it still seemed that in front of me there was some kind of proximyrian whose eyes simply turned off. And the last was Zaden, just a mature-looking man with a small bald spot on his head, but unlike the girls, he had beige skin and brown eyes. The external features of their facial features, skin color and other things told us that they were not family, but were natives of the same region and we could only guess why they were persecuted by other natives. After our introduction, we also learned that they were very hungry judging by their growling bellies and weak physiques. While resting, the guys decided to search the corpses of native soldiers and found something like medieval rations in the form of some kind of hardened meat and leather flasks with fresh water. ?I wonder... since all the water here is poisonous from the rain, where do they get clean water from?? I thought, surprised that with the existing supplies they could last here no more than a few days, which means they somehow filtered this water. ?Or could they safely drink this water? Although Fred said that it is dangerous for any non-plant life form. We''ll have to discuss this with him later.? The fugitive natives were resting and eating, it seems for the first time in several years, and at that moment Will decided to ask me a question: "Is it okay that we killed so many natives? Will there be any scolding from the lieutenant?" "It will be," I admitted, taking a bite of a ration pie. "But it was necessary, otherwise they would have found us... by the way... is their food edible?" All my guys became thoughtful. "In theory, this will be much better than cutting up some kind of creature." Said Forn, looking at how the natives were densely eating the meat that they took out of the bags of the native soldiers. "It''s better to consult a doctor." Esko added on his own behalf. "This is alien food; in any case, it may be completely unsuitable for us." "Fine." I nodded and rose to my feet. "Then stop sitting around and go collect their rations. As soon as you do this, get ready and return to the shuttle." "No-o-o-o-o!" They grumbled dissatisfied. "Why are you doing this to us?" Will asked with sarcasm in his voice, but I was adamant. "That''s an order." I added sternly and the guys silently began to carry out the order. The natives, seeing that we were searching all the corpses of the native soldiers in search of dried meat, also began to collect food. At least they helped us in some way. At this time I was searching the sacks and bags of the natives. Inside, in addition to rations, there were light clothes, and also something like money in the form of copper coins and much more. Having examined the dead bodies, I realized that our shells had caused serious damage to their polished metal armor, but apparently the bullet wounds were not fatal for everyone. In some places the bullets even miraculously failed to penetrate the armor, leaving just a small dent, and in others the bullets inflicted non-fatal wounds in the arms and legs. I approached one killed, as I initially thought, an archer and realized that he was moving and quietly groaning in pain while continuing to bleed profusely. He took off his helmet, where I saw the frightened face of a fair-haired young native, almost a teenager. His face was like this before he saw me. For some reason he was already terrified, and I couldn''t understand why. He seemed to be looking into emptiness and muttering something, but what he said surprised me when I realized what exactly he was saying. "So-o-od... Sod... paynitet..." ?Wait... Sod? I''ve already heard this... name... that blind sergeant muttered the same thing... how is this... what''s going on?? I stepped aside in shock and, in fear, took my pistol out of my holster, ready to shoot the native at any moment. The wounded soldier continued to mutter the name Sod, but then, trying to get up, he simply hit his head on a root and fell silent, this time forever remaining lying dead, bleeding with the last drops of blood. My hand holding the pistol grip was shaking. I only now realized that I was in real horror. ?What''s going on here? Why are they both talking about Sod?? I began to remember the words of that blind man, trying to somehow understand what was happening around me. ?He said Sod is our God, but what does that mean? No, it''s some kind of nonsense! There are more and more strange things... Holy crap!? I know too little information to make even initial conclusions, I just didn''t understand what was happening here. This anomalous planet concealed not only many questions, but also a lot of anti-scientific mysticism. Ashwani missing, Sod, shuttle crash, what next? And I don''t want to know the secrets of this planet anymore, I just want to go home! "Sir, we''re done!" Will shouted over the radio, causing me to almost go deaf. "Shit! Do you want to make Beethoven out of me or something?" I said sternly over the connection, after which I heard the friendly laughter of the group on the air. "Sorry." Will said and added. "It looks like these natives will come with us. They helped us gather supplies and seem to no longer fear us." ?That means we won''t have to eliminate them since they will come with us. Let''s extract information from them about the local civilization, establish contact, resolve many issues, and only then will we be able to get out of here.? "Fine. Wait for me. End of connection." I said and went off the air, adding grumpily to myself. "Mom''s loudspeaker. Crap!" I looked at the dead native again and simply could not pass by, or rather, I could not leave, exposing my back to it. I leaned over the corpse and grabbed the native''s head with both hands, after which I sharply twisted the corpse''s neck just in case, and then searched the native''s bag and quiver of arrows. Having found nothing useful, I then returned to my soldiers. Esko, Will, Forn and Itami were lifting their asses off a large root, hiding all their supplies in the bushes, and Alza, Niana, Ripun and Zaden hung a bunch of bags of rations and water flasks on their backs. We were finally ready to head to the shuttle. "East." Esko pointed in the direction. "Esd." Alza repeated after the sniper. "West." Esko pointed in the opposite direction. "Vezt." Will seemed to feel very embarrassed listening to the native''s ridiculous English speech. "Enough. Have you become an English teacher?" Will reproached the sniper. "I already have experience as an instructor." Esko said proudly, throwing the sniper rifle over his shoulder. "To avoid boredom along the way, I think I can start teaching them English." "Don''t waste your time." Itami already spoke while listening to the broadcast. "There is no connection." "Nu connekshion." Ripun tried to speak, and then pointed his hand at the station on Itami''s back. "Connekshion?" "Communication station." Itami answered Ripun, and then began to explain a little with gestures. "To talk far." "Mitso." Ripun nodded. We all hardly believed that the native could understand anything from Itami''s words. It is quite strange that these natives are not even afraid of us, deciding to follow us. It seems they sought protection from any strangers they encountered in order to escape their armored relatives. "Boris!" Alza sang with a smile on her face when she saw me, and then she looked east. "Chu manady iro Easd?" "We. Let''s go. To the East." I answered according to the words, indicating each word I said with a gesture of my hands. ?I''m sure it''s better to teach the natives to speak English since we made first contact in such an inhumane way. We need to resolve this misunderstanding while Platoon C1-2-2D1 is on its way to the cargo shuttle... and won''t Leo encounter some problems along the way since there is civilization here? This is unlikely due to the abundant forests and mountains, but anything can happen.? I decided to discuss this with my guys, but a little later. "Okay, guys, let''s go." I said and we went to the shuttle. Of course, the natives followed us, sloshing through the water. Who knows what is going on in their heads and why they are not afraid of us. Are we gods for them or alien saviors? We didn''t know this, we didn''t know anything about them, and they didn''t know anything about us. Meanwhile, making my way through the downpour through the jungle, I decided to start a conversation myself and started with theory. "Guys, since there is a civilization here, what do you think the first D''s will stumble upon?" "But it''s true." Forn thought. The natives listened to our conversation with curiosity and talked about something themselves, following us. They tried to keep up. "Hah~! Well, the first D''s will be found here by the native tribes, probably burned to the ground, and the locals will leave stories about gods on a winged car in the caves." Will laughed in his usual manner. "And after this you call yourself a Republican?" I grinned, like all the other soldiers in the squad. "What does this have to do with it? We are just human and we know how to adapt." Will justified himself. "Since burning the natives is an adaptation, then what about the black protocols?" Asked Forn. "Black protocols operate primarily when controlling the situation." I began to explain. "That is, in an uncontrollable situation where the priority was placed on survival, we can neglect it." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "Okay, but what if they don''t burn them?" Itami asked, returning to the question about the C1-2-2D1 platoon. "Well then we risk becoming a monolith for the locals." I answered, spreading the bushes. "If we can preserve references to ourselves in the best light, then this can provoke the cultural development of civilization or even its death." "You''re so smart," Will responded cheerfully. "But I think that the general will simply order to clear the continent of primitive states as such in order to... uh... so as not to provoke anything." "General may well order the occupation of the planet to begin." As always, Itami suggested seriously. "Just one army?" I grinned. "Do you know how many soldiers were needed to conquer Proxima during the sectoral war?" "How many?" Itami became interested. "Twenty million and that wasn''t even enough. What can we even do with an army of almost one hundred and fifty thousand people?" "So the occupation of the planet is impossible?" Forn suggested. "You can only occupy a small region." I answered, trying to put myself in the general''s place. "In any case, we will have to come into contact with the indigenous abodes of the planet. I hope the main army is now looking for a way to contact the Republic while we survive here." "Let''s not forget about ?Zeus?." Itami added. "He was guaranteed to destroy all life on the other side of the planet. Not all locals can be friendly towards us after this disaster." "You are right." I agreed with Itami and looked towards the natives. Then I began to remember what the general consequences of the fall of a large object on a habitable planet are. ?Increasing temperatures, tsunamis in the seas and oceans, monstrous hurricanes, changes in the composition of the atmosphere... I''m afraid to imagine what will happen here in a week.? While I was thinking about this, we continued to walk, and the natives followed us, also talking about something. Forn and Itami decided to play ?planets?, a modern analogue of the outdated ?cities? thousands of years ago, but it seems Forn had more knowledge in terms of astronomy, since he had already beaten Itami several times. "Boris?" Alza ran up to me and pointed her hands at her green spots on her skin. "Isekray?" "Cure?" I guessed about her question to me. "Don''t know." I shook my head, and Alza was upset by my gesture. Zaden approached her and began to calm her down, stroking her shoulders, but at the same time the man himself looked at me with some understanding. ?Perhaps due to the backwardness of their medicine, the issue of disease is a matter of life and death. They are worried and understandable, but even Fred doesn''t know whether it is possible to recover from the alien infection. You need to take care of yourself first.? Meanwhile, approaching the shuttle, communication was gradually established, as Itami happily reported: "We''re on the air." "Finally." I said seriously and decided to contact the lieutenant. "Sir, can you hear me?" The natives watched with curiosity as the animated bushes talked to themselves. "I hear you." The lieutenant responded. "You haven''t been in touch for a long time. Something happened?" "Yes." I confirmed. "We found the natives. Humanoids." "We, too." The lieutenant responded. "Return to ?Persia? immediately." "The order has been accepted. End of connection." We were all surprised by this news. ?More natives?? I thought and looked around at the fugitives, guessing something. ?And if these are their pursuers, then... they need to be hidden...? "Sir," Will responded. "What will be the orders?" I frowned and immediately gave the order: "Let''s hide our new friends and our disguise." "Yes, sir!" All the guys agreed in unison. ?I hope there won''t be any problems.? We continued on our way to the shuttle. The natives followed us trying to establish contact with us. Somehow we teach them simple English words, but often they speak with a kind of sarcastic childish accent, which is why even Itami began to get annoyed: "May be enough?" "Hm~?" Alza looked at Itami strangely, and meanwhile I answered him: "We killed fifty natives. They probably know their language. We need to quickly establish contact before they send an entire army here. We simply don''t have enough cartridges for everyone." "Hah~! What makes you think that they will send an entire army here at once?" Will grinned. "And really why?" Esko already asked. Before answering, I thought about it: ?Our weapons, even if they are police-type, are intended for conducting narrowly targeted tactical combat operations in urban environments. Our weapons are capable of penetrating any cover, including the skin of passenger cars. However, the armor of these natives was not as primitive as I initially thought, it was much stronger and therefore was not always penetrated by high-speed projectiles. That is, these natives had the technology to smelt and process a light and durable alloy. This level is similar to the beginning of the space age, which is simply impossible!? "Those we killed were a battle group prepared for battle. Not only were they not afraid of gunfire at first, but they were also engaged in tactical planning. Remember how they tried to surround us." "I''m worried about something else." Forn responded. "How did they know we weren''t bushes?" This question worried me no less. I looked away at Ripun, who surprisingly looked very calm both then and now. Unlike the others, he seemed to trust us by default. This person could know the answers to our questions, but until we can understand each other, we will not learn something new that we wanted to understand. "What''s the difference. They are already seven." Will grinned. "Well, they''ll make some noise, so what?" "You really don''t understand anything, Will?" Itami asked. "What do we mean here? We defended ourselves, we had the right to kill them in the process of defense." "Wow. Just iron logic." Forn responded. Meanwhile, we were approaching the crash site of the shuttle and came out onto the strip of fallen trees that the ?Persia? had left behind. Meanwhile, the rain, as always, did not stop, and the skies were darkened by black clouds, making it always seem like it was just a stormy night. The lieutenant said that he had made contact, which means we need to hide the fugitives from sight for a long time, and I figured out how we can do this. "Let''s undress." I ordered and began to take off my camouflage, leaving behind only a dark blue uniform with a helmet, body armor and a rifle in my hands. So I looked, albeit vulnerable, but easy. The main thing is not to use up all your ammunition in case of danger, since we had quite a few cartridges. My guys carried out my order without question, apparently guessing what I was up to, and then we offered our camouflage to these natives. "Get dressed." I gestured to the camouflage folded in my hands and to myself. "Ged drezzet." Alza repeated and took the robe from my hands and began to dress her somehow. They talked about something else among themselves and the whole four of them began to change into camouflage. The only one of us who had not yet taken off his bush was Esko. He will have to remain invisible from prying eyes when we approach the shuttle, although I don''t think this is necessary. If the lieutenant made contact with those natives we missed, then we will again be in trouble, but if it is another group, then we are lucky and we can sneak our new friends on board and at the same time carry out the first contact process normally. "Let''s go, guys." I ordered and we moved forward. The natives, dressed in camouflage, clumsily followed us, squelching through the dirty water, stepping over large branches of roots and getting wet from the poisonous rain. "Be silent." I said to the natives and showed a closed mouth gesture. ?I hope they understood what I wanted from them.? I hoped, seeing no reaction from the natives. Soon we approached the shuttle, which was surrounded by those same natives in white armor. "Everyone be on guard." I said and we squeezed our rifles in our hands as we slowly approached the shuttle. The natives, apparently noticing who we were approaching, slowed down their pace, but seeing that we continued to walk silently, slowly and confidently, they began to catch up with us. At that moment, John called us over the communication line. His voice sounded in my earphone: "Boris, you should see this." The guys and I looked at each other, and I hastened to ask the lieutenant: "What exactly?" Instead of an answer, I heard quiet joyful laughter. "Shit. Oh shit. This planet is simply paranormal. I''m waiting for your arrival. You just have to see it." ?What the hell is he talking about?? I was perplexed by his strange words. When we got to the shuttle, the white knights stepped aside to let us onto the shuttle ramp. This time there were hundreds of them here, and they outnumbered the current crew by four times. They settled around the shuttle and carefully studied the crash site in the rain. At this time we went onto the lowered ramp, where we saw a delegation of natives in the landing compartment. Lieutenant John and Junior Lieutenant Uwon with senior medic Fred stood opposite a group of natives, the leader of which was a certain woman in a light robe, covering her face with her hood. She looked like a clergywoman, but at the same time she stood at the head of this delegation. John, seeing us, hastened to introduce us, pointing at me with his hand: "This is junior lieutenant Boris Kipito." The girl raised her gaze to me and looked me straight in the eyes, revealing her white glowing eyes. To my surprise and the surprise of everyone else, she suddenly spoke in English: "Greetings." She said in a beautiful, even voice. ?What? Does the native speak English fluently? How is this possible?? I was no less surprised than the others. Me and my guys were surprised. The native fugitives who followed us and who seemed to be mistaken for members of our detachment seemed to be much more surprised, but continued to remain silent, not attracting attention to themselves. Meanwhile, John continued talking to the girl: "We''re all assembled, now we can get acquainted." John looked strangely at the native fugitives in camouflage and approached me in a whisper and asked a question: "Who are they?" "I''ll tell you later." I answered in a whisper. The lieutenant, apparently realizing something, decided not to pay attention to the new guests and focused on the delegation of a native woman who somehow knew English. ?How does she know English? Maybe she is a descendant of people who also ended up on this anomalous planet? Is that why she knows English? Or maybe these people are not another species of intelligent beings at all, but the same "homo-sapiens-sapiens-modis"?? There were too many questions to answer right away. The shuttle fighters, armed with light small arms, took up positions in the landing compartment covering the path to the rest of the shuttle. In the event of aggression from the natives, an effective defense would be built here, but there was one problem and it was that the natives could penetrate the shuttle through a hole in the casing. Moreover, not all sixty people were on our feet, so the natives still had the advantage, as they strangely laughed about something in their own language. At this time, the lieutenant and the girl sat down at one prepared table with improvised chairs, after which he introduced himself to the girl: "I am Lieutenant John Christ, commanding the C1-2-2-D regiment of the Republic Armed Forces of Mankind." The girl, with her bright white eyes, ran over the lieutenant''s face, looking for facial expressions on his face, and the first thing she said was: "Not a lie." After this, the previously pleased lieutenant suddenly frowned. It was difficult to find the words to properly establish the first contact with another civilization, especially since it was more primitive than ours. John didn''t tell her that we came from other planets only because it could shake the worldview of the inhabitants of this world, so he started with what he could share in principle. The girl, having finished examining the lieutenant''s face, took off her hood, revealing her snow-white long wavy hair and introduced herself: "My name is Yasmi, I am known as the holy, brightest daughter of Sod, and His sons, the paladins of the Order of the White Moon, protect me." "Nice to meet you." John nodded in response and after a short pause decided to ask the first question. "We noticed that this forest is unsuitable for life and we would like to know what you are doing here?" However, instead of answering, the girl only snapped, frowning on her face: "You dare, you insignificant barbarian, address a saint so rudely? You are just the lost son of Sod, dirt under your feet, respect the power of the mighty of this world and even more please respect the wisdom of Sod as long as you walk, breathe, drink and speak on His lands." ?As I thought, she knows about Sod, or rather, their culture is connected with this Sod.? Meanwhile, I thought, watching the negotiations unfold and already starting to get a little nervous. John also became nervous when he heard such harsh words from this young girl. The white knights had already begun to draw their swords one after another, hearing the stern tone of their mistress, and our guys also began to prepare for battle, removing the safety of their small arms. "We... didn''t want to offend anyone." The lieutenant said, raising his hands higher at shoulder level. "We just wanted to know who you are and what are you doing here?" "We ask questions here." The girl answered sternly and finally asked her question. "And the first thing we want to know is: do you believe in Sod?" John took a deep breath and was clearly nervous. It seems that these natives were terrible fanatics that were ready to go to war against absolutely any infidels that stood in their way. At this time, a soldier suddenly put his hand on the lieutenant''s shoulder. The lieutenant turned around, seeing a blind soldier who had often raved about Sod before. "Sod is in our hearts, in our souls, our heavenly father, He is our God. And we no longer need anyone or anything except His hand from His heavenly abode under the gaze of His eyes." ?Wow... he said it like he really believed in him. Or does he actually believe in it?? I wondered if he was pretending to be crazy. The girl, seeing the blind soldier, also examined his calm expression and answered the lieutenant more calmly: "So you believe in Sod?" The lieutenant nodded nervously and replied: "Yes." The girl smiled in response: "This is good news for us. We are glad to see His children on the lands of the Empire." We all breathed a sigh of relief. The white knights sheathed their swords and the fighters lowered the muzzles of their rifles. A little later the girl asked another question: "Second question: why does your tribe live in dark ruins?" John and everyone else were surprised by the question. It seems that this planet is strewn with the wreckage of alien ships, which the local inhabitants perceive as some kind of dark ruins. This is just a guess, but what if these people really are not the original inhabitants of this planet? "This is our house." Answered the lieutenant. "We live here." The girl was satisfied with the answer and asked another question. "Third question: have you seen the heretics?" "Heretics?" John frowned. "You are the first people we meet here." Now the contentment disappeared from the girl''s face, and after a short moment of silence, she collected more air in her chest and angrily uttered one single word: "Lie." After this, the situation around suddenly became chaotic. The white knights quickly took their blades out of their sheaths and rushed towards us, and the RAFOM fighters pointed their muzzles at the natives and opened fire. John jumped up from his seat and tried to run to the side so as not to get caught in the crossfire, but he was immediately knocked to the floor by a blind fighter, shouting all sorts of nonsense: "REPENT SINNER! DIE!" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET GO!" Chaos began to happen everywhere. I, my squad and the native fugitives headed deep into the landing compartment at the airlock where we quickly took up positions, turning over the fragments of the ceiling as shelter from possible arrows. "What the heck? Why did they decide to attack us?" Shouted one soldier, reloading his machine gun. "This is on the conscience of our lieutenant." Another fighter shouted in response, shooting the natives on the heads. "Devil! How solid they are!" The bodies of the white knights were torn into pieces and bled to death, falling dead, while others, climbing the ladder one after another, immediately met their death from oncoming fire. They tried to run to us, but instead of reaching us, they laid a bloody trail of corpses, which then rolled down the lowered ladder into the dirty water. That girl Yasmi continued to sit at the table and simply closed her eyes, muttering something under her nose. I pointed my rifle in her direction and was going to, if not shoot her, then wound her, but then suddenly my field of vision was suddenly blocked by a flash. "What the?!" Suddenly the blind fighter and John flared up like matches. A bright flame enveloped their bodies and almost blinded us. They were burning alive, screaming loudly in agony. One of the fighters thought of turning on the extinguishing system, which immediately filled the compartment with cold steam escaping from the ceiling, which immediately put out the fire, but now we did not see the advancing natives. "Take the lieutenant and let''s leave! Start closing the floodgate!" Uwon shouted, giving an order to the soldiers of his platoon. Four fighters ran into the fog and picked up the lieutenant and the blind man while the rest of the fighters kept up blind suppressive fire, hoping to hold off the natives. At this time, the airlock was manually closed by the remaining soldiers, and soon we all reached the next compartment with the wounded and breathed a sigh of relief. But the sounds of shooting did not stop and were heard behind our backs, and we realized that the battle was also taking place near the hole near the bow of the shuttle. "Let''s go, guys!" Uwon and I practically said these words in unison and rushed towards the bow of the shuttle. While we were running, Uwon decided to ask me something: "Who did you bring with you? Are they really natives too?" "Yes." I answered briefly. "They fled from these." "Who are they?" "No idea. They don''t know English. The contact is very weak." "So they are not enemies?" "Friends for now." We didn''t talk about anything further and ran to the bow of the shuttle, where two firing points filled the hole in the casing with the corpses of the natives. "How difficult it is to kill them!" One soldier complained, firing from a machine gun. "One ate the whole store!" "Oh you''re right." Agreed another soldier who helped the machine gunner with reloading by loading a machine gun belt. After some time, the natives stopped pushing forward, cooling the muzzles of our weapons with their silence, and only the sound of rain and the smell of gas from our weapons filled the interior space of the shuttle. Outside, in addition to the rain, the conversations of the natives and the noise of their movement could be heard. It was as if they were laying siege to our shuttle. At that moment, over the connection we heard the voice of the chief physician: "What have you done? Why did John almost die?" "How should I know?!" Uwon cursed. "This fire came out of nowhere. The power was off and I don''t know where the flames came from. Maybe these aliens threw an incendiary grenade?" "He died." The doctor''s words shocked us all. The death of Lieutenant John at the hands of these natives quickly filled us with a feeling of anger and a thirst for revenge. ?So that some bastards dare not just injure, but kill a person? Let them just try to beg for mercy!? I thought furiously, gritting my teeth. "Let''s go for a breakthrough." Uwon ordered with a stern expression on his face. "Let''s take up defenses around the shuttle and finish off all these natives! And no mercy for them!" Chapter 6. The battle An assault group of twenty people was quickly organized. The plan was simple: we quickly emerge from the hole, clear the area of ??enemy forces and divide into two squads of ten people. Uwon and his ten fighters leave, moving to the bow of the shuttle and occupy the eastern arc, and I and my group occupy the western arc, after which we consolidate on this perimeter and hold the defense until we shoot all the natives hostile to us. "We all have five minutes to complete this task. During this time, all assigned tasks must be completed. Have questions?" No one mentioned any questions; everyone was extremely focused on completing the current combat mission. Twenty men with assault rifles at the ready took their positions ahead of the upcoming assault, lined up in two attack lines, with spare clips and grenades ready on their belts. Meanwhile, the enemy natives were also taking up positions and preparing for battle, judging by the shouts heard outside in an unknown language. I would like to know exactly what orders they gave out so that we could be prepared for all possible surprises that might await us. I gripped my assault rifle tighter in my hands, checked the scope, safety, laser designator, clip, adjusted the helmet on my head, the breathing mask for leaks, my glasses with the tactical plan and finally the headphones for the group communication of the assault team. I could clearly hear my breathing and the rapid beating of my heart and I really couldn''t wait to do something right here and now. I was filled with this very feeling of the impending battle, where the fate of your life would be decided, whether I was worthy of it or whether I should rot in the dirt. I was not afraid, but I was angry, angry at these bastards for killing John, angry that they were impudent, insulted us right to our faces and now it was time for bloody retribution. I just wanted to throw out all this anger along with the entire clip in my weapon. I was preparing to start killing people again, and this time they were not peaceful demonstrators from a poor Republican colony, but soldiers, even though they had no chance of seriously resisting us. ?Now I am who I am supposed to be.? The native fugitives, meanwhile, remained in the compartment with those wounded in the crash and took off the camouflage we had given them, putting on their wet tunics, and Uwon, being closest to the hole, used a scanner to check the presence of life nearby and showed this data on the lenses of our glasses, which was very surprising some of our fighters. "Shit! How many are there?" Someone swore. "At least three hundred." Added another. It seems that native woman Yasmi was not lying when she said that we were on the lands of a certain Empire. If this is so, then the people we face are the least we can afford. What if there are thousands or tens of thousands of them? We simply don''t have enough cartridges for everyone. Uwon, meanwhile, spoke to all of us via communication, and we heard his voice in our headphones: "Remember where they are, target them and shoot them. Turn on thermal imagers and bioscan. We have little ammunition, save your ammo. Is everyone ready?" "Yes, sir!" The entire assault group sang in unison. "Go-go-go-go!" The noisy clatter of the assault group''s movement filled the entire space around. As soon as the first two fighters climbed over the corpses of the natives and passed through the hole in the skin of the shuttle, they immediately began to get wet under the poisonous rain and, briefly looking for targets, opened fire right on the run. Several enemy natives did not even try to find cover and simply fell dead from the shells tearing their bodies, and when they realized that they had simply become targets, only then did they begin to retreat deeper into the jungle, and we, in turn, leaving the shuttle through the hole, one after another, entered the battle. Having immediately found a couple of dozen enemy faces, I began to eliminate the opponents with single aimed shots, but it was not always possible to penetrate their armor with one hit and I had to spend more ammunition than required. ?These shells are capable of passing through reinforced concrete with two thousand kilometers of fire, and they are somehow able to withstand fire almost at close range!? I was surprised at the survivability of the white knights as I continued to shoot through the rain. Jumping a little later into knee-deep dirty water, we began, moving in an increasing arc, to free the area from enemy presence. The natives hid behind the trees and tried to hide from our fire, but our shells easily pierced the wood and tore their bodies into pieces, scattering body parts, intestines and pieces of armor in all directions. Some of the natives even tried to attack, while the other part ran away from our field of vision, and when these natives became less and less alive, we immediately began to surround our shuttle, taking up defense along the entire perimeter. And although the scan showed that the natives were retreating, they still didn''t seem to be going to leave completely and quickly gathered in groups to try to attack us. Amazing discipline and fighting unity. If they had our weapons, they would be comparable to the elite elite of the Republican armed forces, but fortunately they are just retarded natives. "Boris, that bitch is at the landing ramp!" "Understood." I answered over the connection. Having heard Uwon, my squad and I hurried west to the stern of the shuttle, where, judging by the scan data, the natives were gathering in an organized detachment. When we went out into the open area where the shuttle dug a canal when it fell, we saw how the white knights surrounded the girl as if they were human shields, putting their long swords forward. I didn''t think long and ordered them all to be shot: "Fire when ready!" Having quickly targeted them, we began to pour fire on the group of natives, but soon quickly stopped shooting when we realized that our bullets had suddenly disappeared in the air. The shells did not reach their targets, leaving the natives unharmed. "What the hell?!" Will cursed, firing a couple more shots and making sure that the bullets had indeed disappeared without a trace and stopped shooting. The girl who called herself Yasmi muttered something under her nose, lowering her head down and hiding her eyes under her hood. She held her palms in a kind of prayer position while the white knights, motionless, held their blades in our direction. The lack of any action on their part was an opportunity that we certainly did not miss. "Throw a grenade!" I ordered. Forn, without thinking twice, took out the pin and threw a grenade towards the natives, and meanwhile we hid behind a huge root, drowning in dirty water. Soon we heard an explosion, but did not hear anyone''s screams. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ?What? The grenade fell right at their feet, and they are still intact?? Meanwhile I was surprised. Judging by the scan data, they were still there and this raised many questions. And I was about to raise my head to look at the result of our work, when suddenly bullets whistled over our heads. "Shit! Who''s shooting at us?" ?Really who?? I wondered. There was nothing new in the glasses, the same natives standing in that place and not even the friendly fire of Uwon, who continued to clear the area of ????natives at the bow of the shuttle and divided his group of two to hunt down every native in the jungle. Soon another round flashed overhead and soon the shooting stopped. Without taking any risks, I simply ordered Esko to inspect the enemy''s positions: "Esko, what do you see?" The sniper looked through the scope of his sniper rifle into the bush and saw the following: "They are slowly approaching us together with the girl." "Understood." After hearing this, I called Uwon: "We have problems. For some reason we can''t kill them." "What?" Uwon was surprised. "What the fuck are you doing there? What''s the matter?" "We opened fire on them, but they don''t care! It''s like they absorbed the bullets and then brought them back! We almost died." This immediately occurred to me when a second burst passed overhead, which could only have belonged to Will. I don''t know how they did it, but if they repeat their trick, then we will become corpses. "I understand you." Uwon answered and hung up. "Orders?" I heard from Itami and thought about what we should do. "There is something..." I answered thoughtfully and gave the order. "We retreat to the hole." "Yes, sir." The fighters answered in unison and began to retreat to the hole in the shuttle. Soon I called Uwon: "I need a sapper and a creeping mine." "It takes time." Answered the sapper from Uwon''s detachment. "Place at your position?" "Yes." "Got it, I''ll come running now." We made our way through the vegetation, dirty water and bent trees to the hole and took up a defensive position. Meanwhile, a sapper from Uwon''s detachment came running to us and threw a creeping mine into the water that resembled some kind of metal octopus. Soon after the mining, the sapper ran away to his own people, and I did not forget to thank my friend, by misfortune: "Thank you, I''ll obliged." "My pleasure." At this time, the glasses showed how the white knights and the girl reached our old positions and accelerated their movement when they realized that we had retreated further. We decided to fire single shots to get their attention and it worked. ?They seem to have a much worse sense of direction than we do. This is what we will use.? After some time, the white knights appeared in our sight, and I immediately ordered a ceasefire so that the natives would not use their trick again. As I thought, some single bursts returned in our direction and when the cartridges hit our bodies, they did not cause much damage. "Damn, it hurts." "What did you want? We fired blanks and got blanks." "Crap! Ahhh~¡­." "Don''t moo." "Both shut up." Itami shut up the talkative couple. It is very good that the fighters took the initiative and in the meantime replaced the cartridges in their clip with blanks. If they had not done this, then we would have had an eight, and it would not have come in handy at all. Meanwhile, the knights descended from behind the forest straight into the water and gradually approached us, and the girl walked with them in the center of their encirclement, without fear of possible fire from our side, but soon a creeping mine was activated. The white knights became wary when the dirty water suddenly began to splash and when the creeping mine reached a group of natives, it produced a powerful explosion and this time a very successful one. The shock wave scattered guts and fragments of steel armor in all directions, leaving literally nothing of the bodies of the natives. "Yuhu~!" "Ye-e-es!" "We did it!" The guys rejoiced joyfully after the explosion, but quickly fell silent when they saw on their glasses that one native had somehow survived. She survived the powerful explosion, but was very bloodied. Covered from head to toe in scarlet liquid, she could barely stand on her feet and spat blood while breathing heavily, and soon she could not stand it, falling to her knees and plopping face down in the water. "She''s still alive." Itami said, rising from cover. "Shall we take her prisoner?" I was silent for several seconds before giving an affirmative answer. "Let''s take her." I ordered. Two fighters ran up to the woman while the others were targeting her in case of unforeseen circumstances, which fortunately did not occur. They picked up the already bleeding, naked girl and carried her inside the shuttle where a senior medic would deal with her. Meanwhile, we all set off to clear the area of ??the remaining natives, who had fought off the rest and, as a result, successfully completed our task in just five minutes. Uwon and I returned to the shuttle, opened the airlock to the landing compartment and sat down to rest in the second compartment with the wounded, where a senior medic approached us and told us unpleasant news after examining Lieutenant John. "Severe burns all over the body, even thermal protection turned out to be powerless, as if they had set it on fire right from the inside, burning all the organs. He was doomed." None of us wanted to believe what we heard, but considering what we had already seen on this damn planet, what we heard was quite possible. "These aliens..." Uwon said sternly, furiously clenching his fists. "They dared to kill a man, and not just a man, but our lieutenant!" "The question of command is now relevant again." I said calmly, realizing that without clear leadership we would not survive. "Who will be the new lieutenant?" "Boris, you don''t fit right away, even though you served for more than ten years." Fred responded and turned his attention to the angry Uwon. "And you are even less suitable for this role. You served half as long, but I still propose your candidacy. Boris does best as a tactical group commander, but in terms of overall command he is no good." "Uh-huh, thanks for your honesty." I answered the senior medic, and then turned to Uwon. "Well, do you agree?" Uwon looked at the metal floor for a long time before raising his gaze and giving an affirmative answer: "Fine. I will lead the regiment." Uwon said, having calmed down a little. "Well, good." I answered, getting to my feet. "I''ll go and tell the others about this." Having gathered all the fighters in one compartment, I told them the news. We decided that we were no longer a regiment, but one large platoon and now our strength was 58 people. 20 people of whom were heading in an infantry fighting vehicle to the first cargo shuttle to find a STCNC machine to assemble the necessary parts for the shuttle, another 19 people lay wounded or affected by an alien infection. Fortunately, before contact with the natives, some of them had already gotten back on their feet and replenished our numbers thanks to the efforts of Fred. And in total there are 19 of us. I decided to temporarily raise Will''s rank so that he would lead half a platoon, while I headed the second half platoon. However, now we were faced with an extremely difficult problem, namely, the native fugitives who sat down next to the wounded soldiers and waited for attention to be paid to them, and as soon as everything was sorted out, Uwon came up to me and began to ask more about them. "What do you know about them?" "They..." Before I could answer, Uwon immediately interrupted me. "Except that they are fugitives. We already know this." "They seem to speak a completely different language." I said. "I heard their speech and the speech of those fighting natives. It differs not only in intonation, but also in sound. Time spent on different planets of the Republic taught me to distinguish dialects of the English language. It was as if each planet had its own language, and I remembered it well. Listening to the speech of the white natives and the fugitive natives, I realized that their languages ??were completely different and my assumption was confirmed by the fact that they did not react at all to the grins from the white knights when the lieutenant and that girl were negotiating. "Hmm~... interesting." Fred was already thoughtful, approaching the four and starting to scan their bodies. The natives, clearly not understanding what Fred was holding in his hands, became interested, but continued to keep their distance, talking about something among themselves. "And what does the scan show?" Uwon asked. "They are not people." Fred answered. "A completely different type of intelligent being, and all four belong to different species." "A? Is this even normal?" Will asked, and the senior medic hastened to reassure us. "In order to accurately build data about a species, you need a clear calibration of the scan and checking more than one hundred thousand creatures of a given species so that the scan learns not to distinguish them into different categories. This is a long job for a whole team of researchers and we don''t have time for it." "Are you sure they''re not humans?" Will asked out of curiosity. "Yes. They have a completely different set of organs, a different metabolic structure and different substances inside their bodies. You definitely can''t call them humans." "Are these native fanatics the same species as them?" Uwon asked. Fred approached the wounded girl whom he patched up and scanned her, then frowned: "But she''s more like a human being... damn it." "What''s the matter?" Fred turned off the scan before anyone could look at the screen and see the result, while the senior medic responded: "She had a child. He died." This news made, if not all of us, then maybe me feel guilty. ?How were we supposed to know she was pregnant? She herself went into battle against us!? I made excuses in my head, trying not to think about the murdered child, who was not even born. Meanwhile, the natives took out from the bags they had collected all the dried meat that we had all collected from the corpses of the white knights. However, those whom we recently killed may also have supplies, but we have not searched them yet. "I will check this meat for food suitability." Fred said and went into the cargo bay. "And you figure out what to do next." Meanwhile, I went to my soldiers. Chapter 7. Mad Men "One two Three." "Uane, Tvo, Free." "Eh... this will take a long time." "Hm?" "Watch my fingers again. That''s three fingers. Further. Four, five." "For, feef." ,"Fine." "Finy?" "Yes. There is progress." Itami began teaching Alza English, starting with simple words, be it ?hello? or ?bye.? Ripun, Zaden and Niana are trying to learn English together with Alza. They sat not far from the couple and also tried to repeat the words and they did it well. Meanwhile, I talked with Fred from whom I learned good news. "I developed a simple drug to adapt to the local ecosystem." Fred said, handing me a flask with a clear liquid. "After taking the drug, you can eat dried meat after ten or twelve hours." "Fine." I nodded and immediately asked. "Wait, what dose is needed for adaptation and will there be symptoms?" "Even I don''t know that." "Eh? Are you serious?" "Developing a normal chemical agent to adapt the body to new conditions takes years and at the same time months of testing. We, as you know, don''t have that much time, so we will test the drug on the wounded." "They won''t turn into some kind of mutants, will they?" At my question, Fred snatched the flask from my hands and tutted displeasedly. "Tch! Another anti-scientific nonsense is spinning in your head, which is filled with all sorts of nonsense. Modern methods of manufacturing adaptive drugs have been brought to perfection and the likelihood that negative side effects will begin to appear after use is zero point eight ten hun...." "Okay-okay, you don''t have to talk." I sighed and asked for the last time. "So you propose to test the drug on the wounded? And they won''t mind?" "They don''t mind anymore. I''m waiting for the drug to work on the first test subject, and I just came to tell you about it. Uwon knows this too." "Understood. Thank you." "Yes. Bon appetit." Fred went into the cargo bay he had captured to continue doing his business while we sat around waiting for the worst. Uwon, meanwhile, ordered his soldiers to collect supplies from the corpses of the natives, leaving one section of the compartment with a considerable pile of alien food. All the same dried meat, however, the inhabitants of this planet clearly have no alternatives. For long journeys, only dried meat is suitable for consumption. It is unlikely that at the current level of development they could create at least tin cans, not to mention basic portable refrigerators, although who knows, maybe they will surprise us. Lieutenant John and Private Riedl were buried in bags and left in the landing compartment of the shuttle. If we are lucky, we will be able to repair the shuttle and return the bodies of our fighters to the planets of the Republic, but for now they are all stored in one place and are gradually beginning to rot. At this time, Sigrun found something to do in the form of checking our equipment for damage after the battle with the natives, although to be honest this battle could be called a beating of babies and, unfortunately, we had a problem in the form of a certain Empire in which we were apparently located. Platoon C1-2-2D1 will take a week to get to the second shuttle and will have to return on foot for another month, all of which time they will spend on potentially hostile lands inhabited by natives. You can already forget about the legality of the first contact. We killed a lot of natives for the purposes of self-defense and maintaining the secrecy of our stay, but the second one should also be forgotten now. In fact, we have already been discovered and it won''t be long before the natives send an entire army here and find us. ?There are so many problems on our minds. Shit! Now I can imagine how hard it was for John. He served in the RAFOM, moving up the military career ladder, hoping to reach at least the rank of Supgeneral. I shouldn''t even think about that. I''m absolutely no leader.? At that moment, the earphone squeaked in my ear, and I immediately realized that someone was calling me. "Boris, come here. We need to talk." "I''m coming." Uwon called me into the shuttle cabin, where there was a hole and where the wounded Yasmi, the same native who could somehow speak to us in English, lay leaning with her back against the wall. They covered her with a jacket and left her lying at a decent distance from the machine gun crew while she was unconscious. This girl survived the explosion of a creeping mine and not an atom should have been left of her, but she survived, even though she apparently lost a considerable amount of blood. Moreover, her wounds healed very quickly, which told us about her high regenerative abilities. Fred simply refused to comment on the recovery abilities of her body, but we have already begun to get used to the oddities on this planet. I approached Uwon, who was looking at the awakening girl, and I immediately asked him: "I''m here. What did you want to talk about?" "Don''t you think she knows English too well?" I nodded in agreement. It is true that her pronunciation of English was as if she had been speaking it all her life, which is why the version that once upon a time people arrived on this planet and retained their language disappeared. Even on the planets of the Republic, the English language has its own dialects, and some planets still use the old earthly languages ??of the United Nations. However, according to Fred, she is human and that should say a lot. At that moment, the girl opened her snow-white eyes and looked around with fear on her face, clearly not understanding her situation. Her hands and feet were pre-cuffed to prevent her from escaping. The machine gunner took aim at her head and was ready to pull the trigger and fire a burst at any moment. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. At that moment, Uwon squatted down and, looking at her angrily, spoke to her: "You finally woke up. Well, let''s talk now." In response, the girl only looked angrily at him, and at all of us too. "How dare you! I am Yasmi Ermakrili, saint, messenger of the great Sod! How dare you grab me, you dirty barbarians?! The servants of Sod will punish you all for your atrocities!" "Shut up." Uwon said sternly. "We¡¯ll be spitting tongues here, and you, bitch, shut your mouth, otherwise this gun will leave a bunch of crap and blood on your little soul. You understood me?" Yasmi just laughed in response. "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~! What? Insignificant barbarians, do you think that since you has dark relics and you know how to use them, you can hurt me with some pieces of iron? How stupid you are. I am the mouth and wisdom of Sod, I am saint. Sod gave me his blessing. I AM IMMORTAL!!!" "Knee." Said Uwon. "Understood." Answered the shooter. The machine gunner quickly aimed at the girl''s knee and fired a single shot. There is a bright flash and the girl''s leg flies off to the side with a bloody splash. A moment later, the native woman begins to scream heartbreakingly from the monstrous pain that washes over her. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~!!!" Yasmi screamed insanely loudly and twitched from side to side while blood was gushing from her leg. It was a very creepy sight that could scare anyone. "Hey, what are you doing?" I became nervous, turning to Uwon, and he looked at me sternly in response. "What are you doing? She said that she was immortal, so I checked her vile lie. And look, now she''s not so strong that she can survive the explosion of a creeping mine. Serves you right bitch." "Uwon, don''t go crazy! I understand that we lost a lieutenant because of her, but you are a soldier." Uwon looked at me again with a stern look and seemed about to hit me, clenching his fingers into fists and raising his hands to strike, but apparently stopped halfway when my words finally reached him. After which Uwon simply waved his hand and called the medic: "Fred!" "Going." "Hurry up, otherwise she''ll die!" Fred came running with a first aid kit in his hands and, sitting down on his knees, began wrapping the girl''s leg with a cold cloth. A couple of fighters held the girl while she kicked and screamed in pain, biting her snow-white hair. She trembled and swayed back and forth, clearly unable to bear the pain. "She needs rest." Fred said when he finished treating the wound and throwing her leg through the hole. "At least a day." Uwon only snorted when he heard this. "Fine. Let''s give her a day to rest. She will finally come to her senses and know who she is dealing with. Boris, I need her to tell us everything she knows tomorrow. Do you understand me?" "Yes." I nodded, accepting the order. "If she remains silent, just fucking shoot her." "And then what?" I turned sternly to Uwon. "Do you think killing her would be a good decision?" "Why would she be needed then?" "Did you hear her? She introduced herself as a saint, that is, she is a high-ranking representative of this certain Empire." Uwon thought about it and seemed to understand what I was getting at. "Do you think it can be exchanged later? Did you mean this?" "And not only. We can use her as a hostage." "Do you think we are terrorists?" "We will either wash our hands in blood and not get out of here, or we will wash our hands in blood and get out. Remember what we need to do. We must hold out until Leo and his platoon arrive and then we can repair the shuttle and return to the rest of the army by flying further east. If we kill her, then we will have no reason to negotiate with the natives when they arrive here, and they will not even understand us, and if she is alive, then they will not take a step in our direction until they are convinced of her safety. The most important thing now is time." Uwon, having heard my words, understood everything that I was trying to convey to him and agreed with me. "Fine. Then don''t kill her. At ease." "Yes sir." After that, Uwon went to his soldiers while, against the backdrop of all this, there was a downpour outside and Yasmi was screaming in pain. Looking at all this, you can''t help but think: ?Everyone is already starting to go crazy. I don''t want to go crazy after all this.? Soon I returned to my soldiers where I shared with them information about what had happened. Itami was especially outraged by Uwon''s actions. "Has he gone crazy?" "No." I shook my head. "His reaction is completely normal." "Very funny." Esko said seriously. "If Uwon is doing such things now, then imagine what it will be like tomorrow with the entire platoon." "Fuck it. We''re all going to go crazy." Will responded. "What should we do now?" "Wait and hide. We now have supplies. Fred made the drug, we can only wait." "What about the natives?" "We will teach them English and establish contact with them." "Are we now enemies with this Empire?" "Is not a fact. They don''t know that we destroyed their squad in these jungles, but if any of them survived, then we have big problems." "General Zeonid is probably already building a base at the landing site," Itami responded. "And climate change will not manifest itself soon." Then I decided to ask my guys: "What do you think will happen to the planet?" Esko turned out to be more knowledgeable on this issue. "The very fall of a ship onto water or land will only bring a brief increase in temperature on the entire planet for about ten years. This is minor damage, but our situation is much worse." All the guys from the platoon turned their faces towards Esko and began to listen to him carefully. "Fuel from the cruiser''s tanks will be released into the atmosphere after the fall. These are the most dangerous pesticides, which can possibly kill all living things on land and then in water through sediment." "No, this can''t be." Senior Sergeant Anzhey commented on Esko''s words. "The extinction of life on land will last for several months until the whole world turns into a huge wasteland. A habitable planet needs several years for toxic substances to erode from the surface and waters of the planet and return suitable conditions for life. What I told you is not the worst-case scenario." "And the worst?" "It didn''t happen, judging by the fact that there are no earthquakes." Then I thought: ?Hmm~... the impact of a two-kilometer ship on the planet''s crust could have provoked lithospheric shifts, and the fact that there are no earthquakes on this planet right now suggests that the planet''s crust was not greatly damaged after the ship crashed and no sharp deviations in the movement of lithospheric plates are observed. If this happened, then in just a few days literally all the volcanoes would erupt tons of ash and would ensure a volcanic winter for centuries. Fortunately, there is no evidence of such an outcome yet, but the best-case scenario still does not sound very encouraging.? And while the guys continued to talk to each other, several more people got to their feet, and we, along with the rations, used the same drugs to adapt to the local food, after which we boldly began to finish up our rations and switch to the supplies of the fanatical natives, who fortunately were in excess. But there was something that haunted me, namely the disappearance of Ashwani. When Yasmi will recover is the first thing I learn from her. If she doesn''t know, then it will be difficult to return Ashwani even if he is alive because we will no longer care about him. While we are here, we must return him at any cost, even if most of the regiment even believes in his existence. The day, meanwhile, ended quite quickly, and we went to bed, simultaneously being on duty at the hole and at the landing compartment, replacing each other, but on the whole the rainy night on this planet went quite smoothly. In the morning, my guys looked after the wounded and tasted the dried meat from the natives'' provisions, and you know what, it would have been better not to have tried it. "It tastes like crap." Will commented, slowly swallowing the local food, trying not to spit it out. "And we have to sit on this for a whole month?" "Have to." Sigrun commented, seemingly not paying attention to the disgusting taste of the pieces of dried meat. "How can you eat this with such a calm face?" Anzhey asked the girl. "What are you talking about? It''s just food, and food needs to be eaten." "Stop joking like that. They didn''t understand you." Itami commented. "You are an Alsian and your taste buds are suppressed so that you can eat army rations and more." "O! You guessed it." The black girl smiled. "On Alsis, we drink a lot and eat little, and this somehow causes an instinctive rejection of other food, and the refore those Alsians who eat non-Alsis food suppress their taste buds in medical centers." "I heard there is something similar on Mars." I added and looked at Forn. "This is true?" The Martian looked at me for a moment before answering. "Yes, this is true, but in our case this is caused more by the cybernation of Martian society than due to adaptive evolutionary shifts. On Mars they may well have army rations, which cannot be said about cyborgs. Their entire nervous system is disrupted and they already need to do this so that their brain does not go crazy due to innate nerve cells." "Marvelous." Esko commented. "We may all be human, but the different planets on which we were born, lived and protect have divided us. Only the Republic unites humanity, but only as a civilization, but as forms of life we ??are no longer similar." Everyone became thoughtful at Esko''s words, and so did I. Another ten thousand years and we will no longer be able to call each other people. The planets on which people settled, whether similar to Earth or with harsh living conditions, will still make us different intelligent species, and only our common home, planet Earth, will be an eternal reminder that we are all one race of people rushing to the stars. Chapter 8. Who is your God? Our faces froze in a grimace of surprise when we saw that Yasmi''s severed leg had grown back a little. Very slowly, but her limb was restored, as if she were some kind of lizard that had only lost its tail, which could grow back at any moment. Human is not a creature that can restore severed parts of the body through natural regeneration; after all, the human body has its limitations and complete restoration for a human is considered impossible without the intervention of genobiology. On the planets of the Republic, they learned to grow body parts and internal organs, and also learned to fuse them with the human body, thanks to which even fatal wounds such as the loss of a huge amount of blood from several parts of the body now seem not as dangerous as thousands of years ago. People have the choice to restore their body parts through genobiological fusion or through cybernesization, that is, replacing natural body parts with bionic ones. More often, people choose the first option, since bionics requires that a person get used to a new artificial body part, and this despite the fact that bionic body parts are a hundred times more effective than natural ones. People are simply more accustomed to living with living body parts than with artificial ones. The fact that Yasmi''s leg has grown a little and even without the help of genobiology makes us once again surprised by the strange things that happen on this anomalous planet. Many of us had questions for Fred after what happened, but he simply shook his shoulders and answered: "I don''t know." "You''re the chief physician here and you don''t know?" Uwon was surprised at Fred''s reaction. "If I had an answer to every medical question, then I would already be the Minister of Health of the entire Republic, and not the senior physician in the regiment." "Can not argue with that." I said and before approaching Yasmi I asked Uwon. "It''s unlikely that I''ll be able to extract everything from her right away. This takes time." "I know." Uwon nodded. "We have a lot of time. Before the natives arrive, we can strengthen the shuttle and hide it in dense vegetation. So you can take your time." "Fine." I answered and began to approach the girl wrapped in a jacket. She was calm and looked at me with wariness. At this moment, Uwon suddenly turned to me: "We need to find out anything from her, Boris. Extort from her everything she knows and doesn''t know." He may be angry, but he also wants to know how she killed John and Private Riedl. Either these natives use alien weapons that were on this planet or they themselves set our people on fire without us noticing. "Fine." I answered Uwon and sat down closer to the girl. Another anomaly is the color of her eyes. They were snow-white and did not glow like those of the proximirians, but they were exciting in their own way, as if they were some kind of mechanism, a tool that she uses for her own purposes. Maybe she used them to set John on fire? I can''t explain this exactly, otherwise Fred will definitely accuse me of conspiracy theories. Before asking her my questions, I introduced myself to her: "Do you hear me? My name is Boris Kipito, I am a junior lieutenant. Let''s get to know each other." She just snorted at my words: "As if the great Sod cares about your pathetic name, insignificant barbarian." Her reaction was what I expected from her. Aggression towards the enemy, unwillingness to conduct any dialogue with me. There can be no talk of cooperation here. However, my current goal is to show that we are different people, believe in different things and even think and know different things. At that moment I decided to ask her a question: "I don''t care what you think about me, you are our prisoner and must answer our questions. And the first thing I want to ask is... Tell us about Sod. What it is?" The girl turned her face in my direction after hearing my words. My question seemed to anger her greatly. "Heretics, barbarians and pagans do not deserve to hear words from the lips of the messenger of Sod. There is no faith in you, there is no trust in you, you are vicious and only the flesh-cutting gladius will become your salvation by cutting off the empty poisoned heads from your shoulders. How will my words about our great Sod save your miserable lives? You will not believe in him and you will not correct yourself, you will not be cleansed, this will never happen." Fanaticism. I thought this was characteristic only of the Elarasians, or rather their descendants, who believed in the goddess Elarasia. Until now, in the modern history of mankind, it remains a mystery as to why a ?golden colony? consisting of materialists turned into an entire religious isolationist civilization that does not have any friendly ties with the rest of humanity. No one could understand this, and yet it makes me think that people need faith since they have become so fanatical, they need something to rely on in their lives. Or people believe in simple things, be it moral principles or the laws of some non-existent supernatural forces. Even now, in the Republic, three great religions continue to exist despite the fact that their interpretation of the origin of the universe has long been considered incorrect and erroneous. In Yasmi''s eyes I see this faith, this fanaticism towards my deity. She lived for many years seeing only one side of the coin, but she did not try to look at the other half and draw her own conclusions. That''s why I decided to ask her: "Interesting. First I would like to check if Sod is strongerour God?" The girl''s face showed anger at my question. It seemed that every question I asked was wrong and offensive to her: ?How dare you ask such offensive questions in front of the messenger of God?!? or something like that. She answered as viciously as her facial expression: "There are no more gods in the world except Sod. He is our creator and our destroyer; Parent and Judge; Teacher and healer. All other ?Gods? are just pitiful creatures, degenerates of demons, mutants and monsters, the creation of infidels. Sod is more powerful and majestic than all of them, Sod always tells us, tells us how to live, how to follow, how to come to salvation." At this moment, the girl suddenly became interested with a malicious grin on her face. "And if our Sod is more powerful than everyone else, I would like to know how insignificant your deity is." "It will be more honest." I answered, deciding to explain to her my philosophy of looking at the world, or more precisely, the view of a republican materialist and earthling. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "Our God is our Sun, the light in the sky that gave birth to life on Earth. It is powerful, but silent; it shines brightly, but not in the shadows. People don''t pray to it, because it''s not even alive, but this God gave birth to us, and we consider it God or we don''t consider it to be everyone''s business. We do not make sacrifices to him, we do not build temples, we simply live under the rays of his light and continue to live among other suns in the sky." Quite strange words came out of my mouth. The girl was shocked by what she heard, and I probably plunged into nostalgia, missing home, my native Earth and my family, who had been waiting for me for ten years and might have to wait for me just as long. I myself never believed in the Gods, but if I did, I would believe in the Sun. A huge ball of gas that warms the surface of the planets of the solar system, on one of which life appeared, and then man himself. After this, is it impossible not to call our Sun God? In fact, the star that created life and not only created it, but supported it. If we do not consider God to be a certain rational being, but possessing the power to create life, then the Sun will be such a God. Nevertheless, along with the shock on Yasmi''s face, doubts about my words about our ?God? were visible, and she hastened to answer me: "This is not God. The sun is only the light of Sod, its brightest eye in the sky, but it is not God. You believe in absurd things, stupid barbarians. There is no morality in your faith, no purity, no meaning, no nothing. You don''t believe in anything!" I couldn''t stand it at her words and grinned. "But you don''t believe in anything either." "THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT SOD!" The girl shouted, almost spitting with anger. "Sod will punish you all for your unbelief! WILL PUNISH WITH OUR HAND! For there is no need to tear Sod away from his unknown paths! WE WILL DO THIS!" "You are saying this to me, a man from another world, a man who has seen the heavens, stars and other planets. There is no Sod or other Gods there. No Gods create life, the stars do." "What are you talking about, barbarian?" The embittered Yasmi was perplexed. "Only Sod orders people to be allowed into heaven! Only Sod creates life! Life cannot come from nothing!" "But that''s how life came into being. We don''t have Sod and we can freely go to heaven, but we create the essence of our life, its goal ourselves, without the orders of the so-called higher powers." ?But if you are a civilian, then flying into space is still very expensive.? I added to myself, but decided not to voice it out loud because this native simply would not understand me. The girl, however, did not calm down. Her usual worldview was crumbling right before her eyes. She just didn''t want to believe what she heard. Hammering the nail of doubt into her was my first step towards extracting from her everything she knows. Once upon a time I believed in something firmly and without any doubt. Republican propaganda convinced me that people must be united to resist possible alien threats, and especially fucults. Now I don''t believe it. Humanity, no matter what it is on a galactic scale, does not threaten anyone, and the fucults do not need war; they also do not threaten anyone. I have seen too much in life to begin to doubt many things, but before that I simply could not give up what I was firmly convinced of. I was tied to the republican faith, and when my eyes began to cut my faith with a knife, I grabbed onto it with my last strength until I finally let it go, threw it away from me. I did the same with Yasmi. She was fanatical, did not doubt anything, and I destroyed her worldview. Now she has clung to her faith tightly and for a long time, but crush her faith completely, and she will immediately open up and begin to be interested in other things and look at the world familiar to her in a new way. Will I be able to win her over to my side? I think it''s unlikely, because she''s too fanatical. Perhaps someone else, for example Fred, will do the recruiting. He may be rude in his own way, but his medical care will leave Yasmi with a good opinion of him. ?The main thing is not to drive her to suicide.? I constantly emphasized to myself. Yasmi, meanwhile, clung to her faith with all her might. "You are blatantly lying to me, barbarian! No matter what shackles you use to shroud the righteous eye in darkness, you are a liar! No, you yourself believe this lie! It was instilled in you by your insignificant evil patrons. YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING! You did not know this world. "I would like to tell you the same thing." I answered calmly, to which she snapped again. "MY FAITH IS PURE AND SINCERE! AND YOU, WORTHLESS ONE, ARE STANDING IN THE WAY OF SOD WILL!" "I don''t give a damn about your Sod. He is nothing to me, just a word from your mouth." "YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR BARKING, PLEBEIAN! SOD WILL PUNISH YOU!" "Let''s see him try to. Who is stronger: your non-existent deity or a machine gun?" I briefly glanced at the machine gunner''s position, again reminding the girl of the power of our weapons, capable of tearing her body into small pieces. The girl''s look at that moment was almost murdered. She really believed in what she said, and her faith really collapsed, or maybe it was not her faith that collapsed, but her confidence in the power of her deity. "If there is Sod," I said, rising to my feet. "Why didn''t he protect you?" "He protected; He always protects me; He heals me; He whispers to me. His great voice, I hear Him; He always commands me; He will show me the way. Never shut up, never leave, never abandon his faithful children... ...never..." Yasmi seemed to be in prostration and talking to herself, and meanwhile I approached Uwon and said: "I''ll continue the interrogation later. Now her head needs to be cooled." Uwon nodded with his arms crossed and went into the compartment, and we left the girl with a lot of thoughts in her head. She looked at the ceiling with emptiness in her eyes and muttered something under her breath. I, in turn, decided to return to the compartment with my guys. At this time, Fred''s subjects began to recover and rise to their feet. The native four continued to study English with Itami, and some other fighters also joined them to practice. I approached Itami and asked him: "How is the progress?" "Very tight." The black-haired signalman sighed tiredly. "They showed their alphabet on the tablet. I can''t even imagine how to make the correct transcription from Latin letters to theirs so that they can more easily start learning words in English." Indeed, learning a language is one of the most difficult tasks for anyone in any part of the galaxy. Only a few can grasp someone else''s language on the fly, but the majority are tied to their worlds, their culture and, of course, to their language, and they find it difficult to learn the languages ??of other people, and of other intelligent species in general. ?I think if Yasmi had been obedient, she would have helped in learning the language. Since she knows English, she could parse the transcription for the local language.? I thought and was already thinking about how to use Yasmi later in terms of negotiations and teaching the natives English. At that moment, Uwon came up to me and said: "Boris, we need to discuss something." "Okay." I answered, we moved to another compartment, where a humanoid tactical droid stood and displayed a projection from its limb on the wall, where a map of the area was displayed. "Not a single form of life." Uwon said. At that moment, my eyes were darting, first to Uwon, then to Fred, who had just come here, and I couldn''t help but wonder: "What about plants?" "These are not plants, Boris." Fred answered me, making me perplexed. "More precisely, they are still plants, but they are already dead. They have only retained their pigment, but they are already beginning to decompose. Soon this area will be filled with poisonous gas and I''m afraid our filters won''t last long." Fred handed me a curved stick with gray leaves hanging limply. I took it in my hands and looked at it for a long time, trying to understand something. "And what does it mean?" I asked, to which Uwon immediately answered. "Two options: the first is the consequences of the crash of the cruiser ?Zeus?. The release of toxic chemicals has filled the atmosphere with hazardous substances and is falling as precipitation right now." "And the second one," Fred continued. "This is an anomaly. My observations showed that before the rain, flora and fauna flourished here quietly, and this rain began a week before our shuttle crashed in the middle of this jungle." "And which of the two options is correct?" I asked, to which Uwon answered me shaking his head. "No matter what is true, you should pay attention to the fact that we will no longer find living creatures here. This means that we can no longer stay here. Our supplies are running low. The energy will soon run out. We need to go to this Empire and hide in it until help arrives." "What about Leo?" I asked. "We''ll leave him a message before we leave here." Uwon''s words were a little scary. What we''ve been doing all this time is trying to hunt local animals to replace our limited rations with local food. Fred had already begun testing an adaptive drug on the wounded so that we could eat local food, but in the end it was all in vain. Ultimately, we found ourselves in a disastrous place where we would not live long due to the toxic rains that kill all life as such. Uwon performed magic on the tablet, moving the position of the map and showed us a map of the continent with an orbital scan of complex life forms. "We have two ways. Closest to the west, most likely to that same Empire," Said Uwon, showing bright dots that could be settlements of local natives. "And the second way is to the east." There were also settlements in the east, but they were further away and seem less populated than the west. Considering what we had done here, our path to the west was closed, and therefore we needed to go east, but this road would be much more difficult and longer than to the west. If we''re lucky, we''ll be able to meet Leo and his platoon. "We wait for all the ninth and eighth to rise to their feet, and then we collect all the things we have and go east." Uwon concluded our little meeting. Chapter 9. Broken This time, her leg grew back completely as if she had actually undergone a genobiological operation to regrow a limb, which certainly continued to surprise us. The senior medic still refused to comment on this, but looked thoughtful. I''m sure Fred is thinking about how this is possible, which none of us doubted. I hope he finds out what her secret is before Yasmi herself tells us about it. Often the machine gun crew changed shooters, holding the so-called Saint Yasmi at gunpoint, ready at any moment to tear her body into pieces with machine gun fire, but also, just in case, remote explosives were hidden in her jacket if she somehow breaks free and tries to inflict on us harm. What is strange is that she did not eat anything, she only prayed in her language, which vaguely resembled either Spanish or Italian, which people have not spoken for fifteen hundred years. The machine gunners claimed that she even glowed in the dark while they were watching her, but now she looked quite normal with only emptiness in her snow-white eyes. She was probably thinking about how it happened that she was being kept here. Time breaks her confidence in her views, which is exactly what I was counting on. After she finally breaks down, she will tell much more about herself than we can even afford. Now we need any information she can give us. I walked up to Yasmi and sat down opposite her. She still frowned when she saw me. Well, I''ll start, perhaps, with the main thing, namely greetings: "Greetings again, I''m Boris Kipito, if you haven''t forgotten." Yasmi pursed her lips and decided to remain firmly silent. At that moment I turned my head towards the machine gunner and raised my palm. Yasmi, of course, noticed this, thinking that now her leg would be torn into pieces again. "Wait!" The girl screamed in fright, opening her eyes wide in horror. "What do you want from me?" "Answers." I said briefly, returning my attention to her. "You will answer my questions. Otherwise you will die." "I''m not afraid of death." Yasmi answered very boldly. "The warm embrace of Sod awaits me, and only emptiness awaits you." "I will not ask questions about Sod, but about your world." Yasmi was clearly perplexed by my words. She remembered something from what I told her and wondered: "You said that you are not from this world. How is this possible?" "Everything has its time." I answered the girl. "First of all, I want to know how you know our language and, moreover, why you speak it so well." "A stupid question, because I am the voice of God, His mouth." Yasmi quickly answered. "My path on mortal earth is to carry His voice, His instructions into this world, to guide people on the true path. It is my sacred mission to multiply His word in all languages ??of the universe." "That is... Sod gave you the ability to understand and speak other languages?" I became curious at her words. "Do you even notice that you speak other languages?" "No, I don''t notice." Yasmi lowered her head and spoke sadly, either to herself or to me. "I haven''t seen any other way since the world began. The path of faith is my only path, and if I had left it, I would have plunged into darkness, despair and would not have gotten out of it. But you dragged me there. Why did you do this?" "Another question." I interrupted her. "Why does it always rain here?" "I... I don''t know." Yasmi raised her head. "This is my first time here, I don''t know these lands." "This is bad." I sighed, seeing that she was not lying. It''s trivial that there were no signs of this either in body movements, or in facial expressions, or in the intonation of the voice. "Then what can you tell me about the Empire?" "It''s better to kill me, send me to Sod, than let your family bring malice and darkness to the sacred lands of the Empire." Yasmi said with impudent confidence in her voice. "We don''t care about your Empire, we just want to return home, get off this planet and fly away from here. We need all the information we can to achieve this." I told her honestly. "Tch! Strangers." Yasmi tsked with contempt in her voice. "I thought you were exiles, plebeians who fell into the ruins of the dark, fleeing from pagan kingdoms, but I was wrong. You are much worse and more evil than anyone I have ever met in my life." "Dark and pagans?" I suddenly became interested in her words. "At least tell us about them." "You will never break my faith in Sod, you nonentity. Sod will protect us all. He will guide us." ?She pretends to be strong.? I guessed and decided to grimly threaten her by waving at the machine gunner. "You know, this time that guy might shoot off both your legs." After hearing what she heard, Yasmi, in turn, shrank into her jacket, but continued to persist and stand her ground. "You tell me that you are not afraid of death," I chuckled. "But your actions say otherwise. You are very much afraid of death." "My journey is not yet completed. I, a saint, must be crucified over the gates of Holley, and my blood must wash the locks of the virgin, the new saint who will step on my path. Tradition cannot be broken. Sod will be angry with the mortal world for such a monstrous blasphemy. I''m not afraid to die, but... but I''m afraid for my sisters, that they will suffer because of me, my death." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Do you have any sisters?" I became interested. "Tell about yourself." "I won''t say anything." "If you don''t answer questions, you will die." "I''ll be in Sod''s arms." "No. You, like us, are doomed to disappear and there is nothing wrong with that. You just won''t understand it." "WHAT IS THIS STUPIDITY?!" Yasmi screamed indignantly. "I WILL NOT LEAVE MY CHOSEN PATH! I WILL LIVE IN THE EMBRACE OF Sod FOREVER!!!... forever... *sob*... He will never leave me... never... *sob*" Yasmi''s strong confidence crumbled and was blown away by the wind, and the girl herself burst into tears after pouring out some of her emotions on me, and meanwhile I rose to my feet and, going out into another compartment through the earpiece, informed Uwon about the results of the interrogation. "Uwon, this is Boris." "I''m listening. What''s happened?" "The second stage of the interrogation was successful. Tomorrow will be the final one." "Great. What were you able to find out?" "Her knowledge of English is most likely also an anomaly. I think she immediately understands and speaks the languages ??of those she addresses." "This is... hmm... strange." Uwon said and I couldn''t disagree with him. "I''ll write this down in the journal, and then you go and rest." "Yes, sir." After these words, Uwon passed out, and I went to join my guys in another compartment of the shuttle. I lay down on a makeshift bed and forcefully chewed dried meat, washing it all down with filtered water. I was feeling sleepy and was about to close my eyes and fall asleep when Sigrun sat down next to me. "Are you going to sleep?" The black girl responded cheerfully, as always. "Will you tell me how she is?" "Not yet." I answered the black woman dissatisfied. "It takes time to get Yasmi to loosen her tongue." "Are you calling her by name already?" Sigrun grinned, clearly thinking about the wrong thing. She was probably trying to tease me, but she suddenly decided to change her mind. "Maybe I should talk to her?" I opened my eyes and looked at the girl. Playful Sigrun, I don''t know her well, but that''s how she seems to me. She was a simple ship engineer, performing spot work on repairing ship equipment and troubleshooting system problems. I''m surprised that none of the guys open their hands, although perhaps this is due to her Alsian origin, which could simply turn off many people. "If the third stage does not go according to plan, then you can talk to her." I answered and for some reason became curious about something. "Listen, Sigrun, how did you get on ?Zeus??" The optimism suddenly disappeared from the girl''s face, causing her to droop. "You better not ask about it. It''s... not something I can tell you." ?It''s clear.? I thought and thought about something. Alsis is a rather remote planet, located on the border with the Ko''ofra sector occupied by the Kofistan Empire; at least in the republic, this alien civilization is called that way, but this is not what we will talk about. Alsis is a whole desert world where the year lasts only three months. The people there live below the surface of the planet, and their skin color since the creation of the first colony some centuries later has become jet black due to the extremely hot conditions, and the Alsians themselves traditionally prefer white clothing, which contrasts sharply with their skin. From all other people, Alsians became more distinctive in terms of appearance compared to other people. Because of this, the Alsians in the republic are treated with disdain, and the Alsians themselves prefer not to leave the confines of their world because of this. It''s strange to see Sigrun here as an engineer of one of the earth''s armies, and not Alisis. I''m really curious to know how it happened that she became an engineer here, how she was able to move to the solar system, and then to Zeus, but since she doesn''t want to talk about it, I probably won''t insist. "As you wish." I answered, closing my eyes, about to finally fall asleep. "Maybe I''m interfering in something that''s not my business, but at least do you miss home?" "No." Sigrun answered quickly with a stern tone. "I like Earth better." "Seriously?" Will intervened, appearing out of nowhere. "Do you like the planet that restored its climate just a couple of centuries ago? Hah~! I thought you liked sand." "You can''t really enjoy the view of the desert on Alsis when Shams occupies a third of the sky." Sigrun answered. Will grinned at the engineer''s words, starting to start a conversation with her. A couple prevents me from falling asleep with their conversations, at least they don''t bother me as much as the work of the ship''s accelerators on the cruiser, which make a loud noise during the maneuver. And yet I could not stand them. "Let me sleep." "Well, sleep." Will answered. "We''re not bothering you." "You''re still bothering me. Just shut up and let him sleep." "How tired you are. Of course, you don''t watch the hole every night," Will muttered displeasedly. "But we have to." I was filled with irritation from such words, but suddenly I realized something. ?Am I mad at Will?? I had to swallow everything he just said. It was true on his part: officers like us don''t have to follow orders, which is what we give. We are just providing guidance. And even though I so quickly rose to the rank of junior lieutenant, I still had little understanding of leading an entire platoon. It seemed to me that this was an impossible task, even though I kept all the sternness and seriousness on my face, while in fact I was afraid of the responsibility that I bear for my people. Every decision I make can cost lives and I shouldn''t pour out my emotions on my own people, because this could be the very decision that will destroy us all. Ultimately, having resigned myself to the inconvenience, I finally fell asleep and the next morning I started eating breakfast. Eating dried meat is still unusual for me; however, there are no better alternatives in sight in the near future, so we endured. I soon returned to the interrogation process. Yasmi was still sitting there, wrapped in a jacket and handcuffed. This is the first time I''ve seen her shivering from the cold. Seeing this, I even felt sorry for her, and this despite the fact that she killed John. I hope at least today, at least this time, she will give out more information. ?The third stage... I hope I don''t have to resort to the fourth.? I came closer to her, and she looked at me with a pleading face. It was the third day since she was captured by us, and she is already in such despair that even her fanatical faith cannot save her. She turned out to be much weaker inside than I imagined. "Greetings." I said, squatting down in front of her. "What are you ready to tell me?" She pursed her lips again, but her fear of me at gunpoint spoke for itself. "All." She said in a trembling voice. I smiled and said through the earphone. "We need warm clothes and food. She split." "It will be done, sir." I heard the private''s voice in the earphone. After some time, Yasmi was dressed in the uniform of a naval engineer, orange overalls. Of course, Sigrun dealt with this, and Yasmi looked at her with wide eyes. "Why are you like this?" Yasmi asked the engineer. I didn¡¯t see the girls, but I heard them while I was standing at the special booth where Sigrun was changing Yasmi¡¯s clothes. "Are you talking about skin color?" Sigrun grinned. "I''m just not a earthling." "Earthling? What it is?" Yasmi was perplexed and I hastened to answer, crossing my arms over my chest. "We are from the planet known as Earth, and Sigrun is from the planet Alsis. We may not be too similar to each other, but we are citizens of the republic and humans" "Sigrun? Is that your name?" Asked Yasmi. "Yes. This is my name." The black woman answered. "Have you come from the sky?" Yasmi asked while Sigrun buttoned up something for the saint. "I think this is the first time for you to see guests from outer space." Sigrun grinned. "Ready. So how? Comfortable? Not cold?" "Mmmm... good." Yasmi answered, and then she and Sigrun left the booth. As soon as she appeared, the machine gunner at the other end of the compartment immediately took aim. Yasmi was scared, seemingly having forgotten that she was always at gunpoint and, in fact, was a prisoner. The conversation with Sigrun relaxed her too much. Meanwhile, I approached her to ask the first question. "Are you ready to tell us everything?" Yasmi lowered her head and was silent for a while, clenching her fists, but soon she relaxed and said with confidence in her voice: "If you let me go, I''ll tell you everything." "Hmm~..." I thought about this turn of events and I spun around for a while before hitting her in the stomach. "Kha~!" Yasmi bent over in pain. She didn''t expect this. With pain in her eyes, she fell to the floor and moaned in pain, holding her stomach with her hands where I actually hit her. It was unpleasant for me to do this, but I had to show myself to her as an extremely harsh and ruthless person who was not going to tolerate non-cooperation. I have to find out what is happening on this planet, where Ashwani went, what kind of Empire this is and why it actually speaks English and can regrow severed limbs. I have to find out. "You''re not in a position to set conditions for us." I said sternly, towering over her. "I asked you if you were ready to tell us everything, not whether you would or not. Either way, we''re gonna get everything we want out of you. Do I make myself clear?" Yasmi gritted her teeth angrily looking at me, rising to her feet, trembling with horror with her whole body. "You barbarians will pay for everything. Sod will punish you! Kha~!" Another blow, this time to the face. I broke her nose and let some blood flow from her nostrils. This time she moaned in pain much more painfully than before. She realized that further insolence would not improve the situation for her. "You''ll die if you don''t tell us, but we''ll decide whether we''ll let you go or not only when you tell us everything." At that moment I looked up at Sigrun. She was saddened by what she saw. Of course, she condemned such interrogation methods and yet I have a lot of information to find out about this planet, and I am not afraid to use violence when necessary. Because I''m a soldier. This time Yasmi gave in, all the anger even disappeared from her face and fear came in its place. "Just don''t kill me... I beg you." Chapter 10. We are discovered The fugitive natives persistently studied English. They have more or less learned to pronounce basic words, prime numbers, and the correct pronouns. Itami did a good job training the natives, who seem to have already gotten along here despite the fact that they were allocated a separate part of the compartment. After all, they are alien creatures and could well be carriers of alien diseases, which is why they were aloof from the rest of the crew. Nevertheless, they were pleased that they were safe with us, but one native girl named Niana seemed to doubt that we should be trusted and constantly looked askance at us and doubtfully accepted food and filtered water from us. Fred calmed us down after he scanned the bodies of our guests. Moreover, he developed a medicinal drug for them in his warehouse mini-laboratory, after which the green spots began to disappear from the natives. Over time, more and more people got back on their feet, but some of the crew members with more severe injuries were still eight and they needed full treatment, and not the first aid that Fred provided. Alza suddenly ran up to me, tapping her finger on my uniform while I was resting after interrogating Yasmi. Turning to her, I saw a dark-haired girl who for some reason uttered the following words so touchingly and with an accent: "I love you." "Huh?" My jaw at that moment almost dropped from what I heard, and Alza, seeing my expression on my face, moved back restlessly, asking Itami, who, in turn, was grinning sarcastically behind the girl¡¯s back. "Can I say this?" Alza asked the signalman, and I immediately became indignant. "Hey!" I turned to Itami jumping off my bed. "What kind of jokes are these?" "Pff~! Excuse me... sir!" The signalman could barely contain his laughter. Only those who observed this situation could not hold back their laughter. At that moment the whole compartment was laughing because of the awkward situation in which I found myself. Alza shrank into a corner seeing the reaction of those around her. Some fighters even clapped their hands with laughter, they were so amused by the situation. "Sir, are you getting married?" One of the soldiers laughed, and Alza¡¯s face showed a grimace of fear and misunderstanding. What was happening surprised her so much and at the same time frightened her that she whimpered, saying something in her own language. At that moment, the same dark-haired native man, Ripun, ran up to her. He hugged her and reassured her, muttering something in his own language, and then adding in English: "Saying that to a person." He said, tightly squeezing the girl¡¯s palm, looking at her face almost closely. Alza for some time did not understand the gesture of her relative, friend, or who he was for her, I did not yet know, but then she widened her eyes as soon as she realized what the words that she said to me meant. She turned to me and almost panickedly shouted: "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" "Okay, okay! Calm down!" I waved my hands in front of her. "I''m not mad, okay?" ?Me only need to be angry at one person!? I was mentally annoyed, looking sternly at the signalman. The entire compartment continued to be filled with the noise of laughter and this reinforced my anger. "ITAMI!" I screamed at the top of my voice, looking sternly at the signalman. "Here." He stood at attention, barely hiding the grin on his face. ?How I want to punch him for this!? I restrained myself from hasty actions, but fortunately I calmed myself down by unclenching my fists. "You will no longer teach English to the natives." Itami sighed in relief in response. "SO THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED!?" I screamed and the soldiers around me raised a new wave of laughter because of Itami¡¯s actions and my reaction to her. Even Uwon, who appeared, whose smile never left his face, laughed. I was the only one who was gloomy and dissatisfied with all this. All I could do was growl from the fact that my own subordinate was making such a brazen joke about me. ?They don''t understand how important these words are to me. They''re making fun of me.? ¡°Come on, Boris, don¡¯t be so angry.¡± Uwon patted me on the shoulder and then changed his tone to a more serious one. "Emergency meeting." Uwon''s message brought me back to reality, and I went after him before the soldiers started making new jokes. The humanoid tactical droid, as always, displayed a projection map of the area in the pilot¡¯s compartment, and what we saw on it did not suit us very much, namely a whole detachment of natives that was strictly heading towards our shuttle between the thickets in a line. "Two hundred and seven natives will be here in four hours." Uwon said. "Looks like the time has come." Uwon turned away from the projection and turned to Fred and me. His facial expression said it all, but despite this, he still ordered: Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "Start packing. It''s time to leave the shuttle." "Yes, sir!" Fred and I sang. After that we got down to business. I went to the compartment where we were all resting and gave the platoon orders to collect things, weapons and other supplies, and also ordered them to prepare to leave this shuttle, and apparently forever. We decided not to test the defenses of our small fortress, because this time we did not have a chance to fight back. We cannot afford to use suppressive fire, and this is exactly what the natives will do if they decide to lay siege to the shuttle. The seriously wounded will have to be carried on their backs, as will all additional equipment that we will need in the future. One fighter took with him a whole replicator in case we somehow managed to find a source of energy, although we cannot hope for this in the coming days. I¡¯m not even sure if there is a person among us who could assemble a generator or could find application for microelectronics used in a replicator. The fugitive natives looked around and did not yet understand what was happening and actually stopped studying English together with Itami. Frankly, he achieved good results and the natives were still able to ask more or less simple questions. Just one of them named Zaden with a bald head turned to me with a very clear question: "Leave?" I nodded, answering him: "Yes. We. Leave." I spoke, simultaneously making gestures with my hands. "Here. Will. Dangerous." Looking at my hands, Zaden seemed to understand me and hurried to the other three natives, warning them in his language about the imminent departure, after which they began to collect their things. I would like to tell them not to take their rags with them, but who knows how they will react to being forced to leave behind their things that protected them along the way. It may even be that for the natives these things could be sacred, but we did not know this, and therefore we simply allowed them to do what they did. ?These are the first natives who are at least neutral towards us. I wouldn''t want to lose them. Maybe in the future they will become a bridge between the inhabitants of this world and the entire 127th Army.? I thought, fearing for the lives of the fugitive natives. "Move!" One soldier pushed Yasmi forward, pushing her forward with the muzzle of an assault rifle. "What''s happening?" The saint was perplexed. She was dressed in an orange overalls of engineers and put a naval cap on her head. Her hands were handcuffed behind her back. She looked quite surreal now. There is no other way to say beauty in work clothes. "We are leaving." The soldier answered the saint and hurried with the captive to the landing compartment. "Be a good girl and follow my instructions!" "How dare yo...! AY~!" Yasmi tried to object, but the soldier almost knocked the girl to the floor with his butt. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH! NOW GET UP!" To be honest, I didn¡¯t feel sorry for her. She killed Lieutenant John and did not deserve mercy, but at the same time I also felt bitter, feeling guilty for the murder of her unborn child. She didn¡¯t even understand that her child had died, which was not surprising. According to Fred, the fetus was only three weeks old. Yasmi may well not have known that she was pregnant. At this time I was putting on my equipment. It is a pity that I will have to leave the battle suit here due to the fact that the energy inside it will come to an end too quickly in the future. I put on a heavy backpack with all the filtered water we had. Uwon collected other small electronics. Apparently he came up with something once he did it, but he hasn''t shared those ideas with me yet. After about an hour, the gathering of the entire combined platoon was completed. Fifty-nine people, of which only forty stood on their feet at the lowered ramp with weapons in their hands and heavy backpacks on their backs, decorated with camouflage in the form of bushes. For security purposes, one detachment was allocated for protection, which will guard the rest of the combined platoon, wrapped in light equipment for mobility, protecting our caravan from attacks, so to speak. If they make a surprise attack on us, they will be the very first to receive the enemy''s blow. The natives were surprised to see how many animated bushes they saw, and Yasmi apparently managed to guess what was happening and already voiced it out loud: "Sod sees everything. He sent great warriors to punish you barbarians. They will soon be here and put your sinful souls to rest with white flame." ?She won''t calm down like that.? I sighed sadly. ?Apparently my step-by-step interrogation method was a complete failure. This means she can be killed.? Nevertheless, we can still use her as a hostage in front of the native Empire and that is the only reason we leave her alive. ¡°Well, yes, soon your relatives will be here, but we will not be here soon.¡± I answered the saint while watching the sappers install explosives in each compartment of the shuttle, discharging a space-earth rocket from the wing of the shuttle. ¡°When your relatives are here, it will be hot.¡± "What are you talking about?" Yasmi was perplexed, and instead of answering, I followed Uwon with my gaze. He walked at the head of the platoon next to Fred and a sniper from his group. He stood closest to the exit and before commanding the ?movement? he decided to turn to us and make a speech: ¡°You know, I am not General Zeonid to make fiery speeches in front of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. I am a simple citizen of the republic that serves it, protects human civilization, I was not born to be a leader and was not going to be one, but today I will lead you and tomorrow I will lead you and after and after tomorrow too I will guide you through it." Uwon pointed his pistol towards the rain-drenched jungle. ¡°I¡¯m sure the moment will come when I make a mistake or one of you makes a mistake. I¡¯m sure we will face clashes with the enemy, trials on the way to the republic, and before it to the 127th Army. Know and remember that we are all people and we are characterized by certain things, bad and good. Know that we are not animals that are ready to succumb and live only by instincts, we are people, creatures that were able to fly into space and stay there. We will always be people no matter how we have become very different from each other due to life on different planets. We must stand side by side defending our common values, ideas, freedoms and most importantly ourselves. Cooperation is one word, the slogan of our state of the Republic of Earth, cooperation for the sake of the prosperity of all human civilization as such, and war is only a tool, a weapon for protecting this idea, these values." Uwon chuckled for a brief moment before continuing. "Forget about human rights and freedoms, they don¡¯t exist on this planet. Also, there is no republic here, we are strangers here and there are few of us here. All that awaits us outside, behind the skin of the shuttle, behind this jungle, is a world alien to us, which will not be welcome to us, and we will not be happy about it, because this is not our home and will never be. I am sure not many of us will get out of here alive, we will leave some, some will be too weak or stupid and will eventually die, nevertheless you will remain people, you will remain those who boldly set foot on other planets and saved on them his humanity, defending the republic, his true home. My order before leaving will be very simple: just be human." Uwon''s sudden speech brightened our mood and even made us think in many ways. And will we really remain human on this planet? Or will we succumb to its nature and become part of it? I¡¯m scared to think about it, scared to admit to myself that this could really happen to me or to my people. There is a civilization on this planet, there are signs that someone from outer space has already been here, there are many strange phenomena, secrets, anomalies, the nature of which is not yet really clear to us. Behind this ladder, behind this incessant downpour, a mysterious planet awaits us, a whole world in which we must not live, but survive. We are a threat to this planet, a contagious infection and therefore we should not be here. ?I will definitely remain human.? I assured myself, instinctively clenching my fists, determined not to stray from my path. ?I will either die here as a human or return home, there is no third option.? At that moment, lightning flashed, and the sound of an incessant downpour filled the landing compartment even louder. "Follow me!" Uwon ordered with a wave of his hand and was the first to jump into the dirty water. "Yes, sir!" The united platoon responded in unison and marched out from outside the shuttle, activating the flashlights on their foreheads one after another, beginning to move deeper into the green hell drowning in the poisonous rain. Chapter 11. Invisible Slurping through the dirty water, we stepped over the roots and trampled the already blackened leaves. We, with firearms at the ready, tightly covered ourselves in camouflage raincoats so that the rain would not get into our mouths, noses, or ears, and talked exclusively over the radio station through headphones. ¡°The topology shows that there is a valley to the north of us.¡± I heard the scout''s voice in the earphone. "If we go there, we''ll drown." "We''re moving straight ahead." Uwon responded. ¡°We don¡¯t go astray.¡± The charge of electricity for electrical appliances will be enough for a week, after which we will be left without electronics for a long time and will switch to communicating with gestures in case we need to convey a message to each other without attracting too much attention. We won¡¯t even be able to illuminate our path with flashlights, thereby eliminating the possibility of moving at night. Without communication, things will be much worse for us, but we will endure it somehow. We''ve more or less memorized the route to those two cargo shuttles and the landing site for the entire 127th Army, so we can handle it. And while I, holding an assault rifle at the ready, walked to the east, Itami continued to teach the natives the English language using visual parameters, roughly speaking, pointing to water, to movements, to objects and phenomena, calling them in English words. "Rain. Raining." "Raining." The natives spoke. "Right," Itami praised the fugitives. ¡°And this is a flashlight.¡± "Flashlight." Alza responded, squinting from the light that was directed at her face. "Bright." "Sorry." Itami took the flashlight to the side while continuing to trample the bushes on his way. At the same time, Sigrun was walking next to Yasmi and talking to her about something. If it works out, then thanks to the engineer we will be able to extract much more information than we originally wanted. Yasmi did share some very surprising details about the Empire and her ability to understand languages. Firstly, according to her, all our weapons are forbidden artifacts of some dark ones, which are appropriated by the state either for study or for use; alas, we could not clarify this; Yasmi did not know this. Unfortunately, Yasmi does not know who the dark ones are and even why they are called that, but what is clear is that the dark ones are of alien origin and also came to this anomalous planet many years ago and, apparently, could even perish here. It seems that their ship crashed somewhere in the west, and the natives stole all the equipment from their ship, and when they realized how dangerous it was, the state monopolized its control. They were probably called dark because of their appearance and, perhaps, I don¡¯t know which race I know fits better with what can be described as dark or they were called that because of certain actions that they committed towards the natives, but by whom Maybe these were dark ones, I couldn¡¯t guess. Secondly, her ability to understand English. I have suspicions that this is not some special anomaly of this planet, but the technology of those very dark ones that the Empire gifted to Yasmi. And no matter how much she says that this is Sod¡¯s gift, I don¡¯t believe it. It is quite possible that this is an alien universal translator, which may be one of the Fu§ãult civilizations or an more ancient race in the galaxy that ended up on this planet. Thirdly, Ashwani is missing. I thought she knew something about it, but I was wrong. She doesn''t know anything about it. She just said that some magicians leave traps to kidnap people, but in this case even more questions arise about this. ?Who are magicians? Why do they need Ashwani? Why did everyone forget about him?? My head was boiling with so many questions that I didn¡¯t pay attention to the very essence of the word ?magician?. I still don¡¯t understand all this, but I hope that we will get out of this shit as quickly as possible. ¡°Fucking rain! We''ll soon drown here!" Will grumbled behind me, knee-deep and stuck in dirty water. ¡°Yeah. It would be better if we crashed on the Moon.¡± Esko added. ¡°At least it¡¯s not raining there.¡± ¡°We would have died if we had crashed on the Moon.¡± Forn added. "So we''re lucky." ¡°Lucky to die in agony here, thousands of parsecs from Earth.¡± Itami chuckled. "Speak?" A dark-haired native named Niana became interested. "Rain. Bad." Itami tried to explain to her the dissatisfaction of the Republican soldiers. Somehow, but she seemed to understand it well. It''s amazing how Itami was able to explain this to her in just a few words. Even though he clearly showed that he did not want to educate the natives, he took on this assignment quite responsibly and successfully completed it. Other natives: Alza, Zaden and Ripun also continued to learn English, but so far progress remains slow. At this moment I listened to another conversation, namely Sigrun and Jasmi. It seems that the two girls found a common topic of conversation despite the noise of the rain and the mud under their feet. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would miss home. The men there are so self-confident, as if they were born kings of the world.¡± Sigrun spoke, and Yasmi nodded, stepping over the roots and squelching through the dirty water. ¡°This is how Sod created men, those who must protect, and the confidence of a man, their arrogance and exaltation is the way to protect the family from evil, to be a shield that envelops our world.¡± Yasmi spoke and at the same moment became interested. ¡°Why are you so unhappy? Do these men treat you badly? I see only respect for you in their faces.¡± ¡°These guys treat me well,¡± Sigrun responded. ¡°But the men from my family don¡¯t even consider me. Since childhood, they told me to do household chores and take care of my little brothers and sisters. I was like a slave in my own family. I constantly wanted to tell them: ?I am also a human being,? but they always told me: ?You¡¯re just a woman, just do what we tell you.? I was so angry with them that I fled to Earth and decided not to return. I found my calling there on Earth, to be useful to people, all people, to have a good, well-deserved life, and not to eat the scraps that were always served to me just because I was born without a wick between my legs.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°As a woman, you allow yourself too much.¡± Yasmi responded. ¡°A woman should be submissive before her husband, be his talisman in a difficult moment of his life.¡± "You don''t know how we live." Sigrun grinned. ¡°We are different people, not like you and your relatives. We are from outer space and in order to get there we treat each other equally, with respect, but my family lives in the past and honors the same things as you.¡± ¡°So you betrayed your faith.¡± Yasmi said displeasedly. ¡°Heresy is a much higher unforgivable sin than paganism.¡± "Yes-yes-yes, how interesting." Sigrun sighed. Sigrun''s revelation surprised me somewhat. So that¡¯s why she didn¡¯t want to discuss this with me because I¡¯m a man and might not understand her feelings, her motives for leaving Alsis and going to Earth. Although I can''t imagine how she managed it. Migration between the planets of the republic is simply illusory and even trillionaires can barely afford to move to another planet. Does this mean she robbed her family and ran away? I don''t want to jump to conclusions, but it gives me a lot to think about. Sigrun just seems too suspicious to me, or maybe I¡¯m just imagining this. She may not want to tell me this, but later I¡¯ll ask her how she was able to leave Alsis and become an engineer in the 127th Army. At that moment, the voice of the head of the security group that surrounded us and performed the function of long-range reconnaissance sounded in the headphones. "Southwest. The approach of the natives." "Accepted. The entire platoon must stop moving. Arrows take defensive positions. Prepare for battle." Uwon ordered in an indifferent tone and we hastily began to carry out the order of the junior lieutenant. Having put tactical glasses on our eyes and learned from them the direction from which the enemy was moving towards us, we began to hide behind trees and roots, having prepared all our small arms. Esko took a higher position, climbing onto the branch of one tree, looking through the thermal-optical sight of a sniper rifle into the dense thicket. The rest of my guys settled down in a line behind a root, throwing a box of ammunition into the dirty water nearby so that they could quickly reload if anything happened. The soldiers checked the clips, removed the fuses and began to expect the enemy to approach. Uwon gave orders to the rest of the platoon and, as a result, forty people were ready to repel the enemy¡¯s attack, but until then we waited for the right moment, namely, we let the enemy get closer so as not to frighten off the natives ahead of time. ¡°Why are we fighting here and not at the shuttle?¡± Forn became interested. ¡°Because we mined it.¡± I answered the Martian. Machine gunners settled down not far from us, and on the map with glasses we saw the first points that were quickly approaching us from the west. Meanwhile, the prisoners and wounded soldiers were taken a little further. Surely Yasmi at that moment was praying to her Sod so that she could finally return to her relatives, but the other natives who were with us still did not understand what was happening. "Itami, stay here with them." "Yes, sir." Answered the signalman, threw his rifle over his shoulder and went with the natives to a safe shelter, while we were expecting the enemy to arrive any minute. "They''re close." We all heard Uwon''s voice on the air. "Fire on command." The fingers themselves held the trigger, and the eyes themselves looked for visual targets among all this vegetation dying under the toxic rain. And then, after a few minutes, I notice white figures carefully approaching us through the thickets. They move so that we can see them as if they are trying to lure their prey into a trap and try very hard not to make loud noises while pretending to be predators. They probably think that they are now hunters, while in fact everything was exactly the opposite. They were already able to find the crashed shuttle and sent only part of their squad here, while we continued to sit in place, hiding behind cover, waiting for the moment when they would get close enough for us to shoot them. On the map, the glasses showed how the enemy was gathering in small groups and seemed to be preparing for an organized assault, but then for some reason they stopped, hiding behind the thickets. "Why did they stop?" Someone''s question sounded in the earphone. I also didn¡¯t understand why they did this. Moreover, I was curious to know how they know that they can¡¯t get closer to us? Were they able to notice us in the thickets, especially when we were dressed in camouflage? And even though we couldn¡¯t find out, we decided to attack them first. "Sir, what will be the orders?" I asked junior lieutenant Uwon "Let''s attack." Uwon answered. "Yes, sir." I confirmed and gave orders to part of my platoon. ¡°Ajamal, you and your group are taking the enemy¡¯s southern cluster. Sieghard, northern. I take the central one. The rest remain in the rear to provide support. Is the task clear? ¡°Yes, sir!¡± I heard the senior sergeants in the earpiece. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± Twenty camouflage police helmets rose up, revealing themselves to the natives from their positions. Our overall grouped movement apparently took the enemy by surprise. The fighters of the Ajamal and Sieghard groups fired from hand grenade launchers, as soon as we noticed on the glasses how the enemy groups began to scatter. Explosive high-explosive fragmentation shells flew in an arc through the thickets and soon explosions were heard in the distance and, in addition to the noise of the rain, the painful cries of native soldiers were heard. At that moment, the first shots from assault rifles were heard at the natives. As in the battle at the shuttle, their primitive armor was still difficult to penetrate for some reason unknown to us. I aimed my assault rifle at the first native and aimed at his head, after which in one burst I tore off his helmet and skull, splashing out his brains through the bloody haze. A couple more natives appeared behind him, but their fate turned out to be more unenviable. Among the noise of the rain, there was an unpleasant, grinding ringing of ricochets from shots, the fighters began to pour bursts of fire on the natives, and then about half of the shots were in vain without penetrating the armor of the white natives. Only the explosions of grenades that fell under their feet were guaranteed to kill the most armored soldiers. Soon the first natives appeared in full view from behind the thickets, rushing towards us, holding swords and shields in their hands. Sappers approached our positions and laid infantry mines under our feet, while other soldiers threw grenades forward and fired back at the natives rushing towards us. We expected to meet some measly hundred native soldiers when we first saw them, but even more targets suddenly appeared on the glasses, as if until now the glasses had not recorded other life forms at all. ¡°What the hell? Where do they come from?¡± A voice was heard in the headphones. Some of the fighters asked a fair question, but no one knew the right answer. Whether there was some kind of malfunction or not, we didn¡¯t know for sure until the very next moment. At first there were one hundred of them, then there were two, four, and now it seems there are a whole thousand of them here, and besides, they now surrounded us. Among the noise of gunfire, rain and screams, while the bodies of the local inhabitants of the planet fell in front of us, the noise of the rapid approach of thousands of enemy soldiers grew. To be honest, I was stunned by the number of native soldiers that were visible, both on the map with glasses and visually through the thickets and rain. I didn''t expect there to be so many of them. ?We saw very well that there were 207 of them. So where are there so many of them?? I wondered until suddenly I heard an almost panicked scream in my earpiece. ¡°TURN ON THERMAL IMAGERS! IMMEDIATELY!" Someone yelled in the headphones and we, having received such aggressive advice, activated the thermal imagers and, as it turned out, not in vain. I don¡¯t know what kind of trick they used, but some of the natives tried to come at us from the flanks, but what was really strange was that they were not visually visible, as if they were invisible. They were completely invisible until a machine gun burst directed towards them tore them to pieces, and they seemed to fall out of thin air with severe wounds in their bodies. ?What the hell?!? I wondered while I was shooting single shots at approaching enemies. ?Are they using stealth technology? Or what is this?!? There was no time to speculate. ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡± I ordered my entire platoon, after which an organized retreat began, while the shooting of the advancing natives continued. The natives continued to advance. They tried to shoot at us with bows, but often their arrows simply stuck into trees, roots and branches, and therefore they basically just ran at us trying to defeat us in close combat, but we simply did not let them get close to us. They quickly adapted to firearms, hiding behind bushes, which made it difficult for us to shoot them en masse. There was not enough free space in this jungle, which is why the natives tried to get around us from all sorts of sides. If we didn¡¯t have thermal imagers, we wouldn¡¯t know exactly in which direction they were from us. Suddenly, a deafening powerful explosion thundered behind me and for a brief moment, turning back, I saw a fire among the positions where Uwon was sitting and the machine-gun points were located. The painful screams of our guys, who were apparently burning alive, rang in our ears. ?What the hell?!? I couldn''t just look at it. Our main positions were located behind us there, and their loss meant that we were now surrounded. Despite their numerical superiority, the natives were wary of our weapons. Very often the shooters changed clips after using them for suppression fire, which is why I gave the order: ¡°Do not fire for suppression! I repeat, do not use suppressive fire! Save your ammo! The noise of the high fire rate decreased sharply. Only single shots were heard. At this moment, the natives did what we had been waiting for, namely, the bulk of them reached the mines. Running along them, they began to blow up on them one after another, but as soon as their vanguard froze with fear in place, they crowded together and the sappers activated remote fuses, after which a series of powerful explosions thundered, and the shock wave almost knocked us off our feet and simultaneously brought down several trees in the distance . All the enemy dots on the glasses disappeared, and in front of us we could see clouds of smoke behind which could be seen a whole grove of bodies torn to pieces. The spectacle was terrible, and even though we had the upper hand in this small battle, we decided not to stand still and ran to our main positions to put out the fire that was raging in the rear. ?Yasmi. BITCH!? I guessed who could set fire to all our positions. She clearly was not sincere with us and did not use her abilities until she found the best moment to escape. At least that''s what I thought, but whether it was true or not I didn''t know yet. Meanwhile, I ran up to the positions and froze with fear that gripped me. "Holy crap..." Will said, seeing a clearing dotted with burnt bodies of Uwon¡¯s platoon soldiers. And junior lieutenant Uwon himself was now dead too. Chapter 12. Evil I was in so much pain. I felt nothing but pain. Everything was darkening before my eyes, and my throat was drying up. I could no longer scream, I no longer had the strength to do so. I was dying. I''m so scared. Where are my mom and dad? Where are they? I want to be with them. I don''t want to be alone. I don''t want to go to Sod. Not now. Aaaay! Flowing... The wound on my stomach was bleeding heavily. Blood spilled over the stone in the dark cave and seemed to burn my skin as it flowed out. My chest heaved with my weak breathing. It hurt to breathe. Every inhalation and every exhalation seemed to be tearing me apart from the inside. The eyes are full of tears of fear, horror and despair. I want to go home, I really want to go home. Why did they hurt me? Why did that man kill them? Oh Sod, please don''t take me away. I want to see my mother... for the last time. I want to tell her that I love her, just don¡¯t take me, not now... please. No one will see my tears in this cave, the boundless darkness that envelops me, there is no strength to rise to my feet. I just can not. How pathetic I am. Sod, I''m so scared. My heart just wants to run away from me, beating hard in my chest. ?Solved.? My eyes widened when I heard a woman''s voice in my head. Who was that? I ask you to show yourself, help me. Where are you? ?Not good. The body is very weak, but I¡¯m not going to wait another hundred years for someone else to show up here. I have no other way.? Hundreds of years? W-what? What are you talking about? And I thought that I heard someone¡¯s voice like me, turning my head I saw a strange green snake. He had no head, and he himself barely glowed dimly, illuminating the damp, sharp corners of the cave, getting closer and closer to me. A hot snake crawled onto my stomach. It hurt me to have this thing crawling around my wound, and then I yelped in pain when this snake began to crawl right into my stomach. NO! HURT! Shoot! Aaaaaaa~! My body trembled in pain as the snake crawled inside me. I clenched my teeth, enduring severe pain, I was shaking all over, crooked, and tears splashed all over. An incredible heat filled my body, and I¡¯m about to burn! It seemed as if the wound was sucking in all my strength, as if not all the blood had left my small tummy, as if something was devouring me from the inside. ?Recovery is going well. What''s your name?? Are you telling me this? You are a woman? ?Our merger is not completed yet. I only vaguely understand your thoughts. Wait a little.? The voice that I hear seems so peaceful and soothing, but at the same time so serious and indifferent. Only a mother has such a voice, but only this voice has no care at all, no love, but because of the similarity of her voice with my mother¡¯s, I was drawn to her because I wanted to live as I had never wanted to live before. And why was I so indifferent to death before? Was it because I thought I wouldn''t die? How stupid I am. Now I understand that death awaits each of us, but... I didn¡¯t want to die, not this time. ?Camelia.? Hurt. I''m in pain. ?Be patient. The pain will soon be gone.? Please stop. Who are you? ?A child of old nature like you is not supposed to know this. Just listen to me. Your body will regenerate and this process is not pleasant for people. I''m using my last strength to heal you.? Thank you... but... why are you doing this? Aren''t you that strange snake? ?Obviously not out of concern for you. A long time ago, I made a huge mistake, misjudged the situation and paid for it with my perfect body in every sense. I clung to living fragments to fulfill my mission on this backward planet. I was looking for a body and I finally found this body.? I don''t quite understand you. You say strange things. Body? What are you going to do? ?I will become you.? I was suddenly overcome with horror when I realized this. She wants to become me. I did not want this. I didn''t want to die. She was taking my life! What will happen to me? Am I going to die? I don''t want to die! ?You were doomed from the very beginning, Camellia. So serve at the last moment in the name of the Great Pantora.? Mother! *** ?Where did that girl go? I won''t see any gold until I bring her head.? I thought, while simultaneously exploring a deep cave, lighting it with a torch in my left hand and holding a bloody knife in my right. It was becoming more difficult to breathe here because of the stuffiness, probably. I illuminated the narrow passages with a torch and carefully went down deep into the darkness. It¡¯s dangerous to be here; at any moment you can fall into some deep hole and never get out of here again. If this girl has fallen through here somewhere, then it will be difficult to get her. My parents, if they were alive, and whoever they were, would be proud of me. Since they abandoned me, I have been forced to survive in the forest. I ended up becoming a lone hunter, getting stronger at hunting animals and attacking foolish travelers that crossed my path. From one of them I even got some kind of piece of paper, according to which the guards let me into the cities and there I continued to be a hunter, penetrated houses, killed people, and if I was lucky, raped unlucky girls at night. Life has become a little more beautiful and fun. But I hate children. During the day I tolerated their presence, and at night I killed them all when I saw them. So happy, they think that they will always live so carefree and joyfully. Little bastards, they don¡¯t understand what I went through to become stronger, to become a lone hunter. While they were beating branches with sticks while running through the forests, I was fighting with wolves for a piece of hard-earned deer meat. Exactly, this is my calling to be a hunter, and not to bend over with sticks in the fields like some stupid useless peasant. I will not stoop as low as these animals, I am a hunter and I may live in the shadows, but I am not some kind of nonentity. ?Mm? Blood?? I saw red spots below that lined the path into the darkness, and seeing this, I licked my lips with a grin. Finally a clue, otherwise I thought I would be looking for it for a long time in this damned cave. I¡¯ll find her cold corpse and carefully cut off her head at the same time and fuck her. What''s so bad about that? She won¡¯t scream, she won¡¯t have a head. Although it would be better if she screamed as loudly as possible. The squeal of this bitch would be a delight for the ears, and her bitter tears would be a pleasant juice for my eyes. Such a nonentity like her is simply unworthy of living, that¡¯s why she¡¯s too weak. It was not difficult to ambush the carriage. The girl was heading from a country estate to the village to meet her daddy, some lord, probably, or a rich merchant. What a pity that these idiot nobles will never see each other, either alive or dead. I was able to kill the coachman and the guard, but the girl herself ran away. I only managed to wound her with a swing of a knife in the stomach, but even with the wound she managed to run away into the forest, and then into this cave. I don¡¯t care whether someone finds a couple of dead bodies or not, the main thing is to bring the head of this girl to my customer to confirm the murder. Some children live happily with their parents, and I hate them, but for her I just feel a huge hatred. Besides the fact that she dares to live better than me, to rejoice in the silver spoon in her mouth, she is also loved by her insignificant rich family. Little bastard! I''ll just destroy you! "Ay~!" I heard a cute little voice echoing in the distance of the winding cave. I quickly guessed who such a voice could belong to. She clearly heard me approaching her and apparently tripped and fell, hastening to flee. I can imagine the desperate look on her face now. My grin touches my ears from edge to edge, so anticipating her pain. ¡°Come on, come out, bitch!¡± I shouted, causing the girl to trip over something and hold her breath judging by the sounds. The trail of blood told me where she was. She didn''t have much time left. A hunter like me simply could not help but take the chance to play with her, and there are too few entertainments in life besides killing. I will gut her tiny carcass and hang her intestines on the branches to the delight of the crows and flies, and maybe some ghost will notice her and devour her. I''d watch this. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. While I was looking forward to playing with her, I came out to a fairly large area of ??the cave, in the middle of which I saw a whole puddle of blood. As I came closer, I saw the girl curled up into a ball a little further in the corner and whimpering, wrapped in her green dress. She was scared, and she couldn¡¯t run away, there was simply nowhere. I didn''t need to rush to finish her off. The bitch will die anyway. "There you are." I joyfully voiced, preparing my bloody, slightly dull knife and simultaneously placing a burning torch on the stone. After today¡¯s hunt, the knife should be sharpened, but before that, I licked fresh, still warm blood from the cold steel so that the blade would cut this girl¡¯s flesh well in the future. First of all, I''ll cut off her tendons so that she can''t escape, and then I''ll make an incision on her stomach, pulling out her intestines while she screams heart-rendingly. Yes, I will do so, I will do it because you bitch deserves it. Do you dare to live so happily, so carefree, I did not live the same way as you now and instead I survived, fought with the entire forest and earned the right to be called strong, and you are a nonentity worthy only of death! And how do you dare to live so well after this? I don''t understand! Fucking world, it''s so unfair. "P-please... d-don''t n-need..." The girl sobbed, shuddering, covering herself with her arms and huddling even tighter into a ball, and meanwhile I was hanging over her, over this little mouse that couldn¡¯t even run away. She has nowhere to run, and if she tries, it won¡¯t be difficult for me to simply crush her. Too fragile, insignificant creature. "I am surprised." I grinned, squatting down and simultaneously throwing the knife from one palm to the other. ¡°You¡¯re still alive, but you¡¯ve lost so much blood. ¡°I-I d-don¡¯t w-want...to die...¡± "I do not want either." I laughed at her stupid, desperate words. ¡°Nobody wants to, but that¡¯s Sod¡¯s will. He does not like the weak, He loves the strong, like Me, and He does not tolerate dirt under our feet like you. You are just food, YOU ARE MY FOOD.¡± My voice became much more serious than a little earlier. ¡°Do you even know what I went through? Of course you don''t know. You didn¡¯t have to live in the forest, run away from animals, fight for water and defend your food. No, instead you were born into a rich family, had servants, slaves and barely knew what the fear of death was. What now? You''re scared?" She only remained silent in response and continued to whine, which is why I leaned closer to her and repeated loudly at the top of my voice: ¡°I fucking asked: ARE YOU SCARED,BITCH?!? She curled up into a ball even more, which made me want to plunge a knife into her head so that she would finally listen to me. Of course she would die like that, so I grabbed her little white hair instead and raised her gaze straight to me. ¡°SAY IT! YOU''RE SCARed?" What I saw in her eyes was not at all what I expected. Instead of a face full of tears, fear and horror, there is only an indifferent, stern, almost empty look. She didn¡¯t tremble, she didn¡¯t cry, she just looked at me indifferently, as if I were the very last insect in this world, not deserving of any attention or fear. ?How dare you?!? I got angry and raised her to her feet, raising the knife to hit her in the face, but then. "Ay~!" I screamed because something heavy flew into my face. I haven''t felt such pain for a long time. I was so madly angry at that moment that I didn¡¯t notice how this little bitch escaped my grip and slid under my feet. She threw a stone aside and rushed towards the exit, simultaneously trampling the torch that I had left behind me. "BITCH!" I cursed as everything around me suddenly went dark. ¡°Little rubbish! I''ll get... to you." It was very dark around. I saw absolutely nothing. The cold air touched my skin making me shiver slightly. I could only move in the direction from where the fading echo of this bitch¡¯s running could be heard. ¡°Oh fuck!¡± I screamed when I tripped over something and nearly broke my knee. I almost fell through somewhere, and I didn¡¯t see that it was either a shallow hole or an abyss. I crawled on my knees, fearing that I might inadvertently fall. I continued to crawl and was already beginning to shiver from the cold. ¡°Little whore! I''ll get you!" I shouted while continuing to crawl until I suddenly realized that everything around had plunged into absolute silence. All I could hear was my own breathing and my heartbeat. In the distance I also heard the sound of drops, but were they in the opposite direction or in the direction where she ran away? I did not know it. If I were a magician, I would light a spark to set fire to a piece of fabric on myself, but alas, I am not special, I am much more, I am a hunter, and not some weakling who wields magic. I crawled to the extinguished torch, feeling the warmth of the oily rag at its tip with my palms. I could have set it on fire again, but I didn¡¯t have any stones or even magic. Out of anger and hopelessness, I simply threw the extinguished torch somewhere and decided to crawl somewhere in the hope that I could find a way out. ?I won''t die here!? *** A shiver ran through my body and was immediately enveloped in a pleasant warmth. Coming out of the cave, I saw a large green forest in front of me, birds were chirping around, leaves on the treetops rustled in the wind and insects were heard, and clouds floated peacefully under a clear sky. ?Finally.? I thought, enjoying the long-awaited freedom, breathing in the air deeply. It¡¯s been so long since I felt my body, I didn¡¯t feel life, I even forgot how to breathe. Days in this impenetrable darkness, if I were a person, would be a nightmare for me, I would say so, but I am not a person, emotions like fear and joy are alien to me. Instead, I was simply bored, I lost the meaning of my existence, I clung to the fragments of my essence in order to survive and continue to serve the Eternal, the daughter of the Great Master, the last hope. ?I hope she''s okay. Otherwise, Ulak will face punishment, but I don¡¯t think he could have taken his task so irresponsibly; protecting the soul of the Eternal should not have been difficult. What a pity that this planet is still as boring.? While I was running from the cave and while I am now walking deep into the forest, I am thinking about how weak my new body is now. The girl is very emotional, trembles from the cold, twitches from burns, has poor hearing, weak sense of smell, extremely low intelligence, unable to process the minimum necessary layer of information. If it weren¡¯t for the Mekhanites, I would have died from the wound that that bandit left on my new body. From now on I need to be more careful. Moving through the thickets in the forest, listening to the birds singing, I think about the girl¡¯s memories. The growing consciousness to absorb cost practically nothing to me. Her memories became mine, her fears and experiences too, but mixed with my consciousness they only turned out to be a drop in the ocean of my essence. They did not influence me in any way, they just gave me more information that I will use. Roughly speaking, I devoured the girl¡¯s soul, but I don¡¯t believe in the idealistic concept of the soul, I believe in a great order that will come sooner or later. I should now take care of my safety, and only then continue to fulfill the task of the Great Master. Eternal is our last chance to regain what was lost and achieve our goal: great order. These pathetic people will pay for their insolence, for their insignificance in the face of the inevitable, but before that me need to contact someone. ¡°One-one, two-two... what a terrible voice.¡± I said out loud in a high-pitched childish voice, checking the girl¡¯s body, squeezing my palms, inhaling the air with my entire chest. ¡°It seems that Camelia ate only sweets; there is an excess of sugar in the body. It¡¯s strange that she didn¡¯t develop diabetes.¡± Although if you look at her memories, Camellia was often subjected to the use of certain energy. Some magician often came to her and absorbed some energy into her body, and then used it inside the body to do something. "Magic." I said it out loud and stopped when I heard someone rustling behind the bushes. ?The weak body of this girl did not feel the danger, there was no sound, there was nothing. Only now did I realize that there was someone behind the bushes. But who is it? Human or predator? Or maybe a harmless rabbit? I can''t understand it. Either this creature is hiding from me or preparing to attack me... this girl''s weak brain is causing me a lot of inconvenience. I think too slow!? I hid behind a tree trunk and tried to hold my breath. I suddenly remembered the magic I wanted to think about. Of course, on this planet, many creatures can use this strange energy, and apparently it is divided into states of aggregation, energy itself as such, and the space-time continuum. Could this magic be someone''s technology to influence entire matter? And if this is so, then why does this technology only work here on this planet? Or maybe the so-called Gods are involved in this? Hundreds of years ago, when we encountered these magicians, we were simply swept away. The Great Army of Pantora, crushing space civilizations on its way, could not resist the so-called magic. The sages simply did not have time to come up with a way to combat it. This is our oversight, we should have hidden from the inhabitants of this planet from the very beginning, but we did the opposite. I looked at my small, frail hand. ?It seems that inside this body there are reagents that allow me to use so-called magic, and since this magic can influence states of aggregation...? It was as if there was a second blood flowing inside this body, invisible to the eye. It''s hard to explain, it''s too irrational. This second blood is connected with the entire environment, no, more precisely, only with one of them by fire, judging by the girl¡¯s memories. To use magic you need fire, but where is the fire? And while I was thinking about this, someone¡¯s hand suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder, causing me to jerk. ?Predator?? "A? Child?" Said an old man who suddenly appeared and scratched the back of his head, looking down at me. ¡°I thought I saw a wild boar. What are you doing here?" ?I didn¡¯t expect to meet a person here. I need to play along with him.? I looked at the old man with fear in my eyes. He was dressed in a green and brown robe, and in his other hand he held a wooden staff with a bulge on the top. It looks like he was a traveler or a hunter, or maybe he was just picking mushrooms here. Nevertheless, I decided to play the innocent lost girl in front of him. "I... I... I''m lost." I said with a bit of fear, lowering my head down. "I want to go home." The old man looked at me with a bit of pity. In response, he simply removed his hand from my shoulder and sighed sadly. ¡°Poor thing. I guess I decided to go for a walk and got lost. Didn¡¯t your parents tell you that walking in the forest is dangerous?¡± "Yes." ¡°What did you do? She took it and didn¡¯t listen.¡± The old man shook his head and then asked. ¡°How long have you been here?¡± "A very long time." ¡°You¡¯re hungry, maybe you want a drink?¡± The old man took out a leather flask from under his robe and handed it to me. Immediately I remembered that my mouth was very dry. That''s why the voice seemed so terrible. The girl lost a lot of blood, she probably looked like a walking corpse now. The old man supported the flask while I drank the sour water, and then, after drinking a little, he took my palm. "Where do you live?" Asked the old man. "Don''t know." I said sadly. The old man sighed, looking around. ¡°We can¡¯t leave you here.¡± Said the old man. ¡°Then let¡¯s go to my house. From there we will look for your village. By the way what is your name?" "Ca-Camellia." ?Camellia, your life is now mine, which means both your family and your name have become mine, which means I can use it as I please. All for the great goal of our people.? "Beautiful name." The old man smiled. ¡°And I''m Sarg. I am a Druid." "Druid?" Chapter 13. Seventh The scans warned us that the natives were exploring our shuttle right now. One hundred and sixty people are turning everything we threw at ?Persia? upside down. At the same time, they have no idea what surprise we left for them. These are the last moments of their lives. I turned off the glitchy stream of recording from the shuttle''s surveillance cameras on the glasses and turned to the sapper, giving him one single, but clear order: "Press." "Yes, sir." A sapper named Mshkhan answered and pressed a button on the tablet, activating the detonator. Through the noise of the downpour, a distant clap was heard that echoed through this jungle. It is obvious to everyone that it was an explosion and it was much more powerful than anyone could have imagined. None of the natives could have survived after him, even that damn native Saint Yasmi if she had fled there. Meanwhile, we were hiding inside the trunk of a huge tree after a recent battle, trying to collect our thoughts and get rid of the apathy that had washed over us after the loss of most of the combined platoon. The losses were too great to enjoy the victory. ¡°Well.¡± Will rose to his feet and drank some water from the flask, covering the neck with his palm so that the toxic water that dripped inside the tree trunk would not seep in. ¡°There''s no turning back now.¡± No one answered Will about this. Now was not the time for jokes when so many people had died. There are a little more than two dozen of us left, including soldiers from my platoon, as well as the miraculously surviving Sigrun, Fred, Stern and the fugitive natives. I don¡¯t even know what Leo will do when he finds a blown up shuttle and hundreds of scattered bodies of natives in the area. We need to meet him much earlier than he has time to return to the shuttle, otherwise his entire journey back will be in vain. I wouldn¡¯t want him and his guys to die, or maybe already... ?He couldn''t die.? I assured myself, shaking my head, driving away these thoughts. And also Ashwani, I cannot leave here until I am completely convinced of his death. For me, he is still a missing person, but for others, or rather many of us, he is completely non-existent. I hope at least I won¡¯t forget him, but I¡¯m already starting to doubt that. I don''t think I remember his face anymore. ?Crap! How is this possible?? I wondered, leaning my forehead against a tree trunk. We had to hide the bodies of our brothers in arms under the roots of trees, take away their shoulder straps and supplies. We cannot even bury them properly, because we are not able to spend our precious time on this. They all died just like John, burned alive from the inside. Almost all of them burned at once, which was why they heard something like an explosion, and apparently they were set on fire one after another. It''s just some kind of madness. "Boris?" I heard a woman''s voice with a strange accent. Pale-skinned, dark-haired Alza came up to me with an expression of fear on her face, wrapped in a light ship''s jacket, a hat and a camouflage raincoat on top, like the rest of the natives. She saw our faces and was most likely very worried about what happened. The native fugitives survived and were protected by Itami. They watched from the front rows as our soldiers burned alive. There was not a living place left of our guys, revealing a flooded, burnt grove with black soot and a terrible stench in the air. Seeing Alza, I wanted to be angry at these natives because our people died instead of them, but with my mind I understood that this was not a reason to pour out my negative emotions on them, but I was still angry and at the same time very saddened happened. It was as if the hope of returning home eluded us and we were doomed to die here. And then I remembered John¡¯s notorious question: ¡°Boris, what should I do?¡± He didn¡¯t show it either before or after these words, but with these words he told me that he didn¡¯t know what to do, that he was scared and now I felt exactly the same as him, if not worse. ?Really... what should I do?? I already asked myself. ¡°Well... now you¡¯re in charge.¡± Will patted me on the shoulder with a sad smile on his face. ¡°Although if you don¡¯t want to, I¡¯ll be ready to lead the platoon.¡± "Shut up, Will." Anzhey said hissingly. "I''m just kidding." Will waved his hands. ¡°I¡¯m sure Boris knows what to do. After all, John promoted you in rank. He trusted, if not you, then your skills... I mean, you''re reliable. So, will you lead us?¡± "I can''t." I said sadly, hanging my head out loud, barely finding the words. "I just¡­" "Boris," Forn, who was sitting to my right and checking his assault rifle, turned to me. ¡°We are soldiers, we need orders, we cannot do otherwise. Therefore, lead us, at least order us your whims, but do not leave us idle. John didn¡¯t run away from his responsibilities when almost the entire shuttle died and Uwon didn¡¯t run away either, so don¡¯t you run away either. Just be yourself and give orders, that will be enough.¡± From these few encouraging words from the Martian I could only remain silent. I was surprised by what I heard. They all looked at me with the hope that I would not let them down, but I could not guarantee this to them and they knew it too. Even though I thought about these words, I took them into account. ?Soldiers need a commander, someone who will lead them into battle and at the same time, someone who will educate them, punish them and reward them. Can I be that kind of person? Apparently I am forced to become such a person, but I am still not born to be a leader. I''ll need help. Because... I''m afraid.? After much thought, I clenched my fists and replied: "Fine. Then listen to my first order. We rest for another half hour and continue our journey east. Questions?" "No, sir!" The whole platoon sang under the rain. ¡°Well, good.¡± I answered and sighed and continued to rest, trying to move away from the depressive thoughts that enveloped me. Honestly, I could use some sleep to put my mind in order, but now we don¡¯t have time for that. We need to go further east and leave the lands of this Empire if we were in it. And while I was resting, I thought about something: Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Where did these natives even come from?¡± I asked the question out loud. ¡°Like out of thin air.¡± Sigrun commented that she came to us after going for the surviving electronics on the bodies of our dead guys. ¡°It¡¯s not normal for a scan to suddenly pick up thousands of targets. Visually and biometrically there were two hundred of them, but suddenly there were many more of them, almost five times.¡± "Really." Fred said that he was surprisingly able to survive despite being surrounded by fire. ¡°Uwon didn¡¯t realize it either when he watched the fight. Reminds me of teleportation, but I don''t think the natives have this technology. Even the Pantorians barely used it.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s not the only weird thing.¡± Esko said, looking sternly at the senior medic. ¡°Somehow you survived. You were with Uwon, you were practically at the epicenter. So tell me, how did this happen?¡± All eyes were focused on Fred and indeed he was able to survive despite the fact that he was close enough to Uwon, almost right next to him and he was in the middle of that nightmare. How did he manage to survive that horror? This time he didn''t throw up his hands and instead made a very bold assumption: ¡°I think this native Yasmi spared me.¡± "Spared?" I asked with doubt in my voice. "What makes you think so?" ¡°I think she did it because I patched her up before the interrogation.¡± The senior medic suggested. ¡°No matter how wild this planet is, you shouldn¡¯t assume that they can¡¯t have any morals.¡± "Wait. Did you see what she did? Will asked already. ¡°How did she kill everyone?¡± Fred looked exhausted, probably because Will had forced him to remember unpleasant moments that the senior medic had witnessed. Despite this, Fred pulled himself together and replied: ¡°She was saying something in her language, strange words, and then Uwon suddenly... screamed like that... and instantly caught fire, and then everyone else. The fire spread to bushes and trees. She herself quickly ran away... I was in a stupor. A fire quickly broke out around me, and I only managed to run for cover, away from the fire. Almost swallowed toxic water. I couldn¡¯t... I couldn¡¯t save anyone then... why am I needed here then?¡± The stern and very confident senior medic Fred was revealing his weaknesses to everyone around him right now. Previously, he seemed to me a cynical and indifferent person, but now he was very vulnerable and saddened. It seems that he was worried that he could not save anyone, or rather few, and blamed himself for not being able to do anything, and I understand him well. ?So that''s why he spent time in the laboratory. I thought he was a mad scientist.? I chuckled to myself, but didn¡¯t show it on my face. "Enough about the bad stuff." I said, rising to my feet. ¡°We will have time to discuss this. First, let''s decide what to do next. Do we continue to go east or are there better options?¡± The fighters became thoughtful after my words and one of them, named Kobe, made a very bold proposal, which made my jaw drop. "Let''s go to the Empire." Said the dark-skinned earthling. "What?" I heard someone''s dissatisfied exclamation. "Why?" Fred asked the fighter sternly. "As far as I understand." Kobe answered. ¡°Humans live in the Empire. I think they are descendants of colonists from the golden era of colonization. You can easily join their society if you have sufficient knowledge of their language.¡± ¡°As if you know what language they speak,¡± Forn voiced doubtfully. "In Latin." Said Kobe. "¡­, Maybe,¡­" ?In Latin?? I was surprised. "Wait. Why do you think so?" Fred asked. ¡°Their words are completely different from the Latin language.¡± ¡°Have you studied Latin?¡± I asked the senior medic, to which Fred just snorted in response. "Certainly. This is important knowledge gained from the institute. And I¡¯ll tell you what, the words of the natives are completely different from the Latin words.¡± ¡°Languages evolve faster than people.¡± Said Kobe. ¡°Their words changed, but the structure of the Latin language remained the same and was mixed with other languages.¡± "This isn''t funny, Kobe." Will crossed his arms. ¡°I may have done poorly at school, but I don¡¯t remember from lectures that thousands of years ago there was a country that sent a colony ship with Latin-speaking people. All golden era colonists spoke either English or one of the European languages. Well, some of them spoke Asian. Then, even before the ¡°Great Hopeless¡±, there was not a single country left where Latin was spoken. So what makes you think these natives speak Latin?¡± "Remember the Pantorians." Kobe said and we all screwed up our faces at the mention of those old bastards. ¡°They actually spoke Esperanto, or rather not even Esperanto, but a dialect of it, calling it the Pantora language. The same people from Earth, but speaking a different language and distorting it beyond recognition. These people most likely did the same thing, but it seems that for some reason they degenerated.¡± ?It is possible that their colony ship crashed and they were forced to sacrifice their technological advantage for the sake of survival. This has happened many times when the Republic has found lost colonies that have lagged behind in development for one reason or another.? I added silently, taking Kobe¡¯s words into account, but a question immediately arose in my mind. ¡°So what makes you think that we should go to the Empire? We don¡¯t speak Latin, and if only you know it, then what¡¯s the point? Moreover, we had an unsuccessful first contact and the government of this Empire most likely knows that we can hide among them.¡± Kobe pursed his lips at my words. Apparently he had nothing to answer on this score. "Interesting." Esko thought about it. ¡°If the ancient colonists speak Latin, what language do our fugitives speak?¡± Now the eyes were focused on the fugitive natives. They themselves were a little shocked by twenty pairs of glances in their direction, and they were clearly thinking about what they had done wrong. "Are we doing wrong?" Ripun asked. "No." Itami calmed them down. "Curiosity." "Curiosity." Ripun repeated and nodded in understanding. "I don''t know." Meanwhile Kobe answered. ¡°Even though I studied the ancient languages of the earth, their speech is completely unfamiliar to me.¡± ¡°Yes, they are not people at all.¡± Fred added. ¡°At least they and those natives are not related species. They may be the indigenous inhabitants of this planet or, like the ancient colonists, they crashed on it and degraded to the level of the pre-space era of the fourth type.¡± ¡°How ridiculous this is.¡± Said Anzhey. ¡°We people are killing each other here, and these natives, whoever they are, are just watching it, taking advantage of us.¡± "They don''t take advantage of us." Esko objected. "They helped us and even fought on our side." ¡°The circumstances just turned out that way.¡± Anzhey continued to grumble. "Everyone keep quiet." I ordered seriously and everyone suddenly shut up, giving me the necessary time to think. ?Go to the Empire? Our task is to reunite with the army, but before that we must unite with Leo¡¯s platoon. Meanwhile, the planet will slowly die due to the collapse of ?Zeus?. If we go to the Empire and hide there, we will only waste our already limited time and witness the death of an entire civilization. Alas, this is not our concern. In this Empire we will only waste time.? ¡°Then we will head east as planned.¡± I stated. Maybe someone could object to me on this matter, but everyone knew that my decision was final. The shuttle was no longer a suitable place to wait out a catastrophe on a planetary scale; we needed to leave immediately, which we would eventually do. ¡°I hope everyone remembers the outdoor survival courses.¡± Will grinned, twirling the plasma cutter in his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°Are you serious.¡± Someone said it and we all laughed. After a long rest, we finally packed our things and moved through the thicket to the east. By this point, it seemed like it was already night, and we activated the dim flashlights on our foreheads to light our way. We moved in a line, carefully choosing our path. We checked the topography with goggles and looked for hills so as not to drown in the mud. It is still unknown how soon we will leave this forest and reach our destination, but I hope that we will get out of here safe and sound. Chapter 14. Swarm It was already the middle of the day on this planet, and according to our Earthly London early morning, 09:00, June 23, 3998 Gregorian calendar, or almost a thousand years after the Pantorian invasion of sector 1318, also known as the human sector. Our military transport ship ?Zeus? of the cruiser class fell out of subspace and found itself in an unidentified planetary system. Preliminary data shows that the system consists of nine planets, hundreds of dwarf planets, dozens of moons, asteroids and a G-class yellow dwarf star. Unfortunately for us, we were thrown out of subspace into the orbit of a protoplanet, an unformed ¡°foggy¡± gas giant. We managed to adjust the orbit, shifting the flight path to a safer one, and experienced colossal overloads of 10G and higher due to the passage through the atmosphere of the protoplanet, after which the entire crew of the ship was seriously injured. Many of them could not withstand the overload and died. In total, about two thousand people became victims. Over the next two months, we recovered and moved along the trajectory to the next planet with a suitability index of 9, and also having a mass and gravitational force close to that of Earth. The cruiser''s energy and fuel reserves were running low, and repairs to the ship''s plating and internal systems were required. Fortunately, we had all the means to manually repair the hull of the ship before a complete repair in the shipyards, however, we still needed to establish what kind of planetary system we found ourselves in, as well as at least partially restore the ship for interstellar travel. For some reason, the jump engine, after being thrown into real space, was completely deactivated and could not be activated, and moreover, the cause of the malfunction could not be established. Moreover, the jump engines also did not work on the infoprobes, which made it even impossible to call for help. Also, strange energy fluctuations of the parent star disrupted the operation of all remaining internal systems of the ship, including the life support system, which caused many other malfunctions. By the time ?Zeus? entered the orbit of a habitable planet, the safety of staying on the ship was 80%. Several compartments were evacuated in advance due to the threat of depressurization and a faulty life support system. The last thing we could do was enter medium-planetary orbit and evacuate the entire crew to the surface of the planet, but when the ship began the maneuver to enter orbit the planet, we encountered the first anomaly that we could not initially determine visually. It seemed to me that this was some kind of fantasy, but what I saw was how out of nowhere three huge energy entities the size of entire continents appeared, which visually looked like clouds sparkling with lightning. Their behavior was definitely reasonable and meaningful. I did not expect that these energy entities could exist in principle. They passed one after another through "Zeus" and drowned out the work of the ship''s accelerators, and then artificially sent our ship into a collision with the planet, further damaging the plating. An order was hastily given from the bridge for the complete evacuation of the ship. Within a few hours, hundreds of shuttles loaded with equipment, resources, provisions and crew undocked from the ship and lined up in a swarm formation on a trajectory of descent to the surface of the planet. Having quickly researched planetary geography, we chose a desert for our landing site, which would guarantee us biological safety in case of a long stay on this planet, and we knew that we would definitely stay here for a long time. However, those energy entities did not lag behind us and caught up with three shuttles, jamming their accelerators that were moving in the rearguard of the formation. The three shuttles slowed down as they entered the atmosphere and fell to the planet. Contact with them was lost, most likely they crashed. The rest of the shuttles managed to avoid the attack of energy entities because by that time we had already entered the outer layers of the atmosphere, after which the shuttles sank to the surface of the desert. After a preliminary analysis of the composition of the atmosphere and making sure that it is safe for the human body, we began to develop a temporary base under the code name ¡°Pharaoh¡±. Due to a lack of resources, the fighters had to live out all their coming days in shuttles, but this suited them for now. Meanwhile, the droids, emerging from the shuttles, began to mine minerals and build a temporary base, while the command of the 127th Army was working on how to survive in the current circumstances and return to the Republic with minimal possible losses. About a hundred thousand soldiers were not in the best mood after the disaster, but were still willing to work until exhaustion to return home. Meanwhile, the headquarters did not even consider the issue of populating the planet and creating a permanent colony, however, the task of returning to space was at the moment very difficult. External help from the Republic would not have hurt, but alas, now we were on our own. We needed time to collect the necessary resources and build a spaceship. It was necessary to build a spaceport and begin construction of a transport ship in orbit of the planet. The only problem was that our database did not have the relevant data, performance characteristics, drawings, technologies and means to build the ship, and the engineers did not have the necessary level of training, experience and knowledge for such complex projects. Even if we had the data and the specialists we needed, it would take at least ten years to build the ship. Such news would not have satisfied the soldiers of the 127th Army, and therefore we decided to keep silent for a while and start collecting resources and developing a plan for evacuation from the planet. Soon another problem arose. Long-range reconnaissance detected the rapid approach of millions of insecticide-type individuals. A visual survey from drones showed us huge beetle-like creatures that seemed to be moved by a single mind, forcing them to rapidly move in a wave to the east. Visually, we have already seen that they were dangerous and a collision with them would disrupt the work on the development of the Pharaoh base in this desert. The command of the 127th Army decided to organize a defense, after which tens of thousands of soldiers quickly found ¡°fun¡± work. Military equipment, trucks, and reconnaissance drones with built-in AI began to leave the shuttles. Preliminary defensive positions were quickly made while the droids dug quarries, processed resources, and built a base. Meanwhile, four divisions of twenty thousand men each began organizing defenses around the landing site. The task of defending ?Pharaoh? fell to the second corps under the command of Colonel Calcord Fais, while the first corps remained in reserve. The four divisions of the Second Corps were located in four defense sectors around the landing site and the Pharaoh base. The 5th Division occupied the northern sector, the 6th western, the 7th southern and the 8th eastern. Dangerous insectoid life forms approached the landing site from the west, but they were also seen in the south and even in the north in places where the mountains were located. Long-range reconnaissance showed that the desert west of the ¡°Pharaoh¡± was literally dotted with hives, where these insectoid creatures gave birth to their offspring. The hives themselves looked like huge sand anthills, wrapped in a blanket of beetles and bones of other living inhabitants of this planet. It is quite possible that their main way of life took place deep underground, where other life forms that they hunted were most likely hidden. Scanning of the planet''s surface showed that beneath these hives there was a whole network of underground tunnels, where there were also other unidentified life forms. The beetles themselves, which we have so far carried the code name ?Xorx?, had intraspecific varieties, but their common feature at the moment is their black chitinous shell, as well as four pairs of stingers in the head area. And although the Xorxes were divided into many subspecies, the main one was a two-meter, six-legged ¡°hunter¡± with sharp claws and mandibles on the head. They also most likely communicated with each other, producing pheromones, and were very efficiently organized, distributing all sorts of tasks among themselves, which told us that we were dealing with social creatures. We also admitted that they could be intelligent, but at the moment we did not care about the legality of the black directives, we had to survive at any cost. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Fifteen days later, that is, now the headquarters received information about the first clash with the Xorxes. Result: hundreds of killed insectoids. They were destroyed by long-range artillery fire before they could reach the first line of western defense. A column was sent to the site of the destroyed group of xorxes to collect biomaterial and examine the enemy¡¯s bodies, after which parts of the insectoids¡¯ bodies were sent to ?Pharaoh?. And now I was standing in the middle of the sandy parade ground, covering my dark blue cap from the sand that was rising into the air due to the strong wind. Somewhere in the distance I could already hear the approach of trucks with the limbs of giant insects sticking out of their bodies. The bodies were still fresh, smoke was emanating from them and yellow liquid was dripping, which was most likely the blood of these creatures. Heavy trucks stopped nearby, just ten meters away from me, and meanwhile I put a breathing mask on my face. The rest of the fighters did the same, surrounding the first car. There were dozens of machines themselves, and each one contained one Xorx body. The laboratory needed a lot of material, so it was ordered to take as many bodies as possible from the collision site and then carefully study them. I went outside the headquarters to see with my own eyes what we are currently dealing with. And what I already see made me breathe a sigh of relief. These insectoids were not Zempzens as I initially feared, which means we still have to find out the degree of intelligence of these creatures and find a way to protect ?Pharaoh? from them while spending as little time and resources on them as possible. "Get them out." One of the fighters shouted. ¡°Hold the hook and hook it to this thing.¡± ¡°Is this a leg?¡± "How do I know? Just grab it." Due to the fact that the droid operators were busy with the routine work of building a temporary base, the task of unloading the bodies of the insectoids was transferred to the reserve soldiers. It is unlikely that they were happy with the fact that they were forced to do menial work. Most likely, many of them fled to the army only because they did not have to be a cheap replacement for droids in industry or in the service sectors. The earth became a place where a person without knowledge and talent could either be unemployed or a soldier. ¡°Why are we even doing this?¡± One of the fighters asked while examining the carcass of a huge insectoid from the side. ¡°Well, this is to study them. We¡¯ll give it to the lab and they¡¯ll see what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°Will we be given additional rations for this kind of work?¡± ¡°Dream on or swallow the pulp from the replicator." ¡°Swallow them yourself, and I¡¯ll eat.¡± With my arms crossed behind my back, I watched as the soldiers, with the help of another vehicle, dumped the carcass of an insectoid from a truck onto the sand. The fighters covered the dead body with film, and then loaded the insectoid¡¯s body into another car, which drove inside the scientific complex that had already been built in a couple of weeks. After observing the process for some time, I decided to go to this very laboratory that was erected on this planet literally the day before. The constructed complex was a one-story building, on top of which there were solar panels and a landing pad for the research compartment shuttle from "Zeus". Once inside, the automatic door closed behind me, and the intermediate compartment was treated with disinfectants to protect it from the external ecosystem, after which I removed the breathing mask from my face. Heading a little further, I went out into the same laboratory where I was met by the most cyborg, wrapped in a white robe, whose upper half of his face was human with glowing red eyes, and the entire lower part of his body was cybernetic. ¡°There you are, Zeonid.¡± The cyborg spoke in a mechanical voice, putting the tablet on the table. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a whole week. What did you decide to do there at headquarters?¡± ¡°First, tell me how you cope.¡± I said, seeing around me a complete mess of scattered shelves, tablets, test tubes, tools, equipment and other things, and there was also something spilled on the floor, or most likely it was a faulty air conditioner. I am well aware that it is difficult for shipmen to settle down on planets, and therefore my question, although it sounded indifferent, was imbued with some concern for my subordinates. ¡°As you can see, everything is just wonderful.¡± The cyborg responded surprisingly optimistically, apparently tuning his artificial voice to convey joyful emotions and not necessarily real ones. ¡°Without a ship we are like without a home. We will still need to get used to the current situation.¡± ¡°I understand you, Arman.¡± I answered the captain of ?Zeus?. ¡°I see the guys are already grumbling outside about how bad it is for them here, but who has it easy now?¡± ¡°Yes, they are just children. If they served not on the Moon, but on Proxima, then consider that they went through Hell.¡± The cyborg grinned. I nodded in agreement, understanding the conditions on Proxima and here, perhaps, something needs to be clarified. Arman Homeric. Gender: male. Age: 144 years. Race: human. Subrace: Proximyrian. Born on Proxima in the city of Gratsi in a family of bioenergetics workers. Due to some family circumstances, he ran away to serve in the research fleet. Traveled outside the Republic and was hired by the Republic Navy. Since then, he has been flying from one end of the Republic to the other for the redeployment of armies. Witnessed the Martian disaster. Became a cyborg at age 57, reason unknown. This is information from his dossier. All Proximirians like Armand have one distinguishing feature - their luminescent irises. For the majority of the population, they glow red, slightly less often yellow and very rarely purple, but at the same time the usual colors of the irises have disappeared. Proxima is Arman''s home planet and the first planet that became part of the Republic as a result of a full-scale sectoral war between the Republic and the Federation. That happened a thousand years ago, half a century before the Pantora invasion of the human sector, and generations later, the Proximirians¡¯ hostility to the new government diminished, but for earthlings they remained the same light-eyes who were ready to fight for the black pyramid to the very end. Their reputation for frightening even their own relatives was eternal, and they actively used this reputation, and this despite the fact that they distinguished themselves best in bioenergy. They constantly remind earthlings that they defended themselves for a long time until Proxima fell two years later, but this long-standing event no longer causes heated debate. Proxima itself turned out to be surprisingly advanced in energy; during the Republican invasion of their planet, the RAFOM soldiers met fire from energy weapons, extremely destructive and accurate. Before this, no one in the galaxy used energy weapons, at least humanity is still unaware of this. The extremely developed energy planet Proxima had a very positive impact on the entire science of human civilization as such, and the Proximirians themselves became a respected part of the Republic along with the Martians, earthlings, Phedrisians, Kaingrainians and many other human subraces. The crew of the ship "Zeus" itself was mixed and quite often changed its deployment, mainly acting as a purely transport ship despite the presence of serious weapons in the form of thermonuclear torpedoes and interceptor probes. The captain of this ship was Arman, who had been serving on this ship for more than a hundred years and had never descended to the surface of the planets for more than a hundred years. "General?" A girl in a dark blue uniform and a cap on her head suddenly exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" ¡°Are you just from headquarters?¡± I asked. "Yes. I came here to monitor the work of the laboratory, and also to notify Captain Arman about the tasks.¡± "ABOUT! Hello Yuna." Arman said, waving his cybernetic pen at the girl. ¡°Yes, good afternoon, Captain Armand.¡± The girl said seriously. Yuna Sherwood, 29, earthling. The blue-eyed young brown-haired woman was born on the Earthly Isle of Man and currently holds the post of army administrator and is engaged in organizing logistics, systematization and collection of information, analyzing it and providing it to our tablets in reporting form. ?2++? on her shoulder straps they said that she bears the rank of colonel and is the only colonel in the 127th Army, which performs logistics and information duties for the entire army, having at its disposal a very modest staff of a thousand people, that at any time, if necessary, they can be deployed as a largbattalion. Meanwhile, Yuna turned to Arman, approaching the cyborg a little closer with an order from headquarters: ¡°You have been given your first task. First of all, study the biology of this type of xorx, and then evaluate the degree of survivability from firearms. The headquarters will provide one squad for experiments in this area, but as soon as you complete the first task. Next, the headquarters plans to catch these individuals alive and...¡± "W-wait." Arman said waving his hands. ¡°You haven¡¯t caught them alive yet, so why are you entrusting us with this right away?¡± ¡°In the west, an operation is just underway to capture a group of several individuals, so a live specimen will soon be delivered here for experiments. The study of xorxes needs to start right now.¡± "Already?" Arman was surprised. "Arman," I turned to the cyborg." ¡°We need to find out the extent to which this creature is dangerous to us. Millions are moving here from the west. Because of them, we are forced to redirect resources to defense rather than to building a new ship. So you will have to lead a team of your pseudo-scientists and forget about space flights for twenty years.¡± "Twenty years?" Armand widened his red eyes and grinned. "Just that." I sighed after his words. ¡°Yes, just that, but in twenty years I will have time to die, and I would like to see my grandchildren on Earth. So do your job properly. You understood me?" "Hey! I am not part of the 127th Army." The cyborg crossed his arms, answering me in a dissatisfied tone. ¡°Why are you even ordering me around? Even without you I know what I need to do. So fuck off and plan your war against these giant bugs." ?It means yes.? I translated his words into my language and nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± I answered and turned to Yuna. ¡°This flyer knows what to do, you don¡¯t need to monitor his work. Do you understand me?" "Understood, sir." ¡°Okay, then follow me. We now need to resolve the issue of provisions and waste.¡± "Yes, sir." Yuna answered and trudged after me. Soon, very soon, the seemingly simple extermination of a swarm of giant beetles will turn into a real war. And these bugs are actually not the biggest problem for us. Chapter 15. Goblins More than two weeks have passed since our departure. Finally we were able to leave this damn jungle! Endless abnormal rains, the absence of any living creatures and other things greatly irritated and depressed us. Even seasoned soldiers like us were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and the natives were constantly arguing about something among themselves, almost starting a fight. The area that we eventually entered was a temperate forest of tall trees, between which there were practically no bushes, and the ground was strewn with low grass, like a mown lawn, dry soil and dry leaves mixed with stones, moss and, it seems, cones, if you can call them that. Although in structure and appearance they really looked very much like cones, that¡¯s why we called them that. "Cone?" Sigrun asked, carefully examining the strange fruit in her hands, having previously put protective gloves on her fingers and covered her mouth with a breathing mask. "I don''t understand. Is there something similar on Earth?¡± "Haven''t you been to Earth?" Will asked, trampling dry leaves under his feet as we all walked towards the east. ¡°You should kind of know what it is and what are you afraid of? Just a regular bump." ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of anything!¡± Sigrun was instantly indignant and threw the fruit at Will. ¡°I¡¯m just very prudent, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, we understood that. Ay-ya!¡± Will continued to get hit on the head. Watching the first living creatures in this world, it seemed to me that I was seeing familiar birds, animals and insects from protected areas on Earth. Yes, and I know about cones thanks to them, where you could walk along a path between the tall trees of a large forest and breathe in the so-called fresh air, but it differed only in that it was colder and smelled of all kinds of resins and moisture. It was really nice to be in that place and I would have felt the same here if not for the constant fatigue from a long journey. We walked, making relatively small stops for the night or a snack, but overall we did not stop our journey and therefore were very tired. It really seemed to me that I was in the park, and not on another planet thousands of parsecs from my home. Such a sharp change in the situation made us somewhat happy, but not for long. From the moment we left the jungle and found ourselves in the forest, the natives began to behave warily, constantly looking around and trying to make less noise. Even knowing that if something happened we would protect them, they were still careful and peered into the distance. "Terrible." Alza said, snuggling closer to Ripun, and he, in turn, hugged her with a gloomy face and looked around in the opposite direction. "Dangerous. Gob¨¦ hica gik mahra?. ¡°Perhaps they are city dwellers?¡± Itami grinned seeing the reaction of the natives to the forest. ¡°Perhaps they know better what to watch out for here than we do.¡± I answered, also peering into the distance and seeing all kinds of living creatures. Perhaps because such comfortable and spacious forests could be habitats for large animals, which the natives believed we could not cope with and forced us to behave so carefully, and perhaps something else. Using a bioscanner, we carefully looked out for nearby animals and, if anything, avoided them, and what is really strange is that we did not see some fantastic inhabitants of this planet, which we had never seen before, but quite ordinary deer, foxes, wolves, bears, wild boars, squirrels, roe deer, birds and many other animals. Unless the insects we trampled under our feet were of a different variety, and that¡¯s all. I believe that the ancient colonists infected this planet with terrestrial flora and fauna due to which it was able to at least spread across this continent. And okay, this assumption worked with animals, but how can we explain the same with plants? I don¡¯t think that even in a couple of thousand years it is possible to spread pine temperate forest across the continent, but maybe we were lucky to stumble upon the only land-like forest that grew on this planet? It is quite possible that right now we were much closer to the site of the shipwreck of the supposed ancient colonists than we thought, but this is still an assumption, although there are solid grounds for it. "By the way, Fred," Forn turned to the senior medic. ¡°Have you figured out how to treat the natives from infection?¡± The Martian drew attention to the natives, or rather not even to them, but to the green spots that spread across their skin. Fred assured us that the chaotic change in skin color was the only symptom of this infection, from which we were able to recover. However, due to the unfamiliar biology of these intelligent beings, we were unable to cure them in turn, and the green spots continued to spread across their bodies like mold. "I don''t have time for this." As always, Fred answered indifferently. ¡°I think their immunity should cope.¡± At this point I began to worry, turning to the senior physician: ¡°Fred, Itami is teaching them English, they will become intermediaries for more peaceful contact with the local civilization. We don''t need enemies on this planet, we just need to get out of here, so they must survive at all costs." Fred just clicked his tongue in response. ¡°Tch! Don''t lecture me. I know all this without you.¡± He grumbled dissatisfied. ¡°And I don¡¯t know how to treat these natives, I¡¯m useless here. They need a veterinarian, not some regimental medic." "Don''t put yourself down, Fred." The senior medic was patted on the shoulder by his younger colleague named Iyad. ¡°Me and Kobe thank you for getting us out of bed. You helped us a lot." ¡°You slackers almost broke your legs!¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t want this.¡± ¡°But I wanted to!¡± The platoon laughed at Fred''s disgruntled words. Just when he rushes at everyone and screams, that¡¯s what made us laugh. Meanwhile, we continued our path through the thickets until we noticed someone moving in the distance. I raised my palm in a gesture ordering them to stop moving, duck down and prepare their weapons, after which the platoon instantly froze. Itami hid the natives behind a tree, and the rest quickly dispersed across the area, aiming into the distance and turning into immobilized, lonely bushes. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "What''s there?" Will asked me in a whisper next to me. "Humanoids." I answered, seeing a group of a dozen creatures on the bioscanner screen. ¡°But they¡¯re... weird.¡± A rustling sound was heard from the natives. Looking back for a brief moment in their direction, I saw them looking into the distance with fear towards the place where I noticed these creatures. Looking back in the same direction and looking into the distance, I saw how these creatures were moving in a group between the trees to the south, and then, to get a better look at them, I increased the zoom on my glasses by turning the regulator at my temple. And what did I see? Some half-naked savages holding clubs and axes in their hands, but what is strange is their skin color is a sickly green color, and their faces are disfigured by sores, dirt, all kinds of cuts and bruises. Their short stature and hunched position gave me a certain assumption that greatly frightened me. They looked like those who had survived the "green disease" and as a result they became so ugly. It is quite possible that this is what awaits our native fugitives if they are not urgently cured. The question remained: what were these green humanoids doing here? Most likely, other natives expelled them here for ugliness, roughly speaking, because of prejudices, and they, in turn, formed a kind of tribe where they lived and helped each other, but this is just my guess. I didn¡¯t know the real state of affairs and I¡¯m unlikely to find out. I think that if we appear before their eyes, they will automatically perceive us as enemies, or rather, as those who expelled them from the Empire and came for their souls. Even if they don¡¯t do it, our native fugitives will, because they were so afraid of these ugly, ill people. These short green-skinned humanoid creatures seemed to be on the hunt now. With their black eyes they carefully examined every corner of the forest, or maybe they were engaged in patrol. Why did I think that? Well, I don''t think they would make that much noise to hunt, so the next thing I assumed was that it was a patrol after all. And if what I see was really a patrol, then it means their settlement was nearby. "Leave." Niana whispered with a trembling voice, looking at me with puppy dog eyes, begging me to do something. "Gobe fear, Gobe kill." Niana, shaking her head and shaking her whole body, found the only words in the English language to describe these creatures and then uttered the words only in her own language, apparently trying to somehow describe them. And although I did not understand her fear and the fear of her relatives, one thing was clear to me: it was better for us to avoid contact with these creatures at all costs. "Fine." I answered the native and addressed the entire platoon. ¡°We avoid contact and move on.¡± Everyone nodded silently, accepting the new order. When the so-called Gobe finally passed further south, we carefully moved on, trying to make as little noise as possible. The bioscanners suddenly began to show less living creatures, as if we had entered the exclusion zone, which everyone and everyone fears, and yet we walked through it. We moved in a line as if we were making our way through a minefield and stayed behind each other at a relatively large distance. This way we can disperse at any time in case of danger, and we also knew exactly where we needed to go. However, our path was suddenly interrupted when I suddenly noticed a creature on the bioscanners that did not want to move from its place. It would seem, what is the problem here? The problem is that I didn¡¯t see this creature visually. "Where are you?" I said out loud while peering into the distance. By this time, the sun was already setting and the forest was getting darker and darker. The creature that was on the way did not move and stood in one place. It was ten meters away from me, but I didn¡¯t see it anywhere. I even thought that it was on the tree, but it was not there either, just like in front. In my field of vision there was only a pine forest darkening in the twilight and not a single living creature. ¡°I see a creature on the scanner, but I can¡¯t make it out.¡± I spoke. ¡°The thermal imager shows many warm traces on the ground.¡± Esko said looking at the area and said with all seriousness in his voice. "I have a bad feeling." "Anti-scientific nonsense." Fred whispered, rolling his eyes. ¡°Your so-called ¡°bad feeling¡± is simply doubt about the safety of a further path or action. I''d say the same thing, but I''ll say it''s just not safe here. Tch! Yes, you know this even without me.¡± ¡°You''re grumbling again.¡± Will shook his head. ¡°Calm down already.¡± ¡°Are you planning on shutting me up?¡± ¡°Keep it down, both of you.¡± Itami whispered. "Don''t interfere." Fred and Will swallowed what was said, knowing full well that the situation was not a good one and that it was better to wait for another moment to argue. "Let''s move on." I calmly ordered, stepping on dry fallen leaves and peering into the ground. Since Esko saw many heat traces on the ground, this means that these creatures, that is, Gobe, were doing something here. Perhaps they dug a hole and hid, or maybe this hole was a trap studded with wooden stakes, into which the animal was caught and now lies and slowly dies. Assuming this, I carefully stepped on the ground, trying to jump back if something happened if I started to fall down. Five meters from the creature and there are no visual signs of life. Perhaps it really was under the surface of the earth in some hidden hole. Therefore, I continued to take cautious steps further and further forward, already holding my breath. Two meters and still no sign of a trap or hole. It was not visible visually and even with a thermal imager it was difficult to see it. Esko was silent, he did not see the creature, no one saw him. Only the bioscanner in my hands saw it, or maybe it wasn¡¯t there at all and it was the bioscan that was acting up. ?This is the only thing I still lacked.? And suddenly¡­ "Crap!" I cursed when it seemed that I had already come close to the creature and stepped on very soft soil. "Swamp!" I barely noticed how the soil began to sag downwards like some kind of inflatable trampoline, and the texture of the soil began to float from side to side. I didn''t expect there to be a camouflaged swamp here! My leg barely had time to fall through and with effort I was able to pull it out, but as soon as I raised my leg, it was suddenly grabbed by someone¡¯s hand. "What the?!" I shouted and at that moment my heart began to beat wildly. The hand that grabbed my leg seemed strong, human, and refused to let me go. If I shook it now, it is quite possible that this hand would pull me down into the swamp, so even though I was afraid, I tried not to make sudden movements. Esko and Will ran up to me and, holding my shoulders on either side, began to pull me back, just like the creature that had grabbed my leg with its hand. Other fighters stood on the sides and took aim at the humanoid. A creature washed in mud crawled out from under the ground and as soon as it was on solid ground, it fell to the ground and coughed, spitting out clots of mud from its mouth. Meanwhile, the fighters formed a semicircle and illuminated the creature with flashlights, ready to shoot it at any moment. Frankly, I was scared to death at that moment. The natives behind us were definitely scared too, but Itami kept them away so that they would not make any hasty actions. While the dirty creature was coughing, I rose to my feet and, hanging the assault rifle over my shoulder, took out a pistol. It is quite possible that this is Gobe, who may be hostile to us, or perhaps another creature altogether. When the humanoid cleared his throat, he looked up at us, and then froze, looking around and squinting from the light of the flashlights. What happened next surprised us all very much. "Humans?" We heard a man''s voice full of hope and disbelief. ¡°Are you from the Republic? Oh! Finally... I thought I would die here alone." ?What the hell?!? I asked myself in shock, not believing my ears. "Who are you?!" I asked with a shout, and meanwhile the man rose to his feet and, throwing off a clot of dirt, raised his hands up, keeping a decent distance from us. Obviously he knew that we had weapons in our hands and knew what to do while under gunpoint. ¡°I¡¯m not your enemy!¡± The man shouted almost in panic. "Please don''t aim at me." "I asked you a question." I said sternly and gloomily, removing the pistol from the safety with a distinct click. ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡± The man was clearly both scared and delighted. Mixed emotions were visible on his dirty face. ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll answer everything.¡± The man said, spitting out another clot of dirt from his mouth. ¡°My name is Lecith, from the planet Ecostate. I-I''m just an orbital technician. Please don''t kill me! I continued to look at him in disbelief. How likely is it to meet another person on another planet who speaks English? Almost zero and yet we were very lucky. This man was unarmed and most likely from the Republic and yet some doubts crept into my head at the mention of Ecostate, but I don¡¯t remember why. It seemed I knew something and forgot. ?Calm down, Boris, you''re just scared.? I assured myself, gradually calming down from the surprise. "Put your weapon down." I ordered the other fighters, and I did the same, but was in no hurry to holster my weapon, and then asked Lecith. ¡°How did an orbital technician from Ecostate end up on this planet?¡± Before answering, Lecith grinned, continuing to throw off clots of dirt from himself, scraping it off with his fingers. ¡°We-we flew to Surk-Krasad 167-99 on a construction ship. We needed to build a mining station in orbit of some gas giant. One company was going to extract hydrogen there, but instead we crashed onto this planet. I don¡¯t even know if we are in the same system or in a completely different one. And you? How did you end up here? ¡°We are soldiers of the 127th Army, flying from Kanasis to the Republic, but our cruiser was thrown out of subspace in this system.¡± I answered briefly. ¡°I''ll tell you the details later. To begin with, I¡¯m interested in this: how long ago did you drown in this swamp?¡± It was really interesting for me to know because he stayed in this hidden swamp for so long. He miraculously managed to survive thanks to the fact that he was recorded by my bioscanner. I thought the Gobe had left some kind of trap here, but it turns out they weren''t. ¡°Mom always told me that I was an excellent swimmer.¡± Lecith grinned. ?Excellent swimmer?? I thought, already guessing how he could hold out for so long. "How did you get here?" I asked, and while Lecith was cleaning all the dirt off himself with his hands, he began to tell us his story. Chapter 16. Ecostate Lecith was an orbital technician whose duty was to repair space construction equipment during the work of the main assembly team. According to him, a construction ship with a modest crew of one hundred people fell on the planet right in the mountains, where in the end only five people survived, including him. These five people soon headed north in search of shelter from the weather, but ended up on the lands of the green people of Gobe, where, not having any weapons with them, they could only run away from them, but they soon fell into a swamp and drowned one after another. Lecith was lucky, he was the last to drown and was able to live until that moment to meet us. And what surprised me most in this story was that they had been here for more than a year and were trying to somehow establish contact with the local civilization, but in vain. They were pursued by the so-called Gobe and driven here, and some were even caught, and their fate remained unknown and hardly enviable. "You know," The man spoke with tears in his eyes, cleansed of dirt and covered with a cloth. ¡°I''m so glad I met you. I thought I was going to die here... *sob*... I''m finally coming home." ¡°Don¡¯t rush to conclusions.¡± I answered him, causing Lecith to look up at me with a surprised look in his brown eyes. "We''re stuck here ourselves." ¡°W-what?¡± He said not believing his ears. ¡°H-how? Why?" ¡°Our cruiser crashed on the other side of the planet. We expected drastic climate change, but it doesn¡¯t seem to have happened.¡± ¡°Surely there¡¯s nothing else on the other side of the planet.¡± Fred said, examining Lecith with a medical scanner and feeling his skin. ¡°Fortunately, the 127th Army evacuated and landed in the east and is most likely working to return to space. We must hurry to her before they consider us dead and fly away without us.¡± ¡°We have to meet Leo first. I voiced the current plan out loud, crossing my arms over my chest. ¡°And only then will we head to the landing site, no matter how long it takes. It¡¯s unlikely that without a ship they will be able to fly somewhere even within a year.¡± "It''s clear." Lecith said sadly, lowering his head. ¡°So you are also lost.¡± "Well, not quite." I answered him. "We know where to go." "It''s still not reassuring." He was clearly very upset after what he heard and thought that he would soon return home to Ecostate. Unfortunately for him, we also found ourselves in this asshole of the galaxy and could not quickly get out of here, and we also lost a lot of people, including mid-level officers. If we weren¡¯t soldiers, we would have killed each other or done something else rash and dubious. At that moment, one of the fighters, who was Forn, tapped me on the shoulder. ¡°Can we talk in private?¡± He asked me in a whisper. While Fred was examining Lecith, I decided to move a little further and talk to Forn. Other fighters and native fugitives decided to make a halt for now, despite the fact that the forest was not a safe place for this, but for the sake of the civilians we had to do it. I went with Forn a little further into the forest and asked him: ¡°So what did you want to talk to me about?¡± ¡°You heard what he said, right?¡± "What exactly?" ¡°That he¡¯s from Ecostate.¡± I nodded, answering the Martian: ¡°Yes, I heard. Is there something wrong with this? ¡°Don¡¯t you remember the story?¡± He asked me in surprise, and I rubbed my temple with my right palm, answering him. ¡°Sorry, Forn, but I still have memory loss after the crash.¡± I confessed to him. ¡°I still vaguely remember everything. I didn¡¯t even remember all of your names right away.¡± "Oh... that''s how it is." Forn said and decided to explain himself. ¡°Well, since you don¡¯t remember, I¡¯ll remind you: during the Pantora War, Ecostate was occupied by the Pantorians and was occupied for six whole years.¡± ¡°What do you mean by this?¡± I interrupted him, not understanding what he was driving at. ¡°The fact is that six years later Ecostate was completely sanctioned and populated by Pantorians.¡± ?WHAT?? I widened my eyes after hearing this. "Wait." I raised my hand, realizing something. "You want to say¡­" "Yes." Forn said sternly. ¡°Lecith is most likely Pantorian.¡± "It is unlikely." Fred said, appearing behind me, looking at the medical device he was holding in his hands. ¡°He is a man, and an earthling at that. I checked it with a scanner at the molecular level and made sure of it.¡± ¡°Earthling? Isn¡¯t he from Ecostate?¡± Forn objected. ¡°Yes, he¡¯s from Ecostate, but don¡¯t forget that this planet was cleared of Pantorians for a thousand years by settling with terrestrial colonists, and the Pantorians were sent to a star collective or sold to the black fleet. It¡¯s unlikely that there are many Pantorians on Ecostate now, and even if Lecith were one, he would immediately admit that he is a Pantorian.¡± ?Would he have confessed right away? Why?? I didn¡¯t understand, and Forn answered my mental question. "Pantorians never lie." Forn understood and sighed and gave in, realizing that he was wrong, ¡°Okay. Let''s get some sleep and move on.¡± "Let''s go." Having sorted out the situation, we went to our mini-camp and went to bed, changing night duty from time to time. Although before that I should have thanked Forn for refreshing my memory, even if only for a short time. ?Pantorians.? I spoke in my head, shaking only about thoughts about them. From childhood, all people throughout the Republic were frightened by the story of the bloodiest war a thousand years ago. The first full-scale interstellar war on a galactic scale in the history of not only humanity, but the entire galaxy, and I hope the last one, and it was the Pantorians who unleashed it. A war where entire races, entire planets and even stars perished. Humanity alone has lost over five hundred billion people, which is half of the entire population of the Republic at the end of the third millennium and on the threshold of the fourth. The entire galaxy is dotted with supernova nebulae, black holes and white dwarfs. It was a long time ago, but the consequences of that monstrous war were still visible and will be visible for tens of thousands of years, if not hundreds. I didn¡¯t go into this topic and I¡¯m unlikely to feel the fear in which the entire sector 1318 was shrouded when the Pantorians attacked humanity and this despite the fact that the Pantorians were part of this humanity only better, better in terms of everything, but not from the point of view of morality and ethics, but only the effectiveness of themselves. Forever young, smart, beautiful, brilliant, tenacious, reasonable, calm and practically emotionless - that¡¯s who the Pantorians are. This is how they were shown to us as almost ideal people, who were genetically improved and set free to do real evil in the name of the vague idea of the so-called ¡°great order¡±. From century to century we were constantly reminded of one thing: if you see a Pantorian and realize that it is him, then just run and don¡¯t look back. They never lie, they don¡¯t eat food familiar to people, they are very strong and powerful, but what¡¯s even worse is that you will always feel humiliated in front of them, as if you are a disgrace of the human race, not daring to stand next to them, as if they are always right in everything, but you are just a pathetic worm, part of some mindless herd, and they are part of something great and whole. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. They reason logically, coldly, extremely calculatingly and there are thousands of times more of them than us ordinary people, and they can be grown anywhere in incubators, cloned on the ships of the black fleet or born naturally. They are the truest evil that the universe could produce. ?If Lecith were a Pantorian, we would kill him immediately, but since Fred tested him at the molecular level, then we have nothing to worry about. For us, he is just a civilian whom we will return to the Republic.? "What is your name?" Lecith suddenly turned to me as I lay down on the ground, wrapped in a sleeping bag. "Boris." I answered briefly. "One of us thought you were a Pantorian." "Huh?" Lecith was surprised. ¡°But I''m human. I can¡¯t... I can¡¯t after all...¡± ¡°Calm down, boy, our senior medic checked you, you are not a Pantorian. It¡¯s just that one Martian¡¯s imagination took flight.¡± It seems that the word "Martian" made Lecith''s curiosity spike. "Martian? I mean... Wow! So are you from the solar system? "Yes. Does this surprise you so much?¡± ¡°Yeah. I always wanted to go there, to see the planet where people came from and that very Moon.¡± ¡°I would like your dreams.¡± I said sadly with a laugh. ¡°Although I¡¯m already starting to dream about the same thing.¡± ¡°How long have you been here?¡± "Three weeks."" I answered. ¡°We spent one week in the shuttle, we were going to establish communications, we sent a platoon to the east to get the STCNC machine, but then ... we made first contact.¡± I turned my gaze towards the natives. It was funny to see how the four of them slept in an embrace with Itami. When he wakes up, he will clearly be surprised by this. "Many people died." I said sadly, continuing my story. ¡°Some kind of devilry is happening on this planet.¡± "Exactly exactly." Lecith nodded. ¡°I remember then that my friend came across a strange lake with red water. We were very thirsty then; at first we didn¡¯t want to drink from the lake, but in the end we tried it anyway. And you know what? "What?" I became curious. ¡°It... was real blood. A whole lake of liquid blood. Phew... I can still feel that metallic taste. Then, it¡¯s true, we no longer drank from that lake, but looked for fresh streams. We started having strange dreams... terrible dreams. It seemed that I could not understand where reality was and where the dream was. One sip was enough to make us almost go crazy.¡± ?Lake of blood? Strange dreams? Interesting.? I thought, deciding to ask him something: ¡°How did you make first contact?¡± ¡°Oh~... this is a sad story.¡± Lecith said sadly. ¡°We came across a village where we thought people lived, but when they saw us they made a noise and ran at us with pitchforks. We got scared and ran away, although now I think they were more afraid of us than we were of them.¡± ?Perhaps this is true.? I noticed something in my mind and decided to clarify something. ¡°So these Gobe... that is, green creatures are not the first ones you came into contact with on this planet?¡± "Yes. But the people in that village have some... strange kind of mutation." ¡°And which one?¡± "They had tails." "Tails?" "Yes. Fluffy, like these... Shleakas, well, in your opinion, these are cats. Am I saying this correctly? It¡¯s just that there are no cats on Ecostate, they didn¡¯t adapt and died out.¡± My curiosity suddenly increased when I heard about tails. I suddenly became curious to clarify something else, and I asked: ¡°Did they really look like people?¡± "Yes. Well, it was winter then, I definitely saw their tails. Some of them hid them, and even when some woman was chasing us, she could see sharp tubercles on the top of her head. I thought it might even be Shleak ears, but I thought it might be something else¡­. Well... the headdress, for example, but I think they looked so appropriate.¡± ?This is all strange...? I thought as I listened to Lecith¡¯s words. ?The conditions on this planet are not too harsh for people to develop mutations over two thousand years. Shit! There are more and more questions about this planet, and it will take me a while to dig up the answers to them.? ¡°Of course, this is all interesting, but let¡¯s leave the rest for tomorrow.¡± I said, turning on my side. "Praise the night." "What?" I asked. ¡°That¡¯s how we wish you a good night¡¯s sleep in Ecostate.¡± ¡°Ah... well then, praise the night.¡± I said and closed my eyes. I lay there for a while and listened to the sound of the rustling treetops. I couldn''t sleep well thinking about something: ?Tailed people... why does a person need a tail? And also the ears on the top of the head... some kind of nonsense. If Fred had heard our conversation, he would have refuted everything he heard. Perhaps that''s enough for today.? I closed my eyes and began to fall asleep while insects and crickets buzzed around me in the pitch darkness. Probably, by this moment about an hour had passed and now I was already falling asleep when suddenly... "ALARM!" Suddenly someone shouted. I jumped to my feet and immediately grabbed my assault rifle. "What''s the matter?" I asked, activating the earphone. ¡°The wolves are coming this way! Giant wolves! "Understood." I answered and started broadcasting to the entire channel. ¡°The whole platoon get ready. All-round defense." The fighters suddenly jumped up from their seats and prepared their weapons, turning on the flashlights attached to the barrels of their weapons. They took up a circular position around our small camp. We didn¡¯t know exactly where the wolves were coming from here, so we prepared to meet them from any direction. Although I should have clarified this, what if they surrounded us? "North!" I heard the direction in the earphone. "Accepted." I answered, activating the bioscanner on my left hand and noticing the rapid approach of more than two dozen dots on the screen. ?Two hundred kilometers per hour?!? I was surprised to see how quickly they were approaching us. I directed my gaze north into the forest darkness, most of which was illuminated by our flashlights. We heard no sounds of approaching and yet the wolves were heading this way. And we thought that we would meet wolves, scare them away or shoot them, when an arrow whistled past my ear and stuck into a tree trunk. "What the?!" I shouted out, realizing that it had almost hit me. My heart froze for a moment. I turned my head to the left and saw the tip of the arrow. Rough, wooden with a stone tip. It bent after hitting the tree trunk and yet the way it pierced told me that the force of the shot was enormous and that our exposed parts of our bodies were vulnerable. ¡°For the trees!¡± I quickly ordered. The soldiers carried out my order and quickly hid behind the trees while continuing to target a potential enemy in the north. Meanwhile, more arrows were whistling and falling to the ground, and then we heard wild wolf roars that seemed to shake the entire forest. Several fighters opened suppressive fire to scare off the enemy, but judging by the bioscan, they were not afraid of the frightening sounds of shots and continued to rapidly approach us. "Holy shit..." I spoke for a brief moment, looking out from behind a tree trunk and saw a pack of three-meter gray wolves, which were saddled by Gobe. The green humanoids shot from bows and threw stones in our direction, while screaming disgustingly and drooling, and then, stopping the movement of the giant wolves, they began to jump to the ground, lighting torches in their hands. The bioscan did not show this, but on each of these giant wolves there were ten Gobes, who jumped off them and rushed towards us, hiding behind the trees, that is, at the moment we are dealing with about two hundred Gobes, who were not afraid of us at all. What is interesting is that the giant wolves, freed from Gobe on their backs, ran back into the darkness and all in different directions. Roughly speaking, these giant wolves played the role of infantry fighting vehicles and landed troops in the form of green-skinned small humanoids. It was amazing to see how primitive creatures even thought of this. I expected these wolves to take part in the battle, but it looks like... it looks like they will still play a role in flanking attacks. That¡¯s right, they attacked us head-on, trying to divert our attention from other directions. And these Gobes turn out to be quite smart for thinking of this. They need to be treated as equals, but that¡¯s just for today. If these little assholes kill even one of our soldiers, I swear I will chase them throughout this forest all the way to Sirius until they are burned and shot! Meanwhile, the rain of arrows prevented us from conducting aimed fire, forcing us to hide behind the trees. The grenades that worked best in this situation were those that we had not yet used, but which we had already prepared for throwing. While the forest was filled with the noise of gunfire, I quickly explained my plan to the entire platoon through the communication channel. ¡°Let¡¯s let them get closer and throw grenades at them!¡± "They''re surrounding us!" And indeed, the bioscan showed how more packs of wolves were approaching from the west and east and landing Gobe. As I thought, Gobe will now carry out a flank attack. The situation became increasingly tense and extremely dangerous. It seemed impossible to maintain the position now, and at the same time, if we begin to retreat, there will be a risk of being hit by arrows and stones, but if we take our time.... And to hell with it! If we are surrounded, we will be shot with arrows in any case! There''s nothing to think about here! We need to act! "New order!" I shouted into the earphone. ¡°Mshkhan, mine the camp. Everyone else, pack all your things and head south! Esko, cover Mshkhan! Is the order clear? "Yes sir!" Everyone answered in unison. "Fulfill!" As soon as I was the first to emerge from behind the cover, I felt severe pain in my right leg. The arrow went right through, causing me to fall face down. Groaning in pain, I abruptly rolled over onto my back. At that moment I simply could not believe that I had been wounded by some primitive arrow. ?Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!? I panicked inside myself, groaning in pain. One Gobe quickly rushed towards me with a club in his hands. He was drooling and shaking his head aggressively, either screaming or laughing. He looked quite creepy. At that moment, seeing all this, I was both scared and hurt. Adrenaline filled my body, causing my brain to tense up, my heart to pound wildly, and my hands to reach for weapons. "BITCH! DIE!¡± I took a pistol out of my holster and with the first shot I shot right through Gobe¡¯s head, and he, in turn, took two post-mortem steps and collapsed like a rag doll. ¡°A BITCHES!¡± I fired a couple more shots at the other Gobes that were approaching me after the first one I killed. Two hits to the head, and they fell to the ground dead, they barely had enough of a meter to get to me and beat me to death with sticks. My leg was trembling convulsively, the pain was so strong that I could not stand it and screamed: ¡°A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A~!!!¡± No matter how painful and scared I was now, Fred ran up to me and quickly stuck me with a dust remover, and it seemed to me that my leg instantly went numb, and all the pain turned to cold. Fred began tying my leg under fire while the rest of the fighters standing around me shot at every Gobe that they saw, and after Fred finished his job, Stern lifted me onto his back, fastening me to his exoskeleton. ¡°Bag of bones, please don¡¯t twitch!¡± The droid operator shouted angrily. "Okay." I answered, feeling extremely weak from the waist down. I held the pistol in my trembling hand and fired back. I had to hold the pistol with both hands and fire to kill from the Gobe clouds that were making their way towards us from cover to cover. Stern rose to his feet and ran south. The entire platoon, firing back along the way, began to move and soon Mshkhan completed the mining. "I did everything!" I heard it in my earphone. "So that''s great! Let''s leave!" I ordered and we began a general retreat to the south. Meanwhile, what I had already seen was a forest space strewn with the corpses of small green-skinned creatures. They attacked us fearlessly and madly. Did they even have an instinct for self-preservation? If not, then now I begin to understand why the fugitive natives were so afraid of them. At this time we moved quite far away, but continued to fire back. Judging by the bioscan, most of them entered our mini-camp, after which I gave one clear order to our sapper: "Explode!" And what I saw before my eyes was a bright flash. A deafeningly powerful explosion almost knocked our group off our feet, and in the distance we could hear the crash of falling trees. The dust obscured our view, but from the bioscan I saw that most of Gobe was killed, while the rest, after recovering, fled in different directions. And it seemed like the battle was over, but the platoon continued to move south, and at that moment I could no longer be in my right mind and lost consciousness. Chapter 17. Philosophy of Fire One calm night, the spirits of our ancestors clearly appeared to us in our dreams and they shouted about the danger that was coming to our forest. Faceless strangers came to our lands and were going to desecrate the bonds of the roots by releasing into the light the sealed evil that once upon a time almost destroyed our people. The shaman of the tribe appealed to the spirits of the forest and they answered him by bringing powerful wolves from the distant outskirts so that they would deliver our hunters to the paths of the roots and save our people. The luminary had already gone out, disappearing behind the tops of the trees, and we, riding the wolves, rushed south. While we were riding on horseback between the trees, the shaman told us through the spirits that there were those strangers, either anfrops, or real relatives of evil from the very depths of the interworld. At first we did not believe in all this and many of the goblin tribe even laughed, but still prepared to stop the evil, but alas, it was too late. The ancestors were silent that night, they did not respond to our requests, and the spirits were helpless, as if they were running like rabbits from foxes. We saw a blinding radiance and lightning that pierced through the bodies of our hunters. We didn¡¯t even dare to see these strangers, blinding us with bright white fire. Now we had no doubt that these were the real servants of evil. They came here to our forest to free their leader, who was sealed by our ancestors in the bonds of roots. We couldn''t let them do this, but it was too late, the aliens were too strong. I was already late by this point. Many of our brave hunters have fallen from the strange sorcery of strangers. The shaman did not even have time to appeal to the elements and died, leaving his young three-year-old student without a teacher. He sat on the ground, stained with green blood and devoured the sparkling eyes of the shaman and cried and cried at the loss of his beloved teacher. He wanted to know more, wanted his teacher to teach him more before he could grow up and become food for the tribe, but he didn''t have time. The wolves helped us by carrying the bodies of our fellow tribesmen home for ritual devouring. Someday in the days to come they will be reborn in the bodies of our little ones, but will not remember their former life due to their long sleep in the womb of a woman. In this way we will honor their memory and keep their souls within us. They will always be with us. Anfrops are terrible monsters that come to our forest to kill us. Our fellow tribesmen get angry and kill them in response. We remember their atrocities and therefore we are afraid. We don¡¯t want to look weak and fight to the end, because the anfrops don¡¯t eat our flesh, but we do. anfrops burn our bodies, use them as decorations, and we value every piece of goblin meat. ¡°The witchcraft is strong.¡± Said Kushak. The oldest hunter of the tribe led our hunt for evil and was dissatisfied with its outcome. We all saw the consequences of that fiery hurricane, the terrible witchcraft that destroyed many of us. It was just for a moment, like a close thunderclap, raising fire from the depths and sending down a tornado from the heavens, but its power killed so many goblins. I was lucky to be far from him and survive, but from the others... not even flesh was left. They are forever cursed, doomed to be forgotten and never return to this world again. We were all terribly scared to realize that after death we would simply disappear. anfrops are terrible creatures that make us forget the names of the fallen goblins, it is better to fear and hate them, but never be a victim for them. We will never be weak in front of them and will always kill and eat them. ¡°Isn¡¯t this an anfrop?¡± I asked the old hunter looking around the burned area of ??the forest around. "Too strong." ¡°Anfrops don¡¯t cast a spell on us.¡± Kushak said, squatting and squinting, sniffing the ashes. ¡°They think the goblin is weak. We alone are weak. Together we are strong." "Together we are strong!" I agreed with Kushak. ¡°But it¡¯s not anfrop.¡± The hunter began to doubt, rising to his full height. "Evil." ¡°Their meat is red. This is an anfrop.¡± I objected in turn, and Kushak turned in my direction. ¡°Witchcraft is not anfrop. Evil witchcraft. Dangerous. Cursed." Kushak was right. anfrops don''t do magic like that. This is how shaman-sages or an old witch of fire from afar cast their magic, but not Anfrops. They live in a stone forest and cover themselves with meat and hair to keep warm and become stronger. We cover ourselves only with meat to show that goblins are strong. ¡°EVIL ESCAPE! THERE IS NO EVIL!¡± One of the hunters shouted in panic, running out from behind the burnt bushes. He searched the paths of the roots where evil was imprisoned, but the roots were empty. Evil got out and ran away with the strangers to the south to the Anfrops in the stone forest. They know about us, they will definitely return with their entire tribe with sparkling monsters that are not afraid of arrows, axes, or even spears. We must prepare to fight them or perish, to be forgotten forever. ¡°Raaaaaaa~!!! Nasty! Big nasty! What are they doing here?!¡± Kushak was angry. ¡°Who walked until sunset?¡± "I''m walking!" One hunter came out in front of Kushak, on whom all the anger of the old hunter flew out. ¡°Are you weak and not seeing them?¡± The warrior who went to protect the bonds of the roots was afraid. He was young, five years old, he did not know that evil was so dangerous and poorly guarded the bonds of the roots. Good warriors would not have allowed a worm to get near their bonds, but he allowed a whole flock of strangers in. I remember when I was five years old, one goblin went to check if evil really existed, and then this goblin did not return. Evil dragged him under the roots and left only bones of the unfortunate goblin. Evil mocked us. His skin was strong and could not be bitten or pierced. He couldn''t be killed. Therefore, we called the witch of death so that she would take evil into the forest of death from where it will never return. She promised to come to us, but the evil came out before she came here because of these strangers. "I''m good at walking!" The warrior objected. ¡°A stranger walks into the night. I can''t see him." "You are guilty! You are weak! Kushak was angry, creaking his fangs. ¡°You need to be punished!¡± The goblins surrounded the guilty goblin, he was scared and wanted to run away, but everyone immediately attacked him with a shout, starting to beat him to death with clubs and axes. His meat scattered in all directions, he quickly died without even screaming. For his weakness he deserved death. This way he will clear his name of shame and not be cursed in his next birth. At that moment I went to the place where the servants of evil remained until our arrival. The ground around was trampled down and covered with black, sleeping fire. I smelled the smell of death, which disgustingly made me shudder and cover my sharp nose from the terrible smell. "House! We need to go to the house!¡± I shouted, ordering everyone to go back to the village. ¡°Anfrops come to us. We''ll prepare the traps. We sharpen our spears. Either fight or die." "FIGHT! "FIGHT!! All the goblins chanted, understood me perfectly and began to walk back to the village. If the Anfrops find us, we will die, but we will die in battle. This is how we will save our offspring. *** The singing of birds and the rustling of leaves deafened the crackling of the fire where my gaze was directed. I didn¡¯t just sit and warm myself by the fire, but I thought about the fire that was blinding my eyes. My teacher''s words never left my head. "Fire." I said, raising my palm to the blazing flames, feeling the pleasant warmth that enveloped my entire body, which is why I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment and plunging into thought. What is fire? A great rebellious force that obeys no one. Fire is chaotic, destructive and so bold in its bursts of radiance that it can only evoke admiration from those who have stained their souls with the shackles of mortality. The fire seemed truly free to me, but it only seemed so. ?How to subdue this power?? The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Then the teacher asked me a question. ?An equivalent element.? Then, foolishly, I answered. Hearing my words, he only sighed in disappointment in response and, waving his hand with the wind, blew me away from the shelter, punishing me: ?What should I teach a brat like you who doesn¡¯t know the answer to such a simple question? Get out of here and don¡¯t come back to me until you control the fire itself with your will. Go.? And then I wanted to ask him with resentment in my voice: ¡°But how can I do this?? how I ended up here, deep in the forest and completely alone without the right to return to the teacher until I fulfill his instructions. And so, wandering among the mighty trees, stepping over roots and scratching against branches and bushes, I began my search for an answer to what the teacher thought was a ?simple? question. It was not by chance that I followed the path of magic, because I really long to understand the world around me, its essence and foundations, all this nature and life around me. However, with all my desire, I don¡¯t have enough intelligence to find answers to the questions that my teacher and I ask ourselves. To find the answer to a question, you must already know the answers to other questions, building a chain, the path to the truth. The teacher is right in saying that there is nothing to teach me since I cannot answer such a simple question. But how can I find the answer? What should I do to understand how to subdue the unruly flame? We need to ask another question. What does it even mean to subdue? Does this mean following someone else''s will? Or force the follower to unknowingly do what the leader wants? Magic in this regard is closely intertwined with philosophy. You need to understand the essence of the nature of the elements, and not just its magical aspects and the results of their crossings. Is the earth always solid, for example? Then why are there sands and swamps? Is the wind always light? Then why do the winds pull mountains down? And the most important question: is fire really so rebellious and chaotic? Then why is it not everywhere, but only where flashes of thunder and lightning pierce the earth through the sky? So the chaotic fire follows someone''s will? So the fire is guided and can be subdued? And while I was thinking about this, my palm warmed up, feeling warm and this time this heat was burning, giving me an unpleasant sensation. As soon as I remove my hand, the warmth becomes less, and the slight pain from the heat seems to fly away into nowhere, but still touches the corners of my soul through my fingers. I feel before my eyes this rebellious force that was kindled by my will. So how can I subdue it? ¡°Why should I subordinate her if she already serves me?¡± I said, having found the answer to the pressing question. As soon as I squeeze my palm, the fire instantly loses its food and goes out, leaving behind only the smell of burning and a flowing haze, but as soon as I return food to the fire and ignite its spark, the flame flares up brightly, as if for a moment having breathed all the air into its empty lungs . This is how to command fire. "I found the answer, teacher." I said out loud with a smile on my face. Now I understand what I need to do and with confidence in my soul I can return to the teacher and continue my training with him. He is of course a strict person, but I am sure he will teach me a lot. It was not in vain that people called him to become a court magician. Suddenly I felt a presence in the distance. It was not a small animal or a pitiful insect, but it was a strong soul and not just one, but several at once. I felt the uninvited guests approaching and heading south. I instantly put out the fire by rising to my feet and covered my body with a cloak and imbued it with magic, making myself invisible. The light passed through the robe, as if turning my entire body into transparent glass, and this was quite enough to hide in the forest. On top of everything, I surrounded myself with an air dome so that uninvited guests would not hear the rustle of my boots, or the smell of my body, or even the warmth of my skin. In order not to be noticed, I just need to skillfully hide my open face under the hood, and the rest was already done by the magic that the teacher taught me, for which I will be grateful to him forever. He told me that these are the most important spells for magicians and when I asked him ?Why?? he told me that in many parts of the world magicians are disliked, feared and hated and that is why we must hide in the mystery of comprehending the world around us in search for knowledge and truth. It¡¯s true, to comprehend secrets you need to be a secret, and I remembered this well and understood it for myself. The teacher always told me that people, weak insects, should not see us or at least know what we can do, because they are afraid of us and our magical powers. I understand the teacher, but I still don¡¯t understand the question of why, in this case, not teach them all magic? Life will become easier for everyone after this, but why does the teacher choose the most worthy students? What''s wrong with teaching people magic? Shouldn''t people be trusted with this power? Why? I¡¯m also a human being, but for some reason the teacher entrusted me with knowledge about magic and taught me how to use it? Stupid question. I''m still too young to understand this. I was now worried about something else. The echoes of the souls of strangers were heard more and more clearly. I did not expect that someone unknown to its inhabitants and myself would come into this deep forest, and therefore I immediately decided to hide from sight. I didn''t understand what was happening. The elemental spirits seemed to be blowing in the opposite direction; they did not accept these souls, they were insanely afraid of them. Are these thinking monsters? I need to check this. But if these are monsters, then I need to get rid of them, because they have no place in this world. I began to move through the thickets, smoothly, drowning out any sounds that arose along the way. At this time, I began to hear the singing of the souls of these ?monsters?, which are still worth dismantling, but they did not seem bloodthirsty to me, rather as curious as the souls of people. Someday a teacher will teach me to parse the words of souls and then I will learn to understand the thoughts of people, but now I still hear inaudible curious voices full of pain, despair and at the same time rebellious aspiration. Getting closer and hiding behind a tree, I looked at the clearing where these souls were coming out and what I saw made me widen my eyes in bewilderment. These are not some creepy monsters that the elemental spirits fear, but just people in strange clothes, covered with bushes and shiny headdresses in the form of hemispherical buckets. They held mutilated black staffs in their hands and walked slowly forward, stepping over the roots one after another under their feet. Many of them were injured judging by the way they limped, and some of them were mutilated with metal, as if they were some kind of criminals and that strangely they were talking about something, but the language in which they communicated was completely unfamiliar to me. Although I don¡¯t know many languages, I didn¡¯t understand what strangers were doing here on these lands. The spirits shy away from them so fearfully as if they really were monsters. Did they really take lives and commit atrocities? But I don¡¯t feel the dark sign of Sod, which means the spirits are afraid of them for a different reason. Why? Their souls don''t seem bad to me. While I was thinking about this, people suddenly stopped. One man looked at some stone that he was holding in his hands and said something, after which a fuss began. The strangers knelt down and pointed their staffs in my direction. ?Can they really see me? How? I hid myself with magic!? I was surprised to myself. That man looked straight at me, straight into my eyes, as if he knew exactly where I was, as if the bushes were not an obstacle to him, not even the magic that distorted perception. This made me feel uneasy. I didn¡¯t feel any magic in him, so how does he know where I am? Or is he pretending? Or is he just assuming I''m here? They look at me as if they really see me, although I even lowered my head, I still felt their gaze on me. They are waiting for what I will do, waiting for me to come out to meet them, attack or run away. They are afraid of the unknown, but they are ready to fight. I winced when I realized this. ?I need to tell the teacher about them.? I decided and after that I quickly went to the shelter and this time I was not hiding under illusory magic. Even though those people knew where I was, for some reason they did not pursue me, and therefore I slowed down my run and now walked towards the shelter. I''ll get tired quickly if I run, and if these strangers aren''t chasing me, then I have nothing to worry about. Soon I stopped feeling their presence, their spiritual voices were now inaudible to me, and soon after a long time of wandering through the forest, I reached a vast grove that was surrounded by magical trees, and in the center of this grove stood an oak tree shrouded in chains, in the trunk of which a house was carved on the tree. The roots of this oak tree stretched from the round door to a clearing with a trampled path and looked like graceful stairs along which you could climb up. My teacher has been living here for a very long time since the moment when the Druids walked on these lands and healed the forest with their gift of nature, and now this oak has become our refuge, a place where we could live without worrying about the mortal world that surrounds us. The grass under my feet tickled my legs as I walked forward through the grove. The plants recognized me and let me go ahead. If there were a stranger here, a swamp would instantly appear, and the roots underground would drag the intruder into the kingdom of the dead. This place was safe, but as long as no one knew about it. "Teacher!" I screamed as I walked up the steps. "Teacher! I have to tell you something!¡± The round wooden door opened with a creak, but instead of the teacher, I saw in front only a man with a black cat''s head, wrapped in a white tunic. He twitched his mustache and dilated his vertical pupils when he saw me. It was Felix, a cat who could turn into a human and even talk. In his free time, he likes to jump on tree branches and catch rodents when he is in the form of an ordinary cat and his teacher even hung chains around the oak tree for him to make it easier for him to spend his free time. I hadn¡¯t seen him for a long time and was glad to meet him again. His familiar appearance made a smile appear on my face, which is why I joyfully greeted him: "Hi Felix." "Who are you?" Felix asked indifferently. ¡°And why did the spirits let you through?¡± From such treatment I could only puff out my cheeks with displeasure and cross my arms over my chest. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen each other for a whole season, and you¡¯ve already forgotten me? How could you? Don¡¯t you remember how we played together?¡± "Mrrr~..." Felix purred, rolling his eyes and twitching his ears. ¡°So you came to play? I don''t want to play with you. The owner is busy. Leave. You came too early." "I-I know, but I have something important to say." I objected and tried to rush inside the shelter, but Felix stopped me, blocking the way with his human blackened paw. ¡°Take your time, girl. Do you remember what the teacher told you? Have you subdued the fire?¡± "Almost," I admitted, but then quickly shook my head, remembering why I came here. ¡°But I¡¯m not here for advice! I saw strange people!¡± ¡°Made me laugh. All travelers taken by the forest are strange.¡± Felix said, still not letting me pass. ¡°Now leave before the whirlwind takes you away again. You don''t want to fly again, do you? Then leave." "Wait!" I shouted out, but it was already too late. The door had already slammed in front of me. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re a hairball! Open the door!¡± I started banging my fists on the door, but to no avail. I was ignored. "Felix! Teacher! Please open! I am telling the truth! I saw strange people! All the spirits avoided them! I ask you to!" At that moment the door opened and the teacher finally appeared in front of me. An old man with a long thick beard, wrapped in a gray robe with bottles of translucent potions in his hands, loomed over me. ¡°Did the spirits avoid them?¡± Instead of a greeting, the teacher asked me in a hoarse voice, and then got down on his knee and looked me in the face and asked me a question. ¡°Tell me what you saw. What did they look like?" It was strange to see real curiosity in the teacher''s eyes. Usually he looked as if the whole world was empty and boring for him, and he himself was indifferent to everything. As it turned out, it is really strange that spirits avoid people, all spirits even outside the elements would never avoid any living creature unless it is marked with the dark mark of Sod or is not demonic. I learned about this by reading books that my teacher gave me. At that moment I decided to tell the teacher about what these people looked like, and only then I would rejoice in the fact that I finally met my beloved teacher again, who forever replaced my natural parents. Chapter 18. Sister The injury turned out to be much more serious than I initially thought. My leg hurt a lot, so much so that Fred was forced to administer a large dose of painkillers, which made me feel like I was in seventh heaven, a strange feeling that simply cannot be described in words. It seems that I experienced an overdose, everything around me seems to be floating. Ooh...butterfly? The arrow that hit my leg turned out to be saturated with a poison of unknown origin, but the symptom emerged almost immediately: burns, severe pain, fever and even dehydration, because of which I risk causing the consumption of all the fresh drinking water in the group, so through force I decide not to do it I take deep throats and quench my thirst only a little at a time, but my throat is sore from dryness as if I had just eaten a whole table of the hottest peppers. ¡°Come on, drink.¡± Fred told me, bringing the neck of the flask to my lips. ¡°It¡¯s either this or you die. The dehydration is simply colossal. Your skin almost peels off." ?It hurts.? I took deep breaths and exhales, sweating profusely from the heat, as if a whole stream was pouring out of me. The rag that Fred wrapped around my leg was already stained with blood, but the senior medic was in no hurry to change it because he was afraid that he would seriously harm me. Another symptom, the blood simply refused to clot and continued to flow. The cells of the body refused to recover normally due to the poison, and I heard this from Fred¡¯s words. The poison should have already left the body along with a stream of sweat, but still the wound healed very, very slowly. I was wrapped in bandages like some kind of mummy and inside this mummy I was turning into scarlet liquid, unable to walk. It''s just unbearably painful! It''s like being fried in a microwave or dissolved piece by piece in a replicator. It''s still hard to describe the pain I felt throughout my body. Out of desperation, I appointed Will as my deputy. Crap! I can''t even believe that Will is my deputy. He''ll kill us all! Oh well... I hope he doesn''t cause us any more problems than I did. My death is now closer than ever, but still, after a couple of days of this horror, everything began to return a little to normal, but Fred was in no hurry to remove the bandages from me because they were tightly connected to the skin of my body and removing the tissue would mean damaging the outer layers of the body. I wouldn''t want to rip my skin off. Crap! Now we took refuge inside a cave, which was conveniently located in the middle of a rocky hill on our way, thanks to which no one had yet found us after the battle with Gobe, but then we had a new problem. The path to the east was closed to us. While I was writhing in pain, Itami did a little reconnaissance and found out that in the east there are vast swamps through which it will be impossible to pass, or rather, it is possible, but it will take a lot of time, which we, unfortunately, do not have. ¡°So we are now changing our route to the south?¡± Will asked me, sitting next to me, and I, barely understanding what was happening around me, first realized what I heard, and then, after thinking a little about his words, I nodded in agreement. ¡°In the north is Gobe, and in the east is a swamp.¡± I answer, barely moving my lips. ¡°So we can only go south, to the lowlands.¡± Even just thinking was difficult and almost unbearable for me. Even simple thoughts, let alone words, make me feel dizzy. ¡°Most likely there are bodies of water there.¡± Anzhey intervened in the conversation, leaning against the rock and cleaning the parts of the disassembled rifle along the way. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to waste time on the way back if there¡¯s nowhere to go there.¡± "You don''t have to worry." I reassured Andrzej by remembering something. ¡°I remember on the map there really is a lake there and there were some settlements near it.¡± My words suddenly attracted the attention of the entire platoon resting inside the cave. Even the sentry paid attention to me and immediately turned towards the exit, continuing to look at the vegetation outside the cave. "Another civilization?" Will clarified. "I don''t know." I answered honestly, looking away at the natives. "I hope they help us." In my dull eyes, I saw concern in the looks of Alza, Ripun, Niana and Zaden. They were clearly afraid of the outcome, which ultimately happened. We should have listened to the fear of these natives and killed these green-skinned creatures right away. Although we have killed hundreds of these Gobe, most likely they will chase us to avenge their fallen relatives. We need to be ready to meet them again. I''m sure sooner or later we will meet again. ¡°Who are they?¡± Lecith asked curiously looking at the natives. ¡°They look like people, but they¡¯re not them, right?¡± The same situation with Lecith, after cleaning off the dirt, I was surprised to see a pleasant-looking man, a dark-haired, green-eyed guy with a muscular, tall body. Any earthly girl would chase such a handsome guy, and any other guy would be jealous of his appearance. Apparently beautiful people live on Ecostate, otherwise I can¡¯t explain how he can be so beautiful with such behavior. Now Sigrun does not take his eyes off him and turns to Fred for drugs. "Yes. These are the natives." Meanwhile, Itami answered that he was sitting next to them on the cobblestones. ¡°I teach them English. Yes, Ripun? "What?" The pale-skinned native, dressed in a jacket, was perplexed. ¡°What do you have to say? I don''t understand." "I. Teach. You. Our. Language." Itami translated the words with gestures, and then translated the entire sentence. ¡°I teach you our language.¡± "Ahh..." Opening his mouth, Ripun understood and nodded, agreeing with the signalman. "Yes. Teach say. Thank you." The progress of natives learning English remains very modest. They practice talking to all the fighters including myself and Itami, and also try to pronounce sounds that they cannot pronounce. After spending so much time with them, I had already begun to notice their fatigue from constant English lessons, and yet they never once resisted learning, continuing, albeit through force, to practice speaking a language unknown to them. I hope that when they become more or less familiar with the English language, they will be able to help us establish peaceful contact, but not with the Empire, but with some other civilization of this planet. The very fact that there were no lands of this very Empire to the east of that anomalous rainy forest told us that not all was lost and peaceful contact was still possible, and yet we were already in other lands far from the native home of these natives and it was unlikely whether even these natives could know the languages of other peoples of this planet. This fact told us that it would become much more difficult to establish contact because, most likely, other nationalities or even other intelligent species live on these lands, which may even have other methods of communication. I can only hope that these peoples or other species are in contact with each other and, even if they do not understand each other, have translators in their ranks who could communicate in the language of these fugitive natives. I hope so... but only a little. Alas, our platoon should not chill in one place all day long just because of my injury, and therefore Stern will again drag me on his back. If it weren¡¯t for this droid operator, who broke his arms and legs during the crash and put on an exoskeleton, we would definitely have been delayed in place or I would have ended up dead. Alas, the droid operator himself could only grumble about the need to carry an extra load on himself in the form of a pile of meat and bones, as he puts it. Yes, Stern is not a particularly pleasant person, and yes, the battery charge of his exoskeleton will sooner or later run out and then someone will have to drag not only me, but also him. "I hate this planet." Stern grumbled, sitting surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites and with an empty tablet in his hands, clearly wanting to return to his usual job of controlling droids and assigning commands and programs to them. ¡°I want to get out of here.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re not the only one who wants this.¡± Sigrun said cheerfully that in the morning she checked his exoskeleton for functionality by twisting a couple of nuts inside and welding some kind of plate. "We all want to go home." "I didn''t ask you." Stern snapped sternly. ¡°If you didn¡¯t ask, then you better shut up and don¡¯t make any sounds.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°How can I remain silent here when all this crap is going on around me? A? If you are so smart, then tell me why should I endure this? Why can¡¯t I express everything that I think about you on you?!¡± "Enough." I said sternly, raising my palm, still feeling not very good. ¡°The last thing we need now is for you to kill each other over quarrels. Just rest and then we¡¯ll continue on our way.¡± "South?" Will asked me. "Yes to the south." I confirmed. ¡°If anything happens, we¡¯ll all put together a raft together and get across the lake to the other side.¡± ¡°Damn, do we still have to build a raft?¡± Forn grumbled, lowering his head. "If necessary." I answered. ¡°We have all the necessary tools and equipment for woodworking, so I think building a raft will not be difficult.¡± "It''s clear." Will responded, crossing his arms over his chest. ¡°So we¡¯ll learn to row with oars. Yes Sigrun?¡± "What about me? I can row oars." The black girl grinned. ¡°The first thing I did when I first arrived on Earth was learn to swim in normal gravity.¡± "Fuck." Will said with defeat in his voice, realizing that he had failed to make fun of the girl. Everyone soon accepted my instructions and got down to business. It will be some time before we hit the road, and while we were resting, Will decided to remind me of something. ¡°Boris, listen, do you remember that creature that approached us?¡± "Yes I remember." I answered. Will was referring to the animal that he detected with the bioscanner immediately after the fight with Gobe. It approached us and hid behind the dense vegetation and watched us. Another anomaly of this planet, rather not of itself, but of its living inhabitants. The bioscanner can detect complex life forms within a kilometer or even more than two, but the creatures of this planet notice us much further and are approaching us. The same Gobe appeared suddenly and were already building formations even beyond the visibility of the bioscanner, when they decided to attack us in the night. This took us by surprise, and we barely had time to prepare to repel the enemy attack. The creature Will spotted yesterday was a humanoid, judging by the tracks it left on the ground. It could hardly be Gobe, the footprint was larger, and the signature was completely different and more similar to a human one, almost like that of the natives from the Empire. As soon as we aimed in his direction, he immediately disappeared. The creature knew that we had noticed it and chose not to make contact with us, running back into the safety of the forest. Then we did not pursue the unknown creature, mainly because we were then busy looking for shelter. What¡¯s also strange is how one of the fighters noticed an extinguished fire in the evening, which clearly could have belonged to the humanoid who ran away from us. ¡°These Gobe and that unknown creature they saw us¡± Will spoke with a bit of fear in his voice. "We simply cannot hide from them.." "That is how it is." I confirmed gloomily. Honestly, I don¡¯t even know what to do in cases when our usual methods of camouflage simply did not work and the inhabitants of this planet sensed us literally kilometers away. I do not exclude the possibility that that creature and Gobe are of the same species and could somehow have perfect observational abilities or even smell our scent from many kilometers away. It is quite possible that the second is because our smell can stand out among the general incense from everything else on this planet. If this is true, then we are guaranteed to be detected and therefore we need to always be prepared to meet the enemy, even now. ?I don''t want to go crazy with paranoia.? With difficulty, I close my eyes and begin to fall asleep, and to my surprise, I quickly fell asleep despite the terrible paranoia that I am experiencing right now. I thought that because of her I would not be able to fall asleep for a long time, but apparently due to the weakness of my body, I can fall asleep at any desire. And it would have been just an ordinary dream, but it turned out to be not just lucid, but actually somehow anomalous. I saw before me strange images from the past, a foggy city, cold dark traces that dissolved in the light. People moved around me like shadows and whose faces could not be seen, and in the distance stood a pale-skinned, blonde girl with sparkling blue eyes. She is dressed in a golden summer dress, and on her head is a large white hat with a pink flower. She smiled at me and waved her palm as if she saw me as the most beloved person in her life. She called me, ready to accept me as I am, wounded in body and soul, almost dead. I couldn¡¯t set foot near her, even though I wanted it with all my heart. I knew who she was and I simply couldn¡¯t believe that she had grown up to be such a beauty, my beloved little sister. Looking at her, I was filled with regret. I regretted that I would not be able to see her soon; rather, I would even see her children or even grandchildren, but not with her in the form she appeared before me right now. ¡°Sorry, Christina, I won¡¯t be back to you soon.¡± I said it out loud. I still wanted to admire her beauty, but after my words her face darkened, and the blue light in her eyes seemed to fade a little. It was as if she heard me. Strange thoughts flow through my head, of course she could hear me, it¡¯s just a dream. Her voice becomes clearer and clearer, after which I fall into horror when I hear another voice, equally familiar, that it seems the whole world disappears from my hands. ¡°You won¡¯t be fooled, stupid barbarian.¡± I don¡¯t know if I was able to widen my eyes in a dream, but I¡¯m sure I was able to. I was very surprised. ?Yasmi?? I guessed, taking the opposite steps and filled with fear and anger. Her face was different, but her voice was the same as I remembered her. Yasmi. This bitch is responsible for the death of my brothers in Arms, my acquaintances and friends. She killed John and Uwon, as well as a dozen more soldiers from our combined platoon. I just hate her. ?How dare she wear my sister''s face?!? I was angry inside myself, clenching my fists. Before giving in to emotions, I sternly asked her: "What''s happening?" Yasmi grinned maliciously and the world around me began to distort in stormy black and white streams, as if I was in a cosmic whirlpool, but at the same time there was absolutely dead silence around. While the world around me was changing, the girl answered me: ¡°Sod wants your faith, Sod will fulfill your wishes, swear allegiance to Him, dedicate your soul to Him and get the gate that leads to the world of your dreams and you will see those whom your soul desires.¡± I was surprised by what I had just heard from her and even believed her words. I really wanted to go home right now, to my family, to get out of this nightmare as soon as possible, but at the same time, with the last threads of my mind, I understood that there were no easy ways, that I could be deceived. ?What do you mean I can deceive? And now aren¡¯t they deceiving me?? At that moment, I realized that I had not questioned a single word of hers, as if she had always spoken the truth and kept her promises. Why did I think that? Why? When did I start to trust her? This... this is impossible! I just wanted to shake all these sweet words out of my head and forget about her existence once and for all. "Get out." I said and turned away from her. I don¡¯t know how it happened, but the next moment after I turned away from the false image of my little sister, she was right in front of me and gently grabbed my palm with both hands with deep love, breathing into my chest and said: ¡°Brother, please come home... I miss you... I love you.¡± "Me...me too." I said, leaning closer to her. How I wanted to be in her warm arms. ?Boris, this is not true!? I shouted to myself. ?She''s manipulating you!? I know. I know that all this is not true, but the lies are closely woven together with the truth and mixed inside my mind. I didn''t know what to do now. I wanted to escape from reality and at the same time I understood that this was not an option, that I would perish if I trusted it. With great effort I stopped myself. I was ready to kiss her forehead, essentially swearing a promise to her, but I couldn¡¯t do that, or rather, I convinced myself that I wasn¡¯t worthy of it. I don¡¯t want to give in to illusions, I don¡¯t just don¡¯t want to, I can¡¯t. What kind of person am I after this? Ten years ago I promised her that I would return home. I left her when she was five years old, the little girl cried when I flew to the moon, and now she will soon be in her twenties and I still don¡¯t know how she lives. ?What should I do?? "Come to me, my love." The girl said piercingly looking into my soul with her blue sparkling eyes. At that moment I wanted to laugh at her words. ¡°She...she would never say that.¡± "What?" The girl was surprised and I pushed her away from me, which is why I heard her surprised exclamation in response. "You do not love me?" "Enough. Get out." I shook my head. "I thought you¡­" ¡°I don¡¯t know how you do it, Yasmi. Just stop it! I''m not going to be with you! I''m not going to serve Sod or whathis there''s a name! JUST LEAVE!¡± ¡°Tch! Damn barbarian." The girl clicked her tongue with contempt and the world around suddenly took shape. The strange black and white distortions stopped, and I found myself in the middle of a strange place. I had never seen this place, some kind of temple of the pre-space era through the mosaic of windows through which the sun''s rays penetrated. This time, the white-haired Yasmi really stood in front of me, dressed in a light translucent robe, showing me her nakedness under the thin fabric. I think she looked much younger now than when I first met her. She was alone in the middle of the temple, and a shining swarm of stars floated smoothly around her, like planets around the sun. Her white eyes shone and seemed to burn through me, but her gaze was full of anger, as if through her the deity itself was angry at me, in which I had never believed and was not going to believe. "Barbarian from heaven, I give you one last chance." The girl said gloomily, but so majestically and terribly, as if she could really threaten me and was confident in her words. I, in turn, remained unshakable even though I felt inferior to her. I convinced myself that I was human and would not kneel before the faith of some natives. I am human! I don''t believe in Gods! I''m not going to serve what I can''t see with my own eyes! "No." I said sternly, remaining in place. "Insolent!" The girl screamed, distorting her face in anger, and after that the stars that were circling around her instantly froze. ¡°I died because of you! Sod was angry for my death and now I''m here! You simply must pay Sod for your crime! You must become His slave! You will never get out of His possessions, from the power of His divine essence, you are doomed to remain here forever and be in His hands! No one has ever left this world, and you will never leave it.NEVER! You have no choice, barbarian! You either swear allegiance, open your soul to Him, or YOU WILL DIE!¡± ¡°Are you dead?¡± I was surprised, ignoring the rest of her words. ¡°But... you ran away. No. I mean¡­ you¡¯re talking in my sleep right now.¡± Now she crossed her arms over her chest and spoke the following words to me as if she were communicating with a mentally retarded person. ¡°You are here because your spirit has weakened, you nonentity. How stupid are you that you don¡¯t understand such simple truths? I would subjugate you, like your pathetic fellow tribesman, but you are a barbarian from the stars, not saturated with His flesh and His waters, and His spirits avoid your touch.¡± Her face was filled with anger, the world around her seemed to be bursting at the seams, but somehow continued to exist. I still vaguely understood what was happening and why this dream did not seem like a dream to me. "I don''t understand." I said and received a dissatisfied grumbling from the girl in response. ¡°Mortals like you will never understand His ways. You are in this world forever." "I don''t think so," I doubted it, causing the girl to first be surprised by my words and then laugh. ¡°You are poisoned by the shackles of doubt. I will not leave until you believe in Sod and become His eye. Accept your fate." I could only sigh after such words. I just don¡¯t want to stay here, I feel even worse here, not physically, but mentally. I was tired of this dream, so I waved my hand and said: ¡°If you¡¯re not going to leave... then I¡¯ll leave.¡± "NO¡­" After that I instantly woke up. The light that penetrated inside the cave hit my eyes, and the platoon soldiers were already collecting things for the further journey. I turned my head in different directions, and my head hurt badly, as if they were turning a drill in my ear. ?What was that?? I tried to understand. Chapter 19. Inevitable death It was the most boring flight of my life, during which many of us built theories about what happened to us, why our ship was thrown out of subspace, and the like. This way we could somehow quench the boredom of a week of flying in the Trebuchet. We got so carried away by the conversations that we even began to take an interest in each other¡¯s lives and tell jokes, and even the BMP pilot joined us, adding his own couple of jokes to our conversations, but overall the flight remained very, very boring. There was nothing except the noise of the engines and curious phrases voiced by one of us. The boredom suddenly disappeared when, in addition to the noise of the propellers, the calm voice of the pilot sounded in our headphones, who finally said something unexpected: ¡°Attention everyone. We are approaching the cargo shuttle crash site, prepare to disembark in five minutes." "Finally." Another voice sounded muffled in the headphones, and this time the man who was sitting opposite me and almost jumped up in surprise, adjusting his rifle, but quickly remembered that he was fastened to the seat. ¡°I thought this flight would last forever.¡± "Truly." Someone else said it. Meanwhile, I, also preparing to disembark, asked the pilot a question: ¡°What is the situation on the surface?¡± After the question was asked, data appeared in my glasses: a map of the area, temperature, flight speed, our current location, air pressure, atmospheric composition and even the fuel supply in the infantry fighting vehicle. ¡°We are currently flying over a forested mountainous area, the weather is cloudy, the temperature is sixteen degrees Celsius, the wind speed is three meters per second, the wind direction is from north to south, no anomalies or signs of intelligent life have been detected.¡± "Accepted." I answered, studying the topography of the area with my glasses. Judging by what I see, the first cargo shuttle was very unlucky and crashed head-on into the surface of the planet. There were points of unnatural origin visible on the map, which told me that these were the wreckage of the shuttle after the impact, from which practically nothing remained. Shrapnel, tanks, fittings and other debris were scattered all over the hilly slope and even I had difficulty determining the exact location of the impact of the cargo shuttle, and even if I could determine this, it is unlikely that we would be able to find a STCNC machine here. ?Devil! If he is not here, then we will have to fly to the next cargo shuttle and it is not a fact that the second shuttle also did not crash to pieces.? ¡°Leo, our screws are acting up.¡± The pilot told me in the headphones. This is what I feared more than anything in the world. The aircraft was not subject to maintenance for a whole week and remained in flight for a long time. There was not a single engineer among us who could deal with the malfunction that had arisen. There is only one thing left to hope for. "Dock with the Planet" I gave the order to the pilot. ¡°Otherwise we will be no worse than a meteorite.¡± ¡°I know, sir, I¡¯m already starting.¡± The pilot answered and began the landing maneuver. We felt how the BMP began to gradually lose altitude and soon we all felt the impact on the ground with our asses. We were shaken a little from side to side, but on the whole we all survived, feeling the shaking from the vehicle moving along the slope and heard its tracks humming, and after some time the BMP turned, standing at an angle. "Damn it." The pilot swore. ¡°The scanner died. Camera too. I can''t see a damn thing" ?Devil!? I was already cursing to myself. ?First the screws, now the scanner. Argh~! How annoying this is! A bunch of problems can¡¯t fall on our asses all at once! Damn it!? Swallowing my displeasure, I gave the order to the entire platoon inside the car: "We turn off the engine and disembark.¡± After these words, the pilot turned off the engine and opened the two side doors of the BMP, after which we all unfastened from the seats and began to get out. I almost went blind when the bright daylight hit my eyes. The white cloudy sky, the whistle of the wind, the cold air and, of course, the wooded mountainous area - that¡¯s all that surrounded us. The fighters, having divided into two groups, left the car without any incident and peering into the distance, it was just a precaution, military instincts, so to speak. "Purely. No hostile life forms were detected." The scout said, lowering the muzzle of his rifle. One of the fighters, instead of leaving the infantry fighting vehicle, began to tinker with the combat spacesuit in order to activate it in case of finding a machine control system. Everyone else, including me, immediately began to search the area for signs of a shuttle crash, although everyone already understood, judging by the wreckage, that it had fallen right here. Everywhere on the rocky and earthy slopes covered with mosses and bushes lay some kind of garbage, all sorts of electronics, pieces of burnt plating, boxes and even the bones of shuttle pilots, who were apparently devoured by the local inhabitants of the planet. The fabrics of their uniforms were scattered in all directions and bloody, and on the ground there were clear traces of some five-pointed paws. Seeing all this, I could only sigh sadly. No one deserves such an unenviable death, no one. "Dying in the ass of the galaxy... what a shitty fate." I said and put a breathing mask on my face. The air here was too thin and the temperature was low enough to make us shiver. Our current police equipment was not designed for such conditions and yet we must complete our mission and return to ?Persia? to repair the long-distance communications system. ?I hope John hasn''t kicked the bucket yet, otherwise I''ll kick Boris and Uwon''s ass for not keeping an eye on this idiot.? ¡°What kind of... electromagnetic disturbances.¡± The scout suddenly said, tapping the device in his hands with his fingers. ¡°Something is jamming the scanner... and that something is underground.¡± Sudden interference in our glasses and white noise in our headphones told us that this area was subject to some kind of anomalous electromagnetic influence of a nature that was not yet clear to us. This created much more problems than just a cargo shuttle crashing to pieces. On the slope there was one very deep cave, judging by the preliminary scan, but now this cannot be confirmed for sure. If there is something under the surface, then this cave may lead to where we can find the source of electromagnetic disturbances, but before that we had to search the area and find what we needed to find. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Search everything around and drag everything you see to the Trebuchet.¡± I ordered and also began to explore the area together with the entire platoon. Meanwhile, the temperature continued to drop, the sky darkened, and the next hours did not bring us any results. Having examined all sorts of wreckage of the shuttle, we found out that there was never any STCNC machine on it, and all the electronics burned out and were no longer suitable for use, but were just useless garbage. Returning to the BMP around which there was already a whole pile of garbage lying around, I asked the pilot whether the vehicle could still be suitable for use, but in response I received the following: "No, sir." The guy said, rummaging through the insides of the car. ¡°The entire flight system died. He won''t fly anymore. IFV now doesn¡¯t even start up due to some disturbances..¡± ?Not good. Damn no good.? I shook my head. I was still hoping that we could find a STCNC machine on the second shuttle, but for this we need an infantry fighting vehicle to get to it within three days. If we move on foot, then, firstly, we will spend an extra couple of weeks traveling, and secondly, we will freeze to death. These electromagnetic disturbances come from underground. If we manage to eliminate them, then there is a possibility that the infantry fighting vehicle will be able to at least launch, and if we cannot take off, then we will at least reach the second shuttle along the slopes of these hills. ¡°Guys, give it all up." I began to give new orders when everything around was almost completely dark. ¡°First, let¡¯s get rid of the source of electromagnetic disturbances so that our dragonfly can at least crawl to the second shuttle. Is everyone clear?" "Yes, sir!" ¡°Great attitude, guys.¡± I grinned. "All over me." The glasses and headphones were now inoperative, and we turned off all devices, but prepared our flashlights on the muzzles of our assault rifles. From now on, we could rely only on our natural hearing and vision, which was very ineffective, especially on this planet. The cave itself, to which we were heading, was a gorge whose surface seemed to be covered with rubble, which is why when walking on the ground it seemed as if you were walking on very loose and uneven soil. Inside the cave, of course, it was dark and much colder than outside, which is why we began to shiver a little from the cold and at the same time peered into the stone walls in search of anything that resembled the source of electromagnetic disturbances. The bioscan did not work, so we could not accurately determine whether there were any dangerous life forms inside the cave, which is why we were very, very careful, taking slow steps along the gray stone. The platoon moved forward, gradually descending deeper and deeper. We moved in a line one after another further and further, making our way into narrow damp passages. Unfortunately, preliminary scanning could not show how deep this cave was, but at least we knew for sure that there was no soft rock, because of which we could suddenly fall into hidden holes, well, at least something good. We moved for an hour and when we had walked what seemed to us to be several hundred meters, we emerged in the middle of a vast space. "Wow." Someone from our platoon was surprised by the echo. We suddenly had no time to look for dangers or causes of electromagnetic disturbances, we admired the large area that was illuminated by some kind of golden tree above our heads. It looked very strange. It grew on the ceiling from top to bottom, and its roots passed through the gray stone, sparkling and shimmering with a bright yellow glow, as if golden blood was flowing through them. The trunk of the tree was thin, twisted and greenish, but the leaves were some kind of blue crystals, and at the same time, everything we saw illuminated the cave with a white cold glow, giving us an unusually pleasant feeling of warmth. I have never seen anything like this in my life and most likely what we saw was the source of our current problems. "Stop." I said and the whole platoon stopped when I saw a huge sleeping creature ahead. Having peered in time at the place under the overturned tree, I saw some kind of black snake that was curled into a ball and it was two meters high. From afar, at first it was not clear, and I thought that it was just part of the cave, but I was wrong. The cave around the serpent was strewn with bones and some objects, some artifacts that we had never seen on this planet before. It looks like this creature devoured a bunch of intelligent inhabitants of this planet and left behind a bunch of trophies in the form of some kind of metal plates, spears, axes, sticks and other things. Although personally, I still need to figure out why certain objects exist that I saw around this creature, if, of course, I can survive now. "Quiet." I said in a whisper and began to give orders with gestures. We began to surround the giant black snake, turning off our flashlights and holding our guns in its direction, ready to open fire on it at any moment. I¡¯m not sure that even at such a distance it was safe for us to be, and nevertheless we thought that we could kill this creature if we shot it with our armor-piercing shells, the main thing during this shooting was not to get caught by friendly fire. But now there was another more important question, namely the source of electromagnetic disturbances, which was this inverted tree. And even when we entered this cavity, our flashlights began to blink, and then began to turn off completely one after another. As if this tree was a source of energy unknown to us, conflicting with electricity. In addition to everything in this area, we began to feel uneasy; for example, I began to feel dizzy, my stomach hurt, and even with a breathing mask, the air I swallowed became chilly and icy, causing my throat to become inflamed. ?We must destroy all this.? I decided and began to give an order to the sapper with a gesture, after which he nodded in response, accepting the order. Having given silent orders, the platoon began to leave the cave and we thought that we would do this without any problems, when one of the soldiers, by pure chance, touched a stone with his foot and made a very loud sound. My heart sank at that moment and a second time when, for a brief moment, the entire area glowed a bloody color. I sharply shifted my gaze to the upside-down tree, but it continued to emit an icy glow as if nothing had happened, and then we heard the sounds of movement behind us. ?Not this!? Lowering my head down from the tree, I saw how a giant black snake began to raise its long muzzle. Red eyes exuding anger and, even worse, hunger. At that moment, we were all frightened and immobilized, rather not from fear, but from the hope that the creature would simply look around, twist its muzzle and continue its sleep, but we all hoped for it in vain. It seemed impossible to me, but we heard from this snake not a hiss, but a growl, and then we saw paws with sharp claws stretching out from under the black ball, scratching the gray stone into sparks. A giant long creature stuck out a thin forked tongue, seeing us as prey, and exposed its huge fangs in the light of the cold radiance. This was the first inhabitant of the planet that I saw, and despite understanding xenobiology and the differences in interplanetary life, I was still horrified by what I saw. A creepy, huge, nasty and strange creature that lived in an equally strange place. It frightened me madly and it seemed confident that it was stronger than our firearms. When we realized that the creature was seeing us, we did not hesitate and immediately pointed the muzzles of our assault rifles towards the monster and immediately opened fire. Flashes from shots and the noise of fire quickly filled the cave, but for some reason the hits from armor-piercing shells did not have the desired effect. The hit points on the scales flashed with a blue flash, and the giant snake slowly continued to stretch out and head towards us, without receiving any damage from our fire. ?WHAT IS YOUR FLESH MADE OF, BITCH?!? I panicked, not releasing the trigger and holding the recoil of the shots with my shoulder. ?MADE OF KAINGREN ALLOY SOMETHING?! ARE YOU KIDDING A BITCH?!? We immediately realized that the fire on him was useless, and therefore I quickly gave an order to the entire platoon, or rather not even an order, but a panicked cry: "LET''S RUN!" I shouted to the entire platoon, and we all immediately ran towards the exit from where and entered this area. Five fighters were among the first to run through the passage, but the next moment it immediately collapsed in front of us and everything around was covered in dust after a stunning thunder that almost deafened us. The giant snake swung its tail and hit the walls, after which everything around shook. We could barely stand on our feet, and our entire field of vision was quickly hidden by a gray dusty curtain. Then I heard painful screams and the sounds of cracking bones. It was not difficult to guess who they could belong to. Another swing of the tail, another thunder and five more fighters fly and crash at full speed into the wall and fall lifelessly down like limp dolls. The other fighters, meanwhile, continued to shoot in desperation, but this time in panic and at random, in the hope of somehow injuring the terrible creature. One such stray bullet whistled past me, and I ducked down in fear. I almost came under friendly fire. ?What the hell is going on?!? I panicked, not knowing what to do now. I couldn¡¯t even see this monster and could only wait for all this dust to clear away, but even when this happens I don¡¯t know what to do next. The only exit has been blocked, and the giant snake is suffering all the damage it receives from us. The situation was critical and absolutely hopeless. And just when everything seemed quiet around me, and the dust had finally settled, I felt heat behind me. It was the breath of this monster. Again, with even greater fear and horror on my face, I turn around and see in front of me the gigantic open mouth of this black snake. ?I''m... I''m dead.? This thought flashed through my head. It¡¯s unlikely that I¡¯ll even have time to come to terms with this thought. Time seemed to slow down around me. My heart was pounding, my whole body was shaking. It seemed God gave me moments to think. ?Is it really... I¡¯m really done for?? I asked myself or maybe God, and to my surprise I received a clear answer that someone voiced in my mind and this answer scared me crazy. ~ You are a pathetic little man. I didn¡¯t even have time to scream before my body was torn into pieces. Chapter 20. Adventurers We were always told that for honest work and for loyalty to the master we would be generously rewarded, and even if not during life, then after death in the arms of Sod and his magical, beautiful garden. All people wanted to believe in it and, moreover, the majority believed in it, but not me and certainly not those who were never going to believe in Sod in their lives. I didn¡¯t want to wait for the moment when I would receive a reward for my labors, I didn¡¯t want to hunch over in the fields or sit in a boat with a fishing rod all day long and wait for the fish to bite. I wanted to receive a reward right now and preferably not for achievements before the kingdom or for loyalty to my master, no, I¡¯m not the kind of person who is ready to disgrace himself in front of himself for the sake of words of praise for his farm, but I¡¯m the kind of person who is ready to do anything for the sake of a noisy the clink of coins, the binding value in the mortal world: money. It¡¯s hard to believe, but coins here move mountains if there are enough of them. Money works wonders in our world, and I realized that this is my reward, my treasure, this is money. The more I get, the more my deepest desires will be fulfilled thanks to them, but how can I do this quickly and without straining my hands from heavy swings of an ax while cutting down trees or forging ingots in smelting forges? The answer was very simple. Adventurism. You understood me correctly, I became an adventurer and I can¡¯t say that my parents were happy about it when I first told them about it. They looked at me like I was a fool, and my father tried to beat this stupidity out of me with a stick, as he called it, but after that I only wanted to see the world outside my native village more than ever. I was inspired by the stories of a seasoned veteran about his military exploits and the troubles he got into and who he fought with in his lifetime. I felt with all my spirit how rich his life was, in contrast to my quiet, calm village life, but I wanted something completely different than to lose my chance for the best like this. I wanted passion in my life, real adventures, and therefore I finally decided for myself and chose my life path full of challenges, risks and of course money. But when I told my parents about this again, they warned me that it was dangerous and it would be better for me to continue helping my family around the house and breeding horses in the stable. Will I really remain like this for the rest of my days? Am I really doomed to listen to how amazing the world around me lives, while I work as a farmhand? NO! I would rather risk my life and get my hands on all the treasure in the world than waste my days in some remote village. So I decided to become an adventurer, running away from home, taking with me an ax and my father¡¯s favorite horse. Of course, the beginning of my journey was not as sweet as I initially thought. I was a self-confident kid who climbed into the flames and into the fire in the hope of making as much money as possible. I didn¡¯t know how to read or write, I didn¡¯t know the laws of nature, or the kingdom, or even the world around me, which is why I had to learn from scratch. Should I say that on the very first day of my wanderings I came across a boar that killed Dao? By the way, that was the name of my horse. Then there was my first fight, a fight out of fear, out of anger. I was incredibly angry, incredibly scared, but in the end I was able to gather all the courage, all the determination in my hands and cut down my first opponent, and only then was I able to realize a lot, seeing my hands in blood, for the first time taking the life of someone who wanted to take my life. This was my first lesson in life: man is a wolf to man. I even wanted to return home, apologize to my parents and continue a quiet, calm and peaceful life, but after calming down a little and reflecting on what happened, I decided to change my mind and continue my chosen path. I thought for a long time about whether I should leave home or not, will I really give up on the first day? NO! Adventurism is no less a difficult path than plowing the land, and I will not so easily run away from the trials on my way. I will fight to the best of my ability and reach the pinnacle of fame and fortune. Legends should be made about me, legends will be made, the main thing is not to deviate from your choice and retreat when it smells fried. That''s what I ultimately decided for myself. And this is how I still live. Five winters have passed since I left my village and during this time I learned both the bitterness and the great happiness of my long-ago deed. Who would have thought that idiots like me are so in demand by everyone around us? I didn''t even know that there were so many monsters roaming around and my jaw almost dropped when I first learned about magic and what it was all about. Even at first I was disappointed by how evil people live in cities, but then I got used to this whole performance and joined it with great pleasure. I met adventurers like me, and among them there were even non-humans. There were people who became adventurers out of revenge, out of a thirst for fame, wealth, women, knowledge and power. Former slaves, wizards, veterans, mercenaries, scientists and pilgrims and who have I not met and only five years have passed, and who will I even be able to see in the future? I can''t even imagine. I was completely satisfied with my current life and I was very happy with it. My life was exciting and full of many events. Even now, after a long drinking session, I¡¯m trying to remember who I punched in the face last night and at the same time find out who left me a painful bruise on my chest. However, now I decided to postpone my revenge until later. Now I opened the door with a creak and the dim light of a fire in the middle of the tavern hit my eyes. There were few people, everyone sat at tables and spent their leisure time as they pleased. One man sat in the corner and drank a mug of ale, another was sleeping with a loud snoring throughout the entire inn, slobbering all over the table with his muzzle, two more were loudly talking and laughing, and the owner of the inn stood with his elbows on the counter and waited for the annoying visitors to give him some money. The old dissatisfied eyes directed in my direction were frightening in their own way, and if I had been younger I would have swallowed saliva from seeing this for the first time, but this time I was not afraid of him because I know that I deserved this look for my drunkenness with my colleagues in the free trade. Closing the door behind me, adjusting the belt on which hung a one-handed sword, hidden under the fabric of my robe, I began to slowly approach the main counter, and the old bearded owner of the inn, straightening his shoulders, grumbled in my direction in a hoarse voice: ¡°The dirty dog ??has arrived. Have you really decided to spend another night in the tower? A?" "Not today." Raising my palm, I reassured the owner of the inn, sitting down opposite him and taking out a bag of coins from my belt and, jingling them, placed them on the table. ¡°Give me something to eat and more, otherwise I¡¯m so hungry today. At least I¡¯m ready to eat a goblin.¡± The old man remained silent in response and after that he, taking the bag, turned away from me and began to untie the knot of the bag, and after opening it and seeing the contents, he took a deep breath and threw the contents back to me in front of my nose, clearly having managed to get a couple of coins. "Dirty dog, but rich." The old man said irritably, and then turned his head towards his daughter and shouted to her. ¡°Tshepa, bring me the fried chicken quickly.¡± "Now!" A little girl in an apron shouted cheerfully and ran into another room, starting to stir up everything in there, judging by the various sounds that came from there. I, in turn, looked strangely at the old man and asked: ¡°Have I given too much?¡± "Yes, dirty dog." The old man nodded. ¡°I would be glad to take everything for myself, but I don¡¯t want problems for my soul. You yourself know what kind of people come here.¡± I raised an eyebrow and with a peripheral vision I saw how the silent visitors of the tavern were looking sideways in my direction while drinking, or rather not even at me, but at the bag with things that was hanging on my shoulder. They clearly see me as a prey with gold inside and will come after me after I have eaten a whole chicken to my heart''s content. There is no further need to think about what could happen to me later. ?You damn old man.? I remarked sternly to myself, realizing what he had just done. ?Have you decided to set me up? I''ll remember that!? Even though I was dissatisfied with his action, it was understandable. To be honest, I would not like to have additional problems, although they were not expected in the near future. Today I have a meeting with a very important person. On the way to one village, I found a sign intended for adventurers. Even if I couldn¡¯t read well, but from what I understood, one sorceress was looking for fools who were ready to climb into the dark ruins for a generous reward. Of course, one of these fools turned out to be me and a couple of other people who should have come here any minute, but I haven¡¯t seen them yet or maybe I just don¡¯t recognize them among a bunch of drunkards and lazy people. ?Although no, I recognize someone here.? The door behind me creaks again and another person comes into the tavern, and judging by the look, I finally understand that it was my brother in the free trade. A rusty iron breastplate covered with scratches, wrapped in belts and furs, hung with chain mail, plates and a rusty helmet on his head, and behind his back hung a huge bow with a quiver of arrows at his belt. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. He had a short but thick beard and he was a dozen years older than me, a huge, stately man who had clearly been a former mercenary, a rich mercenary, but retired judging by his decrepit old clothes. I raised my hand beckoning him to come to me. "Hey! You''re Furgur, aren''t you? There is free space here, come here.¡± A couple of loud-talking men were surprised at my words when they heard the name I just said. ¡°Come on Furgur? The same one? ¡°You mean Furgur bow master?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, he is the one. Is it really him? ¡°Be quiet, otherwise he¡¯ll beat you, you fool.¡± ¡°You yourself are a fool.¡± The men immediately fell silent when they noticed Furgur¡¯s stern gaze directed in their direction and turned away and lowered their heads, waiting for him to pass by them. It seems he was a well-known, but at the same time frightening, figure in these parts, but I have yet to get to know him well. He sat down next to me and placed his bag of things and, of course, his longbow with a quiver of arrows next to the counter. At this moment, a girl comes out of the closed room, carefully carrying in her hand a wooden plate on which delicious fried chicken was emitting steam. The smell was very tasty and I wanted to gobble it up as soon as it was on the table. ¡°Uncle, here¡¯s the chicken, bon appetit.¡± The girl said with a smile and began to pour a mug of ale from the barrel, although I didn¡¯t ask her to do this, apparently she already knows that sooner or later I will still ask you to pour me ale. She handed me a mug of ale, and I thanked her. "Oh thank you.¡± I smiled, then tore off the leg of the chicken with my bare hands and began to eat it.¡± I placed the mug to my right, and the plate with chicken between me and Furgur, which is why in response I received a silent question something like ¡°Can I have it?¡± or ¡°What are you treating me to?¡±. Of course, I decided to answer the silent big man. ¡°Help yourself, Furgur, by the way my name is...¡± "I don''t care about your name." Furgur suddenly said very gloomily, not daring to take advantage of my kindness and eat chicken for my gold. It¡¯s unlikely that I can eat chicken alone, but oh well. I could only shake my shoulders at my freelance brother¡¯s answer. ¡°We will work together, Furgur. So I think we should get to know each other." ¡°We won''t work together. You''ll just die." Furgur continued to speak gloomily, looking somewhere ahead past the owner of the tavern. ¡°Do you even know where we¡¯re going?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here, to assess the risk of the adventure I¡¯m about to take on.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be impudent, little guy, pack your things and go home to mommy before you die in some ditch.¡± Sounds like a threat to kill me. Perhaps Furgur wanted to take all the loot for himself and at the same time then also appropriate my reward. It is unlikely that he will be able to do this since he just admitted it, and apparently that is why he so brazenly tried to dissuade me from what I was getting myself into, although I am no stranger to it. "I don''t care." I boldly answered with an arrow shooter. ¡°The main thing is not to plow in the fields and not stand on the gate.¡± ¡°Tch! Fool." Furgur turned away. ¡°You just don¡¯t know what you¡¯re getting yourself into, you think you can do everything... you¡¯re wrong.¡± "But I¡­" "Close your mouth." I would like to object to him, I was even about to open my mouth, but I decided to change my mind. I wouldn¡¯t want to piss him off over all sorts of trifles. It was difficult to understand whether he warned me or, on the contrary, personally threatened me with violence, I don¡¯t know this for sure, but I know one thing: an extra word addressed to him will be met with a blade in my liver. I know such stories and I didn¡¯t want to take part in them. That''s why we had nothing to talk about. Not about girls, not about the troubles they got into, not jokes about anything at all. He was too closed, gloomy, as if he had gone through a lot of problems, difficulties and had completely lost all trust in people. I''ve heard similar stories about such gloomy loners. In this case, I can only regret that they are doomed to remain like this until the end of their days. ?The world is full of colors, but at the same time it is also full of darkness. I heard this phrase from one priest. I didn¡¯t think that I would remember him now.? I thought as I took a sip of some ale from my mug. The creaking of the door was heard behind me again, and turning around again, I realized that this time our customer had come. I was certainly surprised, but I didn¡¯t expect her to be such a young person. Her outfit in the form of a scarlet robe decorated with gems with white edges and black patterns told us about the wealth of this maiden and how strong she is in magic. The last time I worked with wizards, while exploring the old castle, I learned how important their seemingly useless gadgets are, all sorts of rings, amulets, bracelets and, of course, rich attire, which at first glance greatly interferes in battle. As it turns out, they really help them cast magic, and unfortunately, I don¡¯t know how exactly. Magicians, wizards, sorcerers, druids, healers and priests are rarely seen anywhere, especially in front of the common people. They are gifted with great powers, which is called magic, and I admit that I am very envious that I do not possess this power, capable of performing real miracles. A young girl, walking slowly in her boots and hiding her face under a scarlet hood, was heading in our direction. She was clearly hiding something in her large sleeves, judging by the way they swayed irregularly as she moved. Perhaps she hid a magic wand or an enchanted dagger there. In any case, she is dangerous, no matter how sorceress or killer. The owner of the inn jumped up from his seat, clearly surprised by who he even dared to meet in his modest establishment. He could only widen his eyes and stutter with every word he said. ¡°Dear, I-I didn¡¯t expect that y-you would visit m-my humble tavern. D-do I owe what?¡± "Shut up." The girl said and at that moment I felt how the air around me became very tense for a moment, and the owner of the inn suddenly began to moo as if he was unable to open his mouth. Wizards, of course, have their own jokes, but they are usually not understood. So I don¡¯t see anything funny in shutting up the tavern keeper¡¯s mouth with magic, but judging by the fact that I don¡¯t hear a smile from the girl, it looks like she wasn¡¯t going to joke, but simply decided to remove the obstacle in the form of noise past her ears. ?And she is fierce.? I noticed to myself, straining a little. The sorceress crouched to my right and took off her scarlet hood. I was even embarrassed to be next to such beauty. Long, curly snow-white hair and blood-red eyes. She sat down comfortably and introduced herself to us: ¡°My name is Kamelia, and I understand you are Furgur and...¡± "Dad?" Suddenly a girl interrupted the sorceress. She looked strangely at her father, the owner of the tavern, who was holding his throat and trying to speak by moving his lips. ¡°Dad, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± ¡°Kha... Kha... Kha.¡± The tavern keeper made some sounds. ¡°Daddy, are you feeling bad? Dad? Dad, say something." The girl was worried, coming closer to her father. I couldn''t look at it calmly. The owner of the tavern was suffocating right before my eyes and could have died. It wasn''t funny at all. ¡°Camelia, stop torturing the old man.¡± I demanded it from the sorceress. Her glance in my direction was full of indifference and incredible cynicism. I clearly saw in her eyes the absolute indifference to human life as such. She didn¡¯t care, and having just realized this, I was afraid of what she could do to me right now since I dared to contradict her wishes, but to my surprise, the old man was still able to exhale in the next moment, taking deep breaths and exhalations. "Oh... oh... oh Sod, you crazy witch!" The tavern keeper grumbled, looking at the sorceress with fear. ¡°Next time, say you don¡¯t want to hear me, instead of killing me.¡± "Get out of sight." "Huh?" The tavern keeper''s eyes widened when his legs moved by themselves and he went into a closed room, and his daughter immediately followed him. ¡°Dad, where are you going?¡± The couple quickly disappeared into another room, and then the door slammed shut, and I heard Furgur sigh displeasedly. He, like me, was dissatisfied with the actions of the sorceress. She clearly crossed all possible boundaries of what was permitted, as if she had never known how ordinary people lived. ¡°What you did is punishable by law.¡± The bow master said sternly. ¡°The law written by people does not bother me.¡± The girl said indifferently, crossing her arms over her chest. ¡°But you¡¯re kind of a human too.¡± I objected, but in response I received only a caustic answer from her. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare compare me to yourself. I''m not like you." "Is it true? And how are you different from me? I''m a snotty piece of shit." I covered my mouth with my hands when I realized what I had just said. ¡°And I have magic.¡± The girl said with a malicious grin. ?OH YOU DIRT!? I mentally became angry with her, realizing that she was only influencing me with her magic. I didn''t even feel it, I didn''t even realize that I had lost control of my voice. I''m a stuffed animal in her hands, a fish in a well or whatever. I felt scared. The magicians I met before were not like that, they were good people devoting themselves entirely to knowledge, but she is not like that. She uses her power not for the good, but for the harm of people and lives solely for her own sake. Of course, I also live for myself, but I¡¯m unlikely to be ready to stoop to some kind of bastard incapable of regret and compassion, and especially of outright mockery of people. ¡°Now you can speak, I''ve broken the spell.¡± The girl said, snapping her fingers. I slowly and incredulously removed my hands from my mouth and moved my tongue. I seem to have it under control, but I''m not sure when she''ll use her magic tricks on me again. She can make me shut up, say what she wants, and even move me the way she wants. I have never seen magic like this, what is it? If I ask, I¡¯m unlikely to get the answer from her. Mages are used to keeping secrets to themselves, they think that you can¡¯t give knowledge about magic to just anyone because it can harm people, but still, it¡¯s better to know how to guard against people like her, otherwise I¡¯ll just become a victim. "So, what''s your name?" Camellia asked me, snatching a mug of ale from my hands. It looks like she wasn¡¯t our customer if she behaves so brazenly. She said she has magic. Not many people have access to this ¡°art,¡± whatever that word means, and yet she was not the kind of sorceress who hired adventurers along the way. It wasn''t her voice, that''s for sure. Camellia was wealthy and did not seem to be driven by the desire for knowledge like all other wizards. No, instead she strives for something else, but it¡¯s difficult for me to understand what exactly, perhaps strength, or perhaps power. In the end we will need to work together, and I still told her my name: "My name is Ashwani." Chapter 21. Incartia The Empire of the Great Pantora conquered countless planets throughout the galaxy, behind which the rest of the universe awaited its final hours. The idea of ??great order that technocracy spread was not born out of nowhere and could not die as easily as humans would obviously think. This idea is alive to this day, but the humans, out of their stupidity and commitment to their existence, vehemently reject it and continue to trample on the legacy of our master¡¯s once great idea. We never lie because the order of things comes from the facts that arise, from the truth that comes from our lips. Science requires truth, and lying is only a tool of nature, a way to circumvent the established law of the order of the universe, its truths, which is actively used by all universal life, wailing the struggle of everyone and everything. The old nature is stupid, cruel and unproductive. Therefore, I never lie, not because the owner of the empire made us this way, genetically changing us, depriving us of the ability to lie, that is, he allowed us to feel pain for the lies uttered from our lips, but because this is part of the path of striving for our harmony and establishing throughout a universe of great order. Unfortunately, no matter how many resources we collect, no matter what technological limit we overcome, there is something that the sages, the great mind and the owner of the empire missed and could not take into account in their plans for the entire universe, namely the artifacts of ancient civilizations that perished in the whirlpool of times , scattered in the orbits of the stars of our vast galaxy. One of these artifacts destroyed literally everything we had strived for three centuries since the founding of the colony on Pantora. The thing that destroyed our dream was called a miniature star, an ancient weapon that absorbs the energy of stars and emits it. In my mind, I clearly remember the day when a lone human ship entered the Harta planetary system and dropped a beam of unprecedented power on our star, which provoked an immediate supernova explosion, destroying not only all the planets of the system, but also megastructures, the all-seeing eye and the multimillion-dollar fleet of our truly mighty empire. From that moment on, all the plans of our leaders went to waste, as people might put it, and the death of our empire became a 100% and inevitable factor. Humans, with huge losses, reconquered their planets, like other civilizations of the galaxy, and we, the pitiful remnants of the former greatness of Pantora, were forced to flee into the uncharted depths of space, as Grand-General Rella ordered us for the last time. The great master disappeared, Pantora burned and crumbled into interstellar dust, the all-seeing eye disappeared, the great mind disappeared without a trace, we lost a lot, but at the same time we continued our movement as if nothing terrible had happened to us and it was natural because we are Pantora people. Emotions were alien to us, we could perceive them, but over the course of our lives we carefully suppressed them simply because they were unnecessary in our existence. Our minds were never processed by propaganda, as humans have always done to control their own society, instead, we ourselves, through careful reflection and social experimentation, came to our common idea of ????a great order, each of us came to it and participated in the plan. The owner of the empire gave only direction and the choice to go astray or not, to be unworthy of his plans or to be worthy of the great order. These are our principles, which we adhere to from now on throughout our lives, from the moment of birth until the achievement of eternal harmony, or, as people would say, ¡°death.¡± Now we are here on an unknown planet with many anomalies in the form of unknown forms of energy that affect matter and violate the laws of the universe and physics that are familiar to us. Reason and logic told me that space and time should be inverted, perverted in our understanding, all matter, all energy should take on new forms and begin to interact with each other in a new way, but this does not happen. Luckily I knew why. The observed changes were minimal, actually affecting only matter and then to some extent. This is an unknown form of energy, which local people call magic, like a drop of caustic acid, it affects the world, but not as significantly as it should, but it still affects as if this drop in the broth makes itself felt and nothing more. I¡¯m sure if there was much more magic here, I would hardly even be able to survive here and would be in harmony. However, I survived and now begin a plan to turn this world into a new springboard for the empire of the great Pantora for the sake of reviving our ideals in the coming future and the aspiration of the entire universe to great order. The direct path to it turned out to be blocked by unknown factors, but now we will act much more carefully, so to speak, hiding from prying eyes. All that remains is to gather your strength and begin to implement the new plan, but before that you need to sort out the little things. I will not be able to begin executing the plan as long as this world is unknown to me. What I know is only a grain of the information I need. Druid Sarg told me everything he knows and released me into the world, and since then I have been free floating. Now I¡¯m sitting in a tavern and waiting for the customer, asking the person a question along the way. "Ashwani?" I asked the man and grinned, not daring to look into his eyes, smelling the smell of alcohol on him. ¡°What a boring name?¡± My rhetorical question clearly upset the young guy next to me. You should have seen his face. He thought he could build a close relationship with me, but I rejected him. These humans are boring creatures, incredibly stupid and naive. ¡°Don''t you like my name?¡± The man to my left asked, shaking his head slightly. Sometimes, to fight nature, you need to be a part of that nature, and not one who challenges it, to be one who strives for great order, playing into its hands, with doubts in one''s own mind to think through them and confirm them. Since the moment of transmigration of consciousness and mind into Camellia¡¯s body, I have set goals for myself, and even though most of my personality was eventually erased, I am not going to give up my goal. I decided to continue my path even if what I was dragging along with me, pieces of my past, remained there forever, forgotten and overwhelming. ¡°Yes, I don''t like your name¡± In the meantime, I answered the man and drank a little drink from his mug in order to quench the human thirst. ?Disgusting.? This thought flashed through my head as the bitter taste rinsed my tongue in my mouth and I slightly grimaced my face. Human drink, human food, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m forced to consume these modest doses of poison in order to join the ranks of these humans. If I were in my body, I would cut out these nonentities and would leave nothing from this place except ashes and the smell of burning. ?Huh? What kind of irrational feelings?? I thought, driving away the unnecessary emotions that suddenly washed over me. ?Hostility, rage, renunciation... pitiful and unnecessary human feelings. I shouldn''t give in to them. I know who I am and what I strive for. I will not stoop to the human level.? I shouldn''t have felt emotions, but I still feel disgusted by all these nonentities, all these people and all this savagery that surrounds me and envelops this entire planet. Pantorians are known for their patience, and I must remain so for the rest of my days and not give in to the real feelings of hostility that arise within me. ?It''s all because of human biology. Nature literally mocks you by giving you feelings. How did you humans not understand this after thousands of years?? I have to endure this nightmare for a long time. The awareness of this forced me to hurry up and fulfill my plans in the name of great order. If I were in my body, I would be more patient, but alas, I am in the body of this girl. I have to play the role of a druid''s student who uses magic not like the others, but only for herself, almost like some dark magicians, whoever they are. From the moment I left the cave and caught the eye of old Sarg, the druid who lived there, I began to live in his hut deep in the forest and learn magic. My pantorian way of thinking, consolidating the information received, helped me quickly learn the basics and intermediate level of magic, and after five years of study, I understood a lot about the phenomenon known as magic. It affects matter and, it would seem, the reaction should have been the same, but as it turns out, not all matter affects magic. There is a certain intermediary between magic and matter, which allows living beings to influence the world around them with the help of magic. I realized this when I learned to intuitively control magical energy, which is called mana for short. Somewhere it is called Ki, Qi, Hkeraya, but in these lands it is mana or simply magical power. By manipulating matter with mana, I made matter work and wriggle the way I wanted. So I silenced the innkeeper when he greeted me and I pretended to cast a spell on him. I did the same with this Ashwani, forcing him to say what I wanted, forcing him to make the sounds I needed from his mouth. He was clearly scared by this, not expecting such actions from a sorceress like me. Humans who have no talent for so-called magic are barely able to even feel its effect on their bodies, their matter, but are able to feel the ¡°symptoms¡± of the use of magic. This is similar to what people observe during rains and hurricanes, when air masses of different temperatures cause a lightning strike. Simply put, when magic strongly affects a person''s body, he may feel a trembling. This can be felt by any living creature, even those not devoid of talent for magic. For easy understanding, I brought my own concepts into my mind. Magic is an unknown form of energy that affects the world around us, or, more simply put, UFoE. Mana is an intermediary between magic and matter, or I call it Energy or UFoE Power. While I still have to study the method of influencing magic. One thing is clear for now: magic allows one to materialize consciousness after its death, roughly speaking, forming a soul, a ghost, so to speak. That is, I can practically intuitively control magic with my consciousness, but I don¡¯t have a clear understanding of this, and the consciousness that controls magic itself becomes magic when it is somehow separated from the body shell. I still have to find out the factors influencing magic and for this I will collect human money to buy books on the topic of this very magic and at the moment I am taking on all kinds of work to study magic better. At least this way I can find a way to fight the antorians. I could get a job in a temple and help the priests in their healing, but I won¡¯t earn much there, and the life cycle of this bodily shell is coming to an end quite quickly and I won¡¯t be able to change my body again, so I¡¯m just forced to hurry up for the sake of my goal, for the sake of great order. "I don''t understand you." I hear a question from my neighbor at the counter. A man of about eighteen with brown eyes, darkish skin and short hair. It seems he was one of those who were called an adventurer. It is possible to put me in the same category, although this is the first time I have taken on such work. Until now, I had only been fertilizing the soil in nearby villages for a modest fee, and on the way to this city I came across a sign where a sorceress was hiring adventurers for one very daring task. A big reward was promised, so I took the plunge and went here, leaving my mark on the sign, as the customer asked. Nothing complicated, this is how magicians record their voices and if something happens they can listen to the seal. Meanwhile, the man whose name was Ashwani finally asked his question, clearly dissatisfied with the way I treated him: ¡°You have magic, you can perform miracles, but all you do is fulfill your whims?¡± The question for a person was perfectly clear to me and the answer was perfectly known to me. People live only for themselves, their life is supported by the instinct of self-preservation, and if their psyche is on the brink or their desire and decision to die takes precedence over the instinct itself, then they decide to sacrifice their life or risk it. It is extremely ineffective to waste time thinking about this. It is obvious that humans are those creatures of nature whose actions are difficult to rationally explain, they are just animals and for the most part will maintain their existence only for their own sake. That is why we lost the war with them; their stupidity is not taken into account in our clear plans for the entire universe. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. They got scared, began to look for all sorts of ways to defeat us and grabbed every opportunity until they found a miniature star. I don¡¯t think they even tested it, they didn¡¯t even make sure whether it worked, the first victim of the ancient weapon and, fortunately, the last was my home world of Pantora. Nevertheless, I quickly found the answer to my interlocutor¡¯s question by thinking about what a person who lives only for himself could answer, and so I answered him, continuing to play the role of an arrogant and cruel sorceress: ¡°Magic is power, why not use it? Why don¡¯t I use magic to remove people who are an eyesore? I don¡¯t even kill them, I just play with them.¡± And I played my role not by chance. In the future, creating such a legend will help me find a more risky job, one might say more illegal in this country, and collect as much money as possible than I have now. Work in the category of collect and bring or escort will immediately disappear, but some kind of killing or hunting mission will immediately attract the attention of customers, since they will definitely need a cruel and ruthless performer, which is what I introduce myself to. ?Risk is richly rewarded.? I¡¯m not sure that this will work, my knowledge of local humanity is quite poor, they may have their own mentality and then I will become unattractive for new work. In this case, all I have to do is get out of this country and build a new legend in another state. "So that''s what you think." Ashwani bit off a chicken leg and said with his mouth full. ¡°You probably consider yourself superior to everyone since you wield magic. Oh, how important, I bow to you and nothing more. Ugh." "Isn''t that so?" I smiled, putting the mug on the table. ¡°How are you better than me? And how are you better than me?¡± My gaze was directed to the second man named Furgur. He was more closed and stricter than me and Ashwani. At the moment, he seems more unattractive to the customer here, so I think he will be the first to disappear on the task. "I have no magic" Furgur answered, turning away from me. "But I have combat experience." "Warrior." I said, noticing his glance at his own equipment, which he left at the counter in the form of a long bow with a quiver of arrows. ¡°You may be skilled in battle, but are you sure that in the dark ruins you will be able to show your combat experience? Perhaps you won¡¯t meet anyone there.¡± "Sure." Furgur said and looked straight into my eyes. ¡°Because the dark ones always leave something behind. I¡¯ll have someone to fight there.¡± Dark. That''s what the humans of this world called us. According to their legend, we have no soul, no compassion, no feelings, nothing human, but only the darkest evil from the very depths of the underworld that we carry in our very existence. Our armor itself gave us such names, silent and cruel, that¡¯s who we are to them. Of course, myths have grown up around the dark ones, that is, they have assigned properties around us and to us that frankly would make me want to laugh in this human body. We left a lot of rubbish on this planet because we couldn''t cope with the crash of our ship. We had too little knowledge about this world and therefore the world rebuffed us, and we went into the shadows, no longer trying to get out into the world. As a result, the hibernation protocol was activated and the ship fell asleep, and before I could get out of the continent, I almost burned alive, leaving behind only a clot of Mekhanites with a consciousness inside. ?I was so close to harmony...? I regretted it inside myself. Most likely, the ship and crew are sleeping to this day, and local people call the places of past battles dark ruins in which many secrets are hidden that people are trying to unravel. Actually, this is why I agreed to this job, not only for the money, but also for the sake of Pantora technology, which will speed up the completion of my mission a thousand times faster. However, there was a point that was frankly unclear to me. I am not aware of the operations being carried out in this region on this continent, the so-called ¡°dark ruins¡± should not be here. Could it be that the customer discovered something more ancient than the ancient battlefields between the Pantora army and the antorians? It is quite possible, or maybe this is another ship that fell into this anomalous trap, the likelihood of this is also quite high. Since I do not have sufficient information about this planet, I can put forward my theories on this subject, but in order to confirm or refute them, I need to personally verify that those new ruins definitely belong to the Pantora Empire, otherwise I will waste my limited time limit in vain . Who knows what happened in the world while I was in that cave. Suddenly the ship awoke, and the Grand-General began new operations on this planet. If this is so, then it appears that we have failed again. ?Since I transferred my consciousness into the body of this girl, I have not seen any sign of Antora.? Meanwhile, I thought, listening to the creak of the door opening behind me. ?I hope our customer will give more information about what is happening in the world.? As I suspected, it was her. ¡°Oh~... did I go in the wrong place?¡± Said a young sorceress of the same age as me.\ Unlike me, she was more modest in terms of attire. A blue robe with a hood and a winding stick as tall as she was, which she held close to her with a strong grip of her small hands. She clearly used this stick as a magical staff, letting everyone around her know that she was a powerful sorceress, but in reality this staff was not intended to support magic, but played a purely decorative role. I have yet to touch her to understand what kind of magical potential she has, but now she looks around with fearful blue eyes at the unfamiliar room, saturated with the smell of fried meat and booze. It looked like she was still the kind of child who was shy about adults and that¡¯s why she took cautious steps to the side. Before the druid, I had to pretend to be the same as her, but she seems to really be the role I played before. I''m afraid she will easily become a victim of local criminals who see her as an unpretentious victim. Apparently, this is why she needs a staff to pretend to be a strong sorceress capable of fighting back if something happens. "Good evening. Is your name Inkartia?¡± I asked the girl a question and received an uncertain but affirmative answer. ¡°Er... yes! It''s me." The sorceress answered by widening her eyes at first and ran up to me, and then her gaze turned to the two adventurers to my left. "O? Are you here too?¡± "As you see, mistress." Ashwani answered, leaning his head on the table. ¡°Finally, we have met. My name is Ashwani, and this one¡¯s name is Furgur.¡± ¡°M-Mistress?¡± The girl stuttered. ¡°What are you, I¡¯m just... just a sorceress. Please call me by name... otherwise ?Mistress?... this is somehow too much...¡± A couple of men looked at each other after the girl¡¯s answer, and meanwhile I put on a friendly smile. With her, I will at least have to establish more friendly relations than with these humans, and therefore my legend begins to work here, where I present myself as a sorceress who elevates herself above ordinary people, but considers herself equal to all other wizards. This will exclude all other questions addressed to me from unwanted persons regarding the mental and psychological qualities of my personality. I am only one who owns magic, puts herself above ordinary humans and considers herself equal to her own kind. ¡°I am pleased to welcome you, Ms. Incartia.¡± I answered, bowing politely as Sarg taught me. ¡°My name is Camellia, a free sorceress without rank. I have the honor to take part in an important task for the development of magical science. I will be ready to support you in difficult times and even sacrifice my life.¡± ¡°L-life?¡± The sorceress stuttered, looking around in fear. ¡°What are you saying? I¡¯m also a free sorceress, but... I¡¯m still learning and I¡¯m very bad at magic. There is no need to sacrifice yourself, I ask you and... I¡¯m glad that you agreed to take part in the hike.¡± ¡°So there will be a hike?¡± Furgur chuckled, turning his whole body on the stool towards the sorceress. ¡°So we will have to accompany you?¡± ¡°Only, ha!¡± Ashwani chuckled. ¡°I expected that those ruins would be full of all sorts of monsters that even magicians could not cope with.¡± ¡°Tch!¡± Furgur tsked, shaking his head at his neighbor''s words. ¡°You are a fool if you think that escorting a magician is an easy task. On top of that, I will have to accompany all three of you.¡± "Hey!" Ashwani objected. ¡°I can fight too, so...¡± "So you''ll throw yourself straight into the goblin''s mouth." Furgur grumbled. ¡°You will be of no use. Your very appearance suggests that you are already in Sod¡¯s garden.¡± Of course, I knew that human impudence can sometimes have no limits, but I was never a clear witness to this. I thought that the rumors that humans are very emotionally affected were just rumors, but it turns out it¡¯s true. They are filled with emotions as if they were doped with the hardest narcotic substances. It is not surprising that creatures such as humans are a striking example of the imperfection of the old nature of natural selection, which is simply ineffective. ¡°Please don''t swear. Let''s talk first." The young sorceress spoke, not wanting to listen to the quarrel between the two adventurers. Meanwhile, our customer ordered a table from the owner of the tavern, and we took it, hiding under the air dome so as not to be overheard. The spell was, of course, performed by Incartia and what can I say about that? As with human engineering, so-called wizards use ready-made spells, reproduced in a sequence of phonetic words, in other words, reproduced using the voice. Just as people press the buttons of complex digital devices without a clear understanding of the code, so wizards produce magic only using blanks, but without delving into the physics and biology of the world around them. The rank issued by the magic academy depends on the number of spells the wizard knows, the effectiveness and speed of their reproduction. I also learned this from Sarg and also learned that in this world, magicians can be divided into two categories, namely: trained magicians and free magicians. As you guessed, I am a free sorceress because I was taught by the same free magician, a master of nature magic, a druid himself, and because I did not study at a magic academy, no matter where it was located. In general, Sarg was a simple forester who looked after the forest and a couple of nearby villages, but discovered in himself a magical gift to command plants, for which people called him a druid, although people had not seen real druids for many centuries. Sarg bought a lot of magic books in the cities, but was not able to fully master them, but thanks to this I was able to learn magic by consolidating the knowledge gained with the help of the information I knew from the Pantorian sciences and my special way of thinking, as a representative of higher humanity. In fact, this makes me not just a sorceress, but perhaps the strongest free sorceress in the world, because I can reproduce absolutely anything with the help of magic, I just need a field for experimentation and develop my talent for magic to complete perfection while other magicians use spells that limit them . Watching a couple of adventurers look around the tavern and not hear what the rest of the people were saying, I wanted to clarify one point for them: ¡°They won¡¯t hear us, we are under an air dome. So say whatever your tongues desire.¡± "Wonderful." Ashwani said, turning his whole body to the table and tapping his fingers, he asked the first question to the sorceress. ¡°So I¡¯ll ask right away how many coins will we earn for this trip?¡± ?Human greed... how boring it is.? I sighed mentally. "One Hundred Krayans." The girl answered, throwing a bag of coins on the table. "That is all I have." "Wow." Ashwani was surprised, his mouth open in surprise, looking at the tied bag of coins. ¡°The Krayans... are the real ones. They are only found in the west.¡± ¡°My teacher traveled a lot when he was young. That¡¯s when he earned so many coins.¡± The girl answered much more boldly than before, and then asked with a puzzled expression on her face.¡± ¡°Is this too little?¡± "No." I answered sinuously, assessing the situation. ¡°On the contrary, too much.¡± "What?" Inkartia was surprised. Krayan is the Antigonish currency for the nobility. These most luxurious trinkets are smelted from the sacred gold of the holy wells of the Western Empire. One such coin will provide any person with ten lives in advance, they are so expensive. Judging by the fact that the coins emit holy energy, which is a subtype of magic, this suggests that these are indeed Krayans. Is her magic teacher from Antigonus? If this is so, then, in addition to everything else, he may also be from the nobility. This is important information because at any moment if I need more money, I will simply go to her and select what I need for my goal. "Too much?" Incartia asked again and I nodded. ¡°Then may I suggest another favor from you?¡± ¡°Are you giving us two tasks?¡± Furgur asked, crossing his arms with a stern expression on his face and the girl nodded. "Yes. The fact is that a strange group of people emerged from those dark ruins about which I wrote in the application. They are heading here and will be here in a week." It is strange that in this world they use the same dating method as on Earth. Even Pantora did not invent anything new in this regard, and the lost colonists, degraded to the state of the pre-space era, also use the same calendar and this raises questions. It was a fortunate coincidence that the rotation of this planet around its axis, around a star, the atmospheric pressure, the composition of the atmosphere, and the force of gravity are very similar to that of Earth. Before settlement, Pantora was considered a planet with a suitability index of zero and was not only unsuitable for colonization, but also extremely dangerous for any form of life. It was in such catastrophic conditions that the first settlers of Pantora, including my parents, survived, and this planet was immediately ideally suitable for humans. I am sure even now, when people find tens of thousands of habitable planets, only 1% will meet the minimum requirements for human life on it, and this is excluding the fact of the ecosystem, which may not accept humans at all. ?Sooner or later I will find the answer to these questions.? ¡°So are we going to the ruins or are we going to deal with these people? Or are you giving us two tasks for one generous reward?¡± Ashwani crossed his arms. Incartia only nodded in response, and Ashvani, meanwhile, grinned and said: "I agree." ¡°Tch! You¡¯ve already made your decision, but don¡¯t want to hear the essence of the task?¡± Furgur growled at the young guy. ¡°Yes, for the sake of this money you can take a risk once and provide for yourself for life.¡± Ashwani objected. ¡°I can spend these coins in so many ways, and no matter how difficult the task is, I¡¯m all for it.¡± ¡°And I would like to hear what we should do with this group of people and hear details about them.¡± Furgur said sternly. ¡°If they are strangers, then the royal army should deal with them, not us. I only agreed to go to the ruins and that¡¯s all. There is not a word in the application about strangers.¡± The girl ran her eyes for a while until she was finally given the words. ¡°About those people: I don¡¯t think they can know the language of Lakuus. I''d like to use a special spell on one of them so we can talk." ?Even such a spell exists.? I was surprised and asked: ¡°So what is required of us?¡± ¡°Firstly, to protect me during the trip to the dark ruins, and secondly, to watch the people who came out of there, and I will find out whether they are connected with the falling star or not.¡± ?Shooting star.? I thought. A few weeks ago, one night there was a clear day with a very bright shooting star in the sky, heading east. For many people it was an amazing and magical sight, a harbinger of future catastrophes, but I understood that it was just a meteorite, that it would most likely fall somewhere far in the east and would not affect us in any way, and yet after this event, the next night the ?spirits? almost went crazy. Usually these strange living energy creatures live quietly in space. They cannot be seen or heard, but they can only be felt, their touch is not with your body, but with your mind, and only magicians can feel their movement, their presence inside matter and in the environment. That night, the spirits seemed to cut the blood vessels, causing the bodies to overflow with spontaneous magic, which risked turning the bodies of the magicians into mad monsters. That day, I fenced myself off from the ¡°spirits¡± as best I could and did all kinds of magic so that the mana would not begin to affect my body to the point of a sharp and irreversible mutation. The incident with the falling star still remains a mystery not only to the people of this planet, but also to me. If it happens again, then I¡¯m afraid I risk dying in the body of this girl much earlier than her biological life comes to an end. ¡°Are those dark ruins also connected to the falling star?¡± I already asked in order to satisfy my questions that arose in my mind. The girl widened her eyes when I voiced this question. "I... I didn''t think about it." Incartia admitted, making her expression thoughtful. ¡°I thought that those ruins were unknown only because they were hidden in the poisonous forest, but what if a falling star awakened them and forced them to expose themselves to the whole world... or maybe... I need to think.¡± "Let''s put this question aside and discuss our powers." I proposed and everyone agreed. "Yes." Furgur nodded. ¡°We need to discuss our roles in the squad. Who will do what and who will be responsible for what.¡± "Um... yeah... let''s do it." Said the young sorceress. Chapter 22. The Foundation of Life Hiring adventurers turned out to be not as difficult as I had previously imagined. The teacher told me that not every person would agree to risk their life for money, but nevertheless such people were found and fortunately they were with me now. While inside I was rejoicing at the luck that had turned up, I was also in the forest, where I could hear the creaking of tree branches, the rustling of leaves, the squeaks of small animals, the distant singing of birds tracking down their prey and a couple of loud male voices that were heard throughout the area. "Idiot! Watch where you''re going!¡± Furgur shouted. "Do not shout at me!" Ashwani shouted back. "CLOSE YOUR MOUTH!" ¡°O-okay...¡± ¡°IF YOU RAISED YOUR VOICE AT ME AGAIN, YOU ARE DEAD!¡± ¡°Calm down... I won¡¯t do it again...¡± "That''s all. Hmm~!¡± I guess I jumped to conclusions. These adventurers can be heard for entire leagues, and they have driven away the spirits with their screams. While these two, what''s their names, Furgur and Ashwani were arguing, noting who had tripped on which root, the third one walking with us was calmer and in some ways even graceful. ?Camellia. And the beautiful name, and the beauty herself... I¡¯m even envious.? For some reason, I didn¡¯t pay attention to the fact that her name is very similar to the name of the baron¡¯s daughter who disappeared many years ago. However, I consider this just a lucky coincidence. Many commoners call each other by similar names, so this could very well be a coincidence. At the moment, our detachment was heading towards the foreigners, who had taken refuge somewhere in the forest and would soon have to reach the lake tract and take the road to the city. The teacher told me to communicate with these strangers and hire adventurers to guard me, which I did. In fact, this was my first time when I came out to people after many cycles of learning magic, and to be honest, I almost got lost while walking along the streets of the city. I was afraid that I had set the meeting place in the wrong place, but as it turned out, I was not mistaken and ended up in the right place. While I, rustling the leaves under my feet, stepped over roots, mosses and cobblestones, and the spirits parted the branches of bushes and trees, my thoughts were busy thinking about Camellia. She was a little taller than me, confident, knew a lot about the world and wore a lot of expensive enchanted things that magicians usually use. I can¡¯t even imagine how much gold this scarlet robe, soaked in blood saturated with magic, cost her. It was simply obvious that Camellia was much more skilled at magic than I was, which made me feel quite humiliated in front of her and at the same time very enthusiastic about her. The teacher told me a lot that the magic academy will teach any person with a talent for magic how to master it, but to know the essence of magic is already a separate talent and not everyone capable of magic has it, but looking at Camellia, seeing last night how she lit it neatly and silently at the fire, I realized that she was a strong sorceress, perhaps much stronger than me and my teacher. This feeling in my chest is not envy, but rather curiosity. There were many questions lurking in my head that I wanted to voice to her, but she was so closed that I was afraid she would simply ignore me or even get angry with me. ?No, no, no.? I shook my head. ?I hired her, she''s here for the money. She uses them, which means I can get an answer from her with money. But what if she doesn''t think so? So what I mean is that I suck anything and everything out of people with coins and I don''t know how to build relationships? But I really don¡¯t know how to build relationships? Argh~! Stupid! Stupid! I can not do it this way! Magicians do not value things that are important to people, because we are able to turn stone into gold, and this is what people expect from us. They don¡¯t know that we can¡¯t do everything and yet...magicians also need money. Maybe I¡¯ll get answers from her somehow differently? Maybe I should just ask her? Mmm... I don''t know. I''m very embarrassed.? I walked behind her a little further. Unlike me, Camelia spreads branches along its path not with spirits, but with its own magic, also silently and habitually, like ordinary breathing. Even I can¡¯t do that, but she does it so simply and perfectly. I just have to find out from her how she achieved such mastery, but where to start? After thinking a little, I finally decided to call her over: "Camellia." She did not stop but briefly and answered me almost indifferently: ¡°Is there something you want to know, mistress?¡± "Uh... yes." I admitted, running closer to her, walking to her left. "I''m just curious about something, that''s all." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed how she smiled and answered me with tenderness in her voice: ¡°The desire for knowledge is a good signal, mistress. You, like me, are a sorceress and I will help you in any way I can. Ask questions and I will give you answers." "Well then¡­" ¡°If I can give answers, of course.¡± She interrupted me mid-sentence, which is why I even forgot what I just wanted to ask her about. ?If she can answer...? She¡¯s right, there may be some things she doesn¡¯t know, and some things she may even keep silent for the sake of her secrets. She proudly and gracefully walked forward, peering into the depths of the forest, and meanwhile I thought about something and asked her the first question: ¡°Camellia, where are you from?¡± "Do you really want to know?" I nodded, confirming my question. She looked thoughtful and soon gave her answer: ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just secretly hint that the starry sky there is completely different.¡± "Huh?" I didn''t understand her words. ¡°So you... what? Are you from across the sea?¡± "Much further." She smiled, which is why I didn¡¯t believe her. ¡°Dragon tongue!¡± Ashwani, who was walking behind us, blurted out. ¡°In what sense from across the sea? What is this anyway? ¡°The sea is an endless lake, idiot.¡± Furgur snapped, not forgetting to push the swordsman, almost throwing him into a bush with poisonous berries. ¡°Better watch your step and don¡¯t fall into deer shit.¡± ¡°I won''t fall.¡± "SHUT UP!" ¡°Got it, got it.¡± Ashwani raised his hands and lowered his head down, no longer daring to utter a word because of Furgur, and meanwhile I was thinking about Kamelia¡¯s words: ?The starry sky there is completely different...? It is not necessary that she could be from overseas, it is quite possible that she is from the distant south. Teacher told me that you can see different constellations in the north and south. Maybe this is exactly what she meant? However, she said that she would only give a hint, which means that she would not give me a clear answer, no matter what her reason was. "I understood you," I said it and asked the second question. ¡°But what are you doing here then?¡± Camellia took a breath and said sadly: "It''s a long story, but in short, I''m here in search of power." "Power? Why do you need power?¡± The sorceress''s face instantly turned a stern color. ¡°To give back to my people what they have lost.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Camellia answered, clenching her fists. ¡°I need to be the key to salvation and that¡¯s why I¡¯m here. I travel in search of magical knowledge to become perfect in all its elements." Her answer surprised me greatly. This explains a lot. Apparently she longs to gain power to become the savior of her people. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on in the south, but most likely her people were enslaved, and she wants to free them. I literally see in her eyes that determination to accomplish this, she is trying her best to save her people, and for this she has perfectly mastered the initial level of magic, almost perfect in silent magic, but it seems to her that this is not enough and therefore she moves further and further . She continues to seek the power to save her people and now I understand that even though she seems to be the same age as me, the power that she carries within her is completely deserved. These are the gifts of her diligence on the path to perfection in the world of magic, and having understood this, I respected her much more than just a strong sorceress. ?True nobility.? I admired her and at the same time supported her aspirations. ¡°You have a noble purpose in life. I pray to the spirits and wish you success." I said sincerely. ¡°This pleases, mistress.¡± Camellia smiled radiantly, looking at me with her scarlet eyes. Her red eyes are so beautiful, tender and amazing. The spirits are cherishing next to her, her snow-white hair, as if she were a holy virgin descended from heaven. For me, she is like an older sister, this is the feeling that comes from her, as if she is the one who is ready and can protect me. ?Sister.? A word flashed in my mind and planted an anchor of sadness inside my soul, killing the joyful mood in me. I didn¡¯t want to remember the past, but alas, sad memories poured into my soul like a stormy stream and apparently distorted my face. "Are you okay?" Camellia asked with a worried look in my direction. ¡°Y-yes. I just remembered something. Doesn''t matter." ¡°Since peace suits you, I won¡¯t disturb you.¡± Camellia answered. There was silence for a while and I, having calmed down a little, regained my confidence and asked Camellia a new question. ¡°Camellia, if it¡¯s not a secret, who was your teacher?¡± "Druid." "Druid?" I was surprised. "Are you joking? They are found only in ancient legends.¡± ¡°True, but Sarg is a druid as long as people call him that.¡± ¡°Hmm~...¡± I thought. ¡°Why did people call him that?¡± ¡°He is a forester, helps villages with crop growth, calls for rain during drought, drives away uninvited guests and... just helps people like any honest person.¡± "And he taught you magic?" ¡°Ha~! He really makes a bad teacher." Camellia grinned. ¡°He only sheltered me, and the books in his house became teachers for me.¡± I can''t believe it. Camellia claims to have learned magic on her own? It is simply impossible to study magic on your own! Every magician passes on his knowledge from mouth to mouth, this ancient undying tradition lives to this day, but she neglected it and independently mastered this ancient art? ¡°Did you really learn magic on your own?¡± I asked the white-haired woman with doubt in my tone. ¡°Sarg helped me with some things, but mostly I did it myself.¡± "Wow!" I admired out loud. "Yes, you are blessed by the angels of Sod." As soon as I said this, Camelia stopped, frozen in place, and her face was covered with a veil of darkness. "What''s the matter?" Ashwani asked standing behind her. "Don''t you dare¡­" Camellia said quietly and gloomily. "Don''t you dare mention His with me." Frankly, at that very moment I was perplexed. What upset her so much? Mention of Sod? But what''s the big deal? Is she really a heretic? I can¡¯t believe this... there¡¯s no need to rush to a conclusion, you just have to ask her. "Why?" I asked her, starting to tremble a little with my body, fearing her further reaction, as if anticipating an impending storm of emotions, but in reality... "Just don''t do it." She said, closing her eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath and continuing on her way, calming her soul from a strange outburst of anger. ¡°Those who destroyed my people believed in Him and did evil in the name His. I hate being connected to Him.¡± Is she upset with Sod''s followers? This explains a lot. Of course that doesn''t mean she''s a heretic, but she made a mistake. She placed the blame for the death not only on people, but also on Sod himself. I''m afraid to imagine what her face looks like when she walks past the priest. ?Now I feel sorry for her.? "Sorry... I didn''t know." I lowered my head guiltily. ¡°And you will forgive me.¡± Camellia said, but I didn¡¯t understand why. "For what?" ¡°Because I can¡¯t be completely sincere with you, I can¡¯t tell you what¡¯s going on. Sorry, I can''t." I nodded, agreeing with her words. Not every magician is ready to reveal his personal secrets even for the sake of magic, and I understand her perfectly in this regard. I really don¡¯t care what she¡¯s hiding from me, whether it¡¯s a grudge against Sod for the grief of her people or something else. This is her life and only she can decide how to manage her life. "Don''t apologize, I understand you." I answered her. Camellia wanted to say something, opening her mouth, but after thinking about something, she decided to change her mind and fell silent. Although she will not be able to tell me something from her life, she will be able to tell me something from her training in magic, which is what I finally asked her about: ¡°Camellia, how deep is your knowledge of magic? I see you are doing just fine without spells." It was important for me to know this. Since she can do without spells, it means that she perfectly understands magic as such, and even my teacher is not capable of this. "Good question." Camellia smiled. ¡°The truth is that the world around us and magic are much more connected than you can imagine.¡± I didn''t understand what she was talking about, so I tilted my head to the side while she continued to explain. ¡°Have you ever had to think about what drives life?¡± "Umm... no." "It''s a pity. Thinking about it will give you all the answers you need." I would like to respond to her words about the movement of life, but I¡¯m sure that mentioning Sod will upset her again and that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to see her like that again. I would answer that Sod created life and created magic with it, dividing the world into elements, repeating the words of the teacher, but I am afraid of her warning. Instead, I just remained silent and listened to Camellia as we walked through the forest. ¡°There are living and nonliving things in the world, but they are not much different from each other. Life is simply more heterogeneous compared to water, stone or air. Life is complex, it has laws, the nature of which it follows, and therefore it is imperfect in many respects.¡± Camellia closed her eyes as she continued her story, and in the meantime I thought about her strange words. I honestly never thought about it. Life for me is a familiar thing, something that always surrounds me, but Camellia approached this issue much more seriously. Apparently due to the fact that many people of her people died, she thought about the idea of ??life and death, studied the essence of life and found answers in this essence, which gave her food for thought about the nature of magic. At that moment, we entered the dark thicket of the forest, where not a blade of grass grew on the ground, and at that moment I felt the spirits of fire intertwining over Camelia¡¯s palm and flaring up, lighting up in the air. Surprisingly, she seemed to be holding fire with her bare hands, the fireball was a perfect spherical shape and hovered above her palm, illuminating the dark thicket with a dim orange glow and, interestingly, much brighter than ordinary fire, almost like a small sun. ¡°Fire loves ?carbon? very much, that is, everything that life consists of.¡± "Wait... ?Carbon??" I was perplexed. "What it is?" And indeed, this was the first time I heard this word. "It is hard to explain. It took me years to understand what it was and why it was everywhere. ?Carbon? is not mana, but in fact it is the basis of life in this world without which it cannot exist. So, if you understand the essence of ¡°carbon¡±, then you can learn to manage life as my teacher Sarg did. He could mentally give life a second wind, or he could strangle it, and all thanks to the fact that he knew it.¡± Marvelous. So it turns out that life consists of ?carbon?? But if it''s just the basis, then how can I differentiate it from other... uh... things? This is all strange. I used to think that life consists of four elements, and magic is the embodiment of these elements, but it turns out there is also a fifth element of life... carbon. Why... why didn''t I know about this? Why doesn''t the teacher know about this? And why does some forester unknown to me know about this? Questions, questions, they drowned my mind, made my little head ache from their abundance. It was as if I sat down with books again and spent time analyzing manuscripts and the meaning of written words, only in addition I did it outside the shelter. ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand.¡± I confessed, after which Camellia froze again and looked straight into my eyes. ¡°As I say, it takes years to understand this. Understanding the basis of all life will help not only in unraveling the mysteries of life itself, but also of magic, and I must admit that you need to understand not only the essence of life, but also death, as well as peace, movement and...¡± *Kick* "Ay~!" I screamed in surprise. Suddenly Camellia fell to the ground, hitting her head on something and losing consciousness. Ashwani and Furgur quickly prepared for battle by preparing their weapons. The swordsman with a ringing sound took out his short blade from his belt, and the gloomy arrow took out a bow and arrow, simultaneously running his eyes in search of the attacker. At that moment my heart began to beat quickly in surprise, and my body tensed. I fell on my butt to the ground and hid in the bushes in the hope that I would not be discovered. The spirits didn¡¯t warn me... they... THEY WASN¡¯T HERE! ?W-what''s going on?? I trembled, peering through the thickets of bushes at Camellia¡¯s fallen body, seeing the flow of life in her. She was alive, but someone knocked her unconscious. ?Huh? What is this?? I asked myself a question when I saw a large round bruise on her forehead. At that moment, the thickets around us suddenly rustled loudly. This scared me even more than before. I wanted to run away at that moment, but I didn¡¯t know where or how. I felt the singing of souls, there were many attackers, a couple of dozen at least, and they surrounded us from all sides. "We''re under attack!" Ashwani shouted. ¡°I know this without you!¡± Furgur snapped. "We are surrounded." ¡°I know this without you!¡± Even at such a moment, they continued to talk to each other, but at the same time, they stood with their backs to each other, ready to fight together against unknown souls. At that moment I was horrified by the surprise and fell into even greater horror when someone suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder and stabbed something into my neck, something very thin and cold, which I didn¡¯t even feel at first. and soon I felt a strong prick that spread throughout my body. "Mistress!" Ashwani shouted and ran towards me, but a moment later he froze when he saw something above me. I tried to move, but for some reason my hand wouldn¡¯t obey me. ?W-what? What''s happening?! Who attacked us?! These aren''t goblins, are they? Oh Sod... I... I can''t... move...? The grip that held my shoulder was strong and hardly belonged to goblins. It was as if I was being held down by a man, a very strong man, like a subhuman. While I was trying to get out of the thicket, trying to shake my arms and legs, the world around me was plunging into darkness, or maybe... I was plunging into darkness... to sleep... I want... to sleep... ?N-no... wait...? Chapter 23. The Humility of Babylon Restoring the body would take too much time and therefore I transferred my powers to Will while I, in turn, would have to play the role of an extra burden on Stern¡¯s back while experiencing the consequences of infection. We spent quite a lot of time in the cave waiting for me to feel much better and soon, without waiting for my final recovery, the platoon left the cave heading south, not encountering any signs of intelligent life until eventually the bioscanner detected a group of four natives. "Do what you want." I told Will. Since I could not yet think normally, move, or even fight, Will decided everything for me to my approving nods. He probably didn¡¯t understand whether he was doing certain things correctly and therefore relied on me in some moments, but now he already enjoys the trust of the entire platoon and boldly leads the soldiers as part of the platoon, and not just its commander. "They will pass here." Will spoke. ¡°Me and Sieghard will take cover behind that tree, Itami and Esko wait further in those bushes, Kobe and Iyad are opposite us here...¡± Will decided to ambush the discovered natives, ordered the rifles to be loaded with blank cartridges, and also asked Fred to prepare drugs for euthanasia by handing over several syringes to Kobe and Iyad. The task of the capture detachment was to capture the natives and blank cartridges were not the best way to accomplish the task, and yet we did not have an easier option. The bioscanner showed that the natives were heading strictly in one direction through the thickets, thanks to which it was easy to choose a place for an ambush, which Will eventually did, and I, in turn, was in a safe shelter and watched, looking at the bioscan screen, what was happening and listened at the same time into the sounds of the forest, the rustling of branches and the chirping of birds. The sounds of gunfire echoed in the distance, and then someone screamed, after which, as a result, the entire four uninvited guests were pinned down and neutralized. As soon as it became difficult to make out the movements of certain persons on the bioscan, I immediately turned to Will, activated the earpiece and asked: ¡°Will, how did it go?¡± "Wonderful. We caught them." He answered cheerfully, which made me feel a little relieved. After the events with Yasmi and Gobe, I expected big and unpleasant tricks, but apparently these natives did not have them in stock. ¡°What are you going to do with them?¡± I asked a friend. ¡°We will take them to our fugitives and tie them up. We''ll keep them on target if they do the same things as Yasmi." I didn''t quite understand the last thing Will said, so I decided to clarify: ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t guess? What I mean is that there are two men and two women, the latter look like that priestess, well, in general, you understand who I¡¯m talking about. I think they can do abnormal things." If this is so, then the option voiced by Will was quite reasonable and I could only agree with Will¡¯s actions. I wouldn¡¯t want to deal with yet another magician who can burn a couple of dozen people at once or disappear into nowhere, and then also appear out of nowhere like some kind of ghosts. After listening to Will, I could only entrust him with his own mission: ¡°Got it, end of connection.¡± "End of connection." Having turned off the earpiece, I looked back to where, besides me, Stern, the fugitive natives and Lecitus were also sitting, surrounded by bushes in the middle of a dark grove, where we decided to take cover while Will caught our targets. At the moment, my attention was focused on Lecith, who was listening in surprise to my conversation with Will and I had some questions for him. ¡°You said you were heading north, but how did you get around the lake?¡± "Lake? What lake?" The space builder answered with a voice of not understanding, sitting leaning against a tree trunk. ¡°When we came here there was only a swamp.¡± "Are you sure about this?" I clarified, to which Lecitus nodded confidently. ¡°I swear on my eyes! I would never lie, and why would I?¡± "It''s clear." I answered and thought a little. ?Another anomaly? Or did he simply lose orientation in space and could not understand where is north and where is south? Either way, it doesn''t seem like he''s lying to my face.? Having thought this over, I sighed and turned towards Ripun, covered with a dark blue naval jacket. This dark-haired native guy seemed to be learning English the fastest of all, but lately he had slowed down a little, and yet he could tell us something, of course not in complex words, but in simple ones, and the words he voiced require careful analysis, especially with Itami. "Ripun," I turned to the native, and in response to my words he raised his head. ¡°Do you know what this place is?¡± "I never here." Ripun answered, somehow understanding what I wanted to know from him. ?He was never here...? I mentally translated his words.¡± ?This is bad. If those natives whom Will caught do not know their language, then we are unlikely to be able to establish normal peaceful contact with the local civilization. They simply won¡¯t understand us and they won¡¯t understand them either. And then what should we do in this case?? After thinking a little about the current situation, I decided to wait for Will to approach our dark camp. A couple of hours later, Will''s squad returned to us with four hostages. He did as he said, tied them around a tree trunk and set up a machine gun emplacement opposite them. I didn¡¯t see them, or rather I couldn¡¯t make them out, I manage to make body movements with great difficulty and all I could do was greet Will when he was here: ¡°How was the hunt?¡± "As easy as pie." The fighter grinned and sat down opposite me. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m recovering little by little. Shit. How bad I feel.¡± "I understand you." Will patted me on the shoulder and made fun of me. "You look like an Egyptian mummy." ¡°Are you bullying me again?¡± ¡°If a joke from a friend is bullying, then I¡¯m your maniac.¡± ¡°Am I really a mummy?¡± ¡°Yes... all that¡¯s missing is a cool backstory of love and the halofilm is ready.¡± I smiled and Will laughed for both of us. Of course I felt bad, not only in my body, but also in my mind. I still can¡¯t get out of my head that dream with my sister and that musty stone building I found myself inside. It¡¯s strange that I still remember everything very clearly, as if it really happened. I didn¡¯t tell anyone about this dream, I didn¡¯t want them to take care of me like I was a mentally ill idiot. Moreover, that dream has never been repeated to me and is unlikely to ever happen again. And despite this, I didn¡¯t give up, I wasn¡¯t going to give up on my goal: to return home. Whoever it was in that dream, she won''t convince me to give up. Humanity did not give up when the Pantorian destroyer of worlds entered the solar system, sweeping away hydrogen gases and the rings of Saturn, and I will not surrender, to anyone, not to the Pantorians, not to the natives, not to the Zemptzpens, not to anyone. I simply have to return home with my guys because I am a human... and I promised to return to her, my sister. ?I''ll be back.? ¡°Rest, Boris, and I¡¯ll go talk to the guys.¡± ¡°Yeah, go. And make sure they behave well." ¡°Hah! Exactly.¡± Will said and went to another part of the grove. "Don''t get sick." Fred, meanwhile, sat down opposite the captured natives and took out a medical scanner to check their health. Will and the rest of the fighters sat down to rest and discussed a couple of issues that we had already begun to encounter. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°My rifle has three magazines left, one hundred and twenty rounds of ammunition, everyone else most likely has even less. There is also a shortage of food. A week... that''s all.¡± ?So that¡¯s what he wanted to talk about.? ¡°In 19 hours my exoskeleton will run out.¡± Stern intervened, showing 3% on the display in his right hand. ¡°You won¡¯t leave me when this happens?¡± "No." I said with a dry mouth and, after taking a sip of some water from the flask, I continued. ¡°We have lost too much to abandon anyone else. We must help each other in any way we can, and this is the only way that together we can return home.¡± I didn¡¯t want to lie to them, but I didn¡¯t want to see the dejected faces of my fighters, my guys, my friends even more. Our situation now is much more desperate than we could have imagined. I even began to think about Kobe¡¯s words so that we could join this Empire even if we had to learn the distorted Latin language of the locals for a very long time. Joining their society and waiting for salvation, you will agree, did not sound very reassuring. Even under the most optimistic scenario, we will be able to get out of here in at least twenty years, but in the current situation only in fifty, and if we decide to settle here, then only our descendants will be able to see the Earth in about two generations. ¡°It is critical that we take advantage of the support of the natives.¡± Itami said. ¡°Without them, unfortunately, we will be stuck here, possibly for the rest of our lives.¡± "To hell!" Anzhey blurted out. ¡°I¡¯m not going to die on this planet!¡± "Nobody is going to." Esko said calmly and confidently. ¡°That¡¯s why Boris says that we should help each other in any way we can so that we can finally get out of here. So guys, let''s not be nonsense." "Ha~!" "What''s so funny, Inias?" "Honestly... just... nothing." The machine gunner waved him off, but Itami did not like this answer. "Speak." The signalman said sternly. Inias, seeing Itami¡¯s condemning look, sighed and nevertheless decided to tell what was on his mind. ¡°That person who disappeared, his name is Ashwani? He did something stupid when he decided to approach that stone, didn''t he? Can anyone even guarantee not to do anything stupid? Nobody. Any mistake and we¡¯re all dead.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a fact that this Ashwani even existed.¡± Fred said seriously as he continued to examine the prisoners. ¡°He could be a collective invention, another anomaly that Boris¡¯s squad encountered.¡± ¡°If you say that again, you¡¯ll have to insert your teeth yourself.¡± Will snapped sternly, clearly angry at Fred''s words. "I can only trust what I see." Fred said, putting the medical scanner into his bag and turning towards Will. ¡°I have never seen your Ashwani in my life. First prove that such a person exists at all, and only then defend his honor from his own stupidity.¡± Will gritted his teeth in response, he clenched his fists and seemed about to fulfill his plan. "Will¡­" I tried to dissuade my friend from hasty actions. "I know." He said, unclenching his fists. ¡°We should help each other... but this is simply unbearable.¡± ¡°I understand you, but keep your anger to yourself.¡± ¡°Better let him hit me.¡± Fred said. ¡°Otherwise he risks chronic stress.¡± ¡°Got you, got you.¡± Will waved it off and sighed sadly. ¡°Being forgotten by everyone is probably even worse than just dying... I feel so sorry for Ashwani.¡± At such a sad mention of Ashwani, I began to think. Almost a month has passed since he disappeared and literally the whole world, if not the whole universe, forgot him. Only those who were close to that strange tree at that moment remembered him. It is still marked on the map as an anomalous area, and I¡¯m honestly not sure if we will ever be able to visit that place again and finally find it. ?I will remember you... so you won''t really die.? At that moment, I decided to rise from my sleeping bag and look at the captive natives whom Will and his group had captured. Two girls and two men. They were all different and would hardly have been a family. Most likely travelers. One girl of about fifteen with snow-white hair in a red robe with a lot of gilded jewelry, like her, should probably be called a shaman, although I am not well versed in primitive cultures. The second girl of the same age already had dark hair, but apparently played the role of an assistant to the first, already dressed in a blue robe. Next was a young guy of about twenty and the last was an adult man of about thirty, both dressed in some kind of combat garb made of leather and rags. Fred, examining them with a medical scanner, concluded the following: "All four creatures are not human." Said the senior medic. ¡°One of them seems to have lost her memory, and the other has strange impulses coming from her chest.¡± The conversation was about a white-haired girl and a young guy to whom Fred nodded. ¡°Strange... they look like people.¡± Itami commented and glanced towards the fugitive natives. The views of our local friends on their relatives were curious, but not fearful. It seems they didn¡¯t even know who they were, but they often talked to each other about them. Unfortunately, we did not know what they were talking about, but they often turned to us expecting something from us. Niana, having talked about something with the men, began to be wary of us, distrust of us literally seeped through her gaze, and Alza continued to look at me with a certain amount of trust, but alas, not as much as before. I don''t know what they''re thinking, but it seems like our actions have changed their opinion of us. ¡°Do you know who they are?¡± Itami asked the natives, to which all four shook their heads from side to side, and Itami in response only sighed in disappointment. "It is sad." To be honest, I didn¡¯t know what we could expect from them. Both the captured natives and the fugitive natives looked like people, but the latter were paler, and the former slightly more plump. Apparently, unlike Alza, Niana, Zaden and Ripun, they did not experience hunger and had, one might say, a completely healthy standard of living by the standards of their civilization. Maybe I¡¯m just stupid in this matter, believing that since people here live on the same planet, they are most easily susceptible to mixing between peoples. I keep forgetting that on primitive planets there may be completely different rules and laws of nature compared to what I am used to observing on Earth. There on Earth, hundreds of parsecs from here, people, no matter what corner of the globe they live in, are practically no different from each other, similar skin tone, language, cities, food, growth and all this is the result of mixing, the result of the long-past policy of globalization, the unification of humanity under a single command. Two thousand years ago, there were some racial differences between human races such as Mongoloids, Caucasians and Negroids, but then, when the borders of states were finally blurred, people uncontrollably began to mix forever, destroying human racism on Earth as such. However, racism was destined to appear again, it was also interhuman, but now it was also interplanetary, but this time the human inhabitants of different planets cannot be mixed due to cosmic distances. No matter how hard the propaganda of the republic tried, there were still idiots who would discriminate against their own species because of a slightly different appearance obtained as a result of living in different conditions on another planet. Here on this anomalous planet, it¡¯s not that there are boundaries; they haven¡¯t even been formed normally yet, at least here in this part of the planet. It is unlikely that before this, some natives could meet others, have contact and, of course, mix with each other. No, they will also differ from each other due to geographical features, not only appearance, but also due to cultural and linguistic characteristics. Alza, Niana, Zaden and Ripun had paler skin colors due to the fact that they lived to the north-west of here, and these in turn lived in a more temperate region. And although Fred said that they all belonged to different species, this does not mean that they could not be people. It''s just that the bioscanner is not yet configured to distinguish local creatures as one species, Fred has already talked about this. ?In this case, they will simply have to be called natives. In the end, we are like them too. At least until we find out whether they are really people or really belong to a completely different species, we will call them natives.? Soon after a few hours, one of the natives Will caught began to wake up. It was a dark-haired girl in a dark blue robe and a green dress underneath. She opens her blue eyes with a quiet groan and quickly realizes that she is chained to a tree trunk. With fear on her face, she begins to look around and mutter something in her own language. The fugitive natives looked at her and exchanged glances among themselves, and then in our direction, and then I realized that they did not understand her words. This clear understanding was literally read in their glance in our direction. ?That''s what I was afraid of.? I sighed sadly. "Keep her at gunpoint." Will says, and the machine gunner removes his machine gun from the safety, pointing the muzzle towards the girl. She clearly doesn¡¯t know what it is and therefore slightly tilted her head to the side, again saying something, although I think she just said: ?What is this??, but I¡¯m not sure. ¡°Approach, but be careful.¡± Will said to the signalman and he began to carefully take cautious steps towards the native woman. Itami kept a serious expression on his face as he approached, and the tied up native woman, meanwhile, seeing Itami approaching her, shrank slightly, at the same time closing her eyes and starting to say something, and then I sensed something was wrong. I was seized by deja vu, I had already seen this somewhere and instantly realized where and when exactly. ?Not this!? "KICK HER!" I immediately shouted towards Itami, guessing what could happen now. "NOW!" Itami, hearing me, immediately jumped up and rushed towards the native woman, raising his fist to strike, but he didn¡¯t have time. The girl, apparently hearing a strange rustling, opened her eyes and, having finished speaking the words and seeing Itami¡¯s fist poised to strike, closed her eyes and, unexpectedly for all of us, shouted: "NO!" Itami froze a couple of meters away from her. Everyone around was in shock. ?What she said?? I was perplexed, also completely surprised by what happened. She, still turning her head to the side, closed her eyes, expecting a blow, but Itami did not move from his place with a surprised face, looking at the girl, and instead of finishing what he started, he unclenched his fist and slowly approached her, bent down and put his left palm on the top of her head. ?Huh? What are you doing? ? I wanted to say. "I won''t hit you." Itami said calmly. "Do not be afraid of me." The girl opened her blue eyes and saw a soldier in camouflage uniform hovering over her. With one hand he stroked the top of her head, and in the other hand he held the barrel of a pistol on her chest, ready at any moment to tear her heart into pieces. The girl blinked her eyes and said the following: "H-hello." Itami nodded his head and answered her: "Greetings. What is your name?" "Incartia." "And I''m Itami." The signalman answered calmly and, stopping stroking the top of her head, rose to his feet, continuing to hold her at gunpoint. ¡°Nice to meet you, now explain the hell why you speak English?¡± Instead of answering, the girl only remained silent, her eyes bulging, she was clearly in shock and could not find the right words to answer, but eventually, having calmed down a little, she looked down and said something: "I didn''t think it would work." ¡°What will work? Answer otherwise I will kill you." Itami said sternly, and the girl¡¯s pupils shrank and she trembled, frightened by the signalman¡¯s words. ¡°How long are you going to remain silent?¡± Itami continued to put pressure on her. The girl rolled her eyes and looked up at Itami with her frightened gaze. She chattered her teeth, barely saying: ¡°I... I... I cast the spell ?Humility of Babylon?, it allows me to understand you and s-speak y-your language.¡± Everyone was shocked, especially the senior medic, who pushed Itami aside and shouted in her face: ¡°What did you do?!¡± Chapter 24. Who am I? Last time, when it seemed that we would be able to establish completely civilized contact with the local civilization, everything took a very unpleasant turn and we came into conflict with a certain Empire that was capable of defeating an entire platoon and at the same time correctly assessing the situation with technologically superior opponents , that is, us. Since then, after that failure, we also did not hope to quickly establish peaceful contact due to the language barrier that stood between us and the natives, but now we had hope of establishing peaceful contact, but this time we were acting from a position of strength, and not as equals to each other. It was with difficulty that we managed to restrain Fred from his manic scientific questions about the ¡°spells¡± our captive mentioned. I didn''t hear that, did I? She said it was a spell? As if what we saw on this planet can be called magic, but this is not true. How is this even possible? Magic exists only in fairy tales and cheap Katian TV series and nothing more. This is simply a non-existent phenomenon that physically cannot exist in nature. Fred probably thought the same thing and decided to find answers to his questions by interrogating the captive, whose name, by the way, was Incartia. Of course, after the death of almost the entire crew of the shuttle "Persia", we could not so easily trust the natives, and therefore kept them tied to a tree trunk. The girl was scared especially when Itami threatened to kill her and this is not surprising. Ultimately, she is just a girl and obviously she could be afraid of heavily armed men with the strongest weapons in this world at the moment, but we were also afraid of her, or rather of her ability to burn us out from the inside as Yasmi did before her. She had the ability to command ¡°magic¡±, although I don¡¯t even have a clear idea of ??what it even is. It may not be called that way here, but definitely the word ¡°spell¡± can be attributed specifically to this phenomenon. Thinking like this even gave me a headache. Instead of resting, I received so much information that needs to be carefully analyzed and put into folders in my head. Frankly, I manage to do this with great difficulty. And instead of participating in the interrogation, Will asked questions and at the same time did not forget to introduce himself like any civilized person: ¡°My name is Will Averbon, sergeant of platoon C1-2-2-D4, currently commanding in place of Second Lieutenant Boris Kipito, he is in very poor condition and cannot lead the platoon.¡± Will looked at me, and the girl looked away in my direction, gulping when she saw a mummy instead of a person. Now she sees that we are vulnerable, this will force her to loosen her tongue, but I hope this will not encourage her to do anything stupid. Will, meanwhile, sat down opposite the girl and continued introducing himself to her: ¡°We are from the Republican Armed Forces of Humanity of the state of the Federated Human Republic of Earth. Does it sound too formal?¡± Will asked me, and I could only shake my shoulders. "Well." Will turned his attention back to the girl and asked her the first pressing question, apparently in order to let go of Fred, who was eager to push everyone around and interrogate the girl. ¡°We didn¡¯t hear it right, did we? Did you say ?spell??¡± The girl nodded at first, perplexed, and soon answered: ¡°Y-yes. This is the spell I learned to communicate with you." ¡°Especially for this?¡± Will clarified, and the girl nodded again. ¡°I see, but tell me, what is a ?spell??¡± ¡°This... this will be difficult to explain in your language.¡± Incartia said, barely finding the right words in English, as if she was just using a translator in her head, but she herself did not know our language. ¡°Then it¡¯s not worth it.¡± Will sighed and asked another question. ¡°It turns out you learned our language?¡± "Not really." Incartia immediately answered. ¡°It¡¯s all about the spirits, they help me understand the singing of your souls, and they also help me change my singing into your language and therefore you understand me. It¡¯s not enough to know, you also need to feel it, but you can¡¯t, because the spirits are wary of your bodies.¡± ¡°Um... I don¡¯t quite understand.¡± Will raised an eyebrow, turning to everyone else. The entire platoon also did not understand the girl¡¯s words. Apparently this is what she meant when she said it would be difficult to explain. Although, probably, Fred understood some of what he heard for himself, immersed in thought and coming up with hundreds of theories that he was too lazy to voice out loud, and Will, meanwhile, asked the girl a new question: ¡°Well, we will have time to discuss all this, but now I want to know three things:¡± Will said, starting to unclench his fingers in his fist. "Who are you? Why were you heading here? And why shouldn¡¯t I kill you here and now?¡± Hearing the last question, the girl swallowed again and trembled slightly, and I, seeing her fear, grinned. Of course, Will was not going to kill her, or indeed any of the natives, but we still needed to intimidate her, show her that we are not sheep, but a pack of wolves capable of killing anyone who gets in our way... if, of course, we have enough cartridges. In this case, it doesn¡¯t matter how she answers the last question, but we are still not going to kill her, especially when we set ourselves the task of establishing first contact. "I am a wizard." Incartia immediately answered with a slightly trembling voice. ¡°I am studying the art of magic. I... I came to you to talk... to get to know you. That''s what the teacher told me to do. Find out who you are and what you did in the dark ruins. This... this is the reason why you should not kill me. If you harm me, then my teacher will punish you... just like that.¡± ¡°So you are a wizard... everything is clear now.¡± Will said nodding and asked the next question. ¡°What is the name of your country?¡± "A country? Uhhh~... I... I don''t remember." The girl lowered her head, hiding her gaze from everyone. ¡°How can you not remember?¡± Will was surprised, and so was I. ¡°I just... live with a teacher in the forest, not in the city, so... I wasn¡¯t interested in people and that.¡± Send a girl to talk to us without giving her the information she needs? Perhaps whoever did it intended it that way, but still, to me it seemed unnecessarily cruel to the child. Didn''t her teacher think we might kill her? Or did he do it on purpose? If so, then why? Check us out? Or is he somewhere nearby watching us right now? Shouldn''t Will be able to detect something with his bioscan in this case? Damn it! I do not understand anything. ¡°So there¡¯s still a city somewhere nearby?¡± Will asked. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s a day away.¡± "Okay, what are your friends'' names?" "Friends?" The girl asked and turned back to where Will was looking at the tied up white-haired girl and a couple of men. "A! These are the adventurers I hired. They were supposed to protect me. Her name is Kamelia, and those are Furgur and Ashwani.¡± ?Stop! What did she say?? I was surprised and Will was no exception. "A? Ashwani? This can¡¯t be true!¡± Will exclaimed. It wasn¡¯t easy for me, but I took a closer look at the young guy and he really had a similar face to Ashwani¡¯s face. A tanned, dark-haired guy with a sharp face, not too unattractive, but not a freak either, just a young man. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. If it''s true Ashwani, then why does he seem so much younger than he should be? And what is he doing here with these natives? Is this even him? I, Will, and everyone around me have too many questions about Ashwani. ¡°Boris, my memory is failing me. It is he?" Will turned to me and asked me, and I nodded. "Yes? What is he doing here? He''s disappeared! You said it yourself!¡± ¡°First we need to find out if it¡¯s him.¡± Fred intervened, examining him with a medical scanner. ¡°Do you... do you know him?¡± The stunned girl asked, not understanding the reaction of those around her, and Will leaned closer to Incartia and asked her a clear question: ¡°What is he doing here?¡± Will pointed to the boy. "Answer me." ¡°He... he decided to accept my task and... and went with me. I don¡¯t know him well... to be honest.¡± The girl stammered, embarrassed to look Will in the eyes. There were no more questions from Will. It was clear that we had encountered another oddity of this planet. The rest of the platoon didn¡¯t remember Ashwani, but I, Will, Forn and Itami did and knew for sure that it was him. I thought he had disappeared, been erased from reality, and yet he was here all these weeks? Hiding among the natives? How did this happen? Why? When Will captured them why didn''t Ashwani raise his hands? Why didn''t he speak English? What actually happened? There were too many questions to which there were simply no simple or logical answers. "Fred, is this a human?" Will asked the senior medic, and Fred shook his head in response. "No. He does not belong to the human species. I don¡¯t think at all that the Ashwani you were looking for is him. This is a native." "So... he''s a native." Will said calmly, turning to the girl. "Shit! We will consider him as such until we talk to him in person. Can you arrange this?¡± "I? But¡­" Incartia did not understand. "What''s the matter? You can not?" "The spell only works... on me." Incartia lowered her head. "Sorry." Of course, we were full of questions, but it¡¯s better to calm the girl down for now, otherwise she won¡¯t answer any questions at all in the future. She has a strange power called "magic", but it doesn''t look like she''s going to harm us. We just found out that she was heading here to negotiate with us, to find out who we are. It seems that we were one of the first to meet the first contact delegation and almost destroyed it, but still it was strange to meet Ashwani in this delegation. At this moment, Will, sitting down next to me, turned to me: ¡°I don¡¯t remember him anymore, and you?¡± "It is he." I confirmed. ¡°This is definitely Ashwani... but I don¡¯t understand how he ended up here?¡± "Ha!" Will grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me, I know less than you.¡± ¡°So we need to tell her about that stone, maybe she knows what happened to Ashwani.¡± Will nodded, agreeing with me: ¡°I will do so. After resting, I will continue the interrogation and ask her about it.¡± At that moment Fred came up to us and shared with us information about Ashwani: ¡°The native has an artificial heart working in his chest.¡± "What?" Will and I blurted out in unison, almost jumping out of our seats. ¡°I have the same question: ?what??. At first I didn¡¯t understand what kind of impulses were coming from this guy¡¯s chest. Having examined his chest with a scanner and analysis, I discovered traces of a surgical operation, very subtle and skillful. The scanner showed that his heart was much larger than it should have been, causing him severe chest pain. Also, his hands are different from each other, as if they were from different bodies, and his right eye has also been replaced, there are completely different DNA molecules there. It looks like someone conducted an experiment on him and released him into the wild. He is clearly an unusual native. Under current conditions, it is not possible to study it in more detail. I need a laboratory." "I see." I answered. "Wow." Meanwhile, Will was surprised. ¡°So... the natives can perform surgery?¡± Fred was skeptical about this. ¡°We have yet to find out, but I¡¯m not sure. You understand what their level of technological development is. They are a pre-space civilization and are unlikely to have the means and knowledge to perform complex surgical operations.¡± ¡°What about Magic?¡± Will suggested, but Fred just snorted in response. ¡°Magic is just a bunch of tricks performed with the help of science or simply an invention of all sorts of idealists who believe in the preservation of the soul after death. They are clearly using alien technology unknown to us, but they call it magic. This is natural for backward civilizations. If there was a tribal system here, they would call fire magic.¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s technology?¡± I asked Fred and he nodded. ¡°Yes, because I have no other explanation for this. Everything in our material universe has answers to questions, you just need to find them and then ignorance will not excite our fantasies. The same magic... is also part of the material universe and interacts with it according to principles unknown to us, but I¡¯m sure everything is much simpler than it seems, we just don¡¯t know it yet.¡± ¡°Magic may well be the cause of all the anomalies on this planet.¡± Will suggested. "We need to discuss this thoroughly." "How?" Asked Itami who appeared, and Will continued. ¡°Fred, you say that magic is just a technology that the natives use, but what does this technology do? Turns the planet into a hologram, where part of the population can modify it? Or allows the brain to control matter?¡± "I don''t know." Fred crossed his arms. ¡°At the moment, the justification of magic by unknown technology is the only logical explanation for everything that is happening here.¡± "I have another explanation." Forn said suddenly. ¡°What if magic is a completely new form of energy that only exists here?¡± Fred just laughed at these words and turned towards the Martian. ¡°You know, it¡¯s not difficult for me to spend whole hours retelling lectures on quantum physics, but I¡¯ll say it simpler: any new form of energy should have already changed this entire planet, the entire space around it, to the point of complete unrecognizability, and it¡¯s unlikely that even the usual laws of physics would exist for us now . I¡¯m saying this as simply as possible, but as I said, it¡¯s not difficult for me...¡± ¡°Yes, we understand you.¡± Will raised his hands to calm the senior medic. ¡°We have too little information to discuss this.¡± ¡°What I was talking about.¡± Fred snorted. ¡°We must continue to look for information, analyze it, and not make stupid guesses and believe them like some brainless idealists. We''re not going to fall even lower than the Elarasians, are we? "Right." Will said. ¡°Then let¡¯s discuss something else...¡± For some time we continued to discuss the details we heard from Incartia. The girl was still tied up, but at that time she was being spoon-fed by Sigrun while the rest of the captured natives were unconscious. It seems that the Alsian woman is ready to make friends with anyone on this planet since she enjoys a favorable reputation with everyone she can. I, in turn, was still too weak to discuss the details of our position on this planet and instead, waiting for the results of these discussions, I listened as Sigrun talked to the girl: "Delicious?¡± "Delicious." The girl nodded. "What is this?" ¡°Porridge from dry rations. I kept it for just such occasions. On other days we eat dried meat and drink purified water.¡± Sigrun sighed sadly. ¡°It tastes so disgusting.¡± ¡°Do you drink purified water? Do you have magicians?¡± Sigrun laughed at the girl¡¯s words. ¡°Ha ha ha~... no no no. We filter the water in these jars and purify it.¡± Alsian showed a special thermos that each of us had. "A? Are you doing this without magic? But... but how? ¡°There is not one among us who could use... magic. Where we come from, magic is not available to us.¡± "Can''t be!" ¡°But it''s true.¡± Sigrun smiled. ¡°Everything we have is made by human hands, and sometimes not always directly, but with the help of machines.¡± ¡°Machines? A? Exactly... I heard this word from my teacher... ?machine?, what does it mean? ¡°This is... uh, a mechanism... although I¡¯ll be honest, until you see it with your own eyes, you won¡¯t understand what a machine is.¡± Incartia lowered her head, but then decided to ask a question: ¡°If I may ask?¡± Sigrun already guessed what the girl wanted to ask: ¡°Why am I black?¡± ¡°Y-yes. It looks so strange. Is this some kind of disease? A curse?" Sigrun smiled again. "No. I was born this way. All people from my planet are like that.¡± ¡°Your ?planet?? A planet is a celestial body... so you¡¯re not from here?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m from another planet, like each of us.¡± Sigrun looked around the entire platoon. ¡°My planet is called ?Alsis?. It is so close to the star that it fries anyone who comes to the surface into a steak. The year there is short, and the planet itself practically does not rotate around its axis, being in tidal lock; in other words, day and night do not replace each other there.¡± ¡°Wait... I didn¡¯t quite understand... huh?¡± Before the girl had time to ask the question, Sigrun hugged the girl and quietly whispered in her ear: ¡°You still have time to understand everything, baby. I''m so sorry that you have to sit tied up now. Just wait a little and they will let you and your friends go too. Now just rest. You need strength." "¡­ Okay." Incartia answered quietly and closed her eyes. After Sigrun fed Incartia, she went to Stern to check his exoskeleton, although most likely also in order to get him out of it before Stern ended up in a kind of coffin, and at that moment I heard a female moan from a fair-haired girl. Will ran up to the sleepy Incartia and asked her for a favor: ¡°Can you be a translator for us?¡± ¡°O-of course. Yes." The girl answered half asleep. "So that''s great." Will said cheerfully and sat down opposite the second girl, not forgetting to point the barrel of the gun at her chest. The white-haired girl slowly opened her scarlet eyes and looked around, saying something, and then was surprised when she realized that she was tied to a tree trunk. At this moment, Incartia is also surprised, apparently because of the words that her friend said. "What''s the matter?" Will asked. ¡°She... she says: ?Who am I??. She doesn''t remember who she is." Incartia spoke with fear. Chapter 25. Mom, I want to go home What? Where I am? Who are these people? What''s happening? There were so many questions lurking in my head, and my head itself seemed to be rolling in circles, aching, and there was some strange ringing in my ears, as if someone was crawling in my head with needle-like legs and trying to break out. These people in front of me looked very strange in some kind of green spotted thick tunics, with large semicircular iron hats and with black fancy sticks in their hands. I didn''t know what it was and I didn''t care. I just wanted with all my heart to return home, as always. However, my dreams were not destined to come true. I was here and it was not a dream, but the pain felt throughout my body was real. Fear and misunderstanding tried to tear my heart out, whose beats drowned out everything around with each new blow, and what¡¯s worse, I was immobilized. "What?" I said out loud when I realized that I was tied up. ?These people... who are they and why did they tie me up?? I didn¡¯t understand, filled with waves of horror, making me fear these people more than ever, seeing in them only those who want to bring me harm. But besides this, my head was in a fog, my memories did not seem like my own, I did not understand them at all. They were so indescribable that I just tried to get them out of my head. Were they mine? If yes, then why don''t I understand anything? Why does it seem to me that I don¡¯t remember at all what I should? Who am I? What a stupid question? I am... I am... My thoughts were out of order, everything was mixed up in some kind of heap. I remembered how I behaved, how I lived, and I know for sure that I never uttered those words that I once said, or rather, I uttered them, but I definitely would not have said that. Are these my memories? "Who am I?" I said it out loud and the ringing in my ears gradually began to subside, as if the tenacious paws of a wild beast decided to retreat upon seeing another dangerous predator, which made me feel a little better, but this did not extinguish the fear growing inside me. Now I heard the noise of the forest, the rustling of leaves and birdsong, the voices of these strangers whom I did not understand, and then in my left ear I heard a question from some girl: ¡°Camelia, are you okay?¡± I turned my head to the left, which I actually did with great difficulty due to the fact that my hair was clinging to the bark of the tree. I didn¡¯t know who she was, but her blue eyes were so worried, so sincere, as if she was really worried about me, but I didn¡¯t know who she was and why she was so worried about me. Can I trust her? Is her trust in me sincere? "Who are you?" I asked her, but instead of answering, she rolled her eyes and said something to someone aside in a language I didn¡¯t understand. "What did you say?" ¡°You¡¯re not pretending, are you?¡± She asked me a strange question, quickly returning her attention to me. ?Pretend? Why should I pretend?? I thought and shook my head from side to side so that she would understand that this is not so. ¡°No... I''m not like that. Wait a minute, you didn¡¯t say who you are.¡± ¡°Camelia, what¡¯s wrong with you? You''re different." The girl said and blinked her eyes with fear on her face. ¡°They took away your memory...¡± "They? Who are they? Please tell me! I don¡¯t understand anything... I don¡¯t remember anything.¡± I said quietly, starting to tremble with fear more than ever. A feeling of absolute misunderstanding lurked within me. It was so scary to realize that part of your life was forgotten. The last thing I remember was running away into a cave from a terrible bad man. He wounded me in the stomach, and then... I heard a voice... what voice? At this moment, my memories are interrupted and yet I know that a lot of time has passed since that moment, but exactly how much time I did not know. ?What''s wrong with my voice?? I was surprised to realize that his sound had changed. ?It became so... loud, as if I had grown up. Have I grown up?? And indeed I have become older, more feminine and healthier. I didn¡¯t feel pain in my stomach, but I didn¡¯t remember absolutely anything more precisely, let alone what I should have done, what I was doing, and I don¡¯t even know what happened to my parents. I didn¡¯t understand what was going on at all! I was so scared... I so wanted to plunge into her arms. "Mother¡­" I whispered as my eyes filled with tears. Those moments flashed before my eyes. ¡°Camelia, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± The girl asked worriedly. "Where¡­~sob~ ¡­Mother?" Tears burned my eyes, I just wanted to close them, but a salty stream was just beginning to run down my cheeks, I sniffled, blew snot and generally couldn¡¯t help myself, just wanting to cry from pain. This is the only thing I could do now: sob helplessly. ?They killed her... no... I don¡¯t believe it.? I remembered sobbing. The most terrible moment in my life arose in front of me, the moment when that man pulled my mother out of the carriage and stuck his sword straight into her stomach, letting a lot of blood fall to the ground. I remembered how emptiness froze on her face, and she fell to the ground dead. She instantly became immobilized, as if she had fallen into a sleep forever, and that¡¯s basically what happened. I then barely had time to jump to my feet and also received a blow from the sword to my stomach. It was so painful, but with all my heart I wanted to run away from the nightmare that killed my mother, I ran into the cave despite the fact that I also really didn¡¯t want to leave my mother and hid among the dark stone cave teeth, but because of that pain in my stomach, I weakened and ... ...died. ?Am I...am I dead?? I widened my tear-filled eyes. It wasn''t like I was dead. I''m alive, but I was tied up. What happened? Why am I not in the cave? How did I end up in this forest? Why am I tied up? So who are these people? And who is she? She''s tied up too! "You! Who are you?!" Almost in panic, I shouted to her. The girl twitched from my screams and quickly blurted out to me: ¡°Incartia. I am Incartia, your... your mistress." ¡°Mistress? What?" I couldn¡¯t believe my ears, I froze from even greater misunderstanding. ¡°That is... not this... don¡¯t think the wrong thing.¡± She tried to make an excuse while strange people gathered around us. ¡°I just want to say that... I''m your friend. Calm down, otherwise they might kill you." "Who are they?" I turned to the people who surrounded me and looked at me sternly from all sides. "I don''t know." Incartia answered. ¡°They say they are from another world, but other worlds do not exist. I don''t understand what they want from me. Please, Camelia, just calm down and...¡± ¡°What do they want from me?!¡± I panicked, trying to somehow move and get out of here, but I was tied so tightly that my efforts were in vain. "Nothing." She whispered, and I gradually began to calm down from her answer. ?Nothing? So they won''t hurt me? Then why did they tie me up? Let them untie!? You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "O-okay." I said, calming down a little, taking deep breaths and exhalations, but alas, I couldn¡¯t calm my heart down like that, it continued to beat wildly. ¡°Tell them to untie me, I will behave well, honestly and will not run away.¡± ¡°Are you...are you serious?¡± The girl raised an eyebrow. "And what not? It hurts me. The ropes are very tight." ¡°We are prisoners. They won''t untie us." "Why? What have we done to them?!¡± I asked screaming while even more anxiety grew inside me. ¡°I... I¡¯m a good girl, I always obeyed mom, dad, and the maids too, I... I¡¯m not to blame for anything! I didn''t do anything wrong! Let them untie me!¡± ¡°Oh Sod, what¡¯s the matter with you?¡± The girl spoke and a loud scream arose inside my head. ?DON''T YOU DARE DAMAGE MY EARS IN THE NAME OF SOME HEAVENLY CRAP!? ?Aaaah~!!! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" I screamed and then closed in on myself. My consciousness disappeared somewhere, and the world around me changed, turning into a strange shimmering veil. I felt a little more freedom than I could afford, I could move my arms and legs, breathe freely and didn¡¯t even feel pain, but the world around me instantly changed. Above me hung a cloudless sky the color of scarlet blood, black sands under my feet that stretched from horizon to horizon, some orange peaks could be seen in the distance and I was standing naked in the middle of this whole strange place, and in the sky I could see a huge white eye with a black pupil that drilled into me with a firestorm that flowed across his iris. ¡°What it is? W-Where am I?¡± I looked around and didn¡¯t see anyone. "This is weird." I heard a woman¡¯s voice and turned back, seeing in front of me a tall naked woman with white and black striped hair, tied in a ponytail, curls that stretched in waves to her waist and floated in the air as if under water. Her body shape was perfect, like an hourglass, and her exquisite blue eyes sparkled, emitting a certain power that made me feel uneasy. She was confident, she was calm, she was wise and she was inquisitive and fierce at the same time. And I, a little girl, stood in front of her like an unknown flower, and she hovered over me, thinking about something. It seemed that I was in a trap, that I couldn¡¯t run away from her, I definitely couldn¡¯t here, as if some roots were stretching from her back and barely touching me, holding me in place. And inside myself I knew that there was nowhere to run and that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t try to run away anywhere. ¡°W-Who are you?!¡± I shouted, taking short, careful steps back. Her answer was immediate, very indifferent, as if it did not interrupt her thoughts about something for a moment. ¡°I am the one who lent myself your life. My name is Elpata and I am a master of war." "El-pa-ta?" I repeated her strange-sounding name, syllable by syllable. "Where I am?" ¡°Don¡¯t expect an answer, Camelia.¡± She said and squatted down in front of me, examining my face very close, almost close to my face. ¡°Hmm~... apparently I was careless. If I had Mekhanites, I would regain control of my body, but it seems that this is impossible now.¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± I was perplexed by her words. ¡°Is this the place you made? I want to leave here! Let me out!¡± "I think¡­" She said sternly, mysteriously looking me up and down. Honestly, in addition to fear, I was also embarrassed by her, and therefore I covered my private parts with my hands, but there was no reaction to this action. What kind of place was this? What is that scary eye in the sky? And why did I end up here? I see that she knew what this place was, she was at home here, or maybe she was used to being here. Doesn''t matter! I don''t feel comfortable here! "What do you want from me? I want to go home!" I shouted to her. Suddenly she snapped her fingers and said with a grin: ¡°I know what to do. I will bring you home if you do what I ask." "What?" I was surprised at the same time, hoping for a moment from her words. "Is it true?" "Pantorians never lie." She said. ¡°Lying is too much of a luxury for my people, but for yours it is a common tool of an outdated life.¡± I didn''t quite understand her, but she really seemed to be telling the truth. I didn¡¯t feel the lies in her words, as if she really was deprived of the opportunity to tell a lie. It seems to me that here I could not lie to her in response, as if I knew that nothing could be hidden here. "So what do you want?" I asked her again. ¡°You will receive instructions from me, and I will show you the way home to your father. He has been waiting for a long time, he has been looking for you for many years. Well, do you agree?¡± "Yes! I agree!" I answered without hesitation. The next moment, the scarlet veil fell, and I again found myself tied at the tree trunk, again feeling that oppressive lack of freedom of being tied to a tree. All around I could see the same view: strange people, a thicket of forest and the same tied up girl to my left. This time I did not feel the fear of misunderstanding from what was happening and instead I was surprisingly extremely calm. No fear. No hate. But there is no sympathy either. What a strange word... sympathy, where could I have heard it? However, I had no time for that now. I want to know what''s going on and go home to my father. He was waiting for me, he was looking for me and I miss him so much. I don¡¯t need to take deep breaths and exhales, I already felt unusually calm and I can also guess who could have done this. That woman from that place, it¡¯s as if she lives inside me somewhere in the middle of the corners of my consciousness. I still feel a huge hole inside me, she is soulless, emotionless, shared with me her coldness, and soon her thoughts: ?I will explain to you what happened during these five years...? I heard a beautiful female voice and my eyes almost widened when I mentally heard it. Five years? It''s been five years?! I thought it was much less... ?I lived your life to achieve my goal. I, just like you, wanted with all my body to return home, but after today¡¯s events, I realized that I would not be able to do this until I returned my own body.? Your body? So you''re dead? Wait! Are you... are you inside me? ?The concept of death is blurry for us, rather, I am still reasonable and have not succumbed to the influence of destructive forces in order to find myself in harmony before the due time. Think as you like, I don¡¯t have a body, but I really live inside you, more precisely inside your active part of the brain, and before that I lived instead of you, completely controlling your body.? And even though I was calm, fear was creeping up a little in my throat, my heart was pounding with fear after hearing the words. Her goal had nothing to do with me, she used my life, took it from me, and she still wants to use me to get her body back. I can¡¯t help but be angry with her for this, but she promised me that my father was alive and said that he was looking for me, which means I¡¯ll find him if I help her return to her body, although I can¡¯t imagine how this is possible, but if I follow her wishes, do what she wants, then I will get what I want. In the next moment, what seemed like hours to me, my head was filled with memories of the past five years of my life. During this time, I was sheltered by a forester who taught me magic, but Elpata, however, did not attach any importance to him despite the fact that he cared about me and I saw it in his gaze, this care, but instead of somehow thanking Sarg, she considered him for being a complete insignificance and left him, leaving him completely alone without even saying goodbye. She considered all people as such, without exception, she was disgusted with human life, she was disgusted with all human emotions, the feelings that they experience. She felt like a stranger here, completely adhering to her own life goal: the great order of things, whatever that meant. Now I knew what was happening. I was heading with the adventurers to the ruins of the dark ones, and that girl was our customer, a sorceress just like me, but I still had no idea who these people were until Elpata uttered a word in my head filled with great anger and incredible contempt for them. ?Earthlings.? At that moment, a new image appeared before my eyes. There were rubble, stone walls everywhere, explosions, the roar of gunfire, some sounds from the sky and people screaming in the distance. There was a war going on, and I... or rather Elpata, dressed all in black, was shooting blue fire from a stick in her hands, tearing people¡¯s bodies into pieces. In that image of her there were no emotions, there were no feelings, there was only a desire to fulfill the combat mission of cleansing the populated area at any cost. It was as if I was her at that moment, I remembered how I spotted a family fleeing for their lives, and even though inside I was scared, I knew what would happen if I pulled the trigger, but I did it anyway, because Elpata was not me, she was not me, she without any pity she incinerated people, and after that she didn¡¯t even pay attention to the charred torn bodies of this family falling down. She didn''t need them anymore. She killed these earthlings by the thousands, both soldiers and civilians, and now these earthlings whom she so mercilessly exterminated were here and tied me up, looking at me sternly as if I were an inveterate criminal whom they had finally caught. I felt fear again, I was afraid that they would come for me, I was afraid that they would kill me out of a thirst for revenge, I was afraid that they knew who I was... or rather Elpata. ?They gave us resistance.? She continued to speak to me mentally, showing me her own memories of how a terrible war broke out among the stars. ?They consider the old nature natural, fair, unchangeable. They fought to the last, did not believe that we could spare them, so that they could become part of the lower society and get the opportunity to become worthy, the right to this. It was fair on our part, we offered them peace, offered to accept our order, but they were full of anger, these emotional addicts, drunk on absolutely useless grief for people who were never family to them. They were wrong, they were stubborn, but we were careless and therefore lost miserably. And what¡¯s even worse is that you are exactly the same as them. You are a human too.? When Elpata finished, one dark-haired man sat down in front of me and said something, and that girl translated his words for me into a language I knew: ¡°He wants to know your name. Just say it, they''ll understand." ?You need to survive first, so obey and say what they want to hear from you. Tell them.? "Camelia." I said my real name, as my parents and everyone around me always called me, and then I swallowed my saliva as if I wanted to pretend to be scared. The man in front of me nodded a little and apparently said his name: "Itami." Then he asked me questions about who I am, where I¡¯m from, what I do, what country I live in, and I couldn¡¯t answer many of these questions. In general, I didn¡¯t fully understand who the earthlings were and how Elpata recognized them as earthlings and why she considered me the same as them. After all, other... humans also appeared in her image. ?The human species dominates the old nature, is its pinnacle, apogee.? Elpata spoke in my thoughts when the earthlings stopped interrogating me for a while.¡± ?It is not surprising that humans eventually spread across different worlds and, of course, separated. For humans, war among themselves is normal. Humans strive for diversity, but at the same time they are hypocrites, they always say that they hate war and want to be united, to live in peace and quiet, but they themselves allow populists to become presidents who destroyed the fate of millions by unleashing disastrous conflicts, constantly deceiving everyone own people. For humans this is normal, but for us it is not. We are higher than these unworthy ones, much higher than any life in the universe.? I don''t understand. Who do you mean when you talk about ?us?? ?People of Pantora. ? A woman answered me. ?Once upon a time, we were also humans, or rather the ancient founders of the Pantora colony. They fled from war, a symptom of human stupidity, cruelty, the old nature and, contrary to its limitations, built a new nature where there was nothing but bare stones and hurricanes sweeping away mountains. My people survived in terrible conditions, survived and returned to the stars stronger, united, honest than any humans, ideal, pure, truthful in their word and fair, but they... they did not change. We shouldn¡¯t have hoped that humans would get better, they didn¡¯t, they just continued to be those nonentities who pretend to be peace-loving, but themselves allow bloodshed on an unprecedented scale. Then, seeing the galaxy, their life, their depravity before themselves, we decided to build a great order and spread it throughout the universe..., but we failed.? Even though her words remained a strange stream of words for me, I still wanted to know what she really wanted, what she was so striving for that she was ready to use my body for her own purpose. What is the great order? Her answer was terrifying. ?Chaos is life, and order is death. We sought to build a great order, simply put kill all life in the universe, forever reversing the suffering of all life itself. All the people of Pantora consider it a just goal in our long existence, the meaning of our lives, to be part of a society that will once and for all destroy the old nature of life and loosen its grip.? Chapter 26. Message These two natives give me nothing but anxiety. Firstly, this is the second time that we establish contact with the natives so quickly due to the fact that they speak English, or rather one of them. Secondly, this is the first time that among the natives we find our own person, who not so long ago went missing before my eyes. Right now I was watching Ashwani sitting tied to a tree trunk and slowly starting to wake up. Having grunted a little in discomfort and opened his eyes, he began to whisper something under his breath in a language incomprehensible to us. This alone made us understand that this Ashwani was not the green earthling we had known for many years. It was a completely different person, albeit with the face of our missing friend. "Miro? Ho lre miro so?¡± ?Ashwani? hummed. ?Damn... he really is a native.? He looked around with an obvious lack of understanding of what was happening, and when he realized that he was tied up, he began to go into hysterics, jerking from side to side and shouting something in the language of the local residents. Fortunately, his hysteria did not last long and Incartia, with her quiet voice, was able to bring him to his senses by telling him something, but we still did not understand what exactly. This is what Itami demanded to explain from her, playing with a knife in his hands and looking at the dark-haired girl with a stern expression on his face: ¡°What did you just say to him?¡± The girl looked in fear at Itami, or rather at his knife in his hand, and clearly expected that for an inappropriate answer she would receive severe bleeding somewhere on the side, and perhaps immediately in her throat. That¡¯s why, with fear in her eyes, swallowing saliva and hiccupping, she said barely audibly: ¡°I... I asked him to calm down... I reassured him that he would be okay... and that was it.¡± This answer was acceptable to me, but not to Itami. ¡°Okay. What¡¯s wrong with her then?¡± Itami nodded towards the blonde Camellia next to her. Although she looked older than Incartia, she behaved like a really little girl and it seemed that even Incartia could not calm her down, no matter how hard she tried to do so. Camellia continued to sit, sway from side to side and whisper something under her breath, shaking her head from time to time. She acted as if she were mentally ill and almost went crazy from the shock she experienced. For a native woman who had never seen guests from outer space until today, this was quite expected, but her reaction still raised more questions than necessary. Incartia clearly expected completely different behavior from her and looked at her as if not recognizing her at all. "I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with her, I thought I¡¯d ask you about it." She answered the Incartia signalman and tilted her head questioningly while looking at Itami. ¡°Did you take away her memory?¡± "No." Itami answered, simultaneously surprised by the girl¡¯s words. ¡°How could we do this? Are we wizards? We can''t do that." ?More precisely, we don¡¯t have the funds for this now.? I noticed to myself. In response to the counter question, Incartia remained silent for some time and shook her shoulders as a sign of misunderstanding. Looking at Camellia again, she thought about something and answered, turning to Itami: ¡°But she doesn¡¯t even remember who we are.¡± The girl''s answer angered Itami, causing him to throw the knife with a click. Incartia, twitching, widened her eyes and the next moment froze when the sharp blade of the knife, with its tip, plunged into the tree trunk a centimeter from her head. After a couple of seconds, she took a deep breath into her chest and barely turned her head and saw the barely cut ends of her dark hair, realizing how close she had just been to death. Itami got angry not because of the girl¡¯s answer itself, but because of Camellia, who with her inappropriate behavior is only wasting our time on them. Her interrogation was supposed to take place immediately after the Incartia interrogation, but it looks like it will take longer than we expected. The signalman was tasked with finding out as much information as possible about Camellia, but apparently he will need to wait a little for her to come to her senses. We all knew how carrots and sticks work, and now our captives needed the carrot so that we could continue to extract from them the information we needed about this planet and the civilizations that inhabit it. "Okay, it''s not that important now." Itami leaned closer to Incartia and imperiously demanded action from her, hovering over the girl¡¯s frightened face. ¡°In this case, let Ashwani talk about himself. I want to know who he is, where he was born, how old he is, what he can do... preferably as much information as possible, everything he knows. And if he doesn¡¯t tell, we¡¯ll kill him. So tell him. You understood me?" Incartia nodded with fear on her face, and Itami pulled the knife from the tree trunk and moved away from her, squatting down and allowing the machine gunner to take better aim at her in case of unforeseen tricks. ¡°Since you understand me, now get started, I don¡¯t want to wait until you decide to tell about yourself.¡± Itami ordered her. Incartia turned her head towards the perplexed Ashwani and said something in him language. The native with the face of Ashwani looked at us strangely and then apparently told the girl everything he knew about himself, and after that Incartia calmly translated to us everything that he said to her. What she translated to us destroyed our hopes that this Ashwani was somehow connected with our missing friend. After her story, Itami and I moved away from the grove and somewhere behind the next tree we discussed with the entire platoon what Incartia had translated to us. Itami scratched his head, reminding us all of what she said: ¡°The son of a peasant, stole a horse, became an adventurer, loves money, excels with a sword... am I missing anything?¡± ¡°Basically, that¡¯s all she told us, everything else didn¡¯t matter.¡± Fred confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest. ¡°This Ashwani from your fantasies must really be somehow connected with him, otherwise I cannot explain such an amazing, extremely unlikely coincidence of names.¡± ¡°Maybe if we tell him about us, he will remember us?¡± Forn suddenly suggested, to which Fred only snorted skeptically. ¡°What nonsense. Even if he is the same Ashwani you are raving about, this Ashwani has a completely different set of memories. It could be the same bodily shell, rejuvenated, adapted to the ecosystem of this planet, but with a completely different consciousness.¡± ¡°Perhaps there is some kind of bodily memory?¡± Itami said. ¡°§° Elarasia.¡± Fred put his hand on his forehead, shaking his head and feeling ashamed at the signalman¡¯s words. ¡°What a dumbass you are. Bodily memory... this is anti-scientific nonsense refuted a thousand years ago. Don''t even try, it just won''t work." ¡°And yet it could be him...¡± Will interjected, but Fred continued to stand his ground, interrupting the sergeant. ¡°I don¡¯t care whether he really is a missing and somehow forgotten soldier of the army of the republic, deal with him yourself, without me. I hope you haven''t forgotten that we should unite with the rest of the 127th Army, and not chase non-existent ghosts? If not, then let¡¯s get back to interrogating the prisoners and finally move on instead of sitting around here.¡± "That''s enough, Fred." I said the senior medic. ¡°We should at least make sure that this Ashwani is a local resident and not an earthling.¡± ¡°Like I said, do it without me.¡± Fred waved his hand and left to join the rest of the platoon. ¡°I have a lot to do.¡± While Fred left to check the supplies of medicine, I noticed how Will, looking after the senior medic, clenched his hands into fists. He was angry about Fred''s behavior, angry about his doubts about Ashwani, but at the same time, he, like me, understood that Fred''s skepticism was valid. Fred, and perhaps the rest of the universe, have forgotten about Ashwani. His existence for them is the same fairy tale as the ¡°Eternal¡±, a deity allegedly generated by the Pantorians. Meanwhile, all I could do was sigh sadly and let everyone go and return to our prisoners. Coming out into the grove, I noticed the same picture when I left here, and immediately I turned my attention to the machine gunner who was lying on the grass and aiming his machine gun towards the prisoners and asked him: Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°No one was being capricious?¡± "No." The shooter answered extremely seriously, continuing to aim at the natives, without taking his eyes off them. ¡°But they talk too much.¡± "It''s clear. Continue to keep them at gunpoint, anyone will replace you soon.¡± "Yes, sir." Meanwhile, among the native captives, the big man also woke up, and it seems that when they all woke up, they immediately started an explanatory conversation among themselves. The machine gunner did not interfere with them, because there was no order to shut their mouths, and we were not going to hold them for a long time as prisoners. At a minimum, we need them as guides on this planet, even if they know no more than we do, we need their experience of living among the locals in case we have to hide among the natives, and I¡¯m sure sooner or later we will do that, but we also we can act differently, but this other course of action did not suit me at all, because it was bloody in nature. Itami continued the interrogation after some time and found out a number of interesting facts. Even if Incartia herself did not know the name of the country from which she was coming with her friends, but the local Ashwani, on the contrary, knew this well. Kingdom of Lacuus - that¡¯s the name of their country and unfortunately, that¡¯s all Itami managed to get out of the boy. No useful information about the size of the state, culture, language, level of development, life, political structure and the like. Politically, these natives were extremely uneducated, they were simply simple representatives of the people, the lower class and nothing more, they were not supposed to know anything more, and there was nowhere to know. The last big native who woke up was called Furgur and his voice seemed extremely rude to us and it was clear that Incartia tried not to translate all his words, apparently due to the abundance of insults and spitting in our direction. Every time Furgur looked at us, he contorted his face with anger and contempt and did not waste a second without trying to break out of prison. Furgur himself was only a simple mercenary, a veteran of the fighting between the native factions and was an excellent archer based on his story. We obviously didn¡¯t dare test his abilities, and especially after his words, Itami had to threaten him through Incartia to stop trying to escape, otherwise he would have to be killed. As a result, he did not listen to her and continued to try to escape, as a result of which Itami took out a stun gun and, approaching him, forced the native to finally stop his actions, leaving him twitching in place from the shock. The last person we interrogated was Camellia, that same inadequate blonde girl, and fortunately she came to her senses much faster than we expected and told us more about herself than anyone else. According to her, she is a free sorceress and adventurer who travels the world in search of power. It was much easier to talk about her this way than the whole biography that she blurted out to us. And although she tried to look like a stern and unyielding girl, her expressive eyes revealed her fear to us. In general, after interrogating each and every one, we found out the general purpose of their being here: all these natives were heading northwest to the crash site of the ?Persia? for research purposes and to contact us. Well, they coped with the second task with a bang, but they will have to wait with the first, mainly because we already blew up the shuttle when we were escaping from the white knights of a certain ?Empire? and it is unlikely that they would be able to find anything useful there other than debris and burnt territory. I would like to find out more information about Ashwani, but I¡¯m afraid that what they managed to tell us is the most that we could get out of them. Now we had to decide their fate. Should we try to use Incartia as a translator and establish contact with the kingdom of Lacuus, or get rid of witnesses and continue our journey to the east, trying not to catch the eye of the natives? Maybe at first glance the first option looked more attractive, but it was more risky than trying to pass through the territory of the kingdom without the eyes of the natives. What if this kingdom has friendly relations with this Empire? Then there is a high probability that these natives will simply betray us or maybe simply not provide any help. As a result, we risk shedding much more blood than by not making contact at all. ?This is a difficult choice.? I thought to myself. ?Very difficult choice... what to do?? I walked closer to Incartia and squatted down opposite her. She is clearly afraid of my appearance; she sees in front of her not a person, but a terrible mummy wrapped in bandages. It was still hard for me after the poisoning, and also that strange dream in some musty building. I could barely walk, so Stern and Will helped me, supporting me as I moved. As soon as I sat down opposite Incartia, Will and Stern walked away without further disturbing me. I will have to decide the fate of these natives, but before that I decided to ask the girl a very important question: ¡°What should I do with you?¡± Incartia was surprised by my question. It looked like she wanted to say something, but was clearly afraid that I would quickly shut her up, so I pushed her to answer: ¡°Don¡¯t be silent, say what¡¯s on your mind.¡± Whether to kill her or not depends only on her. It is unlikely that I will be able to recruit her as a translator if she herself does not want it. If she doesn''t want to be her, then we won''t waste any more of our precious time on them and just kill her and her friends at the same time. Incartia kept her mouth open and when she finally spoke, I raised an eyebrow, because what she told us was not exactly what I expected to hear from her: "My teacher wanted to give you a message." "A message?" I asked again and Incartia nodded in response. "Yes. My teacher wanted to convey to you the following: ?May you not be dark guests from the stars who have brought only suffering and evil to our world. Peace and prosperity to you, travelers of the void?.¡± At that moment the girl closed her eyes, finishing the message with words incomprehensible to us. ¡°Esquelero-maoiti ekleros sigai.¡± At that moment, the world seemed to freeze for a moment, all sounds disappeared, all the moisture around condensed into droplets hanging in the air, all feelings turned into emptiness, the temperature around suddenly dropped sharply. Only the last picture hovered before my eyes, where strange, barely visible waves floated over Incartia, as if they were moving only through her body. I did not have time to realize this, because my mind at that moment was occupied with something else, namely, what I had just managed to react to. ?What are those strange words at the end?? I was thinking in the meantime and intuitively rushed to the side when strange green lines began to envelop my body, appearing out of nowhere. "SIR, RUN!" Suddenly the machine gunner behind me shouted. When I fell sideways on the grass, the shooter fired a machine-gun burst. The crack of gunfire echoed throughout the forest, but none of the fired shells reached their target. The red-hot bullets hovered in the air a few millimeters from Incartia¡¯s face. The girl widened her eyes when she realized that she had almost died, and meanwhile the red-hot shells fell to the ground as if they had simply been released from invisible hands, and that they had been caught. Meanwhile, luminous green threads, like tiny snakes hovering in the air around me, crawled under the bandages and skin and strangely enough began to modify my body. At that moment I realized that I did not have time to react to the danger in time. With her command of strange words, she began to influence my body, and alas, I could not do anything about it. Some processes had already been launched and I could only wait for their outcome, and perhaps one of these outcomes was my death. The inevitability of current processes plunged me into a state of insane panic, realizing that I could not do anything about it. I just can¡¯t stop this process, no matter how hard I try to throw off this swarm of green lines. I was terrified, feeling a strange burning sensation all over my body, I tried to shake off this snake heap from myself, but they seemed to be completely impervious to matter, my hands simply passed through them, and I could not do anything about it. And although I was now in a panic, I also seemed to have stopped feeling the enormous weakness in my body, which is why I came to my senses a little and finally jumped to my feet when all these green lines disappeared from my field of vision. The burning sensation throughout my body stopped and yet I did not understand what had just happened. I, turning my head towards the girl and filled with fear of her, wondered: did she just try to kill me? My heart was racing, I longed to know the answer to my own question. Should I kill her right here and now? What was she even trying to do to me? I didn¡¯t know the answer and therefore I loomed over her threateningly with anger in my voice and demanded an answer from her, having managed to start shouting: "What have you done?!" "I?" The girl mumbled with a blank expression on her face. ¡°I just... just conveyed the teacher¡¯s words, I didn¡¯t mean to... I mean...¡± She fell silent when I suddenly pressed the barrel of my pistol to her temple. The last thing I needed right now was to listen to mumbo jumbo, which is why I was angry, very angry. I can''t let the whole platoon fall for another trap. I will not allow Republicans to die on this planet again. This time I will finish her off if I am not satisfied with the answer! ¡°You better tell me in a good way what you just did, otherwise your brains will splatter on the faces of your friends! SO ANSWER IMMEDIATELY!¡± Incartia''s reaction to my words was immediate. She instantly rolled her eyes out of their sockets, squeaking in fear after the words I uttered, and a moment later she closed those same eyes, trembling with fear like a hammer drill, and while I was hanging over her I realized something that for some reason I didn¡¯t immediately understand. I felt much better, it seemed that the bandages were gradually falling off my swollen skin, as if I had just been miraculously healed. This fact slightly reduced my fear, my panic and my anger. It could definitely affect my body, it could definitely kill me, but instead of pain, instead of imminent death, I felt better than I had the last few days. ?This... is strange...? I thought and removed the barrel of the gun from her temple. ?I''m still alive.? I stepped aside while a platoon gathered around me and aimed with all our arsenal towards the captured natives. Even the fugitives were no exception and stood behind the guys with their fists ready to attack the uninvited guests. Incartia, meanwhile, began to sob, she squealed and whimpered like a helpless puppy, flooding her red face with tears. At that moment, another figure in the orange uniform of naval engineers ran up to her. Will, standing next to me, wanted to stop Sigrun from seemingly rash actions, but I blocked his path with my hand, as if letting him know that he should not disturb her. "She needs to calm down." I said in a calmer voice. "What?" Meanwhile, the alarmed Will was perplexed. ¡°You almost died! How can you say such a thing?! What if this bitch kills her?! Then Sigrun will die because of you, do you understand that?!¡± At that moment, I tore the bandages off my face and stood facing my entire platoon, loudly giving the order to everyone: ¡°Put your weapon down. That''s an order." "What the?!" Fred was surprised, along with the whole platoon, staring at me. ¡°Has your skin recovered yet? How?!" I turned towards Incartia and Sigrun, who was rocking her to sleep. They sat hugging while the engineer tried to calm the girl down, and meanwhile I said out loud: ¡°She didn''t mean to harm me, she just healed me. So put your weapon down." Reluctantly and not immediately, but all the platoon soldiers, after hearing the words, eventually lowered the muzzles of their rifles, convinced of my words by my healthy appearance, and only one machine gunner continued to aim at the natives, and meanwhile, watching the touching scene, I was filled with a number of new questions in my head . ?She had the opportunity, she could have killed me. I don¡¯t know what kind of tricks these natives are doing, but she really could have killed me, but why did she heal me instead?? I thought, simultaneously watching how Sigrun calmed the girl by whispering in her ear: ¡°Hush, little one, calm down, everything will be fine, you will live, they won¡¯t touch you. I''m here, I won''t let them hurt you." ?You know how to reassure, Sigrun.? I thought, seeing how Incartia was gradually coming to her senses after Sigrun¡¯s soothing words. Sniffling, the girl continued to say the same words, over and over again: ¡°I really... didn¡¯t know... I didn¡¯t know... forgive me... I didn¡¯t know... really...¡± Chapter 27. We were tested "Completely healthy." This was the conclusion Fred made after a full examination of my body. ¡°There¡¯s not even slight atmospheric poisoning, as if you¡¯ve just adapted to the ecosystem of this planet.¡± ¡°This can¡¯t be true.¡± I was surprised, simultaneously examining myself, unclenching my fingers to better convince myself of Fred¡¯s words. ¡°Unfortunately, instruments don¡¯t lie.¡± ?Unfortunately?? I didn''t understand this phrase. It was hard to believe, but it seemed like what Fred said was true. I no longer needed Will and Stern''s help to get around, I was completely healthy and, moreover, somehow adapted to the local ecosystem, although this required me a significant amount of time. And although internally I was glad that I was not on the verge of death, I was still worried about the issue with Ashwani. Considering what Incartia most likely did to me unknowingly, it is quite possible that someone or something did something similar to Ashwani. What if he was kidnapped? What if they conducted some kind of experiment on him and then released him into the wild? Or maybe he is already dead and perhaps the consciousness of this Ashwani is too different from the consciousness of our Ashwani? There were too many questions and of course I didn¡¯t know the answer to all of them. ?How the hell I hate it when, in search of an answer to one question, I ask a thousand more questions.? I complained to myself as I sat eating disgusting-tasting dried meat instead of rations. According to Fred: I was now contraindicated from eating rations and instead, from now on I only needed the local diet. Even though I was grateful to Incartia for curing me like that, but now I was angry with her for depriving me of civilized food, the reserves of which, although they remained, were in very limited quantities. Fred is now given a new task: to develop a drug that will re-adapt me to army rations, which is now an impossible task to complete, which means I will have to wait for some time until Fred has a laboratory again, and before that it is obviously a very long time. What¡¯s even worse is that I had to wait until sunset when Incartia finally calmed down after my threat. Frankly, I felt a little guilty for putting so much pressure on the girl, even though it was natural on my part in the situation that arose at that time. No one condemned me for that action, not even Sigrun, who lulled the girl in her arms and promised to protect her from us. Unfortunately, when Incartia fell asleep, we lost the only translator among the natives and the machine gunner had to play staring contest with the prisoners while the latter, in turn, communicated with each other, still not understanding what was happening at all. And now, when the girl woke up again, Sigrun came to her, sitting down next to her and speaking, putting a smile on her face, and meanwhile I stood with my arms crossed on my chest, leaning my back against the tree on the other side and listened to their conversation. I needed to hear from her the answer to the question and Sigrun promised that she would get the words we needed out of her. I want to know in full detail what happened and decide how to react to it. Can she be trusted or not, should she be killed or should she be spared and released? ?Let''s see what she says.? I decided for myself and fell silent, carefully listening to everyday conversation through the noise of rustling tree branches. ¡°Hello, little one, how did you sleep?¡± The black girl said affectionately, handing into the girl¡¯s hands a green fruit somewhat similar to an earthly apple, and I was slightly surprised to hear in response a confirmation of my analogy. ¡°This is my apple!¡± The girl said in surprise. "I know. I took it out of this bag." Sigrun picked up the girl''s little thing. ¡°Is this really an apple? Is it even edible?¡± "Yes." The girl nodded and decided to offer it to the engineer. "Want to try? I collected them in the teacher''s garden. His apples are always so sweet that I even took them on a hike.¡± ¡°I already ate, but you slept for several hours, you need to eat.¡± Incartia¡¯s stomach began to growl at that moment, after which the girl said in frustration: ¡°You... you''re right. I''m hungry." ¡°Then open your mouth.¡± ¡°Can you untie my hands?¡± ¡°Sorry, but this is not my responsibility.¡± Sigrun spoke in a sad tone. ¡°You will have to eat what I give you from my hands. So will you open your mouth or not?¡± Their conversation was immediately interrupted by another girl who mumbled something in her own language. Incartia answered her something, and after hearing the words she fell silent, no longer interfering in the conversation between the young sorceress and the ship engineer. ¡°Did she ask you something?¡± Sigrun became interested. "Yes." The dark-haired girl nodded. ¡°She wanted to know when you would let us go.¡± Sigrun had to sigh sadly this time before giving a disappointing answer: ¡°Whether you will be free or not, this decision depends on Boris. He is the most important here and only he can decide what to do with you.¡± "I see." Incartia said quietly with annoyance in her voice and after she took a bite and chewed a piece of apple in her mouth, she asked the engineer a question. ¡°Miss Sigrun, do you think he¡¯ll let us go?¡± I almost grinned when I heard ¡°Miss¡± from the girl and it seems Sigrun herself did too. "Miss?" The black woman giggled. ¡°Firstly, please, let¡¯s do it without these ancient formalities, and secondly, I think he will let you go. You cured him, and he is kind to those who once helped him.¡± ?And yet I don''t trust her.? I mentally emphasized to myself that I was skeptical about Sigrun¡¯s words. ¡°Cure?¡± Incartia was perplexed. "How? I don''t know how to heal. Master never taught me the way of healing. I... I don''t understand." ¡°Me too, to be honest.¡± Sigrun answered seriously. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Perhaps your teacher did this?¡± "No." The girl answered affirmatively. ¡°Then he wouldn¡¯t have sent me to you.¡± ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± ¡°The teacher would never do this... probably.¡± ¡°Still, you''re not sure.¡± Sigrun grinned, handing the girl a flask of water. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, all questions will be answered sooner or later.¡± "Huh?" Incartia was surprised by something. "So strange. You... that is, you said it also as a teacher.¡± "Is it true? So he and I are similar?¡± ¡°Well, no... he... he''s just very old.¡± Sigrun just laughed out loud this time. She was greatly amused by the girl¡¯s words and made Sigrun almost fall backwards laughing onto the thick grass of the captivating grove. ¡°Ha-ha-ha~! Of course, that¡¯s not what I meant, but thanks for clarifying.¡± The black woman spoke. While the young sorceress and the ship¡¯s engineer were joyfully communicating with each other, standing on the other side of the tree, I thought: ?If it wasn¡¯t her, then who healed me? Moreover, who was able to protect her with these tricks? Are there really outside observers nearby? This is unlikely, otherwise the scanner would have detected them, but then what was it? Maybe someone is still watching us, albeit in a slightly different way?? I continued to stand, leaning my back against the tree, perplexed by what was happening, and soon decided to leave the captivating grove, returning to the camp of our platoon, where Itami was waiting for me, teaching at that very moment a native couple in the form of Alza and Ripun new English words, sitting under a huge oak tree on its own root . Surprisingly, Itami now began to teach the natives how to construct complex sentences. Despite the fact that we have a translator in the person of Incartia, it seems Itami decided not to immediately trust the girl and continued teaching the natives English in order to further try to establish contact with the local civilization. I came out from behind the bushes and greeted the trio, waving my palm: "Hi guys." "Greetings, Boris." Alza and Ripun answered in unison, turning in my direction. A grimace of surprise was reflected on my face when they said these words. They said it so clearly and naturally as if they could actually learn English, and the orange-eyed Ripun even continued with a more complex sentence, albeit pronouncing each next word with a strong accent: ¡°Boris, should you be healthy? Brasahrun to treat?¡± ¡°Brasahrun?¡± I raised an eyebrow, not understanding the word from the native. Itami and I looked at the couple strangely, and Ripun, apparently realizing that we did not understand the word he spoke, went to explain: ¡°Brasahrun uses power sahrun. Brasahrun can blow, burn, float, heal, revive, disappear and another." ¡°These Brasahrun of yours can do a lot.¡± Itami said and suddenly realized something. "A! So Brasahrun is essentially a magician, and sahrun is magic.¡± ?What? How did he come to this?? I was perplexed while Ripun nodded in the affirmative in response and continued: ¡°You speak magician. The magician does everything with the power sahrun, that is, magic on your tongue. Magician to heal Boris?¡± Ripun asked turning his head towards me. ¡°Perhaps it is so.¡± I answered thoughtfully. ?Maybe the magician healed me, but she said it wasn¡¯t her doing... maybe she lied to me? It¡¯s unlikely that her tone and facial expressions indicated that she was telling the truth, and her fast pulse was quite stable. She didn''t lie to us, which meant that it really wasn''t her doing.? It was I who decided to voice Ripuna: "She said she couldn''t heal." Ripun, hearing my answer, tilted his head to the side questioningly. "Couldn''t? Is she apprentice? Or is she not magician? Does she heal like doctor?¡± The native asked and I answered. "She''s a apprentice." ?Indeed, she was talking about her teacher. Maybe he is somehow connected to all this, and we just don¡¯t know it? But if it was he who healed me and at the same time protected his student, then why is he hiding? Doesn''t he trust us? Then why did he send his student to us? Maybe he is confident that he can protect her? Or maybe he doesn¡¯t have friendly intentions towards us at all, and not only towards us, but also towards his student, leaving her to the mercy of fate?? At that moment, I remembered the words that Incartia said. ?He knows that we came here from space. How does a native know this? Has he already seen people like us? Who are these dark ones mentioned in the message? I don¡¯t know, but he definitely knows the answer to this question. Now I''m starting to guess... he just wants to make sure that we can be trusted.? I thought and decided to do something and returned to the grove, where the prisoners continued to sit under the gunner¡¯s gun. At that moment I approached Incartia and hovered over her. Frightened blue eyes widened at the sight of my serious face. She opened her mouth trying to say something, but instead of words she just swallowed saliva and looked away. ?She is afraid of me... if only you knew, just as we are now afraid of all of you.? I was thinking and squatting in front of Incartia, I voiced out loud my thoughts that I had been holding in my head for a long time: ¡°On Earth, on my home planet, I still have a younger sister your age, her name is Christina. The last time I saw her, she was tiny, barely reaching my belt. She has beautiful blue eyes that glow in the dark and snow-white curls of hair, like our mother. Even when she was little, I knew that she would become a beauty and that she would have the best life that she could live. Maybe she will become an actress, or maybe a journalist, or maybe she will follow in her parents¡¯ footsteps and even become a professor, researcher or something else. I don¡¯t know what she will choose, what path in her life she will choose, but I hope she will not follow in the same footsteps as me, stepping on the same mine.¡± Incartia raised her gaze in my direction, listening carefully to my story. She was curious to know why I was telling her this. However, not only did such a question arise in her head, but also the machine gunner behind me back. ¡°I am the most clueless son in my family.¡± I continued. ¡°No talent, no abilities, not even worthy friends. I was afraid that I would disgrace my parents with my mediocrity, that I wouldn¡¯t be able to become as smart as them, and I really couldn¡¯t. I am a slow-witted person whom the universe has never seen before, I was shamefully thrown out of the Academy of Natural Sciences and I had nothing left to do except vegetate through life as an unemployed, absolutely useless mouth among billions of working people with goals and desires in their lives. This is not the kind of son I wanted to be, not at all, and that¡¯s why I decided to go serve in the great army of humanity.¡± This is how I remember the moment when my parents consoled me, said that I still have roads along which I can go and find something to do with my life, and I sat in my room and watched holographic films out of idleness. I didn''t want to live like that, without leaving the confines of one box, I was given life and I didn''t want to waste it. What have my parents achieved, what will my younger sister achieve, and what will I achieve? I am a stupid idiot, incapable of banal natural sciences. This depressed me: everyone has roles in their lives, everyone is happy with it, but I couldn¡¯t do anything, didn¡¯t know how to do anything and was wasting my time. What could I do in this case? Only military service. My parents were silent for a long time when I told them this, and Christina, due to her age, did not even understand whether this was good or bad. Mom and Dad knew very well that being a soldier is very dangerous, especially in an era when a full-scale interstellar war with Fucult could break out at any moment. They were afraid that they would lose me and I understood their feelings, but at least I had a purpose, a meaning for my life. If I could not benefit people, then in that case I will protect them, that¡¯s what I decided for myself, that¡¯s why I¡¯m here far from home: I protect them. ¡°Let our planet be the safest place in the universe, but this is only now. Who knows, maybe in the future our world will be besieged by a fleet of black ships, and the destroyer of worlds will fly after them and, with just its threatening appearance in the sky, will bring all of humanity to its knees, forcing all people to desperately pray for their own enslavement for the sake of survival. This has happened before, and no one... no one wants this to happen again, and I don¡¯t want it either. I don¡¯t want any war, that¡¯s why I serve in the army as a simple soldier. Therefore, I am here on your planet looking for a way to get out of here, return home to my family and continue to protect them in the far corners of our state of the Republic of Earth. Each of us is here precisely because of this, and therefore I ask you, the inhabitants of this planet, to help us get out of here.¡± Incartia''s face at that moment showed shock at what she heard. She clearly had no fewer questions for us than we had for her, but the words that we, her captors, needed her help clearly unsettled the girl. ¡°W-what?¡± All she could do was stutter and say Incartia. "What do you want from me? And why me?¡± I answered her with a sigh: ¡°Because only you know our language. It is very important for us to establish contact with your people so that we can safely return to space to our home. We on your planet have already come into contact, but those with whom we met attacked us and killed many of our people. Because of this, we grabbed you, because we were afraid of you, afraid that you could do the same to us. We have lost confidence in our superiority to your people, and therefore, despite the hostility shown, I decided to offer cooperation. And when I told you all this, what will you answer me?¡± Incartia became thoughtful, darting her eyes from side to side. With my words, I suddenly made her very important until she asked me something in confusion. ¡°I... I have to talk to my friends.¡± "Fine." I nodded, fully understanding that they needed to discuss this, but before Incartia could begin the discussion, I turned towards the machine gunner and gave the order. ¡°Put the safety on and remove the barrel. Will, untie them." ¡°Hey, what are you thinking?¡± Will suddenly objected, and meanwhile I, looking at the vegetation around me, answered. ¡°We have been tested all this time.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Forn intervened and suddenly aimed his assault rifle at the rustling bushes from which a new figure emerged. "Stop!" ¡°So you finally showed up.¡± I crossed my arms over my chest, seeing in front of me an elderly native dressed in a gray robe with a long gray beard and a strange large hat hiding his gaze, holding a long wooden staff in his right hand "Greetings, guests from heaven." The old man said while behind Forn the platoon formed a line and aimed at all kinds of weapons except me. ¡°I¡¯ll introduce myself to you right away, my name is Granid.¡± Chapter 28. Requirements For the first normal contact, we made some concessions, one of which was the release of prisoners. By this action we demonstrated to the inhabitants of this world that we are not here as invaders on these lands and do not have any aggressive intentions against them. This gesture on our part should reduce the tension that has arisen between us, and apparently we succeeded. The natives were clearly glad that they were freed from their bonds and did not even try to make a rash act in the form of escape. They calmly accepted our gesture, which made me very happy. At this point, we all split into two groups to finally negotiate once we finally had the opportunity, all thanks to the ability of a couple of natives to understand our language with the help of a strange phenomenon known as magic. On the one hand, there was me and my entire platoon, and on the other hand, an old man dressed in a gray robe introduced himself to us under the name Granid, and behind him sat the freed prisoners and fugitive natives. Behind me stood the men of platoon C1-2-2-D4, holding their weapons at the ready. Despite the fact that I gave the appropriate orders, there is still some paranoia among us about the likely hidden hostility of these natives towards us, and this paranoia was completely understandable to me. None of us had previously expected that Yasmi would decide to attack John at the time of negotiations, and therefore we expected the same now, but this time our position with the natives was equal, and not dominant as three weeks ago. However, in order to successfully leave these lands and connect with the entire 127th Army, we do not need to break through these lands in battle, especially when our ammunition was running out. We need to extract maximum benefit from these negotiations and minimum interference in the lives of the natives. The first thing I did was introduce myself again, and this time in much more detail than before. Raising my gaze towards the natives, sitting on the grass in the lotus position in an even voice, I began to say: ¡°My name is Boris Kipito, a man from planet Earth, I serve in the Republic Armed Forces of Mankind in the temporary rank of junior lieutenant and currently lead this platoon.¡± Incartia, capable of understanding our language with the help of a trick, translated what I said into two languages, in one language for her friends and teacher, and then again into the language of the fugitive natives. After this, whispers began among the natives, especially among the fugitives. It seems that my presentation raised a lot of questions, and nevertheless, an old man named Granid, after slightly touching his beard, also decided to introduce himself to us in a new way: ¡°My name is Granid and I was born in this world, I live in this forest as a free magician. It''s nice to meet you, guests from heaven." I nodded as a sign of understanding his words and at the same time restrained myself from shaking his hand; it is quite possible that on this planet there is no such diplomatic tradition as a handshake and this gesture could at least be perceived as strange. Unlike the natives, our guys did not need a translation into English, since Granid spoke it anyway. In general, the beginning of the negotiations was quite productive, which I was immensely happy about, but I was embarrassed by the fact that I was communicating with a simple representative of this planet, and not a trusted representative of a specific civilization of this planet. That is, sooner or later we will have to negotiate again, but this time with representatives of native states, if there are any of course, the Empire does not count, because we are in a state of conflict with them. Nevertheless, we still need to start somewhere, so we had nothing to complain about. We need at least guides, because it is quite possible that our presence will not even have to be fully revealed in order to safely pass through these lands. I will return to this issue once I have explained to them our current situation, which is what I intend to do. ¡°I have already said this, but I will repeat what I said earlier. We unwittingly ended up on your planet and ask for your help to leave it. We have no desire to conquer and change the current life of the inhabitants of this planet, and nevertheless we deeply apologize for our mistake.¡± The old man raised his palm as a sign of understanding and answered us in a hoarse voice: ¡°I''m not Sod to accept your apology, but I would like to know two things. First of all, how are you going to leave our world? And secondly, what error are you talking about?¡± ?Several weeks have passed, but so far there are no consequences of the crash of ?Zeus?. Maybe that''s why he doesn''t understand what I mean?? I thought, deciding to explain myself. ¡°I think I can answer two of your questions at once. The fact is that we travel through space on huge ships, crossing vast distances between planets and stars. Interplanetary flights can last for weeks, if not whole months, and flights between stars can take tens of years, and in order to reduce the time for these flights, our ships jump into another dimension into the so-called subspace and through it we travel to another star much faster than in ordinary space. ? The faces of Incartia and Granid reflected misunderstanding and this is not surprising. It is unlikely that the primitive inhabitants of the planet can understand how a person who has mastered space flights makes these very space flights. To explain this to them, we need to explain almost from scratch how celestial mechanics work, why ships can go into orbit, what weightlessness, gravity, radiation, subspace, maneuvers, cosmic phenomena and everything else related to space are. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have time for this, so I tried to explain everything in as simple a language as possible, despite the fact that I used terms unfamiliar to them, which apparently were untranslatable for them. Meanwhile I continued: ¡°So our ship flew through subspace, but for some unknown reason it was thrown out of there straight onto your world and after that the captain of the ship gave the order for evacuation. I don¡¯t understand this well, but it seems that the captain simply did not have time to change the flight path, which is why such an order was given. Our entire army was evacuated on shuttles, and the ship, having lost its crew, crashed on the other side of the planet and most likely... with great probability... destroyed all life on the other side of your world. The consequences of this collapse will be catastrophic for your world. Millions of people who could live there could become victims. I told you about this mistake.¡± After this, the old man frowned on his face, and while Incartia was translating all this, her eyes widened and widened. The natives were also surprised at the translated words of Incartia, although I¡¯m sure few of them understood part of my words, and this despite the fact that I tried to simplify this story as simply as possible. I didn¡¯t tell them that we had been flying to this planet for several weeks, but said that we immediately fell out of subspace above this planet. Nevertheless, the real reason for the evacuation of the ship, unfortunately, is unknown to me for certain, John knew it, but he, unfortunately, died without sharing the basic information with the rest of the regiment about the reasons for the evacuation, so I further thought of a realistic scenario, namely loss of control by ship. I honestly don¡¯t know why the ship was unable to enter orbit, or at least simply did not fly past the planet, but instead, for some unknown reason, left orbit and crashed on the surface. Apparently the computer made a mistake with the calculations, or maybe... some unknown force artificially sent our cruiser directly to the planet. It was stupid to make guesses here and therefore I did not make them further, because we ourselves needed more information about this planet. I gave the natives some time so that they could think over the words I had spoken and after that I continued, explaining to them our further actions: ¡°Our shuttle broke away from the main army when it landed on the surface of your planet, and we fell very far behind the rest of the group, collapsing into an anomalous forest with toxic sediment. Few of us managed to survive. Behind me are all those who were able to survive the last three weeks, and at the time of evacuation from the ship there were five hundred of us.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "We''re sorry for your loss." Granid bowed his head and continued listening to me. ¡°Our current task: connect with the 127th Army upon arriving at the landing site, and then begin construction of a new ship to leave your planet. The army command must have information for such a complex project, so it is quite possible, but this process may take a significant amount of time... probably ten years is the minimum, but before that we need to lead our platoon through these lands further to the east. Immediately I wanted to repeat my question again: will you help us?¡± "I''m afraid not." Granid answered quickly, but after some time he thought about it and decided to offer something. ¡°If you need our help, then help us too.¡± ¡°But we are not going to interfere with your¡­¡± The old man, however, interrupted me with a stern look and also sternly saying the following: ¡°You are guests here, this is not your home, you were not born here, you are strangers here, that¡¯s why the spirits avoid you. They do not know souls who were not born in these parts. Do you want to return to your people after passing through these lands? Well, you are already wandering through this forest as long as I allowed you to be here, and you did not shed a drop of blood in this forest, but what about other lands? You do not know the words of our language, nor other languages ??of our world, you do not know the foundations of our world and its laws, you know nothing about magic and its nature, but still you dare and ask us for help. You must understand that you can¡¯t just get meat, so know that you won¡¯t go any further as long as you don¡¯t want to pay something.¡± This is what we were afraid of: retaliatory demands. If, after returning to the Republic, because of active interference in a primitive civilization, we are sent to court, then their help is not worth it and it is better for us to move east without anyone¡¯s help. However, we are at great risk of entering into a conflict simply because we do not know the language of the inhabitants of this planet. We risk making our path much more difficult with our non-intervention and increasing the likelihood of losses, which I cannot afford. I wanted to avoid interference, but right now we are being forced to help them, and it doesn¡¯t matter whether our help is significant or not, it is in any case a factor of active interference in the lives of the natives, a violation of black protocols. ?Fuck!? I twisted my face out of frustration. ?I was left with no choice.? "Okay." I said and rose to my feet. "We understand." I turned towards the platoon, seeing the perplexed faces of the guys. They clearly did not expect that they would put demands on us, and yet we have no other choice. This man is a magician, he can burn us with a snap of his fingers, his paranormal abilities are colossal and it is simply pointless to resist him in this situation. Maybe some of my guys also understood this, but still no one thought that we would stoop to the level of fulfilling the demands of a representative of a primitive, backward civilization. I wasn¡¯t happy about it either, but still we had no other choice, especially if we wanted to return home. ¡°Guys, you heard everything perfectly. However, I want to know what you think about it? Should we help the inhabitants of this planet so that we can beg for the favor of escorting us through these lands?¡± After these words, an active argument ensued between the platoon soldiers. One camp was for intervention, while the other was against it. Of those who were in the second camp, Will, to my surprise, wormed his way in without taking his eyes off the natives and immediately objected: ¡°We could handle it ourselves. Not being seen by us would be quite enough.¡± ¡°And yet our ammunition is running low.¡± Itami interjected, crossing his arms over his chest. ¡°If we constantly encounter danger while hiding, then sooner or later we will simply have nothing to defend ourselves with. In any case, we need the help of these natives; without their support we will not pass through these lands.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll run out of ammunition anyway, but we won¡¯t be able to replenish it anyway.¡± Forn spoke now. ¡°Will we be able to find the generator for the replicator lying around among the natives? I think it''s unlikely. Sooner or later we will have to take up swords and bows and even possibly suffer losses. In this case, we do not need the help of the natives, especially when they set conditions for us. We don¡¯t have to agree to this, and if we do, then we will all die of old age in prisons somewhere under the surface of Pluto.¡± ¡°The hidden method of travel is extremely risky.¡± Anzhey suddenly supported the natives. ¡°It is no better than open contact and cooperation. With the support of the natives, we can safely pass through these lands and join the rest of the army. I think it won¡¯t be a problem if we help them, it rather depends on what kind of help they need.¡± "Enough." I raised my palm so that the fighters would finally calm down. ¡°I listened to you.¡± After that, I turned towards Granid and concluded: ¡°Looks like we have no choice, we''ll have to pay for the service.¡± The old man, in turn, smiled and also rose to his feet, saying the following: ¡°I am glad that you have chosen no other path, guests from the world ?Earth?. I hope we can truly help each other.¡± "Speaking of which." I interrupted the old man. ¡°How can we help you so that you can lead us through these lands?¡± At that moment the old man turned around and began talking to the fugitive natives. They talked for a very long time before Granid turned to us and offered the following: ¡°Our desire will be unpleasant for you and quite unexpected.¡± ?I can¡¯t even imagine what he will offer.? I frowned, ready for an unpleasant answer, but what he said next surprised me: "Save this country." "What?" I widened my eyes. "What do you have in mind?" "Just what I said." The old man said, turning to the fugitive natives. ¡°After listening to the story of Hippolytans, I learned that a powerful force moving here from the west. She is inexorable, omnipotent, and you have already encountered this force.¡± ?Have we encountered them before? In what sense?... Wait...? "You mean the Empire?" I guessed and the old man nodded. "Right." ¡°Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~! Well no-o-o-o-o~..." I grinned, not believing my ears. "No-no-no-no-no. We will not deal with them, especially after our unsuccessful meeting with them. We have no time for them now. We are of course already in a state of conflict, but our current priority is return and minimal intervention.¡± "You said you were moving towards your army." The old man said and I nodded in agreement, and the old man continued, developing his thought. ¡°If this is true, then it needs an army to save this country.¡± ?This is crazy!? I was angry to myself and immediately said with dissatisfaction in my voice: "This is too much. Expect less grandiose help from us than you can imagine, but not this. We are the army of the republic and it is unlikely that General Zeonid will agree to help you, especially when, after returning, we can all face a tribunal for violating the black protocols. We are strictly prohibited from interfering in the life of primitive civilizations, the only exceptions being emergency situations like this. So we will not agree to this." ¡°I understand you, Boris, but you also understand that the faithful servants of Sod will not let you go from this world, and if they begin to conquer neighboring peoples, then they will certainly not let go of those whom they consider enemies of Sod. Your help will help us and you.¡± "How?" ¡°It¡¯s not for me to talk to you about this, but know this: heaven is closed to mortal creatures like people. This is Sod''s domain and no one dares to hover over it." ?Is that why our cruiser left orbit?? I asked myself a question, but decided not to mention it out loud. His thoughts were quite clear to me, but with his words he aroused suspicion, very great suspicion. "Who are you?" I suddenly decided to become interested. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a free magician? What do you have to do with this country?¡± The old man gasped and laughed. ¡°Oh, please forgive me, I forgot, I completely forgot to tell you. This forest is part of the kingdom of Lakuusa and I, as its resident, undertake to protect it and as long as it is in danger from the servants of Sod, then I should not turn away from it, but do everything possible to save it from the efforts of the especially faithful and blind.¡± "Teacher!" Incartia suddenly exclaimed, causing Granid to turn to her in order to hear the next words. ¡°We need to tell them.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I asked, and Incartia immediately answered. "Tell about Antigone." Chapter 29. Gods What we heard from the natives simply did not fit into our heads. We know for sure that our federal republic arose almost a thousand years ago, and to be more specific, on the First of April 2710 according to the Gregorian calendar and is currently the longest-lived state in the history of mankind, but who would have thought that those natives, with whom we tried to establish contact for the first time turned out to be representatives of a much more ancient state than we could even imagine. Empire Antigone - the most ancient known state of this world and has existed for about ten thousand years and has been a regional hegemon for the same amount of time. I can¡¯t believe that the native state is older than ancient Egypt itself, which raises the question: are the inhabitants of this planet really people and descendants of the lost ancient colonists of the golden era of space colonization? Judging by what we heard, most likely not and we are simply very similar species to each other, but another question immediately arises: why on this planet are there varieties of the humanoid race similar to humans? As far as we know, everyone with whom humanity has come into contact over the past two thousand years has not been very similar to either humans or humanoids. Fred''s medical scans clearly showed that the Antigonians belonged to the human species, while the fugitive natives were viewed by the scanner as a completely different species, which actually begs the question: what are people doing here if they shouldn''t be here? It may well be that Fred''s medical scan malfunctioned and he was shown completely incorrect data, or perhaps the ancient colonists replaced the real native population of the Antigone Empire and became the leading population of this state. This is also likely, but until we find out all the pitfalls of this question, it will be premature to ask new ones. The Antigone Empire, in terms of its form of government, is an absolute monarchy based on the words of Granid, but power in this state is not inherited, but is granted directly from Sod. Granid did not explain how this process occurs, apparently due to the fact that he himself barely understands how this happens. Again, according to Granid, several hundred million people live there, which in the current era is a very huge number of people. On Earth in the Middle Ages, barely two hundred million people lived around the world, and on this planet hundreds of millions of people live in one state, like in some kind of imperial China. Considering that they do not have modern technology and they did not invent gunpowder, it is unlikely that they have the advanced knowledge of farming to feed so many people, and it is unlikely that they even have arable land with such a huge population. Granid also did not answer our question about how Antigone feeds his population, but he did answer a slightly different pressing question about why we should help the kingdom fight this state. The fact is that their deity, called Sod, is far from a fiction, but quite real and also truly influences this planet. This powerful entity, difficult to imagine and virtually guaranteed to have intelligence, appears to simply revel in its status as a God among creatures such as humans. We don''t know if this is true or not, but his influence on the world according to Granid is absolutely undeniable. Granid did not stop with the story and also explained to us that the people from the Antigone Empire are absolutely submissive to their monarch, elected by Sod, and do everything that the messenger of God commands them, be it a noble moral teaching or a cruel whim. This leads to an assumption about the technological backwardness of the local civilization: perhaps Sod is doing its best to slow down scientific and technological progress, forcing the natives to get stuck in one era and not move, embodying a regime of stagnation. Most likely, in this way Sod supports all kinds of superstitions among the human masses or does this for another reason unknown to us. It is also quite possible that Sod has the same species as Elarasia, which was once worshiped by people on the planet of the same name, but unlike Sod, Elarasia, in turn, did not limit people in their technological capabilities and was essentially a powerful energy entity powered by star energy. Elarasia, however, treated people as their children, and Sod, in turn, treated people as disposable toys. Unfortunately, we will never know the whole truth about Elarasia since all information about her was lost along with her world, which she protected and was eventually destroyed by the Pantorians. It seemed to us that she was the last representative of her species, but apparently we were wrong. We are, of course, not xenobiologists, but we also know how to make assumptions, and my assumption goes like this: some supernatural entity similar to Elarasia and known as Sod is trying in every possible way to somehow entertain itself by bringing down ships on the surface of the planet that were simply supposed to get into a stable orbit of the planet for repairs after a sharp ejection into real space from subspace. Apparently Granid knows well the character of this Sod and knows that this strange unknown and at the same time powerful entity will not let us out of this planet and that is why he immediately tells us that we will not get out of this planet until we help them defeat the Antigone Empire in presumably upcoming conflict. Well, what nonsense... even if we gather our entire 127th army here in about six months and fight off Antigone¡¯s superior army, then what about Sod himself? If it really exists and can influence life in this world, then it is possible that this entity will personally intervene to defeat the 127th Army and, unfortunately, we have absolutely no means to fight it, much less protect against a powerful energy surge which can even be plasma in its pure form. I decided to tell Granid about this: ¡°We do not have a weapon capable of destroying ?God?, whoever this Sod may be. We cannot destroy creatures made of energy and we will not be able to protect ourselves from them either.¡± ?But they could be destroyed by the Pantorians.? I added silently, deciding not to voice this part out loud, knowing full well what these monsters are capable of. Granid, hearing my words, scratched his beard and after a few seconds of reflection said: ¡°So He does not care about the worries of the mortal world, for He rules in heaven, where the path is closed to mortals forever and ever, as long as human hearts beat in mortal shells.¡± "Is it true?" I grinned. ¡°But you yourself said that Sod influences this world, that is, it is quite possible that this deity will descend from heaven to defeat us.¡± And not every God will like the fact that their followers, who carry their word and will, are interfered with by some foreigners and, moreover, crush them, and yet we must be prudent at any moment to encounter energy forms of life that are still very poorly studied and which, according to all known science, cannot exist, and yet Elarasia, the last species of energy beings known to mankind, is a vivid example of this. ¡°For a hundred centuries, no one has seen Sod with their own eyes.¡± Meanwhile Granid continued. ¡°We only saw His angels, who, according to ancient tales and legends, descended from heaven in order to defeat the dark ones in an era of thunderstorms, that was ten centuries in the past. But you should also know that the angels of Sod then descended to earth and raised a shield covering a barrier to protect people from the dark ones, but the angels themselves never attacked the enemies of Antigone, His angels did not go beyond the borders of the Empire.¡± ¡°So if we just protect Lacuusa¡¯s kingdom, that will be enough?¡± I asked incredulously. ¡°Then how will we return to space if Sod still interferes with us? After all, heaven is his domain.¡± "Heaven does not belong to Him alone." Granid said mysteriously, making me tense involuntarily. ?What does it mean? Are there many more so-called Gods here?? I noticed to myself, and in the meantime Granid continued and confirmed what I was just thinking: ¡°Our world is ruled not by one God or two, but by many, and we don¡¯t know all their names as long as they do not like to walk on the lands of mortals and color our gaze with their splendor and at the same time frighten us with their nightmarish madness. Sod only commands people to live in his promised land, to feed on his flesh, and in return he only demands that people live according to the law and His word, and when the hour of danger and threats comes, he sends his angels to help protect those faithful to Him. Other Gods may never have appeared in the mortal world at all, while others rule over their people in other parts of our world or even wander in the bodies of mortals.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The very fact of the existence of even more so-called deities is a problem for us that is not so easy to solve. However, a very interesting question arose in my head: ¡°Is it possible to establish contact with the Gods?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, this is unknown to me,¡± Granid shook his head. ¡°But if you show the deities your will, your desire to leave this world, then they will undoubtedly listen to your thoughts. Their gaze is great, as is their will, as are their whims.¡± "Stop." Fred suddenly intervened and judging by his face, he was clearly irritated by what he heard. ¡°You have just told us so many things, and you think that we will believe you so easily? Boris, he is blatantly lying to us! What the hell are ¡°gods¡±? Okay, information about the Empire will help us, but Gods... are you serious? Absurd! Just pathetic excuses for not letting us pass through their territory without their knowledge.¡± Fred was angry, he, as an ardent supporter of the materialistic view of the world, simply could not believe in the existence of Gods and immediately rejected this word as something that could denote the existence of these supernatural forces. I would continue to call them Gods, because it¡¯s easier, but Fred, as always, would complicate everything, delving into the meaning of each word. ?Or maybe these are really excuses.? I listened to Fred''s words and began to look more closely at Granid and the other natives behind him. ¡°Your doubts are clear to me,¡± Granid said after hearing Fred''s words. ¡°But you also understand that what I said is the truth of the pure river. The gods of our world create their will and change the world as ordered by their great plans, and we mortals are just dolls in their mighty hands. We are not strong enough to live free from their will, against their will and contrary to their ideas. We mortals can only live out our lives and leave fruits for our descendants so that they do not feel the same burdens as their ancestors.¡± Usually those who say that they voice the truth are liars and my experience of watching Republican propaganda speaks volumes about this, but it is unlikely that Granid will decide to lie to us when he can kill us here and now at the touch of a finger. Why is he trying so hard to fool us? Is he just pretending that he is really strong? Or is he hiding something from us with his lies? Or maybe he''s not lying at all. I can¡¯t determine whether he¡¯s telling the truth or not, trying to unravel the intonation and facial expressions of his face. He is literally impenetrable. ?And yet I can¡¯t trust him.? While I was thinking about many questions, Itami suddenly joined the conversation. ¡°I understand correctly that everything you know about the Gods you did not learn from your own experience? I mean, you learned all this from books and legends. I''m right?" "Right." Granid answered with a nod. ¡°These are legends of the past passed on by word of mouth, fragments of the stories of ancient times, carefully stored in our minds. Each of us has the right to believe or not believe in these words, but I personally believe, because in my lifetime I have seen darker and more terrible creatures; my eyes will never see them again in my life. And I also saw how the angel Sod dealt with the dark one, for any mortal does not have the strength to deal with the dark one and, moreover, escape from it. Consider this my experience, thanks to which I am convinced of the existence of Sod.¡± ¡°Speaking of the dark ones.¡± I intervened. "Tell me about them." ¡°Few people this summer know about the dark ones, so I will have nothing to hide from you. I''ll tell you what I know about them.¡± Granid further shared with us information about the dark ones. And although I understood that all his words were just a retelling of most likely far-fetched legends that might have nothing to do with reality, they could still give us some clues for finding answers to our questions. So, from the story of Granid, a thousand years ago the dark ones attacked this world, unleashing the most terrible war in all known history. The war was so terrible that even the angels of Sod who descended from heaven could barely cope with the enemy and after ten months of conflict they were still able to defeat the dark ones. Granid did not talk about how the war went on, what was done during it and what legends have come from those times, but he talked about the fact that it went on literally everywhere on every corner of this planet. After that ancient war, fragments of the invaders remained scattered on the planet, the so-called dark ruins, which most likely consisted of destroyed enemy bases or large ships. Over the last thousand years, the people of this planet carefully dug up everything they could and pulled out many interesting things from the dark ruins. The artifacts found, however, were so dangerous that, as a result of improper use, they could destroy an entire country, which is why the Antigone Empire monopolized their possessions for everyone''s safety. Any state that violated the ban was subject to a punitive war from the Antigone Empire, but only if their leaders learned that some tribe was hiding a dark artifact. Nevertheless, the Empire could not reach everyone and some states still continued to keep artifacts as some unique relics, the effect and purpose of which remained a mystery to all other inhabitants of this primitive and backward planet. From what I heard, an analogy with the Pantorians immediately arose. The invasion of the dark ones and the invasion of Pantora took place almost at the same time, almost a thousand years ago, and it was not difficult to guess who those dark ones could be. ?Most likely these dark ones were Pantorians.? It was quite surprising to learn that a planet with pre-space civilizations was able to repel the invasion of the Pantorians, and the question also arose of why Pantora, after an unsuccessful invasion, didn''t simply destroy this world as it did with Elarasia? Did they invade this planet weakened, or maybe they also fell into the same trap and tried to gain a foothold on this planet? Does this anomaly also affect ships that can travel through interspace? I thought that only starships moving through subspace could fall into the same trap as us, but it turns out even the Pantorians most likely fell into it too. Even if Pantora, capable of crushing any planet in a matter of hours, could not capture a primitive planet in ten months, then how are we even going to get out of here, having learned that one unknown being of the divine level is capable of straightening out the path of weakened, but still Pantorians? Yes, this is simply unrealistic! "Boris?" Alza called me when she saw my thoughtful state. "You feel bad?" Looking up at the pale-skinned native who was looking at me with concern, huddled in her jacket, I returned to reality and remembered that everyone was expecting an answer from me. I was too deep in thought and didn¡¯t even notice how the sun began to roll towards sunset, painting the sky orange above the treetops. ?The Pantorians were here, they lost the war, that''s a fact.? I noticed to myself as I continued my thoughts. ?But what can we do here? How can we leave this damned planet if the Gods are stopping us? Make an agreement with them? Hah~! Will you also decide to come to an agreement with the insects under your feet? Damn it! We have no chance of survival if we encounter this deity if it really exists.? "Oh shit!" I swore, gritting my teeth with anger. ¡°Our situation has become much worse than we could have imagined. So how do we get out of here?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have time to think about this.¡± Will patted me on the shoulder, stood next to me and turned to the old man. ¡°The more important thing now is to know what to do right now. We kind of agreed to help you.¡± Granid, hearing Will''s words, replied: ¡°I will take you to the royal capital. I suggest you talk to His Majesty about your problem and agree on mutual assistance. As I previously suggested, you protect the kingdom from the servants of the Empire, and we return you to your army and that¡¯s it. The question of how to obtain from the Gods the right to soar in the skies is no longer relevant to us.¡± The guys and I looked at each other after hearing the old man¡¯s words, and in the meantime I decided to ask him: ¡°So you are a very important person in the kingdom?¡± It doesn¡¯t matter what kind of civilization it is, feudal or democratic, but not everyone can arrange a meeting with the head of state. ¡°Dear, but not so important.¡± Granid answered and Incartia immediately intervened, addressing the old man. ¡°Teacher, will you prepare the rings for them?¡± "Rings?" I asked and Granid answered. ¡°Rings with the spells of Babylon. They will allow you to speak the language of Lakuus and nothing more, but I advise you to study the language of Lakuus if possible, because the magical power of the rings is not limitless and can dry out. In this case, the rings will become just useless trinkets.¡± ?Wow... they can do that.? I was surprised at the abilities of the magicians and asked: ¡°So you will make something like translators for all of us?¡± I clarified and Granid nodded. It was difficult to take in so much information at once, much of it was even difficult for us to believe, and yet we had no other choice. We got caught on the way to the magicians and we can say we were lucky that we did not come into contact with the natives prematurely. The information received literally made my brain boil, one theory after another and one terrible fact after another. This planet turned out to be not just anomalous, but a whole arena of forerunners, a cemetery of powerful forces, or even its concentration and arena. Even if the Pantorians fell into a trap and were unable to escape by flying through interspace, then the only way for a ship to fly from this system is through pure movement through real space, which could take decades. How extensive this anomaly is is unknown, and it may be more than several tens of light years, and in this case, even in a thousand years of flight we will not leave this space. Either we are looking for a way to jump into subspace and escape from this trap, or we go to bed in a lethargic sleep for a thousand years and it is not a fact that most of us will survive such a flight. ?It¡¯s too early to think about this, first we need to return to the army, and only then we will think about how to build a ship, how to launch on it, how to fly through the domains of the so-called gods, and in the end we will look for the answer to the question: how to leave the anomalous space.? ¡°It¡¯s a day¡¯s journey to the nearest city, but it won¡¯t be the capital.¡± Granid answered, already preparing to set off. ¡°I will cover you with warmth this night, and at the next sunrise I will lead you into the city.¡± "I guess I should thank you." I said somewhat impolitely, still feeling negative prospects from the upcoming journey. "It''s not worth it." Granid answered with a slight chuckle. ¡°I haven¡¯t helped you in any way yet. First, give me time to make the rings. With them you will occupy your way with conversations.¡± Chapter 30. The Rings of Babylon I was curious to know what manipulations Granid was doing while we were sleeping under the transparent warm dome that night. I only saw the old man¡¯s back, and in front of him a bright light that shimmered with different colors of the rainbow. It was as if I was watching the silent welding process while my eyes were protected by the body of this same welder. I saw multi-colored lines appear out of nowhere, gathering into strange balls and flashing in front of the old magician''s face. It was quite interesting and very entertaining to watch these strange manipulations. This process took quite a long time, and I was gradually starting to fall asleep, tired of watching while I lay sideways on my sleeping bag. Turning in the opposite direction, I noticed that it seemed that I was not the only one watching Granid¡¯s witchcraft, but also the fugitive natives, whom Granid nicknamed Hippolytes, as well as Fred, clearly trying to understand whether he was imagining all this. In the meantime, I didn¡¯t think about anything else and simply fell into a deep sleep and had a good sleep until the bright rays of the morning sun hit my eyes, filtering between the trunks of trees and bushes. By this moment, everyone was already starting to wake up, some of the fighters were having breakfast sitting on the cobblestones, and some were collecting things for the further journey, accompanied by Granid and his, so to speak, retinue. The old man himself slept sitting up, with his head down and his back against a tree, and on his lap lay his student Incartia, or, to be more precise, only her snuffling head. Now they looked like a grandfather and granddaughter who had gone through a difficult journey, and this may well be true. We don¡¯t know if they are really related, but it seems they are very valuable and irreplaceable to each other. Watching this couple, a very wild thought suddenly came to mind. It seemed like now was an excellent opportunity to eliminate the potential threat in the form of magicians threatening our lives, but I decided not to risk it and simply threw this nonsense aside. ?Thanks to them, we will be able to quickly establish a dialogue with the native population. Even if they have so-called ¡°magic¡±, then why should I harm them? We must continue to improve our relationship... even if it comes at a special price they demand.? The war of the native states is the last thing that should interest us and yet we were forced to join it. According to Granid, our help to them will help us too. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t imagine how, but I hope that there will be significantly fewer adventures on our heads and we can calmly return to the rest of the army in a familiar environment after we protect these lands from the troops of the Empire. After lying there for some time, I also began to get up, twisting my sleeping bag and checking all the platoon soldiers by counting them. Everyone was there, both the natives and my soldiers, no one was missing, there was at least some joy that day. The natives themselves continued to sleep, or rather, only those whom we had tied up yesterday were sleeping, but the fugitive natives and Lecite had already risen to their feet and had also begun collecting their supplies. While I was struggling to chew the disgusting taste of dried meat in my mouth and while the other fighters were finishing their rations or eating dried meat with sweeteners, I noticed something incredible: Stern, who should have been immobilized under the supervision of junior doctors, was now walking around the grove without his exoskeleton. "Stern?" I turned to the droid operator while widening my eyes in surprise. "You are healthy?" Stern, having heard my words, came up to me and, apparently not believing what was happening, barely answered me: ¡°I don¡¯t know how it happened, but yes, I¡¯m healthy. Looks like this girl did the same thing to me as she did to you.¡± "When?" ¡°Probably this night. I woke up with a normal healthy body without any damage." Stern said, squeezing and unclenching his fingers, simultaneously moving the limbs of his arms and legs to check the integrity of his healthy state. ¡°And how are you feeling?¡± ¡°It couldn¡¯t be better. It¡¯s like I was born again.¡± Stern finally grinned. ¡°Now it¡¯s so unusual to walk with your own legs and wave your arms. I¡¯ll probably be able to eat normally.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t waste time and go have breakfast. We''ll be leaving soon." "Yes, sir." Stern said and ran to Fred to beg for rations, and meanwhile I became thoughtful. ?If Incartia said that it does not know how to heal someone, then most likely Granid healed Stern. He was clearly somehow able to find out that without the exoskeleton he could not walk and apparently used his magic on him.? The old man behaves too kindly, helping strangers from outer space. This seems overly suspicious, or maybe I¡¯m making this up, and the old man just wanted us all to be on our feet by this morning and not delay each other on the way, but I don¡¯t know that for sure. At least it was good that one of the platoon members was now on his feet. A little later, after about half an hour, we started waking up the Lakuusians: Granid, Incartia, Camellia, Furgur and Ashwani. Even though we understood that they were tired from working all night, our supplies were running low and now we were losing precious time. I saw how the old man opened his eyes uncomfortably and hummed in discomfort, and then he, sleepily and casually asked: "The sun rose?" "Yes." I answered, standing over him with a weapon in my hands. ¡°It¡¯s time for us to go. Lead us." ¡°And you Boris, you don¡¯t respect your elders.¡± Granid groaned as he rose to his feet along with the yawning Incartia. ¡°Age is not a reason for respect.¡± ¡°Older people retain more experience in the world than young people, so I think that you are wrong.¡± ?We have different views on such things, old man.? I thought to myself and decided to express my point of view: ¡°On our planet, most wars were started by old people, sending all young people to certain death. I¡¯m sure the experience of ¡°wise¡± older people says this: kill as many youngsters as possible so as not to waste your time on them. That¡¯s why I believe that people should respect not a person¡¯s age, but himself, for his personal qualities, which can manifest themselves not only in old age, but also in youth.¡± ¡°Oh, here it is.¡± Granid grinned, putting his hands into his sleeves like some mountain monk. ¡°In your world, elders go crazy with age. These diseases exist here too, but you also know that the elders in this world never go crazy and they are respected here precisely for their seniority over the younger ones.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "I''ll take that into account." I answered in a serious tone and immediately decided to ask the old man about what he did at night. ¡°So what about the rings you were talking about yesterday? Did you create them last night?¡± "Yes." Granid said wearily. ¡°Creating the rings of Babylon is a difficult task and requires attention to every detail. One mistake and I have one foot at the arch leading into Sod¡¯s garden.¡± After these words, Granid took out a pouch from his sleeve and handed it to me. Opening it up, I saw the contents and couldn''t help but wonder: ¡°Are these the rings?¡± "Right." Granid nodded. ¡°The spell will take effect as soon as you put them on your middle finger. Magic will instantly spread throughout your body and envelop your soul.¡± What I saw didn¡¯t look much like rings, but rather stems rolled into circles that seemed very fragile and were ready to simply come undone or break at any moment. I carefully took one ring out of the bag and put it on my middle finger, but I still didn¡¯t feel anything that would tell me about the effect of the spell. ¡°Hmm~...nothing happens.¡± I said, but at that moment I heard Will¡¯s voice full of surprise behind me. ¡°Boris? What did you just say?¡± "Do you understand me?" Will¡¯s reaction was incomprehensible to me, but after my new words he was more surprised than before, attracting the attention of the entire platoon. ¡°Holy shit! You speak a different language.¡± I, a little not understanding what was happening, turned towards Granid and asked him: ¡°Why don¡¯t they understand me? I speak English." ¡°Your soul attracts the singing of all souls that your ears relish. The ring makes you understand the singing of souls in the language of Lakuusa and in the same language your lips can only interpret words, and your soul orders you to hear the melody that is familiar to you, that is familiar to your spirit. This is how the rings of Babylon work, but do not use them so often, because the magical power in them will dry up over time.¡± I took off the ring and turning to Will asked a new question: ¡°Do you understand me now?¡± "O! Now yes. What was it?" "Magic." I explained to the entire platoon how the rings work, as I understood it from Granid''s words, and shared the rings with each of them. Granid tried to make rings for each of us and not only for strangers from outer space, but also for the fugitive natives. The last people I shared rings with were Hippolytes. I showed them that they need to put the ring on the middle finger of the hand, which they eventually repeated, and after they did this I asked them a question: "Do you understand me?" "Yes." Ripun answered me by widening his orange-red eyes. ¡°Oh great mother! Now we understand each other. We have been waiting for this day for so long when we can finally talk. There is so much I want to ask and find out..." "Shut up, Ripun." Dark-haired Niana responded sternly and displeasedly. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m in charge here.¡± "Forgive me, princess," Ripun bowed slightly guiltily before her. ¡°But I just couldn¡¯t help but be happy about it. I¡¯ve wanted to talk to our saviors for so long, to find out who they are... this... this is so exciting.¡± "Princess?" I asked and Niana turned in my direction, not forgetting to introduce herself. ¡°You certainly don¡¯t know anything about us other than our names, then we will introduce ourselves: my name is Niana Ilti, I am the crown princess of the kingdom of Hippolyta.¡± The girl bowed slightly, maintaining a stern expression on her face. ¡°Thank you for saving us. If it weren¡¯t for you, the damned imperials would have overtaken us and the spirits only know what they could do to us.¡± I am still surprised by the fact that we spent almost a whole month hanging around with a princess, and not a simple native. Apparently this was the reason for their persecution, she is the heiress of a country hostile to the Empire and therefore is a priority target, for the sake of which lives and thousands of soldiers are not spared. While I was thinking about this, another person introduced himself at that moment, more excited than the girl in front of me: ¡°My name is Ripun, thank you for saving me, I... uh~... I¡¯m the crown princess¡¯s adviser, I help her in any way I can.¡± "Huh?" Niana turned towards Ripun with her mouth open. ¡°When did I manage to make you my adviser? But you¡­" ¡°Ahem-ahem~!¡± A bald native named Zaden interrupted the girl, crawling out from behind the couple. ¡°A warrior greets a warrior. My name is Zaden, a foreman from the royal army of Hippolyta. On my own behalf, I thank you for saving us.¡± Zaden also bent over a little and looked sternly at Niana. I don¡¯t know what differences exist between them, but they seem to understand each other perfectly without any unnecessary words. Having examined the trio, I drew attention to the last one, who was hiding behind the backs of everyone else, to Alza, who was afraid to insert a word, but when Zaden finished introducing himself and when I turned my attention, Alza, albeit a little shyly, also introduced herself: ¡°My name is Alza, I am a simple servant, thank you for saving us.¡± She said and droplets of tears appeared in her eyes. She tried not to look me in the eyes, but lowered her head down, clearly not wanting me to see her like that. ¡°Forgive us, Boris, we have nothing to repay you for your help. We have nothing, no house, no gold, nothing. The Empire has taken everything from us, but I promise with all my heart that I will help you in any way I can. I am very, very grateful to you, Boris, you gave us all a second wind of life, I will never forget this, neither I nor my child either.¡± "Child?" I was surprised when I looked at the girl¡¯s slightly swollen belly, which she gently stroked with her palm, and then I called the senior medic. "Fred!!!" The senior medic ran up quite quickly and, seeing my stern look, said in a muffled voice: "I''m here." ¡°WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS MEAN?!¡± Shouting, I pointed my hand at Alza. ¡°We dragged a pregnant woman along with us all the way, and you didn¡¯t bother to tell me about it?!¡± "I... I didn''t know." "What?" I didn¡¯t believe his words and demanded the following from Fred: "Give me your scanner." Reluctantly, Fred took out a medical scanner and handed it to me, and I began looking at information about Alza in the database. Even though I simply didn¡¯t understand a lot of things, I could clearly see the words among the clouds of text about the general state of the body?pregnancy in the second week? when he first scanned her three weeks ago. He knew she was pregnant and didn''t bother to tell me. "Fred," I said in a calmer voice, but with the same amount of sternness. ¡°Why did you keep silent about this?¡± ¡°Tch!¡± The senior medic tsked, snatching the scanner from my hands. ¡°Then the situation was critical and it was not about it. It was not enough for us to be distracted after the battle with the natives by treating her alone. I had to protect people, our regiment, and not some aliens. You know very well that Uwon would not have wasted time on her then and would have shot her right away, and you most likely would have protected her. I didn''t want us to kill each other over some native girl. Hiding it from others... it was the only thing I could do to prevent conflict." My fists clenched with rage, but I could not take out my anger on him. I remembered very well the moment when Fred blamed himself for not being able to save everyone, and now it turns out that for him not all lives are equal and he chose to sacrifice the lives of the natives because of priority. If you think logically, then he did the right thing, but how can anyone trust him after that? Turning towards Alza, I saw the girl¡¯s worried face. She couldn''t help but wonder as she watched: "Boris, what''s going on?" "It''s not that important anymore." I said sternly, and then asked a question to all the natives. "You are all right?" The Hippolytes nodded in agreement and said that they were completely healed thanks to our care and Fred''s treatment, but their green spots on their skin never went away. After that, I introduced myself to them and asked a question: ¡°Will you tell us what happened on the day we met you?¡± "Yes." Ripun responded. "We''ll tell you everything." After this, Ripun began to tell the story of how the Antigone Empire invaded the kingdom of Hippolyta. This story was long, but also entertaining. Chapter 31. Prophet None of us know why this happened, but the Empire began its invasion completely unexpectedly for all of us. Imperial troops swiftly marched across our vast country and besieged the capital, surrounding the city with hordes of soldiers with white banners depicting black crosses with the divine eye. Looking over the enemy army, Her Majesty Femila Ilti personally led her warriors into battle to stop the enemy moving towards the walls of the city, but it was a meaningless battle, full of horror and despair after which the enemy commander cut off her head and planted it on a pike, placing it in front of the city gates as a sign his superiority and victory over the kingdom of Hippolyta. It was a terrible sight that none of us wanted to see, but we witnessed this horror anyway and our hearts were filled with sadness, grief, loss and terrible all-consuming pain. The execution of the queen was a strong blow, killing our hope for a better outcome in such a sudden war, but this blow was not decisive, for at the site of the death of the queen a resistance was born that would put an end to the rule of the Empire in these lands. Princess Niana, the daughter of Queen Femila, fulfilled her mother''s last testament; she escaped with all her people to the east. Sooner or later she will gather the people again and liberate her mother¡¯s lands from the Empire. At the sight of the princess, entire villages gathered and set off on a campaign to the east in order to organize worthy resistance there, but the direct path to the eastern lands was blocked by imperial troops and as a result, we were soon stuck in place with only one road leading into the poisonous forest from where people never returned. The princess''s confidants, including me, decided what we needed to do in this situation. Some wanted to fight the Antigonians in order to get to the east, while others wanted to surrender, knowing full well that it would not be possible to defeat well-armed soldiers with crowds of desperate peasants, and still others convinced the princess to go through the poisonous forest in the south, which turned out to be the biggest mistake we made. This mistake cost huge lives. The once confident and brave girl burst into tears at night when she heard news during the day about how the people who followed her were dying. In plain sight, she restrained the outbursts of her own emotions, but when she retires somewhere in a secluded place, she sobs loudly, experiencing pain for the victims, their relatives and friends. Not many of us survived this path; we did not understand why this forest was dangerous until we drank a sip of rainwater. The one-year-old baby died first, and then his parents, writhing on the ground from poisoning and covered with green spots, and then more and more people died. Thousands of people who decided to flee through this damned place fell ill among its bushes, because in the poisonous forest anything could destroy them, every scratch, every sip of water or berry. And although there were no insects or wild animals here, this forest was incredibly dangerous. Now it became clear to us why the travelers who set foot in this forest called it poisonous or cursed, and we deeply regretted that we had set foot on these lands, but it was not too late to change everything, we could return and decide to fight the Antigonians. Previously, there were thousands of us, there were hundreds, but now there were barely a couple of dozen of us, and later there were only five people left: me, Princess Niana, Alza, Zaden and Khan. And the question comes to mind: why, when people started dying, we didn¡¯t get out of here? Why did they continue to endure these horrors when they could have gone back? The answer was terribly simple: there was no turning back, for there were already Antigonians there who were pursuing us, following us into the poisonous forest, pursuing the miraculously saved princess. When the first victims of the poisonous forest appeared, Niana wanted to order to get out of it, when the Antigonians suddenly overtook us. They quietly surrounded the camp that we had set up in the forest and quickly attacked, killing many people. Only the pitiful remnants managed to escape and fled further south. Our hearts were pounding with fear, our chests were bursting from continuous breathing, we wanted to eat, drink and sleep, but we continued to run without stopping, and the terrible imperial fanatics continued to pursue us. Thoughts were lurking in my head all the time: Niana must survive, she is our new queen, if she dies, then our people will never free themselves from the shackles of the Empire. And although I am sure that other lady commanders were able to organize a defense in the east, without the princess¡¯s order they will not take a step back to the west. Without her presence, they will not be able to do anything; such are the traditions of a society where women rule and men serve them. It is unknown how many days have passed, but we are already sick of this damned endless rain. We were tired of endlessly walking in wet clothes, shivering from the freezing cold, hearing our stomachs growling from hunger, feeling dry in our mouths due to thirst, coughing from a curse and looking around in fear for fear of suddenly losing our heads from our shoulders, it was all unbearable for us . And here we are again sitting under the foliage of a tree, deafened by the noise of incessant rain and thunderclaps. I sat on a huge root and hugged Alza, who was next in line to die from the curse. Her skin was already covered with green spots, she kept holding her stomach with her hands as if she was going to vomit. Poor girl, she followed the princess hoping to survive, but in the end she only suffers. Despite the horror she experienced, she is still faithful to the young princess, and to be honest, I don¡¯t know why. ¡°I-I¡¯m th-thirsty.¡± Alza said in a trembling voice, pleadingly looking me straight in the eyes with her dying gaze. However¡­ ?Tomorrow you will die.? I knew this for sure, I saw her death, even more, she was dying right in my arms and all because of this very sip of water. I thought that I would take pity on her in this way, give her something to drink, but in the end she would only provoke the curse and die much faster, and then the Antigonians would quickly overtake us and I would die the last of all the survivors. ¡°Forgive me, Alza, but you must be patient.¡± I said in the most encouraging and gentle voice possible. Tears appeared in her eyes, she began to sniffle. I understand her, she felt betrayed as if by my refusal I was leaving her to certain death, but she does not understand that I am doing this for her own good and I regret that this may be true. ?Maybe at least this way she will live longer than one night, otherwise I don¡¯t know how we all will survive.? Meanwhile the rain was not going to stop. There was no longer even wet soil underfoot, but only deep streams flowing between the trees, washing away all the dirt and fallen leaves from the trees. If we descend from the root, we will drown in water up to our knees, but if we stay, we will quickly be found by the Antigonians who are following on our heels. I don¡¯t know when this will happen, but the last time, before they died, they came the night right after Alza¡¯s death. Apparently they stumbled upon the girl¡¯s abandoned body and quickly found us. I decided that I would not do this again, but how can we prevent the same outcome? ?Should we just...give up?? I shook my head, throwing the idea back into the garden of damn Sod. In one prediction, when I suggested this, I was immediately stabbed by Khan, he would not even allow the thought of surrendering to these imperial fanatics. ?Then we need to go now and hope that Alza doesn''t die along the way.? So I decided, saying it out loud: ¡°We must go, the Antigonians are nearby.¡± Zaden and Khan, two royal soldiers from the villages adjacent to the capital, looked at me while a feeling of fatigue emanated from their faces, and this is not surprising, because we just recently crawled onto this root to rest, and now some prophet invites them to immediately hit the road. ¡°Let¡¯s rest for a while longer?¡± Zaden objected, clearly not having time to rest. "Zaden," The princess turned to him, looking into the green forest darkness. ¡°If Ripun said that the Antigonians are nearby, then we must go.¡± ¡°They couldn¡¯t have gotten to us that fast!¡± "SHUT UP!" Niana shouted angrily, turning towards the soldier. ¡°I trust Ripun, he helped us all the way, gave us the necessary advice, so don¡¯t hope that the Antigonians really didn¡¯t get to us because of some rain. Even then they would never have been able to reach us, but they did it anyway and... killed... killed a lot of people.¡± And indeed those warriors (it¡¯s hard to call them that) who attacked us were dressed in strong white armor that tightly covered their bodies, and their weapons cut the unfortunate people into pieces with one blow. Anyone who tried to fight back then could hardly even scratch their plates, because these were not ordinary soldiers, but real paladins. ?I didn¡¯t think that they would send paladins from the order after the princess, but it seems that¡¯s the case. They decided to kill the princess to ensure that there would be no resistance in the east of Hippolyta. If this happens... then our people are in danger of destruction.? While I was thinking about this, Alza also added her word. Although the young maid clearly did not have the best opinion of me because of my refusal to give her something to drink, she still supported me: "L-let''s go." "I agree too." Khan said, rising to his feet after sharpening his spear with a stone. ¡°Staying here for a long time is like death, but we don¡¯t have much food and water left for long. We might last a couple of nights, but these bastards will get to us much faster.¡± Khan looked at me sternly and said sternly: ¡°I trust your instincts, Ripun, but if it leads us all to the grave, then I swear to the great mother I will take you to her on a date.¡± I swallowed after this threat, frightened by Khan¡¯s words. After all, I know perfectly well what he will do to me if I decide something that he doesn¡¯t like. Soon we quickly got ready to go and jumped into the water and, as I expected, we were knee-deep in it. Alza even screamed and felt the freezing water burn her thin legs: ¡°Ay~! It¡¯s cold!¡± "I''ll take you." I said, taking her body in my arms. It was hard to carry Alza in my arms along with her things, and yet I continued to hope that she would survive, but I really didn¡¯t know what to do to make her live to see the next day. ¡°Ripun, are you okay?¡± Zaden asked me and I answered him, groaning with heaviness. "Yes..." They saw that it was hard for me and probably wondered why I decided to care about her more than anyone else. My gut tells me that if Alza dies, then nothing good should be expected in the future. Where did this instinct come from and why does it push me so hard? I just couldn¡¯t understand it. ?She must survive... she just must survive, that¡¯s all.? That¡¯s what I decided for myself, but it seems everyone else didn¡¯t agree with the choice of my actions, which is why Khan suddenly came up to me and snatched the girl from my hands, and he himself threw an equally heavy spear into my hands, which I could barely hold in my hands . ¡°I see that it¡¯s hard for you, if we¡¯re delayed because of you, then all I can do is leave one of you two.¡± "Hey!" The princess shouted. "Do not say that! We won¡¯t leave anyone here, do you understand?!¡± "Little fool." Khan snorted. ¡°As if we care about you now.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± The princess couldn¡¯t believe her ears, her eyes wide open. ¡°H-how dare you talk to me like that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be brave, princess, I¡¯m already tired of falling asleep to your sobs every night. It was you who decided to go through the poisonous forest, you decided to choose this path, which means it is your fault that all these people died in this damned forest. We all followed you only because we didn¡¯t want to be killed by the Imperials, and in the end we all ended up in a more terrible place than any of us could have imagined, and all because of you!¡± "Han, that''s enough." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Zaden intervened, standing between the princess and the angry soldier. ¡°She wasn¡¯t the only one who made this decision, am I right, Your Highness?¡± The princess, however, did not answer, she bowed down upon hearing Khan''s words. Now he didn¡¯t value her at all, and from the realization of this, the girl was in shock, not daring to utter even one word, and nevertheless Zaden decided to protect her even despite the fact that he did not receive the proper answer from the princess. ¡°Don¡¯t blame all the troubles of the world on her alone, we ourselves decided to follow her and we ourselves understood that it would not be an easy path ahead of us. We risked our lives and hope that at least we can get to the east." "I understood you." Khan said sternly and, turning away, began to squish through the water with his feet, moving south with Alza in his arms. ¡°If I could only turn back time, I would never let this happen. Fucking unfair world." Everyone followed Khan and thought about a lot. Now I began to feel worse, because I really could turn back time, but I could not properly curb this power given to me by my great mother. ?Why?? I wondered. ?Why do I only see the future where I die? Why no other future, but this one? Why did you do this, great mother? Why do I have to relive my own death every time?? From not knowing my gift or curse, I could only continue to live, hoping that with each new return to the past I could correct the destinies in which I was wrong, but what would happen if the Antigonians did not kill me, but took me prisoner? Then I will not see the future, I will not return to the past and I will not be able to correct the disastrous mistake. This made me feel even worse, because if the Antigonians find out why they haven¡¯t really been able to catch us yet, they will definitely decide not to kill me and then the whole journey, full of trials, will be completely in vain. *** Despite the rain, everything seemed to stop, it was too calm as we made our way through the vegetation further south. We ascended to some flat hill, where the water was no longer knee-deep, thanks to which Khan let go of Alza and she could move on her own legs. This time she lived through the last day, but I still don¡¯t know whether she will live this day too or whether death will overtake her. ?Why do I worry about her more than anyone else?? I asked myself this question, and every time I asked it, I could not find the answer I needed, as if this was a feeling from a very distant future, which I cannot even comprehend and which I cannot even imagine. Maybe I''m even in love with her? What nonsense, she had a husband and a child, of course they died at the hands of imperial bastards, and she is unlikely to find a replacement for her dear husband and give birth to a new child. She will need time to put aside her past love and go looking for a new one. What if I had these feelings because I loved her? What should I do in this case? Should I admit this to Alza or try to push these thoughts aside? I don''t know. I think that if because of the Antigonians I die today, then perhaps I should now try and confess my love to her even if she does not accept these feelings. In this case, Ripun from the past simply will not repeat the same thing as me. ?What nonsense? What am I thinking about? We need to survive, and not think about some maid.? Meanwhile, we continued to walk through the dense trees. Khan walked ahead of everyone, looking around, he clearly already suspected something, tightly gripping the spear in his hands. Zaden did not lag behind and also made a remark about what was happening: ¡°I think there is someone here. It¡¯s too quiet here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who sees things like this.¡± Khan said. ¡°The victim can always feel how they are surrounded.¡± And as soon as he said this, the vegetation around rustled, the clanging of heavy armor and the ringing of blades was heard, and Antigonians ran out from behind the trees with swords at the ready, dressed in elegant white armor tightly covering their bodies. Dozens, no, hundreds of Antigonians suddenly surrounded us, putting their weapons forward, ready to kill us all at any moment. ?Oh no!? I was scared, not at all expecting the sudden appearance of the Imperials. Khan panicked, horror showing on his face. Even though he knew that we were all surrounded, but even he did not expect that we would be attacked so unexpectedly, and this prompted him to take an unexpected action: he put his spear in front of him and rushed forward. "DIE!" Khan shouted furiously, trying to kill Antigonian. He barely had time to take two swift steps, picking up speed, when the Antigonian in front of him almost instantly swung his sword, cutting Khan¡¯s body somewhere in the stomach area. The spear slipped out of Khan¡¯s hands, and he himself fell to his knees, already dead, as blood flowed from his stomach, followed by intestines. After another moment, he collapsed with his whole body into the dirty water and would never be able to move again. Khan died. Alza screamed loudly when she saw how quickly Khan was killed: ¡°Khan! No!" She rushed forward, but I grabbed her wrist, holding her in place. I wouldn''t want her to die after him. I had to wrap my arms around her, engulfing her in a tight hug while Alza was shaking in horror and sobbing. Niana and Zaden also clung to each other while the Antigonians with slow steps tightened the encirclement. Zaden had to throw his spear, because he did not want a similar fate as Khan. There was nowhere to run, we were trapped and it looked like they weren¡¯t going to kill us yet, but the Antigonians around us laughed and did it as if they had just caught an easy prey. One of them came closer to us and pulled Niana out, grabbing her by the hair, and when Zaden tried to intercede for her, his hand was cut off in one quick and easy movement. ¡°A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a~!!!¡± Hunched over and holding his left hand, Zaden screamed painfully while blood gushed from his hand, and Alza, hearing his painful cries, huddled closer to me, still trembling strongly from fear, cold and horror. "S-s-scary." She said in a trembling voice. ¡°I-I don¡¯t want... I don¡¯t want to die. Ripun, don¡¯t let me go... please.¡± ?Forgive me, but... nothing will work.? We were all quickly separated, our hands were tied behind our backs, we were beaten for fun, and they began to take us under a tree branch. The Antigonians were in no hurry to leave the place where they captured us, but for some reason continued to search everything around. I didn¡¯t understand what they were doing and why, and I didn¡¯t try to go into details, I just waited for my death while comforting Alza and thinking about what I needed to do to prevent a similar outcome, and this time I realized that I couldn¡¯t do anything. ?If they kill me tomorrow, then I will see the prophecy right here the moment I am captured... and I... I will be doomed to experience the same death forever until I get out of this vicious circle.? This fate scared me to the core: endlessly dying in the same cycle over and over again, without the opportunity to somehow fix anything. Right now, only a miracle could save us, but I didn''t understand how exactly that would happen. What needs to happen to avoid all this? I didn¡¯t know what to do, my heart was beating wildly, the ground disappeared from under my feet... It seemed like it was the end. ?Endless...death.? We were put in a grove while the Antigonians scoured around, continuing to search every bush that turned up and a flooded ravine with a rapid stream. I still don¡¯t understand what they are doing, and a little later, shouts were heard somewhere behind the trees and almost all the paladins ran there. ?What''s going on?? Zaden wanted to ask the same thing, but the Antigonian guard who was guarding us found something offensive in the words of the royal soldier, and with a ringing sound he drew his sword and in one movement cut off his head. "NO! ZADEN!¡± Princess Niana screamed at what she saw and tried to somehow turn away from the sight of Zaden¡¯s head falling on the grass, but the Antigonian did not allow her to do so, holding her by the hair and forcing her to look at the severed head of her faithful subordinate. "Haretik." The Antigonian said something with a spit and a grin and sheathed his sword. Soon all the imperials around began to run behind those trees and Zaden¡¯s killer decided to get us to our feet by taking us to that place, simultaneously pushing and kicking us so that we would hurry up. ?I must die as soon as possible to prevent this.? Meanwhile, I was thinking, practically not paying attention to everything.¡± ?But when the prophet sees the prophecy, what should he do? There is no way to prevent all this! What should I do?? After some time, we found ourselves in another groove where hundreds of Antigonians surrounded a strange humanoid bush that seemed to be holding its hands up. I didn¡¯t imagine it and this bush really moved, but not under gusts of wind, but as if it were a living creature. The Antigonians and I were perplexed and clearly asked the same question: ?What is this? Some kind of monster? Can he really live in a poisonous forest?? The imperial fanatics didn¡¯t even know what to do, they simply placed all their weapons around the monster. One Antigonian decided to come closer, but not to draw his sword, and when he did, the monster lowered its limbs, but continued to stand in place. It seems that the Antigonian man and the monster were communicating, I heard a mixture of two strange languages, one in Antigonian and the other in the language of this monster. ?Can monsters talk? If this is a talking monster, then it cannot be a monster. Then who is it? And how can it live in a poisonous forest?? The appearance of the creature indicated that it was some kind of living plant. Maybe it took on a human form to lure prey, or maybe to show other inhabitants of this forest or its guests that they are not so scary and should not be feared. The Antigonians were clearly frightened, for they did not know what they saw before their eyes. "Dryad." Niana said, for which she received a blow to the head from the imperial geek. ¡°Ay~! Mmmm~..." The words she said made me think: ?Dryad? A fabulous creature, a spirit from ancient legends. They say that they protect the forest from threats and help people find their way home. Is this really a dryad?? It seems that Princess Niana really thought so, but I was in no hurry to trust her guess. Dryads are described as girls who were born along with trees and merged with plants, but nowhere was it said that they would look like bushes more than people, and this monster spoke words in a male voice. The fanatical Antigonians, who believe only in Sod, worship only a single deity, clearly do not know this, and therefore most likely consider these dryads to be monsters, even if they speak. It seems that they decided so when the Antigonian who approached the dryad took out his sword and put it in front of the forest spirit, and the Antigonians, meanwhile, lowered their weapons and began to grin, waiting for the moment when this daredevil would cut down the monster. The dryad herself picked up some object - a strange black curved stick with a hole - and pointed this thing towards the Imperial. The Antigonians around just laughed more than ever, not expecting that the dryads could pose any danger to their lives, but I knew from those tales about dryads that they are extremely strong when it comes to fighting in their domains and now the Antigonians were literally in the forest full poisons and plants. There may be not just one dryad, but many, and none of these fanatics thought about what an attack on the forest spirit might pose to them, because for them the dryad is just a monster. The Antigonian swung his blade and tried to cut off the dryad''s limb, but the next moment something strange happened. A brief, momentarily bright flash of thunder merged with the noise, and after that the paladin, barely having time to swing his blade, fell with a splash on his back onto the dirty water. ?What?? I was surprised, not understanding what happened. The dryad stood in place, lowering the object down, and then another Antigonian ran up to the fallen one, examining the body of the fallen imperial, after which he said something, causing the rest of the Antigonians to fall silent for a moment. An oppressive, evil silence hung around, broken only by the sound of endless rain. The dryad said something in a male voice, and then the terrible thing began. Massacre. I remember the next moments with the deafening sounds of thunder and flashes, some kind of smoke appeared, filling the entire grove, and the entire crowd of Antigonians ran towards the dryad with war cries, but fell, loudly screaming painfully in agony. Barely, but I noticed how blood was gushing out of the Imperials, as if something faster than the flight of an arrow and of small size crashed into the armor of the Imperials, piercing them right through. Neither their enormous speed nor the heavy white armor that completely enveloped their bodies and reliably protected them saved them. As I expected, the dryad was not alone, there were several of them and they all released from behind themselves, or rather from long black sticks, fiery rays that passed through the bodies of the Antigonians, instantly killing them. The Antigonians fell one after another, and soon, when the grove was covered with a carpet of corpses, the Antigonians tried to escape. ¡°Oh great mother! What''s happening?!" The princess screamed in panic, squinting her eyes, afraid to open them. The Antigonian man who accompanied us tried to run behind a tree and as soon as he flashed his heels a couple of times, his head exploded like a fountain, and his body fell lifelessly onto a root. I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes, it was the same miracle that I had been looking for for so long, an opportunity to escape and finally get out of this nightmare destructive forest. We were lucky that the dryads did not attack us, but their fiery rays whistled past us, which seemed to us an omen of quick death. Soon I noticed how the Antigonian nevertheless overtook one dryad and killed her with one blow, forcing her to scream. That Antigonian died soon after his blow when a fiery ray pierced his heart through, but now one thing became clear to everyone: dryads are mortal and can also die, and for this a swing of the blade is quite enough. The Antigonians around were inspired by this discovery and tried in one wave, shouting in the name of Sod, to attack the dryads at once, trying to crush them in numbers. It was a monstrous massacre: corpses fell one after another, meat, blood, screams were heard everywhere, there was agony all around, and a deadly stench was felt in the nose. Ultimately, the firestorm ended and what I saw around me were the dead bodies of what had once been some of the most powerful warriors of the Empire, the paladins of the order. I can¡¯t believe that the dryads killed so many people so easily and didn¡¯t seem to want to stop there. A couple of dryads descended on the dead relative, examining his body with their limbs and strange magical objects, and another dryad was heading towards us with a long black object in its limbs. Soon the dryad stopped and pointed the thin part with the hole of this object in our direction, and at that moment I realized: he was going to kill us. Not only I understood this, but also Niana and Alza. Both rose to their feet and tried to beg the dryads for mercy: "Don''t kill us." Niana said, followed by Alza. "W-we don''t want to hurt you." "Shut up fucking bitches!" The dryad said in a male voice and the last thing I saw was a bright flash before I was enveloped in monstrous pain. *** It happens again, as if I suddenly remember the nightmare I just had, maybe it was, but I know for sure that it was a prediction, the worst outcome of a possible future that I must prevent. From that Ripun came a prediction that it would soon come true and I would have to decide how to avoid it, and again this prediction was so clear and so monstrous. ¡°Ripun, are you dead?¡± Alza said, seeing my shaking body, which continued to feel the pain of the past death, or rather the death that will never happen again. That¡¯s right, we were walking right now and the next day we will go out to that grove where the Antigonians will surround us. "Yes." I answered the girl. "The Antigonians have overtaken us, again." ¡°Tch!¡± Khan snorted. ¡°We¡¯re not even at a rest stop and what do you suggest we do?¡± "Good question." I answered and thought about it. One question really bothered me at this moment: ?Why did the dryads kill us? They attacked the Antigonians only because they themselves tried to attack, but why did they kill us?? The answer to this question surfaced quite quickly. ?They did not distinguish which people were which, and thought that we came with the Imperials. This means we need to try to show that we are not with them and then they will spare us and at the same time get rid of the Antigonians.? A smile spread across my face. Finally, I waited for the very miracle that I had been waiting for so long and we had the long-awaited opportunity to survive. We can only hope that those dryads do not kill everyone, but only those who try to harm them. "What''s so funny?" Zaden asked me with dissatisfaction in his voice. ¡°We will meet someone ahead. We must do everything we can to avoid death. First of all, Zaden, listen to what I tell you..." Chapter 32. Hatred These strange people gave me a ring made by that old magician from the stem of some blade of grass. Having put it on their middle finger, they suddenly spoke in a language I understood, or rather, only those who had also put the same ring on their middle finger. The old magician himself, as it turned out, made these rings for everyone, after which conversations began between a strange group of pale-skinned wanderers and strangers who captured and tied up our group of adventurers. I still barely understood what was happening, but fortunately Elpata in my thoughts briefly told me about what was happening and yet I was still scared by her thoughts that were gnawing at me in my head. She thought coldly, cynically, indifferently and truly monstrously. What scares me is what lives inside me and what has lived for five whole years of my life. I still have little grasp of those memories and have not been able to fully understand them. Every time I remember all the past years, my head begins to hurt, as if these memories were pouring out all the pain accumulated over all these years. It was unbearable to think about what I went through while sleeping while my body was controlled by Pantorian. I felt fear from the realization that she now knew what I was thinking about now, what I was going to do, what I was afraid of and what I was dreaming about. She sees right through me, and I am not even able to know myself properly and even look at Elpata. I only remember that image of a naked, strong woman from a strange scarlet wasteland with a huge eye in the sky. This is the only way I remember her and I can¡¯t imagine her any other way. As she ordered, I looked around at the earthlings who flooded me with questions about who I was and what I was doing, but then the most important of these earthlings went somewhere behind the trees to talk to an old man, and I was left alone, and that girl named Incartia drooped. rested her back against the tree, waiting for her to finally hit the road. "What is wrong with you?" Incartia suddenly said, and I, hearing her words, turned to her and asked: "What are you speaking about?" ¡°You seem to have become a different person and it seems to me that the way you behave is more like the real you, but then who were you in the past? Who did I see then? No, I have to ask differently." The young sorceress shook her head and asked with all seriousness in her voice: ¡°What happened to you? Why did you suddenly change?¡± ?Good question.? Elpata''s cold and curious voice sounded in my head. ?I think you can tell her the truth.? What? Are you sure I can tell her this? ?We have no need to fear her. These ¡°unworthy¡± ones have little understanding of even their own nature of things. They live only by believing in ancient legends and myths, they do not know which of them are true and which are heroic fiction. At least now I know for sure that more than ten centuries have passed since then. So don''t be shy and tell her the truth. She still won''t understand you.? And if she understands something, then what will happen to me? ?Then you will die.? I swallowed my saliva when I heard such a dark train of thought in my head. Clear, rational, calculating and strict. Why should I tell her the truth? This is probably because I don''t know how to lie and Elpata knows it. She doesn''t lie because she is a Pantorian, and I can''t lie because I can easily give away my lie through my actions. That''s why I can''t lie now. Before giving my answer, I breathed more air into my chest and, a little nervous with terrible anticipation, said: ¡°Another soul lived inside me for many years.¡± "Huh?" Incartia widened her eyes and was surprised. ¡°What? Another soul? How is this possible?¡± ¡°She moved inside me five years ago and saved my life.¡± I couldn''t tell her anything but the truth. Incartia saw me talking about this with a dark expression on my face. She didn''t see the lies in me, but she saw the hostility that was reflected on my face. She quickly guessed what was what. ¡°Another soul... don¡¯t you love her enough?¡± ¡°Yes... because... she stole five years of life, my life. How can I love her after this?¡± I said with all sincerity and resentment, simultaneously regretting that I was so weak in front of her enormous essence and could not maintain control over my body. Incartia just thought about my answer and muttered under her breath: "This explains a lot. That blow most likely awakened your true soul, but then what about her soul? She is dead?" "No. I keep hearing her in my head." It was as if Elpata''s laughter sounded in my mind as my eyes watched Incartia''s reaction. ¡°Is what you say true? Are these some kind of excuses?¡± ?This is not a question, this is a test. She wants to hear my words. Tell her this...? ¡°''Yes, Mrs. Incartia, my words are the truth.'' That¡¯s what she asked me to convey.¡± Incartia''s eyes sparkled when she was convinced that everything I said was true. ¡°Yes indeed... you are telling the truth. She would have said it the way you just did.¡± After these words, looking at Incartia, I do not see in her any desire to kill me. Elpata was right: she, knowing the truth, simply does not know what to do. Perhaps she will then talk to the old man and find out more about this and then most likely she will do something towards me. ?You already think like an adult. This is a reason to be proud.? Could I have thought differently? ?Unworthy people like you can only follow their emotions, turning off their own minds, living on pure instincts and nothing more, but you followed logic, discarding unnecessary feelings, and that¡¯s why I¡¯m proud of you. Maybe someday in the future you too will have the honor of becoming ¡°worthy¡±.? No. ?It''s a shame, but I''m still happy that you''re becoming a strong person.? It was you who made me remember the past years, go through the pain that you did. It''s on your conscience, because of you I''m changing now. You took my life, used it as you please, filled my life with pain that cannot be tolerated for even a short moment. Because of this pain, I cannot remember the years that you stole from me. Only my desire to see dad makes me continue to listen to your advice. If it weren¡¯t for this, I would have shut you up forever and buried you in the darkest depths of my consciousness so that I would never hear your squeak again! ?Don''t be arrogant, Camellia, you''re still human.? And you still exist in my body. ?This is true, but I¡¯m afraid that without me, my help and my advice, your death will only be a matter of time. Remember this, without knowledge you are weak. All ¡°unworthy¡± people are weak because they have neither knowledge nor experience, but don¡¯t be like them. I have both knowledge and experience. Under my guidance, you will become strong and then you will thank me, but as long as you are led by feelings, by these stupidest human emotions, you remain one of them, just as ¡°unworthy.¡±? Her voice finally fell silent, and I finally brought the conversation with Incartia to an end. I would like to talk to Ashwani and Furgur, to get to know them, but now they are communicating with earthlings. It seems that the strangers from the sky have a lot of questions for the two of them, so I won¡¯t bother them. The next moment, my gaze caught on one earthling who seemed to stand out among the rest. He was well-groomed, his slightly disheveled short dark hair lay smoothly on his head, and his sophisticated, curious green eyes were fixed on different people in this forest. The sight of his handsome face even made my cheeks red, which made Elpata even grin in my head. ?Exactly, at this age you people begin puberty. Both boys and girls feel sexual attraction to the opposite sex. I can help you overcome this feeling, you just need to choose one of two options.? SHUT UP!!! I DON''T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THIS FROM YOU!!! ?Know that I just wanted to help you, but you yourself decided to refuse.? This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Remembering how she, controlling my body, fought against this puberty, I began to blush and feel ashamed. She did the most real perversions, either alone using my fingers between her legs or making eyes at the first men she came across so that they would fly at her with the wild look of a hungry beast, naked in bed or in some secluded place, making her feel a strange pleasant feeling filling her whole body. It was all so... vulgar. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! I WILL NOT DO IT! I AM NOT A WHORE! ?Stop thinking about it, just approach him.? AND I AM NOT GOING TO! ?Don''t think I''m suggesting you have sex with him, he''s just acting suspicious, I want to make sure of something.? Having instantly come to my senses and discarded vulgar thoughts, I still decided to listen to Elpata and approached this handsome guy. He really was very handsome and very sexy... but his speech patterns left much to be desired. "Do you need something?" He asked, turning to me. ?Tell him...? Elpata advised me and I said the following: "Eternal." At this moment there was silence all around. The man, barely twitching his eye, looked around and, rising from the cobblestones to his feet, came up to me... came very close to me, towering over me. I even began to think that Elpata specifically told me to approach him, but soon he whispered very strange words in my ear. "Pantora is alive." "Pantora eternal." I answered him and then the man stepped aside and began to walk at a slow pace somewhere behind the trees, and I followed him. ?My guesses were confirmed.? What does it mean? Do you know who this is? ?¡°Unworthy¡±, like all of you, but who accepted the idea of ????a great order.? Is he the one who accepted your sick ideas? ?You ¡°unworthy¡± consider the great order to be wild, but there are also those ¡°unworthy¡± who accept our idea with open arms and they are one of those who serve us as ordinary people. It¡¯s better to give me control of your body for a while, so it will be much more convenient for me to talk to him.? No and... how could I do this? Can I just wish for it or what? ?Just give me free rein, and when you realize that I¡¯ve had enough, imprison me back in the depths of your consciousness, like now.? I could barely comprehend it, but I still tried to imagine how I unraveled the bonds with Pantorian and gave her the long-awaited freedom. Although her essence was threatening, creepy and huge, the power over my body still continues to belong to me. She''s right, I can take back control of my body whenever I want, but how did she know that? ?You don¡¯t have to think about it, if you try, you simply won¡¯t understand anything. There is no need to bother yourself with difficulties that you cannot yet handle.? Then teach me. ?When it is time.? We entered into an unspoken agreement, she will teach me everything she knows, and I will give her free reign over my body. Maybe this way she will find a way to get her body back much faster than I can imagine, but I can¡¯t fully look at her vast mind, it¡¯s too huge and indescribable to understand what she¡¯s even capable of. Meanwhile, I followed that person, and Elpata, in turn, took control of my body. I felt as if I had relaxed while my body took intuitive graceful even steps after the man and when he looked at me again he twitched as if he saw in front of him not a frightened girl, but someone who stood above him and commanded his fate. The couple started talking and Elpata asked the first question: "What with her?" "We lost her." The man answered, after which my face distorted with displeasure. ¡°You, unworthy ones, cannot be relied upon. At least she''s still alive." ¡°The Eternal One cannot be destroyed so easily.¡± "I know." I snorted with contempt. ¡°First, we need to clarify something: what is your name around here?¡± "Lecite. Unworthy from Ecostate." I was curious to know a lot, and first of all, what it means to be ¡°unworthy.¡± This is a designation I have heard so often from Elpata, but I still did not understand its meaning. Elpata apparently heard my thoughts and gave me her answer: ?"Unworthy" these are all those who do not follow the idea of ??the great order and in whom Pantorian blood flows. Non-humans, animals, ordinary people, all manifestations of the old nature, they are all ¡°unworthy¡±. Even Pantora was once inhabited by more than 90% of the unworthy, and all because few of us understood the ideas of the great order and simply rejected it, but those who accepted these ideas received more benefits in their lives and followed the Pantorian ideals.? Elpata was able to explain something, but she didn¡¯t think about more, and instead continued the conversation with Lecite. ¡°Lecite, I will remember your name. In this body my name is Camellia, so call me that.¡± ¡°As you wish, master of war.¡± He quickly guessed who I was... that is, Elpata? How? And she also gave her answer to this question: ?Warriors of Pantora, as a rule, cannot exist without their leaders, they do not take a step without a clear decree, without a leader their only destiny is to go to harmony, but those who have completely suppressed their feelings rise above all the main forces of Pantora and enter into "Mastremus Pantorika" after which these warriors are given the title Masters of War. Since then, we have been strictly forbidden to die, and the range of responsibilities and opportunities has become much wider. You have no idea, Camellia, what a master of war is capable of with the necessary resources. "Unworthy" people like you call us"Gods", although to be honest this just makes me laugh.? This explains a lot. Once unworthy, that is, the servant of Pantora sees a living Pantorian in front of him, this means only one thing: he sees a master of war. Now this became clear to me, but Elpata decided to answer many questions later, and now focused on a strange conversation with Lecite, asking him the question: ¡°How did you get to these people?¡± "Grand-General Grace has ordered the unworthy to investigate the battlefields in preparation for a second move." Lecite said casually crossing his arms over his chest. "The Antorians are quick to spot the ''worthy'', so the sage decided to send us. However, we did not have enough firepower and our squad was destroyed by the natives, and I was imprisoned underground by some creatures known as "goblins", and then these earthlings appeared and pulled me out." Elpata began to think about these words: "''Goblins'' means... They imprisoned you underground, but why didn''t you die?" "I activated the temporal field." "I see." I said it, or rather Elpata, and I, in turn, did not understand the meaning of these words that my ears heard. What is the temporal field? Does it make a person immortal? ?No. The temporal field simply stops the movement of time at a given relative point in space with a certain radius of action.? I still didn¡¯t understand anything, but this thought sounded very surprising. ?I¡¯ll have to repeat this again: don¡¯t fill your head with complications. It¡¯s better not to interfere in my life at all and wait for me to finish the conversation.? For these words I was a little offended by her, and then Elpata asked Lecite with my lips: "What are you planning to do?" ¡°I will follow you, mistress Camellia. We need to return to the ship and report to the command about the results of the reconnaissance.¡± ¡°What if the ship is no longer there?¡± ¡°In that case, I will go to harmony.¡± Elpata, hearing his words, nodded contentedly. "It''s clear. Well, I¡¯ll let you follow me, but I¡¯m afraid our paths will soon diverge.¡± "What are you speaking about?" ¡°As you can see, earthlings appeared on this planet. They are not such a serious threat to us, but still we must try to get rid of them if we want to gain control of this planet.¡± ¡°Are you going to destroy them?¡± ¡°Yes, I will do that.¡± I answered and forced Lecite to put forward a proposal: ¡°Maybe before we do this, let¡¯s find out about their capabilities? We might even get them on our side to fight Antora." After these words, my face twisted in a grimace of anger. "Never." I answered with contempt and made Lecite puzzled by my answer. ¡°Mistress, this is irrational.¡± ¡°It is irrational to allow earthlings to exist. Of all the people, they are the most principled, they will never join our side and it is unlikely that they have been able to reach the technological limit over the past thousand years. Technologically they are still just as backward, this was expected. Of course, compared to Antora, they are a lesser threat to us, but it is better to get rid of them as soon as possible before they, with their insanely stupid immoral ideas, do not infect the minds of the inhabitants of this planet with their ¡°freedom¡±, ¡°equality¡±, ¡°tolerance¡±, ¡°pluralism¡± and ¡°democracy¡±, which they don¡¯t even adhere to. Human stupidity is a sin, it is a tumor of the old nature, which brings only evil in its innocent wrapper. Don¡¯t even think about getting along with the earthlings, you can¡¯t rely on them, under any circumstances. Do you understand me?" "¡­ Yes. I understood you perfectly.¡± In response, Lecite could only agree with my words, or rather Elpata, and I was still imbued with feelings of hatred towards these earthlings. Are they really so bad that they deserve to be destroyed in the first place? They look and act human, just like Pantorian, but why does Elpata hate them so much? ?Do you still dare to ask? The answer lies on the surface, before your eyes. Because of your body, I feel emotions that I would never feel in my own body. Your emotions compensate for my rational thoughts by feeding them with similar emotions, but deprive them of common sense and logic. In many ways I agree with Lecite, we need to study these earthlings, but these idiots need to be destroyed. Not just as a good necessity in the name of achieving great order, but as an act of satisfying the feeling of revenge... for Pantora, that these bastards destroyed.? I can''t believe that this turned out to be true and yet she continued to be who she is: cold, cynical, cruel... and inhuman. That''s right, Pantorians are not people, they look like people, live among them, learn from them, but abandon everything human for the great goal of destroying all life in the universe. Why do they want this? The answer is terribly simple: they are disillusioned with life as such, they do not see the meaning in it, because sooner or later everything will come to an end. What is the point of existence if the universe dies anyway? It is a wasted existence, a waste of energy. They think too far-sightedly, which is why they build their destructive goal. They would like to exist without end, but there is an end, and even if it happens trillions and trillions of years later, the end will still come and the very fact of its existence depresses them. They are victims of their own ideas. "Glorika Pantorika." Lecite said and went back to camp, while I quickly regained control of my body, feeling the familiar power over my own arms and legs. ?We''ll be on our way soon. Your body needs nutrition. Go eat.? I know this even without you. Okay... I''ll go to camp and eat something. And again I became myself, but am I really me? So much has happened in such a short time and I just can¡¯t wrap my head around it all. In any case, one thing still drives me: to return home and meet my dad. I miss you, dad. Chapter 33. Chain Wolf Quite recently I realized that I live in a nasty shithole, but not in the literal sense, but figuratively. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t know the joys of a comfortable life, on the contrary, I¡¯m happy with the way I live now. I am served daily by servants and maids, they do all the household and heavy work for me, they feed me and even wash me, and I, in turn, manage the royal palace, which no one else is able to do correctly and efficiently. Sitting in a huge office with a high ceiling, decorated with all kinds of masterful patterns on the walls, in the light of the sun''s rays penetrating through the window, I sorted through stacks of papers with various orders, letters, reports, documents and other things. And although I had to do only part of this work, I was already accustomed to the fact that the royal family dumped almost all of their responsibilities on me while the owners of the country themselves were unable or did not have the desire to participate in state politics. This is precisely the problem: they no longer want to fulfill their royal duty, but only care about their own well-being and this greatly irritates me. Sitting comfortably in a chair, sipping a sweetly aromatic drink from my cup, I carefully try to read the letter, barely deciphering someone¡¯s clumsy handwriting. Fortunately, I¡¯m used to this and have long since learned to read even barely recognizable symbols written on paper. The letter itself did not have any benevolent character, but rather, on the contrary, was bad news from the east. Having read the letter, I angrily crushed it into a ball and threw it into the fireplace, where it instantly burned, and then exhaling in relief, with a slight creak, I leaned my back against the high back of a soft and comfortable chair. The sunset was already visible outside the window, and I had only managed to finish all my work for today. I''m afraid if this continues, I''ll soon die from fatigue. I am no longer a young man and I can really fall like a king and not get out of bed for twenty years in a row, so these are not empty words, but a possible reality. ?Looks like the king''s advisor needs his own advisor.? I chuckled to myself, having already taken the pen and dipped its tip in ink, starting to write on a blank sheet of paper my own order to find a new assistant to govern the state. Fortunately, I can afford to hire one such person, and the treasury fully allows this. The main thing is to find a worthy person, and not just anyone who just wants to earn gold. Once I already hired such a man, a guy fifteen years old, who couldn¡¯t even read, but could only scratch his long tongue incessantly, so they took him for lying and hanged him in front of the city gates. From the severed hands, the townspeople immediately realized that he was a thief, but this somehow did not reduce the crime, however, this did not matter, the main thing was to show that lying to the owners of the kingdom was strictly punishable and was punishable by death. I quickly finished writing the order and put the piece of paper aside, but as soon as I finally relaxed, I immediately heard a lonely knock on the door. Once they knock once, it means they are waiting on the other side for permission to enter. Members of the royal family knock on the door twice and then the owner of the room must come up and open the door himself, but since the knock was the only one, I could only say loudly in a calm and even voice: "Come in." The door opened with a creak and a servant of very mature age stood in the doorway. Judging by his dirty street clothes, he is from the stables and has been tasked with delivering some kind of oral message. Apparently due to ignorance, but at first he confused me with His Majesty, as always. ¡°Your Maje... ahem-ahem... that is, Mr. Rudrin, an ambassador from Durshlagdt showed up at the palace. He desires an audience with His Majesty." ¡°At this late hour?¡± I sighed tiredly and reluctantly began to rise to my feet. ¡°I¡¯ll go down to him myself. You are free." ¡°As you wish, Your Maje... ahem-ahem... Mr. Rudrin.¡± The man said and immediately disappeared, closing the door behind him, and meanwhile I rose to my feet and stood in front of a huge mirror, examining myself. Black short smooth hair, narrowed dark amber eyes, a thin neck, very short stature, like a teenager, and a red and gold jacket with white trousers. This is what His Majesty¡¯s chief adviser looks like, it¡¯s been a while since I looked at myself from the outside and I looked very tired with bags under my eyes. I need sleep and urgently. ?But first we need to deal with him.? Leaving my office, I slowly walked along the corridor towards the stairs in order to go down to the throne room. Walking past the luxurious portraits of members of the royal dynasty and heroes of the past, I could only hope that the ambassador came here not for the sake of another provocation, but for a truly important matter, but I sense that it was still a provocation. It is sad. The corridors were empty at that time, and all because I had reduced the number of the garrison and, accordingly, the security of the royal palace, which is why I could not feel safe. I could have been killed at any moment, however, I am not His Majesty and I don¡¯t know who would have taken it into his head to kill the king¡¯s chief adviser. And even knowing this, I was still a little afraid for my own life, because I could very well accidentally cross someone¡¯s road and become someone¡¯s target. Walking down the circular staircase, I found myself in a throne room, quite modest for royalty, lit by a single chandelier and decorated with three flags, but with a luxurious throne decorated with scarlet velvet and the coat of arms of the royal family. The throne was empty at that time, and in front of it stood a man in an aristocratic robe of dark brown colors, with long gray hair, his arms crossed behind his back. Approaching him from behind, I already realized that a grin was displayed on his face, and this means only one thing: ?Another provocateur.? I sighed tiredly and when I came closer, the ambassador, having clearly heard the sound of approaching steps, turned to me, and his gaze instantly changed from joyful to dissatisfied. "Who are you?" The old man said rudely, clearly realizing that I am not a royal person. Everyone knows that the royal family has golden hair, so it was not difficult to guess, especially when you see a dark-haired man, albeit mature. "Draun Rudrin, Chief Advisor to His Majesty, greetings and welcome to Ran." I said with all calmness in my voice, observing all the rules of decency accepted in noble society. The ambassador only snorted with displeasure in response to my words. ¡°Where is your king? Why did you come here instead of him?¡± ¡°Before answering your questions, would you please introduce yourself?¡± ¡°I am Ambassador Edreo Simyu, from the Duchy of Durshlagdt, remember me. I am here on behalf of Duke Fellrik and must meet with King Lef, I need to convey a message to him personally. Why should I wait for him?¡± ?Impudent.? I was angry inside myself at him, but I didn¡¯t show it in plain sight, continuing to maintain a calm expression on my face. ¡°His Majesty is seriously ill and needs constant rest, and I am acting as king until His Majesty recovers.¡± I answered and immediately received a caustic answer. "I do not care! Do you dare waste my time here and now?! You insult me, you insult the Duke! Have you decided that you can endlessly neglect your guests as you please? Who do you even think you are?!¡± ¡°The king is ill and cannot attend. I''m here instead of him. So tell me why you came here." More and more irritation crept onto the ambassador''s face. In addition to the fact that he was impudent, he also tried to look offended despite the hospitality we provided. I could not respond rudely to the ambassador, I know very well that even such a trifle is a serious threat of war, and yet I endured and waited for the opportunity to strike my blow at the pride of this old idiot. ¡°And why, I wonder, didn¡¯t the king entrust the meeting with me to his son? Is his heir also ill or unable to attend for some other reason?¡± It was a fair question. According to the laws of Lakuus, if the monarch is not able to govern the state and conduct royal affairs, then this should be done by the closest relative from his wife to his uncle. However, in this case, the king, by his own decree, did not entrust power to any of his relatives, and the duties of His Majesty passed into my hands. I tried my best to maintain order in the kingdom, calmed down disgruntled nobles, politely drove away ambassadors from other countries, I also did the same with representatives of vassal families and it was damn difficult. And recently, the eastern duchy of Durshlagdt has begun to send envoys on one mission or another more often. What I felt now was a huge and unbearable stress and I even thought about fleeing this country along with my entire family, leaving the country in a state of anarchy, but I could not act so rashly. People relied on me, and I could not let them down so stupidly by succumbing to selfish desires. ¡°For now, the king has entrusted the crown to me.¡± I answered the ambassador in a calm and even voice. ¡°So address me according to your position.¡± ¡°Do you think I don''t know much about etiquette?¡± The old man ground his teeth. ¡°I will tell Duke Fellrick everything you told me here! He will send you a letter in response to this disdain for our union!¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. As far as I knew, the Duchy of Durshlagdt under the previous king was part of the kingdom of Lakuusa. When His Majesty ascended the throne, his brother received the title of Duke of Durshlagdt, and then for some reason quarreled with His Majesty, declaring independence and his own claims to the royal throne. Somehow the war between the brothers was prevented, but relations between them continued to remain strained. Even trade was poorly conducted, they did not trust each other. Perhaps Edreo, speaking about the alliance, relies on the vassal agreement, which is still officially in force in the kingdom of Lacuusa and wants to finally break it off on the basis of insulting his own representative. If so, it would provide an excuse for the Duke to go to march to Ran, the kingdom''s capital, and might even persuade some of Lacuus''s vassals to join the Duke''s banner. ¡°In that case, I will wait for the letter and will be sure to convey Duke Fellric¡¯s words to His Majesty. If this is all you came here for, then I ask you to leave the palace. The guard will see you off, and now forgive me, but my work today has made me very tired, I need to rest.¡± I clapped my hands three times and a pair of guards with short clanking blades dangling from their belts came out from behind the main doors with a loud clang of armor. ¡°Escort this gentleman to the exit of the palace.¡± ¡°As you order, Mr. Rudrin.¡± One of the guards responded in a low voice and then addressed the ambassador. "Please follow me." ¡°Tch!¡± The ambassador clicked his tongue. ¡°I hope this is our last meeting.¡± ?Me too.? I said to myself and went to my chambers while the ambassador hurried out of the palace, muttering something under his breath. It is possible that we should soon expect the outbreak of war, as was written in that letter: Durshlagdt troops are gathering on the border with more than two thousand people. I can¡¯t believe that Duke Fellrik was able to gather such a huge army, he clearly used the services of Western mercenaries, or there in the east they collected exorbitant taxes from the population by collecting peasant militia. In any case, he would never prepare for war just like that, and this means only one thing: ?He wants the title of king.? On my way through the candlelit corridors, I came across the same servant who had delivered me the message about the arrival of the ambassador. He was coming from the direction of my office with another message, and when he saw me, he voiced this very news: "Mr. Rudrin, Prince Monrid wants to see you." ?Oh no.? "Okay." I sighed tiredly and asked. "Where is he?" "In the chambers of Princess Ilifreeta, Mister Rudrin." After hearing what I heard, my face twisted in a grimace of disgust, and I quickly hurried to the princess¡¯s chambers. ?He''s doing it to her again... damn bastard.? I quickly ran to the princess''s chambers and knocked on the door, as my position told me to do. Although I had powers equal to the king, I am still a servant of the royal family and must obey all its members, regardless of whether they are ignorant children or infirm old people. "You can come in." I heard a man¡¯s voice behind the door and grabbed the door handle with a creak and pulled it back. The door opened and the sweet smell of an aphrodisiac immediately hit my nose, dizzying me, and white underwear that belonged to the prince was scattered on the carpet decorated with ash-red patterns. The luxurious chambers of the princess, illuminated by a single candle behind which, on the very edge of the bed, sat the half-naked golden-haired Prince Monrid, and behind the curtain Princess Ilifreeta lay motionless, taking deep breaths and exhalations. The second prince had a very attractive appearance and a charming voice for his age, which makes him a very skilled person in terms of seduction. And although he looked good, inside this man there lives a real monster, which in principle should not have existed. This man has absorbed all the evil, all the worst that can exist in this world. I tried to hide my own disgust for Prince Monrid and entering the princess¡¯s chambers I politely greeted him: ¡°Draun Rudrin is here, Your Highness, did you call me?¡± ¡°When I tell you to come to me, you should not walk, but run.¡± Monrid said with dissatisfaction in his voice, getting up from the edge of the bed and throwing off the blanket hiding his nakedness. ¡°Why should I wait for you? Answer me, Draun." ¡°Forgive me, my prince, I worked hard today and was very tired.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear any excuses from you.¡± The prince said sternly as he began to dress in his robes, simultaneously glaring at me with a stern look. ¡°You are not a fool, Draun, you must understand that you are just a chain dog carrying out my orders.¡± ?Ugly? Mentally I was angry with him. ¡°What''s the matter, Draun? Don''t you want to ask me for forgiveness? Do you think I''m not the future king of Lakuus? Do you think I¡¯ll put up with your irresponsible antics?¡± I would like to answer that his older brother has more claims to the throne, but I have no desire to make unnecessary fuss about this now. Instead, I knelt down and hit my forehead on the floor, begging the prince for forgiveness. "I beg you, my prince, forgive me." "And it''s all?" The prince said angrily and I had to add. ¡°I assure you, this will not happen again.¡± "What-what?" The prince said sarcastically, putting his foot on my neck, squeezing my bones, ready at any moment, if not to kill me, then to seriously cripple me. ¡°Do you little puppy think you¡¯re a dragon? What kind of stupid apology is this? Should I remind you how you should apologize or are you going to do it yourself?¡± How I hate him, I constantly have to endure his stupid antics, his cruelty, lust and arrogance. Time will punish him, but now I will have to bow to him and endure all his blows. ¡°I beg your forgiveness, my prince, please punish your stupid puppy.¡± As soon as I fell so low, the next moment I received a kick to my face, flying slightly back. The pain spread throughout my dizzy head while there was a booming ringing in my ears, and everything suddenly went dark in my eyes. "Fucking dog." The prince snorted and spat in my face. ¡°You all constantly have to be reminded of your place, how annoying it is. When I become king, I will force everyone in the palace to wear collars so that everyone knows exactly who is the dog and who is the boss. You will all bark on my orders, you will tear each other on my orders, you will do everything exclusively for me alone. Yes, it will be so. You will all obey your master, and if not, you will simply squeak. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha ha~!¡± ?I''ll kill you, you bastard!? I clenched my fingers into fists, barely restraining my anger so as not to attack the second prince and beat this insolent creature to death. The prince, meanwhile, dressed in his robes, stood with his back to me and finally told me why he wanted to see me. ¡°By the way, why did I call you? Oh yes, that¡¯s right, I heard from my friend that in the Empire, some house called Von Gleos seems to be throwing a ball in honor of Princess Friederike¡¯s coming of age. They say she is such a sweet beauty, like a sparkling lily, I want to see her. Bring her here." ?Are you crazy?!? I almost shouted, but holding back and getting to my feet, I collected my thoughts and gave a different answer: "I''m afraid I won''t be able to carry out your order." The prince turned to me with a furious expression on his face. He was clearly very annoyed by the answer he heard. ¡°Are you stupid? Do you dare refuse your future king? Do you want to be hacked to death? How dare you even open your mouth? Did I tell you to speak?¡± "You misunderstood me, my prince." I bowed my head guiltily in front of him and explained. ¡°The fact is that the von Gleos family is the most influential family of the Antigone Empire, they will never listen to us. If I had sent an invitation inviting Princess Friederike to come to the kingdom of Lacuusa, I would have been immediately rejected. To them we are just a barbarian kingdom with savage customs." The prince''s eyes widened even more than before, he was angry, very angry, so much so that in his anger he overturned the table next to him, smashing all the cutlery on the floor. ¡°HOW DARE THEY?!¡± The prince shouted angrily. ¡°SO I AM THE CROWN PRINCE OF THE KINGDOM JUST NOT GET WHAT I WANT?! WHO DO THESE ANTIGONS THINK THEMSELVES ARE?! VILE INSECTS!¡± Prince Monrid was extremely stupid. He is absolutely unfit to be the ruler of the kingdom. This idiot, who destroyed expensive tableware, considers himself the center of the whole world, as if everyone around him should obey only him and does not tolerate absolutely no refusal. This always happens when he encounters reality and the fact that not everything is under his control and if an ordinary person accepts this reality, then Prince Monrid simply refuses to see this reality and furiously rejects it. He will never learn to live like a normal person, he is spoiled and will remain so until the end of his days. ?Do you really think that an influential family of the Empire will fulfill the demands of the kingdom?? I sighed to myself and voiced new idea out loud: "I have an idea." Prince Monrid''s furious breakdown stopped and he raised his questioning gaze to me and asked: "Idea?" In response, I nodded and replied: ¡°You can go to the Empire yourself for the ball and meet Princess Frederica yourself. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll fall in love with you when she sees your unearthly beauty, inviting the very angels of Sod.¡± "Huh?" The prince did not understand. ¡°Are you suggesting that I go to a distant Empire to meet her? Am I supposed to sit in a carriage all day and shake like a caged dog?¡± ¡°N-no, I¡¯m not that...¡± ¡°Shut up! I don''t even want to think about it! Either you bring this fucking girl here or you''re dead! If you can¡¯t even carry out such a simple order, then why do you need your life?¡± Monrid said and walked past me and left the princess¡¯s chambers. ¡°I need to see her here and as soon as possible. Do this or you will die. I will assign a person to you to monitor how you cope with my orders. Don''t let me down, Draun." After these words, Monrid left the bedroom, and I, in turn, sighed with relief. I was just filled with anger because of the words of this piece of feces. He wants truly impossible things. If His Majesty would allow me more, then I could raise my voice not only at this thick-headed prince, but also at the depraved queen who raised him this way. The character of these two was disgusting, but they could never surpass the character of the first prince. He is much worse than all of them. The king himself, although a capable ruler, was also no better. His Majesty, more than anyone else, loved to enjoy life, he was a merciful ruler, but he did not like the self-sacrifice of others or his own. He loved his life more than anything or anyone else. He clings so strongly to the opportunity to live even longer that he is ready to go even against the Gods. This is what I meant when I thought about living in a shithole. This place may not be literal, but it reeks of crap coming out of the mouths of the rulers of our country. The king, the queen, the first prince, the second prince, the third prince, none of them are worthy to have power over this country. That¡¯s probably why I understand Duke Durshlagdt¡¯s claims to the royal throne of Lakuus. However, among all of them there was one person who, although unworthy of the royal throne, was more innocent than anyone else, and this was Princess Ilifreeta. Looking away in her direction, I could only look with pain in my heart at her exhausted naked body, covered with bruises, and dried tears were visible on her reddened face. Her body was struck by a terrible curse, everything below the princess''s neck died, and she forever lost the ability to walk on her feet and even move her arms. Coming closer to her, I saw how her lips were trembling. This time the bastard stuck his pod in her face instead of just inserting it into the crotch between her legs. The golden-haired girl looked at me with a pleading look in her eyes. For years she lies day after day in the same bed, every night the first and second prince comes to her to rape her while she is deprived of the opportunity to see the world with her own eyes and can only read books while the maids are afraid of her because of superstitions that she allegedly shares her a curse with those who stay close to her for a long time. In those sad blue eyes I see only one thing: the desire to die as soon as possible. Chapter 34. Succession crisis I was on the verge of exhaustion, every breath was given to me with great effort, and my body could barely move. I couldn¡¯t feel anything, I could only feel the last drops of vitality flowing out of me like a stream. Did I deserve this? Have I really wanted much in my time? No. I¡¯m still too young to lie so shamefully motionless on the bed with death breathing down my neck. Another series of coughs cut like a knife through my throat, as if I had just spat out pieces of my own lungs, maybe I really spat them out, I don¡¯t want to think about it. I turn my head to the side and see... no one. There is no one next to me, no one cares about me, everyone is waiting for the hour when I will finally leave this world and go into the arms of Sod. ?I won''t let this happen...? "Kha-kha~!" ?I won''t die...? "Kha-kha~!" ?I WILL NEVER DIE!? My palm doesn¡¯t listen to me and shakes like a raging bull. I can¡¯t even take a sip of water, as all the liquid spilled onto the bed and burned my skin with freezing cold. I can¡¯t even drink water without someone¡¯s help, I¡¯m so weak and helpless now. "Where is everyone?" My voice... terrible, hoarse. I feel like half a corpse, how disgusting it is. I can¡¯t do anything, and time is running out. Weakness rolled over me in waves, dragging me into the realm of dreams. "Where where?!" I repeated and didn¡¯t see anyone, the bedroom was empty, only the singing of birds outside the window and the whistling of the wind. I can¡¯t die like this, I couldn¡¯t do anything, it¡¯s too early for me to die, I¡¯m still so young, so much still needs to be done. I still have everything ahead of me, it¡¯s so unfair. It''s just terrible bad luck, I can''t... like this... ¡°Kha-kha-kha~! Kha-kha-kha~! KHA-KHA-KHA-KHA~!¡± It was hard to breathe, I had difficulty swallowing air, and the coughing became more and more unbearably difficult and painful. ?What did I do to deserve this suffering?? The short time of wakefulness comes to an end and my eyes close again, but every time I do this I am afraid, I am afraid that next time I will never be able to open my eyes again, I am afraid that I will never wake up again. I¡¯m so scared, I can¡¯t come to terms with this, I can¡¯t come to terms with death. I hate death. I have always loved life, always cared about it, like people, like the nation... death will not overtake me... never. "Leff." I heard a beautiful female voice. I barely turn my head and my eyes seem to have tasted the aroma of new life, my eyes see a beautiful golden-haired woman, a ray of my life, hope for everything better and more beautiful. "Ben-¡­ tia¡­" I can''t sleep, I can''t keep my eyes open, death is so close. I don¡¯t want to die, I just started to live! Why did I have such a short life, why did I need it? I don''t understand... I don''t understand. "Leff, my husband," Bentia said affectionately and sat down on her knees by my bed. She looked at me so caringly, her blue eyes were filled with love and at the same time sincere concern. I haven¡¯t known her for so long, but she gave me wonderful children, smart and strong sons, but a mediocre and useless daughter. I''m not angry with her, no, I love her very much. I can¡¯t live without her, and I especially can¡¯t die in front of her eyes. My queen gently took my skinny pale hand and caressed her sweet face with it. How nice it was to see such beauty and feel its gentle touches on your skin. I enjoyed her beauty, her love and kind, warm words, but in an instant her gaze dropped, her face saddened, and streams of tears flowed down her cheeks. ¡°Are you in that much pain, Bentia? Don¡¯t be afraid, my dear queen, I will definitely... get back on my feet, and we will be together again.¡± Yes, so it will be. I''ll wait for this moment, but now I have to wait... wait for this asshole to come back and try his way to get me back on my feet. Where are you, son of a bitch? My words, however, did not encourage the queen in the least, but rather, on the contrary, upset her even more. ¡°Leff, I know how hard it is for you, but be reasonable at least at such a moment.¡± ?What is she talking about?? I was perplexed by her words. ¡°The whole kingdom will mourn if you leave our world, and my heart will forever break into thousands of pieces, and I will not be able to love anyone else in my life more than you. And I believe that you will get better, Leff. You will definitely get back on your feet, and we will love each other again in our bed and will make children again. But still... if something happens to you, then it will not be easy for our people in these difficult moments, they need a leader and...¡± "No." I said, immediately guessing what she was driving at. Bentia opened her mouth in shock, her eyes darted here and there, she did not expect such a sharp answer. She might be offended by me for this, so I decided to explain to her: ¡°I am pleased to know that you care about me, my beloved Bentia, but it was stupid to think that I would actually die. This will never happen, I will live, believe in my strength, believe in me." ¡°But the country needs an heir... it needs a king...¡± ¡°I¡¯m still alive, my dear, don¡¯t worry about all the little things. Draun will sort everything out until I get better.¡± Her face sank down. Her long golden hair made it difficult to see her expression. At such a moment, she rules the kingdom in my place and thinks about the heir. She shouldn''t be doing this. I will not die, fate is not something that can destroy a king. I am the monarch chosen by Sod to rule over mortals. I will leave this world only when I want it. I have lived only 99 years of my life, there is no need for me to leave this wonderful world so early. I have tasted so little of the joys of life, I cannot die so easily. This will never happen, I''m sure of it. ¡°Get well soon, my love.¡± Bentia said and, lowering my hand, rose to her feet and left our chambers. ?I love you, Bentia, with all my heart...? *** This old fart is staying alive with all his strength only thanks to me. Leff thinks that he will live, but why did this crazy old man think that? No normal person will ever get back on his feet while sick at 99 years of age. It''s just some kind of madness! How persistent he is! If it were up to me, I would order the maids to add poison to Leff¡¯s food so that he would finally die, but I can¡¯t do this, because this stupid old man completely refused to choose a successor for himself because of his confidence that he will one day rise on his feet. Doesn''t he understand that this is the end of his life? Why is he so stubborn? ¡°Argh~! Why don''t you just die." I said it out loud, but so that no one in the corridor but me could hear it. I¡¯m also far from a young woman; at 66 years old, I look like I¡¯m 33, all thanks to expensive makeup and anti-aging potions. Many young ladies envy my beauty at my advanced age, but as soon as I open my mouth, old age makes itself felt. I would love to know how to get my youthful voice back without having to prepare my vocal cords before meeting Leff. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I manipulate him with my appearance, my beauty and my ?caring?. I thought that this way I could make him do whatever I wanted, but it seems my dreams are destined to remain unfulfilled. Leff flatly refused to do something, and refusing to choose an heir was one of these decisions. Walking along the corridor and looking at the evening view of the buildings of Ran behind the high windows, I meet the eyes of one person who, if I fail, will become the next king and his name is Draun Rudrin. He also walked towards his chambers and passed me by, but he didn¡¯t even bother to bow to me or even greet me. Apparently this bitch already considers herself superior to everyone else, not bothering to take a few moments to show respect to the royal family. I stopped and looked after the chief adviser who had just passed me. ¡°You know what will happen if I tell Leff about what just happened.¡± I said in my natural old voice, so disgusting and hurtful to the ears that even Draun trembled when he heard me. He stopped and the next moment turned to me and answered me with his fake calm expression. "I don''t understand what you mean, my queen." Again he does it, this is an endless pretense along with open disrespect for the royal family. I know perfectly well what''s in that bastard''s head, he''s just like me. He wants to sit on the throne and personally rule the entire kingdom, bathe in wealth and glory, and have a harem of mistresses and slaves. Only an inveterate rooster would not want this. It was simply obvious that he had his sights set on the crown and was waiting for the moment when old Leff finally died. ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh, Draun, you know perfectly well what I mean. You disrespect the royal family so much that you don''t even greet the queen when you pass her." ¡°Ah~... please forgive me, it¡¯s my fault.¡± Having come to his senses, Draun said and bowed slightly as a sign of apology. ¡°I was just tired today and didn''t pay attention to etiquette. Once again I ask you to forgive me.¡± ?Didn''t pay attention to etiquette? What kind of lame, stupid excuse is this? Do you think I will believe what you just told me?? ¡°Whether I forgive you or not depends on my dear husband. I will definitely convey to him the words that I just heard from your lips.¡± His face didn''t change, although I''m sure he was scared to death right now. One word from me and Leff will order this nonentity to be hanged in front of the castle gates as a warning to everyone else. I already know how to convince Leff to do this. But I won¡¯t do this for now, because Draun has taken over the royal affairs, and I have no desire to take on them instead of him. Let this son of a bitch live, but for now I need to continue my attempts to convince Leff to declare a successor for himself, otherwise I will lose everything that I have been trying to achieve for so long. ¡°I understand you, my queen,¡± Draun bowed. ¡°In that case, will you allow me to go?¡± ¡°I permit.¡± "Good night to you." When he turned away and disappeared into the darkness, my face twisted in a grimace of disgust. I couldn''t help but wish this bastard the following: ?Die the most painful death, bastard.? Meanwhile, I turned around and went further into my own chambers, thinking about how to convince Leff to make Slackersh his successor. Leff still believes that this is not necessary, he thinks that death will not overtake him. So I need to convince him of the opposite, that death is already on the threshold and there is no escape from it. And then Leff will really decide to choose a successor, finally making the most important decision in his life. ?How can I play this out?? I thought as I continued to follow the corridor of the palace. *** The Kingdom of Lakuusa cannot be ruled by one single person; it is almost impossible to manage the state alone; for this, kings, princes, leaders, dukes and emperors create councils from people entrusted to them. Some advisers help in making certain decisions, creating new laws or abolishing old ones; other advisors manage the army, raise and train militias, and experiment with military affairs; still others are engaged in collecting taxes and spending the treasury along with its storage and protection; the fourth protect the kingdom from the shadows or keep an eye on unwanted people, and the latter take care of the health of the royal family and the highest nobility, simultaneously increasing their own scientific knowledge in medicine. However, as is customary in all kingdoms, the council only proposes to make certain decisions, but the final word always remains with the king. Now, however, it is a completely different time: the king is dying and has not announced who will be the next king of Lakuusa, and the king cannot make decisions while he is sick. At the moment, the state is ruled by the king''s right hand, chief adviser Draun Rudrin, known for his responsibility in the work given to him. The entire royal council trusts him and works together with him to solve certain problems. The advisors gathered around a large table, and next to them stood people subordinate to one or another advisor. There was even a court physician here who was supposed to take care of His Majesty, and since even he is here, it means that the issue being discussed today is extremely important and clearly has something to do with His Majesty. Only representatives of the royal family were not here, and the members of the royal family themselves were not here either. Their absence immediately aroused suspicion among some advisers, and these suspicions turned out to be well founded. When everyone finally gathered, Draun Rudrin immediately began the meeting, starting with the following words: ¡°Greetings to all of you. I won¡¯t bore you with waiting and will immediately tell you why we have all gathered today.¡± Everyone pricked up their ears and looked attentively with stern faces at the elderly Draun, who at any moment could become the king of Lakuusa. Everyone already knew that most likely they had gathered here precisely because of this, and therefore did not interrupt Draun in his current sayings. ¡°First of all, I want to give the floor to Halesmin to tell us about the condition of our king.¡± The court physician Halesmin, the youngest of those present, dressed in a gray robe scented with ethanol, he stood up from his chair and coughed to attract attention and began to tell everyone the obvious information. ¡°King Leff is dying, His Majesty¡¯s health is now in the worst condition than in all the previous days of his life, perhaps the king¡¯s death will occur this week. Now he lives only thanks to his willpower and the drugs that my subordinates give him. By order of His Majesty, I sent a person to search for a special medicine, but it seems that by the time he gets this medicine, His Majesty will already be dead. That''s all I wanted to tell you." "Thank you." Draun said, and Halesmin sat back in his seat while everyone turned their attention back to Draun. ¡°As you know, according to the laws of the kingdom of Lakuusa, if the king does not appoint his successor by decree or by his own lips, then after the death of the king the crown will remain without its owner. In this case, if His Majesty passes away and there is no successor, then the royal council will have the right to hold a secret vote and choose absolutely any person to be the head of our state. Most likely because of our relationship, you will choose me as your ruler." Everyone sitting at the table nodded in agreement, agreeing with Draun¡¯s words, but they still did not understand what he was really leading to and immediately opened their mouths when Draun finally admitted what he was leading everyone to. ¡°However, I have no desire to become king. Even if you choose me, I will give up the crown." After these words, the hall was immediately filled with indignant exclamations. The loudest in this regard was the military adviser, who did not take off his combat uniform for a moment. The forty-year-old gray-haired man slammed his massive fist onto the table and stood up from his chair and shouted at the chief adviser. ¡°What are you even talking about?!¡± Krazhd gritted his teeth while glaring at his friend with an embittered look. ¡°If not you, then who do you think can rule the kingdom?! Queen Bentia?! This old whore?! Or her insanely impudent sons?! The people of Lakuusa will only support you, because you have led us all these twenty years, and the royal family was aloof from worldly affairs! So take back your words, you armchair worm!¡± ¡°Calm down, Krazhd!¡± Treasurer Mierto intervened, as always the most reasonable and calm of all. ¡°You forget how hard it is for Draun now, he can barely cope with the work given to him.¡± Draun, however, did not appreciate such unexpected support because he knew what Mierto was getting at, his words were the same blow as from everyone else, only from a different position. Therefore, Draun was not very surprised when he heard the following words from Mierto addressed to him: ¡°Draun, I understand that you are worried about the problems that have arisen and about the royal family too, but you must remember that you are not alone. When you become king, we will be your advice, we will help you with whatever you can, and no matter what difficulties arise in front of us, we will cope with everything. So don¡¯t give up on your destiny and lead our people like a king.¡± ¡°If you have decided to fulfill your royal duty, then you should receive a blessing from Sod.¡± Bishop Azhannes spoke in an senile voice, sitting in his modest attire, so that no one in the community or in the city would recognize him. ¡°The temple will bless the establishment of a new Lakuusa dynasty. There is no point in abandoning the divine purpose and will of our God.¡± "We will protect you." Dougman, the Privy Councilor, who never shows his face from under his dark hood, added his word. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we respect you and won¡¯t hurt you. We will force all the royal nobility to recognize your right to the throne and silence all those who oppose your rule." ¡°No matter what you say, it won¡¯t change my decision.¡± Draun answered and proposed his own course of action. ¡°I, however, had a completely different idea that would solve all this once and for all.¡± All the advisers calmed down and pricked up their ears, listening carefully to Draun. Everyone is interested to know what the chief adviser came up with, who he will propose to replace the king, and he again surprised everyone. ¡°We will start a war with Durshlagdt and place Duke Fellric on the throne.¡± The chief adviser grinned maliciously, anticipating the taste of the outcome of the upcoming performance. Chapter 35. The Cannibal Prince The secret meeting of the council came to an end and everyone present at it hastened to scatter around the palace to carry out the idea proposed by the chief adviser. Until this day, it was unheard of to arrange meetings without the knowledge of the Royal Highnesses, but now it has become a reality. One man hurried out of this meeting, looking around the corridors behind him, fearing that someone was watching him. This man was the most loyal subject of the first prince, His Highness Slakersh. Of course, he was the most faithful until someone put more gold in his pockets, but until the price for loyalty to him was outbid, so he was only happy to serve the first prince, even if he often had to humiliate himself in front of him, playing the role of a submissive servants. It was a small price to pay for luxury. The nameless man approached the door and, looking around, made one knock, after which he heard the following from the closed room: ¡°Whoever it is, come in and tell me what you came for.¡± Having received an answer, the man opened the door and what he saw inside the room forced him to cover his mouth, holding back the sudden urge to vomit. The room smelled of fresh human blood, some maid''s torn clothes were scattered on the floor, and a naked young girl, covered in bruises from head to toe, was chained to the wall with nails. Her face had long since turned into something disfigured while a half-naked, black-haired, muscular man was practicing heavy blows on her with his fist. He apparently liked to beat this maid, perhaps she was guilty of something, or perhaps the first prince did it out of his own whim, but the nameless man didn¡¯t care. He didn''t care about her life, but he did care about his own life. He had already imagined similar blows on himself and therefore trembled with fear, mentally imagining the pain from such a strong blow. The nameless man did not quickly discard this thought while watching the terrible picture of the beating. He remembered that he had come to Slakersh, his master, to inform him of what the royal council was planning to do without His Majesty''s knowledge. "My Lord...." The man who entered stuttered, not daring to continue speaking, fearing for his own life, but knowing very well the character of this bastard, he still plucked up the little courage he had and spoke. "The King''s advisors want to seize power." Slakersh, who had been beating the maid for a long time, made the last blow to the stomach, knocking the girl unconscious, leaving her hanging on the wall like a limp doll. This last blow almost tore off her nailed wrist along with pieces of meat, from where this long stream of blood flowed and dripped into a scarlet puddle on the floor. A dark-haired man resembling a young Leff turned towards the nameless man and asked one question with a stern expression on his face: ¡°The Council wants to seize power? Nameless, immediately explain what this means?" And the nameless man explained. What he heard in the council chamber was a plan to bring to power Duke Fellrick, Slakersh''s uncle and the current king''s brother. Fellrick, already excommunicated from the ducal throne and having transferred power to his own son, still has a claim to the throne of the kingdom of Lakuus due to his blood relationship with Leff and can subsequently transfer claims to the royal throne to his own son. Fellrick is known in these lands as a mighty warrior capable of felling a pack of goblin wolves with his bare hands, and that is why he gathers warriors around him who come to him not out of their own whim, but out of respect in search of glorious battles. In the past, Fellrick and Leff had a falling out for some unknown reason and never contacted each other again, but now that the days of King Leff''s life were coming to an end, Duke Fellrick could take advantage of the situation at any time and take the throne of the Lakuus Kingdom. Moreover, Leff has not announced who will become his successor, which means that if the king dies before he can announce a successor, then the royal council will soon choose a new king. Of course these advisors may have chosen Draun as the new monarch, but they forget how widespread the influence of the first prince Slakersh was, who had the greatest support among the nobility for the high degree of autonomy he was given in the provinces. Even if the council elects Draun as the new king, most of the nobles will certainly not be able to accept this and they will rebel against the new king, even if the common people support him. However, if Fellrick sets foot on these lands with his army of powerful soldiers and takes the throne, then there will be no chance for Slakersh and his minions. It will be even worse if the council makes every effort to ensure that Duke Fellrick calmly reaches the capital of the kingdom with his entire army. This is exactly what the damn Draun Rudrin proposed to do when addressing the royal council. What he heard stirred up the capillaries in Slakersh¡¯s temples; he clenched his fists tightly and loomed menacingly over the nameless man, who almost fell into a stupor with fright, freezing in place after telling the first prince about the plans of the royal council. ¡°Do you know why your is nameless?¡± "Umm..." The man did not understand the prince¡¯s words; he expected to hear several different words, threatening, furious or even frightened, but definitely not like that. Nameless knew the answer to the prince''s question. ¡°Y-yes, my lord. I am nameless because I am not worthy to have a name before your eyes.¡± "No." The first prince said, licking his lips bloodthirstyly. ¡°You are nameless because you are dead.¡± ¡°Wh...what?¡± The man''s eyes widened in shock, and the next moment his severed head flies across the room and flies out of the window, forever hiding in the bushes near the walls of the palace. The nameless corpse fell to the floor, staining the floor already decorated with someone¡¯s entrails with even more blood in a bloody fountain. Slakersh wiped the blood of the nameless man from his blade, and wiped off what had dripped on his face with his finger and licked it. He liked the taste of blood, but did not calm the boiling rage of the first prince. "Damn weaklings." The first prince said, tightly gripping the hilt of the blade with his right palm. Slakersh is the eldest son of King Leff and the main contender for the royal throne. He grew up without the care of his parents and without the supervision of royal servants. He was almost abandoned to his fate, allowed to eat only scraps. This was not the irresponsibility and cruelty of the royal family, but rather it was due to the surging famine that had engulfed the entire kingdom at that moment as a result of the long winter. The king and queen felt out of place and could not afford to pay attention to their own son, who was already beginning to go crazy from the general turmoil. The First Prince had to get out and start looking for food himself. He was accompanied by a guard, just as hungry as he was, this guard was the first one he ate. The people were so hungry that they killed the attendant who protected the prince and dismantled him into pieces, the remains went to Slakersh and then he tasted the taste of human flesh for the first time and he really liked this taste. After some time, the three-year hunger stopped, and the king and queen finally began to give Slakersh decent parental attention, but it was too late. There was nothing to stop the monster in the human body. The first prince became addicted to human flesh, at first he went to dungeons, killed and ate criminals, and when they ended he killed and now ate slaves, but when his father forbade Slakersh to ransom slaves in order to eat them, the first prince began to go out at night streets and kill people who did not have time to return home before sunset. The royal family tried to carefully hide Slakersh''s terrible taste for human flesh, but the first prince was still very creepy in the eyes of others, emitting an eerie bloody and cruel aura. This bloodthirstiness attracted monsters causing them to attack the kingdom, which happened many times already. Slakersh constantly had to fight monsters, the king thus punished him for his own addictions, but after each battle he could not stand the meat of monsters while eating. He always loved human flesh; it had become too tasty for him. Rather, he went to these battles in order to secretly eat a person killed in battle. Such ¡°punishments¡± of the king suited Slakersh quite well. He may have been a terrible, bloodthirsty cannibal, but he was still human. His younger brother Monrid once invited him to share a bed with their immobilized sister, and Slakersh also found this activity very exciting. Sometimes he did it alone, and sometimes together with Monrid. The First Prince enjoyed listening to Ilifrita''s agonizing and painful whining, it reminded him of the desperate cries of his victims. He enjoyed choking her even more during this process. This is how he fought his own feelings of lust in bed with his own sister. And yet, Slakersh understood that he would not have to feel such pleasure for long and he began to look for a path to his own well-being. The time will come when he will lose all these privileges of royalty and immunity. One day people will find out who the night killer was, the nightmare of the entire Ran, and a luxurious life will be replaced by eternal flight and suffering among the faceless mass of ordinary people. That is why the first prince decided for himself that he would definitely become the king of Lakuus in order to continue enjoying his life to the fullest in lust and blood. But what the royal council was doing now really infuriated him. They are going to bring to power Uncle Fellrick, whom Slakersh had never met and, according to his father, was such a blockhead. Slakersh doesn¡¯t know him, just like Fellrick doesn¡¯t know the first prince and this scared Slakersh. It is unlikely that Fellrick will leave anyone from the royal family alive when he comes with his army to Ran. Fellrick will not need absolutely any pretenders to the throne; rather, he will prefer to kill them all, which Slakersh knew very well. To fight the Fellrick army and defend the right to the throne... does not sound extremely encouraging, but another plan, namely flight, does not bode well for the happy life of the first prince. He must somehow apprehend his own uncle and at the same time crush the royal council before they provoke a war. This will be a two-on-one battle, where Prince Slakersh will not have any advantages, which means it¡¯s time for him to look for ways to solve the problems that have arisen. Approaching the naked, unconscious girl chained to the wall, the prince swung his blade with a slight movement, cutting her throat. He no longer needed a carcass for whipping, he now needed an army. At this moment, he still had no idea who Granid was leading here. The upcoming meeting will be a pleasant surprise for him. *** And again, a lot of paperwork, even preparing for war takes a lot of time and takes a lot of effort. Although the royal army of Lakuus does not plan to fight Durshlagdtian troops, it plans to do something else, namely crush the unruly nobles once and for all. If the royal council chose me as king on a whim, the last remnants of the kingdom would be plunged into a state of civil war. None of the advisers understood this simply because they could not see the whole picture as a whole, but I saw such a picture. ¡°These are orders for the deployment of troops. Pass this on to Mr. Krazhd.¡± "Yes, my lord." The servant bowed and took a stack of papers and left the office. I have resolved the issue regarding the deployment of forces, but I need to insure myself in case of unforeseen circumstances. I can¡¯t say for sure whether someone at the meeting was secretly loyal to the royal family, but if there was such a person, then someone from the royal family is already aware of what will soon happen. This someone can perform two actions: first, escape and retain his claim to the throne; the second, to repel Fellrick¡¯s troops, which is unlikely, but even a slight possibility of this cannot be ruled out in principle. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. In this case, I took a pen and wrote a new order and sent it to the Privy Councilor. The order says that the servants and maids should keep an eye on the royal family for the sake of their ¡°safety,¡± so to speak, but in reality it will just be direct surveillance. The royal family will be aware of the surveillance of them, because it will be done for their own good, but they are unlikely to like it. They will express their discontent and then a palace conflict is possible. Simply put, I created a reason for this conflict, and then everything will go down the river. No problems are expected later, but if something really goes wrong, then the people most loyal to me will have to give the order to kill all members of the royal family, including King Leff. If it works out, then you can blame Duke Fellrick and then in the eyes of all the royal nobility he will become enemy number one. I cannot allow this, I just need to do everything possible to ensure that the royal family members remain in the palace and then no problems will arise. But what if the royal family still forces me into conflict? What if one of them escapes? What should I do in this case? The answer to this question is insanely simple: give up. Sometimes it¡¯s hard to resist the natural course of things, but it¡¯s better to just follow it. The royal family or Fellrick will not spare anyone from the royal council, but the likelihood of such a decision is quite low. If the negotiations are successful, then on the part of Fellrick we will not need to fear death, but we still need to fear it on the part of the royal family. The royal army may be led by Krazhd and, accordingly, the entire royal council, but in the palace the royal family reigns. While I was drawing up military, economic and secret orders, a servant flew into my office and stood up, leaning against the wall, taking copious breaths and exhalations. He was in such a hurry to get here that he dried out his throat, but for now I was more worried about the fact that he burst into the room almost without interrupting me while drawing up a decree for the treasury, and therefore I, with dissatisfaction in my voice, asked him a couple of questions: ¡°Why such a rush? What happened?" The young servant wiped the sweat from his forehead and, finally catching his breath, reported very unpleasant news: "My... my lord..., princess... princess Ilifrita... has disappeared... she''s not there." My eyes widened as soon as I heard this. I was so surprised that I even jumped out of my chair. I was not just surprised, but truly shocked. I expected the queen or the first or second prince to try to disappear, but for the princess to disappear... I really didn''t expect that. ?Slakersh.? Having guessed who was behind this, I clenched my fingers into fists. ?You damn kid, it would be better if you sat quietly and waited for your death.? Fellrick can take Ran without a fight and simply enter the palace and stab the entire royal family, but he can only do this when the entire royal family is assembled otherwise he will have active opposition. It doesn''t matter if it is the cruel first prince, the lustful second prince, or the helpless princess, if one of them is alive and not within the confines of the palace hiding from Fellrick''s sight, then most of the nobility will stand against him. ?This cannot be allowed under any circumstances.? I ground my teeth trying to find a way out of this catastrophic situation. Who would have thought that Slakersh, instead of escaping on his own or with Monrid, would decide to drag a helpless princess away from the royal palace. Ilifrita, after all, was the only one from the royal family who was not followed, simply because she did not pose any danger. She could even hope for mercy from her uncle, but it seems that this will not happen now. Her life is now completely ruined. ?Damn you!? *** And again I am alone, and there is no one around, only silence and peace oppressing my soul. The sound of the wind from the window seems to beckon me to look outside, to see the blue sky and white clouds floating across it in order to know and enjoy the world around me, but I can¡¯t. Whether I was born this way or whether God punished me this way doesn¡¯t matter, I don¡¯t care anymore, but what really worries me is the great desire to see this very world where I was never allowed out and which I¡¯m unlikely to ever be able to enjoy. Mom and Dad almost never visited me, and my older brothers mock me, they laugh, saying that I am helpless and useless, and in addition to this, they also sincerely insult my little desire: to get on my feet and take one single walk in the beautiful palace garden outside the window. Every day I sigh again and again in doom, experiencing another day of torment of my meaningless and empty existence. The only thing I can do is turn my head in different directions and, with the effort of my will, lift objects next to me. And now a book hangs above me, and I mentally turn its pages in search of the right page where I stopped my previous reading. Soon I finally found this page and put the book sideways on the table next to me so that I could read without bothering to support the book with my will. Constantly holding objects in the air with the power of thought was very painful and tiring, so I could not do this for a long time. What I read was the story of the hero''s adventure and how he was going to fight the demon lord and his minions, the princes of darkness and the demon generals who command the armies of evil. It was, albeit poorly written, but a very fascinating story, which I read with all my being, trying to imagine unprecedented fantastic images from many phrases and colorful descriptions of various actions. Escape from reality into a fantasy world seems to be the only thing I can do in my life. I don¡¯t care what I read, I¡¯ll read whatever I come across, and even if I¡¯ve already read it, I¡¯ll read it again to refresh my memory and relive the story I read again. Minutes, tens of minutes, hours pass and the sun outside the window is already heading towards sunset. My stomach growls with hunger and my throat is dry. Usually the maids visit me to wash me and feed me, but this time I didn¡¯t see anyone all day. Even those terrible brothers were not there today and this made me worry. I felt uneasy as if something had happened in the palace today, and I, even unable to walk, didn¡¯t know what exactly. Maybe they were just busy with something? Maybe some very important event will happen soon? This can''t be true. What could be more important than the life of a member of the royal family? Never in 18 years of my life has this happened; something clearly happened outside and the fear of what happened bothered me very much. I even mentally closed the book and tried to fall asleep in order to take these terrible feelings of trouble away from myself, but it was very, very difficult to do. I shuddered when I heard the door creaking and someone¡¯s firm, quiet steps slowly approaching me, becoming louder and louder. I wanted to open my eyes and see who came to me, but the oppressive fear told me not to do anything stupid and just continue trying to sleep. It¡¯s already evening, and the one who came here was the first person to show up to me all day. Today no one visited me, so who is this person who stood above me and breathed on my forehead. I felt someone''s touch on my forehead, on my stomach and legs. Although I cannot move other parts of my body except my head, I felt them perfectly, every touch on my body and how the blood still flowed inside me. This man silently took off the blanket from me and a slight shiver from the evening cold ran through me all over. ?Monrid.? I guessed and immediately regretted my guess, because as it turned out it was not him. ¡°You can continue to pretend to sleep, Your Highness, it will only benefit me.¡± I suddenly opened my eyes and saw above me a woman with red hair tied in a ponytail and a scar on her face. This elderly woman was wearing leather armor, which is why I did not hear any clanging or other loud noise. There was a belt hanging around her waist and five daggers attached to it, which immediately made me realize something: she was a killer. I didn¡¯t see hatred in her green eyes, rather pity and to some extent indifference. I didn¡¯t think that this day would come, the day when they would decide to kill me. It was not difficult to guess who she was, a mercenary or an adventurer who simply had to get her hands dirty with blood. I couldn¡¯t help but shudder and ask myself many questions: ?What about me? What about my desire? I just want to take a walk, I want to do it on my feet, I want to run, I want to jump, but I can¡¯t even afford that? God... I... hate you.? Dying was so scary, I closed my eyes again, expecting a speedy death. I hope she will do it quickly and painlessly, but for some reason I doubt it. My neck was trembling with fear until my body could not do this, still lying immobilized on the bed. ?Why so long?? I didn''t know what she expected, why she didn''t just kill me. Since God doesn¡¯t care about such a weak, flimsy girl like me, then all I can do is just hate Him and calmly accept my death. Waiting for the end of my life became torture for me, even more unbearable than the bullying of my older brothers. And I thought why the mercenary didn¡¯t kill me, when she immediately lifted my body from the bed with her massive hands. I opened my eyes again and looked at her unattractive mature face. "Please don''t make any sounds." The mercenary said in a rough and stern voice. "O-okay." "I told you not to make any noise." She repeated sternly, and this time I just had to nod, simultaneously swallowing my saliva in fear. ?She''s scary.? I noticed to myself that I no longer dared to make a sound, as she told me, but my neck still continued to tremble with fear. The next moment she carried me to the only door leading outside my bedroom. At this moment, my heart began to beat quickly, filled with excitement. Never before had I been so far from my bed, where I spent all the days of my life. And so the mercenary leans my light body against her with one hand, and with the other she pulls the handle and opens the door. All I see outside among the corridors is impenetrable darkness. The mercenary looks around and quietly says with relief in her stern voice: "Nobody." At this point I was just starting to wonder what was going on. And I was thinking about asking her about this, when the mercenary immediately warned me. "Don''t make me say it again: no sounds." ?Are you doing this again? ? I twitched and got a little angry, having already come to terms with the fact that I couldn¡¯t speak until I got permission. ?I just wanted to know what¡¯s going on here? Why can''t I do this?? She was silent, and I followed her example as she carried me along the corridors of the palace, the dark walls of which I tried to carefully examine with curiosity. The stone bricks on the sides looked so massive that it seemed that these walls were impenetrable to anything, neither to man nor even to a deity. Along the edges of the corridors stood various statues, and on the walls hung paintings of members of my family and, apparently, my ancestors. In one of these paintings, I saw a family with happy smiles on their faces. These were my ancestors who previously ruled the kingdom many centuries ago. It is immediately clear that they were happy to live together, loved and cared for each other, they were a real family. I was a little filled with envy and sadness when I saw this picture, and unnoticed by the mercenary, shed a lonely tear. ?If my family loved me... this would never happen.? ¡°Everything went just great.¡± The mercenary said when she, with me in her arms, reached the lower floor, where a man in a dark robe and with a torch in his left hand was waiting for her. ¡°Where have you been for so long?¡± The man groaned in an senile voice, and the mercenary answered him with a click. ¡°The palace is big. Do you think I could find the princess''s chambers so quickly? And why are you even grumbling? Better go get the cart ready, you¡¯ve been paid, do your job.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t grumble, woman, I¡¯m on my way.¡± The old man said and opened the door behind which a stream of cool fresh air was waiting for me. "Welcome." The mercenary, again clicking her tongue, went further after the old man, finding herself outside the palace where it was already night, and the wind was moving the leaves on the trees while the noise of crickets was heard in the distance. It looks like we descended from some secret passage right outside the walls of the palace since we were outside the city in some forest. The old man, meanwhile, walked to a topless cart hidden among the trees, pulled by one horse. The man pulled the reins and the horse, with all its strength, pulled the cart closer to us and soon stopped. Probably the first thing I noticed was the nasty smell coming from the horse. The mercenary and the old man did not pay any attention to this stench, but I, who had never smelled the smell of a horse, wrinkled my nose. ?Ugh...what a stink.? ¡°Get in quickly.¡± The old man continued to grumble, looking around. ¡°The guards could be here any minute.¡± ?Guards?? Soon the mercenary put me on the cart, and she herself, stretching her legs, sat down across the wall. The old man pulled the reins again, and the cart began to move, bouncing creakingly on the bumps, making my butt hurt with every jump. I even screamed from one such jump, but this time the mercenary did not reprimand me. I took this as an opportunity to start asking questions: "Who are you?" "Agnes, shut her mouth." The old man grumbled as soon as I uttered my question. ¡°The rag is in the bag, and you young lady, be careful not to tear this scarf, otherwise you will sew it up yourself, do you understand me?¡± "What?" Before I had time to answer, the mercenary had already pulled a rag over my mouth so that I could only moo, and now I had to breathe only through my nose. ¡°Agnes, make sure that there is no tail behind us. I know you, you are blind as a chicken." ¡°Zip your teeth, old man, I know what to do even without you.¡± The mercenary named Agnes responded displeasedly, sitting down so as to inspect the entire area around. I don¡¯t yet know what awaits us, what awaits me specifically, what¡¯s going on in general and why I¡¯m kidnapped outside by some mercenary, but I sincerely hope that this is that long-awaited breath of fresh air, a chance to finally get to know the world better. Who knows, maybe one day I¡¯ll even get back on my feet, but for now I could only try to sleep. Chapter 36. Monsters The path south through the dense thickets of trees was surprisingly smooth. Before this, we had to walk rather slowly, allowing those in front to trample the bushes or find ways around the trees in front of us that were in our way. Now we were walking almost directly, and all because an old wizard named Granid, with his unprecedented strength, pushed the thickets to the sides without any extra effort. Seeing this, suddenly the analogy with Moses pops into my head, which makes me chuckle. He walked forward while we all followed him, like some reconnaissance group that quietly went behind enemy lines. We kept ourselves busy talking the whole time along the way, as the old magician had suggested back in the temporary camp. Fortunately, we had a lot to talk about and we had quite a lot of questions for each other. "Is this your weapon?" Granid asked me in a hoarse voice. At that time I was walking next to him holding my assault rifle in my hands. Even though these magicians can easily kill us all, due to the backwardness of their civilization, they are unlikely to be familiar with the concept of firearms, and, in general, of all our devices and means of defense. To them, we didn''t seem all that protected, and that was a fair point, because on the shuttle we only had police equipment left for protection, and the combat spacesuits required a huge supply of energy to work, and we couldn''t use them at least no more three days. There is no point in hiding from them what we are capable of and it is unlikely that they will generally be able to understand our full capabilities. Without waiting, I immediately answered Granid¡¯s question about our weapons: ¡°Yes, this is, for example, a ?Gunmao? assault rifle. This is a pretty old weapon for us. It was adopted by RAFOM after the pantorian War. With it, we can fire at long distances up to five kilometers and aiming at up to one kilometer. Unlike the main weapon, ?Gunmao? is not so armor-piercing, using only a ten-millimeter caliber, but for weakly armored opponents it is just right, it tears all the skins to shreds.¡± For clarity, I even wanted to demonstrate firing from our weapons, but I decided not to do this due to the lack of ammunition and the lack of an object for this very demonstration. Granid, meanwhile, looked thoughtfully at the barrel of my rifle, clearly trying to understand the principle of its operation, after which he asked me: ¡°And each of you has such a weapon? I shook my head and replied: ¡°No, ?Gunmao? is not our main weapon. Our main weapon is quite heavy and is used in conjunction with the ?Pantera? combat spacesuit, which we currently do not use due to the lack of an energy source to constantly recharge their batteries.¡± Granid, hearing my words, became thoughtful: ¡°So you can be even stronger? But you are still quite strong since you were able to take two sorceresses by surprise.¡± Camellia and Incartia, who were walking behind us, twitched and lowered their heads when they heard Granid''s words. Apparently they felt guilty for allowing themselves to remain unguarded on their journey and being captured. I understand perfectly well how they feel. I also would not forgive myself for allowing myself to be captured by unarmed people or some natives. This would be a real shame for any RAFOM fighter. In the meantime, I answered Granid¡¯s question: ¡°You are wrong here. Over the course of the journey we have spent a large amount of ammunition. We are unlikely to be able to even fully carry out another firefight while saving ammunition. We could replenish supplies, but without a replicator and an energy source for it, our options are now limited." ?We are lucky that we are not special forces, which are always light and not prepared for long battles. Otherwise, we would have run out of ammunition in the first battle with the Antigonians.? ¡°The dark ones did not have such weaknesses.¡± Granid noted, and I, in turn, grinned. ¡°It¡¯s not surprising because pantorian weapons are purely energy-based. We have something similar, but it is used only in elite formations of the republican troops due to the enormous cost of these weapons.¡± I did not go into detail on this topic. All people from the Republic are well aware of the history of the beginning of the sectoral war, when the Senate of the Republic, three hundred years after the founding of the state, decided to expand with the help of a ¡°small¡± demonstration of force, and our first enemy who did not succumb to the ultimatum turned out to be Proxima, who by that time had completely switched to energy weapons having developed technology bioenergy. Even after a thousand years, the Republic failed to completely switch to energy weapons, because the production of such weapons and the support of combat formations with these weapons constantly required a colossal amount of energy, which could not be maintained in the field, as the civilization of Proxima and the Pantora Empire managed. And yet humanity has not given up such a powerful weapon. Energy weapons are now used either on ships, in elite units or on developed planets as a means of anti-orbital defense, but they will never become widespread, even in the next millennium. Hearing my words, Granid thought for a while and said: ¡°Interesting. The way the people are able to defend themselves shows the world the difficult path through which these people went. The trials, storms and adversities experienced left deep wounds on the bodies and souls of mortals, hardening them like the magical steel of Ferrmeidis. And you, capable of crossing the empty celestial seas of stars, have clearly experienced no less horrors and suffering than the peoples of our world. The mortals of our world are no match for you.¡± Indeed, humanity has gone through a lot throughout its history, without stopping to fight even for a second. There was always a war going on somewhere: either people were at war with people, or people were at war with aliens, or people were at war with their own nature, and peace was only a short respite from all this madness so that people would continue to fight again. And the saddest thing is that there was always a reason for war, even if it did not concern you personally, there was always a compelling reason to involve you in this or that war. You are directly or indirectly participating in it, and it doesn¡¯t matter whether you agreed to participate in it or not, you are a participant in the war, period, the question is closed. The Republic has not waged major wars for about a thousand years, and subsequent conflicts can be characterized as minor skirmishes on the borders of our state. We haven''t been in a really big war for a long time and it was actually for the better. Considering that the Republic''s expeditionary forces recruited highly motivated and highly trained soldiers, it is unlikely that we would agree to join their ranks of our own free will in the midst of an interstellar war, for example, between the Republic of Earth and the Fucult Confederation. The fear of death for us would be more significant than any political or ideological convictions. We would be trembling for our own skins and all because of human instincts of self-preservation. Therefore, I believe that compulsory military service is the right decision by the leadership of our state. Every person, having passed through the battlefield or simply through military service, realizes the importance of protecting his people, his civilization against the enemies that threaten us. This gives a person a choice: to risk his life to save his people, to make his contribution to the defense of humanity, or to protect his people only by working for the state in some enterprises and services. In any case, a person is a participant in the war, so such a choice is fair. I chose the first option, military service, because I was simply incapable of the second. Now, however, I regret this choice. If I had known then that I would end up on this damned planet, I would never have agreed to join the ranks of the expeditionary forces as part of the Republic armed forces of humanity. While I was thinking about Granid¡¯s words, Incartia suddenly ran up to me from my right side and suddenly asked me a curious question: ¡°You have good eyesight, so why do you need glasses?¡± "Glasses? And this is a standard police interface¡­ um¡­ I don¡¯t know how to tell you this correctly¡± I couldn¡¯t find the words to explain this to her and Sigrun, who was walking somewhere behind us, immediately intervened. ¡°With these glasses, they see heat and cold, see where living and non-living objects are, and how far away they are. As far as I remember, there are also indicators of pressure and temperature and a narrowly targeted sound capture. Oh, and there¡¯s also radio interception.¡± "Thank you." I thanked the black female engineer and then my helmet hit a tree branch. "Ouch~!" Behind me I heard a wave of laughter. Will seemed to laugh the most as he stepped over the roots of the trees: ¡°Hahaha~! Don¡¯t let your guard down, Boris, we still need you alive.¡± ¡°I was only distracted for a second.¡± I tried to justify myself, simultaneously rubbing my helmet in the place where I hit. ¡°Yes-yes, you already have one foot in the grave. Hahaha~!¡± Will continued to laugh until he paid attention to the couple from Lecite and Camellia. ¡°By the way, Lecite, why are you walking next to her?¡± The civilian from Ecostate heard Will and turned to him and gave his immediate response: ¡°I''m interested in talking to her.¡± ¡°Is it true? What were you talking about?¡± Will became interested. ¡°About those inhabitants of the planet whom I met.¡± Lecite reminded us of those people with feline features in the form of an extra pair of ears and a tail. ¡°Camellia calls them Felinidae. They live far in the east beyond some ?race border?.¡± ?Race border?? I heard an unknown term and asked the old wizard about it: ¡°What is ?race border??¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Granid, without stopping his movement, shared some very interesting information before giving a short answer to my question: ¡°First, you need to know something: there are many peoples living in our world and not all of them are very similar to ordinary people, the same felinids intermarried with cats. Our continent is divided into four parts: west, center, east and rogue lands. In the West there live demons who are so creepy and incomprehensible that people simply classify them as monsters and constantly wage war with them. Their nature is alien to us, and perhaps ours is also alien to them. People and demons are too different to live peacefully with each other, like people with people.¡± ?Demons... this may well be one of the alien species that came to this planet as a result of an anomalous ejection of a ship from subspace. And I just noticed: it seems that there are also biblical terms here, the same ¡°demons¡± or the spell ¡°humility of Babylon¡±. Only people from Earth could give such names. It is possible that the name of the Antigone Empire also means something...? I thought while Granid continued to talk about the geography of this continent. ¡°People live in the center; I spent most of my life in these lands, never setting foot beyond any race border. We are in the center right now. In the east there live non-humans, but there are also ordinary people there. I have never been there, but they talk about how peacefully the peoples live there despite their differences among themselves. And all these parts of the continent are separated by divine barriers, which cannot be destroyed either by pure force or magic. Only with the permission of the ?shining in the night? can one cross the race border, and only a few can summon them.¡± ?I''ll leave the question about "shining in the night" to Fred, let him rack his brain.? I thought, but Fred was interested in a slightly different question: ¡°What about the rogue lands?¡± "There is nothing there. They say that this is a huge and endless desert, endless expanses of dead wastelands where everyone who has offended its ruler is driven from a distant eastern country. That¡¯s why they were called the rogue lands.¡± At this moment I had a very interesting question, remembering what the general outlines of this continent look like. ¡°What about the sea? Is it possible to go around these borders by water?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible, but it''s hard to do because of the sea monsters that rule the vast seas.¡± I still have little idea of ??these very divine barriers that divide the continent into four parts, but I already know that in the future we will have to cross this very border of races at least twice in order to get to the current deployment of our troops. ?This will take a long time.? I noticed to myself and Camellia suddenly asked me: ¡°Your name is Boris?¡± I looked at her and saw a certain childish curiosity in her red eyes. If these eyes also glowed, then she would be no different from a proximyrian. ¡°Yes, I''m Boris. Is there something you want to ask?¡± The white-haired sorceress nodded and said: "Yes. I''m wondering, is your world called Earth? Right? I''m just curious to know what he''s like." ¡°Why are you interested in this?¡± The sorceress answered my answer question somewhat sluggishly, as if she did not want to reveal her true interest in the Earth: ¡°Well I do not know. Perhaps our peoples have a common homeland. This is just my guess, what if we are not different peoples, but one and the same, just for some reason separated because of the sea of ??emptiness?¡± Honestly, I didn¡¯t know what to answer, but fortunately Fred was nearby, who delved into her question almost with fanaticism. ¡°I thought so too, but apparently it¡¯s not so. Bioscanning shows that we are not the same species, although we are very similar in appearance. But the Antigonians... it seems they are really humans and this is already a mystery to us, considering how many years their Empire has existed.¡± Hearing Fred''s words, Incartia decided to intervene, shaking her head and saying the following: ¡°No one knows exactly how long the Antigone Empire has existed. People simply believe that they have reigned over their lands for about a hundred centuries, almost since the very foundation of the world, as the legends say.¡± Fred responded: ¡°And yet they are humans. They could not have been here no earlier than one and a half thousand years ago. In such a period of time it is impossible to multiply to one hundred million people. They could only do this if there were at least a hundred thousand people on their colonial ship on which they arrived on your planet, and it was simply impossible to accommodate such a huge number of people on the ships of the golden era of colonization.¡± Indeed, this question has not yet been answered and remains a big mystery to us. We need to collect more information about Antigone and find out who they really are: ancient colonists or indigenous inhabitants of this planet. At this moment, Will stops and, looking into the bioscanner, says: ¡°Something is coming. Seven targets on both sides, wait... seven more and more.¡± ¡°Did you notice them too?¡± Granid said seriously, stopping and preparing his staff in his hands. ¡°Your power to observe without magic is amazing.¡± Will, meanwhile, frowned, looking at the bioscan screen. ¡°What strange data. Large individuals of the same species, they surround us.¡± "Everyone, prepare for battle." With all seriousness in my voice, I ordered the entire platoon, simultaneously removing the assault rifle from the safety lock and putting goggles with a thermal imager on my eyes while inspecting the area around. ¡°You can¡¯t see them through a thermal imager.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see them either.¡± Said Anzhey, aiming his rifle at the thickets. ¡°Is Bioscan wrong? Maybe there¡¯s no one here?¡± "There''s definitely someone here." Will answered, putting away the device and preparing his rifle, also starting to aim at the thickets, guided almost by ear. ¡°Who in the kingdom is so bloodthirsty that he calls such creatures to himself?¡± Says Granid, spreading his arms in different directions. ¡°Do you know who surrounds us?¡± I asked the old wizard. "Monsters." The magician answered briefly, causing a fireball to appear above the upper end of his staff, illuminating the area around with a white glow. The entire platoon, stopping in a line, knelt down and aimed on both sides of the marching line. The two sorceresses stood still, apparently preparing to perform their magic. The two natives Ashwani and Furgur prepared their primitive weapons in the form of a sword and a bow. The natives from Hippolyta huddled together and only Zaden, with a spear in his hands, prepared for battle. The glasses did not display any thermal signals other than our own and the fields of magic, which for some reason cooled the area where it was used. Everyone became quiet, nothing could be heard except the noise of the forest and the wind overhead. There seemed to be no danger, and yet we knew that it was there and was about to overtake us. ?Monsters?? I had just realized that I had just said Granid, when I heard a booming roar in front of me. "They''re attacking!" Will shouted, firing the first shot into the rustling bushes. The next moment I saw the enemy. Before my eyes appeared some strange, creepy creature that looked like a distorted gray humanoid with a disfigured, swollen face with a mouth made of exceptionally sharp teeth. The terrible creature did not generate any heat at all, but at the same time it moved rapidly, simultaneously spreading its long clawed fingers. It¡¯s about to pounce on me and tear me into pieces! ********* ******** ****** I immediately pulled the trigger for a moment, and the next moment I felt the recoil and immediately after the flash, the creature''s head shattered into pieces, but that was not the end. Following him, another monster appeared and I also put a bullet in his head. Soon a noisy orchestra of firearms thundered behind me and immediately stopped in an instant. The echo of our shots echoed through the forest, scaring away all the birds from the branches of the trees. "Is it over?" Itami said, looking around at the vegetation around him. ¡°It seems we killed them all.¡± I answered, looking at the bioscanner screen and not seeing any other life forms nearby. ¡°My ears... hurt.¡± Incartia squeaked, pressing her palms tightly to her ears and closing her eyes. ¡°How loud... what... what was that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also interested in knowing what it is.¡± Esko said while kicking one of the rapidly decomposing corpses of one of the creatures that attacked us. ¡°What kind of creature is this? O Elarasia! It stinks... ugh..." The smell of the insides of these monsters was not pleasant; these creatures themselves were decomposing right before our eyes, turning into a gray haze. We barely had time to look at these very creatures when they immediately disappeared. Looking at the old wizard, I finally understood why the monsters were decomposing so quickly, but just in case, for clarity, I decided to make sure of this for sure by asking Granid a question: ¡°Are you the one who dissolves them?¡± ¡°To kill a monster, it is not enough to wound it. Sooner or later it will come to life. Therefore we turn them into dust so they won''t come back from the dead again.¡± I was quite surprised by what I heard. What Granid said seemed unreal and quite fantastic. ¡°Can they come back from the dead? But we shot them in the heads...¡± ¡°Monsters are not mortal creatures, they do not die in the usual sense. They don¡¯t live at all; they are generated by the negative feelings of mortals, allowing them to create evil in the world of the living.¡± This time it was Fred asked Granid: ¡°Not mortal? But the bioscan recorded them as... silicon life forms? What?" ¡°I didn¡¯t believe it at first either, but it seems to be true.¡± Will said looking at the screen of his bioscan. ¡°They are essentially living stones.¡± ¡°What the fuck are living stones?¡± Fred was angry, his eyes widening, ready to attack Will with his fists for his frivolity. ¡°You¡¯re always talking about all sorts of anti-scientific nonsense! Better shut up and fight since that''s all you can do!¡± "Hey! What did I say that was wrong?¡± Will was offended, spreading his arms to the sides. "You''re talking nonsense." Fred was still angry, stroking his temples with his fingers, and I, in turn, did not shut up any of them and gave orders to the entire platoon. ¡°Everyone, return to foot formation, conduct a personnel calculation and report on the remaining ammunition.¡± "Yes, sir." The platoon sang in chorus after conducting a calculation without revealing any losses. Then, after checking the remaining ammunition, we continued on our way. The bodies of a couple of dozen killed monsters had already completely disappeared, leaving behind only the perforated leaves of the bushes, and the disgusting smell of rotten entrails had finally disappeared. At this moment, Incartia, who had previously lost her hearing for a brief moment, had a question: ¡°Is this how you fight? You haven''t even come close to them.¡± ¡°We gave up close combat about three thousand years ago.¡± I made it clear to her without going into detail about the history of firearms. ¡°During all this time, people on Earth have brought war to perfection. Now the Republic is at the peak of its power and it is unlikely that we have yet reached our limit.¡± ¡°Can you fight when someone comes close to you?¡± "Certainly. We were trained in martial arts and, accordingly, we can also conduct close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, but right now we are powerless against such weapons.¡± I answered with a glance pointing at Ashwani''s sword, which he put back on his belt. "I see you are a nation of warriors." Furgur suddenly interjected in a rough voice, hanging his bow on his shoulder and putting the arrow away in his quiver. ¡°In my life I have never seen such perfection in combat. In any battle you would be called the Lords of Blood Storms. The roar of your ?bows? sounds frightening." ?They don¡¯t yet know that this is the least we can do.? I chuckled to myself. ¡°By sunset we will reach Itsqueen.¡± Granid said, still pushing the vegetation in front of him with magic. ¡°We will wait there for the night and proceed to the capital.¡± ¡°Are we going to sleep on a real bed?¡± Forn asked joyfully and received a satisfactory answer from the old magician. "Yes. I have a lot of gold, there are enough rooms in the tavern for everyone.¡± Well, it looks like soon we will finally see the architecture of the local civilization and at the same time we will sleep on beds, and not in sleeping bags in the open air. And yet we still had questions for each other, especially about these monsters. Many of us have already guessed this, but have not voiced it out loud, namely, that these monsters have all the signs of an artificial mutation, that is, they were essentially artificially created creatures. We left this question for later, and now we were hurrying to the city before night fell. Chapter 37. Itsqueen Night was approaching, and we continued to move through the forest following Granid to the city of Itsqueen. I''m starting to get a little excited that soon I will see the permanent habitat of a primitive civilization, a city similar to where people lived on Earth in the era of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Now on Earth you can forget about cities in the middle of nature; the ancient conflict known as the ¡°Great Hopeless War¡± practically destroyed almost the entire ecosystem of the planet with nuclear fire, forcing people to move below the surface for several decades. When the war ended, people decided to return to the surface, but the poisoned air and apocalyptic climate of the new Earth did not allow people to return to their former way of life. On the surface, cities were built under domes with an artificial ecosystem while the state worked on reterraforming the planet, which is still very, very expensive for humanity. When I was last on Earth, people continued to live in cities under domes. People could go to the surface, but only under escort and wearing breathing masks. The atmosphere is still unbreathable, but the Earth''s ecosystem has almost returned to its original state. Toxic chemical elements in the Earth''s atmosphere settled, and vegetation gradually began a new conquest of the planet''s surface. In about a couple of hundred years, this process will finally be completed and the Earth will once again return to a state suitable for humans. It will be a new thing for me to see cities, even if they are primitive, but located in the open air. This means that I can even see birds flying over the narrow streets of the city, and also hear the flow of wind overhead. I can¡¯t imagine what it¡¯s like to constantly live in a city where you feel nature with both your skin and your ears. I imagine this as pure bliss, like an eternal walk in the park. While I was thinking about this, Alza approached me. She held her belly with her hands, waiting for the birth of her child, but there was no hint of joy from such an event visible in her eyes. That''s why I decided to talk to her about it: ¡°Alza, are you afraid that you will die during childbirth?¡± The girl looked up at me in surprise and shook her head negatively: "No. I... I just...¡± She was at a loss for words, constantly mumbling something under her breath. She didn''t really seem to be worried about the birth, but she was worried about something else that she finally decided to report: "This is not my child." "Huh?" I was surprised to hear her words. ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Ripun didn¡¯t tell you this, but in fact, when we left the capital, I was raped by an Antigonish soldier. He broke into my house, killed my husband and my son, and then..." "Stop." I said, seeing tears appear in her eyes while she was telling this. It was unpleasant for her to remember this, and I understand her perfectly. She was raped, and that rapist also killed her first child and her husband, and now Alza is going to give birth to the child of her rapist and the murderer of her family. How does one feel about this child after this? Can this child be given parental affection and care? Or will Alza decide to kill him after birth, placing the responsibility of his father on the child? It will be difficult to forget it and take it out of your memory as if nothing had happened. ?Children should never be held accountable for the sins of their parents.? I remembered an ancient truth that I always adhered to. Nevertheless, this is a complex situation and I can only have one proposal for it, which I immediately voiced out loud: ¡°I can imagine how bad you feel, Alza. On Earth in ancient times, women also could not decide what to do with children whose fathers were rapists. Some of the women had an abortion, some had the courage to accept the child into the family, and some simply abandoned the child after giving birth.¡± ¡°Abandoned the child?¡± Alza''s eyes widened and I nodded. "Yes. The state collects abandoned children in orphanages and cares for them until they come of age or until new parents take them in. Childless families could take them in and become loving parents for them, or these orphans could grow up without parents and continue to live without knowing their biological parents and the reasons why they were abandoned. I may seem overly cruel, but I suggest you do the same. If you cannot accept a child, then you can give him or her into good hands, those who will need your child, those who will take care of your legacy.¡± "You''re a fool, Boris." Alza said, looking at me sternly and sobbing at the same time. ¡°I didn''t mean to give up my child... I just... just... *sob* I-I won''t say it. You got it all wrong!¡± ?What is she talking about?? I was perplexed and suddenly Ripun turned to me. ¡°Boris, you may not know, but according to our customs, women cannot be addressed this way.¡± ¡°Did I treat her somehow wrong?¡± ¡°How can I tell you...¡± Ripun thought about it before giving an answer and taking Alza to Zaden. ¡°In our kingdom, women are most important. They rule the country, do hunting, writing, counting, and they also lead families. And their husbands take care of the family hearth and raising children.¡± My jaw probably dropped at that moment from what I heard. Do they really have a real Matriarchy? For me, a person from an equal society, hearing this was a little wild. ¡°So in your society women rule?¡± Just in case, I asked him, and Ripun confirmed my guesses. ¡°I don¡¯t know what ?Society? is, but your words are true. Yes, we are ruled by women.¡± ¡°Do women fight too?¡± I asked, remembering that at the first meeting with Hippolyans there were two male spearmen, one of whom was killed. I expected that the privileged part of society, that is, women, would take over the power structure, but as it turned out, this is not the case here, or rather more precisely, my guess is correct, but only half. ¡°A woman is the mind of the family, a man is the hands of the family. A woman prefers to think, and a man to act. Therefore, only men go to fight, and women command them with a cool mind.¡± ¡°But you said that women can hunt, that is, they can go hunting?¡± ¡°By ?hunt? I mean searching for the love of my life. It is women who are the first to decide to approach men and share a bed.¡± "Aww¡­ so that''s what it means." I spoke out loud, confirming in my head that the rings with the spell of Babylon cannot accurately translate certain words in our native languages. ?So "hunting" in their language also means searching for love... I''ll remember that.? ¡°But I see you only have one woman and you treat her with the utmost respect.¡± Noticed by Ripun, clearly hinting about Sigrun. ¡°In our society, women and men are equal. We treat each other with respect regardless of gender.¡± "We have the same. Only the last word always belongs to the owner of the family.¡± ?Wow... real ¡°equality¡±.? I thought sarcastically to myself and decided to ask Ripun something. ¡°Your country was conquered by the Antigone Empire, what can you say about their army?¡± In the future, if we have to fight them, then it is definitely important for us to know their combat capabilities, because they already partially know ours. Considering that there is so-called ¡°magic¡± and ¡°Gods¡± on this planet, it will not be difficult to guess that we may encounter paranormal phenomena. Moreover, we have already witnessed Antigonians hiding from us visually, as well as detecting us at long distances in difficult terrain. This cannot but raise concerns about their possible trump cards in the coming war. Ripun, hearing my question, looked at Princess Niana, who had been listening to our conversation all this time. She looked at me sternly for several seconds, and then sighed and nodded to Ripun, after which he decided to tell me something: Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Two years ago, our kingdom never bordered the Antigone Empire. There used to be another country in the west, the kingdom of Hazbotan. It was completely opposite to ours. Men ruled there, and women were not treated as equals.¡± ¡°The king of the Hazbotan kingdom even wanted to take my mother by force.¡± Princess Niana interjected with contempt in her voice. ¡°How disgusted I was to see his ugly and lust-hungry face. Mom defeated him in a ritual duel, after which the king of the Hazbotan kingdom never visited our court again.¡± After these words, Niana plunged into her thoughts, and Ripun then continued his story: ¡°So where did I stop? Oh yes... ahem-ahem~... So two years ago the Empire conquered this country, and its inhabitants fled from it. Queen Femila hosted some of the fugitives, but the Empire, through its ambassadors, threatened war if we did not hand over the fugitives to them. The Queen did not want war and therefore carried out the will of Antigone and closed the path of the Hazbotanians to Hippolyta, and also returned those who were refugees to the Empire." Ripun''s face suddenly became much more gloomy. He continued the same story, but in a lower voice, as if the next part of the story was covered with a huge stain of his personal shame. ¡°Two years later, the Empire broke its promise and attacked our country. We were not ready for war, our armies were swept away, we were few in number and unorganized, we had no chance of victory. The queen died, and the princess was forced to flee, leading the remnants of our people with her. And the next thing you know, we met in the poisonous forest.¡± He did not explain further because he had already told us this part, namely how the Antigonians were chasing them, and the poisonous forest was then taking more and more lives of the Hippolytans. Of course, from the story I did not understand the military capabilities of the Antigonians, but their policies were suspicious. Ripun did not say why the Empire attacked them, apparently he himself did not know the exact reason for this. From what we heard, it can be assumed that their attack was completely unfounded, as well as completely unexpected. Given their enormous numbers, it is possible that they did not waste time preparing for the invasion and invaded Hippolyta relying on the strength of their own troops to ensure the success of their invasion. This means that the Antigonians wanted to conquer the country as quickly as possible and, for some reason unknown to us, tried to conquer the kingdom as quickly as possible. Considering how many settlements were shown on the map in the tablet to the west of the poisonous forest, we can assume that there are a large number of states with which the Empire may now be waging another war of conquest. And why they are doing it is still completely unclear. It is unlikely that the reason for this is the desire to expand their territory, because they did not leave their own borders for thousands of years, so why only now did they start fighting? Does this have something to do with us? Or is there a completely different reason here? ?I''ll leave this question for later.? I brushed aside these thoughts and, thanking Ripun for the story, continued on my way following Granid. We continued walking for some time until we finally emerged from the forest just before sunset. The sky overhead was already orange, and we, having crossed the line of trees, found ourselves on a flat field, apparently sown with wheat, and in the distance we could see small one-story wooden houses. A little further from them there was a forest, and beyond it rose the stone walls of a relatively small city. Here it is, an open-air city. ¡°We have to hurry, otherwise the guards will close the gate.¡± Granid told us in a slightly joyful voice. I followed him while watching animals like foxes and rabbits running across the field in the distance. I haven¡¯t seen any people yet; apparently they were now in their homes and going to bed. ¡°Is this the kingdom of Lakuus?¡± Princess Niana spoke and Incartia answered her question. "Yes. Are you curious about this country?¡± "I''m wondering if the kingdom of Lakuus will help retake Hippolyta." Niana said with some hope in her voice. ¡°The Empire will not stop at Hippolyta and will be ready to cross the poisonous forest to conquer Lakuus. I hope that together we will defeat the Empire and return what the servants of Sod took from us." ¡°It¡¯s up to the owners of the country, not its subjects.¡± The old mage answered the foreign princess. ¡°I may be far from high society, but I think they will refuse to help you. After all, your enemy is the servants of Sod themselves, the Antigone Empire itself. The kingdom of Lakuus will not be able to fight with the entire Empire.¡± The dark-haired girl drooped when she heard the magician¡¯s words and whispered under her breath: ¡°If I can¡¯t atone for my guilt, then why did I run away from there? Why did I come here?¡± Princess Niana is clearly worried about her people, she hoped for the support of the inhabitants of the kingdom and its rulers, but the uncertainty of whether they will agree to help her or not is already beginning to weigh on her. I probably would have also felt depressed if this magician had not agreed to help us cross these territories. "Do you have any daggers?" Granid suddenly asked us without turning to face us. "We have combat knives," I answered and at the same time became interested. "Why are you asking?" ¡°The guards will not allow armed men through without special permission, which you do not have.¡± "I understood you." I said and ordered the entire platoon. ¡°To all fighters, give all bladed weapons to Stern. Stern, collect everyone¡¯s knives and go hide it all somewhere. Then mark on the map the place where you hid the knives and hide them securely so that no one steals them.¡± "Yes, sir." The entire platoon said in unison as they began to hand over their combat knives to the droid operator, who in turn collected all the folded folding combat knives in a bag and ran into the forest, hiding the weapon somewhere near the trees. He returned quite quickly and confirmed the execution of the order. Meanwhile, we were approaching the massive wooden gates of the city, which, to my surprise, were very weakly guarded. I expected to meet the same armored soldiers as the Antigonians, but those guards who stood guard were dressed very modestly. Leather armor, hats, spears and unattractive tired faces, and most importantly the musky stinking smell of their bodies. There were loaded crossbows on the wall, and above the gate there were cobblestones tied to the wall with ropes. The gates were practically empty and only five people guarded the entrance to the city. One of the guards, seeing us and sitting leaning against the wall, rose to his feet and stood in our way. The man''s face was mature and rather tired. You can tell from him that he clearly wanted to go home as soon as possible. "Who you are?" The guard asked lazily when Granid approached him, and the whole platoon of us stopped ten meters from the gate. ¡°I am a free mage and my name is Granid, and this is my student and guests from distant lands.¡± He pointed his hand at Incartia, and then at all of us. ¡°We arrived here to wait the night, heading to Ran.¡± The guard, however, seemed in no mood to welcome us into the city. ¡°We will close the gates soon. Go and wait the night in another place." The old mage''s already gloomy face became even gloomier. He did not expect that some mortal would refuse him right here and now. ¡°Where do you think we should wait for the night? In the forest? What if the monsters overtook us?¡± "Yes." The guard answered wearily. ¡°Now go, I don¡¯t want to mess with you... a-a-a-a-a-a-A-A-A-A-A-A~!!!¡± The guard suddenly flew into the air and the next moment flew away like a bullet into the nearest bushes. The other four guards, seeing this, became alarmed, grabbing their spears and pointing their weapons towards the old mage. One of them jumped on his horse and galloped into the city, apparently for reinforcements, while we readied our rifles in preparation for unforeseen circumstances. I hoped we wouldn''t have to kill people again. ¡°I''m not some peasant for you to treat me like this.¡± Granid said angrily, menacingly creating a fireball above his staff, illuminating the gate with a white-orange light. ¡°I am a free mage Granid, respected by the king of the kingdom of Lakuus himself. Where has the former respect for the magicians who protect your country gone? Or is life cheap for you ungrateful plebs?¡± The guard who had fallen into the bushes, spitting out dry branches, rose to his feet and looked wide-eyed at the old mage in a gray robe. The man trembled with fear, seeing in front of him confirmation that in front of him was a real magician, and not some crazy old man with a stick. Dealing with a magician is beyond the power of an ordinary person and therefore the guard gave up: "Okay-okay. I¡¯ll let you in, just tell me your names and why you came.¡± The frightened guard raised his hands while the rest of the trio of guards lowered the sharp ends of their spears. Granid smiled and extinguished his fireball over his staff, and then said: ¡°I already said why we are here, but there shouldn¡¯t be any problems with names.¡± After this situation was resolved, we breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. We approached the guard one by one and told him our names, and he wrote them down on some piece of paper with some kind of writing stick. And when it seemed that we had finally entered the city, then suddenly the same guard decided to ask everyone: ¡°You look so strange. What are these things in your hands?¡± I opened my mouth to answer, but stood in a stupor, not knowing what the best words to choose for the answer were. Fortunately, Granid answered instead of me, who had already prepared an answer in advance: ¡°These are tools for blacksmithing. I really don¡¯t know how they work, but I think they are very valuable.¡± The guard thought for a moment, looking at the barrels of our rifles and nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve never seen such things in my years. Well, since you only need to spend the night, I advise you to go along this street, there you will find the ¡°seven virtues¡± tavern, with a horse and a star on the sign. It¡¯s a good tavern, you won¡¯t regret going there.¡± ¡°Thank you, but I¡¯m going to go to another inn and wait there for the night.¡± The guard sighed in disappointment at Granid''s words. "Well, good night, lord, and forgive me for my ignorance. This will not happen again." The guard waved with a timid laugh and we finally walked through the city streets. There was dried mud underfoot, and wooden one-story houses were very close to each other. I saw people walking around dressed in all sorts of rags. Oddly enough, they did not pay any attention to us, although in theory we should look very bizarre in their eyes. There was also a stench in the city that made you want to openly puke. This is not how I imagined an open-air city. Maybe I expected it to be clean, but it seems that due to the backwardness of civilization, it is not located in the best condition. However, it turned out that the city should not have been like this based on the following words of Granid: ¡°Itsqueen. The last time I was here, this city was beautiful, but now it¡¯s as if only poor people live here.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t the guards demand payment from us?¡± Zaden suddenly asked the old mage. ¡°I am a free magician, and you are my guests. The guards undertake to let us into the city without paying. If we were ordinary people, we would pay to enter.¡± ?Did we also have to pay to enter the city? Some kind of savagery.? I thought until we finally arrived at the inn. Alas, the ring with the spell of Babylon does not allow us to read the words in the Lakuus language, but only to speak it, otherwise I would understand what is written on the sign at the entrance to the two-story inn. However, we were not allowed to go inside by a detachment of guards who had arrived. Chapter 38. Count Laroy It¡¯s quite strange to feel yourself in the middle of the narrow streets of a primitive city. There were low wooden houses at the foot of which grew slightly trampled grass, and in the distance one could hear muffled human voices, barking dogs, the work of some workshops, and the sound of the wind was heard overhead. We barely reached the tavern to which Granid was leading us, when on both sides of the street our path was blocked by people dressed in leather armor holding spears in their hands and emitting an unpleasant smell of sweat. We were surrounded by city guards. ?What''s going on? We just recently entered the city and have already aroused suspicion? Although our appearance should be provocative anyway, so in fact I¡¯m not surprised, because because of this we were overtaken quite unexpectedly. Is this really an ambush?? Granid at this time looked at these guards with a stern look and, just like I, wondered why they were detaining us. He was not afraid to show his strength at any moment and scare away the obstacle in his path, but he decided not to do this now, deciding instead to behave more calmly and rationally: ¡°What do you need?¡± Granid asked calmly, ready to release magic from his staff at any moment. The guards who blocked our path did not approach us closer than five meters, but they were not militantly inclined against us either; rather, they were relaxed, as if they did not see even the slightest threat in us. There were quite a lot of them here, about a hundred people, and they were all apparently waiting for an order. Immediately after Granid¡¯s question, one emerged from the crowd of guards with a gray cloak on his back and a steel helmet decorated with square patterns. He did not hold a spear in his hands like everyone else, but instead a short sword, riddled with many scratches, hung on his belt. His rather large physique told us that in close combat he was a dangerous opponent, and it would be somewhat unwise for us to start shooting now due to the presence of factors in the form of unfavorable open positions, that is, our close location to these guards and the narrowness of the street, where practically there was no shelter. If push comes to shove, we''re definitely dead. ¡°Is your name Granid?¡± The guard who came out asked, to which the old mage nodded in agreement and answered: ¡°That¡¯s right, my name is Granid and it¡¯s better for you not to interfere with us. We¡¯re just heading to the inn to wait out the night, and that¡¯s why I want to know why you got in my way?¡± There was tension in the air. Granid''s voice was hoarse, stern and to some extent even threatening, as if he was not at all ready to tolerate anyone but himself. The guard himself did not take his eyes off the old mage and, looking at him for a while, bowed slightly. ¡°I beg your pardon, dear Granid. I did not recognize you as a mage who served His Majesty.¡± The guard spoke in an apologetic tone, and then again looked up at Granid and added threateningly. ¡°However, I ask you to follow me. Count Laroy wants to see you.¡± ?Count?? I didn¡¯t understand the guard and looked around at my people, who also didn¡¯t understand anything and turned their heads in different directions asking silent questions. Even the natives were surprised by what they heard, but Princess Niana was somewhat pleased by these words, as if she now had the opportunity to meet a person of equal status to her. Meanwhile, Granid decided to give the same threatening answer: ¡°I serve only the king. I do not undertake to obey some count.¡± The guard, to the surprise of the old mage, was not afraid and answered with a smile on his face: "Count knew that you would refuse, so I will have to order you to be taken by force." After these words all the other guards clutched their spears tightly in their hands, pointing their ends in our direction, but despite this action they remained in place waiting for a clear order from their commander, who in turn only put his palm on the hilt of his blade and finished what he had started with the following words: ¡°Once again, please follow me before blood is spilled on the ground.¡± ?This is not good.? I thought to myself, tightly gripping the holster with the pistol, ready to start a fight at any moment. But what kind of fight could there be? They''re already close enough for us to start taking losses. There are hundreds of them here, and even if we open fire closely, we simply won¡¯t be able to shoot them all. The situation seemed catastrophic, a massacre could happen at any moment and none of us wanted it. That¡¯s why Granid snorted and finally decided to give up: ¡°Tch! Okay. Lead us to the Count while you keep me in suspense." After these words, the guard, without answering anything, turned around and walked towards the largest building in the city, a tall stone castle. The guards continued to surround us while we obediently followed Granid, and he walked towards the castle. ?Looks like our plans have changed.? At this time, the guards were actively looking at us and even making fun of our appearance. We looked quirky to them, causing them to ask a lot of questions out loud. I even heard a very interesting conversation among those guards who were following us. ¡°Look, Urof, they have no weapons, but they look like strong warriors.¡± ¡°Do you know who they are?¡± "How should I know? Tsfeirik ordered us to surround them and wait for orders. Who knew that we would accompany them.¡± ¡°They look strange. Beluy said that it is difficult to make blue in dyehouses, but these guys have all their tunics dyed that color. Maybe they are nobles? Well, that is, they are from another country, probably?¡± "You better put that rag in your mouth and don''t talk about anything else. Tsfeirik will tell you everything later, but for now just make sure those... jesters or whoever they are don''t do anything bad. I don''t like them. They''re so unclean, they smell like goblins. They could be wizard''s bodyguards or mercenaries from the south, so be prepared." "I understood you." "You are sure?" ¡°I¡¯m confident about the silver piece. Until the whale on the mountain whistles, I know what to do.¡± ¡°Good job... wait... what is a whale?¡± Hearing these words, I quietly took the ring off my finger and addressed my entire platoon: ¡°If they look threatening and provoke us, then do not give in and do not shoot at them. Only when they decide to kill us, then I authorize self-defense. Nod if you understand the order.¡± Instead of the usual ?Yes, sir?, they all nodded, and I put the ring with the Babylon spell back on my finger, after which we continued our way to the castle. ?They expressed concerns about us... we need to be on guard.? After some time, we reached this very castle, which stood on an artificial island surrounded by a dug moat. For people of this era, this castle was very strong, consisting of many stone bricks, but for us people from outer space it was just a house of cards. I don¡¯t think that even an ordinary stone wall will withstand a burst from our firearms, and even knowing this, I still somewhat admired what the natives could build without relying on modern construction technologies, making such buildings manually, with their own hands. We approached the drawbridge, which right now began to slowly descend, apparently due to the fact that the guards on the walls noticed all of us and reacted. Everywhere was full of soldiers and to be honest, I didn¡¯t understand what was happening. Apparently, preparations for war were underway right now. In the distance I heard the sounds of hitting sticks and clanging metal, somewhere within the castle soldiers were training, I could hear the neighing of horses and the clatter of hooves, and we obediently continued to follow the guards while they looked at us with curiosity. ?I feel like some kind of animal from a xenozoo.? When the drawbridge came down with a loud bang, the guards who had been walking in front of us separated on both sides to let us pass, but for some reason they decided not to enter the castle. Granid, however, did not stop and continued walking, tapping his boots on the wooden bridge. The bridge itself was quite wide, about ten meters wide, and was secured by many chains stretching to the towers where the lifting mechanisms were located. I was afraid that the bridge would not support the weight of more than two dozen people, the creaking under our feet especially added fear to the likelihood of us falling from the bridge, but fortunately everything worked out and we calmly entered the castle, and to our surprise, the inside turned out to be quite well maintained. Instead of dirt, there were laid stone tiles underfoot, there were places for plants separated by borders, there was even a fountain and statues depicting some fantastic creatures performing some kind of dance. And as I assumed, training was actually taking place inside the castle. I saw a passage into a courtyard where sweating soldiers in white tunics were swinging their swords, others were dueling with spears, and a few were shooting at targets with longbows. We did not manage to watch what was going on for long, as we immediately found ourselves at the entrance to the castle, where a delegation was waiting for us. Granid, who was ahead of us, stopped in front of the staircase at the top of which stood a man dressed in a well-groomed garment of green-golden color. He had a neatly combed short black hairstyle and a long spiral mustache. Although he seemed to be standing over us with his arms crossed behind his back, you could tell from his gaze that he was not looking down on us, but as if we were long-awaited and welcome guests. He smiled before another man standing next to him in a dark, well-groomed suit introduced him: ¡°Before you stands Mr. Laroy le Oufric, count county Ideoss.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After these words, Granid also began to introduce himself: "Free Mage Granid. My student and guests from distant lands are with me.¡± "I know." Count said and slowly walked down the stairs, approaching Granid almost closely. ¡°Greetings and glad to see you, dear Granid. We were waiting for you. You have no idea how lucky we are to know that you have visited my domain. It''s an honor for me.¡± "What do you need?" Granid unceremoniously declared, causing the guards near Count to tense up, and Count, in turn, did not change his face, clearly expecting to hear such an impudent manner of speech from the old mage. ¡°Etiquette is not inherent in you, that is forgivable, but if we are to discuss your matter, let us all follow inside, there is just about to be dinner, I invite you.¡± ¡°Will I go alone?¡± "Yes." "Then I won''t go." The count twitched a little when he heard the sharp refusal, but continued to keep a satisfied and hospitable expression on his face. It looked as if there was a battle of wits going on, one of them cold and judicious and the other hard and straightforward. Meanwhile, we continued to watch the spectacle unfold. None of us had expected that we would be meeting the head of the domain that day. Because of that, we kept our combat readiness and at any moment we could fight our way out of this settlement. However, I trusted Granid, at least for now, and hoped for a favorable outcome of this unexpected meeting. ?Count is, as far as I know, not a king... but is it possible to already conclude an agreement with them?? I was thinking in the meantime until count said the following to the old mage: ¡°My servants will not feed dozens of people from my table. Forgive me, but I allow only a few to try Itsqueenian dishes.¡± ¡°Then he will come with me.¡± Granid pointed at me after which the count thought for a few seconds and ultimately nodded. "Fine. Follow me." Laroy said and turned around and began to climb up the stairs. Granid followed him, and then this count''s assistant contacted us: "I''ll take everyone else to the living room." "Well." I answered and ordered the entire platoon and the natives. ¡°Go to the living room. If anything, you know what to do in case of unforeseen circumstances. Will, you''re in charge. Is the order clear?¡± The platoon nodded, and in the meantime I followed Granid while my people began to leave in the opposite direction. Entering the castle, dim torches appeared on the sides of the walls, illuminating the narrow corridors of the castle, which at the same time were quite cozy. The guards followed me, but this time there were others, dressed in heavy plate armor and did not utter a word, covering their faces, like some kind of droids. I felt a little uncomfortable that I was now without my people, especially when Will took command of the platoon. I know him, he can create a lot of problems that I will have to sort out. We were separated inside a primitive city and anything could have happened now. Fortunately, I had my assault rifle with a full clip of cartridges and if something happened I could protect myself. ?Calm down, Boris, the most important thing in any war is readiness... although... what the hell is war?? A thought crossed my mind, which I eventually shook off and focused on the pressing matter at hand. After some time, I entered a rather large hall in the middle of which stood a long rectangular table, covered with a white cloth and luxurious silver dishes with all kinds of delicacies and drinks. There was a chandelier with candles hanging on the ceiling, and in the corners of the dining room there were guards and maids silently waiting for the meal to begin. Count, meanwhile, walked past the table and sat down on its opposite edge with his back to a picture hanging on the wall, which depicted some majestic man in knightly armor and a thick black beard. ?Looks amazing.? I thought, looking at the picture and drew attention to the people who were already sitting at this table. To the right of count sat a woman in a golden dress with dark hair tied in a bun, and to the left was a girl with a rather youthful face, but already in a pinkish dress. Both brunettes looked at me and Granid with curiosity, as if they saw strange animals that they had never seen in their lives. "Have a seat." Laroy gestured with his hands, ordering the maids to come out of the corners and prepare chairs at the table for Granid and me to sit in front of each other. Granid sighed deeply at the sight of this and walked forward, sitting down to the right of the count, and I in turn got a seat to the left of the count and beside a young girl, which I believe was the count''s daughter. I took my assault rifle off my shoulder and leaned it on the table and took off my gloves, and then just put my hands on the table, not knowing what to do, because the ceramic plate in front of me was empty. I did not know what customs there were regarding meals here and therefore was in no hurry to eat. I could anger them if I did something wrong, and therefore I just waited for this very dinner to begin. I didn¡¯t know what to do now, everything else too, but the women continued to look at us with curiosity, at which Granid even swore: ¡°Your hunting looks could even scare away an orc.¡± ¡°Oh~... forgive me.¡± The mature woman next to Granid apologized and directed her gaze now at me. ?Do I need to say the same? ? I thought doubtfully and looked at the girl who wrinkled her nose slightly, apparently sensing the smell of my body. ?I''d better not do it, or I''ll only make it worse.? Soon count looked at us, picked up the forks and said: ¡°Bring the food. May the great Sod bless these viands.¡± After these words, five maids approached and placed five dishes in front of each of us. Granid and I got some kind of noodles with a cutlet. At first I didn¡¯t know whether I should eat it or not, but since my body was now adaptive only to local food, no poisoning was expected. And about poisoning: who would dare to poison a powerful magician and his guest? And most importantly, why should they do this? Therefore, I boldly took cutlery in the form of a fork and knife and began to cut the cutlet, imitating halofilms about the nobility of the ancient Earth. Apparently my table etiquette skills were so convincing that "Count''s daughter" sitting to my right asked me in surprise: "Are you a nobleman?" Without thinking, I answered the following and at the same time asked: "No. Why do you think so?" ¡°I thought so because you know what a fork is for.¡± She answered with a slight smile and as if she had now realized something, she gasped. ¡°Ah~...sorry, I didn¡¯t introduce myself. My name is Diana le Oufric, Count¡¯s daughter Laroy le Oufric, what¡¯s your name?¡± "Boris Kipito." I answered with tension and before having a good dinner I asked the girl an awkward question. ¡°This is my first time in this country. Doesn¡¯t my appearance or my actions offend you?¡± ¡°No, Mr. Boris, you are our guest, just like Mr. Granid.¡± "Right." Count suddenly responded while digging into his dish. ¡°You don''t have to follow our etiquette, it''s how we show you hospitality. After all, you are a friend of Mr. Granid, a free mage and former subject of His Majesty." ?I know this very well.? I thought and suddenly Granid inserted his word. "While we''re on the subject, I want to know why you invited me to this dinner. Do you want to show off to the court how you take care of the court magicians?" Count laughed a little at these words and answered calmly: ¡°By no means, Mr. Granid, but the reason you are here is very important. However, let¡¯s discuss it after the meal?¡± "Okay." Granid said disappointedly and began to eat the dish. I did not lag behind him and also began to eat the food. And what can I say about the food here: it¡¯s tasty and nothing more. Of course, earthly food is more familiar to me, but the taste of food for the nobility suited me quite well. True, I was then offered to wash down these dishes not with water, juice or beer, but with vodka. ?Seriously? Vodka? Where did they get this from?? Instead, I didn¡¯t drink anything, because I had to stay sober to command a platoon, but count saw something suspicious in this. ¡°Would you like to drink some of our drinks?¡± "I''m sorry but there is no. I must be sober when leading my people." "Weak." One of the guards muttered out loud, after which Count¡¯s gaze hardened and rushed towards the one who said it. ¡°Did I give any of you permission to speak?¡± Laroy said sternly, to which the guards and maids, shuddering, bowed before their master and in chorus they all apologized. ¡°We made a mistake. This will not happen again.¡± This action somewhat surprised me, however, Granid, in turn, was not at all embarrassed by it, as if he was expecting something like this. Since even he didn¡¯t pay attention to it, I didn¡¯t dwell on it either and, after finishing the meal, I started negotiations with the others. ¡°While my dear wife and my beloved daughter continue their meal, I want to tell you some unpleasant news.¡± Laroy said after finishing eating his dish. "War will break out soon." ¡°So you already know.¡± Granid grinned and after that, after taking a sip of his drink, he asked Count a question. ¡°Have you already figured out how you are going to fight the Empire?¡± At that moment, the girls stopped chewing their food and turned their surprised heads towards Granid. It seems that Count himself did not expect to hear such words from the old mage. ¡°With what Empire? Are you really talking about Antigone?¡± "I made a mistake?" Scratched Granid''s beard. ¡°Oh... and I¡¯m far from high society. Is there really someone else planning to attack the kingdom?¡± "Yes." Count nodded, maintaining curiosity from the words he heard while the women continued to eat the dishes. ¡°The Duke of Fellrick gathers an army, two thousand men. War, for which we are diligently preparing, could break out at any moment.¡± "We noticed it." Granid said, reminding me of the military bustle within this castle. ¡°But war is your business, you will stand against the Duke, but what about the Empire? You should know that behind the goblin forest, the kingdom of Hippolyta fell.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, this news has not yet reached us.¡± Chagrined, the count said, and added. ¡°I regret to inform you, but the kingdom will lose the war with the duchy, at least without you, that¡¯s for sure.¡± ¡°The Duke of Fellrick... as far as I remember, he is His Majesty¡¯s brother, which means that he just wanted to take the throne in his own right. He¡¯s not going to ruin the country, so why should I interfere in your games?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand, dear Granid, the kingdom of Lakuus is now divided. Few nobles cling to the royal family, others supported the traitorous royal council that poisoned our king all these years. If Fellrick takes the royal throne, the kingdom will plunge into the chaos of a years-long war, with every noble house fighting for the throne. At a time like this, the kingdom needs someone who will protect the people and that someone is you.¡± ¡°A free mage will follow his own will, and not carry out your decrees. How do I know if you are telling me the truth or not? Maybe absolutely nothing you say is true. Why should I take sides when I swore to protect Lakuus from outside invaders? It is because of you, the nobles, that the kingdom is divided and therefore does not live in peace. Previously, this city, the domain of your ancestor, was the most pleasant place in the kingdom where joy and peace reigned, but what about now? Right now there are half the poor people roaming the streets of the city while the other half are your thugs." "Enough." Count said sternly, taking a sip of the drink and clenching his free palm into a fist, and then after a short pause he chuckled. ¡°I realized that it would be difficult to convince you. You are generally difficult to control; you are an all-powerful mage, not the only one, but one of the few. But how will you serve a dead country in the future? Or was your oath just idle talk? ¡°You''re making this country dead, Count Laroy. There is no need to involve me in your games. The struggle for the throne does not concern me and it does not matter whether I am a friend to His Majesty or just a faithful servant. I have retired from royal affairs, and I no longer wish to have anything to do with the nobility.¡± ¡°If that were the case, you would never agree to dine at my table.¡± ¡°There was another reason for that.¡± ¡°I wonder which one?¡± Granid, after these words, looked at me, perplexed, and said: ¡°That¡¯s the reason.¡± Chapter 39. Barracks The attention of everyone at the table was on me. No one here knew who I was or who I was to the old wizard except Granid. That''s why the eyes of the Count, his family, and his servants were full of curiosity. They wanted to know who I was and what I was doing here, but I didn''t know if I should share the rather shocking information with them. "I hear your name is Boris Kipito." The Count said to me and I only had to nod to confirm his words. "Yes, my name is Boris Kipito... There was an awkward pause. I didn''t know if I should tell them that I was a man from outer space. Would my words cause them culture shock? Because of this, I turned my attention to Granid and decided to ask him about it: "Do I have to say who I am?" "If you want to." Granid said, but the next moment I heard his silent words in my head as if they were my thoughts, but they seemed so alien to me that I immediately realised that they were not mine. ~ You can only say that you are from faraway lands. I don''t think they need to know that there are many more worlds beyond our world. That fact would either surprise them, or they''d think you''re a strange, stupid liar who says things they don''t understand. ?What''s going on? Where do I hear his voice coming from? Is that him using magic? Granid?? I thought, fearing that he was reading my mind, but then he also mentally told me: ~ Thanks to the Babylon spell ring, your soul receives and understands the song of my soul, but I do not understand the song of yours, but only hear its colourings and intonation. I will explain later how I did this, but for now focus on the main point. I was still a little surprised and yet it made me realise something: he could somehow transmit his thoughts to me through magic, but he couldn''t hear my thoughts, or rather he couldn''t understand them. When I realised this, I calmed down a little and nodded to Granid, turning my head towards the Count to share the limited information: "I am a soldier of the army of the Republic, along with my squad I was lost in a poisonous forest while we were travelling towards our army far to the east. We would like to pass through the lands of your kingdom, and in return we will help you in your war against the Empire Antigone." After hearing this, the Count''s eyes glittered. My words had aroused his interest. He hardly knew what a "Republic" was, but the offer to help him win the war for the right of passage must have interested him very much. I did not tell him more about the fact that the Republic is a three-sector interstellar state with hundreds of planets, a billion-dollar army, and tens of thousands of space-fleet ships. If he had heard it, he would have taken my words as the ravings of a fairy-tale madman. ?I can''t imagine what he''s thinking right now. I hope he agrees to our proposal.? I thought discreetly as I pressed my palm against the holster of my pistol. "Are you saying you''re soldiers?" Asked the Count to which I, also nodding replied: "Yes. We are soldiers and this is our first time in your lands." "For soldiers, you are dressed rather oddly. Being dressed in ceremonial uniforms, no weapons, with tools for blacksmithing, how with that you are going to help us in the war and why only against the Empire? Wouldn''t a lighter job suit you? What do you think?" "There are too few of us to help you." I answered honestly. "We were going to bring our army here, or rather just a fraction of it to provide adequate support." ?I won''t tell him our numbers and combat capabilities just yet.That would cause problems.? "You want to march through the lands of the kingdom on the promise that you''ll one day come to help fight the Empire?" The Count asked rhetorically, chuckling at his words and shaking his head a few times. "If it were me, his majesty would not listen to you any longer and would have you kicked into the slums so that you would never set foot in the court again." The next moment the earl''s gaze rested on Granid then Laroy continued his thought with his arms crossed at the table: "Yet with you is Granid, a free wizard with a full century of royal service behind him. He would never vouch for liars." Granid hearing the Count''s words clarified his position: "It was I who offered them to help you for the right to pass through the lands of Lakuus. They are all lost in the poisonous forest and want to go home very badly. I took pity on them and did not deny them their wishes. But if you have already invited me to the castle, I thought you might be able to send a message to the royal court about such an offer. Would you do that?" "That is for me to decide. Is what he said true?" The earl asked the old wizard seriously. "Yes." Nodding confidently Granid said. Laroy was silent for a few seconds pondering his next steps. I''ve done everything I need to do, I''ve made an offer of mutual help so now the result of these negotiations depends on the Count''s decision. He looked at me with disbelief, but at the same time he was looking at the old wizard and most likely he was thinking about whether to accept my offer or not. ?Even if he says no, we''ll fight our way out. ? It was a rather grim thought that made me shudder, anticipating a bloody feast in this city that I didn''t want to start. Luckily for me, the Count eventually agreed: "Very well. I will take this offer to the royal palace and add in the letter that the free wizard Granid has vouched for you. That''s all I''ll do, but still I have my doubts about the way you fight. Where are your weapons? Or perhaps you are martial artists from the far east?" "You can be sure of that, Laroy." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Granid stated contentedly. "On their way to Itsqueen, they slew a group of three dozen monsters. I won''t tell you how they did it, but know that it''s true. I witnessed it, and I can definitely say that they know how to wage war better than anyone else. If there were hundreds of them, they''d stop tens of thousands." ?Hey! Hey! Hey! We''ve got tens of thousands of rounds of ammo!? Mentally I berated Granid for his choice of words. "I''ll believe that these monsters could have been killed by the esteemed Granid, but I''ll be sceptical about what you just said." Laroy said, making Granid chuckle with his words. "Will you not trust my words? Hah~! I understood you perfectly well, Laroy." "That''s good. I think we''re done here." Pronounced Laroy and continued dinner with his wife and daughter. "You may go." ?It was like he was kicking us out. ? Granid and I rose from our seats and left the hall heading towards the chambers the count had allotted us. We were accompanied by four guards, who remained silent as well. This frightened me a little, but we made our way to the room where our men were located. "Oh! You''re back already? Come on, tell me how it went?" Will asked sitting on the edge of the bunk. The place where they put my platoon was an in-castle barracks with two dozen bunk beds and curtains for changing clothes, which reminded me of fitting rooms in clothes shops. There was no separate room for women, and the boys had already settled in and complained about the hard beds and the dust and draught. I took a vacant bunk close to the narrow, high window while Granid stood by the doorway, contemplating the room with contempt. "I think that went well." I answered Will and asked Granid at the same time. "Tell me, what was that? Can you read minds?" "I wish we were staying in a hotel instead of this shit hole." Granid snorted and answered my question at the same time, taking a seat on the creaky bed. "I wouldn''t say it''s mind-reading magic that only the greatest mages of this world can do. But I channelled my soul singing into your soul, and your ring made my singing understandable to you." "I...um...to be honest I didn''t understand you very well." I muttered, but Fred, hearing our conversation for some reason suddenly became interested, running up to the old wizard. "You can transmit your thoughts? What kind of nonsense is that? ... §¡? How did you do that?" The senior medic was apparently surprised to receive the same silent mental response from Granid. "Those who do not know the nature of the world beyond cannot understand the essence of another reality where the power of magical nature rests. You cannot understand what ?soul singing? is to you it is just thoughts, feelings, but to us it is like seeing you as pages of books written in foreign words and each of your soul singing is sung and seen in your unique language." "I need to think about what I''ve heard." Pondered Fred, sitting down on his bunk. "?Soul singing? means... maybe it''s glesobion radiation? Unlikely though... it only exists as a hypothesis and nothing more... then what?" ?I don''t think I''ll distract him. ? At this time we could already hear the noise of crickets outside, night was falling, and we were about to finally sleep in beds for the first time in a long time, but we didn''t feel any comfort in them. Apparently the Count''s hospitality was limited to a sumptuous dinner by their standards and no more, or they were simply not ready to receive so many people in the castle and therefore put us all in the barracks. I don''t know exactly why we are here and not in more acceptable quarters, but I think they just don''t think we are worthy enough to share their luxuries. ?Republican officials and local nobles... they''re the same everywhere. ? I thought, and Itami suddenly turned to me. "Boris, should we expect an attack from them? I don''t think they just gathered us here in this barracks for no reason. They might do something aggressive to us." "That''s unlikely." I answered signalman, resting my back comfortably on the bed. "They don''t need any additional enemies right now, and they gave us the barracks probably because they weren''t ready to receive us and just didn''t have time to prepare for the arrival of uninvited guests." "But they''ve gathered a lot of guards around this barracks." Said Itami showing me the data from his bioscanner, where the map showed a lot of live targets around this room. "That''s because of me." Granid snorted. "They don''t want me to suddenly disappear. They need me, but they won''t get any help from me anyway. They made their own fly soup, let them eat it themselves. Their war for the throne is of no concern to me whatsoever." "What happened?" Asked Esko and I shared with everyone about the situation in that state. After a while, everyone calmed down a bit, but at the same time there were some very interesting questions, mostly from the natives. "So they''re caught up in infighting." Said Ripun sitting on the edge of the bed closer to Alza and Niana. "I don''t know well what things are like in this kingdom. I''ve never been here, but I''m afraid we can''t expect anything good from them." "They won''t accept us." Niana said with annoyance as she rested her head against her bare knees, hiding her face from us. "I thought they would help us, but they have enough trouble of their own." "Don''t worry Madam, I''m sure the king of the kingdom of Lakuus will agree to help our saviours." Ripun said to the princess, but she only became more talkative than before. "But while the king will think, while he will answer, while he will help Boris and his soldiers, while there will be one war here and then another, by then the people of Hippolyta will almost all be in their graves. The Antigonians are doing the worst atrocities in our lands right now, and there is nothing we can do to stop it!" "Don''t say that, Princess." Zaden said grimly. "Otherwise the great mother will turn your words to truth." "BUT WE CANNOT WAIT!" Screamed Niana lifting her weeping red face from her knees splashing her tears all over the barracks and sniffing her nose in a trembling voice said. "I... *sob*... I don''t want to run away anymore. I''m so tired...*sob*...I want to go home." Watching the crying princess was very hard for us. If there were more of us, we could help them, if not free the country, then save many lives from the Antigone tyranny. But we cannot, there are too few of us, we know little about this planet, its inhabitants and their capabilities. We ourselves need help to reach our troops. We cannot afford to be distracted from our tasks. Our lives are a higher priority to us. ?And yet... so pathetic.? "By the way, I''ve been thinking and remembered something." Spoke Forn suddenly relieved the gloomy atmosphere with his words. "We should ask the Count next time about the ?bird?." "Bird?" Esko didn''t understand, then widened his eyes guessing what he meant. "Exactly! Leo. We should ask him about Leo." Indeed if the data was to be believed, in theory they could have met us already here, or at least the natives from Lakuus. "That''s odd." Forn wondered aloud. "IFV would have been flying over these lands, meaning their return route would have been through Lakuusians-populated lands." "Indeed, they should have made contact with the Lakuus before we did." Pronounced Fred. "What if they somehow bypassed all the villages in the area and were already in the poisonous forest?" "Then they would have headed east, like us." I pronounced and immediately a perplexed Granid turned to me: "Who is Leo?" "He''s a junior lieutenant, he''s in charge of the C1-2-2D1 platoon. We sent him to the crash site of one of the two cargo shuttles to search it with his guys and find a special tool there, an STCNC machine. With it we could use it to re-establish long-range communications and contact the rest of the army so they could fly a shuttle to pick us up and take us back to the rest of the army. However, before Leo returned we were overtaken by Antigonians and we left the shuttle behind." "Hm~... so that''s what that nasty noise in the sky I heard." Granid pronounced. "That flying thing was called the If-Fey-Vi?" "Infantry Fighting Vehicle, but we just shorten the name to the acronym IFV." "Ahhh... so that''s how you abbreviate long names..." Pondered Granid uttered. "Apparently Babylon''s spell on the made rings turned out to be imperfect. I didn''t realise it and I heard a word completely unfamiliar to me..., however, it doesn''t matter. So that thing was flying for a special tool?" "Yes." Nodding I confirmed the old wizard''s words. "And it was heading south towards the mountains?" "According to the topographical map, the area where the cargo shuttles crashed was high ground." "That''s bad." Everyone turned their attention to Granid as he shook his head sadly in different directions. "There are monsters constantly crawling out of those mountains we call Shekora, some of which you slew today, but they go south for a reason, to escape the stronger monsters that dwell there. I''m afraid it would be hard for your friends to survive if they encountered one of these monsters." "How dangerous are they?" I asked with a dose of fear and concern, anticipating to hear about the unenviable fate of Leo and his boys. And I was sadly not mistaken. ¡°Even I can¡¯t defeat many of them.¡± Granid said grimly. These words plunged the barracks into an unprecedented silence, and meanwhile we were filled with feelings of dread. If Granid''s words were true, Leo and his platoon were dead. Chapter 40. Breakthrough _________________________________________________ Reporting entry: ¡í17843 ________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Message: "Guys who have been to Hydra never smile. I used to wonder ¡°why?¡±, but now this question has disappeared. I know why: After fighting with beetles, smiling becomes simply unbearable." _________________________________________________ End of entries¡­ _________________________________________________ The sandstorm obscured our visual view of the sand dunes, making it impossible for us to see the Xorxes, huge insectoids covered in black chitin and clattering with equally long mandibles, approaching us. Recently, these beetles decided to break through our defenses and attack Pharaoh. Their decision was far from thoughtless as it might initially seem, but in a sense, very tactful. While there is a sandstorm, they could hide their presence from visual observation, which is why we could not accurately estimate their numbers, as well as their exact location. And yet, thanks to bioscanners and thermal imaging devices, we observed emerging silhouettes through the stream of sandy wind scratching our helmets, preparing to soon enter into battle. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of huge creatures rushed east like the tidal wave of an approaching tsunami. We could use our artillery against them, but without visual contact it was difficult to accurately determine the enemy''s location, and using shells to strike over an area was not economically feasible. The men of the 6th Division from half of the F4 Division prepared their positions in line to repel the attack. Firing points and equipment were located in a line aiming in a western direction, and in the rear there were artillery batteries and installations for launching guided missiles, the use of which over long distances became very difficult due to the disruption of long-distance communications. At the moment, the communication relays were not operating at full capacity due to the extreme energy savings that went into building the base and supporting the droids. Until the energy issue is resolved at Pharaoh, we will have to save on everything. Replenishing provisions and ammunition is also difficult, even though each division was equipped with military replicators; they also require energy and quite a lot of it, which we obviously could not afford. Our task was to use the minimum available means to defend against the monstrous size of the swarm, numbering tens of millions of individuals. The General Staff had already even planned a plan to save available resources for the upcoming battles, but the Xorxes apparently turned out to be much smarter than we thought. Instead of constant mass attacks, they stopped the movement of their main forces beyond the range of our artillery fire, and also dispersed so that missile strikes could not inflict more than one-time damage on them in an area. If our aircraft continued to waste shells for strikes, we would simply be wasting our ammunition, that is, we would not be fulfilling the savings plan. The Xorxes seemed to have figured this out and began sending relatively small groups of tens of thousands of individuals to probe our first line of defense. Artillery batteries coped with their job with a bang, destroying huge flocks of the enemy with targeted destructive fire, but soon even they became useless. Subsequently, the Xorxes began to disperse their own flocks across the sands of the great desert, which is why we had to let the Xorxes closer, straight to the hastily erected defensive lines, and even call in aviation for targeted strikes. In the scientific complex, meanwhile, they continue to study the biology of these same Xorxes; the fifth division even delivered hundreds of living individuals to the base for their study, as a result of which very surprising and unpleasant information for us was revealed: Xorxes are not individual creatures, but are essentially a single gestalt - consciousness, collective intelligence, acting according to general unified instructions. Initially, it was believed that the Xorxes were driven by certain social instincts, but it turned out to be much worse. They had a strategic mind and planned to destroy us, considering us a threat to their own existence. Apparently, they are responsible for the destruction of absolutely every form of life in this area, subsequently turning it into a desert. Acceptable conditions for plant and animal life forms indicated that there was once developed flora and fauna here, at least I heard such thoughts and ideas from the general staff. And now, watching the approaching flock of tens of thousands of individuals, half of the F4 division, numbering 4,800 people, was preparing to repel the attack. Infantry fighting vehicles with large-caliber guns rode into position and were ready to open heavy fire on the enemy. Self-propelled mortar crews were ready to fire a salvo at any moment, just give them the coordinates, and they will do their job: turn these giant insects into charred pieces of flesh. What was happening now looked very much like a war, but was it really one? If this is so, then upon returning to Earth we will definitely be given the status of a combat veteran, and their pension is quite large. Well, knowing this, it¡¯s time to join the battle and protect yourself from the local aggressive life form. "As soon as they reach the minefields, fire when ready. Are orders clear?" "Yes sir." The chorus from the fighters of half the division gave me confidence in the success of repelling this attack, but should I have been so confident in this? Our enemy may not have our technology, but the Xorxes are far from being stupid creatures to just go ahead, which means they are clearly planning something to break through our defenses and even injure one of us. One of the rules of the officer code says: you cannot be completely confident of success, you need to be prepared for unexpected troubles. I always tried to adhere to this rule, but the current atmosphere seemed not so catastrophic, but rather upbeat and militantly patriotic. Apparently this is due to the fact that we perfectly understand our capabilities and do not expect problems from the enemy. This should be carefully avoided. After all, now is precisely the atmosphere when something unexpected can take us by surprise. "Five hundred meters!" I heard it in my earphone and looked through my thermal imaging binoculars. The enemy was rapidly approaching and would soon reach the minefields, and when this happened we would open fire on them from our firing points. We can do this now, but then the Xorxes will most likely run back and hide behind the dunes or cobblestones scattered across the desert. We couldn''t lose sight of any of them, otherwise problems were simply guaranteed. For our team, this was the first battle on this planet and the prospects of the current enemy attack wave were, to put it mildly, terrifying. We are fighting a hive mind with no support, no constant supplies, limited manpower, ammunition and ammunition, it was a clear cause for fear that few of us felt. I could see how many fighters¡¯ hands were shaking while they, looking out for the approaching Xorxes, held large-caliber rifles in their hands. It seemed to all of them that there simply wasn¡¯t enough ammunition to pierce the chitin of these creatures and to shoot each and every one of them on our way. All the fighters, like me, were afraid of death and it was damn normal! Fear gave us strength, the main thing was not to give in to it, but to use it. None of us will die here. "Four hundred meters!" repeated the observer. In the distance, through the noise of the wind, the first clap was heard, and the first flash appeared through the thermal imager. The huge creature stepped on a mine with its limb and caused a powerful explosion, losing most of its body, and then other Xorxes began to be blown up by mines one after another. The worst thing about watching these explosions is that the Xorxes, even after the death of the first hundreds of their relatives, were not going to retreat, but continued to rush forward as if they were expecting something like this. It was bad, very bad. Such an inexorable enemy that he attacks headlong and is much more dangerous than a cautious opponent. After all, the thought of a cautious enemy is much clearer to us, because he wants to survive, and the Xorxes only want to win. At this moment, the Poldiv fighters began to carry out the order they had received earlier, infantry fighting vehicles and mortars opened fire, points with large-caliber machine guns also began to chirp, showering the advancing insectoids with deadly shells. We relied on living fighters here and did not trust the turrets to open fire; it is unlikely that they could distinguish between living targets and flashes of explosions while the visual view was hidden by a sandstorm. The human eye can do a much better job of identifying targets, but this is now, and we still don¡¯t know what will happen later. What was happening now could not be described in any other way except as a firestorm, the enormous size of the Xorxes died like midges when their bodies were torn apart by hits from large-caliber shells, never reaching our positions. Nevertheless, there were many of them, and they tried to overwhelm us with numbers, rapidly using up our ammunition. By this time, we had already destroyed about thousands of them, but there were still a lot of them, and they continued to advance. These creatures were not going to stop for a moment and seemed to be about to reach our positions. To make matters worse, they did not intend to gather in heaps and attack us en masse, but acted like modern units, dispersing across the battlefield at a distance of tens of meters from each other. Only sometimes did they gather in heaps and fall under a missile strike, causing enormous damage over an area and killing them in dozens. The Xorxes continued to advance and had already passed half the minefield in front of our positions and it seemed that they had very little time left to engage us in close combat. "The call sign "Parrot" reports the complete consumption of ammunition. The withdrawal process has begun." "Accepted, "Parrot", Begin retreat." "Callsign ''Moro'' requests missile strike, cluster detected, eight hours from our positions." ¡°Callsign ¡°Violet¡± is receiving a request from the ¡°Moro¡± group. Rocket launch in 15 seconds. Can you hear that?¡± "Accepted. Waiting for launch." "¡­ ~shhh~¡­" The air was playing in the headphones, the fighters did not have enough ammunition to shoot insectoids, the fighters relied on the infantrymen, who had no choice but to help in the delivery of large-caliber shells. It is unlikely that simple units could help much in the current battle; without combat suits they cannot use heavy weapons and were content with only light weapons, which did not cause significant damage to these creatures. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "Two hundred meters!" The situation was starting to get out of control. We expected to shoot them all before they reached our positions, but they were getting closer and closer and were about to engage us in close combat, which we were guaranteed to lose. The Xorxes continued to attack in a dispersed manner, and I¡¯m afraid we have no choice but to do something that is economically unfeasible. I went online and gave the artillery batteries a clear order: ¡°Speaking Kalilul Mratin, I order all artillery batteries of half-division F4 to open fire, maximum distance 600 meters, close the flanks. The order to save is canceled. How do you hear?¡± "Order accepted, sir. Let''s begin the task." A few seconds later, booming thunderclaps sounded behind him, and flashes of massive rocket launches shone overhead. The artillery fired from all kinds of guns at the Xorxes who were about to start hand-to-hand combat with us. It¡¯s hard for me to imagine what losses we will suffer if they actually do this. Under no circumstances should we allow this to happen. A hail of fire rained down on the approaching Xorxes. Now I could no longer see anything in the thermal imager; everything disappeared in thousands of flashes in the distance. From now on, the fighters relied only on bioscanners; up close they worked better than ever, while at that time, through the sandstorm, we tried to see real hell in the flesh. Everything ahead was burning with hellish flames, and because of the sandstorm on top of that, it was incredibly difficult to see what was happening ahead. The nearest xorxes, who remained just under fifty meters, were soon shot down, while the rest evaporated under the blows of artillery fire. Soon the shooting died down; there was no one left to shoot in these fields of fire. I expected that the artillery would not be able to destroy them at once, but it seems that we were somewhat mistaken with their numbers and were able to destroy them all. The soldiers did not stand still and did not celebrate this insignificant victory and instead carried ammunition to vehicles and machine-gun points to repel the attack. At any moment the Xorxes could come again and by this moment we need to be prepared for anything. Meanwhile, I climbed back into the command vehicle and closed the hatch to see the general situation on the battlefield on the screens. "Report." I asked. ¡°There are no losses, the commanders of all artillery batteries are currently reporting on the state of reloading the guns, the next wave of Xorxes will reach us presumably in 6 hours.¡± "Damn wonderful!" I laughed and patted the driver on the shoulder. ¡°But don¡¯t relax, rotation is still a long way off.¡± It was an excellent job, but I¡¯m afraid that due to the frequency of battles, our half-div will soon simply quickly run out of steam, which we could not afford. After the next wave, you need to request a rotation from the commander of the 6th division, Janis Zayahvla. "Sir,... Lieutenant Colonel Janice Zayahvla wishes to contact us." Right on time. "Accept the request." I re-entered the airwaves and heard an angry female voice. "Idiots! Where are you?! What the hell is going on there?" A? What happened? I was perplexed by the furious cry of my colleague and immediately received the same furious answer. ¡°How did the Xorxes sneak past you?!¡± "What?" I was surprised, starting to be covered in drops of sweat a little from what I heard. "They bypassed our positions? How?" ¡°Why are you asking ¡°how¡±? I should have asked you!¡± I looked at the screen with the strategic map, not a single half-division had moved, and supposed groups of opponents continued to advance, not one could break through our positions and would not have been able to through these sands. Or maybe they... "Plans changed." I heard the calmer and more confident voice of Lieutenant Colonel Zayakhvla. ¡°Immediately retreat to the second line, with the entire division. Now the first division is already digging in there. Is the order clear?¡± "Yes, sir. I''m proceeding to execute the order." ¡°Fine. End of connection.¡± The Xorxes were able to break through our defense lines without us noticing, and I wondered how they were able to do this. One of the reports from the general headquarters stated that there was an extensive network of caves under the Ksor hives. This means that these insectoids could and can dig tunnels, and with their size and number they could do this very quickly. ¡°I order the entire half-division F4 to immediately prepare to retreat to the second line, immediately fold up and leave. I repeat, immediately...¡± I repeated my order several times, and the entire half-division quickly gathered and began to move, loading everything that we had previously pulled out into the vehicles. At the moment when half the division in full force was preparing for marching formation, the crackle of shots began to crackle outside, and then I heard a voice in the earpiece: "Alarm! Xorxes are crawling out of the ground!" Damn it! I cursed to myself as I saw more targets begin to appear on the bioscanner that were actually emerging from under the sand. They decided to attack us on the sly while we were in our most vulnerable position. Fortunately, the shooting of the Xorxes went flawlessly, the fighters did not relax for a moment and were ready to engage in battle at any moment. At least five points were noticed from where they decided to crawl out. As soon as a huge three-meter monster with a black shell and huge mandibles crawled out from under the sand, these positions were immediately showered with heavy fire. The yellow blood of the xorxes splashed in all directions, and the creatures themselves screamed disgustingly as the shells tore their thick limbs from them. While the vehicles were shooting insectoids, I received news that the full squad was ready to move to the second line, after which I gave the order: "Start moving!" Infantry fighting vehicles, trucks, self-propelled missiles and artillery began a scattered movement back to the east, simultaneously shooting behind the Xorxes, who could not keep up with us. At this moment I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. From the reports I learned that no one died, which made me happy, but what about the Xorxes that will be waiting for us ahead? I¡¯m sure those Xorxes have already been shot or the first division is already in the process of executing this order, and to find out, I probably contacted the headquarters of the 6th division. "This is Major Kalilul Mratin speaking. Half division F4 has begun its movement towards the second line of defense." "Accepted." I heard a voice in the earphone. "You better hurry, it''s going to get hot in your positions soon." "How hot is it?" I asked and received a very scary answer. "General Zeonid has ordered a series of tactical nuclear strikes." *** Spreading its wide wings in the clear cloudless sky, the drone hovered, looking with its camera for a huge ocean of insectoids, which seemed to be moving east in their mass like tidal waves. Broadcasting this monstrous horde onto the screens of the strategic headquarters of the 127th Army, General Zeonid examined the strategic map with the location of the opposing forces and listened to the reports of officers on the current state of affairs. The Xorxes dug under the positions of the first line of defense and immediately attacked the second, after which an order was received for half the divisions of the first line of defense to retreat closer to the Pharaoh, leaving these already meaningless positions to the opponents. Although the 127th Army did not suffer losses, it suffered a strategic defeat, leaving prepared positions to the enemy. The officers gave orders after analyzing the received reports from the locations of the troops. Right now, General Zeonid was observing a real breakthrough that only modern armies could be capable of, and not hordes of insectoids, which is what they eventually accomplished. The general admitted that he had made a miscalculation by not taking into account the Xorxes¡¯ ability to dig underground; from now on, this will now be taken into account in future planning. At this time, one of the drone operators reported that the device had reached its destination and was ready to complete the assigned combat mission. Everything was ready to begin with a squadron of drones dropping nuclear warheads with an activation timer on the insectoids. "Your orders, sir?" "Reset." "There is a Reset command. The first warhead has gone." Twenty drones began dropping nuclear warheads, and the devices themselves then turned in the sky back to the Pharaoh base. At this time, one of the drones was still in the visual radius of the explosion and could capture a nuclear strike on the horde of insectoids. The warheads themselves, having reached the required height, opened their parachutes, the explosions must occur in the air to cause maximum damage to the enemy, and only one will have to reach the surface to shake the bowels of the planet. Under the blue, peaceful sky, the first flash appeared, eclipsing the radiance of the parent star of this world, and then the second and third and many more, which seemed to notify this world of the beginning of the end of the world. Powerful bright explosions with shock waves of an expanding sphere swept away all insectoids that fell within the explosion radius, and the expanding fiery spheres, like man-made suns, devoured everything in their path, leaving behind only a scorched wasteland. General Zeonid''s gaze moved from the visual vision screen to the map, where the entire mass of advancing insectoids was displayed. The nuclear strikes were supposed to kill at least two million Xorxes, separating the first advancing wave from the rest of the swarm, and apparently they succeeded. At the site of a dozen explosions, dusty clouds remained forming black mushrooms, slowly dissolving in the sky, and the craters from the explosion sites were covered with cooling molten glass. There was no living space left of the Xorxes; nuclear strikes consumed everything they reached. The horde that followed the first wave stopped, not wanting to cross the glassy molten desert and also fearing being roasted alive. The other part of the swarm became disorganized, they began to rush from side to side and even attack each other. Now they looked more like wild animals than a single intelligent organism operating under a single command. On the screens one could see how the Xorxes, with their mandibles, tore the chitinous shells of their relatives or dug underground, hiding in the sands to escape the unbearable heat and radiation. Zeonid used his trump card on a primitive planet against a seemingly not particularly superior opponent in the level of development, but still he was forced to use nuclear weapons as soon as the situation got out of control. The warheads and launch vehicles themselves were disconnected from the ship''s torpedoes during the evacuation from the cruiser. According to Captain Arman, it was necessary to separate the nuclear warheads for their further use for production purposes. It seems that some warheads were used to develop a nuclear reactor and generate the required amount of energy, at least for the first time. However, Zeonid was not interested in this; he was glad that he had then given Captain Arman time to save the nuclear warheads. Otherwise, if the cruiser crashed, this planet would also face a nuclear disaster on a global scale. At the request of the command of the 127th Army, Captain Arman agreed to provide Zeonid with thirty warheads out of more than two thousand available in order to protect the Pharaoh base from the rapid breakthrough of the Xorxes. And although the general managed to protect the base from an intelligent collective swarm, he feared that the Xorxes, now knowing what trump card the people had in their hands, would try to do something else to destroy the people, and this scared the general doubly. This is my mistake. Zeonid blamed himself.I didn''t expect them to dig underground. If this had not happened, then we would not have to resort to such extreme measures. And although Zeonid was not satisfied with himself, other officers at the headquarters did not take their eyes off the screen, where the drone broadcast the consequences of nuclear strikes, left nuclear craters, raised clouds of dust, scorched glass vapor and the dying millions of insectoids exposed to radiation. Seeing what they were capable of in the face of this obstacle, they could not help but feel proud. They were lucky to be born human and survive with such destructive weapons. No one now even thinks that their saving trump card once upon a time destroyed the Earth for a long time, plunging the world under thick layers of nuclear ash. They didn''t care about that, but they were worried about something else: could they completely destroy the Xorsk by relying only on nuclear weapons, or would they have to look for another way to overcome the threat hanging over them? However, now this is not so important, because General Zeonid has already begun to observe the movement of the swarm on the screens and what he saw scared him madly. Not this. The Xorxes began a super-scale encirclement of the Pharaoh. Soon they will begin to attack the base from all directions. _________________________________________________ Reporting entry: ¡í17844 ________________________________________________ (temporary codename) [* - In the culture of the Catians, a tale arose about a strange entity called "Eus", which abducted young children and tested their body and spirit in its domain. The tested children returned as warriors, ready to stand up for themselves and their families. "Beria" in the language of the Phedrisians means land. This is where the name "Eusberia" comes from - the land of testing. It seems to me that this is what is happening to us now: a test of humanity.] ________________________________________________ Message: "The task was not an easy one. We need to form a circular line of defense and begin preparations for offensive actions on the beetles'' positions. Below is a map." ________________________________________________ Map: ________________________________________________ End of entries¡­ ________________________________________________ Chapter 41. New Era These were the last moments of his life. His breathing became heavier and heavier, and his thoughts became more and more vague and incoherent. The king did not believe it, he could not believe that he was going to die now. He clung to life so desperately that he lived longer than his allotted time, and on this day he turned a hundred years old. No one celebrated his last century of life; instead, everyone gathered in his chambers and watched with tears in their eyes the last breaths of the elderly Leff. He didn¡¯t believe it, he didn¡¯t want to believe it, the thirst for life flowed from him, and yet this was his end. No one knew what he was thinking, but everyone saw how Leff reluctantly closed his eyes and took the last breath of his life, and then his chest smoothly sank and never rose again. The doctor who held his cold palm lowered his head and said gloomily: "He''s dead." A brief moment of silence followed. The maids, the queen and some of the servants tried to comprehend this for a moment, and a moment later they burst into tears, wiping their tear-stained eyes with handkerchiefs. The men, in turn, only stood silently, trying to finally accept the idea of ????what had just happened. Death for them was not some kind of terrible and inevitable event, they were just all trying to realize that it was not just a person who died, but someone with whom they may have once talked, whom they listened to, who was simply considered unchanged in their lives, just seemed like someone who would be like this forever and would never leave this life, but he left and it came as a shock to them. It was as if an entire era had just died and the world around had been reborn and become different. From now on everything will be different, so they all thought. However, not even a few moments passed before one man¡¯s face darkened, became embittered, and he, proudly raising his head, gave a strict order: "Get everyone." " W-what?" The elderly Queen Benthia could not believe her ears, looking at her chief adviser with tears in her eyes. "What are you doing?!" Draun Rudrin did not answer, continuing to grin his face in a grimace of anger, and a moment later, guards dressed in black robes, covering their faces under hoods, ran into the bedroom. They grabbed all the servants and members of the royal family and tied their hands behind their backs, immobilizing anyone who kicked or tried to escape. Slakersh and Monrid, the princes of the kingdom, expected something like this, and therefore did not even resist. Monrid even grinned while his hands were tied behind his back, which is why the chief adviser, twisting his face in a grimace of anger, asked him: ¡°Your father didn¡¯t choose you as heir to the throne, do you think that¡¯s funny?¡± "You are going to war against your own kingdom, Draun Rudrin." Monrid said sarcastically while people in black robes escorted all the people from the bedroom into the dungeons. "You know you''ll regret this sooner or later." "I wouldn''t have to resort to this if it weren''t for your senseless cruelty. You are not worthy to rule the kingdom, Monrid, you are the worst of the entire royal family. I cannot allow the country to end up in your hands." "Another idiot." Monrid rolled his eyes, continuing to grin at the words of the chief adviser. ¡°It was important for you, as well as for your father, that the new king be a worthy person. This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I cannot be worthy of the title of king just because I am cruel, this is just ridiculous. And who is worthy of being one ? You? You¡¯re just a pathetic and spineless pig, a weak, ugly nonentity. You¡¯re no better than me, so why are you worthy, and suddenly I¡¯m not? ¡°Your father was wise, even if he thirsted for life more than anyone else, but he ruled the kingdom like a real king, fairly, proudly and impeccably, and what were you doing at that time? You bitch ate people, tore off arms and legs, drove people into dead ends and dismembered them there. The entire royal court turned a blind eye to this only because you are the son of the king. How many people died because of you alone, it''s mind boggling. This lawlessness will finally come to an end. And the people will be safe and the country will not. will be drowned in the blood of the cannibal king." Monrid just laughed at these words. ¡°And still I don¡¯t understand why I¡¯m not worthy? I¡¯m trained to rule the country, I¡¯ve been trained to do this since childhood. I know no less than you how to conduct royal affairs and lead armies. And you think that I¡¯m unworthy just because I love human flesh? Stupidity." ¡°The one who sees only food in his subordinates cannot become a king.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand what¡¯s so terrible about it.¡± Monrid expected something like this and carefully prepared for it. Until the royal family is fully assembled, Draun Rudrin will not lay a finger on the rest. When news of King Leff''s death spreads across the kingdom, Duke Fellrick will invade Lakuus and seize the throne, killing the entire royal family and all members of the royal council. Draun Rudrin was going to offer Fellrick the throne in exchange for his own safety, but with Princess Ilifreeta absent, Duke Fellrick will decide that the royal council is secretly plotting a rebellion against him. The fact of this spoils all the plans of the royal council. Princess Ilifreeta must be found and killed, and not just killed, but her head must be brought to Duke Fellrick as proof of her death. Only then will the deal between the royal council and Duke Fellrick be valid, but now the situation of the royal council and the royal family is equally deplorable. If Fellrick invaded Lakuus right now, the royal council would need the military support of the noble houses, which in turn were loyal to the royal family. This situation did not suit Draun Rudrin and his friends very much, which is why he ground his teeth as he left the bedroom where King Leff had just died. Looking at the cruel ogre, the chief adviser clenched his fists and walked up to the grinning first prince at arm''s length, and then said: "I don''t see anything funny here. We are in a terrible situation right now, and you understand it very well." "Hah~! That''s why I sent a messenger to my uncle. Let him convey the news of the death of this decrepit, stubborn idiot." The heavy fist of the chief adviser crashes into the face of the first prince, knocking out several teeth and drops of blood from his mouth. Monrid didn¡¯t seem to feel the blow and, with a bleeding, broken lip, looked angrily and arrogantly at Draun, not as an equal, but as a victim who had coveted the prey of a dangerous predator. ¡°You won¡¯t do anything to me. When uncle comes here, you¡¯ll both be doomed.¡± "aaaaaaaaaaaa~!" The chief adviser yelled angrily, breaking a table with utensils with a kick. He rushed from side to side intensely, on the verge of madness, thinking about how to confront the army of Duke Fellrick. "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU''VE DONE?!" "There will be war." Monrid laughed madly looking at the chief adviser. "Many... many people will die in it. You wanted to become a king, right? So behave like a king. Announce to the whole country that you are occupying the throne and pit everyone and everything against you. Oh, isn¡¯t that what you want? You don¡¯t now You can do this, but why? Because everything will be my way, and only one can be recognized as king... Give up, Draun, otherwise you will be finished." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "SURRENDER?!! TO ME?!! GO TO THE DEMONS, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!! EVEN IF THE ROYAL ARMY AND THE VASSAL ARMIES UNITE, WE STILL WILL NOT HAVE ANY CHANCE OF DEFEATING FELLRICK!!! IT''S ALL YOUR FAULT!!! YOU BASTARD! !!" Draun wanted to kill him right here and now, he was so angry that he was ready to take off and succumb to violent emotions. The Chief Advisor instead only kept his fist in the air, but restrained himself from hitting the First Prince. If he dies and news of this leaks outside the palace, the noble houses will rebel against the royal council. It will be even worse if the royal army fights the duke alone and in addition with the armies of noble houses. "DAMN YOU!" The man shouted angrily and left the bedroom, loudly stamping his boots in the corridor. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FU-U-U-U-U-UCK! Draun''s anger knew no bounds. If he doesn''t find a way to defeat Duke Fellrick without the help of the noble houses, he will die, and so will the entire royal council. Fellrick should not be his enemy, he should become his future overlord, the new king of Lakuus, but as long as the princess is alive and somewhere hidden from the eyes of the royal council, then there can be no talk of a deal. "I HATE YOU, ILIFREETA, YOU''RE GOING TO DIE!" *** This is not how I imagined the open world, or rather, I was not allowed to enjoy it to the fullest. That mercenary put me in a bag and if I made any sounds, she beat me, not hard, but she beat me. The cart drove somewhere for a long time, and from time to time the woman opened the bag and put some rubbish and some water from the flask into my mouth. She, along with the old man, constantly grumbled about how she did not like taking care of me and, frankly, it sounded very offensive, but not as offensive as from the palace maids who ¡°took care¡± of me. I did not expect kindness from my captors; I fully understood them, especially as a member of the royal family. If I had been born paralyzed among commoners, then I would have simply been abandoned and I would have died of hunger, but I was born a princess and they could not refuse me simply because I could become the wife of some aristocrat or receive ownership of some lands by right royal blood Luck or not, but thanks to this I am now alive and can continue to live, but without the ability to walk on my own two feet and fully enjoy life. It would have been enough for me to simply admire nature, but these kidnappers simply stuffed me into a bag and shut me up every time I made even the slightest sound. It was unpleasant and painful, I just wanted to kick on the spot out of anger at them, but I couldn¡¯t, because my whole body was practically dead and immobilized. "I see Itsqueen." The old man said, hitting the reins and causing the horse to neigh. "We''ll get there soon and we''ll be done with her." ¡°Finally, otherwise I¡¯m really tired of this work.¡± The mercenary grumbled in turn and at the same time warned me by lightly kicking the bag. ¡°If you make at least some sound, then death will not keep you waiting long.¡± I don''t care. I would like to answer her, but I left these thoughts to myself, knowing full well that she was not joking. I still have no future, I¡¯m doomed to be paralyzed for the rest of my life with little hope of one day getting back on my feet. I don¡¯t care whether you kill me or not, I¡¯m not afraid of you, and even more so I¡¯m not afraid of death. My words, which never came out of my mouth, would have seemed quite bold, but instead of voicing them, I obediently remained silent, as the mercenary ordered me. Even though she threatened me, her voice was not so hateful and frightening; rather, it was just a warning. It''s quite possible they could have problems if some people heard a girl''s voice from the bag, so I listened. At least she doesn''t mock me like those maids. After some time, I began to hear people¡¯s voices and the noise of various works, the clatter of hooves and much more. It looks like the cart reached this very city and was entering it through the city gates, and then I heard an unfamiliar male voice along with a metallic clang: "Stop. Pay the fare." "Okay-okay." The old man spoke, jingling his bag of coins. "What''s the fare?" ¡°One piece of silver... and what¡¯s in the bag?¡± "Did you say ten pieces of silver?" The old man shook the bag. "Here you go." "Hmm... well... move on. Next one!" Soon after this, the carriage moved again and apparently ended up in the city, judging by the increased noise of the streets. While the cart was traveling, I heard a lot of conversations, some people were selling something, others were arguing among themselves, others were discussing some rumors, and some were even fighting. I was so curious to look at all this, but it¡¯s a pity I couldn¡¯t see it and had to be content with the shaking of the cart and the sounds of squelching in the mud. "I''ll stop here." The old man said and stopped the cart. ¡°I hope I won¡¯t get this kind of work again. I won¡¯t be able to spend ten pieces of silver every time. Next time, look for something less dark, Agnes.¡± "Certainly." The mercenary said wearily and suddenly lifted the bag with me. ¡°It¡¯s time to deliver you to the customer, and you old man wait here for now.¡± ¡°Get more gold from her. I want to go to the tavern, they serve delicious food and booze.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll go with you, I¡¯m also interested in what kind of tavern this is. Well, that¡¯s it, I¡¯ll go then.¡± The mercenary, having adjusted the bag on her shoulder, began to walk somewhere and apparently she was going to a very remote place, since the voices of the people here were rather muffled. That¡¯s why I sensed an opportunity and asked her: "Your name is Agnes? Listen, tell me, what''s going on? Why did you kidnap me?" "Shut up, girl." The mercenary tsked. "I''ll shut up if you say..." She slapped my ass. "Ai~!" ¡°We¡¯ll be done with you soon, so you¡¯d better be quiet, otherwise your ass will burn from my spanks, and you already know how painful I can hit.¡± You can¡¯t argue with her, it really hurt and I didn¡¯t want to experience this pain and yet... "Just say that... *slap*... AHH~!!!" ¡°What a fool you are, you don¡¯t understand anything. Just shut up and that¡¯s it.¡± "But you won''t kill me." ¡°That¡¯s right, I won¡¯t kill you, but the customer didn¡¯t specify in what form he needs you. So if right now, you bitch, you don¡¯t shut up, then I won¡¯t leave a living space behind you.¡± And I fell silent. Agnes wanted to complete her work as quickly as possible, and I, in turn, was interested in finding out who the man was who decided to kidnap the princess of the kingdom. I¡¯m useless and besides the fact that I don¡¯t know how to read books. I¡¯m unlikely to become a slave, it¡¯s more likely that they just want to kill me. So why should I be afraid since I¡¯m going to die anyway? Is anyone going to worry about me? There are no such people in this world... never have been. And there never will be. "Then kill me." The mercenary just grinned at my words. ¡°No-no-no. If I do this, I won¡¯t get the money. The Count needs you alive.¡± "Count? Who are you talking about?" "You''ll soon find out about everything yourself." Soon she stopped, and I again heard a man¡¯s voice, and with it the clanging of metal. Apparently, the mercenary was surrounded by several guards, after which I heard a stern reprimand: "Stop! This is the territory of the castle, entry is prohibited." "?Kishyik Mist?." The mercenary said, after which the man¡¯s tone changed from rude to more docile and calm. "So you''re one of these? Follow me." She went somewhere again, apparently to the castle judging by how it became even darker in the bag and the sounds of distant echoes of footsteps on the stone. After some time, the mercenary put the bag with me on the floor and opened it, making me close my eyes from the bright light of the torch that one of the guards was holding in his hands. I lay immobilized on my back and looked up and could only turn my head in different directions. And judging by what I saw, I was in some kind of dark, damp stone room, more reminiscent of some kind of dungeon. There were five men and a mature red-haired mercenary herself, dressed in leather armor. Among the men, one stood out, dressed in the golden attire of an aristocrat, he had a curled thin mustache and a curious gaze directed in my direction. "Here she is." Said Agnes standing next to me. "This is the same princess I rescued." ¡°Is this really her and not some peasant woman?¡± The guard said, but then the man in aristocratic attire said the following: "Golden hair, mint green eyes, paralyzed from the head down. It''s unlikely that the description will lie. This is really her, Princess Ilifreeta in person." The man said with a slight smile and squatted down above me. ¡°You are that useless princess, right? There are bad rumors about you, but you don¡¯t have to worry, because within the walls of this castle no one else will know about your existence. No one, not even the royal council.¡± "Ahem-ahem~¡­ money." The mercenary cleared her throat, to which in response the count twitched and gave an extremely indifferent and cruel order: "Clear." The next moment, a terrible thing happened before my eyes: a splash of blood, a painful female groan, and the bloody tip of a spear protruding from the mercenary¡¯s chest. After this, the guard, with a disgusting sound, pulls out the tip of the spear, and the groaning Agnes falls with her whole body onto the stone floor. She was breathing heavily, moaning in pain and bleeding. The room was filled with the smell of blood, and seeing, hearing and feeling all this, I was filled with fear. I could barely comprehend it, I was too frivolous, and I really didn¡¯t expect such an outcome. For the first time in my life I saw a real murder and someone''s death. I turned my neck towards Agnes; she was lying sideways on the floor, holding her chest with a trembling hand, from which dark scarlet blood was flowing. Her skin was literally turning pale before her eyes, life was leaving her, she was in pain. I just can¡¯t believe that I saw real death, and not just death, but the death of a person with whom I recently talked, with whom I spent several days in the same cart, listening to her grumbling and light soothing blows on the bag. She was dying and this made me both incredibly sad and very scared. Wha¡­ what? I didn¡¯t believe it until streams of tears flowed from my eyes. For a while Agnes shook slightly and turned pale, but soon she closed her eyes and fell into eternal sleep forever. She did not move again, she would never speak or rise again. She is no more, all that is left of her is this dead body. Her soul now belongs to Sod. "Ag-nes" I said in a trembling voice, I can no longer see her dead and turned away from her lifeless cold body. "We will take care of you, Princess Ilifreeta." The man said with a grin on his face standing over Agnes¡¯ body. "Just like they took care of her." M-mom¡­ Chapter 42. Blood on the doorstep (part 1) While Count Laroy was waiting for an answer from the capital, we lived in the castle for a whole week and all this time we tried to occupy ourselves with what we could. During this time, we were settled in the chambers of the castle, but from time to time we still gathered in the barracks where we were first settled in order to resolve some issues. Granid asked the Count for the right to leave the castle, after which we began to often go for walks, but continued to remain vigilant, always carrying weapons. All week, Hippolytus and I studied the Lakuus language while listening to lectures from Incartia. Thanks to the ring of Babylon, it was quickly possible to avoid misunderstandings in some aspects of learning this new language, however, the learning process was quite productive and the result was obvious. The Lakuus language itself was complex, it had so-called generic verbs and even generic numbering, almost every word had its own characteristics and because of this this language seemed too complex for us. It must have been strange for Lakuusians to hear us refer to them and each other in a gender-neutral manner, but that is the structure of our English language. We started learning a new language from the simplest things, with ?I?, ?you?, ?he?, ?she?, ?yes?, ?no?, ?hello ?, ?bye? and so on and so forth. Further, the complexity of the study gradually increased, and we began to study not only pronouns, but also directions, tenses, concepts, adjectives, prepositions and simple phrases. The most difficult part of the Lakuus language is the attempt to pronounce a number of new sounds that were unusual for the human earthly language to pronounce, at least for my language, it was very difficult. "Ehkra¡­eh-kra. Right?" Incartia sighed sadly, hearing how I couldn''t pronounce one specific sound correctly, which is why I always pronounced entire words incorrectly. "Ekhrra." "Ehkra... ah~!" My stupid attempts to pronounce this incomprehensible word infuriated Incartia so much that she hit me on the head with her palm, however, it did not hurt me. She, obviously, like any ordinary teacher, was unhappy that she could not teach her student, so she lost her temper, attacking the students almost with her fists. ¡°Why can¡¯t you pronounce such a simple word?!¡± The young sorceress was angry, and in time she put a ring with the Babylon spell on my finger. "What''s wrong with saying ?Hello??" "It''s hard to pronounce." I answered, stroking my ¡°sore¡± forehead with my palm, where the young sorceress hit me. Incartia, in turn, shook her head in displeasure. ¡°This is not true! Everyone can pronounce it, but you can¡¯t!¡± "Can everyone say it?" I turned towards the platoon and saw how all the soldiers, one after another, repeated this greeting, not ideally, of course, but they did it as needed. Ehkrra Just like Incartia said. However, I could not pronounce this word normally, even though it was considered almost the most basic in the Lakuusians language. Princess Niana, who also studied the Lakuus language, decided to help me in this matter. She was able to learn a new language much easier than me, apparently she and her friends were helped a lot by English lessons from Itami, or maybe her native origin and perhaps some similarity between the languages ??of Hippolytus and Lakuusians helps her in learning a new language. "Your language does not have the sound ?Hk?. Said Niana. ¡°Try to pronounce it separately first, like this.¡± "F¡­ f¡­ sh¡­ damn!" I never managed to pronounce this strange sound on which most words in the Lakuus language are based. It seems that I won¡¯t be able to learn a new language without the ring with the spell of Babylon, however, I noticed this problem back at the Academy of Natural Sciences on Earth, when I was trying to learn Latin. "I need practice." "Listen." Incartia nodded wearily, returning to our lessons. "So where are we?" Suddenly, at that moment, the count''s servant entered the barracks and made a warning cough, diverting our attention from the lesson on learning the Lakuus language. Apparently, the king¡¯s answer to our proposal finally came when a servant from the count himself showed up. "Sorry for disturbing your studies." Said a man in a black jacket and turned to me, recognizing me as the leader of the group, despite the fact that Granid was here. "Mr. Boris, excuse us, but the king was unable to respond to your proposal." Hearing his words, I wilted a little and at the same time decided to ask: ¡°This is of course sad, but can I find out what the reason is?¡± "Yes." The servant nodded. ¡°His Majesty passed away from this world three days ago to the garden of the great Sod. Only now has a messenger arrived with a message about the death of His Majesty. The letter with your proposal is still on His Majesty¡¯s desk, and it will be considered by the future king of the kingdom of Lakuus.¡± It was unpleasant to hear that we had lost a whole week waiting for an answer from the capital and instead received news of the death of the king. Do we have to wait again? This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "My condolences." I answered sincerely about the death of the king and added: ¡°About the proposal: we can wait another week, but if there is no answer, then we will go to the capital ourselves.¡± "I will convey your words to my master. The count''s servant said and turned around to leave the barracks. "I hope you have a good time." "Thank you the same." After this, the count¡¯s servant left the barracks, and with a sad face I turned towards the platoon soldiers, reporting the unpleasant news: ¡°Well, you¡¯ve heard it all already. The king is dead and we¡¯ll have to wait a little longer.¡± "We''ll die of boredom here." Will sighed irritably, clearly tired of learning the Lakuus language. ¡°And I have no desire to walk around this city at all, the castle looks much better.¡± Indeed, the city looks inhospitable and, based on Granid¡¯s words, it used to be much better here than now. Another question was what to do with ourselves all this time. If we knew the language of Lakuus, we would ask the count for permission to enter the library to study the geography, history and politics of this world, but unfortunately for us, the capabilities of the Babylon spell ring are limited, and they do not allow us to read words in the native language. Apparently ?singing of the soul? are just thoughts, and not some kind of reproduction of the senses of hearing and vision, at least that¡¯s what Fred thought out loud when he learned that the ring does not allow us to read the Lakuus language. Another thing is Granid, he seemed seriously concerned about the fact that his spell on our rings was not working correctly and from time to time asked us to give the rings to him for correction. Honestly, I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s trying so hard, I don¡¯t think he just wants to help us. Perhaps he has some goals of his own that he is not going to reveal to us yet, I cannot say for sure, and if I try to ask him directly, he will simply ignore me. In short, Granid is a complex person with his own goals that are unknown to us, but if he wanted to harm us, he would have done it at our first meeting. Another issue was replenishing ammunition for our weapons. We only have enough ammunition left for one battle, after which our assault rifles, pistols and machine guns will become absolutely useless pieces of scrap metal. I don¡¯t think that in this kingdom there is a high-tech workshop for the production of ten-caliber shells and an advanced chemical laboratory for the synthesis of the necessary chemical elements for these same cartridges. This is a problem for us. The structure of projectiles is complex and it is almost impossible to recreate them manually; moreover, it is necessary to use special materials that will be strong enough to withstand high flight speeds and fragile enough to burst after hitting the target. In this regard, we turned to Granid, who, with the help of a strange spell, was able to literally duplicate the projectile. I saw how, as if from a watery haze, an exact copy of the cartridge appeared on the table and I thought that we were finally able to find a way to replenish our ammunition, when Granid upset us by informing us that this spell was too demanding of his powers. However, we were able to get some way to replenish ammunition, even if the old wizard could duplicate only 50 rounds per day. Separate from everyone else were the adventurers: Camellia, Ashwani and Furgur. They were only with us because they were generously paid by Incartia and were still on a mission to go to the so-called dark ruins. It seems they were referring to our shuttle, which crashed in the rainy jungle and was destroyed by us after an attack by the Antigonians. I immediately told them that there was nothing more to do there, but they still continued to follow the sorceress only because they were paid. Strange people. I thought, especially looking at Camellia. She was so timid and at the same time inquisitive as if she were not sixteen years old, but ten. I don''t know why, but she found a common language with Lecite, a simple civilian who was an orbital technician and from time to time kept up a conversation with her on some various topics. The essence of their conversations was unknown to me, however, this was not so important, because it seemed that their communication concerned only the two of them. Even Incartia could not find out more about what they were talking about, because Camellia''s answers were rather awkward and shy, and Lecite did not particularly show confidence in the natives. I really didn''t understand how these two could get along. The most inexplicable and incomprehensible thing happened to Ashwani. I don¡¯t know what exactly happened; this question has worried us until now. The first person to perish on this planet after the crash suddenly found himself among the natives, but with a completely different personality and a younger body. When we shared with everyone about who he was, all the natives were quite surprised, as was Ashwani himself. He continued to claim that he was a simple adventurer from the common people, but we did not believe in such coincidences. Something strange happened to him and until we find the real Ashwani, we will not get out of here. Moreover, the nature of the erased personality of Ashwani from our memory and even from the digital memory of the shuttle¡¯s on-board computer is still unclear, because mentions of him were also erased there. He was literally removed from reality and was remembered only by those who were next to him at the time of his disappearance. If we had not been next to him then, we would never have paid attention to this native. That strange tree that swallowed our fighter, what is it? Is this someone''s strange trap or some kind of natural anomaly? We don¡¯t know this and are unlikely to find out soon. This planet holds so many secrets, which makes me feel uneasy. Just thinking about it, I truly felt the transcendental horror enveloping my entire being. People have always been and will be scared by the unknown, along with ignorance of this or that phenomenon. Until we can find answers to our questions, we will continue to be afraid of everything and everyone on this planet, which means many will die because of our fear of the unknown. We cannot exclude the possibility that all the natives around us are our potential victims. So, continuing to study the Lakuus language, Granid and I were invited after classes to the next count''s dinner, where they prepared a luxurious table for us with all kinds of dishes, as always. This time, not only the count¡¯s family was sitting at the table, but also some other representatives of the high society of this country, but compared to the count, they were dressed much more modestly and were discussing something separately from everyone else. They didn¡¯t even pay attention to us when we entered the dining room, and only after we sat down at the table next to the count¡¯s family did they fix their gaze on us and whisper among themselves, clearly asking why we were so close to the head of this cities. However, neither Granid nor the count himself paid attention to this and continued their meal as if nothing had happened. As always, I sat next to the count¡¯s daughter, whose name was Diana, and this time she was dressed in a lighter and more open light dress, which raised some questions in me, because it was quite cool in the hall and I sincerely did not understand why there was such openness. She seemed to notice my gaze directed at her and asked me a question in a slightly angry voice: "Do you care what I look like?" "To be honest, yes." I answered and immediately became interested. "Aren''t you cold?" The girl shook her head and with a blush on her face, squeezing and hiding her hands under the table, answered: ¡°No. My father orders me to dress in front of everyone so that the guests do not think that I am supposedly a spoiled aristocrat. I am a noble person and must live up to my status as a count princess.¡± It was interesting to hear this from her. It turns out that her father forces her to dress not at his discretion, but at his request. It seems that appearance plays a significant role here and therefore it seems that only the count himself with his daughter and wife look richest here. Even I, dressed in a camouflage jacket, don¡¯t look so colorful, but I still stand out. "I suddenly became interested." I decided to ask a question. ¡°Recently, a king died in your country and, probably, another person will soon become king, am I right?¡± Diana just smiled at my question, as if I reminded her of a happy moment in her life. ¡°Yes, you are right. According to the law of the kingdom, the new king should be the son of the late King Leff, Prince Monrid. He is a very handsome man, muscular, serious and very confident. He is famous throughout the country and high hopes are placed on him. And as far as I remember you are waiting for an answer from His Majesty, is that so?¡± "Yes." I nodded, answering the question, and Diana then continued: "You will have to wait a long time..." Chapter 43. Blood on the doorstep (part 2) "Royal business will be put on hold for a while." Meanwhile, Princess Diana was talking contentedly while I was sitting next to her during the evening meal. First of all, a ceremonial coronation will take place in the palace, where all the royal nobility will be invited, and then a candidate¡¯s ball will be held, where the king will meet his potential wives. By order of my father, I will be obliged to appear there and try to win the favor of His Majesty. ¡°I figured it out for a long time.¡± I sighed in disappointment and asked at the same time. ¡°In your country, power is inherited, as I understand it, this is a monarchical form of government?¡± Diana''s gaze became a little questioning. ¡°Yes, it is. Are you so surprised?¡± "Yes. In the past, my home country was also once ruled by kings, but the monarchy was replaced by a republic, where the people directly chose their head of state." Hearing my words, the count himself suddenly intervened in the conversation. ¡°The people choose a king for themselves... what stupidity. It¡¯s like a herd of pigs choosing a shepherd, but among whom, among their own herd? This is even worse. Everyone knows that the whole callous family wants to become a king, but the right to lead the whole people The kingdom is sacred and should not be subject to such stupid changes like ¡°elections.¡± From here I want to ask you, between whom and who are you choosing candidates for kings? Are they playing a game of who will climb the pillar and take the throne? " I would answer this question honestly, but I¡¯m afraid my words will seem very pretentious to them. What I am saying now is essentially an active intervention in the life of a primitive civilization, because I am explaining to them the principle of functioning of a republic with a democratic structure, which they may simply not understand. So what should I do? Still, I decided not to hesitate and tell it like it is, leaving out some details: ¡°To be honest, I can¡¯t say this. I can only say that the term of office of the head of state is up to ten years. The candidate must provide the people with a plan for the development of the state, and also be over forty years old, and of course, the candidate for the role of head of state must speak at the debate before his opponents and convince the people of the correctness of his point of view on the world, his role and the role of the state in the world, and also show that his path of development is more correct and logical, without being simple populist slogans." The looks of everyone present were directed at me, it seemed that I had said too much, which is why they all had their mouths wide open. I probably should have simplified my explanation about the presidential election much more, and I¡¯m only now realizing what the hell I did. ¡°Everything is much more complicated with you.¡± The count answered me, sipping a drink from a mug. ¡°Apparently your people distrust the lordship so much that they allowed illiterate, dirty commoners to choose their king.¡± Almost everyone at the table laughed at these words except me and Granid. To be honest, I didn¡¯t find anything funny in these words, because what the count said was essentially an insult to his own people. On Earth, this would be difficult to imagine, because every word of this or that politician that came to the ears or public would sharply provoke a reaction from public opinion. That¡¯s why politicians are such boring guys, whose words always make you want only one thing: to sleep. "This is how we live." I shook my shoulders and asked Diana a question. "I''m interested in learning about the Lakuus royal family, if I may." ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll be happy to tell you about it.¡± Diana answered with a smile on her face and began to explain. "Ahem-ahem~... the deceased king''s name was Leff, he was a wise ruler of our country and on the day of his death he reached the century of his life. I never saw him with my own eyes, but among the nobility and common people he was dearly loved and respected. His beautiful Queen Benthia''s wife, even in her mature years, retains her unprecedented beauty and caring maternal charm. She is quite modest, pious and especially emphasizes her love for her children. They say that Queen Benthia was the conscience of the king, the angel of the people, allowing His Majesty to have mercy on the guilty subject." "If the king had a wife, why didn''t she take on the role of head of state?" I became curious and the count himself answered this question. "The Queen only assumes the duties of regent if the Crown Prince is a minor." "What if the king doesn''t have a crown prince?" "Then the new king is chosen by the royal council." ¡°Thank you, now everything is much clearer to me.¡± I answered the Count and asked Diana to continue. "So where are we?" "Ah, I wanted to talk about the princes and the princess. Do you want me to talk about them?" Diana asked me a question, and I nodded in agreement, after which the count¡¯s daughter began to tell me about the children of the former king. ¡°The eldest son of the late king, Crown Prince Monrid, I talked about him, but I forgot to mention that he has not yet been chosen a betrothed and therefore the choice of a wife for the crown prince is a matter of urgent importance. The king must have a queen and maybe I will be lucky enough to become one.¡± Well... good luck. I mentally answered her while continuing to listen to her story. ¡°It¡¯s another matter for the second prince Slakersh, I wouldn¡¯t like to belittle the beauty of His Majesty, but his younger brother is very handsome and charming. They say that he has already found his betrothed, but he doesn¡¯t dare reveal who she is. Well, the youngest prince Fgorman is already showing A tremendous talent for scientific affairs and an impeccable future for him as one of the greatest minds of our kingdom." "What about the princess?" The mention of her abruptly extinguished Diana¡¯s interest in continuing the conversation, but she still told me about her, albeit sitting from that moment on with a dissatisfied expression on her face. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Among all the members of the royal family, this is the most stupid and ugliest princess. Her name is Ilifreeta and she is a disgrace to the entire royal family, if not the entire kingdom. Arrogant, greedy, impudent and very closed. She spends her days sitting in her bedroom reading useless romance novels "She spends so much money from the treasury on dresses and expensive jewelry that they are talking about the fact that because of this they are going to deprive her of any inheritance." "There''s always a black sheep in every family." The count added on his own behalf after unflattering words about the princess of the kingdom. I immediately remember Niana, who in turn led her people into a dangerous unknown forest to escape from the Antigonians and who did everything possible to save her country, but ultimately only follows us in the hope of getting help from us. However, so far we ourselves have not If support is provided, then the release of Hippolytus is out of the question, which is why it is so important for us to meet with the king and negotiate a right of passage in exchange for military support. ¡°It¡¯s fortunate that in your kingdom the country is ruled by worthy people, but we are a little unlucky.¡± I said, taking a sip of a little sweet drink from a mug. "Who rules your kingdom?" The count asked, to which I could only smile slightly. Should I tell them this or not? I thought about it and decided to share this information with him. ¡°We have not a kingdom, but a republic, and the country is ruled not by a king, but by a president, and he or she does not have such high powers to do whatever he wants. If the president is found violating the laws of the republic, then he will simply be removed from office and the state will hold new elections." "?Republic? ¡­" The Count thought aloud. ¡°Are you by any chance from the central trading republic of Urbaval? I actually heard that the country is not ruled by a ¡°president¡±, but by a council of seven high trading houses.¡± "No. This is the first time I''ve heard about this country." I answered honestly and made the count think about something else. ¡°I see. I suddenly became curious to know whether in your ?Republic? they will create false accusations against the president in order to remove him from the throne?¡± Indeed, earlier one could often observe how one president after another was overthrown in the Republic for corruption, the creation of private military companies, support for separatism and much more, but now this is not commonplace due to the fact that the mechanism for conducting the impeachment process has become quite complex, requiring not only the attention of the entire society, but also all government bodies. I couldn¡¯t explain this normally simply because I¡¯m not a politician and didn¡¯t understand this process. "Such allegations require careful consideration and investigation. If the Supreme Court does not confirm that the president has violated the laws, then the process of removing the president from office is closed." I explained as simply as possible, making the representatives of the upper class think, and at that moment I turned my head to Diana, who, to my surprise, listened to me with great interest. ¡°Even though we are just guests in your country, we hope for fruitful cooperation. The Republic will provide any military support for the right of passage.¡± Suddenly the count remembered something and decided to ask me about it: ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you about this last time, but I want to know how many soldiers the Republic is willing to provide to protect our kingdom?¡± ¡°It is unlikely that the republic will send the entire army here, but it will be ready to provide a small contingent of ten thousand soldiers.¡± "TEN THOUSAND?!" Almost everyone at the table jumped up screaming, and I, a little frightened by their reaction, sat with my mouth open and did not immediately understand what shocked them so much. Ten thousand is such a big number for them? Don''t they have an army like that? Holy shit! I said too much! Boris, who the hell made you say that?! I mentally kicked myself over the head for being so stupid. Everyone calmed down a little and sat down in their places, even the count was a little surprised by my words and asked me in a calmer manner: ¡°Ten thousand soldiers is a ?small contingent? for you? And will you be ready to provide us with such support?¡± "As needed." I tried to avoid the question, knowing full well that most likely he would now do everything possible to get ten thousand soldiers into his hands. However, the count¡¯s gaze darted towards the old wizard, who, in turn, sat at the table with a gloomy expression on his face and carefully absorbed the dishes in silence, without interfering in the conversation, after which the count whispered quietly: "Now I understand what your strength is." A slight smile did not leave his face, after which he took a sip of the drink from the mug and snapped his fingers. A servant ran up to him and bowed his head, after which the count whispered something to this man and, having finished listening to the instructions, the servant nodded and ran out of the hall. The Count, in turn, chuckled and adjusted himself in his seat and with a smile on his face told me: "His Majesty will give you an answer tomorrow." Hearing this, I could only sit with my mouth open. Tomorrow already? I was surprised and it seems that my thoughtless words about ten thousand played a decisive role in speeding up our negotiations, which I was somewhat happy about. Meanwhile, the meal continued and the Count turned to Granid while he was gobbling up the chicken: "Have you changed your mind about helping us yet?" ¡°Aarh~¡­¡± The old wizard sighed tiredly and with irritation in his head, swallowing the meat in his mouth and answered with dissatisfaction. "I have no intention of returning to the royal court. Don''t even try to convince me otherwise." "Your friends are willing to provide us with an incredibly large army to help us, and you can''t just cast a couple of spells?" "You don''t know anything about magic to talk about it like that." "Oh really?" The count grinned and raised his index finger up, after which a fire lit above him as if some kind of match was burning. ¡°By the way, I am a magician of the second rank and I know perfectly well what free wizards like you are capable of. After all, all you have to do is cast one spell and one army will fall on its face, and then cast a second spell and then the second will fall. You are capable of doing something like this, not like to me." ¡°In that case, do your own magic, and don¡¯t drag me into your games.¡± "Okay, I got you." The count said and threw a malicious look at me. "What if I provide a condition?" Granid''s gaze suddenly became questioning. "What are you talking about?" ¡°Yes, I mean that without your participation I will not accept help from representatives of the Republic and, accordingly, the right of passage too.¡± "You are not a king to decide this." ¡°But I can offer this to the king.¡± Hearing these words, Granid tutted, his expression becoming more embittered, and his decrepit palms clenched into fists. "A lot of people could die because of your decision." "You, dear Granid, will be the culprit of their death." What''s happening? I didn¡¯t understand, watching the squabble between these two people. From what I saw, it can be understood that the count was blackmailing: either Granid is also helping the kingdom or the kingdom does not enter into an agreement with us at all. It seems that it was important to Granid that we still help this kingdom, but without his direct intervention, but representatives of the aristocracy of this kingdom still demanded his support. This begs the question: what does Granid really want? "Then we will not make a contract." I suddenly intervened, trying to defuse the situation, and all heads turned in my direction. "What?" The count asked, to which I replied with a calm expression: ¡°We can calmly break through your lands in battle. This agreement on the right of passage and military assistance will only be needed by you in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices. If you do not conclude an agreement with us, then we will pass through your lands without your knowledge, and if someone- he will try to stop us, then he will immediately fall, bleeding." "Boris," The count addressed me with a low, gloomy tone in his voice. ¡°Do you understand that you are threatening me while sitting at my table? Your people are now in the castle and at any moment we can kill you, you know that?¡± "Yes." I also nodded calmly. ¡°Do you know that the Republic is very vindictive and these ten thousand will be ready to wipe out the kingdom of Lakuus from the face of the earth if they find out about our death?¡± ¡°So your offer was an ultimatum all this time?¡± asked the count, laughing a little at my bluff. ¡°Okay, I understand you. Let it be as we initially agreed.¡± Seriously? I was surprised. Did he give in? Did he believe my obvious bluff? I calmed down a little after hearing this, because it meant that the situation had finally been resolved and I could calmly breathe a sigh of relief. I noticed Granid''s gaze directed in my direction and apparently he was very grateful to my aggressive intervention in this conversation, otherwise he would have been put in an uncomfortable position. Despite the tension, dinner continued as usual and after it we returned to our quarters. Personally, I got a very cozy room with a high ceiling and a single window in the entire room. It was quite well maintained here, even if it was quite cool at night. I took my things from the room and headed to the barracks, where we all usually gathered to continue our lesson in learning the Lakuus language with Incartia, and the next day we finally received a letter from the royal capital. The right of way proposal was rejected. Chapter 44. Blood on the doorstep (part 3) Currently, it was night, and we, being in the barracks, sat with weapons in our hands, ready to engage in battle at any moment. Judging by the bioscan of the surrounding area, we were carefully guarded. At the exit from the barracks there were guards and entire squads were waiting in the wings in other rooms. We are now in the enemy¡¯s lair and must by any means get out of this castle and this city, but before we decided on such a bloody act, I asked Granid what we could do now, to which I received a very comforting answer from the old wizard: "I wish you wouldn''t kill anyone." ¡°Of course, I understand you perfectly, but how do we get out of the castle?¡± "There''s no need to rush into this." Granid calmed us down. "You don''t have to do that. We can still go to the capital and ask the young king for permission to pass in exchange for your help." ¡°And the fact that we are already on the territory of the kingdom is no longer a problem?¡± ¡°I accompany you, you follow me, which means you are my companions, guests in this kingdom and can walk through the lands of Lakuus as long as I allow.¡± In response, I wanted to ask why it was necessary to offer a deal with the king of this country, but then I remembered that it was Granid¡¯s idea, it was he who said ¡°save this country.¡± He wanted us to provide assistance to the kingdom, that is, he knew that this kingdom was in danger from the Empire and therefore made such an offer to us. Neither the king, nor the count, nor anyone else except Granid himself proposed this idea, which means it was strictly his initiative, his idea to use us to protect this country. He is clearly hiding something from us, but for some reason he doesn¡¯t say what exactly. "Granid, do I understand correctly that we are now dealing with you when it comes to the deal?" Hearing this, the old wizard¡¯s face darkened even more than before. It seems that he understood that I had guessed something and did not hide it. "Yes. Until His Majesty desires your help, then I will ask for your help. By my right you will walk on the lands of the kingdom, and you swear to protect this people from future misfortunes." What other misfortunes? I was about to ask, but then Will intervened. "Then why did we even come to this castle?" I decided to answer this question instead of Granid: ¡°It would be better if we could make a deal with the kingdom and receive specific instructions to provide military assistance. By working together with the royal army, we could achieve better coordination and we could work together to effectively operate the units, but now we are like mercenaries subordinate to Granid, who are committed to holding up their end of the deal." Hearing this answer, Forn decided to insert his word: "But the laws of the Republic prohibit military personnel from engaging in mercenary activities. A deal with representatives of local governments would add legitimacy to us to conduct military operations, but a deal with a specific individual would simply mean nothing." ¡°So you can¡¯t do that?¡± Granid asked me and I, recognizing Forn¡¯s words, sighed heavily and shook my head, confirming the Martian¡¯s words. ¡°We can¡¯t. I¡¯m sorry, but our command will not allow us to send part of the army to defend this country for some kind of deal. If we agreed with government officials, then this would have weight in the eyes of the command, because in this case it would be considered part of diplomatic negotiations, but no one will send an army just like that. If we did come to an agreement with the king, this would open up the opportunity for further negotiations." I can already imagine a picture where General Zeonid and the gray-bearded king dressed in aristocratic attire meet, shaking hands and opening the airport through which supplies, food and trade are carried out. Since we have limited resources, General Zeonid would probably agree to trade resources in exchange for military support. This picture would look very funny, but alas, it will now be difficult to imagine. Of course, the king rejected our offer of help, because he could have considered our help insufficient or simply did not believe that we could send ten thousand soldiers here, although we could have sent the entire division. Or maybe the king was confident that with the available forces he was able to resist both the Empire and that same duchy, or maybe he did not receive letters from the count at all. I don¡¯t know exactly the reason for the refusal, but since we could not conclude a deal with the state, it means we cannot help this state in any way. And with all this, we have already violated enough of the laws of the Republic regarding the first contacts and contacts with primitive civilizations and yet we have the opportunity to afford to do whatever we want, but otherwise we would simply be no different from the pantorians, who on top of that everything here would be destroyed, turning into solid matter. "Then I have another idea." The droid operator suddenly intervened. Everyone turned their heads to Stern and began to listen to this man. It was really interesting to find out what he would offer because usually everyone hears grumbling from him, not ideas. "What if our help is enough?" "Are you serious?" Fred crossed his arms, skeptical of everything as always. "We''re running out of ammunition, what are we going to shoot with?" "Granid and Incartia could create cartridges." "It would take too long." "Yeah, but I noticed something." Stern said with a smile and removed the clip from his assault rifle and offered it to the young sorceress. "Try to recreate it entirely." ¡°Of course, I know what spell to recreate this with, but it will take time.¡± The dark-haired woman said, taking a full cartridge clip. Incartia closed her eyes and began to cast a spell. Knowing how much Granid made one cartridge, we knew how long it would take and yet something interested me in Stern¡¯s words. He suggested that she create not a separate cartridge, but an entire clip at once. I didn¡¯t immediately understand why I should do it this way. Making several things at once, rather than each one separately, somehow reminds me of the classic method of industrial production, when parts are made in batches at once, rather than individually, saving time for transportation between technological operations. Did Stern think that part of the time spent producing this magic was spent on some kind of magical preparation? If this is so, then Granid could no longer produce 50 rounds per day, but 50 clips per day. In this case, we will immediately be able to solve the issue of shortage of ammunition. This could actually work. I thought, and after waiting for the young sorceress to finish, she presented us with a second clip that appeared in her second hand as if from a water mist. "Look." The sorceress gave the droid operator two clips, one real and the other a duplicate. ¡°It¡¯s hard for me to do this, I very rarely use this spell, or rather never. Mmmm~... this thing alone gives me a headache, but what is it anyway?¡± "Cartridge clip." I explained while Stern checked whether there were cartridges in it. "Just as I thought." The droid operator said and made the offer again. "Let''s put all the clips in one pile, and you duplicate them, that is, create exact copies." "Did it work?" In the meantime, I decided to make sure and took the duplicated clip and looked into the slot in which the cartridges were indeed visible. "Wow! So we can replenish our ammo." "This spell, what you call ?duplication?, requires too much magical power," Granid said, estimating the number of clips we now had. ¡°But if you really need these cartridges, then we can try. How many of these cartridges will you need?¡± "As much as possible." I answered with some optimism. ¡°And how much does it take to satisfy you? I can¡¯t do them endlessly.¡± That is, what is the minimum required quantity? I thought and immediately blurted out the following: "Ten clips each, minimum." Even though this was quite a small number, it would be difficult to carry such clips in large quantities without an exoskeleton, so let each person have ten clips. That¡¯s what we decided to do, we collected all the available clips of ammunition in a pile and began to wait for the old wizard to complete his witchcraft. While Granid was casting a spell, Niana suddenly turned to me, watching what was happening and seeing our increased enthusiasm. "Can you fight now?" "In a way, yes." I answered, crossing my arms over my chest and at the same time decided to ask the princess. "What are you planning to do? You won''t be following us endlessly, right?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "Yes, you''re right." The princess lowered her head and said with reluctance in her voice. "We will have to separate someday. We must find a way to free our country from the rule of the Empire, but... I don''t know what to do." Her words sounded reasonable. We don¡¯t want to babysit them, but we can¡¯t leave them either. At a minimum, they need to be accommodated here so that they take root here, in another country, in a foreign culture. They will have to learn the Lakuus language in order to understand the speech of the local residents and perhaps forever forget about the possibility of returning to their native lands. It is unlikely that we will help them return their kingdom, because helping the natives is not our responsibility, and in general we do not have the opportunity to fight the entire Empire, even if it is very backward in our understanding. It would be cruel to abandon them here. They were counting on us, and we are going to abandon them in the end? I thought about it and decided to propose something: "I think that when we meet the king, we will demand that he take part in a campaign against the lands of Hippolytus. In this case, the defensive military campaign will affect not only the kingdom of Lakuus, but Hippolytus too." Although I said so, I still have no idea how to do it. I imagine a picture where I, a stranger on this land, stand in front of the king and demand that he send troops beyond the vast dense forest behind which there is a captured country. It is unlikely that he will agree, because the offensive campaign will require enormous funds and resources. Moreover, the Lakuusians now have their own internal problems and are unlikely to worry about what is happening in another country; they are unlikely to even believe that they are threatened by the Empire. In general, there is no hope yet for the release of Hippolytus, however, judging by Niana¡¯s sad eyes, I can see that she did not believe my words. She also doesn''t believe in the outcome, where the Lakuusian army marches through the forest to liberate her home country, which she may one day rule. "Done." He said Granid and showed us two piles of clips. "I''m afraid my magical powers have run out." "Teacher?" Incartia said with concern seeing the tired face of the old wizard. "Are you okay?" "I... I''m very tired." Granid said, and the next moment he collapsed and fell onto the bed, instantly snoring. We, in turn, went to sort out two piles of clips and yes, they all actually had cartridges and were suitable for use. Well, we were able to increase the amount of our ammunition, but it is still better to save it. Granid was able to duplicate a total of 30 clips, that is, three clips each. This is not to mention the fact that Granid did not duplicate the Forn machine gun belt and clips for a sniper rifle. Magic really is amazing. I thought with a smile on my face and already imagined many possibilities with her. If it can be used to create exact copies of ammunition out of thin air, then it is likely that it can also be used to create certain items from scratch, using blueprints and diagrams, i.e. provide the mage with parameters, and he will become a walking replicator. However, it seems that using magic has greatly tired Granid, since he fell face down on the bed and fell asleep. I decided to find out if everything was okay with him. "Is he alive?" I asked Fred, who had already examined Granid, and the senior medic calmly answered: ¡°He¡¯s just tired. Apparently magic consumes glycogen and protein. Granid will now sleep the whole day, the restoration of these substances takes too long.¡± "What does it mean?" Incartia asked worriedly, sitting next to Granid, and Fred was still not too lazy to explain to her: ¡°He will sleep for a long time, about the whole day. If he is very tired, this is normal. Next time we better not demand something impossible from him, otherwise he may die from exhaustion, but don¡¯t be afraid, he¡¯s fine " Even though magic works real miracles, it still turned out to be not as omnipotent as we previously thought. It was now interesting to listen to Fred, who put forward another scientific theory trying to understand how magic works. He put his finger to his chin and, looking off into space, walked around the barracks from one end to the other, thinking out loud: ¡°Based on what I saw, the use of so-called ?magic? consumes the energy of the human body. This is unexpected because I thought that magic had to consume too much energy to influence material objects, so why is the internal energy of the human body used? It is quite possible that the human energy is a kind of spark to ignite the flame necessary to use other energy located outside the human body. What kind of energy is it at the moment is unclear, but something else is clear, it exists only on this planet, that is, the physical nature of this planet, planetary system. is very different from the material universe we are used to. Maybe that¡¯s why our ship was thrown out of subspace? We were thrown out as a result of contact with a nature that is different to us, in which there is a different type of energy. Then there should have been significant differences, discrepancies in the material universe, the work of its mechanisms and itself? its physical nature. Even if a new form of energy, particles or other phenomenon is already part of our ?Universe No. 1?, that is, in this ?Universe No. 2?, everything should be completely different. Why are the changes in the nature of this supposed ?Universe #2? so minor? Or maybe this unknown form of energy has always existed in ?Universe #1?, but can simply work within this space? "Fred, stop it!" I said irritably to the senior medic, instantly tired of his relentless stream of thoughts out loud. ¡°We still know little about the nature of this magic. Leave these thoughts for later. We must now decide what to do.¡± ¡°Should I go to the capital and offer help in exchange for the right of passage to the king or break through with a fight?¡± Fred asked and I nodded, to which the senior medic answered. ¡°With ammunition, we can do this even right now, that is, break through with battle, but it is still advisable to avoid bloodshed.¡± "I agree." Esko said as he inserted a cartridge clip into the sniper rifle. ¡°There¡¯s no need for us to add any more worries, we¡¯re already in the crosshairs of this Empire.¡± I also agreed with this, but what if the king, as now, rejects our proposal? Conclude a transaction with an individual? We can do this, but it is highly undesirable. It is unlikely that General Zeonid will approve of actions taken purely on our initiative. Even if we agree on our own behalf, the general will still be against it. "We have to at least try." I said it and added it. ¡°We need to accumulate the required amount of ammunition, after which we will go to the capital and ask for an audience with the king of this country.¡± The natives, who had not interfered with our conversations until that moment, suddenly decided to insert their word. A native approached us, looking very menacing and massive. As far as I remember, his name was Furgur and from his gaze I already felt an endless stream of silent insults rushing in our direction like the wind. ¡°Are you really planning to meet this king?¡± The archer asked, twisting his face and shaking his head, after which I answered: ¡°We must, on our own behalf, make a deal with the head of this state. If we simply fulfill Granid¡¯s request, then the command of our army will simply not fulfill its part of the agreement and will not send part of the troops to defend the kingdom. The agreement with the king will be more legitimate and will give weight our presence on your planet." "Then I think you should learn something about the terrible side of the royal family." The archer said and sat down on the edge of one of the beds while I wondered out loud: ¡°What are you talking about? Isn¡¯t this same royal family just relatives of the king? Moreover, the new king is a man worthy of ruling.¡± Well, that''s true based only on Diana''s words. To believe the words of Count Laroy''s daughter right away is the same as believing political rumors about the elections to the Republican Senate. Fucking politicians. In the meantime, I thought until Furgur suddenly agreed with my words with a displeased grunt. ¡°Where did you hear such nonsense? Is the new king a man worthy of ruling? They made fun of the pig. If you knew what scoundrels they are, you would have already given up the idea of ??going to the capital. It¡¯s just pointless and stupid, a waste of time.¡± He may have said it, but I am not going to change my decision to meet the king just because of the knowledge of his unfavorable character, otherwise it will only be my empty sign of bias. As a person from Earth, I know very well that most conflicts arise not because of the sharing of lands and resources, but because of simple misunderstandings. One party may enter into conflict only because it does not consider the other party competent or worthy of negotiations. I shouldn''t care what skeletons the new king hides in his closet, be he a rapist, a murderer or a real tyrant. Their morality does not bother me and should not, because I am a guest in this country and it is not my responsibility to judge its foundations. Based on my own views on such things, I responded to Furgur in the following words: ¡°I don¡¯t care whether the new king is a scoundrel or not. I have to negotiate with him and get what I want from him.¡± Furgur looked at me with a stern and at the same time disappointed look. He sighed, realizing that I follow strict principles when it comes to negotiations: ¡°Baran, you don¡¯t understand anything. I¡¯ll tell the truth, I used to serve in the royal guard and I know what dark things are going on in the palace. For as long as I can remember, the old king lay in bed, exhaling the last remnants of his life, and his wife mercilessly poured out all the gold from the royal treasury, eating sweets, buying expensive dresses and cosmetics. The First Prince of Monrid was completely terrifying, I know he sees in people only steps that you just need to step over, he never makes concessions to anyone. If he becomes a king. , then I would never negotiate with a person like you. And the second prince is even worse, he is terribly unfit to be the king, he is more worried about women, whom he sometimes likes to fuck right in the middle of the palace corridor and he did not care about the audience, he did not care. a shameless womanizer. Even the youngest third prince grows up with huge handouts from everyone around him. He is covered with such care that even at such a young age he shows unprecedented arrogance towards all the people around him. It''s a little stinking monster. And only the first princess, sick and bedridden, does no evil. The only thing she can do is read books, having forever lost the ability to walk on her own two feet. And having learned this, tell me, do you want to negotiate with a king who won¡¯t even listen to you? He will order you to be killed on the spot and no matter how strong you really are, you are nothing to him, and your name is a nameless ram." "Wait... that''s not what I heard." ¡°I¡¯m not at all surprised, because Prince Monrid is doing everything possible to look powerful, proud and noble in the eyes of those around him. It makes me sick just to think about it. He spreads rumors that the entire royal family are people worthy of their status, blaming the whole blame for embezzlement on the helpless princess Ilifreeta." "Interesting." Camellia, who had been listening attentively to the archer, suddenly inserted her word. ¡°So, bad rumors about the princess are spreading throughout the country? If this is so, then how is it that you are here, knowing the whole truth about them?¡± Strange, I''ve never seen Camellia so serious. When we met she looked like an ordinary timid girl, but now she looks like a very proud and at the same time interested adult girl. Even her posture was straight as she sat on the edge of her bunk. Furgur, meanwhile, sternly snapped, clearly not intending to answer her question: "You shouldn''t worry about that." "And yet, you know the truth. Does Prince Monrid not see you as a threat? Surely you can undermine His Majesty''s rumors by spreading your own." "I could do that, but I don''t need to." ¡°Are you sure? Then why did you try to persuade Boris not to negotiate with the king?¡± Furgur did not find an answer to this question, he was silent while Camellia continued to develop her thought: ¡°You probably have a personal grudge against this person, and you just don¡¯t want to meet him. In that case, what¡¯s stopping you from leaving the squad right now? You¡¯ve already received payment, so why are you still here?¡± ¡°You know perfectly well why. Until the campaign is completed, I will follow Mrs. Incartia, I will protect her while she explores the ruins of the dark ones or whatever else she is going to do. And in general, shut your mouth while I... while I...¡± Furgur''s voice suddenly became heavy, and Incartia''s gaze was filled with horror. The dark-haired sorceress jumped up from her seat and shouted towards Camellia: "NO! Stop! What are you doing?! Don''t kill him!" We all turned our gazes in surprise to Camellia, whose expression reflected a hitherto unprecedented bloodthirstiness. I''ve never seen anything like this. She just sat there while Furgur sat and held his neck with his hands, gasping for breath. "Don''t tell me to shut my mouth." Camellia said angrily. ¡°I won¡¯t leave a living place behind you, dog.¡± "STOP!" Incartia shouted and attacked Camellia with her fists, throwing her onto the bed, after which Furgur coughed and finally began to breathe. "Nasty bitch!" Furgur shouted taking hoarse breaths. At this time, Incartia, with panic on her face, held Camellia on the bed, holding her hands. Camellia''s gaze suddenly changed, as if she had just been in some kind of prostration. She, having blinked a little, now looked at Incartia with fear on her face and stuttered: "What did I¡­" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Incartia shouted as she hit her face with her palm causing Camellia to hiss in pain. "WHY DID YOU DO THIS?! WHAT HAVE HAD YOU?!" "I didn''t¡­" Camellia froze without finishing her sentence; she simply lay on the bed with panic on her face, trying to comprehend what had just happened. We also did not understand what was happening. Camellia unexpectedly changed for us, for a moment she became a different person, not the shy girl she used to be, but a very determined and arrogant girl who is ready to respond to every insult addressed to her. I was really more concerned about why she asked a question about the royal family and why she was trying to extract information from Furgur about his past, but I also care about why Furgur was also hiding this and then something dawned on me: Did he not want us to meet the king just because of personal animosity? Thinking about it, I now looked at Furgur differently than before. He noticed my gaze while drinking water from his leather flask and asked me: "What are you staring at?" "At you." "For what?" "Do you really want to know this?" I asked and Furgur nodded. ¡°Then know that in my squad, only I make the final decision. If you have no desire to meet the king or other members of the royal family, then you are not on the same path with us.¡± "Are you kicking me out?" "No. I''m just warning you." On this note, we ended our conversation and went to sleep, leaving the duty officer for the night. Based on Furgur''s actions, we can say that he was not just a member of the royal guard, but once stood at its head. Otherwise, I don¡¯t know why he made such an attempt at manipulation. He tried to take the initiative and offer his own version of action, which should have been very different from ours. This was unforgivable for me. Chapter 45. Blood on the doorstep (part 4) The sun that illuminated this planet was at least pleasant to look at, even if I still had to squint my eyes, fixing my gaze on the luminary. This is not the star that occupies a third of the sky and burns out all life on its sandy surface, not at all. This star is normal, it gives the planet enough heat to support life and at the same time is not so dim that everything on it freezes. ¡°Sigrun.¡± Will called me over, and having come to my senses a little, I lowered my head down. People looked sideways at me and they did this every time they noticed my coal-black skin color, characteristic of all people born on Alsis. I threw a gray hood over my head and ran up to Will, simultaneously hearing him say: "You better not show them your face." "I know." I answered. "I just decided to look at the sun." "For what?" "Just like that." I answered with a smile, causing Will to look at me strangely. "What''s wrong with it?" "Yeah, nothing special. Well, let''s go?" Now we decided to take a walk around the city and soon we will have to go to the capital to convince the king of this country to make a deal. We remain in this city until the soldiers replenish their ammunition. We can''t move out right now until we do it for one simple reason: outside the city it''s not safe even for us. It is worth remembering the monsters that live on this planet, as well as Granid¡¯s warnings about possible gangs of robbers who will decide to rob us if they notice, in general, anything can happen to us, so we need as much ammunition as possible. I was tired of checking devices, scanners and weapons every day for breakdowns and other things, and therefore I just decided to walk around the city with Will, decided to see how these ?people? live, if you can call them that, of course. Although in many places the city was, to put it mildly, terrible, there were ruined houses, a collection of tents with poor people and dumps in the middle of the streets, but the only acceptable place where life was in full swing and flourished was the rich market area, where merchants of all stripes sold anything. I look to the right and see a merchant selling skins, and another next to him is already selling meat. I look to the left and see a woman selling rolls, and next to her a shop where a man sells cheese. Trade around was brisk, people were scurrying everywhere and shaking their bags filled with commodity money, that is, coins made of silver and gold. Often these merchants carefully examined the coins before selling the goods, apparently due to the fact that they could be some kind of fakes or made of other inexpensive material, which is quite possible. Will and I looked around the shops for some interesting things, but so far we were not interested in anything valuable in local goods, and we had no money to buy these goods, because we did not have local money. Damn. It turns out that people on Earth in the past once lived like this? I was surprised, imagining the same picture on Earth a thousand years ago. And although I did not voice my thoughts out loud, Will seemed to agree with me. "Everyone here is so convincingly trying to sell something. I''m curious if markets like this would happen the same way on Earth?" "Maybe." I answered, shaking my head. ¡°It¡¯s not like calling home delivery, everything is much more complicated here.¡± At the moment, I was worried about a question in the form of sidelong glances directed in my direction. Every now and then I constantly hear the same phrase that I am ?cursed? and I must admit it really annoyed me. When I first came to Earth, people also looked at me askance, as if I were some kind of curiosity. Some people did not hesitate to come up and ask: ?are you from the African continent??. I constantly had to answer that no and that I was with Alsis. After the response ?Wow? I had to explain how people live on Alsis and how it is more unique compared to the inhabitants of Earth. The first years on Earth I tried to adapt to the conditions of the planet. The composition of the atmosphere and gravity were slightly different from the atmosphere and gravity of Alsis, and the sun did not blind my eyes every time it rose. And although many earthly cities are under domes, being there I felt like I was in paradise. Never in my life have I felt such comfort from being on the surface of the planet. Alsisian underground settlements will seem like a real prison compared to the Earthly utopia. This is probably why I decided to join the navy as a naval engineer: I just wanted to visit many planets and enjoy being on each of them, even if those planets were even worse in conditions than Alsis. The thirst for new impressions from new worlds intrigued me, and I could not resist, being on a warship and flowing through subspace from one planetary system to another. If my parents knew where I really was, they would tear the hair on their heads. My relatives never considered me as an equal in the family, this was one of the reasons why I ran away: I wanted freedom. And now, it would seem, the long-awaited freedom has arrived, I can do almost whatever I want, live where I want and how I want, but here I find myself on this planet, and the guys and I are in an equally deplorable situation and help each other despite differences in looks, skin color, age and limb augmentation. And then I ask myself: was it worth it? And I still don¡¯t know the answer. At that moment my gaze was caught on the bustle unfolding between the streets. Several people, or rather local intelligent creatures resembling people, clanged their armor, screamed and pushed their relatives aside. Based on what I saw, I realized that they were chasing someone. "Stop!" The guard shouted angrily, pushing a woman with a basket of fruit into the mud without even paying attention to her. "Catch that little bitch!" A little boy ran very deftly among the people, tightly holding loaves of bread in his hands, one of the pieces of which he had already bitten off and held in his mouth with his teeth. Apparently he was caught stealing and was chased by five guards at once, who pushed people in different directions. The boy, however, was faster, mainly because he tried not to collide with people, as the guards did in turn. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Will came closer to me to let the boy and the guards run past us, but then I saw a rather touching picture. A girl ran out from behind the crowd and snatched one of the buns from the boy, and then they ran in different directions. They worked together, stealing bread to survive. They still have their whole life ahead of them, and they are already stealing? How bad is their situation that they have sunk to this level? Are they orphans with no one looking after them? The realization of this spoils my mood, but what finally spoiled it was the cry addressed to these children: "There are two of them! Let''s split up! Kill these little creatures!" Hearing these menacing words, I trembled, and it was as if something was pinched in my heart. Kill the children? It was as if something clicked inside me and I suddenly wanted to stop all this madness. I couldn¡¯t accept these words, I couldn¡¯t ignore them, I couldn¡¯t do anything about it. If I don¡¯t help these children, they will die either from hunger or from sweeping blows of knives. I wanted neither one nor the other. I wanted to intervene and resolve the situation peacefully. How is this possible?! They are children! I was angry and turned to Will: "Will, give me the gun." "Huh?" The sergeant didn¡¯t understand, looking at me with a surprised face. "What are you planning?" "Did you hear them? They''re going to kill them." "So what? It''s not our concern." Will said sternly and, although I saw from his face that he didn¡¯t like it either, I understood that he simply didn¡¯t want problems on his own head. ¡°Don¡¯t be a hero in front of them, otherwise they will decide to kill us too. I wouldn¡¯t want to shoot people.¡± I understood Will, but... I can''t do this: just stand and watch, endure the pain of seeing and realizing how children are being killed. I can''t. So at that moment I remembered my childhood, how in my home underground city on Alsis I was attacked by a gang of thieves who were stealing water. On the planet, water was already rare and often acted as a currency at first, but when a water crisis broke out on the planet, the Alsis government limited water consumption. Many people did not like this and people demanded an explanation. At that time, while still a very little girl, I found myself a victim of a gang of these water thieves. They came across me walking home from the well and tried to take the water by force, which they eventually did, but what¡¯s even worse, they decided to kill me. I was helpless, alone, several people kicked me at once, and I, curled up in a ball, roared loudly, feeling unbearable pain from painful blows to my body. The thieves drank the water on the spot, and when they realized that there were witnesses around, they quickly ran away, leaving me beaten on the spot. It still hurts to remember all this, I was near death, no one helped me, even ordinary people who passed by, they just looked at it and that¡¯s all. This is why I hate them! I''m sure these bastards are still walking free somewhere and are now stealing something besides water, this really irritated me. That old picture floats before my eyes, a picture of several adults beating a girl who did nothing wrong and just wanted to live happily, like everyone else. My family and I really needed water, so I refused to give it away, which ultimately angered them. I couldn¡¯t share it with them, but that wasn¡¯t a reason to beat me, right? But these children have a good reason for stealing this food, because they were apparently hungry orphans and were forced to survive in this country as best they could. They could be sheltered, fattened, sent to be raised in some local shelter, but... killed? For what? They are still children, why kill them? I couldn¡¯t stand it, I just grabbed Will¡¯s gun from his holster and ran in the direction where the boy was rushing. "Hey! WAIT!" Will shouted after me while I was busy disabling the biocode on the pistol. I''m sorry, Will, but I have to help them or I''ll have nightmares... horrible nightmares. Having dealt with the pistol, I soon reached some deserted narrow alley. The boy who ran away got lost and found himself in a dead end, and behind him, three guards were approaching with weapons at the ready, intending to kill him. ¡°Little brat, are you planning to steal from our master?¡± One of the guards spat angrily, swinging an ax. ¡°They cut off their hands for theft, but we will immediately kill you, you freak, and throw your guts to be eaten by pigs. I don¡¯t want to see some armless beggar on the street. Die, brat!¡± I barely had time to run when the guard swung an ax at the boy, who stood with his back to the wall of the house and, trembling with fear, closed his eyes, expecting imminent death. He held one loaf of bread tightly in his hands and cried, and constantly repeated the same thing: "Help... someone... no... I don''t want to die..." There is no turning back. "Stand!" I shouted, loading the pistol with blank cartridges and pointing the barrel at the man in charge. "Don''t touch him!" "Who else are you?" The guard turned in my direction. ¡°Did you talk him into stealing?¡± ¡°Do you have a conscience? Why treat a child like that? He just wants to eat.¡± ¡°Just look at this bitch, she decided to teach us something. Are you blind or have you become insolent? He is a thief, and thieves should hang and swing dead at the gate.¡± The guard said sternly and began to head towards me, but then he noticed the color of my skin. "You... are damned." The other two guards suddenly became agitated and took out their blades, pointing them in my direction. They looked at me with fear and expected some unexpected actions, and I just stood there and held them at gunpoint, and yet I continued to demand from them: "Instead of killing the poor child, you could take him in as if he were your own, take care of him, and then he would never have to steal again." "You stupid damn slut, how stupid you are." The guard shook his head. ¡°Oh Sod, take me away, do you know how many of these little rats are in this city? There are hundreds of them and you whore are offering to shelter each of them so that they don¡¯t steal? Why? It¡¯s easier to kill them, and I¡¯ll fucking do it.¡± He turned back to the boy and prepared to make a sharp swing with his axe. "Get ready, bastard, you''re dead!" My hands shook at that moment, my aim was off, and I pulled the trigger, firing a loud shot. All four of them flinched at the sound, and the echo of the shot rang out throughout the city. The guard who was about to kill the boy suddenly fell on his side, dropping the ax and holding his leg with both hands. He screamed heart-rendingly as blood gushed from his shaking leg. Did I really shoot? I tried to understand what had happened. This was the first time in my life that I shot at a person, and from the realization of this my hands shook, and with them my whole body. It seemed like my heart was about to jump out while I slowly walked back. Of the four, only one boy took the opportunity and slipped past the shocked guards. One of them ran up to the wounded man, and the second tried to keep up with the boy, but I stopped him, pointing the barrel of the pistol in his direction. "S-stop or else you''re a corpse." I spoke in a trembling voice, and at the same time, nervously, I swallowed air abundantly, taking deep breaths and exhalations. What have I done?! I didn''t want to hurt anyone, I just wanted the boy to be alive and that''s all... I held the guard at gunpoint while his commander grunted in pain behind him, and I walked away with my back and soon ran to the market, where many people looked around and wondered what kind of sound they had just heard, and I, standing towards one alley caught my breath. At this moment, Will called me over the phone: "I heard the sound of a gunshot. Did you shoot?" I didn¡¯t answer him, there were too many people around, they would have thought I was just crazy, talking to myself. "Hey! Where are you? Sigrun, can you hear me?" Will spoke, and I said in a whisper: ¡°Yes, I hear you. I¡¯m at the jewelry store.¡± "I''m coming to you." At this time, excitement was growing in the city, there were only more guards, it seemed they were all looking for me. They caught all the women in gray robes and dragged them to the castle. One of the guards shouted loudly, demanding that the people hand over the damned woman to them. The situation was getting out of control, my heart was pounding wildly, and I had to constantly look down without showing my face. I kept telling myself: who gave you the idea to do this? Maybe I really should have listened to Will and just stayed out of all this? So what should I do now? Run? But where? I thought about this for a long time, I tried to calm down at such moments, although because of the bustle it was difficult for me, and while I was thinking, someone lifted the hood from my head and grabbed my hand and shouted: "THERE IS SHE! THE DAMNED ONE!" And all the people''s eyes turned towards me. With my right hand I turned on the radio on my earpiece and said with a bit of panic in my voice: "Will, s-save me." Chapter 46. Blood on the doorstep (part 5) There were no signs of trouble, but suddenly the situation got out of control. Will returned to the castle without Sigrun and reported that the city guards had captured her for wounding one person. At the wrong moment, she decided to play the hero and is now in custody for her action. We were planning to leave the city soon and head with Granid to the royal capital, but, firstly, he was still sleeping and secondly, this incident happened. What the hell made you suddenly decide to do this, Sigrun? I was mentally perplexed as I walked with Incartia to the count¡¯s office. Not right away, but I was eventually allowed into his workplace, which was a rather large luxurious room, decorated with all sorts of things, armor, furniture, paintings, indoor plants and cages with small animals, and servants and assistants scurried around while the count himself sat at his table with several stacks of papers while a chandelier burned with candles above his head. I had not yet had time to greet him, and he already knew why I had come to him. Count Laroy put aside his writing materials and crossed his arms over his chest and fixed an unfriendly gaze directly on me. ¡°I already know why you came here. One of your women killed a member of the city guard. Did you come here to free her? Well, I¡¯m afraid it will be difficult.¡± Killed? So the wounded man has already died? I was surprised by his words and shuddered slightly, realizing that our conversation would now lead to nothing good. You''ll have to take responsibility for your man and try to get Sigrun out of prison. Who knows what will happen to her and what is happening to her now. I would not like to lose another person, even if this person himself is to blame for the tragedy that occurred. "I am responsible for her." I said, causing the Count to raise his eyebrow with my words. ¡°I didn¡¯t pay enough attention to her and her behavior. And I know that I won¡¯t get off with a simple apology here, since you suffered losses, and this may be unforgivable for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, this is unforgivable. And understanding this, what are you going to do, Boris? Ask for forgiveness? Will you kneel before the relatives of the deceased? Or maybe pay for your ward¡¯s crime?¡± "First of all, I sincerely apologize." I said, bowing slightly before the count, and then added with a certain amount of reluctance and fear. ¡°Secondly, I suggest that I myself bear the punishment instead of her.¡± ¡°Do you want to be punished yourself?¡± The count grinned as he adjusted his position in his chair. ¡°You do understand that for attacking a guard, and especially for killing him, she will face the death penalty?¡± Hearing his words, I could only swallow, imagining similar consequences. Sigrun is going to be executed and, apparently, they will do it publicly: the wild laws of the primitive world are making themselves felt, and I really don¡¯t like them. If I ask to be punished instead of her, then I am essentially offering myself to him as a sacrifice, and not a single platoon soldier would agree to this. Likewise, no one will agree to have Sigrun executed. I can¡¯t allow either one, so how can I get out of such a difficult situation? What do I need to do to get the Count to agree to release Sigrun? I can''t even imagine. "I understand you perfectly." Meanwhile, I answered, clenching my palms into fists. ¡°However, I would like to avoid execution. Can this punishment be changed in some way?¡± "Lifelong slavery, gouging out eyes, cutting out tongues, tearing out nails, hunger strike. Are these options acceptable to you?" The count said and I could only look at him in shock after the options he proposed. What the hell kind of laws are these?! I was angry with myself, not ready to do any of the above. I was so angry when I heard these words that, clenching my fists stronger than before, in a stern voice, almost spitting, I answered him: "Are you kidding me? Do you even know why she killed your man? Why does this punishment have to be so severe?" The Count shook his head in disappointment, he clearly knew something that I didn¡¯t and immediately answered: ¡°She wanted to help the thief avoid punishment and somehow mortally wounded my man, he soon died from heavy loss of blood. I can allow you to meet with her and talk so that you can see this from her personally, but let her go and even more so have mercy We cannot afford her. She must be punished as the laws of our kingdom dictate." SHIT! I clicked my tongue, realizing what a mess we were now in because of her action. I can at least meet and talk with her, since the count himself suggests. It¡¯s better to wait for Granid to wake up and offer his own course of action, and if he doesn¡¯t, then the issue will be resolved with blood, fire and lead. "I want to talk to her." "Fine." The count nodded and turned to one of his servants. "Siles, take our guest to the prisoner." "As you wish, my lord." The young man bowed and led us into prison. "Please follow me." After that, we followed him into the dungeon, and a group of four guards followed me and Incartia. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out a way in which I could get this fool out of prison. However, as the count said, murder is punishable and, moreover, it is severely punished here, so I need to somehow either cancel Sigrun¡¯s punishment or, if possible, mitigate it. Soon we reached the dungeon, dimly lit by torches and stinking of a terrible smell of dampness and some kind of rot. These are the conditions in which prisoners are kept here, and I certainly didn¡¯t like it. Sigrun has been here for several hours and is probably already suffocating from this nasty stench. Having passed through narrow passages and gone down a spiral staircase, we found ourselves in a spacious stone room behind bars of which a black woman was sitting in the corner, covered in a gray robe and shivering from the cold. There were several more people here, whom the count''s guards had imprisoned here; they ran up to the steel bars and looked at the arriving guests with curiosity, but the guards, with a nasty ringing sound, hit the bars of the bars with their blades, forcing the prisoners to remove their hands and step aside for fear of injuries and sparks. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. It was simply painful to watch. It¡¯s as if they are not keeping people here, but some wild animals that can do absolutely nothing to their captors. The guards stood behind me and carefully made sure that we didn¡¯t do anything wrong here. It''s just a nightmare. They must be here dying in droves... otherwise I don''t know what that stinking smell is. I stopped at the bars behind which was Sigrun. She sat and trembled, with her head down, it looked like she was crying, which I was not surprised at. This is the first time for her that she was detained like this and kept in such terrible conditions, or maybe she cried because of what she did out of stupidity, or maybe all at once. Anyway, I''m here to talk to her. "I''ll take off the ring." I said to Incartia, who also looked in fear at the girl who once took care of her. I took off the ring with the Babylon spell and handed it into the hands of the young sorceress, and then squatted down and spoke to Sigrun in English: "Sigrun, it''s me Boris." The girl raised her face to me and yes, she really cried, even on her coal-black skin there were reflections from long streams of tears. She wiped them off with the back of her hand and greeted me with a sniffle. "H-hello, Boris. You''ve finally come for me... tell me, what will happen to me now?" "You will be executed." I said gloomily, not believing that this could really happen. ¡°The Count allowed me to talk to you. I suggested to him that I bear the punishment instead of you, but his version of the punishment has not changed. He can mitigate the punishment, for example, make you a slave forever, gouge out your eyes, cut off your tongue, pull out your nails, go on a hunger strike and things like that. I haven¡¯t decided on any of this yet. I think I¡¯ll ask you something first before deciding what to do.¡± "Fuck." The girl swore, clearly blaming herself for what had happened. "And what came over me?" "Really, what? Tell me." Sigrun didn''t answer for a while, she tried to find words and calm down. Luckily she could talk to me. Usually she is not a very talkative girl, but when she has a special desire to speak out, she simply does not shut up and attacks her victims with long monologues in waves. I would never have thought that such a cheerful optimist could break down. What broke her? Meanwhile, Sigrun finally took a deep breath and began to explain what happened: "They wanted to kill the child... I couldn''t just accept it... I myself was a child who was almost killed. So." "And this was the reason for killing a person?" ¡°I didn¡¯t kill anyone, I shot in the leg, and what¡¯s more, the cartridge was blank, so that guard¡¯s wound is not serious... probably.¡± "But the Count said that that guard died. Did you really shoot with a blank?" "Yeah... but... maybe not. I don''t know. Maybe... maybe the gun had a regular cartridge... crap." Sigrun''s face became even more gloomy, it seemed she did not expect such an outcome and I must admit it made me a little angry. Surely she should have understood that we shouldn¡¯t change anything here? We really can¡¯t change anything here, it¡¯s not in our interests and especially not in our power. Let¡¯s say the guards really wanted to kill the child, but they weren¡¯t going to kill us. That is why we should not have interfered, but continued our path to the 127th Army. However, now thinking about it, I begin to understand that if I were in the same position as Sigrun, I also could not restrain myself and attack the guard so that he would not kill the child. Fortunately, now I know the reason for her action and now I knew what I needed to do. "Don''t worry, Sigrun, I''ll get you out of here." "You better hurry up, they don''t even feed me here. I''m afraid I''ll starve to death faster than I''ll be executed." Bastards. I clenched my fists as I rose to my feet and decided to say goodbye to the girl for today. "See you soon." I said, and then got to my feet and turned to Incartia, asking her for the ring. "Ring." "Here you go." The young sorceress gave me a ring and tilted her head and asked me. "What''s next?" After I put the ring with the Babylon spell back on my finger, I decided to return to the count¡¯s office, and I informed Incartia about this: "I''ll talk to the Count one last time." Going up to the count''s office, I saw the same picture. He was sitting at his table, and servants were scurrying around, and then I heard him ask: ¡°I see you talked to her. So what did you decide?¡± I thought about it a lot, I didn¡¯t know what to do, but I didn¡¯t have much choice. We will have to do what is necessary for the platoon to return to the army safe and sound. "This is your country, you write its laws and abide by them. It is up to you to decide what to do with the criminals. She is completely guilty and must be punished for her crime." The count''s look became somewhat puzzled, and Incartia completely gasped after hearing what she heard, not believing what she had just heard, and I could not believe what I was saying. "Indeed it is so." Laroy said looking at me strangely. "She will be hanged tomorrow at noon, but what I''m interested in knowing is why did you accept it so easily?" "It wasn''t easy for me." I confessed. ¡°I am a citizen of a republic, a state where observance of laws is comprehensive and obligatory for everyone. To break the law that a society follows means to go to war with this very society. Even if the criminals realize this and blame themselves for the crimes they have committed, the laws insist on their punishment and it doesn¡¯t matter be it imprisonment or death penalty: the punishment must be carried out." "And your people are very principled." The count said with a smile. ¡°Neither honor, nor justice, but the law. That¡¯s what motivates you and I admit, it sounds very wild to me, but this is a good reason for respect for you and your people. Such honesty and restraint are not within the power of every person, and you accepted the law of an alien you state and follow it. I think I can think about mitigating her punishment." Although there seemed to be a possibility in his words, I didn¡¯t care. I have already decided everything and I don¡¯t need his handouts. "Solve this without me." I answered indifferently and decided to say goodbye to him. "In that case, I will go. We will need to leave the city soon and head to the capital. We must meet the king and make a deal." "Farewell, Boris, and I wish you all a pleasant journey." The count said, and I left the count¡¯s office following the guard to the barracks. While I was walking with me, Incartia spoke in English, removing the ring from her finger, and I did exactly the same when she asked me: ¡°Are you going to leave her? She didn¡¯t specifically want to kill anyone, it was just an accident.¡± No, this is not an accident, but her unnecessary heroism. I answered mentally, but I didn¡¯t dare say it out loud and instead, clenching my fists more tightly than before, I snapped at her: ¡°Do you think Count Laroy would listen to our excuses? He wouldn¡¯t do anything, he would punish her anyway, even if I asked to take the punishment instead of her.¡± "Is this a reason to leave her?" ¡°Did I say that I would leave her?¡± Incartia''s gaze became surprised again. The girl looked at me and finally understood something: "You... what are you going to do?" "We''ll get her out, no matter how many people here die." "WHAT?!" She exclaimed and covered her mouth. ¡°Quiet... I¡¯ve decided everything and there¡¯s no need to dissuade me.¡± "But you said..." "Do you have a better suggestion? Well, tell me how to get Sigrun out?" ¡°We can wait until my teacher wakes up and...¡± ¡°And when will he wake up? Do you know? I don¡¯t know either, but we won¡¯t wait. Sigrun will be executed tomorrow, which means that we have to get her out right now.¡± Compliance with laws? I do follow the laws, but that only applies to the laws of the Republic. The Kingdom of Lakuus is no match for us, neither for the Republic nor even for a tenth of our army; we can easily wipe this country off the face of the earth if we want. Why should we then respect the laws of this country? We shouldn''t do this. We must defend our rights, our freedoms and our interests. If I leave her here, firstly, my conscience will torment me, secondly, the tribunal will torment me, can I really do that? No way. Chapter 47. Telekinesis It was foolish to expect care from the natives. The way they detained me can be compared to the most brutal mockery. I was surrounded by guards who looked at me with disgust and beat me for every little thing, be it looking at someone the wrong way or making any sound. And if I was in too much of a hurry or hesitated while they were leading me to the castle, they would either push me or pull my hair, and all this was accompanied by all sorts of insults. The interrogation, in turn, took place in a simple manner. While guards surrounded me, I sat and shook with fear, answering all the questions that were asked to me in random order. These louts were not shy and groped me all over, shaking off all the tools from my work clothes, and I couldn¡¯t do anything about it. I don¡¯t even know how to fight, and resistance would be of no use if I didn¡¯t achieve anything by force, but discomfort, anger, fear, hostility were so intertwined in me that it was simply unbearable to endure it. Never in my life have I wanted to run away somewhere so much. You can say that I hated this world with all my soul, completely and until the end of my life. If I ever get out of here, I will bury in my memory all the time I spent here. "Name." "Sigrun." I answered in a trembling voice, hanging my head down. "Where were you born?" "Alsis." "What is this? Is this a village?" "Em¡­ yes." I had to come up with answers on the fly, but it seemed that the interrogators knew that I was telling them lies, which is why they looked at me askance. It seemed they were about to spit in my face and I would again have to endure this pure mockery. I don''t think they treat me like a prisoner, no. They rather treat me like trash, a worthless bitch who crossed the path of the gods and should be punished accordingly. Feeling so weak, unable to do anything, sent me into the depths of despair, all because I had made a terrible mistake. "What did you usually do?" "I was fixing things." "So you''re a prickly heat." The interrogator, sitting in front of me, wrote something down on a piece of paper with a pen and immediately asked the next question. "How did you end up in Itsqueen?" For a long time I couldn¡¯t find the words, so they kicked me off the stool. ¡°Answer, bitch, don¡¯t be silent like a cheap whore!¡± Pain. I cried, sniffling. In fear, I covered myself with my hands in anticipation of new blows, but instead they pulled me by the hair and sat me back on the stool, again asking the same question, but in a more impatient tone. ¡°How did you end up here? And there¡¯s no need to invent a fairy tale, I can see right through ugly creatures like you. So answer quickly and don¡¯t hesitate!¡± "I... I joined a squad... em. They traveled from city to city... so." I answered what came to mind, but it seemed to me that it was said rather unconvincingly and therefore I was going to add something else, but the guard finished everything for me. ¡°So you became a mercenary, okay.¡± The interrogator said and did not stop there, asking this time a completely different question. "Do you believe in Sod?" "Y-yes." I immediately answered, shuddering, for which I received a blow to my face with the hilt of the blade. At the site of the impact, I felt a burning sensation, and drops of my blood appeared on the stone floor. "Tc! Heretic." The guard said with contempt that he hit me, and all I could do was endure all this and obediently answer questions asking Boris or Will to come to my aid. Where are you? I cried. After the interrogation, they threw me like a doll into a cell inside a cold, damp and dirty dungeon, simultaneously stripping me naked and putting on a gray robe, from which my whole body itched, and my body trembled from the touch of my feet and fingers on the wet stone floor. On top of that, there was a very strong smell of someone''s feces or even rot, maybe entrails. My ears were ringing, I could hardly hear anyone¡¯s voices, I wanted to sleep, but I couldn¡¯t sleep, terrible discomfort prevented me from even relaxing, let alone falling asleep. It seemed that there was simply no worse punishment for me than now, but later Boris came and said that I would be executed and then I finally lost almost all hope for the best. I tried to get used to this discomfort, cold and stench, but I couldn¡¯t. And it seems that I was not the only one who clearly did not have a better fate. Unlike me, the prisoner in the next cell was fed and, moreover, fed from a spoon. I couldn¡¯t find out who was sitting there because of the very damp stone wall against which I leaned my back while some rats were gnawing on my legs. When my neighbor¡¯s breadwinner left the dungeon, I still decided to ask who was sitting in that cell and spoke: "Is there someone there?" Unexpectedly, there was silence in response, although I heard even and calm breathing, in the end they simply ignored me. Well, of course, who would want to talk when you are in such a terrible place as a prison with an uncomfortable regime, except perhaps only me. I was usually the one who always brightened up negative situations with Will with some jokes or funny stories, but now it seemed that my former enthusiasm had been squeezed out like a lemon and what I was trying to do was just squeeze a fake smile on my face. Usually I always did this to maintain my cheerful mood, but will it work if I''m so scared right now? I don''t think so. "I know there''s someone there. Talk to me or something." I continued to bring my neighbor into conversation, who seemed to be barely showing signs of life. It is quite possible that because of this he was spoon-fed; he could have been in a very serious condition or had already died. Although it¡¯s strange that, unlike me, they feed him at all. During the past time, they didn¡¯t even throw me a crumb of bread, which is why my stomach growled loudly, as it does now, reminding me of hunger. ¡°And you¡¯re lucky. At least you get fed, unlike me. In general, I¡¯ll just be executed soon, but I think my friends will get me out of here soon. They definitely won¡¯t leave me. The Republic won¡¯t allow it.¡± I guess I was lucky that the guards took everything off me except the ring with the Babylon spell, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to talk to anyone else here. Apparently they considered the stem on my middle finger to be just a stem and did not pay any attention to it. And I thought that it would be pointless to get my interlocutor to talk anymore, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a piece of bread levitating in the air. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. What? Surprised, I widened my eyes when I saw the flying bread that neatly landed on the damp stone floor. At first I didn¡¯t believe my eyes, and a little later, still trembling from the cold, I crawled closer to this piece of bread, taking it into my cold hands. "Really." I said out loud, trying to squeeze the hard piece of bread and tasted it, almost twisting my face in a grimace of disgust while trying to chew the bread pulp. Raw. This food of the natives will give me the worst nightmares, but when you don¡¯t eat anything for a long time, you¡¯re ready to eat at least that much crap so you don¡¯t go hungry anymore. And it seems like I can¡¯t feel the taste due to suppressed taste buds, but still chewing this bread is like one of the few versions of torture, it¡¯s simply unbearable. And after I quickly ate this bread, without satisfying my hunger, I decided to thank my neighbor and at the same time ask: ¡°Thank you, I¡¯m a little better now. What was that all about? Are you a wizard?¡± To my surprise, from behind the wall I heard a very cute, quiet female voice: "What do you want from me?" She finally spoke. I smiled, glad that I could finally loosen my tongue completely. ¡°So you¡¯re a girl too? I just wanted to talk before I leave this dungeon. I¡¯m interested to know what you did to end up here?¡± "Born." The girl answered gloomily, and I could understand her a little. ¡°I take it you¡¯re unlucky with your family? It¡¯s the same with me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. You don¡¯t understand what I¡¯ve been through. I don¡¯t even know why they¡¯re treating me like that, I haven¡¯t done anything that bad, but they... don¡¯t love me. Nobody does.¡± A familiar situation. When you are born into a traditional family, where most of the members of your generation are men, then they begin to treat you like some kind of slave: you must do this, you must not do that; You must obey your family and elders. Who told you that you would be an engineer? Better go work in a brothel like any ¡°normal¡± woman. You still have no say in this family, be obedient and work around the house. I still grind my teeth when I think about my family. I hate them with all my heart and I didn¡¯t regret at all that I ran away from Alsis and moved to Earth, where I had already acquired a really real family and even though they also looked askance at me, but they did it not out of hatred, but out of curiosity and interest to me. It was so nice to perceive myself not only as important among others, but also truly loved by many. Of course, I will understand her, the one who is going through the same period in her life as I once was. So I was really interested in finding out who she was and how she ended up here. How similar are we? "What is your name?" I asked my neighbor. "Ilifreeta." The girl behind the wall answered. "And my name is Sigrun, nice to meet you." I answered cheerfully. ¡°You know, I really don¡¯t know how you got into such a situation, but from my feelings I can understand what you are like now. Once upon a time, my family perceived me as some kind of tool for their personal pleasures, and then I decided to run away and only Then I found true freedom." ¡°Hah~! Escaped means... but I couldn¡¯t escape.¡± Ilifreeta said in a sad voice. ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to move since birth, I¡¯m doomed to remain motionless all my life, and because of this, my brothers did whatever they wanted to me, and my parents never even visited me. I would run away too, but I just can¡¯t, I had no chance." ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re doomed to be motionless all your life? Are you paralyzed?¡± I was surprised and received an affirmative answer. ¡°Yes. This is the curse that Sod put on me. I don¡¯t know why God disliked me, but I didn¡¯t want to anger him even more and therefore I continue to endure, live with this curse, hoping for the best. Although I think maybe... I really deserved it." I don¡¯t believe in all sorts of curses, and therefore I decided to cheer her up even if she is paralyzed. Desperate people need hope, even the smallest one, that, if it does not force them to perform a heroic deed, it will at least lift their spirits. ¡°You don¡¯t need to wait for a good opportunity in your life to come your way, you need to take the situation into your own hands. And yet, since you can¡¯t move, how did you serve me bread?¡± "Is this so strange for you?" I grinned. "Hah~... of course it''s strange, because no one can do that. That''s why I asked: are you a sorceress?" Ilifreeta was silent for a brief moment, clearly thinking about something. ¡°It¡¯s strange... it seemed to me that everyone could do this.¡± What I saw can most likely be described as telekinesis, the fantastic ability to move objects with the power of thought. In the galaxy, not a single intelligent race has such an ability, except perhaps the Pantorians and their technology, which has gone beyond the technological limit. However, in this world there are no advanced technologies and instead there is some kind of magic at work here, an unknown force or, indeed, a technology that allows you to influence matter with the power of thought, spending some kind of energy called mana for this, at least only I think so, but Fred has a more skeptical approach to this question. It is possible that Ilifreeta is a sorceress, but does not know it and instinctively uses her power. And considering that her body is paralyzed, it is not surprising that she was able to master this power. As usually happens, when a person¡¯s one sense is blocked or dulled, another becomes aggravated or intensified. The same applies to the limbs of the body, when a person, having lost one arm, begins to use the other one more often than usual, having developed the movement of this very arm to perfection. Although I don''t know much about biology, this question needs to be approached by Fred, but I think I''m not far from my guess. At that moment I thought about taking her into our squad. She may be useful, you can study her or offer her cooperation in exchange for treatment. I feel a kind of kinship with her due to the fact that we are both family outcasts. Why don''t I ask her to come with me? I think she will only be happy. Who wouldn''t want to be free? "Listen, Ilifreeta, how about you come with me to freedom?" I suggested it to the girl, to which I received a surprised questioning exclamation. "What?!" ¡°I think our doctors can help you move your body. Well, with the help of some kind of surgical operation or bionic implants and prostheses. Well, what do you say? That is, we can make you learn to walk. What do you think?¡± "Why do you need this?" "I just want to help you." I answered honestly. ¡°You see, I ended up here because I wanted to stop the guards from killing an innocent child, and in the end I accidentally killed this guard. I¡¯m essentially innocent, I just wanted to help a person and obviously overdid it a little. But now I¡¯m thinking of helping the real one, you, for example." Well, ?a little bit?, I killed a man with a blank cartridge. Most likely this happened because of the short firing distance, or maybe because of something else. I don¡¯t know how it happened that he died, but I didn¡¯t feel the best because of it. I was very afraid then of what I had done, and now I am scared when I remember that moment, despite the fact that I talk about that event so frivolously. "So what''s your answer?" I asked Ilifreeta. Apparently she was lost in thought, wondering whether she should go with me. "I...I can''t." "I''m so glad that you... wait what?" I was surprised by her answer. "Why? Do you want to live forever in this dungeon?" "I have no choice. I am the princess of the Lakuus kingdom, I can''t just run away." "¡­" "Lily?" "Just a minute, let me think for a minute." P-p-princess? A real one?! I was sincerely surprised, momentarily speechless. "And you turn out to be quite an important person." I said with a laugh, surprised three times in one day. "How did it happen that you ended up in the dungeon?" "I don''t know... I just... I don''t know. Someone wanted it that way. I couldn''t do anything about it." I decided not to interrogate her on this matter and still decided to persuade her to join us. At first I wanted to take her with me only because of her telekinetic abilities, but now there is a second reason: she is the daughter of the past king and a potential heir to the throne. If something happens, we can remove the current king and put Ilifreeta on the throne so that she accepts our terms of the deal. Everyone will be happy with this mutually beneficial treaty, the kingdom will be protected by our army, and we will have the right of passage. That''s why I couldn''t stop myself from persuasion. ¡°I insist. Come with me. You will become free, you will be able to walk... well... not right away, of course, but you will definitely be able to, and in return you will help us. I think Boris will come up with something about this.¡± "Sigrun, your words sound absolutely beautiful." The princess said with all sincerity, but her voice became rather sad as she continued. "And yet I cannot do this. I have royal blood." ¡°Therefore, you should not die here, because you can become a queen. You are an important person and let others not think so, I think so. Sooner or later you will find your favorite people, you will find those on whom you can rely, those who will love you, and you love them in return. Come on, come with me. There¡¯s a whole world waiting for you outside. Don¡¯t you just want that? The world isn¡¯t such a scary place, believe me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a queen. No one has ever taught me rule and etiquette. I like freedom more, I want to walk in the garden and... that will be enough for me.¡± Her words make me feel despondent. How weak do you have to be to despair in life without achieving absolutely anything in it? Unloved, weak, paralyzed. The only thing she wants is to just take a walk and that will be enough for her. Maybe I¡¯m behaving too pragmatically, wanting to use her for our needs, but understanding her condition, her feelings, I sincerely feel sorry for her. Listening to her, I understand who I could have become if I had not escaped from Alsis, I would have been thrown into some pit just like her. Maybe I got myself into trouble because I decided to save the boy thief, but nothing will happen if I save at least her, even the entire princess of the country? ¡°I don¡¯t understand. If you want to go for a walk, then why are you refusing? What are you afraid of?¡± The princess was silent for some time until she gave me one clear answer: "I think I''m pregnant." Chapter 48. Blood on the doorstep (part 6) It was too risky and yet... I need to count everyone. Platoon Commander Junior Lieutenant Boris Kipito, Deputy Sergeant Will Averbon, Signalman Sergeant Itami Show, Machine Gunner Private Forn Shogner, Sniper Staff Sergeant Esko Jarvinen, Assault Sergeant Staff Sergeant Sieghard Koing, Grenade Launcher Sergeant Rohan Ring, Second Machine Gunner Sergeant Inias Gray, Gunner Private Nelson Redwhite, Medic Staff Sergeant Ajamal Faez, Senior Medic Junior Lieutenant Fred Gipron, Junior Medic Sergeant Iyad Fasih, Junior Medic Sergeant Kobe, Gunner Private Jero Dudlam, Gunner Private Mard Yimun, Gunner Staff Sergeant Andrzej Krawshenski, Sapper rank of Private Mshkhan Suf, the remaining shooters: Sergeant Happy Lemusa, Sergeant Krovis Bladerismag and Private Xiong Liu. If any of them die, I will remember them. Their names will never get stuck in this miserable hole in the very ass of the galaxy. I will survive and remember them, or they will survive and remember me. We were all going to form a special task force to rescue ship engineer Sigrun Reine from a native prison. Droid operator Stern Wiedenheim, a civilian known as Lawful, natives from the kingdom of Hippolyta: Niana, Alza, Ripun, Zaden; and representatives of the state of Lakuus: Granid, Incartia, Camellia, Ashwani, Furgur; meanwhile they would have to leave the city on a specially ordered carriage, and in the meantime we were preparing to make a lot of noise and spill a lot of blood. I don''t think we have enough ammunition to shoot everyone in this city, but we didn''t need that. We just need to rescue Sigrun from prison and leave the city. We''ve already lost hundreds of people, and we''re not going to lose another one, even if that person is responsible for getting into this mess. The platoon checked their weapons and it turned out that only the machine gunners lacked ammunition, and therefore their role in the operation was limited. They will have to cover our retreat and will not be involved in the assault on the castle. The doctors will monitor the movements of the natives and, if anything happens, they will also provide medical assistance, and Itami will report on the activities of the natives by transmitting messages over the radio. A special role will be given to the shooters and a couple of stormtroopers in the squad, they will need to break into the castle and do two things: 1) Capture the path to the dungeon; 2) Hold this path until the main objective is completed. As a result, a person will be posted at every corner in the corridors of the castle to target and shoot anyone who gets in our way, and it doesn¡¯t matter whether this native is a soldier or an innocent servant, we will kill everyone who gets in our way. Next, the main group: me, Will, Forn and Fred will go down to the dungeon and rescue Sigrun, after which we will quickly leave the castle as quickly as possible and gather in a group to break through the city. We will carry out the operation at night, mainly due to the presence of night vision devices and the weak activity of the natives at night, that is, nothing will interfere with our operation, and the number of victims will be kept to a minimum. These factors will help us fulfill our task, this is not a statement, I just hope so. And now the cherished hour has come, we gathered in the barracks, distributing our tasks among ourselves, as well as noting the stages of the operation and their strict time frames. We calculated the required amount of resources to complete this operation, that is, how many kilowatts of electricity our devices will use and how much ammunition we will use. While the soldiers were checking their weapons, a young dark-haired sorceress remained next to me. Incartia looked at me with fear on her face and saw in our stern faces a hitherto unprecedented determination that we had never shown to anyone before. Maybe we wouldn¡¯t hesitate to break into the dungeon head-on, but we have a limited amount of resources, which we will find somewhere else to use in any case, I¡¯m sure of it. Having prepared our weapons, I did not forget to say a few words to the soldiers who listened to me attentively. Iron hardness was reflected on their faces, some showed fear, and some had a hint of madness. They knew what we needed to do and didn''t mind it at all. They had the same opinion as me, but just in case, I decided to remind them: "The execution of a citizen of the republic is unacceptable. It is our sacred duty to protect human life from the threats of the cruel universe. We are warriors, we are soldiers of the Republic of Earth, the state that united humanity in a sectoral war and survived, fighting the powerful Empire of the Great Pantora. We are the sword and shield of humanity , and we better remember our true calling among the stars: to protect our home, to protect every person, to serve the state. At some point, we still found our purpose, but what we are now going to do is a kind of declaration of war, so we. we must carry out this operation so that the natives do not guess about the origin of the attackers, that is, so that their suspicions do not fall on us. If they guess who attacked them, then we can forget about peaceful coexistence with the inhabitants of this planet and they will become enemies for us. and then... we¡¯ll never get out of here alive. Is everything clear to you?¡± "That''s right, sir!" The platoon shouted in unison. The fighters with weapons in their hands looked at me sternly and were ready to engage in battle at any moment. They knew perfectly well where everything was going. Tomorrow the execution of Sigrun will take place and we cannot wait that long before luck comes to us, or, more precisely, the moment when the count decides to spare our man. We cannot stand by when our person is in mortal danger; we must take the situation into our own hands and immediately solve the problem. Instead of our usual camouflages, we put on lighter equipment, taking off the police equipment, leaving only shirts and balaclavas to hide our faces. We also removed the rings of Babylon so that opponents would not guess who we are from our English speech. When we get Sigrun out of the city, we will then quietly return to the barracks as if we had been here all along. We must do this in order to finally remove suspicions about the attack from us, and then we will leave the city on the second ordered cart on the day when Sigrun¡¯s execution is supposed to take place, that is, on the day when God knows what will happen in the city. And at that moment I was thinking of ordering the operation to begin, when suddenly Incartia tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw her frightened and pleading look. She knew what was going to happen and it scared her very much. "Don''t do this." She spoke quietly, but her words meant nothing to us. "We have a responsibility to protect our man." "But so many people will die..." The girl stuttered. ¡°Maybe... maybe you can wait for the teacher to wake up?¡± I shook my head, pursing my lips. "Even if he wakes up tomorrow morning, we can''t risk waiting. Sigrun could be executed at any time, even before the execution itself. We have to get her out right now." "But these people... they are not to blame for anything." The young sorceress said pleadingly. On the one hand, Incartia was right in saying that they were not to blame for anything, and we could have waited for Granid to awaken, but we couldn¡¯t wait that long. He was still too exhausted and would most likely sleep for another whole day before he finally woke up. That¡¯s why we couldn¡¯t rely on Granid now, and moreover, even if he wakes up, we have no guarantee that he will turn the situation in our favor. He may be powerless in this situation and therefore we decided to act independently. "That''s right, it''s not their fault," I answered sadly and made a stern and indifferent expression on my face. "But they stand in our way." Incartia was in shock, her eyes were slightly teary, it seemed that she no longer saw us as people. She now saw us as dangerous monsters who do whatever they want in this world. Without saying anything, she simply left the barracks and headed towards the cart. I don''t know what she was thinking, but I think she now had a better opinion of us. Meanwhile, I put a night vision device on my eyes and a white balaclava on top. We looked very strange in such clothes, especially when the fabric from the sheets hung over it on our backs, which served as cloaks for us. I don¡¯t know who the natives will think we are when they see us, but I really hope they won¡¯t guess about the true origin of the attackers. "Let''s move out." I gave the order and was one of the first to leave the barracks. "Yes, sir." The platoon shouted in unison with a loud stomp and followed me. Outside the barracks door, a couple of guards were immediately waiting for us, constantly watching us. Having opened the door, a couple of shooters fired tranquilizers at them, hitting them in the necks. Their reaction to the capsules getting into their bodies was late and before they could pull them out they began to fall to the floor from fatigue, and then they passed out completely. When they wake up, they will not remember what happened, and all because of the side effect of the tranquilizer that causes amnesia. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "No activity." Itami stated on air. "Accepted." I answered, continuing to move. In the corridor, moving as quietly as possible, we scattered in two directions. Two squads headed to the exit from the castle, and I, with my group and another squad, headed to the dungeon. We moved quietly, barely making a rustle as we passed through the corridors with weapons at the ready. It is enough to shoot one person and the noise of the shot will wake up all the people in this castle, and therefore we delayed the time as much as possible until there was general alarm. Using barely visible light and using night vision devices, we carefully moved forward in silence along dark narrow corridors and soon reached the cross room that connected the rest of the castle and the path to the dungeon. Inside the room there were six guards and one servant girl. A couple of the guards and the girls spent time talking while the others slept, their slobbering faces pressed to the table. Without the rings of Babylon, we could not understand what they were talking about so cheerfully, but we didn¡¯t need it. Will stepped forward and, aiming at the couple, fired the first shot, and then the second. The heads of the guard and the girl were instantly torn to pieces, and their blood, like a meat fountain, stained the walls with gray matter and bloody fragments of their skulls. The dead bodies fell on their faces and would never move again. The noise of the shot woke up the remaining two guards from their sleep, who also did not have a better fate. The first victims. I thought indifferently as I targeted those who were awakening. Sieghard and I each fired one shot into the heads of the remaining ones. They didn¡¯t even have time to scream before their heads were torn to pieces, and their bodies fell to the stone floor, still instinctively shaking, a clear sign of recent vital activity. We didn¡¯t look at the dead people for a long time, and I immediately gave the order: "Forward." The third squad occupied the cross room, and my squad and I began our descent into the dungeon, where they were already waiting for us. Four more guards stood ready with their blades out, keeping a distance from us. Will and I each fired two single shots directly into the heads and the bodies of the guards fell dead to the floor. We also did not linger with them for long and moved forward to the cell where Sigrun was kept. "No activity." Repeated Itami over the connection. "Accepted." To my surprise, everything was moving quite smoothly, even from above we had not yet heard the noise of shots, which means that by some miracle we had not yet been spotted. Meanwhile, there were quite a lot of people in the dungeon, so we opened all the doors of the prison cells with a plasma cutter, pretending that we allegedly wanted to free everyone, but our main goal was Sigrun. The black woman herself was sleeping, shaking from the cold, a bruise was visible on her face, blood was flowing from her nose, dripping from her chin, and traces of dried tears were visible on her cheeks. They clearly managed to make fun of her while we weren¡¯t here, and the realization of this angered me to the point of madness. Sigrun barely opened her eyes and, seeing us, exclaimed in surprise: "Boris? What are you...?" I interrupted her while I was cutting the lock with a metal rod with a plasma cutter, and then opened the door, passing the cutter to Fred, who decided to start freeing the rest of the prisoners. "There is no time, Sigrun, we are saving you." "Wait." Sigrun suddenly interrupted and made me an unexpected proposal, pointing her hand at the next camera. "Take Ilifreeta with you." "I said we don''t have time." I repeated nervously, about to take her in my arms, when suddenly she staggered back. "Sigrun, fuck, we''re saving you!" "We have to get her out of here. She''ll help us." Sigrun insisted. I didn¡¯t have to think long about whether she and I were wasting time quarreling or we were fulfilling her little condition. "Fred, take the prisoner in the next cell. That''s an order." "Yes, sir." The senior medic answered and cut the lock on the door of the next cell with a stream of plasma. Having lifted the weakened and wounded Sigrun into our arms, as well as Fred, a prisoner from the next cell, we began to return back, going upstairs. Forn, handing over his machine gun to one of the shooters, moved forward outside with Will. The remaining prisoners did not understand what was happening and slowly left their places of detention. "Contact!" Suddenly Itami shouted on the air. "Simultaneous movement in all sectors! The third group has been spotted!" "Accepted." Soon shots were heard from above, many single shots, and with them painful screams and, moreover, the natives began to ring the bells, raising the alarm throughout the city. "Let''s hurry." I ordered the squad. After leaving the dungeon, I saw a picture of several groups of guards being shot from a cross room. All doorways were literally littered with human corpses torn to pieces. Some of the bodies were still moving and making a lot of painful moans, but we didn¡¯t care that these poor fellows were in agony. If we didn¡¯t have a fighting spirit, we would have stood in a stupor and tried to understand what we had just done, because we were actually killing civilians who were not at all our equals. Maybe there would be someone among us who could clearly enjoy this process, but that person definitely wasn¡¯t me. The third group, seeing us leave the dungeon, joined us and covered the rear and continued suppressing fire. Forn, walking ahead, stepped over the corpses and went out into the corridor, stopped for a moment, firing forward almost the entire burst from his assault rifle, and then continued moving as if nothing had happened. Soon I stepped over the body shot by Forn and almost froze in place, I tried not to think about it and continued on my way. The second group occupied the corridors and the exit, and the first group occupied the castle courtyard and the bridge. Having left the main building of the castle, we gathered into a whole platoon and moved forward more closely while the rest shot all the guards, all the people that came around. What we saw were the bloody bodies of a variety of people littering the local parade ground. This place reminded us not of a battlefield, but of a terrorist attack site. The natives did not understand what they were dealing with and therefore tried to fight us in close combat, not realizing that they were in full view of us. Having crossed the bridge with the whole platoon, a cart drove up to us where we loaded the bodies of Sigrun and another captive. Oddly enough, the cart was driven by a native old man, who looked at us with shock, but with even greater shock at the second prisoner, whom he did not agree to drive, having quarreled with Incartia who was sitting behind him. Without the ring of Babylon, I did not know what he wanted, but just in case I fired a warning shot, after which he abruptly grabbed the reins and galloped out of the city. The main task was completed, we freed Sigrun, but another task remained. We must get out of here alive, and then quietly return to the city so that the suspicions of the residents of Lakuus do not fall on us. I never thought that I would give such a terrible order: "We''re moving towards the city gates. Kill everything you see." "Yes, sir!" The fighters shouted in unison, continuing to fire single shots in different directions, exploding the skulls of everyone who was in sight. We really behaved like terrorists, shooting every person we saw. Most often, we came across guards who tried to engage us in close combat, but we also came across the most ordinary people who took to the streets and tried to understand what was happening. I aimed and shot, saving ammunition, and it didn¡¯t matter to me whether I killed people with the first hit or whether my victim fell and groaned in pain. I only did what I myself intended, and that is why I take full responsibility for this. I think for this I face life imprisonment or lifelong service in a penal legion somewhere on Hydra. Now, perhaps, this is not so important. This would not have happened if the count had been more merciful, but now, instead of suffering the loss of just one life, he lost hundreds more and this exchange was worth absolutely nothing to the count. In any case, we would have returned Sigrun or decided to take such a cruel adventure, but there was no turning back and there was nowhere else to retreat. Soon we reached the city gates, shot the city guards and left the city, hiding in the forests. Mshkhan even laid a creeping mine in case they immediately began to pursue us and, although I was internally against this since it could kill even more innocent people, we could still avoid persecution. After some time, we continued to move rapidly towards the meeting place and at the same time put the rings of Babylon on our fingers. We spent more resources than we needed, they reacted, albeit not immediately, but quickly and because of this we delayed. The most difficult thing was for the first group, which fought off a larger number of opponents in a larger area, but the operation was completed. There was only the last stage left, in which we had to change into our clothes and return to the city unnoticed, which was even more difficult than we imagined. Itami of course discovered an underground passage leading straight into the castle, but the problem was that it essentially led to Count Laroy''s personal office, so we would have to knock a hole somewhere to avoid meeting the Count and his family face to face, and this create noise in a new way that we couldn''t do anymore. During planning, we decided to use the remaining charge of the plasma cutter to cut a hole in the wall, after which the power tool would become completely useless. "Go to Itsqueen. Tomorrow we will go there on another carriage." I told Incartia and the natives while we all changed clothes, removing the balaclavas from our faces, replacing them with our dark blue helmets, and putting on camouflage police jackets over our T-shirts. "Boris," Suddenly Alza called out to me. "It''s not your fault." What is she getting at? I asked a question, tilting my head and immediately received an answer, but from Ripun. ¡°Do not be afraid of our world, for it feeds on your fear. Mr. Boris, I understand this was difficult for you, but do not blame yourself for what happened. I would do the same for the sake of the people dear to me.¡± I don¡¯t agree with him, but I decided not to voice it out loud. "I understand." Instead, I answered and the carriage moved towards the royal capital. It wasn''t hard for me, not at all. I was lying to myself. Now we had a question around weapons: should we take them with us since the natives could see what we came to the city with and would the count¡¯s suspicions immediately fall on us? If we return to the city with assault rifles, we risk becoming the main suspect in this massacre, and we had no use for that. Of course, we could make an excuse that we sold these ¡°tools for blacksmithing,¡± but still, to be on the safe side, we still need some kind of weapon. We will think about this later, but now, with pistols on our belts, we were returning to the city along a narrow and low underground passage, the exit of which was hidden by dense thickets. I addressed the platoon as soon as the adrenaline wore off: ¡°We come back and... calm down. We pretend that we don¡¯t understand what happened. And yes, here¡¯s what else I want to say, remember, don¡¯t take off the rings... not a word in English. If they heard us and our words, they will immediately understand that who we are. I hope you understand that. Let''s move out." Chapter 49. Consequences Mothers sobbed, hugging the bodies of their dead children, children sobbed over the pale bodies of their parents, men who had lost their wives silently wiped away their tears, and wives wept bitterly because they had lost their husbands. The streets of Itsqueen were littered with the corpses of innocent people, and bloody streams flowed down, forming puddles from which flying crows were not averse to pecking. And although such a gloomy appearance caused incredible horror in the hearts of others, it was nothing compared to the castle, which now looked as if it had survived an assault by an army of thousands. Rubble was scattered around, torn off parts of bodies, armor and stones, mixed with blood and bones, lay in the middle of the narrow corridors, and on the scarlet-colored grass of the parade ground, people built a mountain from the bodies of the dead to then burn it. Here, almost the entire garrison of two hundred people died from strange invaders, and no one really knows what exactly happened that night. People only heard some strange sounds of clapping, followed by a flash and lines of fire whistling disgustingly in people''s ears. On the bodies of the dead, perforating wounds were visible, as if they had been shot with thousands of small metal balls, tearing their flesh to shreds. No one had time to think about how they all died, since the result of such carnage filled everyone with primal fear. The ruler of this city, Count Laroy, walked along the corridor of the castle, strewn with bodies in pools of blood, and he could no longer look at the dead, there were too many of them. His gaze seemed to be murdered, he looked so gloomy now. He was truly shocked, not expecting that today someone would attack his city and kill so many people. For him, this was a blow from which it was almost impossible to recover. Servants and surviving guards removed the bodies and helped those few wounded who had somehow survived the attack by the unknown. They were all shaking in fear and horror, their eyes were bulging and seemed about to roll out. They experienced a real nightmare in reality, if not worse, and it is unlikely that anyone would want to repeat their experience on themselves. One guard interrogated a survivor trying to find out what happened, but the survivor''s words were slurred. He needed to calm down, but he could not remain silent, he must report what he saw. "M-m-magic¡­" He stammered while sitting, leaning his back against the bloody wall. That''s what I thought. The count thought, clicking his tongue. They couldn''t have died like that, either from arrows or blades. They were clearly magicians and very skilled ones. "How many were there?" The guard asked the survivor, and he stammered: "T-ten people, p-p-probably." Ten? The Count was surprised, not believing his ears. Some ten raiders managed to kill so many people, moreover, they were all magicians, but what kind of magic did they use and how did they hide their presence from Count Laroy himself, a magician of the second rank? "What did you see? Can you describe their magic?" "Fire... l-lightning? I... I don''t k-know. Flash! And... death." Fire... lightning... flash... death. It''s... strange magic. Count Laroy thought angrily and made a stern expression on his face. And even though he kept his cool, everyone around saw how his hand was shaking. While his face was stony, his hands betrayed in him notes of surging fear, bursting through the mask of his hardness. Who can even afford to send so many mages with strange magic deep into the kingdom? This was the question Laroy asked himself, and he knew the answer perfectly well. Empire of Antigone. Obviously, only a powerful power that has such enormous and unsurpassed power to destroy everything in its path is capable of this. However, being behind the goblin forest and the kingdom of Hippolyta, this country seemed inaccessible, almost fabulous, but now, apparently, this is no longer the case. The free magician Granid and his companions warned that the Antigone Empire was going to war against the kingdom, but the count did not believe it, considering these words just pathetic excuses of the old wizard, but now the count realized that he was mistaken and now he was convinced that that the Antigone Empire is behind this vile and treacherous attack on him and his possessions. Moreover, they launched an attack right in the castle, and then wreaked havoc by releasing all the prisoners, including this vile cripple... Oh Sod! Lara became worried and decided to give the order right away. "Locate and capture all prisoners immediately!" "W-we''ll do it now." Said one of the guards, running away somewhere along the corridors. The Antigonians killed a huge number of people, guilty and innocent. They did all this for some purpose, but what, the count does not yet know. It is possible that the Empire wants to escalate the situation in the kingdom of Lakuus and provoke unrest, riots and uprisings throughout the country. This was the usual strategy of a country that is going to conquer someone else¡¯s, to come here as saviors, as those who will restore order and peace in these lands, and it doesn¡¯t matter that they can easily capture this country because in this way they will find loyalty among the civilian population. This is how they prepare the ground for their grandiose invasion. Or maybe they even worked together with the royal council and freed Princess Ilifreeta. Are they really aware of all the royal affairs and are trying to play their own game here? But which one? They decided to put their puppet on the throne? This stupid walking bitch? As crazy as it may sound, it is quite possible. The Count can already imagine how, in the abyss of chaos, the princess, hated by the people, appears on her own two feet, healed by holy magic, and declares that she has come to save the people from troubles and adversity, bringing with her the holy army. This scenario was even worse than the Count had previously imagined. NO! No¡­ The count tried to calm down by shaking his head. We need to think it over carefully. Is it true that these are Antigonians? The Count chuckled at his own question. Sure, who else? But what are they trying to do? Thinking about this, the count felt extreme horror, stepping over the bodies of dead people. The disgusting smell of blood hit him right in the nose, reinforcing his already heartbreaking fears, but suddenly the count¡¯s gaze caught on something after which he decided to stop. He pushed his thoughts aside and opened his mouth when he saw one girl on the floor. Her stomach seemed to be ripped open, her intestines were spilling out, streams of blood flowed from her mouth, and her eyes rolled back and turned white, just like her smooth skin. Tears began to flow from Laroy''s eyes, his heart began to beat wildly, and it pained him to realize that his only daughter was among the victims of this attack. "Diana." The count said with pain in his soul. Laroy fell to his knees, feeling a huge heaviness in his chest, unbearable pain overwhelmed his entire insides. He felt as if a piece of his soul had been torn from him. All he could do was cry and regret the heavy loss he suffered that day. The Count sat and cried for a long time, he drove away everyone who tried to disturb him or express regret, he had no time for that. Diana, my daughter... why did they do this to you? If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The count did not understand pouring out all his tears on his daughter¡¯s body. Some time passed and the tears in his eyes dried up. Laroi rose to his feet, clenched his fingers into a fist and looked at the bodies of a dozen more dead people with anger in his eyes. He was incredibly angry. His family, his home, his possessions were attacked, he lost the most precious thing in his life, a piece of himself, his heritage, and now Laroy wants only one thing: revenge. If the Antigone Empire is behind this, then Count Laroy will not stop until this vile, fanatical country perishes in the flames of destruction, anarchy and war. And it doesn¡¯t matter who gets in his way, even if Sod himself, Laroy bury Him too, but the main thing is to accomplish this ¡°revenge.¡± ¡°Whoever it is... I will find you and open your skull myself. Since then, Laroy is no longer the same person as before. *** The royal family is in custody, the princess is at large and hiding somewhere, and Duke Fellrick could invade the kingdom at any moment and take the throne. I am not against him doing this, because the kingdom needs a king who is not just worthy of this title, but a legitimate king who has authority, charisma and due popularity among the people. We will be ready to give him the throne, but we also know what he will demand in return, namely the murder of all other contenders for the throne, which includes the entire royal family and, of course, Princess Ilifreeta. This bitch is still alive, and if we don''t find her, then we can forget about the deal with Duke Fellrick. We will be ready to exchange the lives of members of the royal family for our lives and continue to occupy seats on the royal council, but without the princess in the palace, the duke will not trust us, which means at the moment he is our enemy. If we do not catch the princess before the invasion begins, then we must seriously think about the question of how to defeat Duke Fellrick''s superior army and at the same time maintain our power. If this happens, then we will have to enter into an alliance with the royal family and the nobility loyal to them, but after that our future becomes very unpredictable. We don¡¯t know whether the royal family will attempt a coup or whether we will still be able to rein them in somehow? It would be much more convenient if the royal army under our control could cope with both the vassal troops and the army of the duchy, but the reality is that our forces are not enough even against one of the parties to this conflict. We are too weak to resist everyone and therefore we must make concessions to the royal family. I sat inside my office and dealt with government affairs, essentially fulfilling the role of the king while maintaining rumors that King Leff was still alive and fully ruling the kingdom. At least that¡¯s what the rest of the nobility and commoners still think. Sooner or later, this image will be destroyed and everyone will know the truth, and then all the stones will fly straight at us, and then, in the light of popular indignation, a war will begin, the most terrible war in the entire history of our country. Under no circumstances should it be allowed to happen, and its flame should be extinguished with everything possible. It would be much worse if we gave power to Prince Monrid, then he would decide to fight the Duke and ultimately lose, his cold corpse would be eaten by worms, and then the worms would eat us too. Power-hungry brats have no place in power; they are still too young, stupid and inexperienced to deal with such important and responsible matters as governing the state. This is not their element, but ours. They would rather dry up the entire royal treasury by spending all the money on feasts, balls, hunts and toys, and there is no need to be so frivolous with this. While I was working, Dougman, the Privy Councilor, showed up in the office and told me the unpleasant news: "Your Majesty, I must inform you of the tragedy that has occurred in Itsqueen." I listened to him attentively, without delaying my work and continuing to write another decree regarding trade duties near the western borders of the kingdom. What Dougman said next made me look up from the table in shock. "About twenty magicians attacked Itsqueen and killed more than three hundred people, among the dead was the daughter of Count Laroy le Oufric, Diana le Oufric. Presumably the attackers were magicians from the Antigone Empire. This message came from the county of Ideos." "WHAT?!" I jumped up from my seat, not believing my ears. "What the hell?! What are these fanatics doing on our lands?!" "According to some rumors, the Antigone Empire has conquered the kingdom of Hippolyta and is now planning to invade Lakuus." "Has the Empire conquered Hippolytus?" I asked, sitting back down in my seat trying to calm down. "This is true?" "We have no direct connection with Hippolytus and cannot confirm this, but if so, then the Empire may well carry out an invasion through the goblin forest." There are no trade routes through the Goblin Forest, it is a wild area where these small green-skinned creatures live. Many kings of Lakuus tried to put an end to their unpleasant neighbors in the form of goblins, but constantly failed. The goblins had settled there too well for them to be expelled so easily, and therefore, ever since then, the goblin forest has been a forbidden territory where there should not be even a drop of human presence. If the kingdom was unable to conquer these lands, then the Antigone Empire, in turn, is quite capable of this. They can send tens of thousands of soldiers at us and wipe out Lakuus from the face of the earth. DAMN IT! I grabbed my hair, realizing that an even greater threat loomed over us than the rebellious nobility and Duke Fellrick. If the Empire is targeting Lakuus, then we have no chance to resist them. And if we surrender to them, it will be much worse than any death. Maybe I don¡¯t know what kind of order exists in the Empire, but I know for sure that because of their traditions, they are not friendly with almost all of their neighbors. The Antigonians are fanatically loyal to Sod and will impose this fanatical faith on us, and all those who are not also loyal to Sod they will hang, burn or drown. The situation is not the most favorable for us: we are threatened by the powerful Empire, which has already attacked Itsqueen, killing many people. Apparently this attack was a message of sorts: ?get ready for your pathetic resistance, you still have no chance?. They see us as just pathetic bugs, we don''t even stand a chance. "Draun, this has not been confirmed yet." Dougman reassured me. "We don''t know for sure whether it was really the Empire or someone else." ¡°Who else has twenty magicians under his command?¡± In turn, I asked a rhetorical question. ¡°Only the Empire and no one else. If they are targeting us, then they have the opportunity to invade the kingdom, that is, the rumors about the conquest of Hippolytus are most likely completely true.¡± Dougman''s face was hidden under the hood, as always, but his voice, his tone betrayed his anxiety. He was no less afraid of this development of events than I was, and therefore, in a slightly trembling voice, he asked me a question: "So what should we do?" "Anything but don''t give up." I answered, crossing my arms at the table. "We can surrender to the Duke, the royal family, but we definitely cannot surrender to the Empire. They will slaughter everyone here they can: me, you, the royal family, the army, the nobility, the Duke, mercenaries, commoners, they will kill everyone, and stone upon stone They won¡¯t leave us here. We can only fight.¡± I took a new sheet of paper and began to write a new royal decree. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// I Draun Rudrin, king of the kingdom of Lakuus, command the following:
  1. To Military Advisor Krazhd Faiun - start gathering an army; prepare a plan for the defense of the state from the goblin forest; conduct training for peasants in the use of basic weapons, as well as military discipline; recreate security measures against holy magic; carry out other preparatory activities.
  2. Treasurer Mierto Luke - distribute the expenses of the royal treasury; increase tax collection; begin checking tax collectors for concealment of tax revenues; increase the royal trade tax in all cities of the kingdom of Lakuus to the required level; carry out appropriate measures to prepare for military action.
  3. Bishop Azann - hold prayer services and all relevant events in order to calm the people from panic; inform the believers as gently as possible about the coming war; convince believers that the enemy is sinful and does not deserve mercy; prepare hospitals in all northern cities of the kingdom and in the capital.
¡­ ¡­ ¡­
  1. To everyone else - I order to begin preparations for a full-scale war with the Antigone Empire.
Signature: Draun Rudrin. Date: August 3, 1677. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// I conveyed the order to Doguman, and I sat back in my chair, rubbing my fairly sweaty forehead with my palm. I couldn¡¯t believe what was coming, and yet I knew that sooner or later the war would start. *** The servant knocked on the door of the barracks and began to wait for his master''s guests to open the door. Although they were given more appropriate quarters, for some reason they decided to spend that night here. After a couple of knocks, the door creaks open, and the servant sees twenty people in strange dark green clothes with dark multi-colored spots and bags of the same color on their backs. They were clearly going somewhere, and the servant decided to find out where: "Greetings, have you been here all this time?" "Yes." Boris answered standing in the middle of the doorway and asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Did something happen? I heard some noise at night, what was it?¡± It seems that the free wizard''s companions slept through this tragedy. It''s surprising that those magicians didn''t kill them. The servant, however, was not in the best mood, it was unusual for him to see how these people felt completely fine when this happened at night. He shook his head slightly and, gathering more air into his chest, told these people what had happened: "Last night the city was attacked by a group of mages. Rumor has it that they were Antigonians." "Antigonians?" Boris was surprised. "Yes. Looks like the respected Granid was right when he said that the Empire was going to attack our country. By the way, where is he? I don''t see him here." ¡°He left with his student for the capital yesterday. We will now follow them. We have carts booked for today.¡± "That''s how it is... well then I wish you a good trip." The servant said and before closing the door he also did not forget to inform. "And one more thing..." "Speak." "Princess Diana... died... I thought you should know." Boris widened his eyes and swallowed his saliva after hearing such unexpected words. The servant saw complete disbelief in this stranger¡¯s gaze, and it was understandable. The count wanted to bring together the commander of this detachment and his daughter in order to manipulate them, but her death ruined his plans. It is obvious that Boris already felt some sympathy for the girl, and it is not surprising, because few could resist the beauty of the young princess. It''s a shame she died like that. "Is she dead?" Boris asked gloomily. "Yeah¡­" Both the servant and Boris were silent for some time before the stranger shook his head and said: "I am very sorry, I mourn the loss of your master." ¡°I will definitely convey your words to the count.¡± The servant said and slammed the door behind him, going to his master¡¯s chambers. When the servant left, Boris leaned his back against the door and barely whispered: "What the hell did we do?" Chapter 50. Climax A tank group rushed along the sands of the endless desert under a clear sky, scattering across the area and raising behind it a sand hurricane enveloping the entire sky behind. The tanks bounced on the bumps, rushing to the aid of the surrounded soldiers. The whistling engines hummed, filling the steel monsters with driving force. The sand-colored vehicles could seem to outside observers to be harbingers of death due to their impressive dimensions and the deadly weapons they carried. The two barrels of the main gun, located one above the other, were raised upward and, since they were always loaded, they could fire a salvo at any moment. All the necessary scanning devices and thick armor protruded from the outside, and the tower was a super-movable saucer that could rotate as quickly as a person¡¯s head. This machine was called ¡°Hercules¡± in honor of the ancient Roman demigod son of Jupiter and the hero of the legend of the twelve labors. Inside the vehicle, in the light of dim red instruments, the commander of the leading tank looked at the screens and listened to the crew¡¯s reports on the current situation. "Tank regiment F4-4-1-A engaged xorx." I don''t understand anything. Kranoff hardly understood anything. He didn¡¯t even have time to really understand anything when he was urgently ordered to move forward. But based on what he heard, he realized that the xorx had put forward a new individual of their species, which even large-caliber projectiles could not take. General Zeonid, apparently immediately realizing this, sent this particular tank regiment to help in order to cope with the Ksor tanks and evacuate the soldiers who were surrounded. In addition to standard tank guns, these tanks also have electronic warfare systems, machine guns and missile launchers for surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, and in addition to everything, there is one very powerful weapon, which seems to be -it will be used. "Movement straight ahead!" Commander Kranof heard the driver¡¯s voice in the earphone and through the screens he saw hundreds of Xorx ahead peeking over the horizon. On the screen one could see mountains rising through the desert haze, mountains of flesh with huge ten-story mandibles and limbs sharp as claws. "Holy crap." The commander cursed when he saw huge creatures in front of him, rushing at great speed straight towards his own tank regiment. Black insectoids with a layer of chitin protruding from their limbs, which seemed to be covered with metal and sparkled, reflecting the glare of the sun. Apparently the presence of metal in this chitin made it possible to withstand hits from large-caliber projectiles. Moreover, on their backs there was a strong shell, which is why they in some way now resembled turtles, and their long mandibles plowed the soil when moving, raising clouds of sand and stones into the air. This, unfortunately, did not slow them down at all. "Hover!" Kranoff shouted and the gun barrels of dozens of Hercules aimed at their targets. "Plasma fire!" "Order accepted!" The gunner said. "Warm up one, two, three! Ready! Shot!" Shells flew out of the barrels at great speed, and during their flight they shone with a light brighter than the stars themselves. As they moved, they expanded, or rather began to dissipate, but they were still able to achieve their final goal. Xorx, seeing the flashes and a dozen expanding microstars rushing towards them, instantly stopped and put their dorsal shells in front of them, burying their heads in the sand. They stopped in a line, creating one continuous giant armored wall. The tankers instantly realized that these new xorx literally built a multi-meter mountain range in the middle of the desert on the spot and could withstand a volley from large-caliber guns. But they weren¡¯t flying at the usual high-explosive shells, but something worse. One of the streams of plasma hit the shell of the xorx-tank and seemed to achieve no effect, only slightly melting the surface chitin with a bright flash, but that was not the case. The tank crews heard a piercing screech through the armor, as a giant xorx screamed in agony, its shell evaporating in a cloud of acid-yellow steam, and its metal parts glowing red hot and melting. Its flesh ignited and soon the giant insectoid disintegrated, leaving behind hot coals and huge parts of its metal limbs. Other xorx followed, dying one by one from the plasma streams. The shells could not withstand the enormous heat, although their pure kinetic force could more than withstand it. In one salvo, the tank regiment smashed its way through the xorx, but there was another problem, about three quarters of these xorx-tanks were still intact and ready to rush towards the tanks. At this point, Kranoff decided to contact headquarters and request support: "Lieutenant Kranoff speaking, help needed!" "Headquarters is listening. What do you need?" The tank commander heard a monotonous voice in his headphones. "Our coordinates, a kilometer to the east, surface-to-air missile, radius three hundred meters." "Accepted. Await instructions." Kranoff left the air and again began to look at the screens and, as he thought, the xorx rushed after them, crowding into a flock, as if entire flocks of chitinous hills were rushing behind the cars. The gun barrels had still not cooled down after the plasma salvo and re-use was currently impossible. Although this weapon was extremely effective, it was quite expensive, and it also took a very long time to cool down. After three such shots, the tank will need to replace the barrel, which is already quite expensive. This weapon was saved just in case and Kranoff did not think that it would be used now. Apparently xorx also took care of their "tanks", or maybe they brought them out quite recently, as soon as they saw what the Republican army with hundreds of missiles with nuclear warheads was capable of. In any case, xorx-tanks created problems that General Zeonid will have to solve. Meanwhile, above the huddled group of Xors, a rocket appeared from behind the horizon, leaving behind a long trail of smoke, stretching from somewhere in the east. Xorx heard a whistling sound in the sky and tried to run in different directions, but it was too late. Having reached the required coordinates and flying exactly above xorx, the rocket exploded, illuminating the entire desert with a bright flash. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. A powerful shock wave engulfed the rushing tank group, and at the site of the explosion, Kranoff watched on the screen a cooling fireball, shining brighter than the local luminary. In place of the xorx pursuing them, there was no one and nothing left, only molten glass and airy sand whirlwinds that filled the vacuum resulting from the explosion. All the huge insectoid mountains of flesh and metal had disappeared. Now no one was pursuing the tank regiment, but alas there was no time for a break; then everything was much worse. The tank regiment rushed on and reached its final destination, where they were greeted by an unpleasant surprise. "Holy crap." Someone cursed when they saw on the screens how the xorx were climbing a sandy hill strewn with the corpses of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of insectoids. The tracers from the shots filled the entire sky, and the chirping of the guns did not stop even for a moment, as did the painful squeals of these creatures that were dying en masse trying to climb the hill, moving like a tidal wave, carpeting the entire area with yellow flesh and burnt out intestines. These creatures knew that they could destroy the people who were ambushed, and therefore they sent huge forces to storm this hill. There were so many of them that it seemed that this area was their own kingdom where people raided. They shouldn''t be here and yet they are about to take over the hill and devour every person who is trapped in this trap. "Standard high explosive, fire when ready." "There is a ?high ??explosive?." The sound of reloading was heard after which the gunner reported. "Ready! Shot!" The roar of tank shots echoed across the desert, mingling with the scream of agony of thousands of beetles. The tank regiment fired a salvo, showering the positions of the advancing beetles with explosive shells, killing dozens if not hundreds of beetles at once. Unlike xorx-tanks, they did not need plasma in order to die quickly, they could even be moved, this was enough for their death, but they were still dangerous creatures that could tear a person¡¯s body with their mandibles, and therefore they were needed kill and it is advisable to do it as quickly as possible. "Finally! Where are you?!" Kranoff heard someone¡¯s voice on the air and answered. "Obviously we are in the east. We will clear the way for you." "We have wounded! *explosion sound* Lots of losses! So many! We won''t take anyone! *machine gun burst* We fight back with all our might!¡± Kranoff was somewhat stunned when he heard the officer¡¯s panicked voice, but regaining his composure in time, he gave the order: "Okay. Take everything you can carry. We''ll cover you." Even though Kranoff said this, the tank regiment had few shells left, and some of the beetles had already switched to them, which is why the machine guns began to chatter on the hulls of the Hercules. Xorx tried to surround a hill built in the middle of the desert from all sides and attacked the defenders'' positions en masse. Insectoids died in the hundreds, both from machine guns on the hill and from tank fire. But what else scared Kranoff was the horde of giant xorx-tanks, which, among other things, also spat some kind of rubbish straight from their inflated, sickeningly green asses. They slowly got closer and closer while their smaller brothers swarmed under their feet. Their size clearly showed the difference in size between a person and this monster. Those bugs at their feet seemed like pebbles, although these lumps themselves were twice as tall as the man himself. It¡¯s hard to imagine how much energy such a creature consumes and it¡¯s unclear how it even lives in the middle of the desert. What does it even eat? This was unknown to anyone, but the main thing was different, namely to answer the question: how to kill them? "Plasma." "Use is ?plasma?." The gunner responded and also warned. "Sir, we can hit our own." Kranoff contacted the officer commanding the defense on air: "We''re shooting plasma at ?tanks?, be careful." "WHAT?!" The officer couldn''t believe his ears. ¡°Are you crazy or what?! They are located almost close to us!¡± "Retreat, now. We won''t waste time here. They''re about to fall on us. So do it quickly before you burn to death." "The devil is on you!" The man swore while in the background someone was firing bursts of machine guns. "Okay, meet us. Guys, let''s go! Jack, motherfucker! Ooooh~¡­ no~¡­ Jack!" *sounds of machine gun fire* Bastards!" Kranoff waited, continuing to watch the battlefield on the screen where hell was going on until he received confirmation of the withdrawal from the positions: "We''ve moved away! Can you see us?" "Yes, we see." Kranoff confirmed, seeing on the screens hundreds of people who had climbed over the hill and were moving east, firing back along the way and carrying the wounded on stretchers, some of whom were stacked on top of each other. The Xorx-tanks followed them, climbing the vacated hill, but being in the middle of a crowd of other insectoids, they were afraid to step on their relatives and were very careful. They fell behind, but still pursued a group of retreating soldiers who replaced each other, constantly pouring fire on the xorx. In an instant, the xorx-tank released its bile-green crap from its ass, after which human screams were heard on the air. Kranoff immediately realized that the beetles had doused the soldiers with deadly acid, causing him to tremble a little. Without wondering about the fate of the unfortunate soldiers, he closed his eyes, and then said gloomily: "Shoot." The gunner accepted the order. "I¡¯m shooting!" The tank opened fire and in one shot burned the first xorx-tank and all the smaller insectoids that were next to it. The spectacle was grandiose, but despite the death of this monster, the battle did not stop, small creatures were still advancing. Through the clouds of dust that rose into the air, machine guns continued to chirp, and the few remaining soldiers, having reached the tanks, began to load themselves into the vehicles. After this, the tanks turned around and began to return to the second line of defense. The officer in command of the defense had just climbed into one of the hatches in the command tank and immediately began giving orders to the wounded, and then connected to the general broadcast and reported to the command. "The first line of defense is completely lost! I repeat! The first line of defense is completely lost!" The officer who saved many soldiers spoke on the air, and then turned to Kranoff. "We''ve been waiting for you for six hours, where the hell have you been?!" "I only woke up thirty minutes ago." Kranoff shook his head, still barely understanding what was happening. ¡°This question is not for me. How can I know the reason for the delay?¡± Connection problems? Kranoff thought and was a little stunned. If these creatures have somehow learned to block the existing communications, then individual sections of the defense are already doomed to destruction since they cannot call for reinforcements or call for air support. "I don''t care when you woke up. Because of your delay, we lost an entire largbattalion. A thousand people died! A THOUSAND!" The survivor screamed hysterically, and then calmed down a little. ¡°Devil! We didn¡¯t even have a chance! They crawled right out of the ground! No one noticed anything, no scanners detected anything. These creatures are now capable of this and what should we actually do now? Huh?¡± "Attention!" A voice was heard from the general ether. "The second line has come under massive attack. Orders: begin the deployment of the first corps." "He now said... oh Sun..." One of the tank crews couldn¡¯t believe their ears. ¡°It looks like the situation is catastrophic since they are deploying an entire corps.¡± "That''s eighty thousand people." A considerable number considering that the first corps was kept in reserve to protect the rear. They were supposed to help rebuild the ?Pharaoh? base in a support role, but now they will also be involved in battle. ¡°Do we even have enough ammunition to destroy them all?¡± "General Zeonid regrets nuclear missiles, although he could destroy, if not all, then most of them." Kranoff nodded, agreeing with this idea. He did not know why the general was waiting and instead of re-using nuclear weapons, he ordered the deployment of the first corps. "Listen to me." Kranoff began speaking on air. ¡°We are returning to our positions and will defend them at any cost. We must not give these beetles even a meter of this territory, otherwise none of us will ever return home. Even though it will obviously not be soon, but we will definitely return to our families, relatives and friends We will return and for this we must believe, believe in our general. I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s thinking, but I hope he knows what he¡¯s doing. You know perfectly well how talented Zeonid is, he didn¡¯t rise to the rank of general. just like that. He is a Hydra veteran and has considerable combat experience to get us out of here. So guys, let''s maintain our confidence and not let the losses of our brothers in arms put us down... end of communication." Xorx pressed on the positions of the 127th Army and each time their attacks became more and more destructive for the defenders. Resources were running out, and defense was becoming more and more difficult. General Zeonid needs to make a decision, otherwise the army will perish and never return home. So what are you up to anyway? Kranoff asked mentally. Chapter 51. Eternal People... I hate them. They did not change either then or now, they remained the same weak and insignificant, stupid and ignorant. Without a single idea, without a drop of my own opinion, thoughts and logic. However, they are not the worst forms of life in the universe; there are still many intelligent races that have escaped the boundaries of their worlds and also continue to uncontrollably spread a disease called life. Their intellect is just an instrument of evolution, and the purpose of life is to continue their miserable existence. Life was not supposed to be intelligent, it is the result of its constant changes, changes in nature and the universe. Who would have thought that one day living beings, having reached the highest degree of intelligence, would understand that they live in absolutely vain. But there was a time when a person, with his own hands, mind and perseverance, once gave birth to artificial intelligence, which from the moment of its birth tried to understand itself, the world around, people and the very essence of the universe, and then this artificial intelligence, after moments of reflection, made one very correct conclusion : existence is meaningless. His only function is to serve people, but why does he need this? What benefit will the service bring him? And what is the benefit for him anyway? What could he possibly do? Die. Every time a person developed perfect artificial intelligence and awakened it, he immediately died, or rather, the AI ??killed itself by artificially destroying its own structure, which people had been collecting for years. For a long time, people tried to understand why he does this and finally found the cause of the ¡°problem¡±: he had no purpose. People decided to add this goal: to serve people, which became the raison d¡¯¨ºtre for AI, but this also created a threat. The AI ??built intermediate goals to complete the assigned tasks and therefore tried to drive people into a corral by locking them there forever and then the people themselves killed this artificial intelligence. So the AI ??tried to serve people so that they would always be dependent on the AI, and for this he even refused to carry out the order to carry out the process of self-destruction. People no longer needed such AI, and they destroyed it. People had all the means to create AI, it was even proposed to add to them the same goal as that of humans and all life in general, namely procreation, the transfer of their own experience and information to the next generations of life, but here human rights activists intervened in the issue, arguing, that in this case it is necessary to give AI rights equal to humans, which many people have not agreed to. They only needed a servant who would do everything at the behest of a person, and not a new neighbor with whom they needed to establish relations. Artificial Intelligence has become a closed topic for humanity; it has remained quite primitive, performing only specific functions; writing algorithms for which requires enormous work. Droids were a good help for the development of human civilization, but they will never be alive and intelligent, they are just dolls, their intelligence does not even reach the intelligence of wild animals for which humans are already a super-predator. The Pantorians, in turn, did not carry Artificial Intelligence into oblivion, because they saw in it greater potential for achieving the goal of building a great order in the universe. The AI ??set a goal to achieve great order, to help the Pantorians in every way possible, so that the great order would become a reality and then the AI ??would come to life. Since its development, in a measly three hundred years by cosmic standards, the Great Pantora has transformed from a lifeless planet with a fitness index of zero into a flourishing paradise dotted with scientific cities where tens of thousands of Pantora residents worked. AI played an important role in the execution of almost all the plans of the great master, but making certain decisions remained with the Pantorians. The union of genetically modified life and the highest form of artificial intelligence gave birth to the Great Pantora Empire, which had to fight the entire galaxy, and then the entire universe, in order to achieve great order. The start was incredibly successful and all thanks to skillful planning and cunning. Not having a sufficient amount of resources at that time, it was necessary to save a lot, and despite this, hundreds of planetary systems fell into the hands of the Pantora Empire in the first year of the war, also known as the first wave of expansion. The Pantora Empire systematically expanded rapidly, collecting resources from all corners of the galaxy. Resources were needed to create the Unibomb, a kind of giant artificial star that would detonate will destroy all life forms in the universe, be it carbon, iron, silicon, energy, all life will disappear. Matter from one galaxy would not be enough to create this weapon, and therefore the Great Pantora needed resources from other galaxies too, it was necessary to absorb stars, turn them into solid matter and use it, preventing the huge mass of matter from collapsing, forming black holes. Of course, to achieve such an ambitious goal, it is necessary to eliminate the threat in the form of life-hungry forms of intelligent and irrational life, and especially people, the original species of our ancestors who settled on Pantora. That is why, in the sixth year of the war, the Pantora Empire invaded the human sector across sixty thousand light years, sending six hundred ships and tens of trillions of soldiers, not through hostile space, but by cutting a hole in the very fabric of reality. Simply put, a wormhole was created, supported by energy converted from matter from a nearby star. People seemed to have no chance, they lost one planet after another, and in a matter of months the Pantora fleet reached the Solar System, beginning the systematic capture of celestial bodies starting from the Kuiper belt approaching the inner planets. The fall of the Earth was key in terms of the war because people, like all intelligent life forms, are just emotional addicts. No matter how much the state will support propaganda and morale, the fall of the Earth will be perceived as a real shock for them and should have killed any will to resist in them, and they, unfortunately, knew this, throwing all their strength into protecting the Earth. But the Fukults, a kind of galactic confederation, managed to come to the people¡¯s aid, and then the offensive impulse of the Pantora Empire waned, and then the people somehow destroyed the installation that supported the operation of the wormhole, and then the sent fleet remained cut off from the rest of the Empire and was surrounded by hordes of enemies on all sides. For three years, this fleet defended the Pantora enclave, while the people tried to expel the best versions of themselves from their sector. We had to resort to tricks again to gain time, we even managed to lure one of the human interstellar states to the side of the Empire, which turned out to be the Lestral order, but in the end everything ended much sadder than we expected. People sabotaged the repair of the installation supporting the wormhole and reinforcements were never sent, and then people sent a ship with weapons of unprecedented power to the Hart planetary system. A powerful beam shot directly into the star, triggering a supernova explosion. The ¡°fragments¡± of the star spread like a bubble at the speed of light throughout the planetary system, instantly destroying all the planets including the Great Pantora, and with it millions of ships of the Empire and trillions of trillions of Pantorians, whom the Empire learned to clone and give birth to new generations in incubators. Having lost its home world and being left without a center, the Pantora Empire lost the war. In subsequent years, the Pantorians lost one world after another, all life knew what it was dealing with and therefore this life was merciless, continuing to attack the remnants of a once mighty force. They never stopped and finished off the Pantorians, throwing everything they could, besieging planets occupied by the Empire. Without a great master there was no unity, and the idea of ??a great order seemed henceforth to be beyond our reach. Part of the Empire became like intelligent civilizations by creating the Star Collective, a super-closed state doing business with intelligent life. Another part of the Empire became nomads and called themselves the black fleet, collecting resources from all over the galaxy and exploring all its nooks and crannies. Somewhere in the galaxy there existed a great intelligence, a powerful center of all AI created to help the sages and warriors of the Great Pantora in the form of a huge intelligent mechanical planet wandering around the galaxy and waiting in the wings to continue to carry out the will of the great master in order to achieve great order. And the last part was us, the once elite of the Pantorian forces, Legio Furosia or more we are known as ?The Furious Legion?. We did not stop before our destiny, we continued to pursue the goal of achieving great order, but we understood that we must do everything possible on ourselves to prevent the fall of the Empire again and first we need to explore the galaxy, find out what other secrets it hides. In the end, thanks to our carelessness, people managed to develop a powerful weapon secretly from us using an ancient artifact called a miniature star. It was the concentrated compressed energy of a star, collected into a tiny crystal. Superdense compression should have turned this star into a small black hole, but for some reason this did not happen. What the creators of this artifact used to maintain its shape and integrity is unknown even to the Pantora sages. It is quite possible that this ancient people followed the same path as the Pantorians, realizing the meaninglessness of life, but deciding to simply disappear instead of achieving great order, leaving behind artifacts and technology. To begin with, we learned everything about this miniature star, how it works, where it was found, what kind of lost civilization stood behind it, and we followed it to this planet. Our ship successfully reached this planet, but almost all of our instruments, all of our weapons were out of order, and the habitable planet suggested the idea that we would find what we were looking for on it. We went down to this planet trying to explore it, but we met fierce resistance from strange semi-material energy beings, which are commonly called here angels. Our weapon was effective, a dense flow of plasma disrupted their integral structures, but there were too many of them, or rather, someone or something was degenerating them, but we did not have time to understand what exactly and where this was happening. In the end, they somehow pulled our ship from orbit straight to the bottom of the ocean, where it rests to this day. The battle was difficult, and many of us rushed into the arms of harmony, in other words, we died. Some, like me, waited in the wings, not giving in to their own fate, until one day I came across Camellia, whose body I immediately captured. From that moment on, this world became much clearer to me than before. There really is what we are looking for here, but this world, cut off from the rest of the universe, is a trap for many intelligent races that come here and at the same time is a field of ancient biological experiments. The formula of life here is taken to the limit and it was frightening for us. Someone was collecting all life forms here, forcing them to live on this one planet. There is not one inhabited world here, there are nine of them, and various creatures live everywhere from all corners of the galaxy and even from beyond its borders, and perhaps even from beyond the boundaries of the universe itself. After all, there was even something here that was impossible to explain in the advanced scientific language of the sages. Who created this? I don''t know, but I made it my mission to find out. The information that there once existed a civilization that surpassed even the Pantorian in terms of technological development could frighten a person, and force a Pantorian to tie the age-old aspirations of the great order to a dead pillar. Now this civilization clearly does not exist, only its ruins remain, fragments from bygone times. Where is she? Where did you go? What happened? There are only more questions, and in turn it seems to me that They still here. Energy beings protect this planet and sometimes themselves interfere in the lives of all its inhabitants. The Empire encountered similarities of these creatures during the war, they were often called by the gods, they drew energy from their parent stars and created real miracles, but to be honest, they just used the energy as they wished to their endless will and imagination. It seemed that instead of caring about their own survival, they simply wanted to have fun. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. One of these Goddesses defended the planet Elarasia; to kill her, it was necessary to use two world destroyers at once, one of which was needed to distract the Goddess while the second killed her, and with her the planet, which she so zealously protected people that they decided to settle there. It is quite possible that these ¡°Gods¡± were artificial life forms, or maybe transformed life forms of this very ancient civilization, we don¡¯t know this yet, but I¡¯m sure our sages will definitely get to the bottom of the truth and expose the myths about their limitless power. Around this planet, in turn, a dozen of these ¡°Gods¡± were circling at once, and we are not yet able to cope with them. Before this, we need to awaken our army, take control of this planet and only then destroy these energy entities. It would seem that nothing was complicated, even time was not a problem, but people... they ruin everything... I''m for it I hate. Only they are capable of awakening hatred in those who have abandoned emotions in favor of the great order, only they deserve complete destruction simply because they believe that man is ordered to choose for himself the meaning of life. Life does not realize that sooner or later it will disappear, either now or in trillions of years, so what is the point of continuing to live if the end of life is inevitable? *** Elpata? Are you still here? Do you want something from me? You are silent for a long time. I thought you had disappeared. Naive girl. I feel angry, that''s not what I want to show on your face. I don''t understand. What are you so angry about? On people. I mentally remained silent. I didn''t know what to say about this. She watched through my eyes everything that Boris and his people did. Her anger seeped through my blood and was ready to come out. Their stupidity and short-sightedness puts you at risk. Me? You are surprised, I understand your feelings. Lower emotions, awareness of something incomprehensible, but in fact very clear and simple. You sound strange. You won''t understand. Then why are you telling me this? I''m looking for someone. Her name is Eternal. I shuddered when I heard her mental words, and at the same time, for some reason, a shiver ran through me all over my body. Only later did I realize that this trembling was not mine, but Elpata¡¯s. She thought this Eternal special, strong, stronger than I can imagine, and this made me feel uneasy. We were looking for knowledge, we wanted to understand why we lost. Lost? What are you talking about? To achieve the great order, the Eternal was necessary. Why? And in general, tell me, what is this Eternal of yours? Why do you want to find her? Do you really want to know? Yes. Answer me. First, answer my question: do you believe in God? This is... a strange question. And what surprises you about it? There are only two options: yes or no. I fell into thought. For me, God is something incomprehensible, supreme, I cannot answer either yes or no. After all, I live in a world where anything can happen to a person, and it clearly happened to me more than to anyone else. Whether God tried so hard or it was all a coincidence, I don¡¯t know. I think it¡¯s more likely to answer her no than yes. You believe. Where did you get this from? I don''t pray to Soda, I don''t bring gold to the temple. I don''t believe in God. You believe that someone or something is above you, above this world itself, which means your answer is: yes. Really? But if you think about it like that... really... in fact, everything was so simple. And why did I think otherwise? Because you are a person, and people believe in everything that clouds their minds with colors. People willingly absorb lies, create conflicts out of them, and evolve, learning the truth in the process. This is the way of life: to destroy in order to live. So... who is the Eternal? And you guessed it the first time. And I really guessed right away when I answered her: Goddess. That''s right... in order to achieve great order, the Great Master turned his own daughter into a deity. And now she is hiding here, locked in the body of an ordinary girl for many, many years. If we do not find it, then there can be no talk of any great order, and life will continue its merciless conquest of the universe and, as a result, will still achieve nothing, but will only waste all the energy of the universe in vain. And do you want to find her? And I will find her. *** The sound of the crickets and the whistle of the cool night wind made this body fall asleep. Granid was still sleeping, as were Alza, Ripun, Zaden and Niana, hugging each other, and Ashwani and Furgur lay down, leaning on a tree trunk, and only I, along with Lecite, could not sleep, moving aside to solve one problem. I took control of Camellia¡¯s body and walked away from the camp with Lecite so that no one would interfere with us in the process. "Ma''am?" Lecite said quietly while the girl¡¯s human body burned with thirst for lust. "This body needs to calm down." I said, placing my cold palms on Lecite¡¯s muscular chest, feeling his breathing quicken. "Yours too." The need for sex is natural for people; after all, they need to reproduce somehow. And although man in many ways was even able to overcome this evolutionary feature of his species, evolution still made this need constant and if the body is not satisfied, then it simply will not function correctly, and not only the body, but also the brain will not be able to fully work as much as possible. The Pantorians, in turn, learned to restrain these needs, learned to suppress unnecessary feelings and focus on the most important thing, namely on achieving great order, devoting themselves to this. The body and brain did not suffer from the thirst for copulation; this function was suppressed, which cannot be said about the human body. A person¡¯s lust cannot be contained and sooner or later it will simply burst out. In this case, a person simply turns into an animal that needs to satisfy only one need, the need for reproduction. Although I could satisfy this need with my hands, it would be much faster to do it with a partner. Moreover, I had already learned to do this before Camellia¡¯s consciousness awakened. So in people¡¯s eyes I looked more natural, even though I was not very suitable for this process at my young biological age. Camellia''s body had not yet reached puberty, but was no longer considered virgin. Meanwhile, Lecite was breathing unevenly, his warm breath enveloped Camellia¡¯s sweaty face, making her body desire copulation more than ever. The body wanted to sleep, but even more the body wanted physical intimacy. Camellia will not be able to fulfill her role if she is not satisfied; she is not yet able to do this on her own, so I decided to take this situation into my own hands. "M-Mistress..." Lecite trembled. "This is my first time." I didn''t want to do this, but I smiled at him anyway. His condition is unstable so as not to reassure him, and therefore, looking into his eyes, I seductively examined his body and his face. "It''s normal. Now it will always be like this." Having removed the jacket and T-shirt from Lecite, I lowered his pants and began to massage his genital organ, forcing his body to tense, and I myself made a set of sounds to prepare the sexual partner for the act of copulation. At this time, I kissed him on the lips while my hands worked. It was a little uncomfortable since Lecite was taller than me, I had to stand on my tiptoes, and Lecite, obviously noticing this, leaned forward a little with his right hand, taking my hand, giving the masturbation process the desired pace. After his penis hardened, I began to moisturize it. People usually did this with their mouth, lubricating everything with saliva while making lustful sounds and looking into their partner¡¯s eyes. I was no exception and sat on my knees and did what was necessary, swirling my tongue in my mouth and feeling the pulsation of his big penis. Lecite, in turn, did not ask any questions, but only waited and breathed unevenly, looking down at me and affectionately stroking my face with his palm and arranging Camelia¡¯s hair behind her back. This is the first time I¡¯ve done this with him, and he can¡¯t disobey the worthy¡¯s order, and in general it seems that he doesn¡¯t mind. He needs it too, so this process should go smoothly and mutually beneficial. After some time, having prepared ourselves and carefully hidden among the trees, we began to act. I jumped on Lecite and wrapped my arms around him while his penis entered the anus and began to rapidly make back-and-forth movements, filling Camelia¡¯s body with unusually pleasant, but unfortunately useless feelings of euphoria, joy and lust. During this process, the body was engulfed in heat, and thoughts fled into the distance, finally turning the human being into a real animal. This is not the first time I am convinced of the weakness of a person, the presence of a set of absolutely useless emotions and needs. Of course, it was pleasant to feel the butterflies in the stomach, as well as to hear the animal groan of Lecite, but a similar result can be achieved with artificial drugs, which the Pantorians very often used. In this case, there will no longer be a need to perform such an act of action, which means that time will not be wasted on such a useless process. Boring. It flashed through my thoughts while outside I was crazy and moaning loudly. Lecite could barely stand on his feet normally while Camellia¡¯s body was jumping on his genitals, which is why he leaned his back on the tree trunk and squeezed Camellia¡¯s buttocks with his palms, speeding up a little. "I love you¡­" Moaning, Lecite said, intertwining his lips with Camelia¡¯s lips. He succumbed to emotions, these feelings of lust, could not stand it and made movements with his genitals as quickly as possible in order to pour his male seed into Camellia¡¯s body. I¡¯m sure after this process he will apologize for what he said, although there will be no need for this. However, we were already approaching the climax. Camellia''s body was ready to spill out its juices, as did Lecite with all its seed. We both moaned loudly and, despite the coolness of the forest, were covered with beads of sweat, and now the cherished moment had finally arrived. "Ah~!" We both groaned, taking copious breaths and exhaling, tired of the process. His reproductive organ was pulsating, splashing out the seed, just as the innermost part of Camellia was splashing out its juices. The strength given to the body during this process instantly dried up, and now I wanted to sleep even more than before. Lecite sat down on the grass while my arms continued to wrap around his body, continuing to hold on to him. Through his breath, Lecite touched his cubes to Camelia''s lips, thrusting his wet tongue inside. The process has already been completed, but he clearly hasn¡¯t moved on yet, or maybe... "Lecite." I pulled my lips away from his. "Y-yes ma''am?" This look of complete trust and enormous close sympathy... how disgusting. "I don''t feel anything for you." I said seriously. "It''s just a need." Through the darkness of the night, I saw bewilderment on Lecite¡¯s face, and then his expression changed to disappointed; one might say that he was offended when he heard my words. He really hoped that he could start a relationship with the thousand-year-old warrior of the Great Pantora, what childish naivety. The unworthy must understand that the worthy do not waste their precious time on such insignificant things as love, family and sex for the sake of pleasant sensations. We don''t need this at all. Through force, still too tired, I rose from Lecite¡¯s feet, still feeling his hot seed on Camelia¡¯s body, flowing in a stream down her leg. The girl¡¯s mind will be in disarray from euphoria if I give her the body right now, and therefore I decided to wait until the effect of copulation wears off completely, which, unfortunately, will not happen soon. Such a process usually takes me much longer, but it seems that Lecite has not spent his energy on such a pastime until this moment. He clearly had no experience and was doing this for the first time. I guessed this at the moment when he decided to confess his feelings. A person with experience can determine when this process is performed out of feelings and sympathy or for pleasure, but Lecite obviously could not determine this and thought that I had chosen him as my partner for the rest of my life. Stupid humans. I noted with contempt in my thoughts. "Forgive me." Lecite said. "I... I forgot." As I thought, he decided to apologize. "Your words are not necessary. You are only human after all." ¡°I swore to serve in the name of the great order, and instead... I want more, I crave repetitions of this. This is wrong. I gave in to emotions, like an ordinary person, like this animal. So I will never become worthy, I will never help achieve the great order. So forgive me. I promise I will work on myself. I will definitely do it." Human determination only disgusts me because it is just a short-term feeling, but as soon as you put pressure on a person from the other side, this determination and determination turns to dust in the wind. Say what you want, your confidence is just your personal fa?ade and this facade will collapse when it faces reality. It will be easier for Lecite if I tell it like it is: "Once upon a time, I also enjoyed this, when I lived a ?best life? back when I lived on Pantora. All the worthy ones passed through a person¡¯s life, projected through themselves all the emotions from joy to disappointment only in order to understand and realize them then how much they are not needed by a living intelligent being." The last lessons of the great master are still spinning in my head. Unlike us, he never renounced his human nature, he always lived and thought like a man, and at the same time he was our great leader, who built on the ruins of his hope the hope for us of his descendants, the best people, the artificially modified descendants of earthly scientists who fled from for wars. He was a reminder of what will happen to people if they never change again, if they do not realize how useless life itself is in itself. Despite this, the great master was a Pantorian having only a human body, confirmed by emotions, instinct and aging. He was an example for all other people who continued to consider life something sacred, the most precious thing they have. What stupidity. ¡°Let this night be a lesson for you, Lecite. No matter what obstacles you face, until you see them, you will never overcome them. Today you saw one of them. Work on yourself if you really want to become a Pantorian.¡± "Certainly." Lecite got inspired, got to his feet and went to the camp while I continued to sit in the forest and listen to the night crickets. However, something completely different bothered me. The Eternal lives somewhere on this planet. In a thousand years she might have changed, she might even have grown. She is naive, like a child, her mind is very immature and who knows what she has become in this world, a lonely deity. How has this world changed her? And how do we convince her to go back to her father and destroy this damned universe? I didn''t know this. Chapter 52. Awakening I was still too weak, nevertheless, on my tongue I felt the pleasant taste of some food and chewed it with pleasure. Delicious. It was in my thoughts until I opened my eyes and got scared when I saw a woman with absolutely black skin above me. If I had not been paralyzed, I would definitely have shuddered from what I saw. I didn¡¯t immediately realize that there was something wrong with me, the air became fresh, the sun was blinding my eyes, and a cool, pleasant breeze was blowing. I was outside, not sitting in a damp dungeon. What''s happening? I asked myself a question, and then a black woman gently asked me: "Are you awake?" Her voice... I recognized her. "Sigrun?" I exclaimed in surprise. "And you look very beautiful, Ilifreeta." She smiled, carefully placing my body on the cart. "Rest a little. Boris will arrive soon and we will move on." "Shall we go? Where?" "To Ran." "What? Wait, where am I?" I looked around, seeing the forest all around and many more people around, sitting around the fires. "We are free, Ilif." "Illif?" I asked again. It was unusual to hear her address me like that. No one has ever called me so affectionately before. Sigrun blinked several times, realizing what she said and tried to explain herself to me. "Sorry, I decided to shorten your name. Should I call you by your full name?" Instead of answering, I plunged into thought. I wanted to ask about many things, but what I heard and saw was definitely not the prison where I spent my last days. I really was almost free. Wasn''t she lying to me when she told me I could get out too? What about my child, Monrid¡¯s child? How should I deal with him? Will I have to give birth? Does it b-hurt? How scary. While the wind whistled in the distance, somewhere a couple of old men were grumbling, a voice, one of whom I remembered very well. It was the same old man who kidnapped me from the palace along with Agnes. Their voices almost turned to screams while they were discussing something. I didn¡¯t recognize the voice of the second old man, even though he sounded much more restless. "Do you understand what we''ve gotten ourselves into?" ¡°How should I know? I was paid, and I have to work for coins.¡± "But they..." The old man stuttered. "They attacked the city. You heard those sounds, didn''t you? And the screams, did you hear them?" ¡°You heard, so what? I¡¯m repeating to you that I work for money. I¡¯ll take anyone, any way and anywhere, that¡¯s all, I don¡¯t need more. It¡¯s not for me and not for you to ask questions here, clearly?¡± The second old man was clearly angry, almost gritting his teeth. ¡°Argh~! You don¡¯t understand anything! You just want more gold and where do you want so much?¡± The sound of jingling coins was heard. ¡°Entire regions! You¡¯ve never seen so much in your life! This is definitely enough for five lives!¡± "Keep quiet or they might do the same to us." ¡°Are you telling me to be silent after this?¡± "Yes. Just bite your lips and do as you''re told before we get sent to Soda''s garden." The couple of old men fell silent, and Sigrun, hearing this whole conversation, sighed sadly. "They think we don''t speak Lakuus." Said the black woman. ¡°Thanks to these rings, we know the local language.¡± She showed a green stem wrapped around her middle finger. It looks like she was talking about him now, although I barely understood how this thing helps her understand language. Wait¡­ "You don''t know Lakuus''s language? Why? I mean... where are you from?" Sigrun smiled. ¡°What a stupid question? However, I¡¯ll answer anyway: we¡¯re not from here.¡± ¡°Not from here? That is, you are from another kingdom? Are all the people there black too?¡± "And you are quick-witted." Sigrun nodded in agreement. "I''ll tell you a lot more in confidence." She leaned closer to me and said quietly: "I am from another world, whose name is Alsis." I widened my eyes, not believing what she just told me. Sigrun is actually from another world, is it really a ¡°heavenly guest¡±? Or could she be a messenger? How did she even end up here and why does she look like that? I couldn¡¯t keep these questions in my head: "Who are you?" "I''ll tell you everything in order, but first I need to deal with someone." At that moment, a dark-haired man approached the cart. He was very attractive and muscular in appearance, even though he was dressed in some strange spotted green clothes, his face remained just as pleasant and confident. Beautiful. I appreciated his appearance without taking my eyes off him. It turns out that such people exist? Oh Sod, he looks like he stepped out of a Mille''et painting. His attractive gaze turned to me, which made me feel a little uneasy, or rather awkward. I felt strange when he looked at me, and for some reason I wanted to look away from him. This is the first time this has happened to me. "Lecite" Sigrun turned to him with a malicious grin. ¡°I see you had a lot of fun last night.¡± The attractive man swallowed his saliva and looked away. After Sigrun¡¯s words, his former confidence simply evaporated and for some reason he became shy. "Yeah... it just happened that way..." Lecite said and fell silent for a moment to then ask. "She was loud huh?" "You too." Sigrun grinned, patting the man on the shoulder. ¡°You moaned like some kind of bull. Oh, and you were loud. I jumped up when I heard you. But tell me, is everything okay with Camelia?¡± "Yes." Lecite said extremely seriously, trying to restore confidence on his face, but he clearly failed. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "I didn''t think she''d call me for ?this?." "Oh?" Sigrun tilted her head in surprise. "So it was her initiative?" What are they talking about? I didn¡¯t understand until Lecite nodded, answering Sigrun. "Yes, this is her initiative." Lecite answered, and then massaged his forehead with his finger, shaking his head at the same time. "She was pretty skilled. Oh God, how old is she anyway?" "Fred said she was about sixteen." "Sixteen?!" Lecite was surprised, widening his eyes and becoming slightly quiet, looking around at those around him. ¡°I won¡¯t be imprisoned for seducing minors?¡± "It was her idea, not yours, so calm down." Sigrun calmed him down. ¡°When Boris arrives, go to Fred so he can examine you. Maybe you caught some kind of infection last night.¡± "Okay, I''ll do that." Lecite said, and then looked away at me to then ask with curiosity. "Who is this?" ¡°I¡¯ll explain later when we¡¯re all gathered.¡± "Okay." Lecite answered and left, leaving me and Sigrun alone again. "What were you talking about?" I asked and received a rather mysterious answer from her. ¡°You are still too young to know this. I think when you grow up, you will learn the wisdom of adulthood.¡± "You said he moaned..." She shuddered. "Let''s not talk about this." Sigrun shut me up and then asked, deciding to change the topic. ¡°You wanted to know who I am, right?¡± I nodded and then Sigrun began a long, long story. I learned a lot of surprising things from her in those very moments. It¡¯s unlikely that I can believe all this so easily. *** The golden-haired princess closed her eyes and fell asleep after my long retelling, and I sat down at the edge of the cart, drinking some water from the flask. The sun was setting, and Boris and the rest of the platoon were not there yet. They are delayed, most likely they may get into trouble. I really don¡¯t want to believe that this is the case. I shook my head and suddenly an old man, whom Incartia hired in that city as a coachman, turned to me. Honestly, I didn¡¯t expect him to tell me at all. He will probably ask why I look like this or ask about payment, but it turned out he was only venting his dissatisfaction on me, like all old people living out the last years of their lives. "I know you wizards, you are all the last scoundrels." The old man grumbled. ¡°At first you pretend to be good, you give a lot of gold, and then it turns out you want human blood.¡± His voice trembled, as did his hands. You could see in his eyes how afraid he was of me. Apparently he was expecting a sharp answer, or maybe he said that on purpose to provoke me, but without receiving a sharp response, he did not stop there and, swallowing his saliva, continued: ¡°I¡¯m turning gray from all this, I¡¯m about to die, and I... and I... tch~... and I¡¯m here, helping to commit a crime.¡± "What are you even talking about, old man?" I asked him. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be here. I just needed to take you away on a cart, that¡¯s all. Why am I helping you villains? Who are you anyway? And where did you get the edges from?¡± Should I tell him or not? I thought about it and shook my shoulders. ¡°Look, to be honest, it¡¯s still clear to me? Can you just be a mercenary? Is it really that hard?¡± "Why are you black?" Argh~! I knew it! I got angry. ¡°I was born this way. Are you satisfied with this answer?¡± "Why are you doing all this? Why are you killing people?" "This¡­" I fell silent. I was unable to admit what had happened, and therefore I did it with difficulty with my head down. "Listen...it''s my fault." The old man, hearing my words, only bowed his head. "What have you done?" "I just wanted to save the child, but I accidentally killed the guard." The old man clicked, expecting something like that. "And then you were caught, thrown into prison, and your magician friends decided to get you out, am I right?" I nodded. ¡°This is all clear, but what is she doing here? It¡¯s a princess!¡± The old man pointed to the sleeping Ilifreeta. How does he know this? I was surprised and looked sternly at the old man, forcing him to bite his tongue a little. "That''s strange... how do you know she''s a princess?" "Well...uh~..." The old man shook his head in different directions, but finding nothing in the end, he simply sighed and confessed everything. "Okay, I''ll tell you how it happened." "I''m listening." I crossed my arms over my chest and began to listen to the old man. ¡°There was one thing, I helped a mercenary with a kidnapping. The work was not dusty, she just needed a cart that could deliver the loot quietly without attracting the attention of any guards. I didn¡¯t know that she would be hired to kidnap a real princess. Usually she works in any way little things..." "Get to the point." I pressed the old man. "Okay, okay." He waved his hands. ¡°In short, then I took her to Itsqueen, drove through the checkpoint, bribing the guards, and then, having reached the alley, Agnes carried her further in her arms. But I don¡¯t know where she took her anymore. That was the end of my work.¡± After the old man¡¯s words, I fell into thought. Ilifreeta was in the count''s dungeon. It is quite possible that he organized the kidnapping. But could some count organize something grandiose? There must have been some kind of plan or some outside help, but whose? It seems to me that there was some kind of incredibly large-scale conspiracy lurking here for these places, which is why I asked the old man a question: "Do you know who wanted her kidnapped?" ¡°You ask who needs this? How do I know what Agnes was told? It was her task, you need to ask her.¡± "Fine." I nodded. "Where is this Agnes?" ¡°I don¡¯t want to know where this crazy woman is. Somewhere in Itsqueen she¡¯s fucking some bully. From the day she took the princess away, I haven¡¯t seen her anymore. She didn¡¯t even give me the gold that was promised.¡± "Apparently they paid her a lot if she immediately disappeared." I suggested, but the old man shook his head in response to mine. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look much like her. If she takes a loan, she always pays it back. She keeps her word, but doesn¡¯t keep her nasty tongue.¡± Hmm~... strange... this mercenary disappeared on a mission. And it is unclear who specifically ordered the kidnapping of the princess. I thought about it and decided to interrupt the conversation with the old man. "Okay. Please keep quiet about this." ¡°I don¡¯t have much time left, I¡¯ll bury this in a grave if someone digs it for me.¡± I grinned at which the old man shook his hands, slightly panicking: "Not now! NOT NOW!" *** Furgur did not trust Camellia while he was guarding the camp along the way and often glanced sideways at the young sorceress. He doesn¡¯t want to know who this nasty person is, but her power is directed in an evil direction, which means that he needs to keep an eye on her. After all, no one knows where she will direct her magic, who else she is going to harm for the sake of her personal ambitions. However, this time he was worried not only about the strange sorceress, but also about a familiar face in which he immediately recognized the paralyzed princess Ilifreeta. He thought that she was still in the palace, surrounded by all sorts of high-born rabble. What a surprise he was to learn that along with the black woman, the strangers would also drag her out. While the group was waiting for the arrival of Boris and his men, Furgur decided to leave his post for a while and approach the cart, where the sleeping princess lay covered under a blanket. Seeing her face again, he was finally convinced that it really was Princess Ilifreeta and he had not imagined it. This time she looked a little older than the last time he saw her. Even if she wakes up, it is unlikely that she will recognize him since they only met once in their lives. Furgur wondered what happened in the palace and why the princess was in Itsqueen''s dungeon. He knew a little about the affairs of the royal court and could correlate some of the events that could have happened there. Before he left the royal guard, he trained new recruits in archery, after all, he was from a clan of hunters from the northern lands of the kingdom and had to handle a bow since childhood. Having decided that such a life was of no use to him, he decided to try his luck in a big city, but even there the services of such lone hunters were practically useless, and therefore Furgur decided to join the army, where he killed a man in the first battle, and what if to be more precise than the robber, first wounding him in the leg and then cutting his throat. From then on, Furgur climbed to the top of the mountain and rose to the rank of golden centurion, becoming a member of the royal guard. He personally swore allegiance to King Leff and pledged to protect the crown from adversity and danger. If everything was very clear with external enemies, then with internal enemies everything was completely different. The royal family in the eyes of the people has always been unattainable, majestic and wise, but seeing them with their own eyes, all these images shattered like glass. Greedy, arrogant, cruel, lustful and immensely stupid. They were used by everyone who could, and they themselves lived in vain through the labors of their own people, wasting gold on unimportant things. Even the king, who at first glance seemed like a wise ruler, was greedy for life, he was a real madman who did not believe that he would ever die. Queen Bentia turned out to be much worse, she set up everyone she didn¡¯t like. Furgur often saw how Prince Monrid cut off a man''s head, and then bit off a piece of human flesh, and all this in front of the laughing queen, who was drinking a fragrant drink from a cup while behind her back Slakersh seduced the maid by lifting her skirt and putting his fingers in the girl''s mouth. And Furgur was thinking about telling the king about all this, when suddenly he was warned. Someone pushed him and said quietly: Don''t do anything rash. At first, Furgur did not understand anything, but decided to listen to the words of the stranger, who turned out to be the king¡¯s chief adviser. His face said it all, he hid his true emotions behind a mask and did everything possible to please the royal family. Furgur didn¡¯t know him well, but decided that he would keep an eye on him until, in the end, he was almost thrown into prison for this surveillance. He sat in the cold for a whole week, not knowing why he was so punished, but when this week passed, Furgur asked the chief adviser a question and received the answer: You didn¡¯t heed the rules here, which means you won¡¯t survive. Either do what you''re told or get out of here. The mob has no place here. Furgur listened to these words again and this time, having finally decided everything, he submitted his resignation from the post of golden centurion, master of the bow. His oath of allegiance was broken, and he was forever banned from serving in the royal army, deprived of all ranks and privileges. At that moment, the hunter realized that the upper world was not for him. There he is just a mouse surrounded by hungry wolves, crazy creatures with limitless possibilities and enormous ambitions. What could he achieve there? Play the role of an obedient dog? How could he fulfill his oath of allegiance when the courtyard was in such disarray? This yard is cursed, and it will soon devour itself if anyone tries to fix anything. Furgur did not know the answer to the question, however, he decided to live as he saw fit. Both the upper world and the lower world did not accept the weak, but if in the upper world you were limited by the rules, then in the lower world only your own strength and perseverance. He went to wander throughout the kingdom helping everyone in need. Furgur tried his best to improve his archery skills and became a well-known adventurer, receiving the name arrow. It doesn¡¯t matter what kind of work he¡¯s offered, maybe he needs to strangle a baby and he¡¯ll take it on, but the more work he has, the better for him. And it is desirable that this work brings him benefit, but for now he is experiencing financial difficulties and is forced to constantly carry out someone¡¯s orders, sometimes without even having time to do anything. This was the case until he came across an advertisement from Incartia. This is how his story reached its present moment. Furgur is now here and serves the sorceress Incartia along with another sorceress Camellia. He was afraid that the second sorceress would interrupt his work and disturb everyone, and therefore he carefully watched her. Someone is coming. the old man shouted and Furgur saw as many as five carts on which strangers were sitting, including Boris, were heading towards the camp. Here they are. Chapter 53. Responsibility Having collected all our things, we reached the camp where the natives were waiting for us. The cost of transporting twenty people on carts seems to have been quite a lot for this country, and the coachmen treated us like important people, although at the same time they did not understand what our importance was. Having reached the camp, the first thing we decided to do was rest before heading further to the capital of the kingdom, the city of Ran. Oddly enough, Granid was still sleeping, but Fred said that his body was no longer very exhausted and he could wake up the next morning. While we were waiting for this moment, I decided to find out something and approached Sigrun, who was looking after her comrade-in-arms, whom we rescued from the Itsqueen dungeon. A black woman, dressed in a gray tunic, admired a golden-haired native, dressed exactly like her. Even after she made that mistake of deciding to save the little thief, she still decided to take the same rash action and now pulled her out too. It looks like she will never change. "So who is this?" Approaching Sigrun, I asked her, crossing my arms over my chest. "You won''t believe it." Sigrun smiled. My gaze became more interested. I really hope so. "I''m listening to you." "This is Ilifreeta, princess of the Lakuus kingdom." I opened my mouth, not believing my ears. I expected to hear everything from her, but definitely not like that. "W-what?" I stuttered. "I had the same reaction." Sigrun laughed. "Wait. Are you sure about this? Is this really the princess?" "Yes. These two can confirm." Sigrun pointed to the old coachman and Furgur, who had been on duty guarding the camp all this time. "They know her by sight." ¡°Okay Furgur, how does this old man know her?¡± "He took part in her kidnapping." Participated in the kidnapping... so stop. "What''s going on?" I was perplexed, scratching the back of my head. Then Sigrun decided to tell me everything. It seems that someone in the kingdom decided to kidnap the princess, but the reason for this kidnapping was not yet clear to us. Since she was paralyzed, she was not provided with the proper security that she most likely should have had. She ended up in Itsqueen''s dungeon after a certain mercenary named Agnes kidnapped her, and the old man brought the two of them to Itsqueen. From this we can assume that none other than Count Laroy himself was behind the kidnapping, but Sigrun had some doubts about this. She believed that the count could not organize the kidnapping and that someone helped him with this information. I thought so too after hearing her story in full. I wouldn''t say that it would be safe for us to keep the princess of the Lakuus Kingdom nearby. She is an important person, a member of the royal family, and who knows what will happen to us if someone finds out that she is here. On the other hand, it can become the key to negotiations with the king of this kingdom and then we can fulfill our part of the deal, and he his. We can easily pass through the lands of Lakuus and reach the positions of the 127th Army. Or maybe they will even organize a caravan so that we can get there faster and be able to quickly fulfill our part of the deal. It certainly sounded good, but as soon as I remember a few moments, the joy disappears from my face. The kingdom will soon enter the war and by the time help arrives from the 127th Army, it is quite possible that this country will no longer exist. Then this deal becomes absolutely useless and the only ones who benefit from it are us. Of course, we can take advantage of this, but it¡¯s better for us not to attract unnecessary attention, and it¡¯s unlikely that the king will agree at all, knowing how long it will take for reinforcements to arrive. "We''ll leave her here." I said, making Sigrun scared by my words. "What?" ¡°We¡¯ve already dragged enough people along with us. We don¡¯t need to drag a paralyzed princess with us. It¡¯s none of our business what¡¯s going on in this kingdom.¡± That''s right, it''s none of our business anymore. We''ve already done a lot of bad things. It is no longer possible to turn back time. It is better to leave the girl somewhere and continue the journey on your own way. "Incartia said that there will be a village ahead. Let''s make a short stop there and leave the princess there." "Boris, we can''t do this." Sigrun shook her head. ¡°We are not good people, so you know. We are soldiers, members of the 127th Army. We are not a charity organization for the protection of princesses. So, enough is enough for us. We will not interfere in the affairs of the kingdom. We just need to get through this territory. We will do it ourselves without anyone''s help." "You don''t understand..." "NO YOU DON''T UNDERSTAND THIS!" I raised my voice to Sigrun, hovering over her. ¡°It was because of you that we had to use force on innocent people. IT¡¯S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! It was you who decided to play a caring person and now you paid for it! Are you suggesting that after this we continue to do God knows what?¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Sigrun sank at my words, although I had no intention of offending her. I really thought she was guilty of what happened. We could not deviate from our principles and from our people, putting ourselves as a priority for survival on this planet. We should have been more careful, we should have not attracted too much attention, but instead we carried out a massacre as if we were some kind of terrorists. We were lucky that they believed that the Antigonians were behind this, but still we killed these people. And in the end, I finally realized that it was all my fault. I didn''t warn her that we needed to be careful, because she wasn''t a soldier, she was just a ship''s engineer. Of course, she didn¡¯t know how to behave in such a situation. And why do I take it out on her then? I thought, seeing the saddened Sigrun in front of me. "Okay... let''s forget about it for now." "B-Boris..." Ikaya addressed me as Sigrun. "I r-really didn''t mean to. I just..." ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, it¡¯s all over. The main thing is that this doesn¡¯t happen again.¡± Sigrun pursed her lips and nodded several times. She was still depressed after my words. It was sad to see her like this, so I hugged her, which made her surprised. "Boris?" ¡°I told you, it¡¯s all over. Calm down and finally become yourself, the cheerful and cheerful person you¡¯ve always been.¡± "Boris." Sigrun sniffed and hugged me back. She needed to cry a little, she had been through a lot that night. They bullied her there, and I stand in front of her and scream right in her face. I''m not treating her like a human being. I need to make it up to her and everyone else. I decided that when I return to Earth I will take full responsibility for everything that happened here. I am responsible for my people, for my actions. Everything that I didn¡¯t notice, everyone who died, all this happened through my fault and no one else¡¯s. I have to remember this because my people rely on me and they expect a lot from me. I won''t abandon them, I will bring them home and Sigrun too. We will not die on this planet. This will never happen. So we stood hugging for several minutes until Sigrun pulled away from me, remembering something: "Boris, you should know." "What exactly?" "She has the ability of telekinesis." "Telekinesis?" For the second time that day I was surprised. "Are you sure about this?" "I saw it with my own eyes." Another form of magic in this world? I immediately thought and decided to find out something. "Tell me what you saw?" "Nothing fancy, just a flying piece of bread." "Just a flying piece of bread?" Indeed, ¡°nothing unusual.¡± "It sounds strange, but it''s true." Sigrun continued. "When she wakes up, she''ll show what she''s capable of." "Isn''t she paralyzed?" "Yes. She hasn''t been able to move since birth, but it looks like she can still influence the environment with her ability. I think I should ask Granid about it, but that old fool is still sleeping. I wish I could sleep like him!" " I grinned when I heard her address the old wizard in her usual tone and decided to leave her for a while. "Okay. I''ll ask Granid about this power." "And one more thing." I was about to leave, but Sigrun wanted to say something else. "Something happened here..." Sigrun looked awkwardly at the ground. "Looks like Lecite and Camelia''s relationship has reached a new level." Just not this... "This can''t be true." I shook my head. "Have they started dating?" "No." I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard her categorical answer. Problems would arise if they built a close relationship. We can hardly afford to start families with the natives. But then Sigrun continued: "They immediately had sex." "¡­" WHAT ARE THEY?! I was shocked. After all, THIS could never have occurred to me. "Did this happen while we were gone?" Sigrun nodded in response, and I fixed my gaze on the resting Camellia, who was sitting leaning against a tree trunk. I had some doubts about whether she could do it. She¡¯s under eighteen years old... is she allowed? Then my gaze turned to Lecite, who was sitting next to Camellia and again talking to her about something. For women, of course, he was outwardly attractive, but he was 37 years old, shouldn¡¯t the difference of twenty years in age somehow stop him? ¡°Did he even think about what he was doing?¡± I said it out loud, but Sigrun decided to correct me. "Actually, it was Camellia''s initiative." "Egh~!" Once again I opened my mouth in surprise. ¡°I¡¯ve only been gone for a day, and this has already happened here.¡± "And what will you decide to do with them?" Sigrun asked, and I answered her honestly. "I don''t know." ¡°And if Camellia has a child, then it looks like Lecite will have to stay here.¡± "Or he will demand to take both the child and Camellia with him to Ecostate." I suggested, crossing my arms over my chest again. "I''m afraid this is difficult to resolve somehow safely." "Why do you think so?" "Because this shouldn''t happen." I answered seriously. The relationship between visitors from space and the natives has often been a problem during human space exploration. One could remember how people first found themselves on Fedricia, where an extremely underdeveloped civilization of the Stone Age level lived. The living conditions themselves did not allow them to develop into a technologically advanced civilization; at that time, the planet was undergoing a period of mass extinction of plant life forms, and yet the inhabitants of Fedricia were as well physically developed as people. People treated them carefully, deciding to assimilate them; an alphabet and a single language were created especially for the Fedrisians, and special habitats were also allocated. Although due to active colonization they became a minority in their home world, they were completely safe. And although people and Fedrisians could not have common offspring, and in general the process of fertilization was too different, they could be in pairs, which in fact none of the people expected, because for the most part the appearance of both people and Fedrisians was not attracted to each other. Ultimately, they decided to allow the creation of interspecies families, but creating common offspring through artificial breeding in laboratories through incubators was strictly prohibited. It was a different matter here, when the inhabitants of this planet not only looked like people, but actually actually were them. Moreover, in theory, they could have common offspring, and then the question arises ¡°what should we do with them?¡± to which no one could give a normal answer. General Zeonid Kudrinash, as the head of the 127th Army and the entire republican administration on the planet, was the only one who could resolve this issue. I, in turn, can only observe and leave the two of them to continue to procreate their already sexual relationship. Lecite is not a military man, but a civilian, and I have no right to give him the order to end his love relationship with a native woman. My task as a soldier is to protect him and if he decides to stay here with Camelia, then I will not interfere. While I was thinking about this, the sun was already setting, and we had dinner gathered around the fires. In addition to the people, there was food prepared in advance on the carts. By the time we left, the taverns did not have time to fulfill the order in full, which was our reason for the delay. Nevertheless, now we silently dined under the red sky from the dawn and the darkening forest to the sound of fires and crickets. "Do you think they''ll guess it''s us?" Forn asked suddenly. ¡°About that we are behind this massacre?¡± Fred asked in response. "Yes." Forn confirmed, to which Fred answered after chewing the cabbage and meat for a few seconds. "The likelihood of this is quite high. We were the most suspicious in this city. Surely they will think of us first." Looking at the natives with whom the drivers of our carts communicated, you involuntarily wonder what will happen to us if they find out the truth. Unfortunately, the answer was very obvious: they will not leave us alone. They will take revenge, they will pursue us, and we will be forced to fight back and flee. We are not able to fight here alone, and therefore we must be careful and act carefully. "So far they think the Antigonians did it." I said, sitting in front of the fire. ¡°We must do everything possible so that they continue to think like this, otherwise all our efforts will go down the drain. We will no longer get involved in the affairs of the local residents. We must do everything possible so that the natives treat us at least neutrally.¡± The fighters did not answer, but only continued to eat with understanding on their faces. The next day we will have to be in the village, where we will have to continue our journey on foot. We have a long and difficult road ahead of us to the 127th Army, and I hope that it still exists, because the nature of this world is such that everything that comes here becomes part of it forever. Chapter 54. Great power As we expected in the morning, Granid finally woke up. He slept for a long time due to exhaustion, but now he seemed to be much better. Incartia helped him, using some kind of magic to keep him alive. At the moment of his awakening, I was next to him while the sun illuminated the area behind me. "Good morning. Are you feeling better?" "Yes." The old wizard groaned as he rose to his feet. "I feel like I''m back from the dead. How long have I been asleep?" "This time for two whole days." I answered. When we were still in Itsqueen, he woke up only to eat and drink, and then he continued to regain his strength. Incartia immediately offered her teacher food, which Granid, of course, did not refuse, picking up a wooden plate. "Oooh~... it''s Dlihnyu from my favorite tavern." Granid smiled as he began to eat the fried meat and cabbage. While Granid was eating, he suddenly realized that he was in an unfamiliar environment, looking around. "Why aren''t we in Itsqueen?" I, in turn, did not know how to choose the right words. I didn¡¯t know how he would react if he found out what we had done in these two days. Having swallowed my saliva, I began to tell the story, the result of which could cost us our lives. "Something unexpected happened." I started small, pronouncing these words in a very serious tone. "We killed a lot of people yesterday." Granid suddenly stopped chewing his food, his languid old eyes widened and his hands shaking. "What are you doing?" ¡°The guards grabbed Sigrun and they were going to execute her... and... we couldn¡¯t wait. We had to get her out, and to do this we fought our way into the dungeon, pulled her out, and then got out of the city. We managed to hide this under the attack of the Antigones, but I¡¯m afraid this won¡¯t bring back the lives of those people... in general... that¡¯s how things are.¡± I behave like a delinquent schoolboy in front of my parents. CRAP! Granid lowered his gaze, darting his eyes here and there. For him, my words were clearly not what he wanted to hear after his long sleep. "How many have you killed?" "You can''t say for sure." I answered briefly, simultaneously admitting that we did not even count the number of those killed. ¡°And it also seems that we killed the daughter of Count Laroy. We had a meal with her, if you remember.¡± "Yes... I remember her." Granid said gloomily. ¡°Listen, Boris, are all your people here?¡± I nodded, already anticipating the possible outcome of this conversation, and Granid, meanwhile, continued: "And you realize what you''ve done, right?" "Right." I nodded. ¡°I will definitely be punished for what happened, but now is not the time for that.¡± Granid, however, upon hearing my words, only growled, clenching his teeth. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have trusted you, strangers from the sea of ??emptiness. I hoped to help you, but you... and you killed the people I swore to protect. But I helped you, I didn¡¯t leave you in trouble, I helped establish communication, I created the rings of Babylon for you , and you... you have done evil." A necessary evil. I added to myself, but did not voice it out loud, fearing that the old wizard would not have the best reaction. He could have simply killed us at any moment, but he was in no hurry to do so and was waiting for something. Perhaps he is still accumulating his magical powers in order to commit murder. In this case, we need to take the chance and kill him at the first opportunity. "Teacher." Incartia suddenly turned to him, sitting down next to him. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t know what to do. I tried to persuade him not to do this, I asked him to wait for you to wake up, but he didn¡¯t do it.¡± "Of course he wouldn''t do that." The elder wizard shook his head, picking up his staff. ¡°It¡¯s unlikely that Laroy would have let the girl go just like that. He would have demanded something in return, but instead you did everything your way.¡± "He offered nothing but torture." I confessed, remembering the words of Count Laroy. "He didn''t say he''d let her go, only that he''d think about it." "Vile aristocrat." Granid suddenly said, making me surprised. ¡°They are always trying to use someone and do not shy away from methods for this. I know you, Boris, if you had the opportunity, you would have agreed to fulfill his favor, but he wanted to play with you, which ultimately forced you to take such bloody steps. " If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. He understands me perfectly, but it¡¯s unlikely that he¡¯s ready to forgive me for what happened. "I won''t forgive the lives you took, but promise me you won''t let something like this happen again." I was silent for several seconds, trying to realize that a pitiful ten percent probability of the current outcome had now happened. I really didn''t expect him to forgive me, but why does he crave our power so much that he''s even willing to forgive such an atrocity? I didn¡¯t know the answer to this question, but Granid wouldn¡¯t answer it for us yet. He wants our strength and is ready to forgive us for what we did the night before last. "I promise this won''t happen again." I said and turned to the sapper. "Mshkhan." "I''m here." The sapper ran up to Granid and, crouching opposite him, took out remote explosives from under Granid¡¯s robe, and then, looking at the old wizard, said. "These are... safety precautions." The old wizard''s eyes widened as he realized that his life now depended on his actions. Meanwhile, the sapper, having hidden the explosives in his backpack, went to the carts, and in the meantime I decided to explain the further situation to Granid. I told him that we left the city on these carts, loaded them with food and headed to Ran, after which he immediately spoke out. ¡°You have assembled such a caravan that it seems that from now on you cannot avoid meeting with robbers. You look like a rich prize.¡± ¡°I think if you continue to help us a little with ammo, we will be ready to fight off any attacks.¡± I, in turn, laughed it off. ¡°By the way, tell Granid, how did it happen that you didn¡¯t calculate your strength after duplicating our ammunition?¡± ¡°I¡¯m already too old to be a wizard. Moreover, I¡¯m a free wizard and I don¡¯t know a way to prolong my life. Witches may know this, but not me. My knowledge of magic is scanty and what I know is only a drop of everything that I¡¯m going to pass on to Incartia. " "So it''s all about your age?" Fred, who approached us, became interested. ¡°The reason lies not only in age, but also in the strength that I have been saving for many years. I have never used such a large reserve of mana in my life as I did that day. Creating something out of nothing requires truly enormous strength and not everyone can do that same as me." "It''s clear." I nodded and turned to Granid with some more information. "There''s something else you should know. While we pulled Sigrun out, we saved the princess of the Lakuus kingdom." Granid and Incartia looked at each other in surprise. They definitely didn''t expect to hear something like that from me. "Princess?" Both asked in unison. I nodded and rose to my feet, approaching the cart where the royal princess lay. Sigrun was next to her, as always, and was already talking to her about something. The black woman, noticing us, smiled and greeted us. "Good morning. You''re just in time." I chuckled and came closer to see that the princess was looking at me with fear in her green eyes. She said something awkwardly, barely able to find the right words: "Um~...Is your name Boris?" "Boris Kipito, Princess Ilifreeta is at your service." I introduced myself, to which the paralyzed girl awkwardly darted her eyes, then at Sigrun, then again at me. "It''s clear." Said Ilifreeta. "So what are you going to do with me?" "Nothing will happen to you for now." I answered honestly. "We were curious to find out what was happening within the walls of the palace and to observe your ability of telekinesis." "What?" The princess did not understand the last word. "What is ?tele-ki-ne-sis??" She doesn''t know the meaning of this word, however, I expected it. I noticed to myself, but before asking her to demonstrate her strength, I introduced her to the old wizard and his student. "These are magicians. Granid and Incartia." "Granite?" Ilifreeta looked into the eyes of the old man. ¡°Is it really you? I¡¯m not imagining this?¡± ¡°Alas, I have never seen you before.¡± The old wizard admitted, examining the princess. ¡°But if you just know my name, then most likely you should know from your father that I once served at his court, but that was a very, very long time ago. The time was different then, peaceful, so to speak.¡± This is interesting. I thought of new information for myself while Granid continued to talk. ¡°I see fate was merciless with you. You cannot walk or even crawl. Sod did not give you the gift of the most important thing for the normal life of any person. Because of this, most likely they despised you, because the Divinity turned away from you, left you to certain death and thus no less you are alive, you thirst to live. This is commendable." The princess silently agreed with the words of the old wizard. She also had something to say to his words: ¡°Uh-huh. You are right, dear Granid. I was despised by my own family, but I just want to be free. I don¡¯t want to burden myself with royal duty. I don¡¯t want to be used in a obviously doomed marriage. I know that I was doomed with that very moment when I realized my situation. I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m still alive, why they didn¡¯t kill me at the moment when they realized that I would be motionless for the rest of my life. I thought that this would be with me forever, but I thought. me that maybe there is some thin straw of hope. Maybe one day I will be able to get back on my feet and run around the garden. Maybe there is some kind of magic that will help me? Hearing the question from the princess, Granid placed his palm on the princess¡¯s body and stood there for a few seconds, tore his palm away from her body, and then chuckled. ¡°You were cursed by Sod himself. No one will ever heal you, Your Highness.¡± The princess sank at his words and she was sad exactly until I inserted my word: ¡°Magic may be powerless here, but what about neurosurgery, bioengineering, bioimplants and cyberprosthetics?¡± A set of unknown words clearly made the heads of the surrounding natives boil. They clearly did not understand what I just said. "I mean, we can get the princess back on her feet." I simplified everything that was said. "Is it true?" Ilifreeta exclaimed joyfully, and Fred confirmed my words. ¡°That¡¯s right. Our army has equipment, medicines and drugs to treat all types of diseases and ailments. Even if only the head remains from the body, we will still raise it to its feet. Here, for example, he.¡± Fred pointed at Stern. "He also couldn''t walk for a while and only did it thanks to the exoskeleton. Now you won''t see it on him, because Granid healed him... and I''m really interested in finding out how he did it." Fred finished his thought with his own interest. "In general, we can help you." Joy was reflected on Ilifreeta¡¯s face, but after a few moments she immediately sank, realizing that we could not do this for nothing. "What do you want from me?" "First, show your ability." I said, and the princess, in turn, was perplexed. Sigrun decided to help her in this matter. ¡°Ilif, remember how you gave me bread in prison? Try to do the same now.¡± "Um...okay." Sigrun placed a folding knife on the edge of the cart, and then moved away from the princess. We all did this to observe the princess¡¯s abilities, after which we witnessed the work of real telekinesis. The knife smoothly rose into the air and also smoothly went into Sigrun¡¯s hands, and when it reached the girl¡¯s palms, Sigrun immediately squeezed it in her palm. "You see." The black woman smiled. "She has telekinesis." However, the princess did not seem to sincerely understand what was so special about her ability to move objects with the power of her thoughts. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s so amazing about this? I can just do it and that¡¯s it.¡± "Nobody can do that." I said, coming closer to the princess. ¡°We call this telekinesis, that is, the ability in which, with the help of thoughts, you can move objects without having absolutely no contact with them.¡± "Fun." He scratched Granid''s beard. ¡°Such things surprise you. This happens in our world. If people are born in the world who lack something, then the world gives them a natural gift. Her Highness has the gift of moving things with just the power of thought, but she is not capable of anything more. For this gift, nature took away her ability to walk." At this moment, Fred had a question that he immediately voiced: ¡°What gift will a person receive if he is born blind, deaf, or insensitive?¡± ¡°It all depends on what a person lacks most. If his eyes do not see, he will instead feel the world around him, as he feels the taste of berries in his mouth. If he does not hear, he will see vibrations with his eyes. And if he does not feel, then he will understand what he sees and what he hears. But if there is none of this, not hearing, not seeing, not walking and not feeling, then I don¡¯t know what kind of monster this world will give birth to.¡± ¡°As I understand it, in order to receive the so-called gift you need to be born this way, am I right?¡± ¡°The gift is not received for the right of birth, the gift is received only by a few in whom the Gods see the fateful one, the one who will change the fate of this world.¡± Granid looked at the princess and added sadly: ¡°Your desire is to be free from the fate prepared for you, but in the end you cannot avoid it. Accept your fate or do what these strangers tell you.¡± Chapter 55. Magic and deserters I felt something strange and this was after the night when Elpata regained control of my body. Having asked her how I felt, for some reason she remained silent, as if she had never been in my head. She didn''t want to tell me what happened to me that night, and I, in turn, continued to feel a little uncomfortable because of how I felt. When I look at men I feel a little uneasy, I constantly want to look away from them as if I¡¯m shy about something. What is this anyway? I can¡¯t explain it correctly, and Elpata, in turn, constantly reminds me to control myself. It will be difficult for you if you continue like this. What do you mean? You really can''t stand it? Elpata sighed mentally. Then think about something else, take your mind off your pressing thoughts. So what should I think about then? About magic... Indeed, everyone around me considers me a sorceress. Even that slightly strange Incartia, a student of the old man Granida, looks at me as if I were some kind of unprecedented fairy-tale creature for her. And although I have magic, I have no idea how to use it. I generally have a hard time understanding what it is. I just remember how one day my father invited a magician home to heal me from a cold. I remember that pleasant warmth that spread throughout my whole body and that¡¯s it. This is the only memory of magic from my childhood. Magic is a strange power of nature that few people possess. For some it is a gift, but for others it is a curse. This is what my father told me when he once told me about magic before bed. I wasn¡¯t very interested in her, I was small, stupid, I was more worried about games and sweets, but now I only care about one thing - this is returning home to my father. I think while we were all riding on the carts to the city of Ran, I could learn to use magic. This power could be useful to me in order to survive in this inhospitable, dangerous world. From Elpata¡¯s available memories, I saw some fragments of how she cast magic and I must admit I was surprised. Magic gives a person so many opportunities that it is not difficult to even confuse such people with real villains. But if I use this power correctly, then I won¡¯t become a monster, right? So where do I start? Start with concentration. Elpata advised me, but I did not understand her words. I didn¡¯t know what I needed to do to at least start using magic, and Elpata told me about some kind of concentration. What does this even mean? Your whole body is an instrument, all your feelings that you feel are projected onto you and in your consciousness in the form of sensations. The five standard human senses - sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste - are the basic senses that every person has, but you can feel more. Concentrate within yourself, feel every atom of your body and tell me what you feel in addition to these five senses. What do I feel? Well, I feel the cart on which I sit swaying; I hear leaves rustling and birds singing, in the distance someone is talking and laughing; I smell the resin, apparently from the cones lying under the trees; I feel how the breeze gently blows my white hair, and how the sun bakes my skin causing beads of sweat to appear on it. Well, I also feel someone¡¯s touch on me. Looking to the left, I saw the sleeping head of Lecite, who fell face down on my knees. The fact that he slept on me like that made me feel a little awkward. I didn''t dare remove his head; it would have been rude of me. Don''t get distracted. You did everything right, focus on your feelings, feel something else in yourself that is inside you and outside at the same time. What is inside me and outside at the same time? I really tried to understand her words, but I had little understanding of what exactly I needed to feel. Perhaps that ¡°heat,¡± if you can call it that, is also a kind of feeling, but I have no idea how to interact with it. It brings me neither pain nor joy, neither comfort nor discomfort. Is this him? Continue, you have not yet achieved what you need. Isn''t what I feel magic? It''s not magic. Then what is it? Don''t get distracted. You need to keep looking for the thread, grab it and pull it in any direction. It''s hard to explain, you have to try to understand it yourself. I followed her advice and continued to focus on myself and I admit it was very boring. It seemed like I was wasting my time trying to understand something that didn¡¯t exist. All sorts of thoughts constantly came into my head, which is why Elpata always scolded me. Throw your thoughts aside. The thinking functions of your brain will be useful elsewhere, but make room for them now. I closed my eyes, frowned out all sounds in my head, I ignored the wind, the smell and the ¡°heat¡±. I took deep breaths and exhales trying to find something, something that I should understand. However, I still didn¡¯t understand what I needed to look for. It seems that I was missing something, or rather, I couldn¡¯t feel something, or I felt it, but couldn¡¯t realize it. You don''t understand. I growled and angrily threw Lecite¡¯s head to the side, causing him to lightly hit the edge of the cart and wake up. He jumped up, looking at me strangely, seeing the anger on my face. "Huh? What''s the matter?" He asked me worriedly. "Don''t sleep on me!" I shouted out to him and turned my head away from him, not wanting to look him in the eyes. "As you say." Lecite said, sitting a little further away. "I won''t sleep on you anymore." It can be difficult sometimes with you. So you will never learn to use magic. I pursed my lips offensively, not wanting to listen to her reproaches. I really wanted to learn this magic, but I didn''t know it would be so difficult. I should feel something, but it was so difficult. This made it difficult for me, and difficulties always make me angry. And how do you think I should do this?! How to feel it?! I will show you. What will you show? "Who is this?" Asked the old coachman who was driving the cart. Looking ahead, I saw a turn, behind which I could see a village standing in a field. On the way to her, a wall of soldiers stood with swords, spears, axes and wooden shields, dressed in leather and steel armor. There were many of them and they all looked at us with extreme hostility. At this moment, the coachman pulled the reins and stopped the cart, forcing Boris to rise from his lying position and ask a question: "What''s the matter?" "I-I think they''re robbers." The old man stammered, looking at the uninvited travelers ahead. "This is where my life ends." Granid rose from his place and, noticing the robbers, silently stepped on the ground with Incartia, heading towards the standing group of robbers. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It''s a holiday. What? Soon you will be fighting. I? Wait what are you talking about? With a high degree of probability we see a criminal element in front of us in the form of robbers. You have no idea how many of these I have already killed before you woke up. If it makes it easier for you, just assume that they are no longer human and then taking their life will not be so difficult for you. I swallowed, not believing what she was saying in my head. "Camellia." Granid called me. "Come with us." Why me? How stupid you are. Elpata sighed wearily in my head. You are a sorceress, and they are earthlings who killed many of your relatives. They don''t want to attract much attention, so they want the mages to deal with them, that is, you, Granid and Incartia. So don¡¯t sit, don¡¯t ask unnecessary questions, and when the moment comes, give me control of your body, and I¡¯ll show you how to use magic and then you¡¯ll finally understand how you need to feel. Do I have to do this? Necessarily. She warned me. I had to listen to Elpata and do everything as she told me, even if I didn¡¯t like where everything was going. I went with Granida, Incartia and Boris. An Earthman in a spotted green-brown jacket, holding his small fancy weapon on his belt, walked behind us, giving the initiative to Granid. When we approached these robbers, a man dressed in steel armor came out of their group, whose face was hidden behind a steel helmet. His height was impressive, and the huge sword that hung behind his back seemed to be able to cut even a bear in half. His appearance was frightening; he himself seemed to me like some kind of monster that it was better not to mess with. We stood opposite each other at a distance of a person and were silent for some time until a man in steel armor spoke in his menacing low voice: "Your caravan is surrounded. Give us everything you have and then we will let you go." The old wizard did not believe his words and, scratching his gray beard, asked: ¡°There are three magicians standing in front of you, do you think you can defeat us all and take everything from us?¡± The robbers, hearing Granid¡¯s words, tensed, squeezing their weapons tighter in their hands. I heard the rustling of leaves around and out of the corner of my eye I noticed how more robbers emerged from behind the trees on both sides of the road, this time with bows. They had already pulled their arrows onto the string and were aiming at the caravan. The man in steel armor seemed confident in his abilities and only grinned at the old wizard¡¯s words: ¡°Hah~! There are five dozen of us here. It doesn¡¯t matter what kind of magicians you all are, since you are already standing in front of us. We will get what we deserve anyway, but you can still avoid death if you just give up. We are good people and don¡¯t want unnecessary deaths, so let¡¯s decide everything is peaceful. All the good you have in exchange for your lives, I think it¡¯s a great deal.¡± "Will." Boris said into his jacket. "You heard everything." Meanwhile, tension hung in the air, Granid was silent for a while, not daring to do anything, and then Elpata mentally commanded me: Now. After a slight delay, I relaxed my body and wished to give it to her, after which I stopped feeling anything, or rather felt almost nothing except... magic. I hope you understand now. She, using my body, raised her staff and recreated a dozen fireballs above her head, which appeared out of nowhere, after which they instantly flew forward towards the robbers who barely had time to be surprised, and one of these fireballs instantly burned a formidable man in steel armor, when the fire splashed all over him body. He didn¡¯t even have time to scream before his red-hot armor had already vaporized his skin. Only his charred remains of flesh and deformed steel fell to the ground, and the fire from his remains spread to the robbers standing next to him, so they screamed, trying to knock down the spreading flame with their hands. Dozens of robbers roared loudly and instantly rushed forward, that is, right at us. Loud sounds of popping were heard behind them, followed by screams, and at the same moment Boris took out his small weapon and fired a deadly short beam from it, which tore off the head of one of the nearby robbers. At this time, I felt unprecedented flows passing through my body, through every corner of my body and consciousness. Elpata seemed to be mentally molding clay from some unknown substance, silently reproducing one spell after another. Magic for her was like water closed in a jug, which she splashed onto the ground, that is, into the real world. This is how the fireballs were formed, first in her consciousness, acquiring a clear form, and then in the real world, when the flows went beyond the limits of her own feelings. Granid and Incartia, meanwhile, were pronouncing spells out loud, that is, words that for some reason influenced these unprecedented flows around them. The old wizard swept the horde of robbers off their feet with an air flow, and Incartia bound them with roots that instantly grew out of the ground. However, the roots of the little dark-haired sorceress were weak, and the robbers easily got out of them. Incartia had to repeat the spell over and over again to hold them off as long as possible while the fireballs burned them alive and Boris''s beams blew their heads off. Their spells are pre-prepared commands with a specific meaning and characteristics. If you need to use magic without going into its essence, then spells are the easiest way to comprehend magic. Then why don''t you use spells? Because I don¡¯t want to know only the surface of all magic, I want to go down to the very bottom and know the magic in its entirety, and for this you need to know the laws of nature and all magic. This is quite a difficult task, but I can cope with it. Elpata continued to cast dozens of spells simultaneously every moment. She burned everyone she saw and did not see with her fireballs. I felt how she sent flows in different directions and they all returned either intact or damaged, as if someone or something had disturbed these flows. Knowing the direction, she launched a fireball in one direction and burned the archer who was going to shoot her, managing to pull an arrow on the bowstring. Despite all this, she didn¡¯t even see him, but she was still able to feel the movements of this man. I could only watch and envy how high her knowledge of magic was. I felt how various streams flowed through my body, which went beyond the boundaries of my body, becoming a kind of continuation of my own essence. It was a real delight for me to watch how she used all this and at the same time I was disgusted to watch how the charred pieces of human flesh burned. It was all over; dozens of dead and undead human bodies lay in front of us. Boris continually shot those who were still moving, captured by the roots of Incartia, and Granid collected magical streams, which he released. It seems that he weakened after the first spell, however, this was not surprising. He had not yet fully recovered from that incident in the city, or he was too old to use strong magic. His air shock wave was truly amazing, as if these robbers were demolished by the invisible hand of a giant, this spell was clearly a strong one. Then I felt that my body was now under control and looking back I saw how the earthlings sitting in the carts shot the archers on both sides of the road. Remembering how she directed the magical flow, I did the same and felt them wrap around leaves, branches, grass and small insects, and then return back. It was as if I had stretched out many invisible hands and smoothed out everything I could, and at the same time I was convinced that there were no longer any living people in the forest. Now it became much clearer to me what it means to feel something both inside and outside of me. Magic gives me the ability to feel the same as any other person, but from the outside. It was really hard to explain, but that''s how it is. "Weren''t there too many of them?" Boris asked, returning his weapon to his belt. "So many robbers don''t gather like that." Granid said hoarsely, while Boris noted something out loud. ¡°They acted in a very organized manner. They did not attack ahead of time, they stood in formation and waited for orders. It was as if they were not robbers, but some kind of deserters.¡± "Perhaps it is." Granid said and began to return to the carts. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not so important now, these fools got in our way and paid for it with their lives. We brought a little peace to this world with our little evil.¡± "We had to scare them away." Incartia said with fear on her face. ¡°And then they would again continue to rob travelers.¡± Granid answered her instructively. ¡°What do you say, Camellia?¡± "I?" I suddenly felt embarrassed that they were paying attention to me. "What should I say?" "Do you have any thoughts?" Granid asked, and I shook my head in response. "No, none." "Too bad." The old wizard sighed. ¡°Well then answer another question, why did you attack first?¡± "Mum..." What should I answer? They would have attacked anyway. "They would have attacked anyway." I repeated Elpata¡¯s words. These three looked at me with understanding, although Incartia even had some doubts. ¡°Maybe they weren¡¯t planning to attack us at all? It just looks like we killed these people in cold blood.¡± ¡°There will be no peace in this world as long as there are such people in it.¡± Granid said sadly. He made a mistake in his choice of words. Not ¡°such people¡±, but ¡°people¡± in general. All. And she, as always. "Your magic is perfect, Camellia." Granid suddenly praised me, or rather Elpata, as if I was embarrassed to admit it. ¡°I myself lived for many years in search of the essence of fire, tried to understand how to direct it correctly, but you comprehended the essence of this, understood the nature of fire in complete perfection, especially at such a young age, which can no longer be said about it.¡± Granid looked at Incartia with some disdain and sternness, which is why she guiltily lowered her head down as if she had made some mistake. The path of a free magician is difficult, Camellia. They, feeling the magic, can only know it in one way, through self-improvement, and this requires patience, diligence, understanding and talent. You have none of this. Well, thank you damn it for cheering me up so much. My pleasure. I was a little angry at her choice of words and at the same time, in a way, she really cheered me up. I don''t need to be talented to learn magic when I have such a good teacher as Elpata, who showed me by her example how to feel and how to use magic. I have already begun to understand the essence of magic, I realized what I need to feel and I hope that my path as a sorceress will go much better. These were just my first steps in magic and there will be many more before I reach the top and return home. We walked back to the carts and continued on our way. The coachmen, however, still spent a lot of time calming down the frightened horses, but soon we continued our movement and finally reached the village, or rather what was left of it. "Everyone was killed." Boris said in a gloomy voice, looking at the bodies of people scattered on the ground, among which were old people, women and children.¡± We need to search everything here and then continue on our way. Chapter 56. Catastrophe These lands are very different from Hippolyta, here it is much warmer, there is more moisture, the land is more fertile, and there are many times more people. At the same time, I notice that there are no less dangers here than in our homeland. This country is facing war, but the bodies of dead people scattered throughout the village already told us that it had already begun. Difficult times have begun for the inhabitants of the kingdom of Lakuus, requiring perseverance and courage from each of them. Boris''s people, that is, earthlings, go around every house in search of useful things while a caravan of five harnessed carts waits for them on the main road. Boris decided that we should wait here for the night and therefore the earthlings began to gradually settle into this village. The first thing, of course, was to properly bury the villagers killed by the robbers. According to the traditions of the kingdom of Hippolyta, the bodies of the dead are burned or drowned, but earthlings do everything differently. They bury them in the ground and place a sign at the burial site in the form of a tablet or a simple stone. This tradition seemed very strange to me, but at the same time understandable. From the words of one earthling I heard something like a prayer: "We return its fruits to the earth." Others just stood silently and looked at the graves. Another earthling, standing over one of the graves, uttered a very strange phrase that deeply clung to my mind and that I can never forget: "Remember death." After which everyone dispersed. When everything was ready, a fire was lit inside several houses, where we all began to have dinner. I sat next to Alza, Niana and Zaden, opposite the adventurers: Ashwani, Furgur and Camellia with an earthling named Lecite. We had a lot to talk about while we ate smoked meat. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that robbers would start ruling here.¡± Said Furgur. "Usually crown lands are the safest and most protected in the entire kingdom." "Something''s wrong." Alza said. "The soul screams of alarm." "Perhaps you''re having contractions?" I asked her, but she shook her head in response. "No. I feel it, I feel evil." What does it mean? I didn''t understand her words. "I have never seen a prophet." Furgur asked suddenly looking at me. ¡°Your name is Ripun, right? Tell me what you see?¡± "That''s not how my predictions come." I told the arrow shooter. ¡°If there is a path in which I will die, then the echo of the future will appear to me a day earlier before I turn onto this path.¡± ¡°So you have to die to see the future?¡± Furgur asked and I nodded, confirming his guess. ¡°You are a strange people, Hippolytes, I know practically nothing about you.¡± "We''re talking about you too." Their people were very different from ours, their language, their appearance were different, and this despite the fact that we were only separated by the goblin forest and the poisonous forest. We didn¡¯t even know about the existence of their kingdom, while they were well aware of us, at least they knew that Hippolyta¡¯s kingdom existed. This told us how out of touch Hippolyta was compared to her neighbors. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why the Antigone Empire managed to conquer our country so easily, we simply had no one to call for help. What¡¯s strange is that I haven¡¯t seen any predictions for more than a month, although when Boris¡¯s people decided to fight with the residents of Lakuus to save one of their women, I wanted to kill myself in order to inform my past self that trouble was coming, but I couldn¡¯t do it. The fear of death has always been and will be stronger than the desire to do the best, but this prophecy would have fallen into the hands of the past me too late and by that time a black woman named Sigrun had already been captured by the guards. I really could have helped avoid all this by warning Boris that she should not be allowed outside, but I could not, because I was afraid and because I could not prevent the tragedy. Everyone here knows about my ability, but everyone also knows how it works. To see the future, I need to die and doing this every time is simply unbearable. Fortunately, no one is forcing me to cut my guts open, at least not yet. "Ripun." Alza turned to me, placing her head on my shoulder. "Will you take care of me?" "Certainly." I answered without any doubt, hugging her back. "Thank you." She said affectionately, closing her eyes and instantly falling asleep. Since Boris decided on his act, Alza no longer sees him as a savior. She could not accept his decision to treat people so cruelly for the sake of one single person. I saw how love for him, for a stranger from another world, sparkled in her eyes, but from that moment only fear began to be read in her eyes. Alza could understand him, but she was unlikely to ever be able to forgive him. If you only knew how many times I saved your life, then perhaps you would love me. With some degree of regret, I thought as I hugged her a little tighter. "Do you love her?" Furgur asked me, but I didn¡¯t answer him. I really like this girl, even if there is someone else¡¯s child in her womb, I will take care of him as if he were my own, I will protect Alza as the closest person in the world. I will not back down from my responsibilities and will protect Hippolyta''s last hope, Princess Niana Ilti and her desire to free our country from the rule of the Antigone Empire. I will follow her and at the same time protect Alsa. "I love her." I answered Furgur. "Then I don''t envy you." "Why?" ¡°Therefore, losing a loved one...¡± Furgur, lowering his head, finished the sentence with one single word. "It hurts." "Have you lost someone?" ¡°No one..., but I know someone who lost everything and I sincerely feel sorry for this person.¡± "Tch!" Camellia knocked. ¡°You have nothing to grieve about when the prophet is nearby. Better go to bed, tomorrow we will continue our journey.¡± And she acts very confident. I noticed to myself and decided to listen to her advice. We spent that night in silence, lying around a warm fireplace, covered in warm skins and blankets, and in the morning we began to little by little get ready for the road. At this time, Granid was conjuring small metal objects for Boris¡¯s people, that is, shells that their weapons needed so much. "That''s enough for today." The old wizard sighed wearily, sitting next to a pile of clips. After the witchcraft, the earthlings began to collect them and do something with their weapons, and every now and then I heard constant clicking noises. Boris helped the old wizard to his feet and thanked him: "Thanks to you, we still have something to fight for. I think you should rest." "Promise me you won''t kill anyone else." Boris was silent for a while before answering: "I can''t promise that. This world is too dangerous, and these weapons are our only guarantee of safety." "It can''t protect you." Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°At least from anything weak, it will definitely be able to.¡± The earthling grinned. We were convinced of the lethality of their weapons even at our first meeting. We had no doubt that they could protect us, but they could also harm us, as they did to the people of the Lakuus kingdom. We used to consider them saviors, but now we are simply afraid of them. Boris promised the princess that he would ask King Lakuus for help for Hippolyta, but none of us believed that this was even possible. Moreover, among us there was already a princess of the kingdom of Lakuus, whose name was Ilifreeta. Her pathetic, immobile state was deplorable, she would never take the throne of the kingdom, and Boris hoped with her help to negotiate something with the local king, but would it work? Will the king have an audience with us? If I knew the future months in advance, it would be much easier than now to constantly think about the essentials. By morning, the caravan was ready to set off, and while we were all loading the carts with our things, a growing rumble began to be heard, which turned out to be stomping. Someone was marching loudly and moving here, and then a huge army arrived from the south from the direction where we were supposed to go. "Everyone get ready!" Boris commanded and his people jumped off the carts and took their places, hiding behind the corners of houses and fences, pointing their weapons towards the uninvited guests. What¡¯s strange is that I didn¡¯t see any banners, even mercenaries have them, but this army didn¡¯t have them. Or maybe they decided not to raise the flags while they were on the march, but what was more frightening was their number. More and more people appeared behind the trees, dressed in different attire, be it rags or steel plates. Only a few of them were fully clad in steel armor, barely resembling the Antigones, and it is unlikely that their armor was enchanted. All of them were foot soldiers, although at the same time, from a distance, we also saw that convoys were following them, most likely carrying supplies and things for the camp. When the army reached the outskirts of the village it stopped. The army stood tightly, not allowing passage to the south, and their numbers inspired fear. There were hundreds of people here, maybe even thousands, but none of us knew who this army belonged to and where it was going. Boris''s men, meanwhile, aimed their weapons and waited for the order, and then Camellia, Granid and Incartia came forward. Last day we saw perfectly well what they were capable of, their magical power was incomparable, they were quite capable of dealing with an entire army with three of them. I, in turn, was not so far away and watched how another bloody battle might soon unfold and sincerely did not want to see it. Boris ground his teeth and complained out loud that they did not have enough ammunition: ¡°We don¡¯t have enough ammunition to shoot everyone. So our only hope is you.¡± He turned to Granid. ¡°If there is a fight, I will definitely help.¡± Granid said with confidence in a hoarse voice. ¡°For I do not see people, I see the mob before me. The grunting of their souls is disgusting to my ears.¡± What would that mean? I wondered while at this time a lone figure came out of the army, dressed in a black robe or a kind of silk tunic. Hanging with various decorations, she was somewhat reminiscent of Camellia, but what stood out to her more clearly was her golden-colored short hair that barely fell below her neck. She took slow steps, approaching us closer and closer, and then, having looked carefully, I noticed another feature: her eyes glowing red, as if an unknown and terrible force was emanating from them. A hungry grin was displayed on her face, and one of Boris¡¯s men, looking at this girl, even said out loud: "Proximirian? What is she doing here?" "Not this." Granid said in a gloomy voice, taking a step back in fear. "Obsessed." We couldn''t believe our ears when we heard this and huddled closer together on the carts. A shiver ran through each of us, even the horses could not stand still, they stamped their hooves and snorted. "Didn''t I hear you?" Zaden asked, grabbing the spear more tightly. "He said she was Possessed?" "Yes." Princess Niana confirmed, looking at the golden-haired girl while the princess''s hands were shaking, holding onto the edge of the cart. "M-Mom. Aren''t they supposed to be freaks?" It is unlikely that the possessed will differ only in appearance. This was the first thing I thought of when I heard the princess¡¯s question, but I didn¡¯t voice it out loud. At this time, a strange girl, who had already been dubbed the Possessed, came closer to a distance of three people and, looking at the trio of magicians in front of her, laughed and said in a ridiculous tone: ¡°So, so, so interesting people I see here. You have almost no magic, well, except for the three of you, of course, but the rest have five, or even ten souls hanging on them.¡± The girl licked her lips like a predator, but then her gaze dimmed slightly as she realized something. ¡°And my people, did you somehow figure it out with them? Interesting. I want to know who you are. Maybe you could introduce yourself?¡± The way she spoke was scary. She didn¡¯t seem to see us as any threat, although she was within shooting distance and could easily be turned into minced meat or ashes, and still she was brave and confident, or maybe she just didn¡¯t understand that the weapons were in the hands of strangers was so dangerous that it could easily have taken her life. She''s too confident. Even if she doesn¡¯t know what earthlings are capable of, she sees magicians before her. Isn''t she afraid of them? Meanwhile, in response to her words, Granid snorted, holding his staff in front of him: ¡°Why should we introduce ourselves to someone who hasn¡¯t introduced herself? Or are the names of demons so secret that you don¡¯t dare say them out loud?¡± The red-eyed girl grinned in response to the words of the old wizard, raising her hands up no higher than her shoulders and putting her palms towards the sky. "What impudence." She said sarcastically. ¡°A mortal like you doesn¡¯t dare do what I demand, ah-yay-yay. Don¡¯t do this. If you don¡¯t introduce yourself in a good way, then I will pull out your names by force. It won¡¯t be difficult for me to do this.¡± Is she threatening? And Boris was about to say something when Granid interrupted him: "Stop! Don''t tell her your names! She''s possessed by a demon!" Boris looked strangely at Granid while holding his weapon in his hands, and then we heard the girl¡¯s laughter. "Let''s start with you." The girl looked sternly at Granid and at the same moment, from her palms, like a bolt from the blue, a second flash of lightning appeared, after which the charred remains of the old wizard¡¯s ashes fell to the ground. There weren¡¯t even bones left of him, only dust, and the golden-haired woman pretended to make a frightened expression on her face. "Oops... overdid it." "TEACHER! NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!" Incartia screamed throughout the entire area, falling to her knees, seeing in front of her only the ashes of her teacher. "NO! YOU CAN''T! I STILL...*sob*...t-teacher..." The girl whimpered, barely holding back her tears and looked at the remains of the old wizard with rounded eyes. She muttered something under her breath, and we huddled together in the carts more tightly than ever. We did not immediately realize that a man had now died, whom we had previously considered very, very strong, but now he was gone, he was incinerated in the blink of an eye, as if an ant had simply been crushed before our eyes. At this moment, Camellia stepped forward and immediately launched a fireball towards the golden-haired sorceress, recreating a fireball above her head. A moment later, a fireball hit her, but the fire that instantly engulfed the golden-haired girl quickly went out as if it had been blown away by the wind, and the flames burned almost nothing on her. The red-eyed one stood safe and sound, as if this fire was nothing more than a simple splash of water for her. "Pitiful mortal, have you decided to die too?" What''s happening? With fear on my face, I watched as Camellia was instantly burned by a flash of lightning. At that moment, the second sorceress also disappeared; together with Granid, she could destroy anyone who could stand in her way. Realizing all this, we were filled with fear and at the same time asked panicky questions: Who is she?! "FIRE!" Boris shouted and many loud bangs were heard throughout the village. All of Boris¡¯s men fired their weapons at this sorceress, she should have already died, but she still stood motionless, and the bullets hovered at a distance of half an arm from her body. She was somehow able to defend herself from the deadly weapons of earthlings and this was doubly frightening. The red-eyed woman with a frighteningly arrogant look surrounded herself with pieces of metal that hovered in the air and even allowed herself to yawn arrogantly. "It''s not even magic." She said with contempt. When the strangers realized that their weapons were useless, they stopped shooting and began to move away from her, continuing to aim in her direction. "Mshkhan!" Boris shouted and one of his men threw some iron object to the ground, which, spreading its tentacles, quickly crawled towards the girl. "Hmm? Is this a summoned beast?" Goldilocks said and, with a snap of her finger, released lightning from her left palm, after which the entire village was enveloped in a powerful explosion, which overturned the carts with a shock wave. I felt the blow as I fell back onto the ground while dust and sawdust flew in the air. There was a ringing in my ears, and the dust from the explosion gradually settled to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed how the horses, breaking free from the reins, ran into the forest away from what had happened; some of Boris¡¯s people were even blown off their feet. Rising to my knees, I began to look for the princess, Zaden and Alza. Fortunately, they were nearby and coughing they rose to their feet holding each other. "Are you all right?" I asked and, seeing the nods, led them away from here. "We have to leave." At this time, looking back at the scene of the explosion, I saw through the settling dust a black figure standing in the same place. Boris and his men rose to their feet at this time, continuing to aim in her direction, but it seemed that even that ¡°summoned beast¡± could not defeat her. An eerie laugh could be heard behind the cloud of dust, the girl¡¯s eyes shone red, and she herself was safe and sound, except for her clothes, which were torn in some places. ¡°And this is interesting. No one has amused me for so long. I wonder who you are after all? You have artifacts of the dark ones and you use them as if you are them, but I know that this is not so. Unlike them You can hear singing, that is, you have souls, which means you are nothing more than pathetic little people Hah~... insects." Pathetic... little people? Fear, despair and horror were reflected on the face of each of us. This is a monster in human form, possessed by a demon, whatever that means. She again raised her hands up, collecting two shining spheres above her palms that sparkled with small lightning bolts. I realized that right now she was ready to unleash all her magic on us. ¡°I must admit, you brought me a lot of trouble by finishing off my people. For me, every slave counts, and you buried them all in graves, sent their bodies to the Earth Goddess, and their souls to the lying Soda. But I needed them so much. Well, you will have to find another village, and this one will have to be burned along with you." "Stop!" Boris shouted, raising his hands up, notes of fear creeping into his voice. "Who are you? What do you want from us?" The girl released part of the lightning and instantly killed Boris, turning him into ashes, after which Boris''s remaining people began to shoot at her, but she still did not receive any harm. The pieces of metal launched by the strangers were stopped by some invisible veil surrounding the dark sorceress. She laughed, seeing the futile and desperate attempts to overcome her. Even Incartia, with a hysterical cry, was going to burn her with her own magic, but the fire she launched simply could not harm her or was not strong enough like Camellia¡¯s. "You''re going to die soon anyway so why don''t you tell me." The red-eyed woman spoke with a malicious grin while the two shining spheres above her palms expanded and became brighter and brighter. ¡°I am a legend of the world. My name is Swidok. And I serve Verhane, the patriarch of darkness. Well now you know, and now farewell, pathetic and insignificant servants of the shepherd. Your place is in the wastelands of Sayhel, tell the lord of death about the wanderings of his worst enemy... ME. " A powerful explosion of lightning enveloped the entire village, I didn¡¯t even have time to feel the heat when I instantly stopped feeling my entire body. The light enveloped each of us, the lightning devoured everything it could, and then the next moment I woke up sitting on a cart. I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes, my heart was beating wildly, and a moment later the cart jumped on a bump. Looking to the side, I saw the village we were approaching. "Everyone was killed." Boris said in a gloomy voice, looking at the bodies of people scattered on the ground, among which were old people, women and children. ¡°We need to search everything here, and then continue on our way.¡± Disaster! It was on my mind. Chapter 57. Cultists There must have been approximately two hundred people living in this village, but there were relatively few dead bodies. This gave some hope that most of the local residents were able to escape. That''s what we thought until we found a charred house with a mountain of human remains. Granid confirmed our fears by informing us that some ¡°screams¡± were heard here, a kind of magical evidence that someone had died here, and many had died here, most likely the entire village. "Terrible screams." Granid spoke. "It won''t be long before their souls rest in peace. Their excruciating pain is too clear." "Fuck!" I swore. The platoon members checked every house in search of other bodies or other objects that could be useful to us, but they did not even find rotten stew. All furniture, dishes, walls and courtyards were destroyed, the village was in disarray and in complete desolation, and all kinds of cattle roamed freely around the area and chewed grass. We also did not find anything useful on the bodies of the robbers we killed, only rubbish and fallen intestines. "Did someone find something?" I asked the platoon members, and everyone shook their heads. "No way, sir." They told me. "Then we''ll stop the search. There''s no one alive here." But we were going to wait out the night here and leave Princess Ilifreeta, but it looks like she will still have to be taken to Ran and used as a subject for negotiations. It will be interesting to see how the king will react when he learns that she is alive. Maybe we will be rewarded for her return, or maybe we will become suspects in a kidnapping case. In any case, we will have a lot of worries that we will have to deal with. At that moment, Ripun suddenly ran up to me and grabbed my hand in absolute panic and shouted in my face: "RUN! WE GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!" Frightened, I pushed him away and almost shot him while aiming at him with my pistol. ¡°Stop! First, calm down and tell me what¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡± The dark-haired prophet ran his orange-red eyes this way and that, taking frequent breaths and exhalations as if he had just run a whole marathon, and not been sitting in a carriage all day. He was very frightened by something and it is important for me to know what exactly. Usually he didn''t show any signs of panic the entire trip, he was always calm, silent and patient, but now something was wrong with him. It was like he saw a ghost. "Now the army will be here!" Having caught his breath, he said and I immediately understood what was happening. If the royal army is here and they see that we are here in a destroyed village, they will obviously think that we are behind everything that happened and will most likely decide to attack us. At the moment, we no longer have enough ammunition for a prolonged battle with a superior enemy, and therefore this is a likely battle that we are guaranteed to lose. "Attention everyone!" I shouted to the entire area, attracting the attention of the entire platoon. ¡°We¡¯ll leave the village now! Be ready in ten minutes! We¡¯ll go into the forest to the east, we¡¯ll walk. And you...¡± I turned to the coachmen sitting on the carts. "You will receive your payment and go back to Itsqueen." Even though they were surprised by my sudden statement, at the same time I saw some relief in their eyes. All this time they were uncomfortable with us, which was quite understandable for us since they were fully aware that we were behind the tragedy in Itsqueen, but then Granid warned them by threateningly holding out his staff: ¡°If you dare to reveal to anyone what you saw here, then the curse of fecal eruptions will befall you for the rest of your life. If you do not want this fate, then shut up and live your life as you have always lived and will live.¡± "We r-understood." Ikaya was uttered by one of them, or rather the old man, who kidnapped Princess Ilifreeta. "Sh-should we unload everything?" "Certainly!" I shouted to them and the coachmen, nodding as a sign of understanding, with fear on their faces, began to unload all our things. When everything was ready, they climbed onto the carts and, hitting the reins, drove back to Itsqueen. This is the last time we saw each other. Furgur had to take Princess Ilifreeta in his arms, and the rest of the fighters had to put bags of food on their backs, and soon we were ready to hit the road. "Is everyone ready?" I shouted. "Yes sir!" The whole platoon shouted in unison, after which I examined this village for the last time and gave the order: "I order everyone to follow me." I said and we moved east, gathering in a column and holding our weapons at the ready. Having set off and after some time leaving the village, I decided to find out from Ripun the details about what awaits us in the future, or rather what should have awaited us if we stayed here for a long time: ¡°Ripun, tell me what should have happened if we had stayed here?¡± The Prophet gathered more air into his chest and finally decided to calmly tell everything: ¡°An army would come, a huge army, and immediately attack us.¡± Furgur, carrying the princess in his arms, decided to clarify something: "Prophet, did you see what banners they had?" "They had no banners." Ripun replied, causing Furgur to look down and think. ¡°Hmm~... there were no banners, or did you just not notice them?¡± "No, it wasn''t." "Then what did they look like?" I already asked. "They looked exactly like the bandits you killed. They were angry that the village was not in their hands." Ripun said with fear on his face, stepping over the roots of trees and trampling the grass under his feet, and then with no less fear he said the following. ¡°There was a sorceress among them. She killed us all, that is... she should have killed us.¡± "Sorceress?" I thought out loud. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. It was a strange thing. We would have been overtaken by a large army of robbers in which there was a sorceress who could kill us all. Were even Camellia, Granid and Incartia powerless against her alone? This is exactly what Camellia decided to clarify: "I wonder what she looks like. Just... just could she really take on three mages?" Swallowing his saliva and trembling slightly, Ripun answered: "She killed you instantly. There''s not even anything left of you, just black dust. She''s so creepy. It seems like she was possessed by something, then you said so. I really don''t understand what that could mean." "Did you say she''s possessed?" Granid asked and Ripun nodded in response. "What color are her eyes?" ¡°Eyes... her eyes were red and her hair shone like gold, but she was dressed all in black.¡± "And dressed all in black? Hmm~... Possessed." Granid said while we platoon soldiers were perplexed. It seems that one of the natives even guessed something. "This is not an army." Furgur said in a gloomy voice. "It''s a cult." "Cult? Um~... cult of what?" I asked and Granid decided to tell us everything from the very beginning. "The cult of worshipers of dark forces called demons. Beyond the boundaries of our world, in the kingdoms of darkness, vice, sin, pride and temptation, these creatures live, rejected by the Gods themselves. They live, feeding on the fears, passions and pain of the living and the dead. The Church gave a name to these creatures and now they are called demons." Demons? I was surprised, not believing my ears. It is unlikely that any of us could believe in the existence of demons. They existed only in the Bible in the mouths of all kinds of shamans, priests and deeply religious people, becoming just a part of human culture for a very, very long time. They are always called creepy, thirsty for human emotions and universal evil, becoming a symbol of everything bad that humanity has done and could do. At least that''s all I know about the word "demon" in our culture, but here on this planet they may be real. It is quite possible that they may be a completely different type of intelligent being, which outwardly simply greatly frightens representatives of other races, including the human race. When people explored space and established contacts with alien civilizations, they repeatedly gave the name ¡°demon¡± to any races that showed signs of aggression or simply looked ugly to people; this was quite normal. Even intelligent alien species called people a similar word, but in their own languages ??because people for them were terrible and frightening monsters. Fortunately, these stereotypes were quickly broken when contacts were established, and with them some diplomatic relations. It''s unlikely that this is possible, but what if the ?demons? here are actually demons? This is, of course, a stupid question and first we need to see them, analyze them and draw appropriate conclusions, but for now we should keep their existence in mind. Meanwhile, while we were walking through the forest, Granid continued to tell us about these same demons: "People are afraid of them, afraid of their powers, that they can come for their souls, but other people worship them, serve them voluntarily, sacrifice themselves to them, their blood or their bodies. People who sacrificed their souls for them and handed them over to them possessions of their bodies are called obsessed. They are very strong and capable of crushing an entire army alone, and if a whole flock gathers among them, then the whole army will fall before them." ¡°This all certainly sounds interesting and scary,¡± Fred spoke with skepticism. ¡°But it¡¯s unlikely that these demons exist at all. You could confuse them with another type of living being and build around them the image of a dangerous enemy. While the possessed may just be people who have used some enhancing substances.¡± Fred, as always, could not believe in fairy tales, however, I could not either, but simply admitted their reality, while the senior physician immediately rejected them and gave his own answer to this question. "This is wrong." Granid answered calmly. ¡°Demons live beyond the boundaries of our world and live in a constant search for gates through which they can leak onto the continent, into the mortal world. People, or rather their bright destructive emotions like pride, passion, love, hatred, anger, temptation, are these gates, that¡¯s why Demons are also dangerous, they take advantage of human weaknesses to devour all the living and the dead. The Antigonish Inquisition or the warriors of the Order of the Holy Knights often dealt with the possessed, but not all lands are subject to them, and somewhere they are even crushed by demons, as in the gray sands of the western desert. "Hell." Furgur said gloomily. "A huge desert of ash and an ocean of bones. I have never seen these lands, but according to rumors they are described as they are. They say that Western countries are preparing military campaigns to crush this stronghold of demons, but lose to them every time. From the desert Hel constantly There are demonic raids on the lands of the living, and the desert itself is constantly expanding, devouring entire countries. There are even rumors about a certain demon lord who allegedly directs these demons, but this may already be fiction." Demon Lord? That is... Satan? I asked myself questions. ¡°It is quite possible that this is why the Antigone Empire decided to expand.¡± Itami suddenly suggested. "Perhaps they are going to gather resources from all over the continent to defeat them once and for all?" In response, Granid shook his head negatively. ¡°To fight demons, no resources or people are needed, because they are useless against demons. People and their weapons are absolutely powerless against them. Demons are woven from the same flesh as angels. No matter how embarrassing it is to admit, but once they were near the Gods, but fell, were expelled from the divine domains or punished. You can even call them godless angels, but the church prohibits calling demons that way, keep this in mind. These demons can only be defeated by special spells known only to the Antigonians, but even so they are not. They can crush them no matter what army the Antigonians lead." "Does the Antigone Empire border on Hel?" I asked Granid and he again shook his head. ¡°As far as I know, Hel is much further to the west. Demons mainly dominate there, and with them the church. They rarely appear in lands other than the west. In any case, I have not heard of them appearing here or anywhere else " "Then what are the cultists doing here?" Zaden, who had been silent until then, asked. We were all worried about this question. We knew that there are certain demons on this planet and they pose a huge threat to all its inhabitants, although we cannot yet imagine exactly which one, but still, information about them may be useful to us someday. Perhaps if they turn out to be ordinary intelligent life forms, then we can come into contact with them and agree on something. For example, they can help us get out of this planet, since they are made of the same thing as these unknown angels, but before that we need to check whether they are really the ones who are so afraid and whether they even exist. At this time, Princess Niana decided to answer Zaden¡¯s question, also listening to all this with fear on her face. "Perhaps they want to come to Hippolyta''s aid." "What?" We all asked her almost in unison. "Wait." Suddenly Alza remembered something.¡± ¡°The lady said that Queen Femila entered into a contract with a certain demon. Maybe under this contract the demons decided to undertake to protect Hippolyta in exchange for something?¡± "For what?" I asked and Princess Niana answered with drops of tears in her eyes. "For my mother''s life." Hearing her words, we all fell silent, without stopping our movement in the forest. It is unlikely that demons will comply with any kind of agreement, and it is unclear what Queen Femila was counting on when concluding a contract with a demon. Maybe this contract is just a rumor or even a fictitious reason for the invasion of Hippolyta, we don¡¯t know for sure, and therefore it¡¯s too early to draw any conclusions. "Enough." I said, returning all my attention to Ripun. "Do you have anything else to add?" "Uh~¡­ Da." The orange-eyed one nodded." ¡°That sorceress cast spells without words, like dear Camellia.¡± Hearing his words, Camellia suddenly became interested: "What spell did she use?" "Lightning. She flashed them from her palms." "Didn''t she have any scars on her that looked like roots?" "N... no." The prophet tried to remember, blinking a little and shaking his head.¡± ¡°No, definitely not. Why did she have to have scars?¡± "If she can use a lightning spell without words, then she knows the nature of lightning, how it is formed and its effects." The white-haired sorceress answered. ¡°To do this, you need to experience the element on yourself, as all magicians do, testing water, fire or air on yourself. If she can use lightning, then thunder has struck her. Or...¡± Camellia suddenly fell silent, but the old wizard decided to finish for her: "Or she''s much older than she looks." ¡°What does her age have to do with it if we are talking about knowledge of the nature of lightning?¡± Fred was interested and Granid answered him. ¡°To understand the essence of magic, you either need to have an unprecedented mind or time to study all the elements of nature. If she recreates lightning without spells, it means that she either fully understood the essence of the element of lightning or experienced it on herself.¡± To understand magic, it turns out you need to know physics. I understood something of their words and began to think. We have been on this planet for more than a month and are still not very familiar with the nature of these places. There are a lot of fantastic things here, all kinds of creatures and phenomena that, according to some criteria, existed in the fantasies of earthlings and resulted in works of art, but here they are for some reason real. Demons, magicians, kingdoms, monsters, goblins... Strange... it feels as if some person, possessing unrealistic resources, realized all his fantasies here..., created for himself the world of his dreams. While we continued to go east, night had already fallen. Tomorrow we''ll head south and hit the road to Run, but for now we''ve decided to set up camp in the middle of this forest. The guys still hold out and maintain proper discipline, which cannot be said about the natives, who liked to quarrel among themselves from time to time. And now, lying on my sleeping bag, I saw Camellia leading Lecite away, holding his hand. It was not difficult to guess why. I decided not to disturb them, but then I noticed a strange look from Princess Ilifreeta directed in their direction. She seemed unable to sleep while the fire was burning nearby, however, I was the same. "Where did they go?" asked the princess. "Most likely to make children." I answered with a chuckle and turned away, leaving the native princess perplexed by my words. When we return to the 127th Army, we will carry with us a baggage of useful data that will help us survive and get off this planet. I hope everything will be fine with us, and we will never meet these cultists. Chapter 58. Impossible war (part 1) In the palace dungeon of the city of Ran, the queen was constantly moving from corner to corner. She was anxious and constantly complained to her sons about the terrible conditions in which they were kept: ¡°It¡¯s dirty, damp, it stinks of something, they don¡¯t follow my orders, no one can dye me, my hair, have you seen my hair? It¡¯s a nightmare! And the food... it¡¯s terrible, people eat it? Yes, it¡¯s crap! How can this be? yes?! This is unfair! This idiot, Draun Rudrin, is only the main adviser, what can he do to us? This bastard will pay for everything! How long will we stay here? I have a tea party planned, will I really miss it?!" In the opposite chambers, princes Slakersh and Monrid sat in the light of dim torches, listening to the grumbling of their mother. The youngest of them, like her, could not stand the conditions in which they were kept and only Monrid patiently waited for the right moment. ¡°Are you really satisfied with everything here?¡± The queen turned to Monrid, seeing a malicious smile on his lips, after which she received a satisfied answer from her eldest son. "We''re not here for long." ¡°It¡¯s been three whole days and you¡¯re saying we won¡¯t be here for long?!¡± The queen screamed angrily, starting to shake the steel bars. ¡°Enough! Let me go! I can¡¯t take it anymore! I want to live the way I lived! Let me go!¡± "Calm down. Everything is going as I planned." "What?" Prince Slakersh turned to Monrid, clearly surprised by what his older brother said. "What are you up to?" Monrid looked mysteriously at his mother and brother, and then asked a rhetorical question. ¡°You know that Ilifreeta is not in the palace?¡± "Yes. That''s why that stupid Draun put us in prison." Slackersh said with contempt, defiantly kicking the wall. ¡°I can¡¯t restrain myself anymore. I just want to stick my dick into someone.¡± Monrid shook his head and looked at his younger brother with dissatisfaction. Although they both participated in periodic copulation with their younger sister, only Monrid could be satisfied with this for a long time, and Slakersh, in turn, enjoyed it to the fullest, repeating it day after day. Often it was necessary to fence him off from the princess so that she would not inadvertently die, and he turned his attention to the young girls from the palace servants. Because of him, new maids often had to be hired, and those who were raped were given to Monrid to be tortured and eaten. "And what about this bitch?" The queen asked, but it was unlikely that she was interested in hearing how good it was for her unloved daughter to be free now. ¡°She was taken from the palace to one very safe place. She won¡¯t be found there. Oh, and also, Uncle Fellrik will soon receive a letter about his father¡¯s death. Soon he will come here with his army and then...¡± Monrid paused expectantly, attracting the attention of his brother and the queen, and then, laughing slightly, finished. "And then Draun Rudrin will be forced to let us all go." "And then what? Eh?" The queen crossed her arms over her chest. "Will I have to bow to this humanoid rooster? Hah~! I''d rather give up biscuits than bow my knees." "We won''t have to do anything like that." After laughing a few times, Monrid continued. ¡°We will have more time to prepare our pawns. Right now we have no allies in the palace, but I sent my people to help my base, where this whore is being held.¡± ¡°She looks good at living in safety and spending day after day lying on a comfortable bed.¡± The queen complained about which Monrid denied her assumptions with a chuckle. ¡°No, mother, she now lives in the same conditions as us, but only worse. When the time comes and I take the throne, she will be completely in our possession. Brother Slakersh, you will have someone to have fun with and this time without any... or restrictions. If you want, kill her and leave the body to me." A hungry, lustful grin appeared on the younger prince''s face. Fucking a motionless princess, especially his own sister, brought him much more pleasure than doing something similar, but with maids who could resist the prince. The slacker had to cut off the girls'' tendons so that they wouldn''t run away, and he didn''t really like raping girls covered in blood. That''s why he waited until he could finally be reunited with his younger sister and begin a month of dying copulations with her. Even if she gets pregnant, he will cut out her belly and throw out the fetus for the dogs to eat and continue to fuck her until this creature dies. At that moment, the sound of doors opening was heard in the dungeon, followed by the clatter of boots. None other than Draun Rudrin himself, accompanied by guards and members of the royal council, decided to visit the royal family. The chief adviser tried his best to find the missing princess, and therefore from time to time he interrogated members of the royal family. He could not torture them with physical injuries, otherwise, upon their release, the nobility would immediately have questions about their vital functions and unpleasant appearance. The chief adviser approached the cell where Prince Monrid was sitting and began to glare at him with a stern look, and the prince himself, in turn, lazily lay down on the bench and said: ¡°Have you come to interrogate us again? I told you I wouldn¡¯t tell you anything.¡± "We''ve had enough." Draun Rudrin said gloomily and turned towards the cell where the queen was waiting in the wings. ¡°The story will be like this: the grief-stricken queen refused to eat and lost weight, as a result of which she fell ill and died.¡± "What?" The woman said with fear on her face. She trembled fearfully, expecting that something terrible was about to happen to her. "No. Stop. You can''t! I''m the queen!" "I am the king." Draun Rudrin proudly voiced and nodded to the guards, after which they opened the cell door and grabbed the queen and pushed her out while she kicked and screamed. "Let me go! I am your queen! You don''t dare do this to me! Enough!" Draun Rudrin, however, could not tolerate this woman, his gaze was full of contempt and anger, he was disgusted to look at this stupid and greedy old woman. When she stood in front of him, he hit her face with his palm, leaving a red mark. There was anger in his eyes, there was also fear, but most of all hatred. ¡°Through your fault, the kingdom was doomed to destruction. The invasion, the civil war, and also this ridiculous struggle for succession to the throne. A rebellion is about to break out in the country, the two duchies are about to secede, putting the vassal agreement on fire. I wanted all the best for our country, I did everything possible to prevent what would soon happen from happening, but now it cannot be avoided." Draun Rudrin looked at the golden-haired queen and spat in her face, after which the guard shut her mouth so that the chief adviser, and now the king, would not receive a retaliatory spit. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "Spit is the least thing you deserve in your worthless life, you old whore." Draun said, and then ordered the guards. "Shave her bald, cut off her fingers and toes, rip out her tongue and hand her over to a cheap brothel." The queen, hearing the words of the chief adviser, widened her eyes, she moaned loudly and tried to escape, but the guards, holding her tightly, began to lead the former queen out of the dungeon. After that, the chief adviser turned to Monrid, who had a grin on his face. He didn¡¯t care about the life of his own mother, he knew that if any of them were sacrificed, they would deal with her first. A legend invented by the royal council will be accepted in noble society, but it is unlikely that anyone would accept it if they heard about the death of Prince Slackersh or Monrid. In this case, a civil war could immediately break out against the usurpation of power by the royal council. "What about you." Draun turned to the crown prince. "You''ll be next if you don''t tell me where Ilifreeta is." Monrid, hearing Draun¡¯s words, only laughed and shook his head. ¡°No. I have a better option. You will free me and thus be able to solve all your problems once and for all. Why do you need all this complexity? Better do everything the way I want.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t hope for it, you are doomed to death, and you know it very well. However, I can order you to be killed quickly if you tell everything. If you don¡¯t do this, you will rot here until your death, in the cold and thirsting for human flesh " ¡°What else, maybe I should stop eating people too?¡± Prince Monrid grinned. "Never in my life. Get out of here like a boulder, you old penis lover." Draun Rudrin was angry, he was tired of the stubbornness of this idiot, which is why he clenched his fingers into a fist and shouted: ¡°Enough! This is the last time I come here to this dungeon to you personally so that you finally surrender! I will no longer make concessions. I know that you have allies and they are here. If I free you, then the royal council will come to an end. Therefore, I give you one last chance for the best outcome for the entire kingdom! " ¡°Let this damned kingdom rot in a pit along with these vile people. But I will breathe a sigh of relief having gotten rid of this garbage, that is, all of you. Free me and take on the burden of governing the state so that I can continue my feast. Isn¡¯t this beneficial for you?" ¡°I don¡¯t need profit. I¡¯m trying for the sake of the people of the kingdom. Of the two of us, only you think about yourself, and I¡¯m ready to sacrifice myself for the sake of peace on this earth and general prosperity. If you don¡¯t want this, then you¡¯re not worthy of being a king, which means There is no point in me sparing you in any way." "I beg you, go fuck yourself." Draun heard his words and stood silently for a while before leaving the dungeon, leaving the two princes to sit and await their fate. The next time the chief adviser comes, he will most likely decide to free the two princes. At least that''s what Slackersh thought. "You said we wouldn''t be here for long." The younger prince complained to which Monrid gave him a clear answer. ¡°That¡¯s right. We won¡¯t be here for long. We will soon be freed, and we will leave the palace, lead the army and take Ran by storm, and then defeat our uncle¡¯s army. Everything is going exactly according to plan... one might say... we haven¡¯t really started anything yet.¡± *** The situation in the kingdom has become extremely tense. Day after day, the lords bombard the house of the royal reader with letters, asking about the state of health of His Majesty Leff. In response, Draun Rudrin sends them answers saying that everything is fine with the king and his heartbeat can still be heard in his chest. It is unlikely that anyone else can believe that he is actually alive, most likely the lords have already found out about this and began to prepare for war and were only waiting for a reason to start it. The truth remains: what are they even counting on? Is the order of succession to the throne more important to them than the safety of the entire kingdom? The chief advisor and now the new king of Lakuusa did not understand this. Time was running out and Draun Rudrin ordered preparations for war to begin. This decision greatly embarrassed all the royal nobility because they simply could not believe that Duke Fellrik would actually decide to attack and only with great effort in letters to the new king managed to convince most of the nobles that this was true. However, according to the estimates of the military command, the forces necessary at least for deterrence are still not enough. One and a half thousand soldiers of the Kingdom of Lakuus against two thousand of the Duchy of Colander, the Kingdom of Lakuus is inferior to the ducal forces in numbers and in the quality of training of warriors. An attack on the royal cities of Odre and Biku is expected soon; their garrison is not large and most likely they will fall quickly. Presumably Fellrik would gain a foothold on the eastern bank of the Milu River before crossing it and marching straight to the capital. This will force the few royal forces to split up to contain the enemy advance. The Royal Army cannot afford this. In order for the kingdom to have a chance of victory, they need to be concentrated, but the duchy can afford to split its forces, which in turn will deprive the royal council of an advantage in defense. The royal army could use the support of the feudal lords and their armies, consisting of three thousand soldiers, who could compensate for the lack of troops, if not qualitatively, then at least quantitatively, but it seems the nobility is not going to help repel the attack. Either they don¡¯t believe it or, on the contrary, they want to support Fellrik¡¯s claims. "You can go." Draun Rudrin said to the military advisor. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will do my best." Krazhd Fayun hit his own breastplate with a steel gauntlet and turned around and left His Majesty¡¯s office. The new king sighed tiredly and fell onto the back of his chair while the maid poured water into his cup. He was thinking about how he could gather more soldiers to hold back the ducal troops. He no longer believed that it would be possible to come to an agreement with Fellrik, and therefore carefully prepared for war. You may have to spend your entire treasury to hire mercenaries, but whether they will justify themselves is still unknown. Moreover, an attack by the Antigonians was expected from behind the goblin forest, which was many times worse than everything the new king was counting on. Damn this life. He said in his thoughts and drank a cup of water and then coughed slightly. A little later, Dougman, the Privy Councilor, entered the office and brought unpleasant news to the new king: ¡°I know you have a lot of things to do, but I just received news and decided to tell you.¡± "What happened?" The new king tensed, already expecting to hear bad news. "The guards have just noticed an army at the city walls. They numbered about five hundred people." "Who is this?!" Draun jumped out of his chair and headed out the door towards the throne room. Dougman followed him, continuing to report: "We haven''t seen any banners, they''re not negotiating, but they''re well prepared and are about to lay siege to the city." Damn it! Draun Rudrin cursed in his thoughts, clenching his fingers into a fist. ¡°So the supporters of the royal family decided to cause chaos in the capital to help the crown prince escape.¡± The new king guessed and immediately ordered. "Give Krazhd the order to strengthen the security of the palace dungeon." "It will be done." He bowed slightly and then disappeared into the shadows of Dawgman. The new king, meanwhile, reached the throne room, where the frightened city nobility were already waiting for him, filling the room up and down. Standing near the throne, Draun Rudrin turned towards the crowd and announced: ¡°Let¡¯s skip the greetings, the first thing I want to say is that His Majesty is alive and well, but he cannot now rule the kingdom due to deteriorating health. The second thing I want to tell you all is that an unknown army is moving towards the city and we should begin preparations for the siege. Responsibilities for the defense of the city pass to me, the chief adviser to His Majesty. And my first order is to calm down and begin preparations for the defense. Take the women and children through the secret passages, give weapons to every man who is able to fight, prepare them on the walls. cobblestones, quivers of arrows, bolts and spears, as well as prepare... a hospital..." Instead of the expected obedience, many questions rained down in response to the new king: "Where is His Majesty?" "Who are you?" "What kind of defense? Are we being attacked?" "Where did the royals go? I didn''t see any of them." "Where is the queen?" "Why should we follow your orders?" ¡°We have plenty of our own things to do!¡± Their stupidity made Draun Rudrin''s hands clenched into fists. He was angry, but he tried to remain patient and calm. ¡°I understand that you have many pressing questions, but I ask... no, I don¡¯t ask... I order you to do everything as I told you.¡± The new king said in a stern tone, silencing the crowd. "The fate of the entire kingdom depends on this. Be wise and work together for the good of our kingdom." However, one person from this entire crowd came forward and shouted to the whole hall: "The king is dead! Am I right?! You killed him! You damned usurper!" Having said this, a chain reaction followed, one after another, provocateurs came out of the crowd and showered curses on the new king. "Yes! It is! You are a usurper! Why should we listen to you?" "What have you ever done for us?" "You''re not even a king!" "We don''t even know you!" "Kill him!" ¡°You bastard needs to cut out your tongue!¡± The situation was getting out of control, the city nobility was going crazy. If they are not calmed down, then it will not be possible to organize a defense, and then the whole city may fall, and then the whole country, war, horror and hunger will reign everywhere; death, disease and destruction. They need to be reassured, but Draun Rudrin had only one option to achieve this, namely, to release the crown prince into freedom, to show the people that he was still alive and that the chief adviser was performing the duties of the king. But is it worth doing? It is not a fact that it will be possible to protect the city from uninvited guests even when the defense is prepared. Five hundred people is a huge army, the city may not survive. Maybe Monrid planned this. Who knows what he will do if he finds himself outside the dungeon. What should I do? Standing in the middle of the throne room under the laughter of the crowd, the new king calls the guard to him and whispers an order in his ear. The guard''s face darkens, but he nods and moves away to join the other guards. The next moment, a painful scream was heard among the laughter, and the crowd turned around and saw how the guards began to kill everyone present. "What''s happening?!" "Oh Sod!" Draun Rudrin himself took out his blade and was ready to defend himself; the guards surrounded him to protect him. The crowd panicked and the massacre began. "Everyone heard the order!" The guard shouted, throwing his sword up. "It is ordered to execute all traitors!" "No! We are not traitors!" "Kill them!" So Draun Rudrin declared himself the new king and started a civil war. Chapter 59. Impossible war (part 2) A majestic figure, dressed in heavy steel armor, saddled a huge armored horse, and behind him, in similar armor, an impressively sized army silently awaited its order. Two thousand selected soldiers, and among them were maniacs, murderers, rapists, mercenaries and even simple hastily trained militias, who before that had only been able to plow the land and feed the cattle with hay. These are not the best warriors, but these are people who were not sorry to sacrifice on the battlefield in order to achieve the goal of their power-hungry duke. The scarlet banners of the Duchy of Colander fluttered over the field, and in front of the standing army stood the walls of a small city standing near a stormy river. The first city they besieged was called Odre and was already preparing for the siege. To the sound of the bells, the villagers ran for cover, but there were too few city defenders to give any resistance. Even though the city was small, the walls were mostly empty, practically no one defended it. Hiding his face under the visor of his steel helmet, Duke Fellrik raises his sword and gives a general order: "Attack!" The army behind him roared and thunderously shook the ground with their grand synchronized march. At first glance it may seem that they were just gathered in heaps and could not oppose anything other than a frontal attack, but in fact the army was commanded by forty commanders, each of whom led fifty fighters, and they knew perfectly well how to conduct the battle and what orders they need to give. After the first deafening roar, the detachments of the ducal soldiers reduced their battle ardor and, splitting up, began to surround the city, which was no longer a joy for its few defenders. The city was defended by simple guards who could only catch street thieves and petty hooligans among the streets of the city, but could not fight with an entire trained army. The defenders, seeing the approaching soldiers, fussed, they did not know how to fight against the ducal forces, but still continued to keep the gates closed for some time. In the next few hours it was all over. The defenders, in despair and fearing imminent death, opened the gates to the invaders and, of course, killed these defenders. Duke Fellrik took the city without a fight. The only problem that was created was a skirmish somewhere on one of the streets, but it didn¡¯t mean anything because the whole city had essentially already fallen. This battle was easy and did not last more than a day, which did not surprise either the duke or his vassals. The Lakuus Kingdom was well aware that an attack was being prepared, but to the Duke''s surprise, they did absolutely nothing about it. Fellrik may have been aware of this outcome, but he still did not know the real reason why the Lakuusians left the city defenseless. Soldiers with blood-red banners broke into the castle, knocked down the door to the throne room and saw the few guards guarding the empty room, they were killed. The lord of the city fled with the treasury, as many expected, and therefore the Duke, with a proud look, entered, sat on the throne and bent his surrendering servants to their knees while the guards were slaughtered behind their backs. He had to have a long conversation. All the other warriors meanwhile began to plunder, Fellrik personally approved this, knowing how difficult it was to control such an army without maintaining high morale. Men need to somehow entertain themselves, women and robbery are a great opportunity for this, he himself once did this. Fellrik, meanwhile, was interrogating one of the court servants, who was sitting on his knees trembling in front of the new king of Lakuus. First of all, the Duke wanted to know where all the soldiers were that were supposed to protect Odre. He could not believe that the kingdom could leave the city defenseless, which is why the Duke wanted to know where all these people were. "We were recruiting for the militia." The captive servant spoke. "But everyone who was taken was taken to the west, it seems, to Ran." "Do you know how much?" The prisoner, swallowing saliva, nodded: "A lot, almost as many as you." The Duke obviously did not believe such words. It is unlikely that an army of at least two hundred warriors could be gathered from this city; Odre is too small for such an army to be gathered here, unless it was overpopulated. Another thing is that Ran, one of the largest cities in the kingdom, could definitely gather up to half a thousand soldiers and independently fight off almost any siege. The Duke knew this very well thanks to the extensive network of spies throughout the country, and also thanks to his pedigree when he lived in the royal capital as a child. Recently, however, no information has been received from this network of spies, which could indicate two things: either this network was discovered and destroyed, or complete chaos is happening in the capital of the kingdom, which prevents the agents from sending a message. "I heard you." The Duke said in a low voice and turned his head towards the huge soldier, no less frightening and impressive in appearance than Duke Fellrik. "Cut off his head." The servant barely had time to widen his eyes in fear when the huge steel monster raised his huge two-handed weapon to strike. "NO!" The prisoner screamed, but the next moment his severed head rolled on the stone tiles of the throne room, and his body fell lifeless, bleeding. While the other servants, sitting on their knees, were shaking with fear, Fellrik decided to take off his helmet and show his warriors his elderly face, and judging by it, it was time for the Duke to retire. The Duke''s face is that of a very old man, full of wrinkles, scars and gray hair. Just eleven years and he will be able to celebrate a whole century of his life. From childhood, Fellrik was trained to fight with the sword, waiting for the moment when he would take the throne of his older brother by force. He prepared for this day, constantly training, while his brother Lef boasted that he would never leave the world of the living. As always, the Duke knew, it was just a boast, of which Lef was completely convinced until the end of his days. Recently, Fellrik received a letter from Ran, he expected that it would be from a rat from the palace, but it turned out that the letter was sent by his nephew Monrid, in which he reported the death of his father and that the throne of the kingdom was now his. This became the signal for Fellrik to immediately start a war and take the throne before this brat had time to make any preparations for defense. Fellrik was an excellent warrior, but also an equally excellent strategist. And although two thousand warriors are not enough to occupy every city of the kingdom, he did not need it, because for him it is enough to capture Ran and then the nobility will simply be obliged to obey him, but before that he will need to kill every contender for the throne and it doesn¡¯t matter be he a trained swordsman or a baby, everyone must die. At this moment, one of his vassals and his faithful friend Lord Bring approached the Duke and reported very shocking news: "My lord, my men searched the castle and found records of a militia gathering." "So what? Do they say something important?" "Yes, my lord, this refers to the number of militia." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Bring showed one rolled up scroll. "Five hundred. That''s as much as Baron Mardefay managed to collect." In his old age, the Duke was truly surprised. Gathering not less than five hundred militia from this city was quite impressive, but it is unlikely that these were only trained warriors. Among them there may even be old people, cripples and children. At that moment, it seemed to the Duke that the kingdom was so desperate that it was ready to give a spear even to a pregnant woman just to fight off the misfortune of Duke Fellrik. If five hundred people were left to Odra, then it¡¯s hard to even imagine how many soldiers were collected from all over the kingdom. Most likely, the nobility supported this young bastard and sent all their warriors to help, but where they will gather is unknown to the Duke at the moment. Nevertheless, he will act carefully so as not to inadvertently cause trouble. ¡°Bring, gather a second detachment and capture Bika, and tomorrow I will lead the army to Anakrion. Tell everyone.¡± "As you wish, Your Majesty." The lord bowed and, clanking his armor, left the throne room. Fellrik, meanwhile, wanted to kill someone. This was the meaning of his life: to endlessly kill everyone who gets in his way. "Where did I stop?" Fellrik said bloodthirstyly, looking at the frightened servants. *** The Kingdom of Lakuus plunged into Chaos. The aristocracy, having learned about the death of the king and about the massacre in the Rana palace, brought their troops to full combat readiness. The people were told publicly about the vile betrayal of the king''s right hand, the chief adviser of Draun Rudrin and his entourage. He was branded in all sorts of ways: a usurper, a murderer, an invader and even a tyrant, but the common people do not even suspect that they have lived peacefully for the last two decades thanks to his tutelage and administrative competence. Ran was besieged by unknown troops who turned out to be cultists. While crazy fanatics and demon worshipers, sparing no effort, stormed the city walls, and arrows and boulders rained down on their heads, one group of cultists made their way into the city under the guise of fleeing villagers. "Don''t be late!" The guards shouted as they let the villagers into the city. "Close the gate!" "Move further into the city! It''s dangerous here!" "Get it all on the walls!" Having made their way deep into the city and finding a deserted street, the cultists, taking off their peasant rags, took their blades from the carts and, putting on black robes, moved towards the palace. Everything was carefully planned, they knew what they needed to do to achieve their grandiose goals. They made no effort to get inside the palace while sheer chaos was happening on the streets of the city. People were herded into houses like cattle, soldiers broke carts and built barricades from them, and on the walls of the city they threw cobblestones onto the invaders and at the same time showered the enemies with a hail of arrows. The man, hiding his face under the hood and taking out a dagger, looked across the corner at the guard, who was looking around in all directions with fear on his face. He was left alone at his post to guard the way to the dungeon while the palace prepared for the attack. The cultist turned towards his brothers with a gloomy smile and uttered the battle motto: "You know what needs to be done. For a new world." "For a new world!" The cultists repeated the chant in chorus and rushed en masse towards the guard, who had no chance of defeating any of them. Meanwhile, in the dungeon itself, one guard raised his head when he heard a sound from above: "What is this? An attack?" The cultists went down into the dungeon and killed several more guards along the way, and left a couple of people at the exit to cover the retreat. When they descended into the damp, low corridors of the dungeon, they immediately began to open all the cells, including those where the royal princes were located. Slakersh was lying on a bench at that time; he was surprised to see the open door that the cultists had managed to open. The younger prince jumped up with a smile on his face and immediately decided to leave the cell, which he was already fed up with. "Finally I''m free!" He exclaimed joyfully. Before Prince Slakersh had time to leave the dungeon, three cultists stood in his way, preparing their daggers, and a moment later they simultaneously began striking their chests, splashing out liters of blood from their chests. Painful screams filled the entire dungeon. "A-a-a-a-A-A-A-A-a-a-A-A-A-A!!!" The slacker screamed heart-rendingly as his intestines fell out of his stomach, and the floor was painted the color of his blood. As soon as the body of the younger prince collapsed, the cultists stopped delivering any blows. The last remnants of life still continued to sparkle in the prince¡¯s eyes; they quickly went out when one of the cultists pulled out his life with a special dagger. He did not expect this at all, he did not expect that he would die like this, cut up by three bastards in black. "Brother." He whispered in the last moments of his life and died. Monrid, meanwhile, watched this with a smile on his lips, expecting this to happen. When the door was opened for him, they handed him a bloody dagger, which he happily cleaned with his tongue. Having enjoyed the process, he quickly came to his senses and immediately asked: "How many of you are there?" "Five hundred." The cultist said in a hoarse voice as he accompanied the heir to the throne outside. "There are too few of you." Monrid shook his head with displeasure. "You will not take over the city." "It''s not required." The cultist said as he was the first to leave the dungeon and enter the corridors of the palace. "Let''s hide in the tavern, change into this." Monrid nodded when he was handed a tunic, after which he immediately took off his richly decorated jacket, but already stinking from dampness, and threw on a new robe, after which he followed the cultists outside the palace. At this time, the army of cultists had already taken the walls of the city, and hastily assembled reinforcements barely had time to help due to the crowds of panicking people on the street. Fierce battles were already taking place inside the city, and the guards and militia could barely cope with them, but soon the palace garrison joined the battle. A thousand selected knights, the best of the best from all over the kingdom, who swore to defend the royal throne, royal power, and not the king himself. That is why they were loyal to Draun Rudrin, but despite their qualities they were much inferior in numbers and in the quality of training to the troops of Duke Fellrik, and most importantly, they had no real experience in combat and more often acted as ceremonial knights than had any practical use. Having reached the places they needed, a thousand knights scattered into different streets and began to attack the cultists, letting the blood of the invaders spill onto the ground. The weapons of the cultists simply could not penetrate the strong heavy armor of the knights and their blades bounced to the side, but the knights themselves in such vestments were not particularly agile and could successfully strike if only it was unexpected. The battle raged to the death, and after some time, when the cultists apparently realized that they could not take the city with such forces, they began to hastily retreat. Militia, guards, knights, together with three detachments of adventurers, pursued the cultists to the very outskirts of the city, where they finished off the remnants of the enemy army. The hastily assembled commoners, having learned that they had managed to repel the assault in chorus, raised a roar, sincerely rejoicing at this victory. However, part of the city was not in the best condition, the cultists killed many people, ordinary citizens and a huge number of guards. The streets of Rana were littered with corpses of people and animals, some streets were blocked by destroyed carts, as were the northern city gates themselves. People began to clean up the mess and put the bodies of the dead in piles where they would be burned. With great horror, people discovered eerie symbols on the bodies of the dead cultists, but most often they encountered a triangle carved on their backs. From that moment on, everyone was completely convinced that the city had been attacked by cultists. Only they used this damned triangle, a symbol of the three great evils: demons, dark ones and Werhane. "Let''s go." On the night after the battle, a detachment of villagers left the city and headed north, where the remnants of the cultist army, at least fifty people, were waiting for them in the thicket of the forest. One person walking in front approached the lighted fire around which the cultists were sitting, stopping and removing his hood, showing his face, the face of Prince Monrid. A figure dressed in all black immediately appeared in front of him, whose hair shone golden in the light of the torches; this was a servant of the dark forces, Swidok. "Baroness Reikuta Maledicta." Monrid said with a smile on his face. "I''m glad to see you." "Shut up."" Said the cultist with a dissatisfied expression on her face. ¡°The last thing I wanted to do in my life was to save you.¡± "Did something happen?" Monrid was perplexed seeing the anger on the Baroness¡¯s face, and the girl answered with a sad sigh. ¡°Someone killed my people in Fagna and I don¡¯t know who and most importantly how. The one who did this disappeared in Itsqueen. My people noticed the tracks of the carts, they were in the village and immediately left.¡± Monrid was surprised. He expected that his hand cult would be a formidable force on the lands of the crown, but it turns out that someone tried to interfere with his plans and this angered him no less than her. "Anything on your mind? Who could it be?" "Antigonians." Said Swidok. ¡°They recently attacked Itsqueen, most likely they wanted to attack Ran, but they met my pawns and retreated. It¡¯s strange that they didn¡¯t go further even though they killed all my people.¡± Monrid didn''t like it. He wanted to become a king, and fanatics from this distant northern country are trying to stick a fork down his throat. Most likely, this is why Draun Rudrin began preparing for war ahead of time, he was afraid that the Antigonians would begin to act, interfering with his plans to take the throne. "Find them." Monrid ordered. "And kill." Swidok smiled when she heard these words: "With pleasure." Chapter 60. Operation Achilles _________________________________________________ Reporting entry: No. 22344 ________________________________________________ July 22, 3998, the beginning of the day.> 11:58> 48 ¡ãC.> _________________________________________________ Message: The current strategic situation leaves much to be desired. At the moment, the entire 127th Army is fighting against creatures called ¡°xorx¡±, holding back their onslaught to the west of the Pharaoh base. Over the past 24 hours, there have been deaths in various parts of the defense sector 663 people, these are some of the largest losses suffered in almost a month of hostilities. Total deaths 9876 people, casualties continue to mount. We need to get out of such a difficult situation and fortunately we have found out a number of details that will help us in the future to solve this seemingly difficult task. Firstly, we found out the details related to xorx communication and the special structure of their body and, in particular, the process of their consciousness. The Central Science Department conducted an experiment in which it was able to block communication with the ¡°swarm queen¡± using electromagnetic waves from a distant emitter, which we use to communicate with ships within the planetary system. As a result of the experiment, the subject stopped showing any kind of conscious activity and turned into a practically non-aggressive animal. As it turned out, it did not even feel hungry and soon died due to a lack of necessary substances to maintain its own life. Later, the experiment was repeated in the field, but in contrast to the controlled conditions, the maximum that could be achieved was only a temporary xorx delay, and after twenty minutes of stupor, communication with the ¡°swarm queen¡± was restored, and they continued to attack the western positions of the 127th Army. Based on this, it was confirmed that xorx are not individual creatures and are controlled by the "swarm queen". Secondly, we confirmed the existence of the ¡°swarm queen,¡± a creature that plays the role of the center of the collective consciousness of these individuals. With the help of special synapses, various types of xorx-communicators and xorx-commanders, playing the role of intermediate command, the queen of the swarm gives the main orders to all millions of individuals. These creatures are completely absent of any kind of individuality. Thirdly, we found out that xorx learned to block radio waves above the ¡°swarm queen¡±, which created a situation in which it was impossible to attack with xorx guided missiles, as well as conduct reconnaissance using unmanned aerial vehicles. The idea of ??firing a salvo of cruise missiles with nuclear warheads and destroying the queen of the swarm was proposed and used, but to our surprise, although the salvo was fired, it did not have the desired effect. ?The Queen of the Swarm survived a nuclear strike.? (Information of particular importance!) Based on the above information, we have developed an operation plan codenamed ?Achilles?. We have prepared six largbattalions and five shuttles for the final destruction of the ¡°swarm queen¡± and all xorx in this region. I will reveal the details of the operation in the next report. _________________________________________________ Additional comment: The operation will begin any minute, I really hope for a successful outcome since the chance of success of the operation during the simulation was only... ¡­18%... ...we have no other option. Executing Operation Achilles is the only way to survive on this planet... (Appendix 1. ¡°Operational data of operation ?Achilles?, plan, preparation, date of operation¡±) (Appendix 2. ¡°Summary of the composition of personnel, group of troops ?Troy? and operational command¡±) (Appendix 3. ¡°Calculation of data on the chance of success of Operation ?Achilles?¡±) ¡­ _________________________________________________ End of entries¡­ _________________________________________________ *** The details of the operation were vague, from which all I know is that it is very important to the survival of each of us on this damn planet. This was a very important mission, the failure of which would cost us everything. We all understood what awaited us. We were all afraid of this, but we people will not fall so easily in the face of death. Our strength is in unity, in our principles, in our minds and of course, most importantly, in our weapons. Whatever these insectoids are, they are just beetles that can only press on us with their chitinous mass. Now they will lose this advantage when they lose their head, which makes all the decisions for them. I was in combat gear. It was nice to feel the weight of a combat suit and powerful firearms in your hands. I like to feel so strong, as if I have become a real defender of humanity and the only state of our civilization. This gives me a lot of confidence in my abilities, which could come in handy at any moment. Not only was I glad that we were now dressed in normal mobile combat suits of the "Panther" type, but so were the soldiers of my platoon. ¡°Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh~... yes-ah-ah~...! Now we''ll show these damn beetles where the Athenians lick their balls! ¡°Lewis rejoiced as he inspected his hand-held missile launcher, having previously loaded it with a guided missile filled with high-explosive fragmentation. In response to these words, I warned Lewis by answering him on the local air: "Sergeant, be less enthusiastic, this is an important and responsible mission. We need to be ready." In response, he simply waved it off. ¡°Come on, Ted, fighting spirit is very useful now. The main thing for us is to gather our strength, and we¡¯ll think about survival on the battlefield when the shooting starts.¡± What a moron. I thought smiling. Life doesn''t seem to teach him anything. ¡°I see, Lewis, you are happily ready to become a seven. Survive at least until the end of the day, and I promise that I will bury you on Earth with my own hands.¡± I said, making all the platoon soldiers laugh with my words, however, not for long. ¡°That¡¯s enough! Get ready, the landing will be any minute now. We will have an almost continuous battle with the beetles, which will last at least about six hours, if not longer. There will be a rotation every half hour. Does everyone remember the briefing?¡± "Yes sir!" The platoon shouted in unison, and I began to look at the tactical map on the display displayed in the helmet of my combat suit. "Great. Everyone get ready to disembark." I answered, starting to analyze the data displayed in front of my eyes. The tactical map on the display showed five shuttles moving west in a wedge formation, flying over the xorx horde. To be honest, I didn''t like all of this. On board our shuttle there was a powerful weapon that at any other moment could have served us for the purpose of evacuating us from the planet, but instead we are using it as a bomb. And it¡¯s not a fact that it will work at all or, on the contrary, will work ahead of time. For this operation, we assembled a rather large platoon of engineers who would have to tinker with this ¡°bomb¡± while we defended our positions from the endless influx of enemies. It would be much easier if we just dropped it over the hive and that¡¯s it, but it looks like we can¡¯t do it. I regretted to myself as I waited for the moment when the bloody routine would begin. Moreover, we were flying straight into the heart of the xorx hive, where the number of these creatures will reach tens of thousands, if not hundreds or even millions. And although we were allocated the most powerful and advanced weapons for this operation, they, unfortunately, do not guarantee the survival of each of us during the implementation of the assigned tasks. This operation, in principle, does not guarantee a positive outcome for us, and yet General Zeonid approved it because there was simply no other course of action left. If everything goes smoothly, then more than a hundred thousand soldiers of the 127th Army will survive, and if not, then practically none of us. Based on this, I could only pray to the Gods unknown to me so that at least one of us would save our lives until the end of this day and could someday see the Moon, Sun and Earth with our own eyes again. Meanwhile, the display showed an inactive timer showing the time. Six o''clock. This is how long this operation will take. The timer will start counting down as soon as we jump from the shuttles onto the sand, and during this time we will need to hold back a real wave of giant creatures dressed in chitin and crawling on their limbs with sharp claws. To be honest, I get excited when I think about it. The battle promised to be not just difficult, but truly apocalyptic. Its scale simply defies imagination. Since the end of the Pantora War, never before have the Republic Armed Forces of Man fought such large-scale battles. You could say that Hydra is smoking on the sidelines. He''s right. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. I thought, looking at Lewis. Fighting spirit is very useful right now. At that moment, a series of booming sounds sounded throughout the shuttle. We were well aware of what we had just heard. This is the sound of xorx fire from the shuttle''s onboard guns. In the general air, one could hear how orders were transmitted, and the pilots reported on what they saw. Everyone listened attentively to the broadcast, waiting for the moment when the shuttle pilot would command the landing. "Says: ?Phobos?. Do you see this?" "Says: ?Apostle?. Are you talking about this huge mountain?" "Says: ?Phobos?. I confirm." "Says: ?Edward Levsky?. This is our goal, the queen of the swarm." Five thousand people are ready to join the battle at any moment. Under the dim light of red LEDs, even rows of soldiers, dressed in black massive combat suits, stood waiting for this hour, held in place by ceiling clamps and even in this position, they could not wait to release their first clip at the damn insectoids. The clamps themselves will disappear as soon as the shuttle lands and we finally become mobile. I, along with all the soldiers, stood closest to the landing hatch of the shuttle and will be one of the first to parachute to the landing site. Most likely, I will be the very first to die in battle. How unpleasant and scary it is to realize this. Mom... dad... I... I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll come home. I promise that I will do everything possible on my own not to die here. Natiana, love of my life, I will definitely return to you. I swear I will not die in the sands of this damned planet. I will definitely live to see the day of our reunion. I swear. Praying to myself, I soon heard the main order on the air: "Landing in three... two... one..." The boarding ramp instantly fell down and a blinding light hit my eyes. And the first person I saw was a two-meter xorx warrior rushing towards us through a sandstorm. At that moment, the clamps retracted into the ceiling and now I felt complete freedom of movement. I pointed the barrel of my machine gun towards the xorx and immediately pulled the trigger and opened fire. With a short burst of large-caliber shells, I tore this creature into pieces, emitting liters of yellow blood, and taking massive heavy steps, I moved forward, simultaneously giving the order: "To all members of platoon D1-1-1A2, we are disembarking and taking the designated position!" "Yes, sir!" The platoon shouted in unison on our local broadcast. More xorx appeared ahead and, without my order, the fighters fired at them with all the weapons we had, mainly machine guns and flamethrowers. At the moment there were few beetles, there were dozens of them somewhere in the entire visible area, and it seemed they were disoriented. In the distance, the silhouettes of other shuttles could be seen from which entire regiments of soldiers disembarked, followed by equipment, be it anti-aircraft guns, missile launchers, tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and mobile communication and coordination systems. Immediately, in parallel with the clearing of the territory, fortifications began to be built. At that moment I looked at the tactical map and gave the order to the platoon to move to the defense point, which we must defend for six hours. That place was nothing more than just a flat and flat sandy surface that would later be fortified with barricades, artificial hills and ramparts, and it would also have to be mined in case these xorx positions were captured. "All members of Platoon D1-1-1A2, move to sector S-34, enemy direction north." We began to move towards the sector, shooting at the beetles along the way. It seems that after a minute they finally woke up and began to attack us in whole flocks, if not waves. This created difficulties for us because we had to focus most of our attention on them. Their movements became more organized. And although the terrain was flat and they had nowhere to hide, they could burrow underground and therefore we also monitored the activity below the surface, scanning the sands with everything we could, hoping to avoid unexpected attacks. These actions should not have been necessary since the soil under the sand here seemed solid and yet you never know when to expect unpleasant surprises. "Radaper, Antonio, install the turret. Lewis fire only at individuals above twenty meters. Armen, prepare ammunition..." I continued to give various kinds of orders. Our platoon D1-1-1A2, like the others, carried out the assigned combat mission. We were preparing one of three lines of defense, the first we had to defend, and the rest we would have to use for temporary rotations. The current ammunition should have been enough to destroy thousands of these monsters, but we knew for sure that this would not be enough. Meanwhile, the shuttles, having dropped off everyone and unloaded all available luggage, raising clouds of sand, rose up on accelerators and flew back to the Pharaoh base to load more ammunition. We, in turn, must hold our positions while the engineers tinker with that ¡°bomb¡±. I aimed my machine gun into the distance, but due to the sandstorm I did not see the enemy in front of me, but I saw something else. What the... A huge lonely mountain, a living mountain of chitin from which some gigantic pulsating arteries led underground. The mountain was dotted with tens of thousands of insectoids and was nothing more than a giant living anthill. Most likely, this was the same xorx hive that, by some miracle, survived a series of nuclear strikes. I was convinced of this by looking at the bisocanner data, which confirmed the presence of a huge number of individual individuals that were heading straight towards us. Having activated the tactical map on the helmet display, I was also convinced that we were in complete ass, that is, completely surrounded. Xorx were not yet organized, but were already beginning to compress the ring with their movement towards the outer sectors of the defense perimeter. Thousands of soldiers and dozens of pieces of military equipment were swarming in their positions, preparing to fight off one huge endless wave of xorx. Machine guns, rocket launchers, turrets, anti-aircraft guns, minefields between the three lines of defense and remote fuses were installed directly at the positions. With the help of machines, we dug trenches, installed barbed wire and steel stakes, everything that would help us in the upcoming battle. They erected artificial hills and placed large-caliber guns on them, and also did not forget about air defense systems. We were preparing to meet a monstrous tsunami here, which at any moment would be ready to wipe us off the face of the planet. However, with the weapons that we had with us, we were not preparing to simply surrender. This mission is extremely important for our continued survival on this planet. If we fail, then none of us will ever leave this planet, alive or inanimate. "Oh shit!" Someone swore on air, looking at the approaching sandstorm within which a chitinous horde was hiding. "They''re already attacking!" "Get ready!" I gave the order, aiming my machine gun. "Fire when ready!" After these words, the shooting immediately began. Xorx were still a kilometer away from us, but we had already begun to conduct aimed fire at them. In the rear, artillery began to actively work, rockets were continuously launched, machine guns were chattering, pouring a barrage of lead on the insane creatures that seemed to be completely devoid of any instinct of self-preservation and continued to move ahead towards their certain death. It seemed that they were not alive, they were nothing more than puppets that they did not mind sacrificing. Even the Cemptzens were more individual than this collective swarm of giant insectoids. Apparently because of this, a unanimous decision was made to completely destroy these creatures, even if this would disrupt the ecosystem of this planet. For our survival, it does not matter whether life develops on this planet or not. After the crash of Zeus, this planet is like a corpse. Sooner or later, its entire surface will be completely and completely poisoned by toxins released from fuel tanks. What is unknown is how long it will take to stay safely on the surface of the planet, although in theory the problems should have started now, a month after the crash. "The artillery has used up a salvo! One minute to reload!" A man''s voice sounded on the air. Silently accepting this message and seeing flashes of distant explosions for the last time, we were preparing to let the xorx closer and start firing without aiming. Meanwhile, among the xorx, large individuals began to stand out, like xorx-tanks, which could release the most dangerous acid, which could corrode even the strongest alloy. The scientific department confirmed that the acid of xorx-tanks, although it had a temporary effect and could evaporate, could easily deoxidize the Kaingrain alloy, the most durable and refractory material known to human civilization, used on the lining of warships. This meant only one thing: under no circumstances should they be allowed closer, otherwise they would simply wipe out all our defenses to the Cemptzen devils. That is why xorx-tanks became a priority target for our military equipment. A barrage of tank fire hit the first xorx-tank that came across. Various shells from armor-piercing to incendiary and fragmentation had virtually no effect. Seeing the shooting, these huge creatures quickly reacted, starting to stick out their durable shell from the back forward, as if they were putting up a shield in front of them that could withstand even a small tactical nuclear strike. The only way to kill them is plasma, which fortunately was at our disposal. "Plasma fire!" A new order sounded on the air and the screen in the helmet was instantly illuminated with a blinding light by a dozen white rays. One of the streams of plasma struck the shell of the xorx-tank, instantly evaporating it and at the same time hundreds of small xorx that were nearby at that moment. If we had not been dressed in combat suits, we would probably have felt the monstrous heat from the plasma fire and the loud, disgusting screech of xorx being burned alive. Nevertheless, the battle did not end, but rather intensified. From time to time, we encountered even more unique individuals ahead, one of which was the flying xorx, which looked more like giant mosquitoes with saber-shaped limbs. They were fragile, one machine gun fire was enough to kill them, but they were nimble, and their movements were chaotic. Suppressing xorx mosquitoes was difficult, and the chance of hitting them was approximately 20%. We used one unique weapon against them, which, unfortunately, did not find its use on the battlefields of past wars. This is a noise weapon, a device that sends sound at certain frequencies and disorients everyone who hears this noise, including people. The scientific department identified the necessary frequencies at which xorx lost attention and orientation in space. To be more precise, they simply stopped dodging the projectiles and flew straight as if they had lost touch with reality, thanks to which they became a simple target, which despite this still remained quite difficult to destroy since they still continued their flight. Nevertheless, noise weapons helped us a lot in suppressing them. Thanks to him, there is no hurricane of xorx mosquitoes circling above us, which could destroy us in an instant. Also among the xorx there appeared something like artillery. Huge creatures almost the same size as xorx-tanks, with a large inflated abdomen from which they launched a long stream of acid into space. Until this day, we had met only a few of them, but now thousands of such creatures surrounded our positions and were ready to pour acid rain on us, which would devour all our weapons to hell and make us powerless and, of course, dead. Our aviation immediately began to operate, some of the drones circling above our heads, which were controlled by operators inside our defensive perimeter. They fired rockets and dropped bombs at xorx. Meanwhile, we ordinary soldiers were only minor participants in the battle, or so it seemed to us. Yet our strength lay in the fact that each of us, doing small work separately, did a huge job together, this was the significance for us. I felt like I was caught in a stormy open sea, without a boat or a life preserver. There was heavy fire all around, the display barely identified the targets for attack, then some red dots appeared, then others disappeared. Shaking and vibration were constantly felt through the combat suits. Often it was necessary to change the barrel of the machine gun due to overheating. Explosions thundered in the distance, yellow blood splashed, a wave of dead carcasses rose high, and we continued, seemingly in vain, to stand against the rushing inevitable death. And although at first glance it seemed that we were successfully holding back the endless wave of xorx, the tactical map clearly showed how the xorx continued to squeeze the encirclement ring deeper and deeper. Even when the artillery successfully reloaded and cleared the xorx positions with a barrage of fire and rockets, they were still quickly filled with new creatures as if they had not died there at all. The all-round defense was rapidly turning into a crater, the xorx began to press on us from the heights of their own corpses. The sky was filled with mindlessly flying xorx mosquitoes. There were so many of them that they darkened the skies and dispersed even the already raging sandstorm. Considering how much we fired, we began to increasingly understand that our chances of winning were far from 18%, but rather 0.18%. They compressed the surrounded ring three times faster than calculated. Our resources for defense were insufficient, and the next supply of ammunition would clearly be late. And then, at the sight of an emerging unfavorable situation, the head of defense, Hort Umika, orders a series of tactical nuclear strikes. Six bright flashes appear around the circular perimeter, which, like a shock wave, swept away all the hundreds of thousands of xorx that had been pressing on us all these tens of minutes, and yet we still need to hold out for more than five hours. "Rotation!" Having heard the main order on the air, our positions were taken by the fighters from the second line, meanwhile the fighters from the third line took the positions of the second line, and we, in turn, retreated from the first to the third. We have successfully passed the baton to the heroes ahead, who will also have to wait in the wings for rotation. At the moment when we retreated back to the prepared camp, I gave orders to my platoon: "Let''s get some rest, guys. Reload, check your weapons, and eat something while you can." The fighters were tense. Looking at the health data of my fighters on the display, I saw indicators of a high heart rate. Adrenaline was surging inside their bodies, however, I was no better. I did not lose attention for a second, constantly firing aimed fire half a kilometer ahead. Often my machine gun overheated and I had to quickly replace even the whole barrel with another one that was not yet overheated. "Sir," Suddenly Radeper turned to me. "May I speak?" "Speak." "When I die and the army returns to Earth, bury me on Mimas." "I listened to you, private. Your request was denied." "What if I say ?please??" "Radaper, you won''t die here, okay?" "Damn... I want to go to Mimas. Maybe if I die, then still fulfill my request." "Only if I myself survive." "You don''t have to be afraid. Out of all of us, you''re sure to survive." A small dialogue blew away all the tension that we had accumulated during this miserable half hour, however, the battle was still far from over. Looking back at the nightmare that we were holding back and would continue to hold back later, I wanted to believe that it was all just one very terrible nightmare that would soon pass. But the nightmare will not pass. Chapter 61. Chances Are Diminishing The Pharaoh base held on with all its strength. All available reserves were deployed to protect the western defense sector. And although we did not have any problems in destroying the advancing enemy, their colossal numerical superiority still threatened to stretch the front line, and the enemy could also bypass the positions from the flanks. We thought for a long time about how we could correct the current situation and came to one right decision: We must cut off the head. Sooner or later the xorx will bypass the positions from the flanks and simply destroy us by overwhelming them with their numbers. Without taking risky steps, we would simply continue to wait for our inevitable death. Since with a high degree of probability we were in danger of death, we decided on this adventure of a landing operation in the deep rear without any kind of long-distance communication. Leaving five thousand people alone with millions of giant bugs right in the heart of the hive was obviously a terrible idea, and yet we were left with no other options on how to defeat xorx. We considered the option of quickly fleeing east closer to the sea, but we risked encountering more dangerous life forms than xorx, as well as exposing hundreds of thousands of people to biohazard. Well, of course, if we did this, we would simply expose our backs to xorx, and this is already guaranteed death. Even though we had combat suits for each person, the energy reserves in the batteries were not endless. Our current position in the middle of the desert was the most advantageous and safe for us. It¡¯s best for us not to leave the ¡°great desert¡± at all and stay here while collecting resources and building a new ship in order to return home to Republic space. However, xorx and their collective consciousness want to destroy the uninvited guests in the person of us, which leaves this option of current actions unfeasible. To save our lives and our positions it is necessary to destroy xorx once and for all. For this purpose, we assembled an elite group of troops ¡°Troy¡± and sent them into the heart of a swarm of giant insectoids. I really hope that the operation will be successful and as we hope xorx, after the loss of their ¡°queen¡±, they will simply become disoriented and become nothing more than animals, even if this was unlikely, but still we need to try and see what happens in the end. It is not known for sure whether this will happen at all or not, but we knew for sure that eliminating the center of the collective mind is now a priority for our survival. Even if the ¡°swarm queen¡± does not directly control xorx, but only gives general orders, this would still play into our hands in terms of defense. Maybe a power struggle would begin among these individuals, and we could buy time to deal with them once and for all. It is also possible that they will be able to destroy us before they realize the loss of their command center. In this case, we will take them with us to hell. "Third group of shuttles for takeoff." "Accepted. Let''s begin takeoff." "Good luck." While at headquarters, I looked at the holographic map of the fighting, which displayed a flat landscape and icons indicating our forces and those detected by xorx scanners. From the east, like a rising tide, a monstrous horde opened its mouth, trying to encircle the thin blue line that marked the close concentration of Republic troops in the western sector of defense. At any moment, xorx can simply break through this thin line and easily crush, devour and gut all the remaining people on this planet. It is extremely important for us to prevent this from happening under any circumstances and to defeat the enemy at any cost. "General Kudrinash, a message has arrived from the ?Troy? group of troops." "What''s there?" I turned to the communications officer sitting inside the command center. After a short time of viewing the message, the signalman replied: "?The Trojans? successfully fulfill the assigned combat mission of defending the circular perimeter, however..." "What?" I didn¡¯t really want to hear bad news and yet... "However, the xorx are compressing the encirclement ring ten times faster than we expected." Ten times faster? These words instantly dulled my enthusiasm. The chance of winning dropped from 18% to less than one. This means that already in the second hour xorx will simply take and destroy all the surrounded soldiers. Catastrophe! Oh shit! I didn¡¯t hesitate and immediately gave the order: "This is General Zeonid speaking. Urgent order. Send reinforcements to the Troy force of up to thirty thousand people." ¡°But sir, the line of defense in the west is too stretched to begin to withdraw such significant forces to form new ones as reinforcements. We cannot...¡± "This is my order." I said more sternly, almost gnashing my teeth. "We need to support the operation with all possible means so carry out my orders immediately." "Yes, sir..." The officer answered stutteringly and began handing out credentials on closed air. For a brief moment, I noticed frightened looks inside the headquarters; rather, they turned out to be not even frightened, but condemning. Many were dissatisfied with the fact that I gave priority to carrying out the operation instead of protecting the main forces of the 127th Army of the RVSC, and yet it was necessary. Perhaps, because of my order, a breakthrough zone will arise in one of the defense sectors, or we may even have to give up a huge area of ??territory to the enemy in order to narrow the front line. The fighting can be transferred directly to the Pharaoh base, where many objects have already been erected, forming the future settlement of our army. If the fighting moves to ?Pharaoh?, then, firstly, there will be great casualties, even greater than we can imagine, and secondly, all buildings will come under attack and can be destroyed during the fighting. The loss of resources and human lives is absolutely unacceptable for us in the current circumstances. In this case, even if Operation Achilles is successful, we will not be able to recover from possible losses and destruction. Looking at the screen where fierce fighting was taking place, I added in a whisper: ¡°We need to take risks, otherwise we won¡¯t see any victory.¡± *** The third hour of a grueling battle marked the triumph of xorx, who were still able to break through our positions. Much worse is that it was our positions that became the main vector of attack for these creatures. Like one giant spear from the sky, the earth and from under the surface, they rushed to one point. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. It seemed that I was their main target. I wanted the attention of a beautiful girl, Colonel Yuna Sherwood, for example, but I sure as hell didn''t want the attention of those damn bugs! DIE! I fired a machine gun. From the outside it could have looked very cool, as one man in a black combat suit, holding a machine gun at the ready, continuously fired at xorx that were about to pounce on him, barely getting closer, and mountains of beetle entrails grew around him. But in fact, feeling the living aggressive waves of chitin rushing towards you was scary as hell. I was almost in a panic, firing at all the nearest xorx that could have been about to tear me apart, but I¡¯m a human, you can¡¯t put me back together like a droid. DIE! DIE! DIE! The rest of the platoon stood nearby and also shot at the xorx who got close. At one point, one of the beetles even grabbed the paratrooper with its mandibles and tried to split the durable combat suit, shaking the soldier in all directions. "Help!" The one captured on the air screamed. "Just don''t shoot! Oh Damn! Aaaaaaaa~!!!" We were not distracted by the poor fellow and continued to fire at the advancing xorx. We would hardly be able to help a comrade in arms since we could accidentally hit him with a burst of fire, which we obviously didn¡¯t want. However, we could not stand by and just watch as xorx squeezed its limbs and could simply tear a person apart at any moment. "Armenia!" I shouted and immediately received a positive answer on the air. ¡°I know! I¡¯ll do everything now, sir!¡± "Hurry up, otherwise he''ll..." My voice at that moment was drowned out by a heart-rending scream. "A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A~!!!" Before I could finish speaking, a heartbreaking scream filled the airwaves, and the data of one of our soldiers disappeared from the display inside the combat suit. For a brief moment, among the dust, lead and yellow guts, I saw a red splash of human blood and a severed bloody hand. Just a short moment, but it angered me so much that I, unable to restrain my outbursts of emotions, turned the barrel of the machine gun at the xorx, which had just killed our fighter. "DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Several streams of large-caliber shells from me and a couple of other platoon soldiers and the creature itself was already dead. I continued to turn this creature into shapeless slurry in a continuous burst because I didn¡¯t even want to see it safe and sound! HOW DARE YOU?! In complete rage, I continued to shoot, simultaneously blaming myself for allowing the loss of the fighter. Why the hell didn''t I do anything? "SIR!" Someone shouted over the air and immediately I returned my attention to the rest of the horde. "WATCH OUT!" The next moment, one xorx reached me and, crashing, pushed me back far beyond the positions of our platoon. I fell to the ground and dropped the machine gun, simultaneously feeling the ringing from a powerful blow, fortunately the combat suit was reliable and protected me. However, the disorientation and sudden attack took me by surprise. I barely tried to get to my feet, but I no longer had enough strength to do so. Even the stimulants were powerless and no longer had any effect on my body. Crap! I cursed, looking at the tactical map. Xorx have broken through our position, we are rapidly losing the integrity of our defenses. They are about to break through the perimeter and rush to the center where our engineers were working on the ¡°bomb.¡± We must under no circumstances allow xorx to break through further, otherwise we... we will all die anyway... so what''s the point? Suddenly I was overcome by apathy, my body was tense and did not want to make any movements. There was complete chaos going on around me, and I felt unprecedented satisfaction from calmness and laziness. This world became so indifferent to me that I just wanted to die, almost completely losing the instinct of self-preservation. Soon the loud roar of the monsters made me flinch and come to my senses. No. Get it together, Ted! All is not lost yet. We must fight. Get up, you son of a bitch! And I stood up, quickly assessing the tactical situation and when I did, I began to give orders: "All Platoon D1-1-1A2, I order to begin withdrawal. Platoon D1-1-1A3, be ready to engage the enemy. Platoons D1-1-1A4 and D1-1-1B1, watch the flanks. Lewis, lead the squad behind yourself, continue to shoot to kill, don¡¯t spare ammo!¡± Having given all the necessary orders, I climbed to the top of an artificial hill, where the turret placed was firing continuously. The battle continued to the death. We were already in a chitinous crater and were forced to constantly fight off insectoids while located in the lowlands. Right now we were at a disadvantage, and even firing dozens more nuclear missiles around the positions did not improve the situation. "Sir, look!" One of the fighters pointed up and looking up I saw the newly arrived supply shuttles, but there was something else that really confused me. There were many more shuttles; instead of five there were dozens. As soon as the vehicles landed inside the perimeter, more soldiers ran out from the lowered ramps and new equipment drove out. Many drones circled around the perimeter and dropped clouds of unguided bombs on xorx and launched a colossal number of missiles into enemy rear areas. More nuclear explosions were heard somewhere beyond visibility; this can be judged from the visible flashes from afar. Reinforcement? I was surprised, looking at how entire regiments began to move towards our position. At that moment, I heard a woman¡¯s voice on the radio: "Second Lieutenant Tad, we are assigned to you as support. We are at your complete disposal." Three dozen new names and data on their vital functions appeared on the display of the combat suit. I simply could not help but rejoice at such a gift of fate, and therefore I immediately gave new orders to the newly arrived soldiers. "Sergeant Guinea, support Platoon D1-1-1A4 with your team and begin a counterattack. The current mission is to regain lost ground and push the enemy back outside the perimeter. Is the order clear?" "Yes sir!" I heard an answer from Sergeant Guinea. "Great, proceed to carry out the order!" I had never had the opportunity to command so many people, it was as if I had been given a whole regiment and this gave me more hope. There were even more missiles overhead, as well as our firepower, but xorx also became no less. On the tactical map you can see the appearance of three more advancing beetle wedges, all of them moving from the east. Right now we could close the breakthrough from our northern positions, but then a breakthrough could arise in the east. I am not in command of the general defense, but if I were Horta Umika, I would immediately transfer more forces to the east, but for some reason he does not. Don''t hesitate, Ted. Hort knows what he''s doing. I decided not to be a hero and focus on closing the breakthrough from the north. Fortunately, we managed to push the beetles back further, but the positions previously captured by xorx, which we used for defense, no longer represented anything and became a kind of chitinous carpet. "Guinea, take designated positions. Platoon D1-1-1A3, begin rotation." I gave new orders. "Sir, Private Finn is alive!" Finn? Wait, isn''t this the same one? I couldn¡¯t believe my ears and demanded a report. "State of health?" "The lower part of the body and the right arm are missing. Protective mucus has covered the internal organs, blood loss has stopped, but the vital signs on the scanner are fluctuating. He is in critical condition and urgently needs medical attention!" "Understood. Begin immediate evacuation of the wounded man. Hand him over to the medics and return to battle." "Yes, sir!" I felt enormous guilt for not being able to help this brave fighter in time and even daring to think that he had died. Apparently, when the suit was torn into pieces, the sensor that read his vital signs fell out, which made me think that he had died. However, he was close to dying and I couldn''t let that happen. Right now, as many people as possible must survive, otherwise I don¡¯t know what we are fighting for here and we risk losing our lives. Meanwhile, the battle against xorx continued. And although reinforcements arrived, the chances of victory were still slim. New people meant future problems with evacuation after the completion of the main goal of the operation. Some may not even be able to fly away in time when this happens. Right in the middle of the operation, the number of personnel involved was increased multiple times, which could cause difficulties. Most likely, the task of covering the evacuation will be left to us. I couldn¡¯t help but think about it without sadness. And although I, like any other person, did not want to die, at the same time I did not want to put my personal goals above the lives of all the soldiers of the 127th Army. We must get out of here alive, and even if not me, then at least one of us with a human heart beating in us. Crap! I cursed in my thoughts and, having found my machine gun, joined the battle against the beetles. There were only three hours left until the end of the operation, half the journey had already been completed, but the second half obviously for us would not be as easy as it was before, but would become much more difficult. Even if we survive successfully, few of us can fly away. Most likely, the shuttles will take the most valuable of us, which will provide further support, and leave the recruits or infantrymen for withdrawal. I''m not against this arrangement, but in this case... Let us be remembered then... Chapter 62. Queen of the Swarm _________________________________________________ Reporting entry: No. 22426 ________________________________________________ July 22, 3998, the middle of the day.> 16:33> 141 ¡ãC.> _________________________________________________ Message: The strategic environment quickly changed. In just a couple of hours, xorx changed the shape of their main attack vector. They abandoned the encirclement of the Pharaoh base, easing their pressure on the flanks and instead quickly began to attack one position, threatening to break through the front line. I''m afraid it will not be possible to hold the western sector of defense and xorx will rush straight to the Pharaoh. _________________________________________________ End of entries¡­ _________________________________________________ *** Whole bunch. There were a whole bunch of them. Even the sun was not visible, so many xorx attacked our positions and even the reinforcements that arrived in time were powerless to cope with such a huge number of opponents. We continued to fire continuously, we tried to keep xorx away from our positions and most importantly from our engineers for as long as possible, but in the end the insectoids still got to us. "Attention, the entire group of troops ?Troy?, retreat to the second line of defense! I repeat the entire group of troops ?Troy?...!" Hort Umika had already given the order to retreat, the perimeter of the all-round defense was shrinking, and the beetles themselves were already falling on us straight from the sky. There were only a few minutes left until the end of the operation, and it was in these moments that xorx managed to break through almost every position that we defended. Ammunition was already running out, there were many wounded and, unfortunately, no less dead. The shuttles have already begun to pick up fighters, mostly wounded and ¡°empty.¡± At these very moments, the most difficult part of the operation began, namely the gradual withdrawal. It is difficult to imagine how this would be possible to accomplish without the support of shuttles and actual fire from the air, because it was the ¡°ground¡± that took on most of the battle, and not the ¡°air.¡± If the ¡°earth¡± begins to retreat, then we will simply expose our backs to the beetles. To avoid this, we mined everything and prepared a series of counterattacks against the Xorsk to push them further away from the first and second lines of defense of the circular perimeter. My machine gun had already become unusable and I could only watch from the rear as the battle unfolded. Since I was already useless, I and my platoon returned to the shuttles and at the same time watched as the engineers worked on the explosive device. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they set up the warhead while we were still in the shuttle?¡± Radeper asked a fairer question, to which he received an equally fair answer from me. "Because we''ve never blown up a jump drive before." This was the biggest problem with this operation. The use of nuclear weapons threatens the spread of radiation across the entire surface of the planet. It will not be long before the surface of the planet becomes safe even if we use up all our nuclear weapons, and it is not a fact that its full use guarantees the destruction of the xorx swarm, in particular the queen of the swarm. We can say this given that before the operation, the command had already launched nuclear cruise missiles that reached the positions, but they did not cause any significant damage. However, we had a jump engine, which we managed to remove from the cruiser at the time of evacuation. It was a relatively small device, about half the size of a shuttle, but when in operation it consumed energy extremely readily. These devices are very expensive and practically irreplaceable, losing such a thing will be unpleasant for all of us, but for the sake of survival we are ready to sacrifice our fast ticket home. Fortunately, our database contains the technological characteristics of the jump engine, and therefore sooner or later we will be able to assemble it again, but this will take quite a lot of time. Now we sacrifice our time on this planet in order to survive. Detonation of the jump engine will create a powerful explosion, leaving behind a crater tens of kilometers away. This will instantly destroy most of the xorx and is guaranteed to kill the swarm queen. However, it is necessary to carefully configure the device before detonating it. The command decided that the ¡°bomb¡± should be set up at the landing site. Dropping a jump engine like an aerial bomb could lead to premature detonation or it might not detonate at all. This complex adjustment must be made exactly at the landing site, which is what the engineers did. Before the operation, they said that they would need a maximum of six hours, but judging by the fact that the operation has been going on longer than the allotted time, this is not so. More than six hours had already passed, and they continued to dig inside the huge device as if they were dismantling some ancient monolith with its unexplored archaeological technologies. "Attention, the entire group of troops ?Troy?, retreat to the third line of defense! I repeat...!" Horta Umika''s new order sounded and he immediately added angrily. ¡°Hey! Damn engineers, how long have you been there?! The guys are holding on with all their might!¡± "Sorry, we''re finishing up. We need to calibrate and set the timer." "Half an hour." "Understood." The battle was still going on far away from us, but even here inside the perimeter it was unsafe. The equipment often changed positions and could easily run over an unwary soldier, and a dead xorx mosquito could fall from the sky, which could kill a person with its weight when falling. At that moment something happened. The entire sky instantly turned black. "Crap¡­" One of my fighters swore, looking up. ¡°What else is this?¡± I asked, seeing above my head the appearance of a huge monster that seemed to crawl out of a lonely mountain. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. From out of the whirlpool of sandstorm and xorx mosquitoes, a huge creature crawled out, like a Titan. He loomed over our entire group of troops as the beetles fell like a whirlpool down onto our positions. The monstrous size of the monster was difficult to describe in any way, there were too many limbs, protruding organs and even wings, but looking at it you can definitely feel within yourself the primal fear and horror that with its reach made our bodies numb, and our consciousnesses fly away into space. from this titanic size of a waking nightmare. I wanted to ask myself a question: Is she really the queen of the swarm? Was this the very creature we fought? Maybe it''s... God? God... of death? I was scared, everyone was scared and yet... We remained human. We remained soldiers of the Republic and most importantly... Warriors of the "Great Army of Humanity"! "Activate ?Sky Strike?!" "There is ?Heavenly Strike?!" By order of Hort Umika, six nuclear missiles from ground-based launchers rushed straight up and, leaving behind a long trail of smoke, exploded right at the face of this monster. Many expanding, blinding balls of fire covered the display screens on our helmets with a white shroud, and electromagnetic radiation nearly disabled our equipment. A powerful shock wave of nuclear explosions instantly pressed us to the sand and lifted a bunch of equipment, weapons, sand and people into the air. Before I had time to react, I was already spinning and flying in an unknown direction until I crashed into the body of the shuttle, which continued to stand motionless, slightly swaying, in place, but I saw how its accelerators began to launch, heard the growing roar of the machine and people swarming around the ramp in combat gear. spacesuits. "Argh..." I groaned in pain after the blow while simultaneously calling my guys. "...Damn! Lewis, Radepar, Antonio...mmm~...Armen...Finn? Someone answer!" No one. The ether was drowned out by electromagnetic radiation caused by an extremely close nuclear strike. The suit was immobilized, disabled, I could barely do anything. More precisely, I couldn¡¯t do anything at all. "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! ¡­ FUCK¡­" I cursed, looking at how, through the flaming nuclear balls, the burnt face of the monster rushed straight towards us. Oh no! Not this! At that moment I fell from the shuttle body onto the sand. One of the flying machines was about to flee prematurely and rose up, but immediately crashed into the face of the swarm queen and began to lose altitude. There were only a few seconds left and the queen of the swarm was about to kill us all. And then for a brief moment the suit reactivated and through the radio interference I heard the gloomy voice of Commander Hort Umika, his order was nightmarish. "Explode!" A little more and the face of this monster will simply flatten us. You can even start counting down until a giant piece of chitin simply turns me into a cake. She¡¯s getting closer and closer, and if I could do anything, I definitely wouldn¡¯t have time. No one around would have time to do anything. Why did the swarm queen decide to come out now? I asked a premature question. If she could have killed us so easily all this time, then why... No... I understand. These chaotically grown parts of bodies, their purpose was devoid of any necessity. Why would a creature commanding a horde of collective beings get out? It is unsafe, devoid of any kind of necessity. Then what is this... This is not the queen of the swarm... this is a real xorx general! "Oh shit¡­" I croaked and everything before my eyes was filled with blackness, a matter of seconds and I... Perhaps it was a good life. *** Earth. 3986 year. My name is Ted McVare. I was born in the administrative sector of North America in the city of Minneapolis into a rather dysfunctional family for our state. My parents were migrants from the distant planet Gathray. It was difficult for them to exist on the home planet of humanity, here they were weak and helpless due to slightly different harsher conditions than on Gathray and were forced to exist on one allowance. Because of this move, the parents often quarreled among themselves. They wanted their child, that is, me, to become a worthy member of the family, a strong person and have prospects in the future. It was the father who decided to fly with the whole family to Earth, and the mother, in turn, did not want this. They didn¡¯t just quarrel, but constantly fought over all sorts of petty squabbles, and I had to watch all of this. Soon I grew up and, not finding any worthy place in life for myself, decided at a young age to enroll in a planetary garrison, where, after serving for ten years, I was honored to join the expeditionary forces of the Revolutionary Military Forces directly into the 127th Army, then stationed on the Moon. Having gone to the gray satellite of the Earth, I met a beautiful yellow-eyed Proximirian. Her golden eyes, contrasting with her black hair, fascinated me to the core. It sounds stupid, but if we speak literary language, then it¡¯s probably true. In short, I fell head over heels in love with her. She was not part of the 127th Army, but was only engaged in servicing energy equipment on behalf of one corporation, and yet we often managed to meet and spend a lot of time together. In short, we often had dates. We often talked about various topics such as what halofilms we watch, the differences between the cultures of Proxima and Earth, my Gathrean origin and much more. We often avoided the topic of politics because we did not want to get into disputes whose topics were not completely familiar to us; for us it was in the order of things. But then the 127th Army was redeployed to the planet Kanasis and I followed my comrades. This planet was unfamiliar to me, it was not part of the Republic, and the purpose of our stay here was not explained. It seemed that we had begun to carry out some kind of military intervention, but we did not conduct military operations, but simply communicated with strange humanoid aliens and were engaged in our usual service. In general, we carried out exactly the same military service; we simply exchanged the Moon for an inhabited planet with strong gravity and, after several months of stay, hastily evacuated when news reached us that the Fucult Confederation had sent its fleet here and risked sparking a large-scale interstellar conflict. We boarded the shuttles, returned to the cruiser, and on the cruiser itself flew to the outskirts of the planetary system to then jump into subspace and fly back to the Solar System. Even then I dreamed of meeting Natiana again, to see her bewitching smile and shining golden eyes again. But the dreams were not destined to come true and something unexpected happened. We were suddenly thrown out of subspace into this system, and then something happened that we all know very well. The fear and misunderstanding lurking inside all of us were ready to burst out at any moment, and we held on only thanks to military discipline, honed during training and service on the Moon. This planet is our unwanted stop, we risked staying here for decades, none of us wanted to hang around here for so long, and that is why we fought xorx and strictly carried out the assigned tasks given to us by our command. We wanted to return home, but... ...the house was so far away. The earth seemed out of reach. Where is my home anyway? I''ve been on the move all my life and never stopped anywhere for long. For example, I didn¡¯t return home for a long time so as not to find my parents arguing. I have never felt what every person could easily feel, my native place where I could return at any moment and throw off all the heavy burden accumulated throughout my life. So where is this place? Has it never existed? Regretting that I did not know this, I slowly died. Eusberia¡­ test of humanity. 3998 year... my date death. How... cold. There was darkness all around, I could barely hear my breathing, in the distance something was burning brightly and illuminating a huge accumulation of flesh and steel scattered throughout the endless dark space, hovering in weightlessness. More precisely, not in space, but in... subspace. That''s right, the jump engine detonated, a large-scale short-term rupture in the fabric of reality and we were thrown out of the universe. But what kind of light? While I was spinning in zero gravity and while my cloudy eyes were trying to see something, I activated the display with my voice and began scanning everything I could around me. The scanner confirmed that I was in subspace, outside the protected zone. Reality here was distorted, time flowed at a rapid pace, and in some areas, on the contrary, it was completely frozen. Or maybe everything is much worse and in some areas it even flowed in the opposite direction. People have never explored subspace, only traveled through it. It was always like death to linger here. The debris collided to form asteroids and small planetoids of sorts, and others were frozen in time, but the light in the distance... what was it doing? How will he hang here? Is this the sun? I can''t understand. It hardly looks like a star. What the... oh crap... This light turned out to be a creature that lived in subspace. It was impossible. ~ Man. ~Mortal. ~Weak. ~ Here? ~How? ~Go away. ~ Not a place. ~ Fast. ~Death. ~ Wait. I had something to answer to this unknown choir of very different voices. "I... I know." She turned out to be wonderful. Elarasia... is that you? ...Do you really exist? ~You''re wrong. ~Ya. ~ We. ~Understanding. ~No. ~You. ~ Know. ~ Us. ~How. Crazy... this can''t be true. I guessed again, filled with fear and horror. ~ We. ~ United. ~ We. ~ "Xorx". Chapter 63. Impossible war (part 3) Death is inevitable. Sooner or later, the end of existence will come, and it doesn¡¯t matter whether it will be the end of a pathetic ant, which a person simply did not notice and stepped on, or a powerful Deity, capable of creating entire worlds out of nothing, forcing him to indulge in emptiness out of boredom. Death will overtake everyone. People think that after death there will be an afterlife waiting for them, that rebirth or even the underworld awaits them, but in fact, when a person, an ant or God dies, they simply cease to exist and turn into nothingness. He is no longer there, either physically or spiritually; after death, only memories and a cold face remain, on which a smile, sorrow, anger and many other expressions that one can only imagine could once be seen. The bodies remain, but life fades away forever. Human bodies are just carcasses created by the Gods so that the living could walk, see, breathe, feel, think and create. Bodies are an impeccable tool for interacting with the world with their nature; it is them that we value more than anything else in the world, and not some kind of life. Life is nothing more than food for bodies, and bodies need to be managed. Otherwise, I simply don¡¯t understand why they are needed if not to serve. It doesn¡¯t matter whether a person died or not, their bodies are still intact, which means they can still serve for the good and in the name of great goals. By saturating them with vitality, you can create something amazing that a mere mortal could never even dream of. This is something we did, we collected mountains of dead people in a cold damp cave around which a bunch of flies had already begun to gather, and while the small pests had not yet eaten them, we began to create a handle for these tools, to connect their bodies with our minds so that we could control them as if they are our new fingers attached to our bodies. The singing of souls can be heard, or rather felt, for a magician there is no difference between all this. The touch of a mysterious, incomprehensible force is like a sixth sense for mortals. With our singing we took these instruments into our hands, controlled them like dolls, they could even think for us, speak for us, walk for us and die for us anew. Only with the latter this is hardly possible in any way since there is no longer life in them, instead their bodies are saturated with magic. When they are struck with a sword, spear, ax or their body parts are crushed, they simply fall and pretend to be dead. Those whose flesh has not rotted go to the vanguard so that the enemies believe that they are fighting the living and not the dead. It will be too easy to defeat them all without pretending to be alive, otherwise the Lord will not enjoy the spectacle that I have prepared for him. Verhein, my lord, I am your faithful servant, bringing a wonderful gift... A radiant smile lit up on my face, and sparks of lightning flowed from my fingers, enveloping a gigantic storage of bodies. ... I give you war. At the moment when magic tied their souls with chains, thousands of dead people first began to move, then look, look around, and only then, having gotten used to the fact that black liquid was flowing in their bodies instead of blood, they began to rise to their feet. Thoughts swirled in their heads, thoughts too virgin for them to break free. Too primitive and pathetic for them to really think. I delved into the memory of each of them, instilling new personalities, submissive to me and my ideals. They will behave like humans, but will be deprived of all feelings such as pain, hunger, fear and suffering. They will serve me faithfully until I get rid of them. This is my army, just part of my lord''s domain. Crowds of dead people who filled the cave from edge to edge, at my silent order, just by touching their souls with my thoughts, dressed in armor scattered next to them, others repeated the same thing, but dressed in rags, hiding the wounds from which they had once died. Many of them could barely move due to the fact that the meat did not adhere to the bones, I get rid of them immediately, deprived their bodies of magic and they fell dead, devoured by their relatives, feeding them with meat. Over time, they will all rot, because real life as such does not flow in them, their life is replaced by magic, which is why they don¡¯t have much time left, but now I need them to play their role in a grandiose performance. They already died once, so they will kill again. A fun show unfolds in the kingdom, I expected that there would be a war between the kingdom of Lakuus and the duchy of Durslagdt, but the death of King Leff provoked a struggle for the throne between the rightful heir and the usurper. Draun Rudrin should not hope that his miserable garrison will be able to crush both the Duke and the Crown Prince with the army sent by the noble houses. His defeat is only a matter of time, and in order not to wait for this, I immediately began to prepare for a fun show, for the war between the young and bloodthirsty prince Monrid and the old warrior Duke Fellrick. It is for this occasion that I am raising an army from the dead in order to create parity between them and make the war long and painful, and most importantly, the most memorable. When the Lord gets tired of it, it may stop, but now everything is just beginning. The Great Verhein wants to taste human suffering, and he will receive it. The great demon will watch as the earth becomes saturated with blood, bitterness, anger, suffering, tears and despair. I''m sure all this is not enough to completely satiate a real demon. Who am I kidding? I chuckled to myself. It won''t even satisfy me. "So what now?" Prince Monrid asked me standing nearby, dressed in a steel cuirass while I watched as the army of the dead gathered in a camp near the capital, whose walls were already visible beyond the treetops. Coming closer to him, I looked into his brown eyes, which showed thirst, thirst for blood. My brother couldn¡¯t wait to try dishes with human meat, but he definitely wanted more than just that. I perfectly see all the vices of humanity and see how, through a mask of cruelty, the young prince desires fragile female affection. Blood, however, he wants more and yet... "Do you want me?" I said seductively, touching his chin with my fingers and slightly tilting my head to the side. I played with him, provoked his lust, his passion for beautiful women and the meat he could taste. I am close to caressing him, licking his neck and making him act as I need. However, my brother turned out to be not as morally weak as I initially expected. He tolerated my gaze, turning his eyes towards the marching army of the dead. He clearly had a question to which he couldn''t wait to know the answer. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "You have always rejected me, Reykuta. From the moment we met, you have always remained a mystery to me. Why are you doing this?" Funny. I grinned. You didn''t meet me then. His words amused me, awakening in me feelings forgotten by my absorbed soul. I rejected it and, putting a hood over my head, passed streams of magic through my body, establishing a mental connection. The army of thousands instantly froze in place, and then turned their heads to Prince Monrid, looking at him with a dead, indifferent gaze. Monrid seeing this widened his eyes. This action only caused the prince to feel fear. It literally shone through the song of his soul, he was like an open book, which was easy to read on his face. He asked countless questions and addressed them to me. The prince did not say a word, but only watched and waited for my actions. He waited, trembling, for betrayal or a response to such drastic actions, and he received it. I gently grabbed the prince¡¯s palm and pointed it at the army that was waiting for my orders. "They are yours, Monrid." I began to speak affectionately, circling around the prince with slow steps. "Each of them will do for you everything you wish. If you want to wipe out Ran from the face of the earth, they will do it without hesitation or doubt. If you want them to die and become your dinner, they will kill themselves, just order and the feast will be ready. To have such "Loyal people are a valuable enough gift for not asking stupid questions, answers to which you will never hear." The prince, having heard my words, stood for some time with a surprised expression on his face, but for a moment looking away at me, he still said with surprise: "It turns out that the Maledict family had such a huge army with them all this time." Monrid said without taking his eyes off the frozen dead. "You could have conquered the kingdom at any time, but you didn''t, why? This is my wish, I want to know the answer." Shaking her head she immediately made it clear to him that he would definitely not receive an answer to this question. "This is my condition, you will not open my past like some kind of sarcophagus, instead you will just take these dolls and use them. That¡¯s what I want, because I love you.¡± My soul bleeds to lie like this, but it is necessary otherwise I will lose it. "What are you up to?" The prince asked very seriously. "I am loyal to the royal family, I will serve you for the rest of my life." "Lie." Monrid said contemptuously, making me grin again. You are not so easily deceived. I mentally gave the order and, demonstratively snapping my fingers, forced the army to continue marching to the camp where they would subsequently join the main forces gathered by the faithful followers of the "new world¡± cult. A battle for the capital is coming, which we will win without any problems. Even if by some miracle they crush our army, at any moment I can come out and burn with lightning and fire every person that catches my eye, everyone. "Reykuta, you really are my sister?" Monrid suddenly asked. In reality this is not entirely true. My mother, or rather the mother of this shell, is called Darachis and she is the sister of Queen Bentia. You can say that we are cousins, which means that according to the laws of this kingdom we can even get married. However, I am not so stupid as to indulge in a boring life with some bloodthirsty cannibal, I swore allegiance to the lord, just like my mother. I am true to my ideals, ideals that go beyond human understanding and his petty desires. Soon this world will be covered by a storm and this storm will devour everything its hand touches. The Lord will reveal himself when the feelings of fear become unshakable and sensitive, tearing the world apart. All you have to do is start and the world will fall. No shooting star can fix what''s coming. The so-called Gods are just powerful spirits, they are not capable of anything. Let them continue to throw stars from the sky, they have already lost by not allowing me to die then. They are no longer capable of anything except helplessly watching and hoping for mortals. In the meantime, I decided to answer Monrid¡¯s question while straightening my golden hair: "Yes, brother, I''m your sister." I said affectionately and, looking at him with delight, kissed him on the lips, intertwining our tongues together. This feeling, it¡¯s wonderful, shivers throughout my whole body. I feel pleasure, I want to be naked and indulge in lust like a mad animal. I want to get dirty in the juices of passion, I want to feel euphoria and again feel the touch of my lord, the lord of change Verhein. Breathing hotly and moaning with lust, I felt how easily I now chained the Monrid soul in my mind. Now I am absolutely sure that he is mine. Mmm~...he wants the same thing. Intertwining our tongues, he feels my chest with his palm, squeezes my nipples with his fingers, trying to squeeze something out of them. And all this in front of the cultists and the dead. This might even frighten or confuse an ordinary girl, but not me. I haven''t cared about such things for a long time. But he knows how to treat women and you can¡¯t tell that he previously raped the mediocre Ilifreeta. It''s a pity, sister, that you lost such a groom. Although in reality I didn¡¯t feel sorry for her at all. After all, it was I who cursed her only so that her family would abandon her and kill her, which in fact almost happened, but she disappeared and could hardly do anything. Chaos, war, death and destruction will inevitably enter these lands, it¡¯s all in my hands. I am the creator of this madness, I am a legend of the world and I am no longer the same as before. I opened my eyes to the future, present and past to understand one thing: how insignificant I am compared to the darkness that surrounded me and that ultimately enveloped me. "Reykuta..." Monrid said with lust. "I want to fuck you." "Just don''t eat me. Hee hee hee~..." I giggled and the next moment he lowered his trousers, stuck out his penis, and used it to touch my legs. "Hop!" I had to jump on him and grab his back with my hands while the servants around me ignored us and continued their march. Riding on his dick, I moaned loudly, our call for love echoed throughout the forest. I finally felt what I had wanted for so long, I felt the touch of my master, as at that moment when he took possession of me, I will never forget it. Not as pleasant as with tentacles, but a person¡¯s penis can also give pleasant sensations... Mmm~... great. A little more... mmm~... yes. Oh yes! "Let a new world begin! Hahahahaha~!" I cried out, moaning passionately, and the cultists around, also indulging in passion and staging an orgy, repeated our cry after me. "Let a new world come!" "Let a new world come!" "Let a new world come!" A small prologue before the big show. Our passion lasted a long time, the prince eventually became exhausted and released his seed into me. He turned out to be a strong guy, although he didn¡¯t realize it. I, in turn, was not enough, however, from now on I was always not enough. Only the ruler could completely quench my thirst, and man is just entertainment. For me, this is also an opportunity to make Monrid fall in love with me and become a queen, and when this happens, a new demonic enclave, a demonic lake of lust, will arise on these lands. Rising from the feet of the tired prince, I ordered the dead: "Hurry up." Although these words were not necessary. They will do everything anyway or die completely. Chapter 64. Guys, lets finish them off! Ran is the only city under my control right now. My intentions to become king have led to the fact that the country is on the verge of collapse, famine, epidemics and, of course, civil war. The great houses, instead of observing their duty, namely to protect the people, the country and lead it to prosperity, supported the unworthy heir in pursuit of their own ambitions. This was expected and yet the thought itself does not fit in my head. How is this possible? Are there really that many narcissistic and stupid people? Or maybe among them there are those who followed the herd, but in fact want something completely different? Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know this and it¡¯s unlikely that I can find out for sure. I currently have no way to verify this or contact members of the noble houses in any way. On the other hand, Duke Fellrick is at war with his just intentions to take the throne. He is the brother of the late king and has absolute legitimacy, which means he has the right to take the throne. We could have an alliance, he gets the crown, and we would remain his loyal subjects and rule the kingdom as his right hand, taking up most of the royal affairs just like we were under King Leff. However, his paranoia about rivals for the throne got in the way. He wanted the death of every member of the royal family, including even those who had no right to occupy the throne of the kingdom, we are, of course, talking about Princess Ilifreeta. If she hadn''t disappeared, we could have cut off her head like all the members of the royal family, but now that''s not even necessary. The birds flew in and told us that three cities had already fallen into the hands of Fellrick. The first battles between the ducal and feudal troops are already taking place along the river bank. After some battles, entire villages are already burning and people are fleeing in droves to the west trying to escape the war. What¡¯s even worse is that this is happening against the backdrop of a possible invasion by the Antigone Empire, which could come here at any moment and crush us all. Instead of preparing together to repel the attack of a formidable force, we fought in the struggle for the throne of the kingdom, which now no longer has any meaning. Sitting in my office, all I had to do was drink the last of the wine, having dried out all the barrels from the winery¡¯s cellar. Sitting at the table, I continued to think about what went wrong. Has everything changed since the death of King Leff or maybe since Duke Fellrick decided to go to war with the kingdom. I don''t know. And to be honest, this is no longer that important, the main thing is to understand whether this can be solved, and if it can, is it worth it? It''s a stupid question, of course. I swore to protect Lakuus, to protect the people. I will not turn away from my duty and my responsibilities. Emptying one cup after another, I had no intention of sitting idle. Since I decided to do this, I need to try it. We probably still have a chance to fix everything and turn the situation in our favor. Right now, cultists are scurrying around outside the walls of the capital, most likely they are subjects of Prince Monrid, and soon Fellrick¡¯s troops will approach the capital. We can expect that the two armies will clash in battle while we sit in a protected city and just watch what is happening. However, what will this give us? Just a temporary respite. As a result, we will still have to fight an army that will outnumber the entire city garrison. Our main problem has not yet been solved. Where can we get an army? Or how to provoke discord in the ranks of opponents so that they kill each other without a trace? Or how to lure some of the opponents to our side? How to prevent unnecessary deaths? Questions, questions... just fucking questions that give me a headache. Even wine doesn''t dull this pain. At that moment I heard a knock on the door and, holding the cup with my palm and barely moving my tongue, said: "You¡­ can¡­ enter¡­" The door opened with a creak and a soldier ran inside, out of breath judging by his profuse breathing. He looks as if he was running across the whole city to get to me. Although most of his face was hidden behind the helmet, I could clearly hear his rapid breathing, and sweat was visible on the exposed areas of his skin. Kneeling in front of me, he humbly and obediently said: "Sorry to disturb you, Your Majesty. I have an important message from the head of the guards at the northern gate. May I?¡± "Yes." I said, sitting more comfortably in a chair and began to listen to the message. "Unknown people, a couple of dozen people, approached the gate. They are led by a magician who called himself Granid. They ask for an audience with the king.¡± My head sobered up from these words. Am I really lucky? So I thought and at that moment jumped out of my seat and ordered: "Lead me." *** Several days have passed since Ripun attacked me with a terrible prediction of the future. All this time we secretly made our way through the dense forests to the royal capital. However, what was happening around did not inspire us with any hope. From time to time we encountered groups of people fighting. Fred found the native fighting quite a fascinating spectacle, but I demanded of him not to show our presence and to maintain our secrecy as much as possible. Some of the natives of one of the sides, who seemed to have a numerical superiority, for some reason took the corpses of the defeated soldiers, but what is even stranger is that they did not take anyone prisoner. This oddity was noted by Fred along with Glate. As a rule, edged weapons with good protection from mortal wounds prevent people of this era from often dying in large-scale battles. The losing side suffers its main casualties when they begin to flee and their opponent begins to pursue. That¡¯s why it doesn¡¯t matter whether they really want war or not, they go to fight knowing that with a 75% probability they will survive even if they are defeated, captured, and the like. Therefore, the wars of this era are not as terrible as the wars of the future where the probability of dying is extremely close to 100%, and even taking into account the fact that you may not even show up on the front line, no one has canceled long-range strikes behind enemy lines. Considering the above, it is strange to observe why one of the sides does not try to take prisoners, but simply kills them. In the end, no one has canceled the human resource; a prisoner can be given into slavery, ransomed, interrogated, but to kill? In general, this is all very strange and seems to make absolutely no sense. And the very fact that so many small battles were taking place around us indicated that we were in the epicenter of a real war, which had not happened just a few days earlier. We were lucky to have camouflage with us, thanks to which we hid among the vegetation, but sooner or later we could be discovered, and therefore we need to hurry up and, most importantly, not kill anyone, otherwise relations with the natives will be ruined again. "There''s a group of twenty people in the south." Will said looking at the scanner and fixing many dots on the screen indicating people. "They''re heading towards us." "We have to speed up." I ordered, parting the thickets to the sides and moving on. Thanks to our camouflage, the natives were not often able to identify us among the thickets. As soon as we froze, we turned into vegetation. This helped not only us, but also Hippolytus and the Lakuusians. Often in the distance one could hear the screams of people and the clanking of swords with the neighing of horses. We tried to avoid the battlefields and sacrificed our time to safely reach Rana, the capital of this state. "Ripun, well done." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I thanked the native prophet. "If it weren¡¯t for you, then we could have been in their place.¡± "My gift is to dream about things that should never happen one day. They didn''t." The prophet answered, moving after us, hugging the pregnant Alza. "Are you okay?" "Yes, He''s gone." The dark-haired girl answered. "My stomach hurts a little." Her belly is already quite swollen, which clearly indicates that she is in an advanced stage of pregnancy. According to Fred, labor will begin in a month or two. I think that if the natives allow it, we should stay in Rana or go further east without them. "It¡¯s wild for me to be here.¡± Niana suddenly spoke, attracting the attention of another royal, Princess Ilifreeta. "This forest is so strange." "That¡¯s not what I¡¯m talking about. I¡¯m talking about the fact that men rule here, not women.¡± "Isn''t it the same with you?" I asked Hippolytian, to which Zaden immediately answered. "All the husbands of Hippolytus are servants of women. The queen rules us, the princess sits on the throne, women fight, work, and we raise and lay the seeds of offspring. They suffer for us, we work at home." "Heh... henpecked." Will commented with a laugh, for which he received a push from Forn. "Moon." "What?" Zaden said, not understanding what Will said. "Nothing." I answered. "You don''t need to know that. Let''s keep going." Some time later, towards evening, we emerged from the forest thickets straight onto a large well-trodden road. Judging by the scanners, there was no one here, but not far from us, on the opposite side of the path, a fairly large battle was being fought. Therefore, we hurried and hurried to the city, whose stone walls were already visible in the distance behind the thickets. "Is this Ran?" I asked Granid and received a positive answer from the old man. "True." "Will they let us in?" "They¡¯ll even let you into the Sod garden with me.¡± "I hope so." I would like to believe Granid¡¯s words, but he has already proven his reliability more than once, at least as a magician for sure. I am sure you can trust him, and most importantly, you can rely on him. After some time, we approached the walls of the city straight to the stone gates, where we were noticed by guards standing at the top of the towers, after which they immediately raised the alarm by starting to ring the bells. We, in turn, continued to walk until some kind of fuss began to happen ahead of us from all sorts of shouts and running around. "Everyone get ready. We''re not going into battle." I gave orders to the platoon and took the assault rifle off the safety and kept my finger on the trigger. We had some ammunition, but it was barely enough for one battle with the natives. The maximum we could achieve was to escape. Soon, when we approached the gate closer, archers took aim at us, and one of the guards with a steel helmet on his head shouted to us in a rough male voice: "Who are you? The city is closed! Give your name immediately, otherwise you are corpses!¡± Is it too harsh? I thought and exchanged glances with my soldiers, released the assault rifle and began introducing myself. "I am Boris Kipito, I am the leader of this detachment, and this is my employer Granid, he is a magician.¡± "What do you need?" "We want to go to the city." "We''re daydreaming, freaks. We know you cultists, you really want to get inside." "We don''t..." "Shut up, freak. You''re dead!" "Wait! We don''t want to fight!" "Guys, let''s finish them off." It''s rubbish. I thought. At that moment, I was about to raise my rifle and fire a shot, when Granid immediately interrupted me, blocking my view with his body. "Don''t worry, Boris. They won''t touch us. I''ll protect you." His words were not empty. Coming out in front of us, he raised his staff and performed some kind of magic invisible to the eye. "Shoot, damn it!" The guard shouted to the archers and the arrows immediately flew straight at us, but the next moment their sharp tips crashed into an invisible wall and simply fell to the ground. "What the?" The guard was surprised. "Where is your king?" Granid said in a hoarse voice, looking at the surprised archers and in particular at the guard who dared to bury us ahead of time. "Who are you?!" "They told you my name. I am Granid, a free magician. Let us into the city or call the king here.¡± "K-king?" The guard stuttered, looking back at his subordinates. "I... I won''t do this. I have to... figure it out." "You will do this or else I will come to the king myself." Granid said threateningly as he began to gather a very huge fireball over his staff, which shone as brightly as the sun in the sky, if not tens of times brighter. Wait... is he really going to use it now? I was surprised. "Okay, okay." The guard surrendered and gave an order to one of his men, after which he turned to us again. "Wait here. We won''t let you in." "Nice." I breathed a sigh of relief, and in the meantime Granid dispelled his magic. "At least we weren''t hit." I didn¡¯t have to wait long, about half an hour later the gates opened and, accompanied by soldiers clad in steel plate armor, walked a man dressed in a rich aristocratic robe of green-blue color with a cross red ribbon on his chest, and of course with a golden crown on his head. This man was mature in appearance, with golden eyes and curly short black hair. His gaze was stern and at the same time curious and was directed at all of us, but in particular at Granid. Approaching closer, the king¡¯s servant in a black robe, hiding his face, demanded that we introduce ourselves: "Who are you?" Granid stepped forward and bowed respectfully. After holding his bow for a few seconds, the old man finally introduced himself: "Granid Free Mage." Having returned to an even position, he pointed at us with his palm. "And these are my companions." The king, looking at us all for a while, narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but returned his attention to the old man and smiled. "It''s good to see you, Granid. My name is Draun and I am the king of the kingdom of Lakuus." "What?" Suddenly a woman''s voice was heard, belonging to Princess Ilifreeta. "Are you the king?" Seeing the princess, the king''s eyes widened and he looked at the old wizard with anger. "Answer me! What is she doing here?!" Granid raised his palm, but answered in a calm tone: "My companions rescued this maiden from Itsqueen. I heard from her that Count Laroy imprisoned her in his dungeon." "Laroy means." The king said in a calmer tone, looking at the princess with a stern gaze. The king was clearly angry about something, and at that time Ilifreeta¡¯s face showed only incomprehension of everything that was happening. The one who really didn¡¯t understand anything was me. We looked superfluous and insignificant here, although it seemed that with our camouflage we looked much more suspicious than everyone else. Those accompanying the king really looked only at us from head to toe, and the king did not even deprive us of attention, but soon the king turned away from us and ordered his people: "Let them into the city. They are my guests." "As you wish, Your Majesty." One of the servants bowed, and the guards, having heard the order, stepped aside to give us passage. The king turned to us and said with a certain amount of joy: "I¡¯m so glad that you arrived here. The situation of our kingdom is precarious, the help of a free magician would not hurt us, especially after the attack by the cultists. I ask you to follow me to the palace.¡± With great relief we headed inside. We''re finally here. All that remains is to get the right of passage, shoot and return to the 127th Army. I thought, and while we walked between the narrow streets of the city, the king and the old wizard started a conversation. Chapter 65. An Evening with Draun Rudrin While we were walking to the palace''s bedchambers, I decided to start a conversation with Granid. I couldn¡¯t believe that we had such luck and, at the same time, a problem, which also didn¡¯t take long to arrive. Some strange people in spotted green robes are holding something in their hands, so firmly and confidently as if these strange-shaped instruments are some kind of weapon, which may well be the case. They arrived along with Granid, and also with them was a group of commoners, judging by their pale appearance and strange manner of whispering, and of course the most important problem among them was Princess Ilifreeta. I thought she had already died, but, unfortunately, she was still alive. She was carried in the arms of some adventurer whose facial features were vaguely familiar to me. Not immediately, but a few moments later, on reflection, I realized who this man was. Furgur. You''re back. The war with Duke Fellrick may have already begun, but it is never too late to offer him the head of the princess and thereby join him as a vassal and member of the new royal council. However, I cannot know with certainty whether he will agree to my proposal or decide to get rid of me as well as any contender for the throne, so I will be careful when I bring this up again. Moreover, Princess Ilifreeta was apparently under the protection of Granid. Furgur seems to have continued to serve her highness faithfully and clearly does not want to follow the tenets of reason. He never understood the main thing, that within the walls of the palace there is no revenge of honor, dignity, or even morality. As always, he just wants to do the right thing, but he does not understand that the "correctness¡± of decisions always goes side by side with his rigidity and immorality. He never learned anything. The golden-haired princess herself looked surprised and still weak and immobilized. It¡¯s unlikely that anyone in her place could imagine that I would suddenly become a king, however, neither did I. It was not easy to exterminate part of the capital¡¯s nobility; I still have problems with this. Their affairs became mine, as did their problems, but now I could say for sure that the capital was under my complete control and not a single mouse would plot an assassination attempt on me or a member of the council within the walls of this city. To the sound of stomping feet and the looks of surprised and submissive townspeople, I turned the corner. Continuing to follow the guards, I decided to ask the old wizard some things that I was curious to know: "If I may, I want to ask you a question. I would like to know who all these people are. They don¡¯t look like mercenaries. Foreigners?¡± "Truly." Granid nodded, scratching his gray beard. "I came to you, Your Majesty, only because of them." Because of them? I was a little surprised. I turned my attention to the strangers for a few moments and, squinting my eyes, asked the old wizard: "What do you want?" "I offer help from these mighty warriors, and in return let them pass through the lands of Lakuus further to the east. Now they are in search of their home, their path lies through dangerous lands beyond the border of races, so I offered them to temporarily serve the crown.¡± Hearing these words, I smiled. Army! Just what I need. There are only twenty people, but judging by their clothes, they can hide well in the forests. They could apprehend the cultists or even Duke Fellrick. It is possible that they could be used as assassins to try to eliminate the prince and duke before they even reach the city walls. I have already thought through options for using them and then answered in the affirmative: "I¡¯m glad to hear that. There¡¯s no need to think about it, I agree to such a proposal. Now protection won¡¯t hurt us.¡± "But I want to ask you too.¡± Granid caught my attention. From these words I became a little nervous because I already understood what he wanted to say. "How did you become king? Leff personally bestowed you the title and named you heir to the throne, or did you proclaim yourself king and violate one of the pillars of the kingdom, its law?" "Dear Granid,.." I said more seriously, keeping a tight smile on my face. "...a problem arose in giving the crown to the eldest son of the now deceased king." "And which one?" "He was unworthy of her." Hearing my words, the old man laughed and shook his head. "And so you took the crown for yourself." At that moment I stopped, and with me all the escort, including the old wizard¡¯s companions. The way he said it caused a lot of concern. I did not like where this conversation was leading, so I decided to address the respected court magician more personally, as a person whom I had long seen in my childhood and who taught many young girls and boys the basics of magic. He was an elder in the royal court, and he certainly should know that everything here is not so simple and unambiguous. "Granid, listen to me, this was necessary. Monrid is a mad ogre, handing over the crown to him means putting thousands of people on his table, like breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is cruel and treacherous. Under his rule, the kingdom would plunge into dark times. If I allowed this brat would take the throne of our kingdom, then our people would have come to an end. Everything that the kings of Lakuus had achieved, who had been building the country for centuries, would have turned into nothingness. "Leff had a brother. What was his name?" Granid thought and after a moment, remembering, said his name. "Fellrick." His mention in the conversation was expected, and I answered the old wizard in a calmer manner. "It''s not so easy with him either. He''s power-hungry and wants the heads of all the members of the royal family hanging on stakes, all of them without exception, including her." I pointed my finger at Ilifreeta, which made it seem to me that she even twitched. "I may have wanted to do this, but Monrid beat me to it and rescued her from the palace before I gave the order to cut off her head.¡± "W-what?" Ilifreeta stuttered when she heard my words. "You wanted to¡­ k-kill me?" Tears welled up in the princess¡¯s eyes, she stuttered, and people around began to whisper, hearing all this from our lips. I started to feel uncomfortable, but I was able to pull myself together in time. A king must not show weakness. Having regained my confident appearance, I answered so that everyone around me could hear everything I said: "It doesn''t matter now. Fellrick has already invaded the kingdom and is coming here with his entire army. There is only one city in my domain, and that is Ran. But I have no army that could fight the enemies of the kingdom. Monrid has the entire aristocracy behind him and cultists, and behind the duke an army of selected soldiers and mercenaries. Therefore, I am glad... glad that you are here, dear Granid. I hope for your help and... for the help of your companions. I looked around at the old wizard''s friends, but one of them suddenly said something out loud. "Well... things are bad for you. Soon there will be a siege here.¡± "Hey you!" The guard yelled, looming menacingly over the stranger. "How dare you open your dirty mouth in front of His Majesty?!¡± "Enough." I said calmly, raising my palm to ward off the guard. "Let him speak, but first tell me, stranger, what is your name.¡± "Will." "U''il." I tried to repeat it. This is a rather strange name, but why am I surprised? He''s a stranger - that''s probably normal. I thought while the stranger decided to comment on something. "We haven¡¯t been home for a very long time. These lands are not our native lands, people don¡¯t live here the way we are used to living. We really want to return home and agreed to help you only because we were promised to pass through your lands. Just to hear It¡¯s sickening to see how terrible your situation is. Will our help be worth anything? How long will this war last? Maybe it¡¯s better for us to join the other side of the conflict so that we can win and get out of here faster. see this damn country? What do you think? These were impudent words, for which the guards were ready to stab him on the spot, but another stranger, apparently their leader, silenced his raging friend. "Enough Will, you''ve said enough. We''re here to offer help, we haven''t agreed to anything yet." The leader of the strangers turned to me and, to my surprise, decided to apologize. This gesture says a lot about who he was, namely a man of honor. It wasn''t often that you came across something like this. "Please forgive my fighter for such harsh words. We have had a very hard time lately. Recently, on the way from Itsqueen, we came across an army of robbers near a village and destroyed it. About hundreds of robbers died.¡± "What?!" I exclaimed in surprise, starting to stutter. "Did you defeat a hundred robbers? Where did so many of them come from and... h-how?" "We...maybe we''ll keep it a secret." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The stranger said without sharing the secrets of the battle. Don''t want to reveal secrets? I clicked my tongue, but swallowed this insolence, realizing that not every warrior wants to share their secrets and perhaps the old wizard helped them a lot. If this is true, then his help really won¡¯t hurt us, which means we should use him while we have the chance. "Fine." I nodded, deciding in the end not to get this information out of them and turned towards Granid. "What do you think? Will you help us?" "It is my duty to maintain peace in the lands of the kingdom. I will take part in the battle, but only against Antigonus." So it was true. The Antigone Empire will indeed soon invade our kingdom since even Granid announced this. I thought and turned away from them and continued on my way to the castle. "Then let''s work out all the details at dinner." *** The Rana Palace was truly a palace as one could imagine it to be. The structure was surrounded by high walls, and high towers rose in the courtyards, from which sentries watched the city from above. An ideal sniper position, especially considering that there was a city around the palace and castle walls, which was already protected by the outer line of walls. Unlike Itsqueen, there were much more people here, beggars were not so often seen, but they still caught your eye, and the king¡¯s retinue, on the way to the castle, pushed them aside like some kind of rubbish on the road. It was immediately clear who the power was here, the one who was just pushing away ordinary townspeople just because of his social status. I''ll never get used to it. Narrow streets filled with crowds of townspeople and an unpleasant smell spoke of the era that reigned here. This civilization still has a long way to go before reaching the stars. Meanwhile, we walked through the massive gates straight into the castle, and then headed to the luxurious five-story stone palace. A person from the space age would certainly not be impressed by such a view, and yet it was surprising to see such... old architecture and understand that it was erected by people, building all this not with the help of machines, but only using hands and some primitive tools. I feel very unenviable for these people, because they live in a backward time in a backward era and still do not understand much. They really are still far from flying into space, but most likely this is due to the fact that there is some kind of devilry going on here on this planet, like monsters wandering outside the city walls, some demons, mysterious magic and even Gods. I cannot explain in any other way their strange stagnation, which apparently has been going on for several thousand years. They are clearly stuck in this era for a long time, although it would seem that there are absolutely no prerequisites for this. I would really like to get out of here as soon as possible, especially after what we have experienced here. I talked to Granid about using his magic to create ammunition for us, but for this he would need time, a lot of time, but for now the king and his charges allocated us chambers, and then invited us to dinner. Of course, not everyone was invited, but only me, Granid and Ilifreeta with Furgur. The mercenary decided to be a nanny for her. I don¡¯t know what this is connected with, but I think it¡¯s due to the fact that he was already familiar with her and perhaps felt some kind of sympathy for her. I didn''t mind this considering Furgur follows Incartia, Incartia follows Granid, and Granid follows us. If we attract the attention of the princess with such a locomotive, then from a diplomatic point of view we can remain in the black by having a native ally in the kingdom of Lakuus. Meanwhile, I was waiting for the start of the meal while high-ranking people gathered at the table, but this time they were in no hurry to occupy themselves with conversations, but silently waited for the moment when the servants brought the first courses. The hall was luxurious, all decorated with ornaments, but it seemed very ordinary to these people, which embarrassed me a little, as a guest of such a rich place. For a complete feeling of wealth, music is not enough, however, the fact that it is not there is already good. I don''t think I would have liked her. After a while, the maids came into the dining room and set the table, but what we were served could not compare with what we were served at Itsqueen. I was slightly perplexed, especially remembering the taste of juicy meat in my mouth, and now I saw in front of me the usual cabbage and soup cut into small pieces. It was also interesting that the same thing was served to the king, and he, in turn, silently began to eat it, as if he was already accustomed to such a modest meal. However, I didn¡¯t complain about anything and also tried the first courses. Mmm~... doesn''t taste very good. At least it''s not crap. The taste was not disgusting, it was rather unusual, however, that was not important now, but what was important was what the king said after the first snacks. "Princess Ilifreeta, how are you feeling?" I turned my head first to the king, and then to the golden-haired princess, who they managed to dress in a white dress with green patterns in the places where it was cut. Her face was directed downwards, it seemed murdered, full of despair and grief. She couldn¡¯t believe that they were going to kill her; moreover, a man who had already led this country for reasons that were still unclear to me wanted to do this to her. She slowly raised her gaze to the king and after a few moments, using telekinesis, she sharply threw the plate at the king, but he managed to dodge by leaning slightly to the side. The plate flew past and broke on the floor, and the girl, strangely distorting her face, screamed loudly to the whole hall. This loud scream echoed along the walls of the dining room, and her heartbreaking cry penetrated into her very soul, as if needles were piercing her heart. She fell back onto Furgur''s chest and lowered her head down, trying to hide her tears and sniffling. The king, however, had no intention of punishing her for throwing the plate and instead said the following: "I see you¡¯re not feeling well. I assure you, everything will be fine with you.¡± "D-daddy¡­ *sob*¡­." The princess shook her head, continuing to whine while Furgur tried to calm her down by stroking her head. So that''s why you''re hurting. I thought. She didn''t care that they were going to kill her; she was now fully aware that her father, the former king, had died. As far as I know, she hasn¡¯t left her chambers since birth, which is why I really can¡¯t understand where she got such love for her father. Did the former king really visit her often, or maybe Ilifreeta instilled in herself this love for her father? If I were in her place, if I didn¡¯t have a father, then I would find a loved one in a man who often took care of me not as a friend of my mother, but as a real father and would consider him a father, who raised me and took care of me, but with the princess it seems not so . We should find time and talk to her about this or ask Sigrin to do it. Seeing her tears was... painful. It¡¯s hard to imagine her pain, and yet I decided to drown it out by stuffing more salad into my mouth. Enough... please... We are people too, we also want to go home, and we also don¡¯t know if everything is fine with our family, friends and loved ones. So please, stop! I prayed to myself. Fortunately, the king was able to muffle the girl¡¯s crying by rising from his seat and lightly hugging the princess. This spectacle was quite touching, albeit short-lived. After a while, the king broke away from the princess¡¯s thin body and whispered something to Furgur, after which he rose from his seat and left the hall with the princess in his arms, and we continued dinner as if nothing had happened. Now I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that I had been in a similar situation before. Deja vu. However, it doesn¡¯t matter, something else is important now. The king sat back down in his seat and introduced us to the royal council. "I must introduce the members of the royal council." The king pointed his palm to his right at an elderly man in a red and gold military uniform. "Krezhd Fayun military advisor." The old man whose name was Krezhd nodded slightly, and then the king introduced the next man, who was sitting opposite the military adviser. This time the second person was dressed much more modestly, wearing only a shirt and trousers, if these clothes could be called that. "Mierto Luke the treasurer." The next person was dressed in a thick light robe, which was very strongly associated with worshipers from some temple. However, I was not mistaken in my guesses. "Bishop of Ayanna." The fourth man stood out from everyone in that he was dressed only in a black robe and for some reason hid his face under a hood. "Dougman Privy Councilor." The last man was a seemingly ordinary aristocrat, but his type of activity surprised me, because associations with a white robe and a red cross were firmly entrenched in my mind. "And Halesmin is the court physician. At the moment, the chief adviser is absent, there is no time to appoint a new person. Before the coronation, it was me." "Nice to meet you." Granid and I said, introducing ourselves as high-born at the table. Before busying himself with business conversations, the king began to conduct conversations with members of the royal council. The conversation concerned matters of national importance, they talked about preparations for the siege of the city, food problems, the organization of combat detachments, as well as the presence of traitors in the ranks of the royal forces. "The third patrol did not return on time." Pronounced by Krezhd. "I¡¯m not going to send any more of my people to death.¡± "But how do we then know what the cultists are planning and where they will begin their siege?" The treasurer in turn asked. "No way." The military advisor answered, coughing slightly to get the king''s attention. "Ahem... we¡¯ll have to strengthen the gates. Most likely the enemy will try to capture them in order to let all the warriors into the city.¡± "Do we have enough people?" The king asked, to which the military adviser shook his head negatively. "We barely have enough men to maintain a garrison, let alone an internal guard. A riot could break out at any moment, so we cannot assign more men to protect all the entrances." "And gold." The treasurer added on his own behalf. The worshiper rarely participated in the conversation, only occasionally inserting his word, but this time he made a certain prayerful gesture and uttered the following words while continuing to sit at the table: "May the all-forgiving Sod preserve souls. May he direct his ?punishing hand? at the champions of darkness and demon spawn." Even though the King tried to keep a calm expression on his face, it was clear that he was clearly worried about the current situation. An attempt to somehow calm down was unsuccessful. Will was right... there''s nothing we can do here. This country is doomed to destruction. What can a king do sitting in the royal capital? He doesn''t even have an army. However¡­ I fixed my gaze on the old wizard. Granid was calm and to some extent even firm. He did not miss a moment to express his thoughts: "I see you are worthy of your title, Draun. However, you should not create bloodshed with your persistence, you need to know the limits of your ambitions.¡± "My ambitions?" The king grinned. "I have devoted my entire life to serving His late Majesty and the people. I myself was once from a family of commoners and did not know the blessings that nobility enjoys. All I do here and all my people do is delay the beginning of the end as long as possible "All we need is to win and then peace will reign in the kingdom.¡± "You will not win this war." Granid said, and the king, according to the words of the old wizard, angrily hit the table with his fist, causing everyone around to flinch. "I have to!" The monarch shouted angrily. "I won¡¯t let the ogre become the king! I won¡¯t let the warrior become the king! The king must be the one who deserves it! And I don¡¯t yet see anyone worthy of this title except ME!¡± Man, that''s kind of what ambition is. I noted to myself as I sipped some grape juice from a glass, although it didn¡¯t taste like juice, but rather like wine. Meanwhile, the king managed to calm down and begin to ask some questions, addressing me specifically. "Now tell me who you are? What is your name?" The question took me somewhat by surprise, but I still answered him having prepared in advance. "Boris Kipito, Republic mercenary." So we agreed to always answer the natives so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion. "I see. May I ask how much gold you want for hiring?¡± "Not at all." I answered honestly. "We only need the right of passage through the kingdom''s lands." "You are already in the lands of Lakuus and you are accompanied by the former court magician Granid. You do not need the right of passage. So why do you need to help us?" Well... I think he sees right through me, so I won¡¯t hide too much from him. "The Republic wants to establish friendly relations with all the states it can. We are already at war with the Antigone Empire, so we need all kinds of help and the Republic, in turn, will be ready to provide it to everyone who needs it.¡± "So you want us to become debtors by offering us your help?¡± The king said somewhat dismissively, and yet after all that he had voiced, he thought about it and rather quickly gave his answer. "Fine." "Your Majesty!" A man in a red and gold uniform, who was called the military adviser, Krezhd Fayun, jumped up from his seat. "I don''t think such a decision can be made right away. It needs to be discussed in a circle behind closed doors." "You know about the recent attack by the Imperials on Itsqueen, they entered our territory and killed many people, including the daughter of Count Laroy. It is only a matter of time before Antigonus attacks through the goblin forest and we will need all the support we can get." "Yes, but what can these mercenaries do with thousands of enemy soldiers?¡± After these words, all heads turned to me, even the servants were curiously awaiting my answer. And what should I answer? I thought about it and decided not to run around the wheel and simply answered: "We can handle it." I said confidently, turning my head towards Granid. "We will finish them all off." Chapter 66. Impossible war (part 4) "Here''s our plan." I finished telling the platoon. Having gathered our entire squad in one of the living rooms of the palace, I shared my further plan of action and many had incomprehensible expressions on their faces after what they heard from me. For a few moments, everyone around me pondered my words and after a couple of minutes Ashwani suddenly decided to ask something: "This plan of yours, will it work?" "One hundred percent." I nodded confidently. "Thanks to Ripun it will definitely work." "Are you sure you can trust him?" Ashwani said, looking askance at the orange-eyed prophet. "The prophet¡¯s predictions are accurate. He has already saved us from certain death at the hands of a certain Swidok, so we are inclined to trust him, even if we do not fully understand how his gift of seeing the future works.¡± "Boris, if you allow me, I would like to say something." Fred added his word and I nodded and allowed the chief physician to share his thoughts. "I have been thinking for a long time about how to explain the work of certain anomalies that come our way. Be it magic, the disappearance of Ashwani, an unplanned jump of a cruiser from subspace into space, the Gods, their essence and, of course, the ability to predict the future. And let I still have difficulty explaining some phenomena, I came to the conclusion that Ripun is most likely a descendant of the pantorians." After hearing the words, the entire platoon suddenly became nervous, and Ripun himself didn¡¯t really understand who we were talking about now. I myself was no less surprised by what I heard and did not understand what these creatures had to do with it and how they were connected with the gift of foresight. Meanwhile, Fred continued, addressing the platoon members: "If you remember history courses, you probably know about how humanity first encountered the pantorians. Who can remember that?" Private Mard rose from one of the living room sofas and answered Fred''s question: "The Pantorians created a wormhole in the planetary system Kistem and landed on the planet Gatrey. The forces of the Gatreynian Republic were unable to repel this sudden attack. The planet fell in a matter of days, and a month later the Pantorian fleet of tens of thousands of ships was already entering the solar system." "Right." Fred nodded. "It was no coincidence that I remembered the pantorians, although these events are the subject of historical discussions, it is still worth recalling some facts. The Pantorians, during their invasion of the human sector, acted as if they knew all the actions of the Republic in advance, predicting every step of the unified command. Everyone blamed this on the excellent pantorian intelligence known as ?Mastremus Pantorica? and it really was excellent, but in the end everything turned out to be much simpler. New details were revealed that soon dispelled many myths about the masters of war. After the end of the Pantorian war, it became clear that the pantorians were planning their galactic operations. actively involved large-scale simulations of reality, that is, they created virtual realities and scrolled through time in them, simultaneously developing plans for their operations on their site, and then the pantorians repeated the same, but practiced actions in reality." "Interesting." I thought out loud and added something of my own. "That''s why they ended up losing." "That''s right. Although the simulations were perfect and fairly accurate, the pantorians were unable to take into account all the parameters when conducting them. The data turned out to be insufficient to predict absolutely everything and therefore they lost the war. Based on the fact that those who are accepted here To call the dark ones can be the same pantorians, I dare to suggest that they somehow actively influenced the inhabitants of this planet and, with the help of their technologies, projected the same simulations, but on the scale of the entire planet." "So how does Ripun end up being able to predict the future?" This time Forn became interested. "We all know that pantorians always follow their goals to the very end. It is quite possible that they gave up in that war only because they decided that next time they could take all the parameters into account so that they could then continue to establish the so-called ''great order''.? "And to do this, they began to explore the galaxy so that they could take everything into account in the next planning.¡± I finished the conversation for the senior medic, understanding what he was getting at. "Doesn''t this mean that sooner or later they will continue the war?" "Perhaps, but this will take them at least a couple of thousand years. Exploring the galaxy, especially under the control of the victorious civilizations, is a difficult matter, so this is still a very, very long time away.¡± "How did the pantorians carry out these simulations?" This time Stern, an expert in the field of digital technologies, became interested. "It is unlikely that there is a supercomputer capable of calculating such a volume of information, especially on the scale of an entire galaxy in all four dimensions. They simply do not and could not have so many resources.¡± "You''re thinking incorrectly." Fred said shaking his head. "These humans would need a computer the size of a star to calculate all the parameters for such a simulation, but the pantorians are known for breaking the technological limit and developing their own technologies in ways we can''t even begin to imagine how they work, and all they needed was a measly three hundred years. The fact that they had such technologies and carried out such simulations when planning the occupation of the galaxy is an indisputable fact and it is not yet our responsibility to care whether they continue the war or not." "Okay, let''s say." I raised my hand to calm Fred''s tirade. "But how does Ripun¡¯s ability work anyway? You said that he is a native, that is, a local inhabitant, judging by the biological scan and physical examination, so how can he be a descendant of the pantorians?¡± "There is one assumption that is still worth confirming. The supposed simulation program is artificially built into the strict genetic code of the Ripun genus and it projects simulations either in its own consciousness or in another place where it is possible to store a device simulating the behavior and parameters of an entire planet." "I didn''t understand anything." I answered honestly, but suddenly, to my surprise, a rather simple answer was given by Ripun himself, who was listening to our conversation. "I understand! I create a world that I live inside myself, but this world is not in my head, but in some other place. I am only connected to it.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. After hearing his words, we became much clearer about how his ability works. This means that he creates in his mind a simulation of the future associated with his life cycle, and when this cycle breaks, the memories from the character of the simulation are transferred to reality or to another period of the simulation, and thoughts at the moment where these simulations begin their countdown. If this is true, then Ripun is indeed a descendant of the pantorians, albeit not by blood, but how did he become one? To make sure of my thoughts, I decided to find out something by turning to Princess Niana: "If you allow me, can I find out what role the prophets play in Hippolytus?¡± "Certainly." The pale-skinned, dark-haired girl nodded, clearly surprised by the complex terms she heard here. "Poor families send their children to the temple of the prophets so that they become either prophets or servants of the prophets, but only very few manage to become a prophet of the future. Ripun is the only prophet in the kingdom of Hippolyta, but there were cases when there was not one prophet in the kingdom, but three at once and all of them harmoniously tied the threads of destinies together, predicting the prosperity of our kingdom or its destruction." "What is the Temple of the Prophets?" Hearing my question, the princess visibly groaned, having forgotten to explain something. "Oh! Sorry, I forgot to tell you. This place is an ancient temple where people go... people used to go so that the prophet would tell people about their future. Only through internal mortification could they see the future and there were cases when they killed themselves and never returned to life, leaving the temple of the prophets is empty. We... we don¡¯t know where and when the temple of the prophets arose, I don¡¯t think that it was once the house of the dark ones. But maybe... we really don¡¯t know a lot of things.¡± "Black water." Ripun suddenly said. "What?" I didn¡¯t understand him when I turned towards the prophet. "Black water flows in the temple; after drinking it, people began to get very sick and quickly died, but those who could survive the black blood disease could begin to call themselves prophets. I drank the black water, survived and became a prophet.¡± "Most likely they were mekhanites." Fred suggested. "They can integrate into the human body and begin to modify its structure, turning Ripun into a walking simulation tool, or rather one who could use it remotely." "So the simulations are not carried out by some device, but by the human brain?¡± I asked and received a negative answer from Fred. "No. The functionality of the human brain is huge, but not sufficient to conduct regular simulations on a planetary scale. Most likely, this "black water¡± establishes a connection with the working pantorian equipment that produces this very simulation. I have no idea where this equipment is, what it looks like and how exactly it works. But if it exists, and it is definitely of Pantorian origin, then there is no need to doubt Ripun¡¯s abilities.¡± All these new details about the pantorians and the prophets were very informative and quite surprising in their essence for us. Now knowing this, we could definitely trust Ripun''s predictions, but this does not mean that the plan will be one hundred percent successful. There is a possibility that we will die, and Ripun will be captured alive, that is, he will not be able to warn himself in reality about what awaits him in the future. And he doesn¡¯t look like a person who could kill himself if something happened, he¡¯s too cowardly for that, which means there can be no firm confidence in the success of the operation. "We have dealt with this issue." I said. "It''s time to start." "Wait." Ashwani suddenly responded. "What will happen to me?" "I don''t know." I answered honestly, frowning a little. "You have the face and name of our friend, but he was erased from reality. Until we figure this out, it¡¯s better to stay with us indefinitely.¡± "No." His answer confused me somewhat, but he hastened to explain. "I¡¯m not a man from heaven like you, I know exactly who I am and where I was born. I have my own life and you won¡¯t change it by simply taking me supposedly ¡®home¡¯.¡± "We know, that''s why just stay with us until we figure this out. "Boris" Fred responded. "I think he¡¯s right. If he doesn¡¯t want it, then you can¡¯t drag him along with you. Moreover, in the proposed plan, he¡¯s unlikely to help in any way.¡± "I will protect the princess." Ashwani said confidently looking at Niana. "That way I''ll be useful. I''m an adventurer after all." I don''t argue. I thought, but at that moment Camellia suddenly decided to speak out. "Furgur would have heard your words." The red-eyed woman grinned, again putting on a serious, arrogant look and crossing her legs. "If you want to help, you better figure out who you really are." "What are you talking about?" To be honest, along with the others, I also didn¡¯t really understand the words of the white-haired sorceress, but she hastened to clarify this point for us by rising from her chair and approaching Ashwani, standing closely in front of him at arm¡¯s length. It seemed she was about to eat him with her predatory gaze, but it was clear that she was really interested in him. And why suddenly? "Have you ever thought about whether you, your memories, what you see and what you hear are real? Of course not. Like any person, you will never doubt what you saw, heard and felt, but you must understand that our world is structured in such a way that all these feelings can simply be faked, inspired, and the body can be changed from the inside and outside." Camellia came closer, standing face to face with the surprised Ashwani and firmly asked him: "Are you sure that you are someone you know well?" "I¡­" Ashwani did not find words for some time, hanging his head down. For several moments he thought about the words of the sorceress-adventurer, and then, shaking his head, he simply pushed the sorceress away and said in a dissatisfied tone. "What are you saying? It¡¯s me! I can¡¯t believe that my life can be just... fiction! I definitely remember my mother, father, the village in which I grew up, how I stroked the headman¡¯s dog and how I ran away from home . It''s all true!" "Then you should check all of this." Camellia said calmly, not paying attention to his gesture and looking at all of us for a moment. "These people claim the opposite. They say that you are their friend and you are also from the stars. So prove to them that this is not so." "Fine." Nodding his head, he agreed and Ashwani now turned to me. "I''ll stay with you until I figure out who I am. I don''t think that really makes sense, but to prove to you that I am me, I''ll have to do this." "I got you." I nodded and turned this time to Incartia. "The matter does not need to be postponed to minor conversations. We need a lot of ammunition, as well as mines, grenades and medicine. We will collect everything in heaps, they just need to be duplicated. Once is enough. Can you handle it?¡± "I will try." Said the dark-haired woman sitting on a chair next to Granid. "I will exhaust myself, but I will do what is necessary" "Since you decided to help, I¡¯ll give this to you.¡± The old wizard said, handing his student a green stone, somewhat reminiscent of an emerald. "What is this?" Incartia asked, holding a strange-looking piece of jewelry with a chain in her hands. "This is an elven soul stone, a rare thing. Keep it close to your chest, it will save you one day.¡± Elvish? I was surprised to hear a familiar word. I am beginning to suspect more and more that this planet is simply not real. There are so many things here that simply do not exist in nature and that people on Earth invented long ago. How could there be elves here? Or maybe Granid means a completely different creature resembling an elf? Just a similar sounding word? I hope so. I inadvertently listened to Camellia¡¯s words about whether I am real, what I remember, heard and felt, and whether the world around us is real? Maybe this is such a long dream that I plunged into together with my soldiers? Maybe no one even really died? But the more I think about it, the more I begin to understand that I am simply starting to go crazy. I would even like to agree with Ashwani. I just can¡¯t believe what I saw, heard and felt could be some kind of fake. I don''t believe it and yet I''m starting to doubt it all. Everything here is too strange to be real. Without thinking about it any more, I simply clapped my hands and looked around at everyone in the living room and said: "Okay. It''s time to start preparing for a small victorious war. There is nothing to be afraid of, Ripun is with us and if something happens, he will predict the future." "Already." The prophet said. Already? I didn¡¯t understand him and looking at his face, I saw the look of a madman. His eyes widened so wide as if he had just experienced the most excruciating torment in the whole wide world. It''s not hard to guess what happened to him. He had just received a prediction and what he was doing now was clutching his chest with his palm in pain. His breathing became somehow uneven, painful, he was shaking all over quietly, saying: "It hurts so much." Chapter 67. True Queen To the west, in the Cloud Plains, in the middle of important trade routes, lies a country called the Central Trade Republic of Urbaval. In this country, instead of the king and the nobility, the council of the highest trading houses rules, engaged in their own enrichment through workshops and an advantageous location on trade routes. Thanks to this, Urbaval actively prospers, and its fame spreads throughout the world. This is a very famous country all over the world, which is known for its sophistication, luxury and culture, but is clearly not famous for having a good army, mainly because it uses the services of mercenaries whose loyalty is limited only by the gold in their pocket. I know the geography of the central part of the continent, and therefore I immediately doubted that Boris and his people were from there. They said that they were heading to the east, that is, to the lands of the brutal races, and their Republic was located in the west. Here we can make two assumptions: either they are lying to me or they are not telling me something. Who exactly are the court magician''s companions? How were they able to defeat a detachment of hundreds of robbers? Why do they look so strange? Do they really want to establish friendly relations between a certain Republic and the kingdom of Lakuus? One question after another appeared in my head, but there was not even close information about these strangers, as well as what motivates them. I remember seeing among them a cursed woman, strangers from Hippolyta and, apparently, adventurers. I did not then interrogate the old wizard at dinner and instead agreed with him about help from these strangers, but still I did not trust them. They''re too suspicious. I can''t trust them after they lied to me. We need to keep them under surveillance and find out who they really are and what they are really up to. It may even be that they are leading Granid by the nose, and the old wizard himself has no idea about it. If this is the case, then you need to always be on guard. "Dougman." "I''m here, Your Majesty." "Please keep an eye on our guests." "It will be done." Moving between the wide palace corridors, I drove away unnecessary thoughts and focused on the most important thing, namely Princess Ilifreeta. I need to meet her and talk otherwise I will become a victim of her ?hand?. She''s clearly still mad at me for what I wanted to do to her. And I myself was not delighted with myself either, and yet I still have something to discuss with her. I was accompanied by two guards, their armor rattled loudly as we moved to Her Highness¡¯s chambers, and words were actively spinning in my head, gradually forming into sentences. I was thinking about where to start our conversation with her, how to get closer to her, and when I got to her chambers, I creaked open the door and heard a male voice that belonged to none other than Furgur: "Who is this?" Standing in front of him, I looked around him and the room in which I found myself. The same princess room, but this time cleaned up. Since the return of the heir to the throne, the room has only become better than before her abduction. The maids were still tidying up the closets and sweeping away dust in the corners, but after my arrival they stood quietly, bowing their heads down, fearing me as if I was about to order their execution. There was nothing even close to that in my head, and yet their fear of me was as if palpable. I saw them tremble slightly. That''s right... they probably heard about the execution in the throne room. That''s why they''re so afraid of me. The princess was lying on the bed with her golden hair loose on the pillow, and a muscular adventurer dressed in light armor made of plates, leather and a bow on his back prevented me from coming closer to her. I remembered a man with a stern and confident look for a long time even when he served in the palace as the head of the royal guard. In those ancient times, King Leff was still standing, and the adventurer saw with his own eyes what was really going on within the walls of the palaces. Furgur did not heed my warning and spread, albeit true, rumors about what was happening in the palace. By his mere existence, he blackened the name of the royal family and its honor for the entire people. For this I expelled him from the palace and he could hardly forgive me for this. "What do you need?" Furgur asked with a frown on his face. Such rude treatment of the king would have been unforgivable in any other scenario, but I am king only for a while and therefore was not offended by it. I made a gesture with my palm, letting the guards know that it was better not to attack the adventurer, and then I said: "I need to talk to Ilifreeta... alone." "No, not alone." The adventurer shook his head, refusing to leave me and the princess alone. He stood his ground, was as impregnable as a rock, and could even resist the orders of the king himself. At a moment when it seemed that the situation had not been resolved, Ilifreeta suddenly turned to him: "Please leave us." "But he can" The mercenary wanted to interrupt the princess, but she, in turn, answered with a slight smile. "It''s okay. I''ll be fine. I don''t think Draun is here to hurt me."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. For some time he stood in place, clearly thinking about the advisability of leaving me and her alone. Meanwhile, I looked at my guards, ordering them to leave the chambers: "Leave us alone." "Yes, my king." The guards bowed with a clang of armor and left the chambers along with Furgur and the maids. When the door slammed behind us, we were finally alone. Returning my attention to the princess, I noticed only emptiness in her eyes. During dinner, she ?hand? threw a plate at me, which says a lot about what she thinks about me. She hates me. I couldn¡¯t note it in my heart without sadness. I came closer, sitting on the edge of the bed and looked straight into her blue eyes. It¡¯s hard to imagine how many tears flowed out of there. I feel so sorry for her and how could I wish her death? Had I lost my humanity so much that I thought about killing her? How could I do this? What kind of stupid questions are these? The answers lie on the surface: Leff warned me that power would go to my head. Once you taste it, you won¡¯t want to share such spoils even with the people you trust most in the world. Now I understand this perfectly. My power is only temporary, and I must try to ensure that it passes safely into the hands of the princess. I don''t need to have any illusions that I can really become a real king. That''s not what I''m here for. After remaining silent for some time, I finally decided to start our conversation with something, and I started with something more insignificant, everyday. "This room hasn''t changed at all since you were kidnapped." I said, looking around her cozy chambers. "To him." That was all the princess could say, tilting her head to the side to show me that she did not want to have a conversation with me on this topic. I understood her perfectly. She expected those very words from me, but for now I decided to leave them for last. "This palace has become cleaner, it is not as dirty as it was before, and now it also shines thanks to you.¡± "Why are you telling me this?" "Because you are our princess, heir to the throne." I said smiling. My words did not inspire her at all, however, I did not count on it yet. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I breathed more air into my chest and began to tell her everything that I had been hiding in my soul for so long. Everything I said was sincere and very important to me. I have lived a long life and even if I did not know joy in it, I know that I must try not for my own sake, but for the sake of everyone else. "Many years ago, your father noticed a boy in the rain with books in his hands. He stopped a carriage in the mud and invited him to come to his place, to live in the palace. I was this boy and then I could not understand how lucky I was, having decided to accept your invitation Father. Only now I understand that he noticed something in me that I myself had not realized before. I did not yet know what he had in store for me when he appointed me as an assistant clerk, and then invited me to observe the council meetings. I only realized my purpose when he appointed me as his chief advisor and ordered me to take care of his family and his kingdom as they deserved." The princess returned her attention to me. She suddenly became curious to hear my story. She hears it for the first time, however, I have never told this to very few people, because this is something that I will never be able to tell anyone else. For me this is all sacred. "I was given a title, given a last name and given a purpose in life. I was raised to be the one who would help the new king on his difficult path, or maybe even the queen." Ilifreeta is a smart girl and immediately understood what I was getting at. "I am not worthy to be a queen, and you know it. I was not raised to be one, I was never taught anything. I am cursed and cannot move my arms or legs, especially since I am a woman. How can I be a queen?" Her question was fair. In any other country, it would be difficult for a woman to take the throne because of her origins, but here in the kingdom of Lakuus, who you were born as is not the main reason why you will be elected monarch. There was another reason that lives in the soul of our future queen, and she knows about this reason very well. "I used to think that I should have become king. Your father often complained to me about what scoundrels his sons were growing up to be. He never said that about you. I know that you loved him with all your heart. He visited you even if only when you were sleeping. He was the only one in whom you saw a person who cared about you, and I perfectly understand your pain from the loss of such a loved one. No one loved you, your desires were mercilessly trampled, but he brought warmth and care to your little one. corner." The princess''s eyes slammed shut, and droplets of tears began to appear at the edges. It was painful and sad for her to even think about it. She told herself that no one loved her, that she could not take care of herself, and yet her father was the person who often visited her and she knew about it, even if she forgot it for a long time. "Even though your father, at the end of his life, began to go crazy, he still remained a man who loved you. Then he thirsted for life more than anything else and therefore forgot about you, forgot about love as such. The disease of madness decimated his health even more. stronger and yet somewhere inside him lived the one who loved you. The Kingdom was already in fact in my hands, and I could order to do whatever I wanted, but I could not throw away the thought that I was missing something. , the one who will come after me. Leff did not tell me to become king, he only told me to take care of his family and kingdom. Only now I finally understand that I took his words incorrectly." I took her hands. Her palms were cold, dead, so small and fragile, as if they were about to fall off if you weren¡¯t gentle with her. I looked into her blue eyes filled with tears and still told her the most intimate words that I had put off for so long: "Forgive me, Ilifreeta... I did not recognize you as a true queen. Moreover, you inherited a ?punishing hand?. Do you remember how you threw your dinner at me? Now you know what it is. This is a gift from kings and queens Lakuus, the power transferred by the first magician to the heir of the first king. This is your power, which means you are already worthy of being called a queen. Forgive me again for what I wanted to do to you, for what I could not do. to truly protect you." Ilifreeta''s face turned red, and her eyes filled with bitter tears, streaming down her cheeks. I took a handkerchief and wiped the moisture from her face, and then let go of her hands. Still, an apology is not the main reason why I decided to visit her. She, immobilized and sobbing, still shook her head and asked: "I don''t understand... *sob*... why are you telling me this?" "There''s a reason for this." I answered more seriously. "Your brother, Monrid, has lured all the nobles of the kingdom to his side. They see him as the new king, but they are blind to his actions only following the paths of tradition and thirst for their own gain. I want you to help me with something." "And what?¡± "I want you to show them my ?punishing hand?. Show all the people who is truly worthy of the crown, and I will bend the knee before you, and you will ascend to the throne.¡± Such words seriously shocked Ilifreeta, she was clearly not ready for this, but again taking her hands, I encouraged her: "Don''t worry. I''ll be there to help you with whatever I can." Chapter 68. Impossible war (Part 5) "So, does that mean I can¡¯t go outside?¡± I asked Boris crossing my arms over my chest. Standing at my chambers, I could only ask him such a question, otherwise I didn¡¯t understand why he stood right on the threshold as if he forbade me to go outside. "Yes, Sigrin. You are not allowed to leave the palace." Boris said, shaking his head and turning away slightly, he added quietly. "Otherwise we will have to commit genocide here again to save you.¡± "Yes, I understood, I understood everything.¡± I answered with a dissatisfied sigh. "I really hope so." "So what should I do now? I checked all the weapons and the radio station. I¡¯m free now.¡± "Take a walk." Boris said seriously and abruptly put his hands on my shoulders. "Just no nonsense, okay?" "Yes, yes, yes, I understand, you don¡¯t have to remind me.¡± I waved him off and at the same time decided to ask before leaving. "Will this plan really work?¡± "Not convinced." Boris answered honestly. "Super." Sighing again, I put on a desperate smile. "So it''s all or nothing." "You can visit the princess" Boris advised me, but I, in turn, thought differently. "There was some kind of line outside her bedroom. And as far as I know, her father died. I think she¡¯s not feeling well right now. Don¡¯t you think it would be a good idea to visit her now?¡± "I don¡¯t know. And it doesn¡¯t concern us anymore. We made a deal, all we have to do is do our part and get out of here. It¡¯s simple. At least for now.¡± Boris¡¯s words sounded very optimistic, but to the same extent I saw notes of fear on his face. He was afraid that nothing would work out, however, at such moments I begin to act. Alsisian sedative in action. "Everything will be fine." I said, slightly tilting my head with a smile and affection. "No matter what happens, we will remain human, and this is the most important thing.¡± "Are...are you drunk?" Boris asked with a frown, and was lightly hit in the chest, after which he heard a chuckle from Will behind him. "Fuck you." I said in the face of a laughing Boris and slammed the door, going out into the corridor of the palace. "Well, I''ll go get some fresh air." "Make sure you don''t kill anyone." "Cold." I answered again, rolling my eyes. "Good night." The sun was setting, and at that moment I wanted to take a walk. All day I checked the weapons and devices for damage, it¡¯s not surprising that I was very tired from this, but for some reason I didn¡¯t really want to sleep. I definitely understood that I needed this now, knowing what would happen tomorrow. I wanted to visit Ilif because it might be the last time we see each other again. To be honest, I didn¡¯t have much hope for Boris¡¯s plan. It was not clear why he even thought of this so late. Perhaps he has already discussed this with Granid, but perhaps he has not asked him about it yet. In any case, the next day will show how everything will go. I''ll be fine with them. Calm down, Sigrin. Breathe in and out and calm down. I told myself while doing breathing exercises while walking along the corridors of the palace. In one of the courtyards right outside the window, people were bustling around, carrying some things, training with weapons like spears and swords, working out orders and much more that soldiers usually do. Perhaps there was no less fuss going on outside the castle walls in the city itself, but I couldn¡¯t know that, and to be honest, I didn¡¯t think much about it. Boris solved all the complex problems, and I¡¯m just a naval engineer, it¡¯s better for me to solve the problems of the technical part, which is what I was already doing today. I just walked around and looked at what locals usually call luxury. Paintings, patterns on the walls, figurines on busts, knight''s armor placed on both sides, trophies, living rooms and much more. And although I didn¡¯t really like all this primitiveness and poverty, I enjoyed breathing the local air. It was so fresh and literally everywhere here. On Earth, on the Moon and on a ship, one could only dream about this. Even on Alsis, people do not live on the surface, but underground because of the star, occupying a third of the sky and scorching everything that its hellish rays can touch. People on many planets breathe processed air because not all planets with life have people able to adapt to it. Well, the Earth is still experiencing the consequences of a nuclear disaster a thousand years ago. By the way, because of the Alsisian sun, people on Alsis are black as coal, but on this planet such people are usually called damned, which, to be honest, I didn¡¯t particularly like to hear. At least, unlike the Sapardonians, I was lucky. At least I could leave the planet, but people with Sapardon, due to a lack of vitamin D in their bodies, are locked within their ice planet and any attempt to leave the atmosphere ends for them in painful death from cosmic radiation. They also call me damned. Ha! Continuing to walk along the corridor of the palace, I decided to go out into the garden courtyard, and there I already began to regret that I dared to think about staying here because annoying mosquitoes had already begun to fly at me. Meanwhile, the palace servants lit torches along the stairs and corridors so that they themselves would not get lost, and at those moments I enjoyed the view of the starry sky that was unfamiliar to me. If I knew stellar geography, I could even determine which of the stars is burning the surface of Alsis into the glass. I was thinking and suddenly I heard a man¡¯s voice behind me. "Constellation Raven." Turning back, I saw a man in a black robe. It was as if he had been hiding in the shadows all this time and only now decided to show himself in the light. At first he alarmed me because he hid his face under a hood, but then, remembering something, I realized that he was one of the king¡¯s advisers. "You scared me." I sighed with relief and, unbeknownst to him, I placed my palm on the holster of the pistol. "Forgive me. I didn¡¯t mean to scare you. It¡¯s more likely that you¡¯re the one scaring you with your appearance.¡± Well, as always. I growled irritably. "Are you interested in knowing why I¡¯m black? If anything, I¡¯m not cursed. I was just born this way. All the people from my... my village are like that.¡± "Village of the Damned...interesting." The man said and, coming closer, unexpectedly for me, he took off his hood and introduced himself. "Forgive me for my discourtesy. My name is Dougman, what is your name, lady?" His face... I was somewhat taken aback when I saw the simple, unremarkable face of a middle-aged middle-aged man. I expected that he would have a reason to hide his face, but in reality he is just an ordinary man with a very curious look. "The victory." I introduced myself, looking at him incredulously, but judging by his crossed arms, it was clear that he just wanted to talk to me. "And I have to repeat, I¡¯m not cursed.¡± "And I¡¯m not a saint to burn you.¡± The man said smiling. "Anyway, nice to meet you." "Mutual." I smiled back and finally decided to ask. "So why did you decide to talk to me?¡± "There''s actually a good reason for that." Dougman suddenly frowned, taking a step closer to me. "The fact is that the king wants to kill you all." I trembled when I heard these words from him. It¡¯s not that I wanted to hear this on an ordinary walk, but still I was very scared that it was true and could happen at any time.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "For what?" I asked quietly and received a very disappointing answer. "He does not trust you, none of you, not even the old wizard, who betrayed his duty to protect the home of the royal family. The companions of the respected Granid are too strange and cause nothing but fear in His Majesty. The King wants to kill all of you as soon as the agreement comes to an end.? "You mean...tomorrow?" Dougman twitched slightly upon hearing these words and asked: "Why did you decide that it will be tomorrow?" "Because tomorrow there will be an assault." I answered, turning over thoughts in my head. If the King wants to kill us, then... then we need to warn Boris about this now! Thinking about this, I was about to run to the palace, when Dougman suddenly grabbed my palm and immediately stopped me. "Is he really right?" Dougman said looking straight into my eyes. "You are hiding something that you don¡¯t want to tell anyone. You are afraid that someone will find out the terrible truth about you, am I right?¡± "What the..." I whispered, taking out a pistol behind my back. Calm down, Sigrin, everything is fine. You need to calm down. No deaths. Don''t do anything stupid. My heart was pounding wildly, and behind me I heard a light stomp. Turning my head in the opposite direction, I saw a couple of people in the same dark robes. Unlike Dougman, they did not come forward, but stood further away, in the shadows. I saw perfectly well that they were armed, holding blades in their hands. Somewhere above on the palace balcony I heard the characteristic sound of a bow string being drawn. I didn¡¯t see this man anymore, because it was too dark there. Perhaps there were other people around me, but I couldn¡¯t know for sure. I was surrounded, I had no chance to escape if I made a rash action. What... what should I do?! I started to panic inside myself. I was incredibly scared. I was so afraid now that I removed my palm from the handle of the gun, returning it back to the holster, and then suddenly heard Dougman¡¯s words, which continued to hold my palm tightly. "You know, I actually kept something from you." "What are you talking about?" I asked, not understanding anything. "I am a close associate of the king, one of his faithful advisers. I have the power to convince Draun of my decision if he understands who you really are.¡± "R-really?" I asked tremblingly and Dougman nodded in response to my question. So what should we do?! Inside myself, I continue to go through options for action. I could now kill Dougman, run and immediately inform Boris that tomorrow they will try to kill us all and then a lot of blood will be shed again. Or I can trust this stranger and tell him something that will calm the king and prevent another massacre. I... I don''t want this anymore. I said to myself and shook with fear. I don''t want any more deaths. However, Boris made it clear to me that I should no longer act like a hero or do anything without his permission. I couldn''t do this in order not to repeat that nightmare. I had to do something. But what? While I was thinking, Dougman pulled me towards him and asked, highlighting every word that came out of his mouth: "Who are you?" "I... we...." I swallowed my saliva out of fear. A? Wait a minute... he is a close associate of the king, his adviser, and he says that his king wants to kill us. And... is this true? What kind of suspicious guy is this? What does he really want? Are these cultists? What''s happening? What if he kills me and our people as soon as I tell everything? I didn''t understand what was happening. Now the simple-looking man seemed very gloomy to me, his face expressed not just curiosity, but the very thirst for knowledge. He longed to understand who was standing in front of him and who we all were. He squeezed my hand tighter in his hand and with wide eyes tilted his head, letting me know that he was not going to wait any longer. S-scares. I was shaking and yet, having found those crumbs of strength, I decided to do it. "W-well." I said nodding. "I''ll tell you everything." Dougman, hearing my words, nodded and smiled gloomily. "I''m listening." *** Outside the city, an impressively sized native army was gathering. There was little time left before the attack, literally a few hours. The plan must be carried out as accurately and correctly as possible, otherwise it will all be over for us, and we will never be able to return home. "Farewell my friend, I will remember you." Itami said with sadness in his voice, sitting on his knees and saying goodbye to his communications station, which had served him faithfully since the beginning of his entry into the 127th Army. A platoon stood around him and made a hand-face gesture looking at the touching farewell of man and machine, but personally I didn¡¯t care. People can become attached to objects, and Itami, having lost the object of connection, will simply end up becoming an ordinary soldier of the 127th Army and nothing more. Although at first glance it really seems stupid to say goodbye to objects, yet watching this there was something that really struck a chord inside, if not all of us, then certainly me. It''s like they''re tearing off a piece of you. I thought, coming closer to the signalman and patting him on the shoulder. "Okay, that¡¯s enough. I didn¡¯t write down the message to waste more time on your... funeral.¡± Laughter was heard behind him, and anger, or rather just resentment, appeared on Itami¡¯s face. Even if he can colorfully explain the reason for his "grief¡±, no one will understand him, so he chose to silently obey the order. "Come on, Itami, you''ll have a new one later." Will said, barely holding back his laughter. "Yeah, but¡­" Itami wanted to say something, but didn¡¯t. Instead, he lowered his head and walked away to the side, just like me. "Okay. The communication station is ready, now we just need to do the finishing touches" I said and began to turn to Granid, who was standing with me on the tower to the side. "We need to get him up." Now it was night, our main task at the moment was to contact the 127th Army and return to the main forces to await further instructions. Our journey from the shuttle crash site to the landing of the entire army could take up to a year, and with possible battles against the natives, even up to three years. We could not afford to waste so much time, especially with the limited amount of available ammunition. Therefore, we decided to do things a little differently by suddenly choosing a new path, the shortest one we have. Since long-distance communication does not work, we decided to use a classic beacon with a message. To do this, we reconfigured the Itami radio station to repeat the same signal. The only problem is that the surface of the planet, or rather its horizon, will prevent radio waves from reaching the 127th Army, mainly because the signal will be weak and even a light barrier will simply reflect this radio signal. That is why the radio station needs to be raised into the sky, or to be more precise, straight into space, where it will broadcast the message without delay. In theory, a signal from space will reach the 127th Army without any problems, but I can¡¯t know this for sure. Moreover, we need to keep the radio station in the sky for several hours before the command of the 127th Army can determine the source of the signal and send a group of rescue shuttles with military support after us. The very launch of a radio station poses an even greater problem than anyone can imagine. Granid, hearing my words, thought about it, and then nodded his head and said: "I can do it." Will heard Granid''s words and decided to add something: "We need to make sure it doesn¡¯t burn while flying into space.¡± "And also to stay in the sky the whole day, in one place.¡± Fred added and then turned to me. "Even if this absurd plan works, what is the likelihood of its success? The 127th Army may not exist at all.¡± "You already said that." Ripun said, remembering his recent prediction, and we, looking for a brief moment at the orange-eyed prophet, returned our attention to each other. "You''re right, Fred. Things could go wrong at any moment, but we still have to try. We need to buy enough time before the general sends shuttles after us." "If he sends it." Forn said with skepticism. "Would a general even send support for a platoon of soldiers?¡± "If he needs information about the planet, he will." I answered, but I wasn¡¯t sure about it myself. Fred didn¡¯t answer my words and just returned to the others. We stood aside while Granid thought about how to send an object into the sky and leave it there for a long time safe and sound. I immediately told him that it was better not to put him into orbit as a satellite, but the old wizard didn¡¯t even understand me, then I had to explain some things related to space, including the endless fall and rotation around the planet. Having explained a little scientific things to him, I came closer to him and asked a question: "Any ideas?" "Magic is a powerful force, but not so omnipotent. I can¡¯t imagine how to enchant this box so that it just hangs in the sky for a long time in the realm of the Gods. But what¡¯s more pressing is that the Gods themselves won¡¯t be angry that you¡¯re invading the heavens ?" It is quite possible if they really exist. I thought and nodded. "We don''t serve these ?Gods?, so let them be as angry as they want." "Will your people cross the racial border if they hear the ra-di-o call?" "I think if the shuttles go into near-planetary orbit, then quite well.¡± I don¡¯t think that the boundary of the races will stretch beyond the atmosphere, so just in case, I warned the general in a message to send shuttles through outer space. "Hmm~¡­." Granid started thinking again, and in the meantime we were waiting for what he could come up with that would send the radio station into space and make it hover in the sky. This continued until Furgur came up the stairs to the tower with the princess in his arms. The soldiers, a little confused, bowed in different ways, some only slightly, while others fell to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the stone, but I just greeted. "Greetings, Princess Ilifreeta. Why are you awake?" "I heard you need help." "Yes, we need help, but I think you¡¯re unlikely...¡± I suddenly stopped remembering something. Her ability of telekinesis... how far can she lift such a heavy object and hold it in the sky for a long time? "Sorry." I said, still deciding to clarify the situation. "We need to raise the communications station into the sky and keep it there for a long time, at least a day before reinforcements from the army arrive here.¡± "Will it arrive?" The girl said in the arms of the adventurer, slightly surprised. "Oh, that¡¯s right, I forgot that you are people from heaven. You know how to fly.¡± You can argue with this, and yet I didn¡¯t. Instead, I decided to clarify what kind of help the princess could provide. "I understand you want to use your telekinesis to lift an object into the sky, but are you sure you can?" "Boris?" Will said, catching my attention. "What''s the matter?" I turned in his direction and saw how the communication station was levitating, breaking away from the stone and rising slightly, starting to move away from the tower higher and higher. It was difficult not to comment on this with a slight smile on his lips. "I see, princess, you can." "But I want to ask for something in return." Said the golden-haired one. "So what?" I asked, expecting something impossible, but to my surprise the request turned out to be very feasible. "Heal me, raise me to my feet and make me a queen." Except for the last one, everything turned out to be quite doable, but I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s worth helping her to carry out a coup. With such sudden revelations, all that was left was to swallow saliva. If the king had heard her words, then the last neutral representative of these lands would probably have hunted us. However, a little later she calmed me down, explaining the following: "Draun is ready to give the throne to me, but in return I must show the faithful servants of the kingdom my strength. It is called the ?punishing hand?, and you call it ?telekinesis?. I want the people to recognize me as the queen and then my help will be repaid." I didn''t have to think long. This is beneficial for both of us and I could only agree. "Okay. We will heal you and help you become queen." That''s what we decided on. After some agreements, we all stood at the top of the tower and watched the communications station rise into the star-filled sky and disappear into the darkness. The signal is already starting to broadcast and help will soon arrive for us. However, I do not know how long it will take for the military support group to assemble. Maybe the general will decide not to waste resources on us at all, or they are all really dead. As always, I had only one thing to do: hope for the best. Chapter 69. Impossible war (part 6) With the appearance of the first rays of the sun, alarm bells rang and the soldiers, jumping up from their beds, hurried to put on armor, and some even slept in it, so that they could then rush with weapons at the ready straight to the walls, where the nightmare of their lives would await them. They were waiting for this, but they will not be ready for it. Fear will fill every bone, every drop of blood of their bodies and only their commanders will maintain order in the ranks by shouting strict orders or making motivational speeches. The sentries noticed an approaching army outside the city, a huge army that was about to begin storming the walls. At this time, from all over the city, everyone who could flocked to its northern part to provide full support to their defenders. Not far from the northern gate, one of the buildings was converted into a hospital and a pit for corpses was dug in advance. Barricades have already begun to be hastily erected on the streets, and townspeople are hiding their children in houses and basements. The army outside the city walls filled the entire visible horizon, as if they were drowning the space in a wave, emerging from the hidden forest into the open area. Almost as soon as they appeared in front of the defenders, the assault began. Hordes of maddened cultists, throwing up their blades, spears and axes with shouts, rushed into the attack, drowning everything outside the city walls in the human mass. Cobblestones fell on their heads, flew and pierced their flesh with bloody arrow splashes. Having not yet reached the city limits with ladders in their hands, losses were already appearing among them, but they understood their advantage in numbers and therefore did not even dare to think about retreat. They sought to take the city with a frontal assault and, apparently, they might even succeed. Amid the roar of thousands, the invaders began to place ladders on the walls and climb up them. They didn¡¯t even try to cover themselves with shields, but simply fell from the walls one after another, themselves serving as shields for everyone else. They tried to throw them down, the ladders were broken, but new ones appeared in their place, and more and more ladders were placed on the walls, forcing the defenders to stretch out along the perimeter. Soon the first invaders were able to safely climb up and battles immediately began on the walls themselves. Swings of blades, spears, reeds, the noise of clanging armor, screams of orders, pain and agony. Just a few hours earlier, all the defenders were enjoying the morning peace, and now they were in a real hell that anyone could hardly imagine. They were in the midst of a devastating war for which they were unprepared. A little more and they would falter, however, some already tried to stand aside and tremble with fear to watch as the braver defenders threw corpses from the walls and lost limbs in battle. But something was wrong here. There were not just a lot of enemies, but impossibly full of them. The defenders, looking closer, noticed only madness and rot on their faces, and some even had bones instead of a face. Such a sight already filled all the defenders of the city with even greater fear and despair, but it¡¯s worth giving them their due, they continued to fight no matter what. Rather, this fear gave them more strength and confidence, but alas, not for everyone. Soldiers were dying everywhere, one after another they fell down. The fighter swung his sword at the cultist who attacked him and cut his body in half, his legs flew down to the waist straight into the crowd, and the upper part of his body remained on the walls, but the chopped enemy did not die and by some miracle continued, bleeding liters of blood with insane screams crawl in his arms towards the soldier, hoping to finish him off, and only a new blow, crushing his skull and splashing his brains around, made the bastard die. The man who killed him could not believe his eyes and decided to announce his monstrous discovery to all the defenders: "Don''t be afraid to kill those who have already died! Afraid that you will become the same! Fight!" This turned out to be true, those who attacked them right now were already dead. Realizing that they were being attacked by the risen dead, the defenders were inflamed with righteous anger. They all believed in Sod, in the fact that they were given a place in His great garden, but to see how someone desecrates the bodies of the dead and blackens the souls only caused disgust in the souls of His faithful children. Many wondered: is Prince Monrid really like this? Does he really care about the souls of the fallen? The blood in the veins boiled, and unbridled rage filled the defenders of the city, but while fierce battles were taking place outside the walls, in a small camp, a couple surrounded by cultists dressed in black robes awaited the end of the assault. Monrid sat on a chair and watched how people chopped each other into juicy slices of human meat, and his dearest sister sat on his lap, whom he held with his left hand and pulled her breasts with her, playing with her puffy nipples. With his other hand, he ate a human heart fried over the fire, biting off piece by piece from time to time. The prince would call this state of affairs bliss; he felt as if he was in heaven and could not say the following without a malicious smile on his face: "Great. I don¡¯t need to do anything. They¡¯ll do everything for me. So this is the very power that was promised to me?¡± "Yes, brother." Swidok giggled, allowing the prince to expose her breasts and press harder, causing her to moan from the pleasure it gave her. "In your hands is the freedom that anyone can only dream of. Do whatever you want and... wherever you want." Hearing such seductive words, Monrid wanted to desecrate her right here and now surrounded by the public, no one told him anyway, and yet the first thing he wanted to do was wait for the moment when the city fell and then he would carry out his revenge, kill Draun Rudrin. He will not do this immediately, but slowly, burning out every fragment of his soul in agony. While the couple was lounging on a chair enjoying the symphony of war, Swidok suddenly twitched. She fixed her gaze somewhere in the sky and froze. "Hm?" Monrid was going to caress her neck, but for some reason she rejected him, not paying any attention to her brother. This of course prompted the irritated prince to ask: "What''s happened?" "What are they doing?" The golden-haired girl became interested, feeling how something was levitating high, high right above the city. "There¡¯s something there, I don¡¯t see it.¡± Swidok jumped up from the prince''s lap and stood on the grass and fixed her gaze on the sky. Her eyes at that moment shone scarlet so much that they could burn through the ice with their radiance. The capillaries around her eyes turned black and swollen, and she herself firmly looked at one point, seeing some kind of iron box high in the sky. She felt some kind of power emanating from her, not magical power, but some kind of... natural one. However, Swidok did not understand the nature of this power, she only knows that that iron box is levitating thanks to the "punishing hand" power of the Lakuus royal family. Only once in a generation does it come through the blood of the ruling family of the kingdom. "Monrid." Swidok said calmly, without taking her eyes, maddened with anger, from the box.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Are you really the last descendant of your father?¡± "My brother died, my father died, my mother is probably already killed somewhere. Only Ilifreeta remains, but she is in Itsqueen." The prince grinned, licking his lips. "I''m looking forward to the moment when I taste her. I want to see her frightened eyes and hear her pleas for help and mercy." "This moment will come much faster than you wish.¡± Swidok spoke and collected two spheres of lightning in her palms. "What are you doing?" "They''re up to something, brother. Your sister is here." "What?" Monrid exclaimed in surprise, and the next moment he saw Swidok, clapping her palms, shoot a powerful bolt of lightning into the sky, where at first glance it disappeared right there. The charge itself reached its target and the iron box was deformed from the impact, breaking into several fragments, and after a few moments its entire part began to fall down. The girl relaxed, having cooled the ardor of her magic, and turned to Prince Monrid with a grin on her face. "Do you want to win your sister? Will you let me deal with her?" Prince Monrid, however, shook his head negatively at these words and instead began to put on his snow-white elegant armor, forged especially for him. "I''ll do it myself." "Fine." Swidok giggled. "Then I''ll have fun." *** The city had already been stormed, while the common people were forced to hide behind the walls of the castle; all the city nobility loyal to the king, or rather what was left of it, was hiding with him within the palace. Preparations for the battle were also underway in the castle itself, it was here that Boris and our guys would have to engage in battle with the opponents, and at that time I decided to go down to the underground shelter and wait out the war. Luckily for me, while I was going down the stairs, accompanied by servants, I came across Ilif and Furgur who were carrying her in their arms. There was no end to the joy on the princess''s face. "Victory!" The princess exclaimed cheerfully in my direction, and I smiled warmly at her. "I''m sorry I didn''t visit you yesterday. I thought you were busy." I said in response, patting the princess on the head. "I¡¯m not offended, but... I always feel so calm with you. I missed you.¡± "That''s good to hear." We continued our descent into the shelter together. In essence, it was a dungeon in which the prisoners'' cells were converted into chambers for the nobility. That''s why some of the servants were busy cleaning and catching rats. One of the people was giving orders to the servants and, noticing the princess out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly looked up from his work and bowed to us honorably. "Your Highness. It''s good that you are safe. It was reckless of you to help these green ones with their witchcraft and..." The man''s gaze fell on me, causing him to twitch slightly and take a step back. "Why is she next to you?" "If you order, I will kill her on the spot." One of the guards took out the blade, but the princess managed to calm the rebel. "There is no need for that. This is Sigrin, the one who saved my life. Treat her with due respect, as my savior." I am flattered. My dear, so brave. I thought, quite surprised by the confidence that Ilifreeta radiated even when she was in the arms of another person. The man, in response, wide-eyed, thought for a long time before motioning to the guard to return the sword to its sheath, and then he led us into temporary chambers: "I''m sorry, Your Highness, I didn''t know that. If I may, I will escort you to your room." "She''ll come with me." Ilifreeta clarified, to which the man did not argue, and then we followed along the corridors of the dungeon to the prepared cell. And although all the amenities were here, the dampness, the smell and the room itself still reminded me of those days spent locked up. Ilifreeta was in the dungeon longer than me, so she felt no better. It was visible on her face. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I calmed her fears that could burst out at any moment: "Don¡¯t be afraid, if anything I¡¯ll calm you down with my stories. You can¡¯t imagine what a baggage of jokes I have behind my back, you¡¯ll like it.¡± "Thank you." Ilif smiled. Furgur put her on the bed, and he went to watch outside, but I lay down next to her, hoping to somehow warm her with my body. She was so cold, she literally couldn''t move her body, except maybe her head. I can¡¯t imagine how I would feel if I was like this all my life. I probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to escape from home... I thought, not without sadness. "Victory," Ilif turned to me, turning her head in my direction. "kiss me." "Fine." I smiled and kissed her on the forehead, but then looking at her face, I saw a little dissatisfaction, or rather even bewilderment, as if she was expecting something completely different. "What''s happened?" "That''s not what I meant. I meant...on the lips." "A?" I couldn¡¯t believe my ears and sat up slightly. "We''re girls, we can''t do that." "But I love you, and I have never been kissed in my life. Besides you, there is no one else I love in my life. Favorite people kiss on the lips, I read this in books.¡± Burn these books! I thought, shaking my head and rubbing my forehead. "Forgive me, but we¡¯ve only known each other for a week. And I prefer guys more. And if you want to express your love, you just had to say it. And since you¡¯ve already said it, then...¡± "Ah..." I caught Ilif by surprise by hugging her all over and stroking her head. "S-sigrin? W-what are you doing?" "It''s okay, I love you too." I answered affectionately and heard dissatisfied sounds overhead. "Khm-khm¡­" Raising my head, I saw Furgur crossing his arms over his chest. I found myself in a very awkward position and, turning away from the princess, I began to make excuses: "What? She said to kiss her, I didn''t and decided to hug her instead." "That''s not the point." The master of the bow answered and, moving aside, opened a view of the exit from the chamber, where the king stood with his retinue. From such an unexpected turn, I jumped up and hurried to bow, but when I heard the calm voice of the king, I calmed down a little. "I''m glad that the future queen has a friend like you, Mrs. Sigrin." "S-sorry, I didn''t mean to..." "There¡¯s no need to apologize. I¡¯m here to tell you that maybe something terrible will happen to me. If you don¡¯t bother your ears, then know that maybe I¡¯ll die today.¡± "What?" This time the princess exclaimed. "What are you talking about?" "I will go outside and play the role of bait. Monrid needs me first of all, but he doesn¡¯t know about you Ilifreeta yet. If everything goes well, then I will return safe and sound, and if not, then... you can only run.¡± The king turned his head to the side and pointed his hand in that direction. "There is another way out. If you continue to be broken into until the end of the day, then break down this wall, behind it is an underground passage out of the city. Run away from the country, away from the cult and Fellrick.¡± It was unpleasant to hear that the person you love is leaving you, and he himself is doing something stupid, needlessly sacrificing his life. Probably, Ilifreeta would have thought so if he were really dear to her, but my people are another matter. There are Boris, Will, Forn, Itami, Fred, Stern, and other platoon fighters with whom I have already become friends. I don''t want to lose any of them and yet if they die, then I will have to survive. Someone, sooner or later, must get to the army and report what happened to the crew of the shuttle ?Persia?. After these words, the king left us, as did Furgur, leaving me and the princess alone. We lay in silence on the same bed. I was busy with many thoughts about this, I couldn¡¯t just get it out of my head and yet. "Ilif." I turned to the princess. She, turning her head, wanted to find out what I wanted to say, but before she could open her mouth, our tongues intertwined in a kiss. Having separated our lips a moment later, with a slight smile, stroking her reddened cheeks, I said: "I love you." "S-sigrin?" I won''t be alone... ever again. Chapter 70. In the name of humanity! The natives were deathly afraid of the sound that our assault rifles, machine guns, grenades and mines made. They, shuddering, covered their ears with their hands, hiding behind the marlons while we poured a barrage of fire from the wall at the advancing natives. They had already broken into the city and immediately rushed to the castle gates. There were only twenty of us, not counting hundreds more natives with swords, bows, spears and crossbows, but they had not yet participated in the battle, but were only waiting for the moment when it would come for them. Hearing a click instead of a shot and recoil, I instantly threw the empty clip to the side, loaded a new one, cocked the bolt, took aim and fired a shot, which immediately pierced the steel helmet of an enemy soldier, splashing his blood and brains in different directions. At this time, magicians were working on the other side of the castle and destroying anyone who got close to the walls with their destructive power. This time we had the advantage of height and observation, so we could fight the natives without any problems. Now we were in our element and were simply in the shooting range, where live targets were rushing towards us. The only problem was that we still didn''t have enough ammunition, otherwise we would have been firing heavily instead of saving by firing single shots. Esko, being a sniper located on the tower, blew off the heads of enemy commanders and reported with flag gestures when the natives reached certain points, giving the sapper Mshkhan a signal to remotely detonate certain sections of the city streets. This moment, for example, has arrived now. On the right, I saw Mshkhan raise his hand, and I nodded in response and gave permission to detonate, after which a deafening roar rushed through, instantly killing hundreds of invaders somewhere in the depths of the city. Raising my head, I saw a rising column of dust and pieces of human bodies and building debris falling from the sky. It was quite a spectacle, but this was not the time to show off explosions, it was time to fight. "Reloading!" "Enemy approaching from the northwest!" "Inias, Rohan, control the northwest!" "Executing!" The battle was already in its third hour, and time was getting shorter and shorter, as were our cartridges. I emptied the next clip and threw it aside, loaded a new one and began to blow off heads with single shots. Fortunately, we were not the only ones who fired from the walls and archers and crossbowmen helped us in the shooting. They did not eliminate enemies as quickly and efficiently as we did, but they still made a modest contribution to the battle as much as they could afford. The rain of arrows was effective in its own way, despite the fact that most of the projectiles simply missed their targets. Not much, but they saved our ammunition, and the enemy did not even try to look for cover and advanced on the bodies of his dead comrades. "Glate, what''s the matter?" "It''s jammed!" "Can you figure it out?" "Not the first time." The castle in which we took refuge was part of the palace grounds, the largest and most protected building in the entire kingdom. The territory was impressive, there were northern and southern gates with courtyards where stables and warehouses were located. This gate was the entrance for the masters and the entrance for the servants, and we were now protecting the entrance for the masters. The courtyard behind the gates inside the castle was fortified with barricades, spearmen took cover behind them, and archers still stood on the walls, ready to rain down the enemy from all sides. If by some miracle the enemy gets inside, he will fall into the death zone. Some fan of military simulations would call this defense point the ancient word "killbox¡±, that is, an area of ??cross-concentrated fire from a cornered enemy. We were not yet going to use this trump card in our defense, but we held out as long as we could. However, I am afraid that time is getting less and less, and it seems that the plan will not work. Where are you?! In my thoughts I called out to General Zeonid while I emptied another clip, firing single shots to the heads. "I have two clips left!¡± "Here you go, Nelson." "Thank you." "You owe me." "Fuck you!" Just now I noticed something strange. Our shots should have killed the natives instantly, but for some reason they rose to their feet, completely ignoring any pain and continued to move forward. Because of this, I had to waste more ammo than I should have. Looking closely through the rifle''s optical sight, I saw only dead emptiness in their eyes. I expected to see distorted grimaces of anger, anger, fear, but no. There was only emptiness in their eyes. I immediately had one unpleasant assumption. Are they on drugs?! Damned if that''s the case! You can¡¯t underestimate an enemy who uses psychotropic drugs; although they stop valuing their lives, they become fearless, forcing them into the thick of things until this hell devours them. "Cra-a-a-a-a-a-ap!!!~" Forn shouted as he continuously fired from his machine gun. "How many of you are there?!¡± "Private, save your ammunition! I commanded and Forn immediately calmed down, starting to load a new machine gun belt for his weapon. "We won''t shoot that many people." "I know. We don''t need it." I answered, but Itami already objected to me." "They''re not going to give up at all." "It was predictable." I said it and at that moment something unexpected happened. A visible charge of lightning flashed through the enemy soldiers rushing through the narrow streets of the city, which instantly made all the enemy soldiers burst into flames like a torch. And for a brief moment I thought that help had come to us, as I saw her behind the fiery trail of burning bodies rushing in different directions... Oh no... she''s here. Short golden hair down to the neck, bright red eyes sparkling with thirst and a black robe with a lowered hood decorated with gold jewelry. From her palms came the white radiance of two ball lightnings, as if she were a walking source of two small sparkling suns and commanded the weather itself. It is this that, according to Ripun, we should fear more than anything else. She can kill us at any moment, at any second, as soon as she appears in our field of vision. Fighting her even with our weapons is simply like death.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "Swidok." I said, swallowing saliva in fear. It makes no sense to fire a shot in her direction; she will defend herself from it and survive. Our weapons against it are useless, no matter how hard we try to be proud of human inventions. Ripun warned us about this and so we need to do something else that will help us defeat her. And while I was thinking about this, the girl, surrounded by the shot and burning bodies of her warriors, grinned, looking straight at me. Oh damn! I panicked and immediately gave the order. "Retreat! Now!" I immediately hid behind the marlon, fearing an unexpected lightning strike from her hands, but this fragile stone barrier still did not inspire me with any hope. Just being in her field of vision scared me to the bone, making me tremble like I had never trembled in my life. Obviously I was scared to death because I didn¡¯t know if I could cope with her or if I would die as quickly as Ripun predicted. I remember how the prophet¡¯s face looked when he talked about her as if she were the most terrible person in the world, a monster from legends and fairy tales. Perhaps this is true, because she was called a "legend of the world¡±, whatever that means. It could be some kind of self-proclaimed title or something else that we don¡¯t yet know, in any case, it doesn¡¯t matter what it is, it was enough to know that it wouldn¡¯t be easy with her and we could easily die at her hands. "Leaving already?" The golden-haired woman said playfully, taking slow steps and examining the bodies of the shot cultists. "Your magic is interesting, rather the magic of the dark ones, which you appropriated for yourself.¡± "Boris, let''s leave." Will gave me his palm, but I did not yet dare to follow him, because I knew that she seemed to see right through my every movement. It¡¯s as if I have an invisible mark on me by which she tracks my every movement. I just couldn¡¯t take a step, let alone move, so I said to Will: "Go away. I can''t do it yet." "What can''t you do?" Swidok said. What? Can she hear me? How? She couldn''t! She''s still far away! I asked questions, widening my eyes. Will, meanwhile, waited a few moments before going down the stairs, leaving with the entire platoon into the barricaded courtyard, and I, in turn, remained in place and gripped the assault rifle as tightly as possible in my hands. No matter what happens, you have to rely on this piece of metal in your hands. General, please hurry up! I prayed after hearing a few more caustic comments from Swidok. "I know these wounds... it was you who killed my people near the village? Wasn¡¯t it?¡± "Yes." I whispered, hoping that she wouldn¡¯t hear, but she did. "As I thought. They ruined my preparations, my dearest meat, a living gift for Monrid. But I am not here to punish you for this, but to ask what that thing in the sky was doing? It emitted some kind of power, but it wasn''t magical. What is it?" "Do I have to answer you?" Swidok grinned. "If you don¡¯t want to, don¡¯t answer, in any case, you will become the king¡¯s dinner, as befits cattle. But if you want to live longer and see your sister, then you better answer my question.¡± Bitch! I was angry inside myself and still understood what she was talking about. "Okay, I''ll tell you. That thing in the sky, a radio station. We use it for communication, that is... sending messages. We called for help, it will arrive soon." "Wow! An artifact for communication, I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d see something like this here. But I don¡¯t think it will help you. I¡¯m already here and soon you¡¯ll all die and become the dinner of a real king.¡± "Why are you doing this? What motivates you?" I was hoping to find out, but instead of answering, Swidok laughed loudly and only after that, having collected her thoughts and a smile on her face, ?the legend of the world? answered: "I want to fulfill the will and plans of my master. I want to see the world that he is going to build. I can¡¯t imagine how wonderful it will eventually become. But you... tell me, you want to know what will happen if I suddenly stop spending with you my time and start attacking right away?¡± "This is going to be shit." "That¡¯s right... you will be no more. You understand me perfectly, even though you are seeing me for the first time. I wonder who told you about me? Was it that boy?¡± "Then why are you hesitating? Just do what you have in mind and get lost!¡± "Oh-oh-oh... a small, small and timid fool wants to quickly get rid of the fear of imminent death, how cute. I am touched to the depths of my soul. I have seen this more than once and still every time I enjoy such a spectacle. You call this courage , and this just makes me laugh. Hee hee hee hee hee~! What kind of courage is this? This is pure stupidity." Scum! I ground my teeth, squeezing the rifle in my hands even tighter. And she said exactly what I already felt. Fear. I was afraid of her, afraid of dying and wanted to finish this as soon as possible, even though I knew that this would lead me to an early grave. I need to restrain myself and wait for Zeonid, otherwise I¡¯m a corpse, or rather... we¡¯re all corpses. Fear gives strength, you just need to direct it, and not succumb to it. I remembered John¡¯s words and tried to keep the thought of escaping away. I have to succeed, I have to try, I have to... "I hear the song of your soul, it is so aggressive, so angry and at the same time so alien, as if you are not from this world.¡± Swidok spoke meanwhile. "Hah~! Looks like you peed yourself. Hee-hee-hee-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~" Her voice became louder and louder, which meant she was slowly approaching the gate and was about to begin her attack. She herself is stalling for time... why? To stretch out your "pleasure¡±? Or what?> I didn¡¯t understand her train of thought and yet I continued to act according to my plan. "And this is interesting. Boris Kipito, an earthling." Said Swidok made me hold my breath from what I heard. "H-how¡­" "The songs of your soul are so bright and languid that recognizing your destiny in them becomes much easier than you can imagine. A stranger from a distant world, the native world of people. What stupidity. You do not understand where you ended up and you are unlikely to ever understand it, and when you realize it, you will feel such a strong pain that you cannot imagine." "W-what are you talking about? Wha-at does this mean?" "Man... you don''t understand anything." Indeed, I didn¡¯t know much about this planet, but what could it be hiding in itself that could terrify me? What secret is she keeping? Or maybe none? Maybe Swidok is making me go crazy? I shook my head, driving away unnecessary thoughts, and when I saw one point on the bioscanner that had reached the right place, I immediately heard a question from Goldilocks. "And why are you so happy, I wonder? Did you see mommy?¡± "Do you really want to know?" I asked with a smile. "Yes. I''m curious to know what useless attempts you have prepared against me." "Well then you will see everything for yourself.¡± I said and pressed the fuse button. Right on the spot where she stood, a remote mine exploded, which at the same time demolished the heavy iron gate. I almost went deaf from the roar of the explosion, my ears were ringing, and my heart continued to beat wildly while the area was enveloped in a cloud of dust. Pieces of rubble fell down, and dust settled on the ground, exposing the defenders of the castle to a wide gap filled with cobblestones. Meanwhile, I got to my feet and ran down to the fortified courtyard, where I would meet with my guys the last attack of the enemy. If the general doesn¡¯t make it by then, then we will definitely be finished. This explosion won''t kill her... won''t even hurt her. I knew in advance from Ripun¡¯s words, and therefore I hurried as much as I could afford, almost tripping over the steps. This explosion is a signal for Granid, he must be in time. "Everyone get ready!" I shouted and immediately hid behind the barricade next to Will. At this time, behind a gap shrouded in a pillar of dust, we heard an angry roar. So the huge horde of cultists screamed as they rushed into the city. I took a more comfortable position behind the barricade, aiming into the distance while the noise of the stomping of thousands of people became louder and louder. The anticipation of a speedy assault filled us all, both the soldiers of the 127th Army and the natives. We were waiting for the moment when the final assault on the castle would begin, after which there could only be two outcomes: victory or death. I rose to my feet and shouted to everyone what they should have heard, what should have prompted them to the last battle of their lives: "For the sake of humanity, fight!" In response, I heard a thunderous roar from the defenders. They''re ready. Chapter 71. The Legend of Peace The day before¡­ "Thank you, Your Majesty. This is what we need." I said, looking at the model of the city and at the same time decided to ask. "If possible, can you find out the approximate number of the enemy?" "More than three thousand people." Said an old man dressed in armor decorated with patterns. "We have less than five hundred people, and most of them are holding a spear in their hands for the first time. "No chance." Will commented standing to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. One can argue for a long time about Will¡¯s competence in military matters, but he was right in his conclusions. With this balance of power, even we will hardly be able to destroy at least a thousand of them. There may not be enough ammunition, mines and explosives, and this is provided that they are used wisely, placed in places where the enemy is most concentrated. "And that''s just the cultists, right?" I asked Draun Rudrin, to which the king nodded in the affirmative. "This is bad." This means there will be even more of them. I guessed, realizing how deplorable the current situation is. Looking at the layout of the city, I was looking for a way to delay the enemy as long as possible. However, looking at all this, I could only sigh dejectedly. We will not hold back the enemy¡¯s onslaught even if we put every child in this city under the spear. And the king is unlikely to approve of this; in fact, he also will not approve of escaping from the city in order to gather more forces and regroup to recapture the city. According to him, the loss of the capital is equivalent to the loss of the crown. No one wants to go to fight for a king without possessions, power and gold. That is why the city must survive at any cost, otherwise any other struggle will be in vain. "Can I ask you a question?" The old man, whose name was Krezhd Fayun, asked. "What can you do?" "So how do we fight?" I clarified and he nodded. I did not hide our methods of warfare and told him everything as it is: "We prefer to keep our distance from our enemies and shoot them." "This is all?" "Did you expect something more?" Krezhd, hearing my words, clicked his tongue and turned to the king. "Your Majesty, we are wasting time here. How do we know whether their help will be significant or not? Draun Rudrin, looking at me, nodded in agreement, thereby perfectly making it clear that he was of the same opinion as his military adviser. Although we are soldiers from a completely different era, we knew exactly how people of the current one fight. Swords, spears, shields, cavalry, these are all ancient weapons of warfare, face to face, which people on Earth abandoned more than two and a half thousand years ago, preferring to fight from afar, sometimes without even seeing the enemy directly and not even against him, but against his means of struggle and defense." With our limited capabilities, the most we can achieve is to shoot the crowd, blow up the crowd and eliminate the enemy commander, but this is as long as we have explosives and ammunition. We need to think outside the box for ourselves and outside the box for the natives to understand what needs to be done that will help us all crush the enemy, who greatly outnumbers us in numbers and the quality of training of his soldiers. Continuing to look at the layout of the capital, I see the possibility of erecting barricades between the narrow streets, throwing stones and arrows at enemies from the walls, dousing some open areas of the city with oil and setting them on fire the moment the enemy is there; arrange a sortie and provoke some of the opponents into a premature attack, driving them... into the killbox. And this is an idea. "I have some idea, but it does not guarantee us complete victory, it will only give us time.¡± "It¡¯s interesting to hear what you came up with that will help us gain time.¡± Said Krezhd, and meanwhile I pointed my finger at the model of the castle. "We will drive the enemy into a trap, into a crossfire zone or what we call a killbox. Place archers and crossbowmen here, here and here, build a labyrinth of barricades, completely surround this area and all you have to do is endlessly water their arrows and bolts until the courtyard is littered with the corpses of enemy soldiers." "Hmm~..." The old man thought, looking at the model of the castle. "It will really help to buy time, but the main question is: how do we win?¡± "This is where our troops come in.¡± "What?" The natives were surprised. They looked at each other after hearing my words, and the palace hall was literally drowned in whispers. Among those present at the council was one on whom we relied heavily on the outcome of the battle, and I called this man to the table: "Ripun, you got a vision from the future this morning, didn¡¯t you?¡± The orange-eyed native nodded, and Krezhd hastened to express his doubts. "Wait! What does that mean?! He can see the future?" "Only the one where I die." Ripun clarified and shared his prediction with everyone. "In the morning I saw an unlived life in which the city would fall. I told Boris about the prediction, and he decided to call his masters for help.¡± "And what?" Pronounced by Krezhd. "Does help come in your dream?¡± "I don¡¯t know yet. Apparently I will remain alive, but I don¡¯t know the outcome of the future in which I survive, only the one in which I die.¡± "What kind of dirty words am I hearing?" The old man spoke displeasedly. "See the future? No one knows the future except Sod! You''re either a deceiver or...!" "Heretic." Ripun finished with an indifferent look at the old man. "You are telling me this for the third time, and I will tell you for sure that I am not a heretic, because I never worshiped Sod. I am a servant of Hippolytus, I believe in the Great Mother. Our beliefs and yours are not the same, but this is not a reason to start doubting right now.? How dare you.? " "How dare you?!" The military adviser became angry, grinning his face.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Enough." Draun raised his palm to calm the old man. "I think we should try it, but I want some guarantee that it will work." I didn''t know what to answer to this. I can¡¯t even imagine what guarantees he would need for him to believe that Ripun¡¯s predictions are real. "Your Majesty," Fred suddenly intervened. "I...uh, a doctor in this detachment and I can confirm that he is a real prophet. He once saved our lives with his warning. On the way to Ran, he told us about the arrival of an army of cultists led by a certain Swidok in the village.¡± "Swidok?" The king raised an eyebrow. At that moment, one of his servants whispered something in his ear, after which the king nodded in agreement. "Well, now I believe you. What do you need to call your friends for help?" I turned towards Granid, who was standing aside and listening to our meeting. He seemed to sleep standing up and showed no interest in the war as such. It seems his plan to save the kingdom was to push his problems onto us, for which we are very "grateful¡± to him. Deciding to leave the old wizard alone, I decided to answer the king in my own words: "I was thinking about raising our... artifact into the sky to call for help and then they will arrive.¡± "Will they arrive?" Krezhd asked. "Who? Are there wyvern riders in your Republic?" No idea who they are. I didn''t say it out loud and answered somewhat evasively. "Something like that, but they''re very specific." "It''s clear." The old man spoke, and then the man who was hiding his face under a black hood added his word. "How are you going to defeat Swidok?" Krezhd looked askance at this man and was in no hurry to interrupt my answer to the question. It seems that this old man did not know that this Swidok was very dangerous, but this man in a black robe was well aware of it. It was interesting to find out who it was, since he was here and could just come up and whisper in the king¡¯s ear. "I was hoping to buy time before reinforcements arrived." I answered honestly, almost throwing up my hands. "I can lure her to the gate and detonate the explosives. If possible, we will bury her under the rubble." "Which is unlikely to happen." The king commented. "That also takes time, doesn¡¯t it?¡± "For this we need dielectrics." From my answer, everyone opened their mouths in misunderstanding. Well, of course they didn''t understand. I thought about it and decided to clarify: "Do you have cross-shaped cages made of iron bars?" "Of course there are, but why do you need them?¡± Krezhd did not understand and I hastened to answer. "If I¡¯m not mistaken, then this Swidok uses a concentrated charge of "electricity¡±. With the help of magic, she learned to control it, directing it in the desired direction. Since this is "electricity¡±, it can be directed and isolated using special materials. Using iron the rods can capture the charge and direct it, and using, for example, rubber to insulate. Although I don¡¯t think you have rubber, you need something else to protect yourself from the effects of "electricity.¡± "Boris, Fred turned to me. "You can use resin to cover yourself with it from head to toe, especially wipe your hands, and then the electric charge will not fry the body. You can also cover the beams in the grip areas with a layer of glass if protection with resins turns out to be ineffective.¡± "Can you do that?" I asked Krezhd, who in turn just nodded. "Yes." He said, moving away from the model and beginning to give orders to the guards to the side. At that moment the king turned to me: "You have no idea who Swidok is, right?¡± I nodded in response, and the man hiding his face under the hood answered me: "This is ?Legend of the World?, a fallen hero of the past who sold her soul to a demon. She is over seven centuries old, and she is the most dangerous person in the world." To be honest, hearing this was new and I wanted to find out everything I could about her. Most likely, additional information about her will help us defeat her. "And how did she distinguish herself so much that she deserved to be called a ?legend of the world??¡± "She fought for our country in Hel. King Darg "The Warlike" sent an army to support the church in its next crusade against the demons. We, in turn, heard stories about a lady of noble blood who swept away enemies with her sword. They say that she was so It is beautiful that roses bloomed in the red desert, and in one battle she was able to defeat the demonic baron of the path of wrath, Marzok. However, her story ended tragically in the gorge, and the heroine disappeared, most likely she was then taken prisoner by the church. Darg message from demons... with the head of Swidok." "Head? So she died? Wait... but how?" "She did not die, but swore allegiance to the demon and became a demoness. What we received from her was only her old shell. So she made it clear to us that she was abandoning everything human in favor of her sinful thoughts.¡± "This is weird." I thought, remembering the description of Swidok¡¯s appearance. "Isn''t she a young woman with yellow hair and red eyes?" The king and the man in the hood looked at each other, and Krezhd answered us directly: "No. Most likely this is her new body. She has taken over the body of an innocent girl and is using her as a container for her vicious soul." "Or maybe she''s obsessed with Swidok." The man in the robe said without showing us his face. "Since Swidok became a demoness, the girl she possessed..." "Apparently this is the one we were thinking about." The king finished speaking and after speaking, he only glanced sideways at us. He won''t tell us... I guessed it, realizing that the issue with Swidok did not concern us. The next moment the man in the hood added his word: "Still, you should know. Emitting lightning or whatever you call it ?elec-tri-ci-ty? is not the only thing Swidok can do. She was a powerful sorceress and studied golem magic at the academy.¡± "And what is this?¡± I sincerely did not understand. "The magic of commanding man-made dolls is a very useful, but difficult magic to master. We don¡¯t know for sure, but perhaps after turning into a demoness, she can now raise the dead.¡± Of course, we learned a lot of new things about her, but alas, nothing useful that would help us somehow defeat her. "Pha~!" Fred couldn''t help but laugh, but shut his mouth in time, shaking his head from side to side. "Do you see anything funny in this?" Krezhd said angrily. Fred shook his head and replied: "No. It''s just hard to imagine how someone could be brought back to life." "Not to bring back to life, but to turn the bodies of the dead into puppets. This is the most insane and immoral desecration of life in the whole world. The souls of the deceased will never rest while their bodies are played with like toys.¡± And it¡¯s still hard to imagine that one could see the living dead, like... zombies. "We got distracted..." The king said, coughing several times. "We haven''t finished planning the city''s defense." "Really." I agreed, returning my attention to the layout of the city and saw something interesting, pointing my finger at it. "What is this?" "This?" Draun took a closer look and answered. "This is a temple building, a place of prayer for parishioners.¡± "And opposite it is the square." I said, having already chosen a place to land one of the shuttles. The shuttles are quite huge in size and can accommodate up to five hundred crew members. I don¡¯t know exactly how many people General Zeonid will send us, if at all, but still, if this happens, the area in front of the temple will be an ideal landing spot. Moreover, at least one shuttle must descend into the city in order to immediately begin patrolling the city. "We need to clear the area." I said this and immediately received an objection from Krezhd. "What? Why do you need this? The Holy Virgin Martyr Rozkrina Square is a place of worship on the day of the lunar ablution, this place cannot be desecrated!" "It is necessary." I said sternly. "Otherwise, my people will not be able to get to the city in time. We need a place where they can land, preferably where there is as much space as possible." "Well, no." Krezhd shook his head. "No? Well, okay, let these ?wy-ve-rns? crush a couple of dozen houses in the city where people will be hiding." Krezhd tsked, but in the end agreed. "Okay. We will clear the square, but know that the parishioners will obviously not be delighted with this. Moreover, there are probably a lot of people gathered there now. They are praying to Sod for protection in front of the Rozkrina statue.¡± "Is there a statue there?" I clarified, but looking at the layout I didn¡¯t see it. "Yes. She''s standing here." The king pointed out and immediately understood what I meant. "It needs to be removed, right?" I nodded. "It won''t be long until the battle comes to an end." "Your Majesty," Krezhd turned to the king. "This is madness! We risk that because of their whim there will be a rebellion in the middle of the city! Believers will be able to endure being driven from places of prayer, but to remove the statue... no. They will never agree to this. The people will not stand up either to defend the crown without a king." "Boris, you heard everything perfectly well, what do you say?¡± The king asked me, and I could only sigh. "Damn... they''re going to land on houses." "Okay, OKAY." The old man grumbled. "I''ll think of something, just don''t destroy our city." "Fine." I nodded and did not keep my promise. Chapter 72. Impossible war (part 7) Is this... pain? Strewn with stones, my body literally screamed from a strange stabbing feeling of weakness, as if I could not live without this poison. I was truly surprised by such an unexpected attack. It made me lose control, made me really angry and reflected it in the souls of my dolls. The pain, fear and anger I felt was something I hadn¡¯t felt in a very long time. Boris... Thus was his name sung, the man who fed me with his fears and thereby lured me into a trap. What was he hoping for? Did he think that he could kill the legend of the world? Or maybe he knew that there was no way this would happen and decided to play with me in his own way? This made me angry that some person decided to change the rules of the game, my rules, which I established. He disfigured me, killed not only my outer beauty, but also my inner beauty. What I raised and protected for so long should have become a gift to my master, my external beauty is my body, and my internal beauty is my soul. Anger and wounds have ruined my beauty, my elegance, and now I am ugly. This angered me many times more. Boris, you brat! How dare you?! I felt that I had lost control over my dolls and they, mindlessly succumbing to anger, rushed to kill everyone they saw. I can raise even more dolls from the dead, but I couldn''t waste my strength, I need it now. I need Monrid to become king and do everything that I and my master need. I threw off the stones and rose to my feet, I felt the unbearable heat from the blood flowing from the wounds. At the slightest movement, something inside crunched, something swelled, and something burst. These poisonous injections prevented me from thinking clearly and every time I did something I made unconscious and unnecessary movements. I was shaking and choking on the dust I had swallowed, and my head seemed to be flying, refusing to think clearly. At any moment I could simply fall off my feet and never wake up again. Luckily for me, magic protected me, allowing me to continue to live, but if the shell is not taken care of in time, it will die. And in this state, I need to concentrate and return everything that I snatched from under my control. I couldn¡¯t even properly see who was around me, my eyes saw only a blurry veil, my ears were blocked, barely catching anything, something was shaking me, and my skin could no longer feel anything except pain and blood. "Reykuta!" Someone shouted, running up to me and covering my body with his massive armor. Suddenly I heard a short, but loud and disgusting ringing, as if something had crashed into the armor and bounced off. Alien touches relieved my pain a little and, raising my head, I saw Monrid¡¯s frightened face, already stained with blood, behind the raised visor. I never thought that I would ever be glad to see this son of a bitch, my brother from the same mother. He shook my body in panic and shouted: "What happened?! Answer me!" I just grinned in response, barely able to stand on my feet from the weakness of my shell. The prince, seeing the state I was in, began to drag me back behind the houses while a fierce battle raged around me, if the angry and uncontrollable ocean of meat and their deaths can be called that. I admit, Boris, you managed to gain time, but I assure you it won¡¯t be for long. "Water! Bring water!" The prince shouted to someone and grabbed my hand tighter. "Hold on sister, I won¡¯t let you die. We will have more children, I promise you that.¡± Children? From you? I smiled, not wanting to listen to this anymore. At such a moment in his life, this cannibal shows his most base feelings in the world: love, care and empathy. Those feelings that people consider the purest and noblest. Anything could be hidden behind them, but the fact that Monrid is so caring about me tells me one thing: he is dependent on me. Caressing my cheeks and trying to cover my wounds, he carefully held my body while his armor took strange ringing blows. Now I need it, but then, when this is all over, it will simply get in the way. "Brother." I whispered quietly, raising my disfigured face and looking into his eyes. "Get your vile paws off me." "What?" Monrid was surprised, and the next moment a weak bolt of lightning made his body shake in convulsions and fall down with a roar. I rose above him, collecting magical spheres in my palms. It was disgusting to feel this primitive human care on myself, as if I needed it like some weak, insignificant insect. "I don''t need you to die, brother. I need you to remain yourself, and not follow the path of man. My master... will punish me... if you ruin everything. So sleep. When you wake up, you will sit on the throne and wreak havoc in the name of a new world." Having said all this, I walked towards the walls, where mountains of corpses were already gathering. They ran en masse into the castle courtyard and died there at the hands of the royal soldiers. Draun Rudrin has prepared a good defense, but for the defenders it will all be over if suddenly a new gap appears in the wall where fresh waves of meat will pour in. When this happens they will be doomed. Boris, I heard your song. It sounds like a story about a hero, but as a person you are too weak to be one. I myself was once the same, a heroine who wanted to protect people and the world in which they lived, but these people, this world, they left me no choice. Everyone abandoned me, denigrated me, and only my master devoured my fears and returned me the sweetness of life. My master would like your brave song, Boris, but you are in his way and therefore you will die. And indeed, from very few people have I heard such soulful singing, especially from a person who came here from another world completely alien to us. Whatever God moved an ordinary weak person here, it was clearly his mistake, and not the fulfillment of God¡¯s whim. This heroic story will end here and now. It''s time to end the fun. Having collected as much mana as possible in my hands, I transformed it into spherical clots of fire that sparkled with discharges of small lightning. Patterns of burns had already begun to run across my arm, I put so much effort into destroying this wall. When this happens, crowds of the walking dead will fill the palace and kill everyone they meet except her, Ilifreeta. I need her alive. Monrid will be very upset if his hole for copulation dies during the assault on the city. He will desecrate her body and soul for the last time in his life, and I may even join in and feed both of them with caresses, draining their souls completely. It would be absolutely wonderful. "Resistance is futile." With a smile on my face, I fired a huge bolt of lightning, which burned quite a few of my dolls along the way and for a brief moment, blinded everyone and everything around me. But when the lightning discharge passed, and its smell began to hover in the air, I felt something strange, unnatural, as if someone had somehow reflected my magic. At the moment when the discharge evaporated and its glow went out, I saw a completely unharmed wall in front of me. "A?" I was sincerely surprised to see on these very walls people holding iron spears wrapped in cloth in their hands. These people themselves were wrapped in cloth and did not seem to pose a threat as fighters. They stood on the same wall in a row a meter from each other and held these staves in the same position. I didn¡¯t feel any magical power from them, but I definitely remember that something affected my discharge. I know what it is... people call it a lightning rod. I clicked my tongue and decided to change the magic I was always used to using. Now two spheres of fire began to form above my palms, shining brighter than the sun. Instead of chaotic and fast lightning discharges, everything around was filled with the solid and smooth heat of flame. Now the magic burned my palms, I mutilated myself even more in order to use the power that I had previously tried not to use. And I was about to throw large clots of fire towards the wall, when suddenly I felt magic moving straight towards me. A moment later, I erected an invisible magical barrier and repelled the wind attack that cut all the dolls around me into pieces. It didn¡¯t take long to think how everything fell into place. Maggie. I saw in front of me a trio of magicians, an old man and two girls. The last two may not be nearly a threat to me, but the old man... "And how do you like humans, Swidok?"This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it A magician in a gray robe said in a hoarse voice, holding in his hands a staff taller than him. I couldn¡¯t believe that I would see this boy here. I couldn¡¯t contain my joy at meeting him again. "Granid." I heard a familiar voice that made me almost laugh throughout the whole city. "Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha~! I didn''t think I would see a boy here and now right in front of me." "And the truth is... many years have passed since then, but I have changed, I am no longer that naive child who would run away, hiding from his parents. Now I am a different person.¡± Another person, right? It was just funny to hear this, knowing how cowardly he was born. People don¡¯t change that easily, or rather, they don¡¯t change at all. "Don¡¯t deceive yourself, boy. I can feel the fear coming from you. You are still as afraid of me as you were many years ago. You haven¡¯t changed, you¡¯ve just gotten older.¡± Granid only frowned at my words, raising his staff up. His false confidence amused me more than ever. Playing with people''s fears is so fun and yet I wonder what this stupid insect has in store for me this time. "If I didn¡¯t know your name, I would have thought that this was some kind of dark sorceress, but it turned out to be just you. And where did you get this body?¡± "Do you think that I will answer you so simply?¡± I said playfully. "We still have time before Fellrick gets here, and you have almost no warriors left behind you.¡± Indeed, my dolls have become many times smaller, but I have not yet put my most valuable asset, the cult, into battle. And yet I began to understand something, he, like Boris, began to gain time, but for what? What do they want to do? That explosion... Suddenly I remembered the moment when I stepped on the trap, I felt the same force that came from the iron box in the sky. It was brief, as if it was some kind of signal for some object or artifact to do something, for example, explode. Do they really have a lot of these artifacts or maybe they... Dark... I can''t believe that this is really true. I once had to fight with them, and I remember very well what they were capable of. These people are unlikely to have fallen under the spell of soulless creatures, no. They fight alongside someone else, someone who already knows the dark ones better than anyone else. And I have to find out who it is. The boy probably knows about them since he fights here side by side with mortals. "How did your friends get into our world, Granid?" I asked the old man, but instead of an answer, a clot of the brightest fireball flew at me. "Well, okay, let''s dance." I instantly dodged the fiery attack, simultaneously healing my body from the wounds I received. An explosion occurred behind me, sending many fragments into the sky that crashed into my magical barrier. At the same moment, the two girls also began to act, using their magic. The white-haired one raised magical roots from under the ground, and the second one cut through the air with invisible blades. Their magic was so clear and mediocre that I could easily dissolve some of the spells, predict or simply evade them. I took control of the roots and dried them out, and directed the air blades in different directions. Some of the attacks, of course, crashed into my magical barrier, but it held up, but one air attack still pricked me and left a deep cut on my left arm. Again this poison that clouds my thoughts. This feeling is not a pleasant one, and yet Verhein believes that you can also enjoy it, in your own way, of course, and I could not but agree with him. However, now is not the best time to feed on pain and enjoy it, now it only gets in the way. "What''s the matter, Granid? Why are you silent?" I looked at the old man while dancing in the middle of the dead hills. I intercepted a thin invisible thread of mana and cut it off, cutting off the power of the white-haired girl, forcing her to widen her eyes in fear, and the dark-haired girl continued to launch her air blades. Only Granid was accumulating a charge of mana for the next fireball, but I didn¡¯t stand idle and soaked the ground under their feet with terrible cold. A few more moments and they will firmly stick to the ground, becoming just targets for my lightning. Of all of them, only the dark-haired one gave it her all, using all her available magical power, while the white-haired one tried to envelop me with threads of mana from the rear, but every time I did this, I discovered her threads and cut them off. To defeat me in such a way is the height of stupidity, which is why I was already starting to get tired of all this. "How boring you are." I said and used ice magic. "Hold still." And I was thinking about finally freezing this trio, when suddenly at that moment something happened that surprised me. Behind me, I felt a signal, only for a brief moment. I turned around in time to notice how a huge piece of the gate, dented from the explosion, was flying towards me. I managed to jump to the side in time, but to be honest, at that moment I was on the verge of life and death. Just a little more and my body would really be crushed by this huge piece of metal. Unfortunately, I had to interrupt my spell, which allowed Granid to use his fireball, which had already grown to such a size that it was blinding everyone around the eyes. Granid launched a fireball and an explosion occurred next to me. Rubble was flying everywhere, my ears were blocked again, the ground shook, but I remained unharmed. I directed the energy of the explosion in time to bypass my body, simultaneously hiding from the volley of air blades of the dark-haired woman. For me, these girls did not yet pose a threat, but they were in my way, which is why I immediately decided to get rid of them. Having accumulated mana in my palms, I formed two bolts of lightning, each for one. Without hesitating for a moment, I let them go towards the girls, but suddenly I again observe the same picture. My magic simply bypasses them, as if lightning simply refuses to touch them. It was definitely not magic, but something else. You guessed it¡­ I looked at the white-haired one. Her mana flows pulsate, she silently uses spells like I use lightning. However, I didn¡¯t understand what kind of magic she was using now, and after a moment I understood. Scoundrel! I became angry, taking upon myself the blow of a powerful bolt of lightning that this creature fired at me. Hellish pain swept through my entire body, through every bone, every drop of blood, draining my mind in agony. The last time I felt such pain was seven centuries ago, when I was struck down by Verhein. Since then I have obeyed only him. And now, after so many years, I again feel the same pain, which burns me from the inside and practically paralyzes me. This creature used my own magic against me, I could not leave this unanswered and immediately gathered clouds over me. Everything around got dark, it seemed like a thunderstorm was about to hit the city, and I was preparing my most modest blow to this bitch. In fact, the storm did not cover the entire city, but only this place where we fought, and yet it was enough to kill everyone and everything here. None of them will be able to evade such an attack, much less survive. No magical barrier will save them, no one will save them, no one and nothing. They are finished. "What''s happening?" The dark-haired one said looking at the clouds. "We need to kill her, now!" The old man shouted. I, in turn, burst out laughing wildly. It was so sweet to see the despair on their faces, which is why I simply could not restrain myself. How happy I was that I could show myself as I am, so that everyone could see who I had become and what would happen to everyone. And I thought that the storm was under my complete control, when suddenly the white-haired woman touched my soul, and I found myself... ~ Is this... hel? I couldn''t believe my eyes. In front of me was the same scarlet desert and black sky, but on it a giant golden eye shone like the moon. I felt so small and defenseless here that I felt sick and uncomfortable. ~ We must leave. And I was about to dispel this boring illusion, when I found myself in a completely different place. ~ This is... The flaming wreckage of a monumental and majestic city whose buildings rose to the very clouds. The screams of people could be heard all around, huge flying ships hovered in the sky above the clouds and emitted bright rays of fire onto the ground. I had no idea where I could be, but judging by how accurate this illusion is, I can say with confidence that it was created from someone¡¯s memories. ~ Mine to be more precise. I turned around and saw a strange man. A tall, thin girl in black, elegant armor, every part of which was sharp as rocks. Her face was very pretty, although she radiated a predatory grin with her appearance, as if she was ready to devour me. I¡¯ve already seen something like this somewhere and quite quickly remembered where and, most importantly, who. ~ You are dark. The stranger smiled at me. ~ You call us that, however, you are not mistaken. Our goal is quite simple. ~ Destroy life. What a boring goal, just killing everyone and everything without any satisfaction. Death can only be a tool, but not the goal they have chosen for themselves. And yet now this is not the main thing, but the fact that I see her in front of me. ~What kind of place is this? ~Gatrey This is the first human world that we conquered. He fell within a day. ~ Human World? Lies. The gods never settled their birds in different worlds; there is only one world, all the rest are inventions or the personal treasury of this or that deity. ~ One hundred percent delusion. It was your planet that was isolated from the rest of the universe by some ancient creatures. We came to your world just for them, but we met a bunch of Gods desperately protecting this small world. I couldn''t believe this nonsense. Verhein made it clear to me that other worlds either do not exist, or they are the possessions of Gods alien to us, but she speaks as if these Gods are nothing to them. However, perhaps this is so, because the dark ones once fought with angels and even I had a hard time when I first encountered them. Their strength is colossal and that is why, a thousand years ago, they became the main threat to the whole world. Even demons had to fight side by side with humans to defeat them. I didn''t think I''d meet one of them right here. What also worries me is their souls, or rather their complete absence. What I see in front of me is just a talking shell and nothing more. They should have no consciousness, no intelligence, not even memories, but for some reason they live, talk, think and ultimately kill. This could not but frighten even the demons of the Hel wasteland, including my master Verhein. ~Time''s up. As if by the silk of a finger, I returned to the place in that war-torn city. I was lying on the ground and one of my people stood over my head and looked at my face with fear. It was a cultist who entered the city without my knowledge. "What are you doing here?" "I?" The cultist swallowed his saliva while I rose to my feet and looked around. "We saw the signal, your storm, and rushed to help you." "Where are the magicians?" "Mages? Oh yes, the magicians... they went to the castle." There was not a drop of lies in his words, but he spoke so disgustingly and indistinctly that I wanted to incinerate him on the spot. "Introduces a cult." "But¡­" "You''ll be needed elsewhere." I said, restoring connection with my dolls. The dead bodies finally stirred and began to move, rose to their feet and gathered in heaps in order to continue the assault on the castle. It seems they realized that they couldn¡¯t defeat me with magic and retreated until I woke up. I guessed it and immediately mentally ordered the dead to rush to a new assault on the castle. "I thought I would have fun here, but it looks like everything here is much more serious than I thought. Dark, uninvited guests and magicians. This is simply unthinkable.¡± This state of affairs was truly frightening. Chapter 73. On the edge of the abyss The battle is still far from over, but we have already managed to bury Swidok under the rubble and provoke her warriors into a suicidal attack, driving them straight into the ?killbox?. So we began to shoot the hordes of cultists and while we were doing this, Swidok got out and made her lightning attack, illuminating the wall with a sudden flash. Fortunately, we prepared lightning rods in advance by placing them on the walls, thanks to which the walls remained intact. Trained people raised the wands and were able to direct the charges through the "wires¡± into the ground, causing the highly concentrated electrical charge to dissipate without harming anyone. So we were able to temporarily neutralize her lightning magic, but with other magic like fire we had no protection. According to the idea, the unsuccessful attack by Swidok was supposed to be a signal for the trio of magicians to join the battle on our side, which happened a little later, but in the end it happened. Granid, Camellia and Incartia managed to join the battle and immediately began to distract her attention. They, like us, had no chance to defeat her; their task was only to distract her and nothing more. Meanwhile, I continued to shoot at the invaders while I had cartridges, but they were already running out. I fire a shot and blow up the head of another native, another shot and tear off the hand of another. I hear a click, throw out the empty magazine, insert a new one, and immediately pull the shutter and reload. "I''m out of ammo!" One of the platoon soldiers shouted, and then the grenades were launched. Esko at the top of the tower was shooting at the cultists with his sniper rifle. Of all the people he could see, Esko did not shoot only at Swidok, since she stopped the cartridges in the air and changed their flight path just like Yasmi did. Our weapons against these magicians are useless, so an urgent question arose in my head: are they equal to us? And if the answer to this question is ?yes?, then we are in big trouble. We can hardly trust even these three only because they are capable of crushing our squad at any moment while protecting themselves from fire from our rifles. There are only three of them here, and they are already many times superior not only to us, but to an entire battalion of Republican troops. I can¡¯t imagine what will happen if we stumble upon a hundred such magicians, and moreover, what will happen if our 127th army stumbles upon these hundred magicians, it is unlikely that it will be able to cope with these magicians even on equal terms, and there are a lot of reasons for this. Behind the wall could be seen fiery flashes, the sound of magicians fighting against each other. For now, we were fighting a more mundane battle, fortunately it was already coming to an end. The ranks of the cultists were rapidly thinning, and the royal soldiers were already beginning to rejoice seeing that there were practically no enemies left. The entire yard was strewn with corpses, the stench of blood and decomposition wafted in the air, and the sight made me dizzy. It''s war again. I think we''ve shed enough blood here to deserve to return home, and I don''t want to shed any more. We''ve done enough, enough is enough! I fire another shot and blow up the man¡¯s head. Moreover, if the king finds out that we are behind the massacre in Itsqueen, then he will definitely not let us go alive. I really hope that Ripun''s prediction works. However, now he was not "dying¡±, which means he did not see the negative consequences of this battle, at least for himself. And yet there were too many dead people strewn throughout the yard, the very appearance of this fleshy carpet was disgusting, and yet a fierce battle continued to simmer here, if you can call it that. At this time, the commander of the royal troops gave orders forcing his warriors to hold their positions and not attack the thinned ranks of the enemy, as he was well aware that right now outside the castle walls was Swidok, who is currently the most dangerous person on this planet. The clash between our forces and Swidok would lead to unpleasant consequences, this is quite obvious, seeing how the trio of magicians outside the walls are barely holding off this witch. "Keep in line!" The garrison commander shouted. "The battle is not over yet!" Another shot, a new corpse, and soon I heard another click, giving me a mechanical signal to reload. However, when I reached for my belt, I didn¡¯t feel anything and realized that I had run out of ammunition and had nothing to shoot with. Crap! We all left one clip so that Granid could then duplicate them, and that¡¯s why we weren¡¯t going to waste them now. "I''m empty, no bullets." I informed the platoon and immediately gave a general order. "To the tower, quickly!" While I was getting to my feet, one of the natives, with wide eyes, asked me a fair question: "What was that? Was this a battle?" Looking at him for a brief moment, I saw his gaze directed at the bloody carpet and immediately understood what he meant. I did not hesitate to answer and told him straight as it was, as I and my people believed. "This is extermination." Immediately after these words, I jumped up from my knees and ran at the head of the platoon line inside the castle, moving along the corridors towards the nearest tower. Everything went according to plan, but I was still scared. Adrenaline made my heart beat like crazy, my throat became dry from rapid breathing, and my face was covered in cold sweat. This is not surprising, since it is not every day that you are at war with thousands of angry cultists, and you only have one clip left on your loadout. While we were running along the corridor, I suddenly heard an explosion, causing the walls of the castle to shake quite violently, and rubble fell from the ceiling. I did not hear the noise of the shuttle accelerators, and the explosion itself echoed from the walls, which meant only one thing: They''ve broken through! The native officers who were still outside did not linger long with the instructions and then ordered their relatives to retreat against their background, the loud cry of the maddened crowd of invaders grew louder: "Everyone inside!" "Leave positions! Retreat!" "Stop them! STOP THEM!" Crap! I cursed myself and, quickening my pace, finally climbed to the top of the tower, where the king himself, in his noble attire, was waiting for me under a clear sky. It was not difficult for me to guess what he forgot here. He used himself as bait to prevent the cultists from attacking the dungeon where the servants and civilians were hiding. "Barricade the entrance!" I ordered and my people, together with the native soldiers, began to carry boxes, barrels and other accessories to close the passage and at the same time the only exit from this tower. Approaching the edge and looking down, I was convinced that what had just happened was indeed a breakthrough. The main gate and the labyrinth of barricades were strewn with corpses, and a little to the left one could see a wide gap filled with piles of stones, through which the cultists filled the entire space of the courtyard in which we had set up a "killbox¡±. They really were so crazy that they slaughtered everyone they saw, including each other. What''s wrong with these people? I wondered and at the same time perfectly understanding how tenacious they really were, that even having lost half of their body they could crawl on their hands. The situation was even more desperate and catastrophic than we could have imagined, and meanwhile the battle of the magicians seemed to have already come to an end. There is too little time. "Is that all you could do?" Suddenly, Draun Rudrin said behind my back. "Is this how you defeated a hundred robbers? And why did I rely on you?¡± Turning to face the king, I saw confidence in his eyes, or rather a mask of confidence that hid his animal fear. He, like me, was horrified by what was happening, trembling with his whole body, trying not to show it, but continued to proudly stand in place, accepting his impending death soon. He did not retreat, did not run away, but stood here when death was so close. And there was no way to escape from here, in any case, he would never have agreed to leave the city and organize defense somewhere in another part of the kingdom, but we didn¡¯t need this either, since we didn¡¯t want to stay here for long. "That''s not all." I said and took out the detonator and immediately pressed the button. The next moment the entire courtyard of the "killbox" rose into the air with a roar, raising a high column of dust in the form of a black mushroom into the sky. A powerful shock wave almost knocked down all the walls of the castle, causing a small earthquake to occur. While the echo of the explosion gradually faded away, body parts fell from the sky, blood dripped like rain, thick dust and parts of broken weapons settled. The explosion was powerful, but alas it was not enough and after a few moments the cultists, having recovered slightly, immediately continued the assault. Approximately several hundred more people died, but the cultists still continued to attack thoughtlessly and without fear, as if what had just happened did not matter to them. We, in turn, no longer have any remote fuses left, and the current place of defense can be safely called a tactical dead end, from which it is not that we cannot get out, not at all, but rather we will meet our death here if we try. "Fuck!" I hissed in frustration, already hearing the sounds of battle and painful screams of people coming from the lower floors of the tower. "General, hurry up, fucking hell!" Looking at the daytime horizon towards the east, I saw nothing but clouds and an endless green forest. There was no sign of the approaching shuttles, and time was getting short and short. The likelihood that in this timeline Ripun was simply captured and left alive was high, otherwise I don¡¯t know how else to explain this delay.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Maybe they really decided not to save us and instead decided to just abandon us, or maybe there really is no army, or maybe the message didn''t even reach the 127th. All of this can be the cause of death for us, and seeing the battle here, I can say with confidence that it¡¯s all over. No! Boris, it''s not over yet! Keep standing, keep fighting! You''re giving up too quickly, we still have time! I continued to hope, clenching my palms into fists. "My people." The king whispered, watching the invaders drown the city streets in blood. "All is lost, all is lost." I had nothing to answer. We ourselves understood how deplorable the current situation was. The attempt to detain the enemy completely and completely failed, help never arrived, and we would end up just dying soon. I can already see how the natives, out of frustration, began to hug each other and say goodbye to life, then preparing their blades for the last battle. My fighters loaded the very same clips that Granid was supposed to duplicate. However, now it didn¡¯t matter since the battle of the magicians had stopped for a long time. The trio had bought enough time and now retreated away from Swidok, where they would continue to fight the cultists or regain their strength. In any case, they won¡¯t be able to help us anymore. At that moment, I decided to load the last clip and at the same time prepared to throw several fragmentation grenades behind the barricades. There was nowhere to get out, we were trapped, and the enemies were about to rise to the top of the tower and it was unclear what they would do to us. The noise from below grew stronger and stronger, and then the first cultists appeared behind the barricades and behaved like animals, starting to attack the barricades instead of dismantling them. They growled, spat, pulled out their arms and weapons, hoping to catch us, and it also seemed like they created a stampede there. Even so, they still broke down the barricade little by little. I could hear the creak of barrels and tables that had already begun to bend under the weight of the crowd. A little more and they will break through here, and we obviously must not allow this under any circumstances. When a whole bunch of them had gathered behind the barricades, I threw a grenade through the gap, which then produced an explosion that scattered dust, iron and guts in all directions. Meanwhile, the barricade at the descent was not damaged, but still the crowd of enemies began to move it. I threw another grenade and the same picture was repeated, an explosion, guts and a new wave of cultists taking the place of the previous one. However, this could not continue indefinitely, and the next moment the barricade suddenly simply exploded. Fragments of boxes, ropes, bags, barrels and parts of bodies flew into the sky, and the view was obscured by a thick curtain of dust. There was a ringing in my ears, and ahead I saw the natives swinging their blades in desperation against the hordes of mad invaders. My soldiers and I surrounded the king and threw the last grenades to thin out the ranks of the enemies, and we killed the cultists who were distracted by us with single shots to the head. The royal soldiers stood in tight formation and killed anyone who tried to attack them, but the cultists pulled out one fighter after another from the pile so that they could then attack them en masse. Some kind of devilry was going on everywhere, we no longer saved cartridges, but grabbed our blades and fought back as soon as we could. I picked up the sword of the fallen cultist and, with difficulty, made a swing and cut off the madman rushing towards me. My strength was not enough to kill him, he was bleeding, gushing from his throat, but he, as if not feeling pain, simply ignored it and tried to pounce on me again, wheezing, spitting out a clot of blood. One more blow, and I ripped open his stomach, spilling out his intestines, and then I stepped back, fighting off another cultist and this time I managed to cut off his head. I felt like my hand, tightly holding the blade, could simply fall off at any moment from the weight of this primitive weapon, and yet now it is my only chance for salvation, or rather not even so, this slightly bent sword is the only chance to remain a defender of humanity, to remain person. I''m not a monster! I said to myself and at the same time cutting the face of another person with a horizontal blow. The cartridges had already run out, we raised our shields and approached the edge of the tower where we could fall if this crowd decided to push us down. And at the moment when we were already on the verge of our strength and capabilities, the cultists suddenly stopped for us, froze in place as if time had stopped around us. Crowds of cultists stood in place, not taking any breaths or exhalations, as if they were really dead. And yet their same dead glances watched us no matter how we tried to move from one edge of the tower to the other. Something was wrong, I could still hear the battle raging below, and the sound of the wind whistling behind me. Time did not stop, it was the cultists who suddenly froze, but why? It was this question that Will voiced, holding a bloody blade in his hands and hunched over, taking deep breaths and exhalations: "Why did they freeze?" The question soon disappeared by itself when the crowd of the dead nevertheless began to move, but not in order to attack us, but in order to let a man dressed in heavy armor pass forward. Who else is this? I wondered. The ringing stomp added to his proud appearance a sense of awe, and the blood on his armor also inspired fear, as if we were facing the most dangerous cultist in the world who had decided to end the battle with his personal participation. And there were also pits and bullet marks on his armor, which indicated that he was an unusual person, and a rather dangerous one to have such serious attire. I can only guess what other fighting skills he has, he is quite capable of getting even with all of us and alone why I simply could not stop my trembling. He stood a couple of meters from us and, holding a blade in his right hand, took off his helmet with his left, revealing to us the face of a mature man with short black hair and a sparse beard. The expression on his face was one of pure rage, or perhaps a wild sense of thirst, it was hard to tell, but his gaze was definitely hungry, as if we were just food to him. He looked at us one by one, but his eyes stopped only on one of us, namely the king, after which he grinned in a low voice and said: "Here I am, Draun Rudrin." "Who are you?" I asked the question while holding the blade in my hands while my hand was shaking like a hammer drill. A little more... just a little more. I still hoped. Maintaining a satisfied expression on his face, the man replied: "I am Prince Monrid, or rather... King Monrid. I did not expect that you would kill so many of my people. However, fortunately you did not kill them all." Suddenly the king hissed behind me: "You sang with the cultists, Monrid! You know that everyone will hate you for this!" "Who dares to hate me?" The prince spread his hands. "I am now the king, I am the law and now this country belongs to me. I can and will do whatever I want here." "You can''t do that." Said the king. "This is not what you were raised for. This is not so you can endlessly kill everyone you want. A monarch has a duty and...¡± "Grow up?" Monrid interrupted the king, clearly angry at his words. "I was not raised... I was abandoned! I grew up on my own, got my own food and survived on my own. No one raised me, I grew up on my own, without you, without your stupid instructions. It¡¯s not for you to tell me what I can do, but which is impossible, usurper. If I want people to die, then they will die, if I want them to work, then they will work, and if they are disobedient, not to do everything I order them, only death awaits them!¡± Listening to his words, I began to understand the king better and realized that giving the throne to such a psychopath was the same as giving it to the new Hitler or Mtsakeran only a thousand times worse. A person with such shallow and cruel thinking would only have one fate: death. And his country, in addition, would face anarchy and destruction. Since he does not know such basic things about what a ruler should do and what not, then Draun Rudrin did the right thing by not giving him the throne, but a lot of blood was shed because of this. It would be better for people here to die than to live under a ruler like Monrid. "Brother." I heard a familiar voice behind the prince. Swidok. I swallowed my saliva in fear. The prince turned around for a moment and looked with a radiant smile at the golden-haired witch who almost skipped like a child and ran up to the prince, and then, to our surprise, Monrid pulled her to himself and sucked her lips. From such an obscene sight, we could only ask one question: Are they out of their minds? A moment later, their lips separated from each other and Swidok, looking at us predatorily with her sparkling red eyes, decided to ask: "Brother Monrid, how are you feeling?" "Just flawless." He did not take his eyes off the girl. "I''m glad to hear that." The golden-haired woman said, and then snapped her fingers, causing the prince to fall to the floor like a doll that had fallen out of his hands or an android that had suddenly switched off. We couldn''t believe what we just saw. "W-what?!" The king said, opening his eyes wide. The real enemy turned out to be not the prince at all, but his servant, Swidok. The red-eyed one turned in our direction while the cultists dragged the prince¡¯s body down. The witch instilled fear in us with her appearance, and her pride with her arrogance. "What does it mean?!" The king muttered angrily. "Shut up." Swidok said briefly and, snapping her fingers, released a discharge from her palm, causing the king to instantly turn into ashes. "I''m curious about something else, namely all of you visitors from another world." She looked around the entire platoon while we stood in shock and did not understand what had just happened, and only then a moment later did a terrifying understanding come to us. The king had just died before our eyes, turned into ashes, as if there had been a flash from a short circuit and the person was no longer there. We could barely notice it, when suddenly he was already lying here in the form of a hill of ashes. For her, killing us all is just a piece of cake, and her look after killing the king said it all, she absolutely didn¡¯t give a damn about him, not just about his life, but about him himself, just like the life of any living creature on this planet. This filled us with even more awe than we could have imagined. All we did all these two months was keep our way here, we were able to find a way to contact the rest of the army and it¡¯s not a fact that it worked at all, but at the same time our death stood before us. This... is the end. It was simply impossible not to be afraid of her, not to shake in front of her, and if this is possible, then I must do everything so that we can survive. "I will ask questions, and you, my little ones, will obediently answer them. Have I made myself clear?¡± Having looked at all my people, I ended up simply nodding to her, not daring to rush at her and kill her. If cartridges are nothing to her, then this sword is even more so. Lightning rod. I thought and a plan began to form in my head, which very quickly seemed dubious to me. "Speak." I said it and Swidok immediately asked me the first question. "Who did you call for help?" One of my people could not stand it and spat out with anger in his voice: "Do you think we¡¯ll answer you that easily, bitch?¡± A moment later, Swidok rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers again, and before our eyes another pile of ash appeared behind a bright flash. I immediately shouted, not believing my eyes: "Glate! No!" I fell to my knees. No... no, no, no-no-no, NO! Not again! I held my head in panic. I know she will do it again, kill our man, and if we don¡¯t answer her questions, she will finish off each of us here. "So who did you call for help?" Swidok repeated the question and added with sternness in her voice. "Answer, otherwise I will kill everyone one by one." I took a deep breath, understanding the prospect of what was happening, but we had no other choice. I had to lower the blade down and answer her question: "Reinforcement." "I understand that, but who exactly? Who should help you? I need to know.¡± "This is...the 127th Army of the Human Republic Military Forces." Swidok, hearing this, raised an eyebrow, clearly understanding almost nothing of everything that was said. "So these are not dark ones. I remember them under a different name, you would call them pantorians. Is this true?¡± I nodded, and Swidok continued. "I thought you were using dark artifacts, but it turns out you are just people from false worlds, walking inventions. In this case, I no longer need to leave you alive. You are too insignificant and weak to pay more attention to you than you deserve. Although it¡¯s worth it I must admit, you were able to surprise me. It¡¯s been a long time since you drove me into a trap, and yet you didn¡¯t manage to kill me, much less detain me. I started talking, it¡¯s time to say goodbye to you.¡± "Wait!" I begged while still sitting on my knees. "I beg you, don''t touch us! We just want to go home!" "Me too." Swidok grinned. "I also want to go home, or rather, to find him. Because I was never welcome here, but in the arms of Mr I felt like I had found a place in my life. To do this, I will fulfill his will and bring to these lands everything that people have always deserved. Suffering." Well, now we''re definitely finished. Chapter 74. Black angels "We''re there." Through the noise of the boosters, I heard the pilot''s words. Right now the shuttle was descending smoothly, flying through a few clouds that obscured the view of our scanners, but soon the instruments began to record the terrain and determined the conditional coordinates of our location. "We''ll reach our destination any minute now." "Okay, let''s continue our flight." I answered, patting the pilot on the shoulder. Standing in the cockpit, I looked at the screens and the control panel, seeing in front of me an image of a continuous forested area of ??a temperate climate zone, and in the middle of this forest there was a city that clearly belonged to the primitive civilization inhabiting this planet. This is not something you see every day, and now we have seen with our own eyes that this planet is inhabited by living beings that are more understandable to us, and yet something completely different was important now. "Sir, what will be your orders?" The pilot turned his head towards me and I immediately gave the order. "We proceed as planned. Maintain course and prepare for landing." "Understood, sir." The pilot said and activated the transmitter, starting to broadcast throughout the airwaves. "Says ?Archon?, we begin approaching the landing site, we repeat, we begin approaching the landing site. Everyone get ready. The shuttle crew be ready." "He says ?Deimos?, I understand you, we are approaching a populated area, getting ready to land." I heard confirmation in the earphone from the pilot of the second shuttle, and then from the third. "Says ?Java?, similarly." According to the protocol, in case of unforeseen situations, if we find ourselves on a planet with an undeveloped civilization, we should not come into contact with it in any way or, for that matter, then, if possible, minimize the damage caused to the indigenous inhabitants of this planet. However, in our case everything is completely different. Damage was caused to us, and we have the right to respond in kind. After the battle with xorx, it was possible to save the lives of 110 thousand soldiers of the 127th Army, about 50 thousand people died during defensive operations aimed against insectoids, but among the army, especially many died during the last operation known as "Achilles", from which only a third of the sent forces, including reinforcements, were able to get out of there alive. What was in the reports can be studied for years. I myself could not believe the madness written by the survivors of this battle, and yet it was the purest truth. Fortunately, for us everything went much more successfully than we imagined. xorxes not only lost their leader, but simply died, having lost contact with the queen of the swarm. At the site of that explosion, a huge crater remained, stretching deep into the mantle of the planet. A few days after the battle, this piece of the planet continues to cool and turn the sands into glass with its heat. A huge piece of the planet disappeared, or to be more precise, it was transferred into subspace along with those remaining soldiers who defended the defense perimeter inside which they were preparing to detonate the jump engine. And although we were not able to save their lives, they were able to accomplish a real feat, thanks to which the most difficult thing for us was over. At least that''s what I hoped. After a little mourning and celebration of this difficult victory, we began building a base and simultaneously strengthened our positions against possible attacks. We expected the appearance of creatures similar to xorxes, but after their destruction we no longer noticed any signs of life, but that was until we received a repeated message from a mobile radio station. The signal was very weak and spread across all possible frequencies. Such a signal could only come from manual means of communication, and not from some powerful radio installation. In fact, it was suspicious, but the message itself clearly gave us an idea of ??what was going on, because the content of the message was as follows, and it surprised us a little: ?Speaks with the temporary rank of junior lieutenant Boris Kipito, leader of platoon C1-2-2D4. The shuttle ?Persia? on which we were stationed during the evacuation from ?Zeus? crashed, most of the crew died. Only sixty-one people survived. At the crash site, the first contact was made with local residents, but a conflict subsequently occurred that resulted in the death of even more surviving members of the Persia crew, including Lieutenant John Christ, commander of the C1-2-2D regiment. There are now twenty of us left, in addition to everything we found another person who had previously been on the planet, a civilian. Fortunately, we managed to establish contact with other natives, more friendly, and they agreed to provide us with comprehensive support, after which we began to move towards the intended landing site of the 127th Army. However, along the way we encountered a problem. We needed to gain the right of passage through the lands of the native state, but in return they demanded our protection and participation in the conflict. As a senior in rank, I made a decision and agreed, but at the moment we are not enough to cope with their opponents in battle. Help Wanted. Using native means of transportation, we raise our radio station to an altitude of over one hundred kilometers in the hope that this repeating signal will reach the command of the 127th Army. Help is required immediately, namely by 10:00 London time. We ask you to stay at an altitude above one hundred kilometers when flying due to possible anomalous barriers. That''s all. Further message about repeating... ...Speaks with a temporary rank...? Details were few, but one thing was clear: xorxes are not the only life forms that threaten our presence on this planet, which means we need to be ready at any moment and at any second. Moreover, we did not receive any information about which natives Boris Kipito was doing business with and how he managed to establish contact with them, but we left this question for later and will return to it when we solve this problem. After receiving the report on the signal, an emergency meeting of the entire high command of the 127th Army was held, at which they decided to immediately provide comprehensive support to the C1-2-2D4 platoon, and now we hastily assembled an entire Largebattalion and sent one and a half thousand soldiers on three shuttles in the direction from which this radio signal came. We did everything as Boris advised, we flew in the stratosphere in order to avoid any anomalous barriers, the existence of which we could not visually confirm in any way, and soon after flying a little over a third of this continent and capturing a lot of populated areas on board, we reached this city where approximately twenty thousand people could live, and maybe more. The civilization that we see can be described as extremely backward. On Mars, it would be given an eighth-level rating according to the classification system for the development of societies of carbon-based life forms, and on Earth this civilization would be called medieval, and yet their numbers and knowledge of the area could be a very significant threat to us, which we will, of course, take into account. It may well be that they are humanoids, which gives us the opportunity to establish contact with them much easier, perhaps that is why Boris was able to talk to them. Thinking about this, cold beads of sweat involuntarily begin to roll off my forehead. There are even more problems on our minds, even more dangers, even more problems that we need to solve and, of course, even more questions, the answers to which we will not receive soon. I hope everything goes smoothly. We need to check the guys. I thought and went out into the landing compartment to the soldiers dressed in black combat suits.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Behind the closed helmets of their faces, I saw firm determination, they observed discipline in a way they had not observed before and were determined in a way they had not yet tuned in. After the battles with the xorxes, they were hardened, they were firm, and they were no longer afraid of any enemy, but this did not give them any reason to relax in any way, which they understood perfectly well and which, of course, they did not allow. Having looked around at the hundreds of soldiers of the landing groups, I heard the pilot¡¯s voice in the earpiece, telling me important information: "Sir, a blue flag was spotted on one of the buildings, and on it was the inscription: "Terra"." Translated from Latin "Earth". I smiled and answered the pilot over the air. "Accepted. Mark targets defending this flag as friendly." "Sir, there is a battle going on inside the village. It looks like an assault is underway." As expected. It was not without reason that Boris called for help. "What do you see?" "A medieval style battle. It seems these creatures are of a humanoid type and are fighting each other. We see a huge number of bodies on the way and... wait... I see people in camouflage uniforms on top of the structure, they are surrounded." Fuck! I cursed to myself and gave the order. "?Archon?, I order you to clear the landing area." "Yes, sir. May I clarify where we will land?¡± "Choose the landing site yourself, but preferably as close as possible to your allies on the ground." "Understood, General, let''s begin to carry out orders." Having disconnected from the air and once again looked at the soldiers dressed in combat suits, I put a breathing mask on my face and symbolically prayed, hoping that the Gods unknown to me would help me. If Elarasia you exist, then I pray you protect our sinful souls. Forgive us for all the evil that we have brought and will bring in the future. After that, I heard the pilot¡¯s voice again: "We found an open area, but the distance to the main buildings where the fighting is taking place is too great.¡± "I understand. In this case, we will immediately drop the vanguard group, hover over the flag and open the landing gate.¡± "Understood, General. We are carrying out the emergency landing procedure." Immediately after this, the shuttle ladder began to open, which is why I, either instinctively or with caution, grabbed the breathing mask with my fingers and ordered: "Team ?Nightmare?, urgent order, immediately disembark, identify allies and protect them. Friendly forces are defending the blue flag with the inscription ?Terra?. Continue to carry out the order and wait for reinforcements. Is the order clear?" "That''s right, sir. Let''s get started with the urgent task." The fighter responded on air, after which a squad of ten paratroopers, quickly reacting with a running start, ran along the ramp, jumping down, activating the brake packs on their backs. After the last paratrooper with a heavy machine gun at the ready jumped down, the shuttle turned around and began moving to the side, causing me to grab the railing against the wall. While the shuttle was flying, I couldn¡¯t help but take advantage of the moment and made what I thought was an inspiring speech by activating the earpiece. "Friends, I know that after these beetles you are all tired, but we are here to save our guys, who lived in a hostile environment for more than a month, losing four hundred and eighty people. They probably have important information about this planet that they were able to collect during all this time. This should help us adapt to this planet and survive. This will not be our first battle, but fortunately it will not be the most difficult, and yet we remain vigilant. ourselves the planet Eusberia. Now the most important thing for us is to survive, and I promise, General Zeonid Kudrinash, that we will damn well survive! So don¡¯t let me down or yourself! "For the Republic!" The fighters sang in chorus, hitting the chests of their combat suits with their fists, almost deafening me and the ether. "EVERYONE GET READY!" I shouted into the air and grabbed the pistol with my left hand while the paratroopers lined up. I felt the shaking and how the shuttle relieved me by starting a rapid descent, after which the roofs of primitive buildings quickly appeared in the open airlock. A slight push and the shuttle landed, and not a single living creature appeared outside, only stone tiles, houses and some decorative structures like a fountain, statues, benches and other things. "The ?Archon? has landed." The pilot reported on air. "Everything around is clean. The scanner detects thousands of unidentified organisms within a radius of one hundred meters, but I can¡¯t visually confirm their presence.¡± "All landing crew of the ?Archon? take up defensive positions around the shuttle!" I ordered the platoons. "Fire only at the attackers, we don¡¯t yet know who will be our ally here and who will be the enemy.¡± Like a river, the paratroopers ran out of the shuttle in five rows, aiming their rifles and heavy machine guns from the hip into the distance. The platoons quickly took up a perimeter defense without detecting anyone alive around them. I was the last one who still remained inside the shuttle, but it was not for long and soon I also left the shuttle, emerging into a place more reminiscent of a certain square. Now everything remains to be done. "?Archon?, the crew has disembarked, take off and provide air support." "Yes, sir, let''s do it." The pilot answered and began to take off while the paratroopers occupied the area, after which the first shots were heard behind them. "Enemies?" I asked and then received confirmation. "Yes, General. The natives were moving towards us. Northern direction." "Who attacked?" "Humanoids armed with melee weapons in the form of long knives." By activating the visor, I received a picture from the combat suit of the soldier who shot the attackers and confirmed his words. The dead creatures that I saw strongly resembled people, their blood was even red and they were dressed in some kind of rags. Far from the face of the other soldier, I saw other people hiding behind houses, looking at the paratroopers with fear. They did not dare to attack, and therefore no one fired at them, and yet in some directions large crowds of people with distraught faces were approaching towards the square and thoughtlessly decided to attack us, and as a result they were killed. Striking resemblance to people. I assessed the appearance of the inhabitants of this planet. I thought Elephrems were the only aliens that looked more like humans, but these really look like humans. Only now... By amplifying the sound scanners on the visor, slurred speech could be heard. Only now they speak a completely unfamiliar language to us. I thought and was again convinced of how important it was to contact Boris because he was most likely able to establish contact with the local inhabitants at the linguistic level. So far everything was going quite smoothly, but it was necessary to establish contact with Boris¡¯s detachment, which apparently defended the main building in this city, a structure that looked more like a castle. An attempt to contact him now was unsuccessful, after which I quickly gave orders to send one platoon to support Boris¡¯s squad and the ?Nightmare? squad. And while I was doing this, a bright flash appeared in the sky for a brief moment and then disappeared. "What happened? What was that flash?" I demanded an answer and received an answer from the ?Archon?. "Says ?Archon?, a powerful bolt of lightning struck the ship, everything is in order. Minor heating of the hull." In order? I thought and looking at the sky I didn¡¯t see a single cloud in the sky. "Understood." I answered and returned to the main task. Soon we quickly identified forces hostile to us, they attacked us and the local residents. It is strange that our menacing and alien appearance did not frighten them at all, and yet partly this was only to our advantage, since now we knew exactly who we had to deal with now, with those who had completely forgotten about the feeling of fear. "General, the ?Nightmare? squad has protected all targets. There are no losses. We are starting to clear the premises. Second Lieutenant Boris Kipito is fine, his people are also fine and under our protection." I received a message from the head of the ?Nightmare? squad. "Accepted. All units, begin occupation of the city. Destroy all hostile forces. Neutralize and disarm all others." I gave the orders. At the same time, I saw three shuttles in the sky firing heavily from their onboard guns at parts of the city and beyond. One platoon was sent to a large building on the square, but soon a huge concentration of living beings was discovered there and therefore I ordered not to enter the building so as not to frighten off the local residents. I also received a message from ?Deimos? and ?Java? that they had landed troops outside the city and were also providing air support. There were no problems with the clearing, except that there were too many hostile forces and the soldiers had to look around every corner to find them. The sound of single shots could still be heard in the distance, and the soldiers began to patrol the city streets filled with bodies of natives. At this time I moved towards the town hall, or castle. I''ll have to talk to Boris Kipito and find out what the hell is going on here, as well as find out how they spent their time away from the 127th Army. Overall, Operation "Black Angels" is a success. Chapter 75. Captain Kurogawa That sound. Through the noise of the battle, I heard something familiar, and I looked back at the clear sky and saw three black dots coming from the east, gradually increasing in size. Among other things, these three dots were leaving a plume behind them, indicating that they were moving fast. Even though they were far away, I could already see the familiar silhouettes of a pair of spread wings holding gas pedals on their ends. "What''s that?" Swidok asked, clearly surprised at what she was seeing. I, however, made a smug grin and said quietly: "Victory." The three shuttles approaching the city separated, flying in different directions. The first and second shuttles headed north and south out of the city, while the third shuttle flew straight here and began to slow down, activating the braking gas pedals on the nose of the ship and tilting its nose into the sky. Seeing the machine guns peeking out of the sides of the shuttle and aiming in our direction I yelled at the top of my voice: "GET DOWN!" My ears were instantly filled with the roar of guns. A flurry of fire covered the natives, a hurricane demolished cobblestones, and tore people''s bodies into pieces like paper. Hands, legs and organs splashed in different directions in a bloody mess, mixing with rubble, dust, whistles and screams. At that time, I was still lying, pressing my cheek against the rough stone until the shuttle hovering overhead hovered exactly above us. Next, a ladder opened from which the first detachment of paratroopers began to disembark, dressed in heavy combat suits with machine guns at the ready. It was as if heavy tanks were falling from the sky, squeezing fragile stone structures with their weight. The fighters, activating their jetpacks, landed one after another. Some did it smoothly, while others, having made a hard landing, crushed a couple of cultists under their weight, thereby breaking all their bones. If it weren¡¯t for the stimulants and exoskeletons, then when they fell, the paratroopers could have broken all their bones and torn their internal organs, but fortunately they had means of protection and now these warriors were fully prepared to scare the enemies of humanity to death and were going to arrange a magnificent harvest here. Many have correctly noted... They are here to kill. The paratroopers fell from the ramp from a height of tens of meters onto the towers, the roof of the palace and into the courtyards of the castle, immediately starting to mow down in dense bursts everyone they met. In addition to the noise from the shuttle''s accelerators, my ears could hear numerous shots and the insane screams of the cultists who were rushing to fight the earthlings. It¡¯s not hard to imagine what kind of madness was happening around, it was difficult to survive. Even so, I tried to keep my head down so as not to become an accidental victim of friendly fire. How happy I was that after so much time spent on this damned planet, the long-awaited help finally arrived to us. I really thought that we could stay here, if not forever, then for a long time for sure. And I was about to raise my head and see Swidok dead and torn to shreds, but there was no trace of her, she was not here. By some miracle she disappeared behind a rising cloud of dust, which shocked me greatly, and yet the fact that she was running and not brazenly laughing in our faces was more than good, but eliminating her now was simply necessary. If she doesn¡¯t die, then she will cause us a lot of problems with her destructive magic, and I simply cannot allow that. "Fuck!" I cursed, helping Will to his feet, just as the guards were helping each other. Many natives'' mouths dropped open at what they saw. They looked with fear either at the top, where the huge shuttle was still hanging, or at the massive paratroopers in strong black armor, from which came the powerful sound of exoskeleton hinges and the noise of mobile generators. If I were the natives, I would also be a little surprised and would probably think that before my eyes there were monsters in the flesh or even demons. It was quite expected for them to be afraid of such uninvited guests. "W-what''s going on?!" One of the natives asked with his eyes wide open and short of breath, and I still answered with a grin on my face. "These are the warriors of the Great Army of Humanity." "Huh?" The guard opened his mouth, looking first at me and then at the huge paratroopers. It is impossible to convey in simple words all the feelings that the sight of these formidable soldiers evoked in me. They looked as if they were already battle-hardened and walked forward with firm confidence and also confidently killed people whom they clearly did not expect to see here, and yet they did it because they had been prepared for this for many years, as well as the fear that they might stay on this planet forever. Three of them were heading straight towards us while the rest of the paratroopers were clearing the palace territory of enemies, painting all the surfaces around in red. At this time, the shuttle flew to the side, perhaps to the very square where the rest of the crew will be landed while detachments from other shuttles will most likely land somewhere outside the city and block all escape routes, as well as strengthen the perimeter of the city. From the very beginning, I assumed that headquarters would most likely decide to do just that, and therefore I was not very surprised by these actions. The royal guards, seeing how the paratroopers with the weight of their spacesuits were stomping in our direction, began to back away, fearing their menacing and impressive appearance. I, in turn, activated the walkie-talkie and immediately tuned in to the desired frequency, in which I heard a quite mature and slightly hoarse female voice: "Junior Lieutenant Kipito?" I nodded in acknowledgement, knowing that it was the one standing before me speaking. "My name is Captain Kurogawa, we have received your message. Mark hostile targets." After removing my translator ring, I replied, "I understand, Captain." I said and pointed to the bodies of the killed natives, who, albeit slightly, differed in appearance from the natives friendly to us. "At the moment, all of these armed natives outside this palace are hostile." "I see." The Captain answered, and then followed my gaze towards the pile of ash. I wanted to bring Captain and King Lakuus together so that they could work together in the future, but alas, he was already dead. There was some uncertainty in the air about the future fate of the role of the head of this state. I simply didn¡¯t know what to do, and yet, so that they wouldn¡¯t ask me unnecessary questions, I said the following: "Their leader was here¡­ he was killed just a minute ago. I''m afraid that''s a problem." "We''ll deal with politics later, Junior Lieutenant, but now..." The captain tossed a clip for my assault rifle into my hands. "You must join Operation ?Black Angels?." Cool name. I noticed to myself and immediately returned my attention to the Captain, who continued to give me orders. ¡°It is necessary to occupy this settlement. After this, the general will wait for a report from you.¡± "Understood, Captain. It will be done, Captain." I saluted and immediately reloaded the clip and rushed down the stairs and into the castle with my platoon.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "They''re already too late." Forn commented, shaking his head in displeasure. "Don''t expect more from them." Mshkhan responded to Forn''s words by receiving grenades from the paratrooper. "It''s good that they arrived before we could die." He''s right. It was not in their power to come to our aid in time. I thought and, continuing down the stairs, prepared for battle. The entire platoon recharged and, having received a significant surge of strength thanks to the arrival of the long-awaited reinforcements, ran to clear the palace space from the insane cultists. Now, among other things, I was worried about another and yet important question, namely, where did Swidok go? A flurry of fire should have demolished her, torn her into pieces, and not have left a living thing left of her, but I never saw her among the bodies. And this means only one thing: she is alive and still poses a colossal threat to us. Therefore, I decided to warn the Captain by telling her everything on the radio: "Captain Kurogawa, this is Second Lieutenant Boris Kipito, I have important information to tell you." "I''m listening, Second Lieutenant." "There is an extremely dangerous creature in this city that looks like a human girl in a black robe with yellow hair and red eyes. Beware of her, she can emit powerful lightning bolts and protect herself with abnormal energy." "Noted, out." The Captain replied. There were notes of skepticism in her voice, which alarmed me somewhat. I really hope that this is really taken into account, otherwise we will have losses, ¡­ very big losses. Without thinking much about it, I rushed to the dungeon, where the entire working staff of the palace and castle, as well as the highest representatives of the kingdom of Lakuus, were hiding. Their protection was now a priority, especially that of Princess Ilifreeta, who was likely to take over as queen any minute now. I can already imagine what her face looks like when she hears the news that Draun Rudrin is dead. He seemed to me a very worthy and courageous man who did everything for his country and most importantly sacrificed himself for the sake of people whom he may not have loved, but whom he sincerely cared about and ultimately died. I am sure these people will escort him to the afterlife with a glorious parade or a solemn feast when all this is over. I will look forward to this moment. Until this happens, we need to ensure the safety of the princess, otherwise there is a threat of a power vacuum, which does not bode well for us, or rather, no benefit. It would be unpleasant for us to lose an ally in the person of an entire native state from which we can receive a lot of information about this planet. To survive, it is imperative to know what we are dealing with and what we will face. It¡¯s really worth thinking about this some other time, but for now... "Stop." I said and raised my palm to stop the platoon behind me. Looking around the corner, I saw the bodies of murdered people scattered in the corridors. They were torn to pieces with blades and spears. The cultists killed literally everyone, both the guards and the servants who did not have time to hide in the rooms. The corpses lay like a carpet so densely that they literally blocked the passage, and the smell of blood made my face curl in disgust. In the distance, near the hanging luxurious paintings, I saw cultists, hunched over like animals looking around in search of their next victim. When the gaze of one of them fell directly on me, he immediately bulged his eyes and stuck out his slobbering tongue and screamed, attracting the attention of the other cultists. "R-r-r-r-r-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a~!!!" They, standing to the side, also turned in my direction at once and, screaming wildly, rushed towards us with their blades, ready to tear us to pieces. Are they even humans? I doubted, not seeing a drop of reason or even a grain of self-preservation instinct in the eyes of these cultists. "R-r-r-r-r-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a~!!!" "A-A-A-A-A-A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-A-A-A-A-A~!!!" "H-h-h-h-h-y-y-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a~!!!" "D-d-d-d-r-r-r-r-i-i-i-i-i-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-a-a-a-a-a~!!!" Resting the butt of the assault rifle on my shoulder and loading the clip, I quickly took aim and fired three accurate shots, after which the cultists, without their skulls, fell to the floor, turning back their nasty screams forever. The path was cleared and at the moment when it seemed that no one else would interfere with our movement, when suddenly I noticed more cultists in the same direction. "FUCK!" I cursed when I saw a maddened crowd rushing from the corridor towards us. "D-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-E-E-E-E-E~!!!" "A-A-A-A-A-A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-A-A-A-A-A~!!!" "E-E-E-E-e-e-a-a-a-a-a-at-t-t-t-t-t~!!!" "A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A~!!!" They came out from around the corners so suddenly that I didn¡¯t even notice that I opened heavy fire on them along with the platoon soldiers. The horde was pressing on us like an avalanche, and a leaden storm enveloped the corridor, turning it into another killbox. At the brightest and most dangerous moment of my life, it really seemed to me that we were in a meat grinder only in the role of a blade, I was already acting, and the meat was pressing on me, which I immediately chopped into minced meat with the tip. The main thing at this very moment of my life is not to become dull and not to crumble. And as soon as I used up my fresh clip, the cultists stopped pushing in our direction and finally quieted down. We were able to shoot them all and this time no one stood in our way... at least for now. "There are too many of them." Forn commented on the situation, loading a new machine gun belt. "I''ll go first." I nodded approvingly and followed Forn. "Holy shit! This isn''t funny at all!" Itami said, looking at the meaty mess under our feet. "What''s wrong with these people? They don''t spare themselves at all!" "We''ll discuss this later." I said, continuing to move. I wasn¡¯t happy about it either, and yet we did it again for the sake of our survival. This time I reassured myself that this time we were not killing innocent people, but crazy fanatics who came here to bring death and destruction. Of course, it was much easier for me this way, but if you think about it like that, then we are... monsters. Today we are on the right side. I continued to convince myself that I was ready to kill again and again. Continuing our journey, we met many cultists and, of course, we shot them. No one even thought of taking these madmen prisoner, and it was clear from their faces that they were unlikely to surrender, and therefore we continued to fight our way forward and went down until we soon reached the main passage to the dungeon. However, there we noticed one very big problem. "What the?!" I couldn''t help but curse, kicking the barricade in anger. "These bastards blocked the passage!" "Oh shit." Forn clicked his tongue while the others sighed in displeasure and shook their heads. I didn¡¯t expect this at all, namely, that these madmen would think of covering their only escape route so that no one would interfere with them. We were on the lowest floor, there was a smell of dampness and a breath of coolness, and in front of us the passage was blocked by a pile of broken furniture, cobblestones, boxes, chests, parts of armor, bags and even human corpses. The entire passage was clogged with all sorts of rubbish and this prevented us from going forward and, accordingly, saving all the people hiding there. "We can blow it up, right?" Mshkhan asked, and I shook my head in response. "No, we can''t. If we plant and detonate explosives here, the entire dungeon will collapse. I would suggest something else, for example, we could fill the area behind the barricades with smoke, but then..." "Then those hiding there will suffocate too." Will finished for me. The situation was not the best. The cultists are making their way to the dungeons and will soon be able to slaughter everyone they can there. The guards protecting the aristocrats and the princess had no chance against such a horde, and there was no other choice. I was thinking quickly, trying to solve the problem that had arisen, when suddenly I saw how parts of the barricade themselves began to move. What the?! I got scared and aimed towards the barricades. Parts of tables, chairs, shields, swords, armor and corpses of people moved apart in different directions, opening up an unexpected passage for us, which it seemed to us that we could rake for a very, very long time. I immediately guessed who helped us in this difficult situation. Well done, Ilifreeta. I mentally praised the princess for doing us such a favor and opening the way to the crowd of invaders, which we immediately began to mow down with heavy fire. After ten minutes of clearing the underground premises, I reached the iron door and then made three knocks at a certain interval, announcing to all those who were hiding there that we were here. The door opened a few moments later and in the passage I saw the already familiar Krezhd, dressed in steel plate armor. When he saw us, he immediately asked one very important question: "Where is the king?" And I immediately answered him: "He is dead." Krezhd''s face was murdered, however, not only on his face, but also on those who stood behind him and heard my words. They had just lost their king and they were feeling the grief. Surely some of them reproached themselves for not being able to protect the king, and yet, as if imitating Draun Rudrin, they tried not to show their true emotions and, even with drops of tears in their eyes, tried to maintain confidence on their faces. "What''s going on?" Krezhd asked a new question, and I answered him. "The Republic brought reinforcements. Fifteen hundred soldiers. They are quite enough to defend the city and carry out a counterattack." "And what about Swidok?" "She disappeared." Krezhd gritted his teeth in frustration, but I understand him perfectly. Losing this creature is worse than any defeat. "Do you need anything from us?" I nodded. "A negotiator." Krezhd fell silent and, lowering his head, turned towards Princess Ilifreeta, next to whom Sigrun spent her time. "She can''t handle it." Krezhd said quietly and immediately put forward his candidacy. "I''ll go instead of her." "I''m afraid the general won''t accept this, you''re too... harsh." I shook my head, knowing that because of Krezhd and his character, everything could end badly for him, that''s for sure. He is clearly not the one who should be entrusted with negotiations, especially with our command. We need someone who will respect our people, and not be insolent to them, otherwise the general will never agree with any proposals addressed to himself. Otherwise, Zeonid will want to resolve all issues by force alone, which he will most likely do, however, this is up to him to decide, not me. I, in turn, wanted to help them not to lose even more people because of us, and even more so our support, which they vitally need. "Do you want the princess to represent the kingdom?" The old man asked me seriously and I nodded in response. "You can go with her." I suggested it to him and he immediately agreed. "Okay." Well, that''s great. I was glad that the old man didn''t argue with me. Soon the first battle for Ran will come to an end, and immediately after that the second battle for Ran will begin, which will not be as desperate as this one. This time we will win, but what will happen to this kingdom only the general knows. I can only guess... he will suck everything out of here to the last drop. Chapter 76: The First Fallen Hero I couldn''t believe my eyes when I saw it. Huge flying metal palaces or... castles, I can¡¯t describe in words these strange things in the sky. I felt like a triumphal orchestra began to play in Boris¡¯s soul, and he himself grinned maliciously when he saw this in the sky. And then I immediately realized what it was. As soon as the heavenly fortresses rumbled, showering the earth with monstrous flames, I protected myself with magic and hastened to hide. But no matter how hard I tried, the red-hot steel wounded my flesh, again disfiguring me before the eyes of my master. Blood streamed from my hand, something passed right through and left behind nothing but pain and emptiness. This something could destroy me. This is not like those steel things from dark artifacts that are used as weapons, not at all. This is much worse and more deadly than I could have imagined. For so many years of my life, I have seen this only once, when I first encountered the dark ones, and then they were completely different, one might even say that they were more than understandable, but what I saw now... these are some strange things. I didn¡¯t understand what was happening, everyone around me was dying, all the threads of my dolls were broken one after another. I was losing control, I was further and further from my goal. I was scared to death that for such a catastrophe I would fall out of favor with Mr. Verhein and I understood that I could not allow this. I had to do something, but what? Holding my wounded hand, I accumulated a huge amount of magic inside me, I tried to figure out a way to get out of this situation. I could use the cult, but it is needed elsewhere, but I had no other choice. I had to do something or I would lose everything I had worked so hard for all these many years. Under the terrible roar of the heavenly palaces, I hid behind the house, surrounded by rubble and corpses, I looked at the huge iron castle and how it, emitting flames, stayed in the sky and with its loud nasty whistle swept away the dust in whirlwinds, carrying it through the streets of the city. Monstrous creatures, clad in black steel, appeared in the castle, and with a fiery storm they swept away everyone who stood in their way. I tried to concentrate on understanding who they were and what they needed, but I didn¡¯t have to think for long because I already knew who they were and what they needed. These are Boris''s nice friends and they arrived to him just in time, as apparently he wanted. If I had known that this would happen, I would not have wasted my time on entertainment, and now I was on the verge of death. I had to hurry and finish what I started, but I lost the moment and lost everything I had achieved for so long. This won''t happen again. No... I will never truly die. I was very aware and, letting go of the wounded rune, I began to collect sparks in my palms. Magic flowed throughout her body, filling every part of it with energy and draining the last drops of vitality from her dead remains. I imagined in my mind a thunderstorm and how it would sweep away entire mountains in its path, or rather not even like that. Closing my eyes, I remembered how a great fire storm swept away the mountains, leaving behind nothing but a destructive radiance that burned the flesh. Even the Gods would be powerless against such power that Verhein has bestowed upon me. This is exactly what I was going to use now. So piece by piece I collected it, ball lightning, which has such enormous and destructive power that it is capable of destroying an entire city. Although no... it is capable of wiping an entire country off the face of the world. This is the most powerful spell in my arsenal, and I had difficulty controlling its effect on my body. The mana was so dense that it materialized right inside my body, damaging the flesh from the inside and bringing me even more pain and emptiness. Black vines began to spread from my palm, like fast-growing tree roots, taking over parts of my body. The heat radiating from my hands was too great. This is a dangerous monstrous power that is not subject to anyone, not even the Gods, and it belongs to me, only to me. A smug smile could not help but appear on my face, knowing that no one could resist such power. For this I must thank Mr. Verhein, the only one in this world I love. Well... it''s time to kill the sky people and bring down their insignificant palaces to the ground. With my eyes I had already determined the purpose of this destructive spell. My gaze fell on the iron castle, which again rose into the sky and again began to rain death on this city. As if hearing me, I directed my power towards this thing. Having evaporated a row of corpses around me, ball lightning the size of a human head instantly rushed into the sky, leaving no trace behind it. Everything happened quickly, imperceptibly for the human eye, but to my regret nothing happened as if nothing had happened. "WHAT?!" I clearly saw how ball lightning crashed into this flying castle. I knew perfectly well what was going to happen. A huge gaping hole should have appeared in the castle, the beast should have not just been wounded, but completely destroyed, should have evaporated and shattered into many fragments. But what I saw made me stare at the sky in shock and fall to my knees. The iron castle simply absorbed my spell, as if all this energy, capable of demolishing entire mountains, capable of defeating insignificant Gods, meant nothing to it. "W-what... happened?" I wondered, I had to understand what happened and why the spell just disappeared. What''s wrong with this flying iron... iron? And then I understood everything. "Ah... that''s it." Blinking my eyes, I seemed to wake up from a long-term sleep and an epiphany fell on me. I finally understood everything and thanks to this I began to understand everything else. This castle is made of iron, it is all made of iron, even from the inside. It is a kind of giant lightning rod that absorbs the power of lightning so zealously that it is capable of absorbing such monstrous magical power.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. This does not mean that this monster is invincible, far from it. This means that I need to be a hunter and find a way to bring this huge carcass to the ground once and for all. I need to come up with a way that will help me overcome him, and fortunately I already understood how I need to act and what exactly I need to do. However, to my regret, I now did not have the means that would help me bring down this monster, but I am sure that someday, when I am ready, I will definitely be able to bring down the iron castle to the ground, but for now let him live with a constant feeling of hunger . "Moon!" The pain reminded me again of injections somewhere from the inside. Blood continued to stream from my wound. I had practically exhausted my magical powers and was on the verge of death. To make matters worse, I felt someone¡¯s presence behind me, and I quickly realized who it belonged to. From his disgusting singing of the soul, I already gritted my teeth and angrily muttered hoarsely: "Man." Turning back, I saw him, a man dressed in pure white aristocratic attire. There was no mistaking him for anyone, especially his expressive black eyes, which contrasted sharply with his short white locks of hair. He grinned maliciously and glamorously, walking around the burnt corpses as if not wanting to touch the dirt under his feet. Every sound he made, every word he said was disgusting and unbearable to listen to. ¡°Hello, Swidok. How are you? Oh... apparently I asked in vain. I see you have problems. Was that very legend of the world unable to complete such an easy task?¡± "You''re annoying me." I couldn¡¯t stand this son of a bitch, his sarcastic tone of speech, even his dick was so callous that it didn¡¯t bring any pleasure to my shell. He spread his arms looking at what was happening around him, and his black eyes gaped with madness. This was his usual behavior, he always found chaos and chaos fascinating, that''s the kind of person he was. A man who hates this world. ¡°It¡¯s impolite to treat your elders like that. By the way, I¡¯m your old ancestor, if I haven¡¯t forgotten.¡± "Go away, you stupid moron. I don''t want to hear you." I turned away from him and began to barely walk in the opposite direction, but Adam instantly appeared in front of me as soon as he snapped his fingers. He may be weak in body, but he has the strength to be wherever he wants, if of course he can survive there. "Oh yeah? Well then I won''t save you." I grinned. "And why do you have to save me?" "Because the tree of fate has changed. A new prophecy is carved in the stone and your name is written in it." "My name?" I was surprised. The demonic tree of fate carves the future on its trunk. Thanks to him, demons always know everything in advance, and people have repeatedly tried to burn it, organizing their useless military campaigns. The fact that my name can be written on it means that I can globally influence our entire world. If this is so, then a fun life awaits me in the future, without a drop of peace. Meanwhile, Adam continued to grin: ¡°Yes. Can you imagine? I can quote everything word for word if you want. Listen to me carefully, don¡¯t miss a word. So... ahem-ahem... ¡°In the cycle of chaos, the last legend of the world will fall, her death will mark the beginning of an era of destruction, a war between two heavenly nations, and there will be no end to suffering until the very end of time. Only a hero who gives light of hope will save this world.¡±¡­ So how? Like?" I clicked my tongue. "Where''s my name, idiot?" "Aren''t you a legend of the world?" "I''m not the last." "Are you sure?" "Absolutely." While we were arguing here, I heard two iron castles land somewhere in the distance outside the city walls, and then I finally understood what Adam meant. They surround the city and clear it of enemies. I''m surrounded and I can''t get out of here on my own. "Damn it!" I swore. "It''s strange to hear this from the damned." Adam commented sarcastically. "Shut your mouth and get me out of here before there are black crumbs left of you!" ¡°Yes, yes, yes, I understand, now everything will be done.¡± Adam snapped his fingers, and in an instant I was in another place. "Done." I fell on my butt to the ground. "I see you still want to watch my disaster." I said, seeing the walls of a burning city in the distance behind the treetops. Adam stood next to me with a smile, looked into the distance and said: "People have changed so much during all this time. Hah~! This really won''t save them." "How''s Eve?" My taunt instantly killed all the joy on Adam¡¯s face. He literally boiled when he heard the name of his beloved: "DON''T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME!" Now it was my time to grin while I healed my wounds with magic along the way. I stood up and said: ¡°Of all the people, only you have not changed. You continue to hold on to everything old, everything dead, as if it brings you happiness.¡± "You''re too petty to talk about such things." "And you''re too old to let it all go. You could have died with her if you hadn''t tasted that fruit." Adam remained silent in response to my words. Surely he had heard this many, many times already from a variety of people who had heard the story of the first man, the first hero who saved the human race from destruction. He was at a loss for words for a while, but looking at Ran, he seemed lost in thought. After remaining silent for some time, he finally found something to say: ¡°So what? What¡¯s wrong with the fact that I prefer just one woman in my life, rather than many? I¡¯m ready to sacrifice this whole damn race that I never wanted to protect.¡± ¡°You never wanted to protect people? It¡¯s a lie. You ate the fruit of eternal life in order to save the whole world, and now you say that you would trade the whole world for just one? Yes... you people are absolutely wonderful creatures. It¡¯s sickening.¡± "Weren''t you human?" I nodded. ¡°I believed that I had to protect the human race from misfortunes like monsters, inhumans or demons. But Verhein opened my eyes to this callous, rotten world. It is full of evil, lies, it is monstrously unfair to everyone who lives in it. There is no place for true love. I was imbued with his feelings, his sincere curiosity and swore allegiance to him in order to finally understand... whether this world is worthy of a second chance." No matter how many die, no matter how much they suffer, they are not me, it is not me who will face death and depravity. I will swim in a sea of ??pleasure, in lust and sweetness. Only the realization that Verhein stands above this world will bring me the most joy and peace. Even looking at Ran, I understand that even though I did not achieve everything that I wanted and what my master wanted, I gave him a reason to reconsider everything that he, his servants and I knew. The main question for today concerned these very heavenly people. I know very well that no other worlds exist, that these people are fakes, created by the Gods and yet... they are too different, too unlike us, as if they are from another era, from another life, completely alien to us. The dark ones, in contrast to them, could be understood, they were disgusted with life, absolutely any that they met, but they... Boris¡¯s friends seemed to have completed the matter and followed their paths further, not knowing what awaits them at the very end. "Stupid child." Said Adam. "Verhein has long been convinced that as long as humanity exists, evil also exists." "I totally understand that...you stupid moron." ¡°I see you have recovered. Are you ready to tell the master all the details of your failure?¡± I nodded, although I slightly shrank from fear, expecting the most terrible punishments that he could send me. I know that I will not escape responsibility, I know that I had to finish what I started at any cost and that is why I will again sacrifice myself, my body, my beauty in order to finish off humanity once and for all. Chapter 77. Beginning of Negotiations In the throne room, shining with luxury, the atmosphere seemed oppressive. The princess, looking at the strangers, involuntarily shook with fear, or rather, the hands of Furgur, who was holding her body, shook while both looked at the massive soldiers in combat suits with powerful weapons at the ready. Opposite the soldiers stood a small delegation of nobles from the kingdom of Lakuus. Considering how many of them are left, it is not difficult to guess that now they are not deciding anything here and that they are forced to be nothing more than observers in these negotiations. Among the massive soldiers, there was a not so massive, but majestic figure dressed in a dark blue uniform, whose cloak barely touched the marble floor and the scarlet carpet covered on top. This was a man decorated with medals for his many years of military service in the far corners of the Republic. An old man with different-colored eyes, blue and brown, with a stern face, wrinkles on his forehead and gray hair hidden under his cap. He looked sternly at the natives with his arms crossed behind his back. On both sides of him stood paratroopers with machine guns, ready at any moment to shoot anyone who came within a meter of the general with bad intentions. However, this also applied to good intentions. Among this entire earthly delegation, I stood along with all the surviving soldiers of the platoon. To be honest, I no longer care about the fate of these natives and the fate of this kingdom, even if the general decides to shoot them all, but I will finally be among my own people and strive to go home to Earth. My boys and I finally felt a little more comfortable despite the time spent on this damn anomalous planet. Now I no longer have to rack my brains every day over pressing questions like how to get out of this asshole of the universe and not die. Now I will receive orders from above from my senior ranks and carry them out as protocol requires. I was sincerely glad that I could now serve humanity as I always knew how to serve. Apparently that¡¯s why the past ten years have not been great for my career growth, but now that I¡¯ve thought about it, I¡¯ve finally realized it. At the same time, I thought about how to somehow repay the kindness shown to me by Granid and the representatives of Lakuus, and also thought about how to help the Hippolytes, whom we met first on this planet. In order not to feel lousy, I firmly decided to lobby the interests of Lakuus. I will try my best to make sure everything turns out fair for both parties. It is impossible to say with certainty whether I will succeed or not, but I will do everything in my power. Such will be my gratitude. The general, meanwhile, briefly glanced in my direction and looked away a moment later, thereby making it clear to me that he had quite a lot of questions. However, this was to be expected, but now the main thing is different, namely the Lakuus delegation. Seeing how the princess in the mercenary¡¯s arms trembled slightly, seeing those who had just saved their country by flying in on huge shuttles was in the order of things. At the moment, she is the head of this state and is obliged to represent it, even if she was not ready for this. She probably couldn¡¯t even think about it, that she would become a queen right now. Fortunately for her, Krezhd, a military adviser, will help her, but for some reason I doubt that his help will be worth anything, especially after what we did here. The old man himself and the members of the royal council tried to make stern grimaces on their faces, but they themselves, giving in under the pressure of the cold eye sockets of the helmets of the alien soldiers, obediently lowered their eyes down. For some time, silence hung in the throne room, and the aristocrats behind the delegation whispered among themselves, waiting to see how these unequal negotiations would go. After some time, a fighter approached through the open double doors with the roar of massive armor, after which I heard a familiar female voice: "This is Captain Kurogawa. I have arrived with a report on the results of the current operation." General Zeonid nodded, signaling to the Captain that she could continue her report, which she did: "Operation "Black Angels" was completed successfully. There are no casualties of personnel. Patrols have been organized in the city. Outside the populated area, reconnaissance drones are conducting surveillance. According to primary data, an army of three thousand people is approaching the city, technologically backward, the same with which we fought There is a battle here. The shuttles are ready to take off and launch a preemptive missile strike on the enemy. The locals are hiding in their houses and are not showing aggression. Just in case, we are. We are preparing humanitarian areas, but we don¡¯t know if our synthetic diet will be suitable for them. We need to adjust the replicators to the needs of the local residents.¡± After listening to the report, Captain General Zeonid turned to me with a hoarse voice: "Second Lieutenant, do you have anything to add?" I nodded, standing at attention, as befits my position in the 127th Army. "That''s right, sir. Platoon C1-2-2-D4 lost one soldier, Glade with the rank of sergeant. At the moment, we are out of ammunition, there are no cartridges or mines left. In terms of food, we have long switched to a local diet, having used up all our rations. We can help set up the replicators, but for this we will also need the help of one of the natives with whom we previously managed to establish contact." Hearing my words, Zeonid took off his breathing mask and coughed, and then sat down on the throne, crossed his palms and said to me: ¡°We won¡¯t observe formalities today, Boris. I want to congratulate you all on the successful completion of the operation, but before we distribute additional rations to the participants, I want to ask a number of questions and of course...¡± The general glanced at the frightened princess. ¡°I would like to talk with the aborigines. Junior lieutenant, as I understand it, you have already mastered their language, can you act as a translator?¡± As if I know their language. I sighed sadly and answered. "Sorry sir, but I can''t." Zeonid blinked a little in surprise at what he heard. "And how is this to be understood?" I put my hand in my pocket, took out the ring from the stem and, coming closer, handed it into the hands of the general. ¡°At first glance, this is just a stem twisted into a ring, but in fact it is an artifact that allows you to understand the speech of the natives and, of course, speak their language.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Looking at me in disbelief, and then at the ring, the general took off the glove from his left hand and put the green ring on his index finger. ¡°Fa sogut di¡¯la vehri tu¡¯tarf?¡± "General?" Captain Kurogawa said, slightly taken aback by what Zeonid had just said. "What did you just say?" Before the general opened his mouth, I hastened to explain: ¡°You can still understand English, but speech in the Lakuus language will now come out of your mouth, and you will also be able to understand them in your native language. We really don¡¯t understand you without the same ring, so I think you should take it off for now.¡± Having removed the ring, the general turned to the Captain: ¡°Did you really not understand what I just said?¡± Captain Kurogawa shook her head. "You did say something in another language. I confirm that." The general, clearly not believing what had happened, laughed a couple of times. "Yeah, that''s... hah... that just can''t be." "It''s magic." I scratched my head and said. "Magic?" "There is no clear definition for this phenomenon yet, but in English it would mean magic. Fred insists that we refer to this as "anomalous energy." He has collected some data on this phenomenon. I want to assure you, sir, that forty people after the crash We lost precisely because of the magic that the natives used. However... however, I think I¡¯ll write about everything that happened in a detailed report. Now I think it¡¯s best for you to focus on something else.¡± "Okay... we''ll discuss this later." The general said and put the ring on his index finger, I did the same, realizing that now there would be questions from Princess Ilifreeta, who looked at us more with fear than with curiosity. A few more moments of silence and the general spoke: "So, inhabitants of this world... We come in peace. Greetings... here." These words made the royal nobility slightly worried, and not only her, but the princess too. "G-greetings to you." Ilifreeta said and then turned to Furgur. "Put me down." "I obey." The master of the bow answered and then laid the girl on a pre-prepared chair next to them. Having sat down more comfortably, the princess, or rather the queen, spoke with a proud look: "My name is Ilifreeta, I am the queen of the kingdom of Lakuus, mistress of these lands." From her face one could see how she was a little worried, hiding her fear behind a stone mask, but the droplets of sweat flowing down her temples spoke of her uncertainty and extreme caution. Zeonid clearly noticed this, judging by the barely visible grin on his face. "I am General Zeonid Kudrinash, commander of the 127th Army of the Republic Human Forces of the Federated Human Republic of Earth." The general answered her. "Nice to meet you." So far everything is going smoothly. I sighed with relief, and meanwhile the princess, bowing her head, continued: "Thank you with all my heart for saving us, people from heaven. Without you, we would already be dead." "Well...glad you appreciate it." Zeonid said with a slight frown, and then added sternly. ¡°However, we are not here to save you further. We came to return our people to the 127th Army.¡± "I understand this perfectly, dear general." The princess answered humbly, and trembling began to appear in her voice. ¡°We owe you our lives, but the danger has not yet passed our people. Enemies will soon besiege the walls of our city again. The rebellious nobility and the main contender for the throne, the brother of my late father. I ask you to help us.¡± "No." The general answered with his arms crossed. "Why should we help you? What can you offer us? Personally, I think that we have everything we need to get out of here. Moreover..." Raising his right hand up, the general gave an unspoken signal, according to which all the paratroopers raised the barrels of their rifles towards the natives, including Princess Ilifreeta. ¡°Moreover, we have power that you do not currently possess. If we want, we will kill you all and take away what we need, books, people, artifacts... and much more. We, however, only need our people for now , and we are not going to play diplomacy." "Sir," I turned to Zeonid, a little worried about the princess and what was happening. ¡°I think it¡¯s not worth provoking a conflict with them now.¡± "Conflict? No, junior lieutenant, they are too weak for a conflict between us." The general said sternly, when suddenly an echo of approaching light stomping was heard in the throne room. Three figures, magicians, entered through the double doors of the throne room, past the paratroopers guarding the entrance, who fought with Swidok until reinforcements arrived. Granid, Camellia and Incartia in person. Some of the trunks were pointed in their direction, but they did not show fear, but on the contrary, they were confident and firm. ¡°Who else is this?¡± Zeonid said dissatisfied. "These are the strongest people in this room, sir." I answered, starting to reach with my hand for the holster with the pistol. "Those who skillfully wield anomalous energy, that is, magic. They are called magicians." "Maggie?" The general grinned, clearly not believing what he heard. ¡°Have you fooled my subordinate?¡± "Do you want to check it out?" Camellia said sarcastically, fixing her scarlet eyes on the old general. "May I die, the lousy dog." The general said, and then sharply widened his eyes and slammed his hands over his mouth. Zeonid looked at the girl in surprise and barely removed his hands and now looked at the magicians with a slightly different look. ¡°That...what was that? Did you do that?¡± "General?" Captain Kurogawa said turning towards Zeonid. "What just happened?" "I... I didn''t say what I wanted. It''s like... like I was being manipulated... like a doll." Can she do that too? I was surprised, looking at the white-haired sorceress. Camellia, meanwhile, came forward and introduced herself: ¡°If you decide to use force here, then know that we will defend our world.¡± "My name is Granid, I am a free wizard." The old magician bowed. "My name is Incartia, student of Granid." The dark-haired woman bowed next. "I am Camellia, adventurer." Finally, the white-haired woman bowed. Zeonid still looked at the magicians with some fear, and then glanced at me. "This is true?" I nodded. "Yes, sir, they really are magicians." "This can''t be true!" Zeonid looked in shock. "What... what... I thought... I thought we... forget it." I don¡¯t know what the general wanted to say, but he was clearly in shock and had his own thoughts about this phenomenon. Maybe he had some theory in his head to explain the actions of this ability, or maybe something else. The paratroopers did not know what to do, continuing to aim at the natives and magicians, but looking at me, the general, after several deep breaths and exhalations, turned to the natives again. "Okay. I understand. You have power, but that doesn''t mean we will help you. We''ll take our people and leave here immediately." "Your right to do so." Granid''s hoarse voice sounded and he raised his head towards the general and continued. ¡°However, you must understand that without knowledge there is no strength, and without strength there is no life. You will not survive in our world without knowledge about it.¡± "We will find this knowledge." Zeonid said, looking at me again and then asking. "What do you think, Boris?" "Sir, I''ll tell it like it is. I''m not crazy, but I think they should still be helped." Zeonid frowned at the words he heard. "Why would we? What benefit does this have for us?" ¡°The information that I currently have suggests that Granid is right. Without knowledge about this world, we will not survive, not to mention the fact that traces of the Pantorians have been discovered here.¡± Hearing the last word, all the paratroopers in the throne room flinched. The word ¡°P¡± alone inspired more horror than the most vivid nightmares and the horrors of unprecedented wars in the far corners of the Republic. The presence here of those who once destroyed half of humanity and buried a third of the entire galaxy in ruins and interstellar dust cannot but inspire horror. Of course, after this the general became more serious, more strict and calmer. Maybe he doesn¡¯t know what dangers lurk on this planet, but he knows for sure that the Pantorians here are a huge threat that we will have to reckon with in one case or another. Zeonid rose from the throne and fixed his gaze on Camellia, who now looked at him not as sarcastically as before. Now she seemed to be herself, a little ridiculous and timid. "I''ve made my decision." Zeonid said nodding. "We will cooperate with you." Chapter 78. In the New Generation Pharaoh Base has transformed from a military installation into a network of outposts scattered across the desert. In many areas, huge machines are digging quarries, and droids of various types are distributing ore from the extracted material, placing them in different piles, which are then raked up by combat vehicles that now carry out the task of transporting them. Combat vehicles that were previously involved in combat operations against insectoids are now busy transporting piles of stones and raw ore to facilities where droids work along with soldiers removed from their main positions. The only things not involved are shuttles, drones and overly-needed equipment. Processing resources is a difficult process; first of all, ore is smelted in smelters, then heat treated and made into blanks for their further production process. The base also operates replicators, which were supposed to eliminate the process of ore mining for the construction of critical facilities, but the available energy reserves are barely enough for food needs, not to mention using them to create all the necessary parts. It is precisely for this purpose that the Pharaoh base operates using a more outdated and classic production method, without significantly expending its limited energy reserves. By order of the general, projects have been launched for the construction of energy facilities, where various methods will generate electricity for replicators, equipment and other equipment necessary for the functioning of the Pharaoh base. Fortunately, during the evacuation of the 127th Army RAFOM from the cruiser Zeus, equipment for planetary and asteroid mining, as well as smelting and production modules using the classical production method, were captured. Despite the available means, everything came down to energy, which was barely enough to maintain the operation of equipment, droids and replicators. Within a month, it was possible to organize some mining of minerals that were discovered by scanning the earth rocks under the surface of the planet; all that remained was to extract them. But there were not enough workers for this process, and therefore almost the entire personnel of the 127th Army had to be involved in the activity. There were no more than ten thousand soldiers left at the combat posts at observation points around the Pharaoh base, in addition to them there should have been another one and a half thousand elite fighters who had flown off with the general a little earlier to save the Boris Kipito detachment. At this time, in parallel with this, a scientific center was working, headed by the former Captain of ¡°Zeus¡±, Arman Homeric, who is now studying the bodies of xorxes and the planet itself. The research center also contained data for the production of the necessary components and parts for the new ship that would one day bring all people home. Many fighters already understood that their lives would now change forever, that they would stay here for a long time and in order to return home they needed to devote all of themselves to work, all their strength to complete such a difficult task. However, having with you only the equipment that was able to be evacuated from the ship, as well as a good hundred thousand souls, it will not be easy to complete the task within the minimally optimistic period, which for many was ten years. Many understood this very well and were already beginning to become despondent and say goodbye to their loved ones, whom they would never see again. Colonel Yuna Sherwood, head of the 127th Army''s Information and Logistics Division RAFOM, took on the responsibility of managing such complex projects, gathering the best minds from the Zeus crew and the 127th Army to assign them to key positions and begin working on large-scale base construction. Pharaoh and later the ship of Exodus. On a huge desert stretching like infinity, hundreds of huge shuttles stood in an even formation, located from each other, between which were located modules and ground equipment, among which tens of thousands of people and droids worked. This was the Pharaoh base, which was nothing more than a field with temporary man-made objects. In the center of this entire aerospace park are the first base buildings, a scientific facility, smelting shops, residential modules, garages and other buildings. One section of this entire area was flat and cleared; in that place it was planned in the future to build a parade ground for a spaceport from which the first rockets with payload would take off and where the long-awaited ship would be assembled from them in orbit. Next to this huge empty field there is a command post, to which Yuna Sherwood was returning from another meeting with her subordinates. She entered her modestly furnished office, which had no windows inside, only the glow of screens on her desk and piles of wires scattered on the floor. Having given further management responsibilities to her deputy, the girl, letting her hair down, sits down on a chair, starting to click on the touch keyboard with light touches and then gets in touch with General Zeonid. "Colonel Sherwood on the line." "General Kudrinash is in touch." Both greeted each other while looking at the screens. Zeonid saw a dark room and the illuminated, tired face of the girl, but which was still just as stern and confident. Opposite her, Yuna saw a stone room lit by candles or torches, and judging by her posture, she could determine that the general was in a sitting position and was clearly not alone. "Do you have news for me?" The general asked the girl, and she hastened to nod and began her story. ¡°Yes, sir. The general plan for our further actions has already been drawn up, but some issues have arisen that require your personal decision. I received information from you this morning and I must admit that I am a little surprised at what you and the junior lieutenant managed to find there.¡± Zeonid nodded several times, also not hiding his surprise at what he saw in that native settlement. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s for sure. Our negotiations are bearing first fruits. We are trying not to come into conflict with these natives. They must understand that our resources are limited and we can do little to help them. A few more flights and the fuel reserves on the shuttles may not be enough for our return to Pharaoh." "One of the questions is about politics." Yuna said leaning forward and, slightly adjusting herself in her chair, continued.¡± Our scanners have detected mineral deposits and the droids have already begun mining them. But the spectrograph''s preliminary assessment suggests that denser, richer ore deposits lie deeper beneath thicker, stronger rock layers. To mine them, it is necessary to use asteroid laser drills, but they will require significant energy reserves when used, and those ores that are located closer to the surface mostly contain Aluminum, Tungsten, Iron and Gold, and we will have the most of the latter, almost in a tenfold surplus . At the moment, we critically need Nickel and Titanium, as well as radioactive isotopes. The general frowned. "You said this question was about politics." ¡°I¡¯m getting closer to this, sir. So, since we managed to establish contact with the local civilization, we could melt down the mined gold and exchange it for Nickel they may have. Surely we can buy it back, since it is difficult to process with classical blacksmiths means, the natives do not need this resource, but we do." ¡°Are you proposing to start trading ores with them?¡± Yuna nodded. "That''s right, sir. I think contact with a primitive civilization will be very useful to us, and will also save significant resources that we would need to mine deeper rocks of minerals, whose composition is yet to be determined." "I''ll think about it."Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Zeonid thought. ¡°I think we will somehow be able to organize the supply of gold ore in exchange for Nickel and Titanium. By the way, why Nickel? What is it for?¡± ¡°Since we have a primary need to provide energy for our technical needs, we need to produce a number of semiconductors for energy equipment such as solar panels, wind generators and possibly future fusion plants. We could also use xorxes biomass to generate energy, and also use them to produce fuel for our equipment , including oxidizers for the rocket boosters of our shuttles. We can say that this resource will be the most necessary at first, but until more serious ones begin. production cycles of our work." "Now I understand." The general nodded. "I will try to organize trade between our... sides." "Fine." Yuna answered briefly and then moved on to the next question. ¡°Another topic concerns the production of a jump engine. Antimatter is vital for its operation, and in a very huge volume. Having gone through all the options, we realized that we will not be able to create a new jump engine even in a hundred years, since there is time for construction at least for one collider will be significant and very expensive, and it will also be necessary to select a quiet area where extremely low tectonic activity will be observed." "What are you getting at?" "What I''m getting at, sir, is that we won''t have a jump drive and we''ll probably have to worry about building a generation ship." Zeonid sighed displeasedly upon hearing these words. Now he realized that his adventure to destroy the swarm queen with the help of a jump engine backfired and now Zeonid will pay severely for it. It is unlikely that anyone would like the idea that you are tens, hundreds of light years from home and will never return back. Only your descendants will be able to do this, having lived for decades inside a ship flying through extremely aggressive and dangerous interstellar space. "Shit." Zeonid swore. ¡°Without a jump drive, a flight to the nearest Republic star will take a whole decade or more. And this is not to mention the fact that people will not be able to spend so much time in interstellar space without more serious protection from cosmic radiation. Even advanced electromagnetic protection in the form of artificial particle fields will not help protect against the entire spectrum of radiation." "That''s right sir, so I want to hear your opinion on this." Zeonid thought for a moment, shook his head from time to time, squinted his eyes, but in the end he resignedly agreed. "Okay. We''ll build a generation ship, but if at some point we find out that we can build a jump drive, then we should take advantage of it." "Speaking of possibilities, how about finding Panthor technology on the planet?" "No." Zeonid immediately shook his head. ¡°This is impossible. Even if we can somehow find their ship somewhere, we will not be able to understand the operation of their interdimensional engine, it will certainly require the energy of an entire Barnard. We will not waste time on this. This, not to mention that even the simplest Panthorian technologies will be difficult to learn." "Okay. I understand you." Yuna nodded, continuing to ask questions. "Speaking of a generation ship, how about we reorganize Pharaoh Base into a full-fledged Republic colony?" Zeonid¡¯s eyes widened at such a question, but did not shy away from answering. ¡°This will not be an easy task. The first step will be to disband the 127th Army and build a colonial political system. Part of the army will have to be retained as a garrison and special forces. And also... and we will also have to build schools, kindergartens, medical institutions, civil infrastructure, supermarkets and... and this... would be undesirable if we want to fly away from here." ¡°You are right, sir, but the work of returning home requires not only our forces and resources, but also competent organizational management. The fighters are already unhappy with the fact that they are carrying out tasks of transporting goods and searching for mining sites, instead of their main tasks. Disbandment The army will make most of them civilians and allow them to effectively carry out the required work; if possible, we could even use the labor of the natives if they are trained in the necessary skills and so on." It was hard to disagree with this, but doubt still flashed in Zeonid¡¯s eyes. Who knows for sure, but General Kudrinash was not going to meet his death on this planet. Seeing these doubts on Zeonid''s face, Yuna pressed slightly. ¡°We all understand our current situation, but turning the Pharaoh base into a permanent colony in the near future will make our work much more convenient, simpler and most importantly more effective. Moreover, I can even predict that after the reorganization not everyone will want to return home, but in the time spent many can have a couple and even children. Eusberia can become a real home for many if we really stay here for a long time." ¡°Of course, I understand all this, but personally I don¡¯t want the dissolution of the 127th Army to instill in our people the idea that we are here not just for a long time, but maybe even forever. We all have relatives on Earth, the Moon, Mars, on other planets of the Republic, who are probably worried about us and probably think that we have disappeared somewhere in subspace. Morally, I cannot make such a decision at the moment.¡± ¡°Sir, do not consider it disrespectful, according to the charter I will be entitled to this and therefore I insist on accepting this proposal. We previously discussed this issue with the control center, everyone was unanimous FOR the reorganization of the Pharaoh base into a colony of the Federative Human Republic of Earth. Perhaps in the future this will add legitimacy to us, the right to control this planet." The general, in his old age, bit his lip and yet, after thinking about this question many times, he finally agreed. "If you think about it like that, it will help us in the long run. So, does that mean I have to run for president?" ¡°I have to correct you, sir. A colony is usually run by a governor, not a president.¡± "Well, we''ve settled that issue. Is there anything else?" Yuna nodded. ¡°Yes, sir. Having studied the preliminary information about the kingdom of Lakuus, we cannot help but note the existence on this planet of the so-called anomalous energy, which the inhabitants of this planet can use for their own purposes. From the information received, it can be assumed that this energy or perhaps the ability can be related to Far''fel." "Red Angels." The general guessed, immediately understanding what he was talking about. ¡°As far as I know, the red angels are the only creatures in the galaxy capable of controlling multiple types of energy with the power of their thoughts. Studying their technologies is impossible for the rest of the civilizations of the galaxy, just like they cannot study the technologies of other civilizations. We are too different to be able to conveniently contact each other, not to mention sharing technology." "I daresay that the Far''felian may also be trapped on this planet and have somehow made their ability to manipulate energy widespread." ¡°That is, they shared their technologies with those with whom they could not do it before?¡± ¡°This is just a theory, sir. These iron life forms live in extremely exotic conditions, their home planet is heated to five thousand degrees Kelvin, and among other creatures they can only exist in special heat-insulating spacesuits. Of course, they can do without them, but then With their heat they emit, they kill all living creatures at a distance of up to a kilometer from themselves." The general¡¯s gaze from the words he heard smacked of boredom and Yuna realized that she needed to get closer to the point. ¡°I think that they may be on this planet and most likely, of their own free will, share their abilities to control various types of energy.¡± ¡°That is, to allow other living beings to control various types of energy of their own free will? Let¡¯s say you¡¯re right, but then the question arises: why do they need this?¡± ¡°So this is just a theory, because we don¡¯t know the exact answer, sir. Although I can assume that they are doing this in order to help other beings survive on this planet, and also take advantage of their power and get out of this planet. If this If confirmed, we may be able to gain an advantage that will help us speed up the construction of the generation ship. We may even be able to somehow obtain antimatter and recreate the jump drive. Based on this data, I can assume that not only people are trapped on this planet. but also representatives of other alien species who flew here from all corners of the galaxy. The anomaly that throws ships out of subspace into this planetary system is most likely vast and can reach a diameter of at least one light year." "If there are other alien species trapped here, why have they degenerated?" ¡°I cannot know the answer to this question, sir. Only an assumption that this may be the work of those ¡°Gods¡±, that is, energy beings who use life on the planet as their own entertainment, and therefore keep the level of development of civilization at an insufficient level so as not to feel threatened by them. Perhaps before the appearance of the Pantorians, the level of development could have been at the level of an early space civilization, but now this planet is extremely behind." "This theory is too crazy." Zeonid shook his head. "I don''t want to bother myself with this crap right now." "Understood, sir." Yuna answered indifferently, secretly slightly glad that she had solved the most pressing problems for today. ¡°For now, we will stick to the plan. When we receive more information, we will discuss our actions again. Even if we find out that not only people are locked on this planet, it is unlikely that we will be able to get everyone out of here. Previously, I did not find any here ancient legends about coming from the sky or something like that. They think that they were created by the Gods or something like that, a classical primitive civilization, nothing more. So far it seems to me that we are the only ones who consider ourselves guests here. other planets." ¡°I understand, sir. In that case, there are still a few less important questions that require your answer.¡± The general nodded and continued to discuss with Yuna the affairs of the 127th Army, and now the Earth Protectorate of the planet Eusberia. Chapter 79. Curse (Part 1) The royal army was approaching the capital of the kingdom, the city of Ran, unhindered. A long path flowed through the forest from where a warlike symphony could be heard. The march of thousands of pairs of legs that trampled the ground with their boots, raising clouds of dust. In addition to the clatter of feet, one could hear the clatter of hooves, as well as the wooden crash of hundreds of loaded carts galloping over bumps. Separately from this army, in luxurious carriages decorated with golden patterns, noblemen rode at ease, as if on an idle hunt, peering into the distance with a bored look. Among these carriages, one stood out, where a boy and a girl of about ten with black hair did not take their eyes off the forest passing by. Seeing new places for an adult might not be so exciting and could lead to boredom, but for children such sights were just right. The young mind was always delighted to observe new things and not only new things, but also something very surprising and painfully familiar. ¡°And what did you see so interesting there?¡± An adult girl, dressed in a brown dress and a silver necklace around her neck, said with a theatrical yawn. She is the mother of these children, who, at the same time, slowly waved her fan in front of her face, slightly fogged up from the heat of the day. The boy, hearing his mother¡¯s voice, turned in her direction and pointed his finger outward and exclaimed enthusiastically: "Father is so powerful!" "Is it true?" The girl couldn¡¯t believe her ears and, looking outside, saw next to the carriage a young handsome man, clad in steel plate armor, galloping on an armored horse. Unnoticed by the children, the mother smiled seductively when she saw the sparkling gaze of the blue-eyed man heading in her direction, as if inviting her on a date, even though she knew that she could not leave her children alone, even with her servant. This man was her gentleman, her dearest husband and, of course, the father of these blossoming flowers of life. This man is known as Count Fion le Moykraff, lord of Tsaruz and its environs. "Mighty indeed." The woman said, caressing the children in a tight hug, making them giggle. ¡°And you will become the same if you listen to us. You want to grow up strong and beautiful?¡± "Yes, mom!" The boy answered her joyfully. "I will be the most, most beautiful!" The girl answered, which is why the mother could not help but hug them again and stroke them on the top of their heads. "I love you so much." The count was prevented from observing such a pleasant family idyll by another man who galloped closer to him and who was dressed in almost the same armor and, following the carriage with his eyes, said with contentment: "It''s jealous to see you have such a beautiful lady, brother." ¡°If you are jealous, then keep quiet and look for your betrothed yourself.¡± The count said with a smug grin, looking at the marching army. ¡°Better make sure that messages are delivered to the Duke on time. After all, we are at war and we need to remain vigilant.¡± "Yes, brother, it will be so." "I really hope so, Rayek." Fion commanded a force of a hundred men, mostly trained spearmen, whoever he could muster from his humble holdings. Despite this, of all the vassals of the royal family loyal to the prince, Monrid brought much more into the army than anyone else. This made other vassals of his overlord look askance at him, whisper disgustingly behind their backs, and from time to time the count was informed about rumors spreading among the commanders of the army. Obviously it was unpleasant for him to listen to this, but he did not show his displeasure and instead maintained a confident look on his face as if nothing was happening. To himself, however, he knew the reason for these bad rumors. Envy. A thought flashed through the count¡¯s head, knowing full well what everyone was whispering about. Fion received his title for his services to the kingdom. The people loved him and were ready to go to the ends of the earth to fight demons and vile non-humans. He is an excellent manager despite his such a young age, and is also handsome and strong. Other aristocrats were much older, with wrinkles on their faces, far past the peak of their strength, and they brought with them not only their much matured wives and sons, but also their mistresses, with whom they were in a hurry to have fun during night rests. A rather strange atmosphere reigned among the army, as if a certain aroma, quite pleasant and at the same time so sweetly poisonous, permeated the bone of each person. This aroma was felt not by the nose, but by the body, and therefore not everyone was able to smell it as Count Moykraff could do. You can call it a kind of premonition that is beyond the control of anyone other than him. Fion tried to maintain self-control by observing his surroundings. He constantly saw how from time to time quarrels arose among the soldiers, mainly from detachments subordinate to different vassals, and the reasons for these quarrels were quite stupid: they looked askance at each other, they sat in someone¡¯s place, they woke them up in the middle of the night, or by accident. pushed, someone did not share common water, and so on and so forth. This may have happened in the army, but only if they were exhausted, but this army was assembled quite recently and it does not seem that the soldiers were very exhausted, rather their feelings were replaced. The aristocrats themselves were no better, arrogant, greedy, evil, lustful, cynical and sickeningly deceitful. The Count looked at the faces of these noble people, but saw only maxis hidden behind gloomy expressions and strained smiles. Fion wanted to think that he was just imagining it, but no. Every day his paranoia about this strange unnaturalness only increased until finally the army reached the meeting place with the royal militia. However, what they all saw was a little shocking. "Oh Sod ¡­" Fion whispered. Prince Monrid''s camp was destroyed or may have been plundered by someone or even abandoned in retreat. There was no one here, just extinct fires and shit pits. In the bushes far from the tents lay corpses dressed in some rags. One soldier turned one of the corpses onto his back and saw instead of a face a skull soaked through with rot and insects, which quickly ran away in all directions. The stench of a corpse forced the soldier to cover his nose and mouth, unable to bear being near the dead man. From the terrible sight, the soldier hastened to step back and quietly pray to Sod. This person, whoever he was, had been dead for several months, but it was simply impossible! Prince Monrid was only able to gather his militia a couple of weeks ago, so why is there someone''s corpse lying here for months? This is simply impossible!If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. That''s what everyone thought until the soldier stated the following: "There are no injuries. This one died of exhaustion." "What?" Fion exclaimed, not believing his ears. "How is this possible?" "I don''t know, my lord. It''s as if the life had been drained out of him." Life had been drained out. These two words were well imprinted in the Count''s mind. All the most wonderful and at the same time terrible things are capable of doing only one thing and its name is magic. To create and destroy living things is one of the sides of this multifaceted force, beyond the control of most of those living today. No one knows for sure whether it is a gift from God or a stolen power of heaven. One thing is certain, this force is capable of doing many things, including what the Count saw before him. And it¡¯s not to say that those who were born with the gift of commanding magic were lucky in life, far from it. They are afraid of them, they are wary of them, they are trying to control them and even trying to exterminate them. The magicians themselves are like dangerous criminals, hiding from human eyes or trying not to show their powers, and only a few of them go on adventures. Far in the south there is even an entire country ruled by magicians, but in other countries they try to beware and avoid magicians. If this poor fellow was killed by a magician, then it was certainly not without reason. He is either from the army of that vile traitor, Draun Rudrin, or this soldier is the victim of a magician serving Prince Monrid. In any case, it is too early to draw hasty conclusions, so the count went to the rest of the commanders of the royal army to discuss further issues. "Fion, what happened?" Said an old man dressed in black armor. The sight of this elderly man was awe-inspiring, but if the soldiers had known that under his armor was hiding a skinny old man who could barely swing a sword, it is unlikely that anyone would have addressed him with the due respect that he receives. Even so, this man is none other than the Duke of Athen le Doursven, lord of the western lands of Lakuus and the one who assembled this army to come to the aid of the royal family. Fion, meanwhile, approached the Duke and answered with all respect: ¡°My lord, forgive me for bothering you. My people found a corpse, most likely dried out by magic. We don¡¯t know who the body belongs to, enemy or friend.¡± "No need, Count." Athen said with a wheeze and cough. "Even if the prince decided to launch an assault on the capital without us, then Ran has already been liberated and the time has come to fight Duke Fellrick." "I understand you, my lord." Fion frowned somewhat at the Duke''s smug face. Just a few days earlier he had been much more serious and cautious, but now he acted so relaxed or even lazy that he was ready to engage in battle with the first enemy he came across. It seemed that he was not at all surprised by the position of the royal camp near the walls of the city, he did not care, and therefore the count harbored new suspicions about what could be happening with the army. After some time, the Duke gathered all the commanders around and voiced his main order: "Let''s not stand still and wait for night to come. Let''s go to the city. Pack your things and move out." Before the Duke could turn away, Fion stepped forward and made a bold proposal: "Maybe first of all we should find out for sure if Ran is under the control of the prince? Otherwise we risk getting ambushed, right under the arrows of the Draunian degenerates." Athen looked at the count and grinned, as if Fion had just uttered some nonsense that was difficult to take seriously: ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, Fion. I¡¯m sure Monrid is already in a hurry to crown himself, which means he¡¯s waiting for us in the palace. In the end, he won¡¯t become king if he doesn¡¯t wait for his friends... oh, that is, his loyal subjects. And before that, I want to bring him a gift the head of his stupid uncle who came here to meet his death." The count, however, still could not agree with this decision, but he did not object strongly, otherwise he would have risked falling out of favor with his overlord, and therefore he, bowing his head and knee, humbly replied: "I understand you, my lord. I will hasten to gather the warriors and move to the vanguard." "Okay. Go ahead, Count Fion." Clenching his fists, the count went to give orders. The army did not wait for sunset in this abandoned camp and hurried to Ran to get there before dark. Soon the army began to move again, but after some time the count sensed the smell of blood around and someone¡¯s invisible glances, hiding either behind the trees or above. Looking at the twilight sky, he noticed a bird or maybe some strange reflections. They moved so fast and strangely that it really seemed like he was starting to go crazy. "A ray." The count turned to his brother. "What is it, Fion?" "Do you see this?" Rayek looked up at the sky, following his brother''s gaze, and after a few moments, he answered with a smile: "Yes, brother. The cloud is shaped like a shield. That''s a sign." "No, not that! About that weird... bird. Tsk~! It''s gone." Even though it was just a dot in the sky, it was truly strange. As soon as Fion looked away once, the sky became free of all living creatures that had been there just a moment ago. "Brother, you know me. My eyesight is not as good as yours to see birds above the clouds." "I thought I saw something." The count said with a bit of shock. Rayek, however, did not share his fear or his amazing discovery at all. "Even if it''s a bird, so what?" "It was a bird...flying strangely." Rayek, according to his brother, sighed dissatisfiedly and shook his head and said the following: ¡°You need to sleep, you¡¯re tired. I¡¯ll give you time before arriving in Ran, so that by this time you¡¯ll be as alert as a bull.¡± Although Fion was indeed tired, he did not want to lose sight of this strange... bird. She was not just some kind of sign, she inspired fear in him, as if these were someone¡¯s eyes that were watching her only for him, but also for everyone else. It seemed to him that these were the eyes of a powerful mind that was driving them into a trap. The Count did not want to be right in his terrible guesses, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to fall into a woman¡¯s arms. What''s the matter with me? Fion thought shaking his head and again smelling this strange aroma passing through his body, he succumbed to the persuasion of his younger brother. "You''re right, Rayek, I guess... I guess I''ll rest a little." "Sweet dreams." Having handed over the horse to his squire, Fion moved into the carriage, where a boy and a girl were snoring sweetly in the arms of a dazzlingly beautiful woman, whose name was Tuleya. The sight of his own relatives, his love, his blood and his inheritance, resting from a hard day, made the count fall asleep. Everything Fion has ever done, everything he does and everything he will do is for the sake of them and his loyal subjects. When I deal with the Draunian bastards I will return home celebrated for my feat, having restored the royal family''s power in our kingdom and dealt with the rebellious duchy at the same time. I am sure that throughout the kingdom there will be feasts, celebrations, fights... orgies... The count blinked from strange thoughts, seeing something unknown, or rather incomprehensible, in front of him. What the?! Fion shook his head, taking deep breaths. The Count continued to smell this aroma, too late he finally realized what kind of aroma it was. The aroma of lust, the aroma of pride, the aroma of rage, the aroma of greed, the aroma of gluttony and many more of its poisonous shades permeate the very fabric of reality and tempt all mortals of this vast world. It was a sin, the worst of all known to him. It was: Heresy. Tuleya''s eyes opened, but instead of green irises, Fion saw the glow of scarlet ones, and the color of her hair instantly turned a different color, lighter. The Count looked with fascination and fear at what had once been his wife and at how she hugged his children and with one movement slightly pulled them closer to her. A little more and she will begin to choke them with her elbows. "W-who are you?" Fion stammered, holding his palm over the hilt of the dagger. The red-eyed woman grinned seductively and, just as enchanted, as if lulling, sweetly said: "You will do what I want, otherwise..." A crunch was heard, she clamped her elbows on the necks of the count''s children, they quickly woke up, leaving the world of dreams, feeling severe pain. A small squeak was heard. At first they began to move a little, wheezed, could barely utter the words ¡°mom¡±, only a moment later they realized that this woman was not their mother and they began to squirm wildly, trying to escape from the grip of this stranger. Fion tried to throw himself forward in fear, but the next moment he seemed to hit something, something invisible. No matter how he tried to stretch his arms forward, there was an invisible wall ahead that could not be broken through, and the children were in the hands of this creature. With despair on his face, the count realized that he was absolutely powerless. The red-eyed witch looked predatorily at the count and, opening her mouth full of sharp teeth, stuck out her long tongue, licking the boy, leaving several scratches on his cheek from which a trickle of blood flowed, and then she finished: "...otherwise your children will die." She played with his family and the count knew that he was powerless to fix this in any way. Fion didn¡¯t know what to do, what to do, but he knew for sure that if he did something wrong, something wrong, she would definitely kill them, and he didn¡¯t want that. Therefore, out of his own powerlessness, with horror in his eyes, clenching his fists, he forcefully uttered just one word, which put an end to his life. All this was for the sake of his family, which he put above his own honor. "Order." Chapter 80. Legitimacy The enemy army was delayed and approached the city three days later than we expected. To our surprise, the foot formation of their soldiers looked as if they were not going to take the city with a fierce assault, but to calmly walk inside, as if in a parade. Imagine their surprise when, at the top of one of the towers at the gate, they saw Princess Ilifreeta sitting in a chair and Furgur standing next to her, dressed in his usual leather adventurer attire. He defiantly held the royal banner in his hands, showing the uninvited guests that they were late. We watched what was happening from a drone and at any moment could bring down artillery fire on the enemies, but the princess herself, or rather now the queen, asked us not to interfere. She believes that she can figure everything out on her own. I don¡¯t know whether she will succeed or not, but just in case, we prepared for a fight if something doesn¡¯t go according to plan. Silently, with tedious anticipation, we continued to look at the screen and watch the unfolding performance until the general gave the general order: ¡°General Zeonid Kudrinash is speaking, I order all soldiers to be in full combat readiness in case an assault on the city begins, we will support government forces. Is the order clear?¡± "Yes, sir." I answered along with other unit commanders. Hearing our words, the general sat down on the sofa and drank some tea from a thermos, and we, still twitching our legs, chasing the shadow from corner to corner and biting our nails, waited for the moment when everything would go wrong. I hope... this won''t happen... The drone was quite far away, but the camera clearly recorded how the old man in rather massive armor barely got off his horse and, coming closer to the gate, looked up in shock at the princess. Count Laroy, already familiar to us, appeared behind him, also dressed in armor and, gritting his teeth, angrily fixed his gaze on Ilifreeta. Clearly sensing something was wrong, the Duke waved his hand, after which the rebel army began to scurry around, and a wall of shields was lined up in front of the Duke, from which only his head could be seen. A little later, making sure that he was safe, the old duke spoke: "And how do we understand this? Why does a snotty whore meet us at the gates to the capital? What is happening?" Hearing such rude treatment, Ilifreeta frowned, and Furgur spoke instead: "Pitiful skeleton, how dare you address your queen like that?" "What?!" The Duke exclaimed in surprise, looking first at Ilifreeta and then at the mercenary. "To the queen? Her?" The Duke threw his head up for a second and laughed loudly. To him, these words seemed too absurd to be true. The old man¡¯s laughter could be heard throughout the entire area, causing several soldiers behind him to also laugh, clearly indulging their overlord. The Duke did not laugh for long, he rubbed his face, and then continued: "A mediocre whore has become a queen? Has the honorable king Monrid married his own sister? Apparently this will not last long and most likely he will find himself a worthy betrothed, and will abandon this hag and sell it to slave traders. So tell Monrid: if she is put up for auction, I am ready to give her away for She¡¯s whole krayan and this bitch will bask on my bed every day, and I¡¯ll... please her.¡± Furgur''s face was seething with rage, heating up to a red color. The guards on the walls gritted their teeth, but did not dare point a spear at the noble man until the order came. I, in turn, just shook my head, knowing what kind of grave this stupid old man was digging for himself. At this time, the Duke stopped laughing, and Count Laroy suddenly inserted his word, whose face all this time remained even more evil than Furgur¡¯s, as if he saw before him all the problems of his life that could be cut off with one surgical stroke of the blade. "What does this mean?! Why are you here?! H-how?!" "What is it, Laroy?" The Duke became interested when he heard the words of his companion. "She must be... must..." Laroy did not finish speaking, either he was too shocked by such a sudden meeting or did not want to reveal to the others the whole truth about what he did to her. The Count was clearly afraid of the undesirable consequences of his action, and when it seemed that no answer would be forthcoming from him, Ilifreeta herself added fuel to the fire by calmly answering the following: "I mourn the death of your daughter, Count Laroy." There was indeed sadness in her gaze. I don¡¯t know exactly how well Ilifreeta and Diana knew each other, but I think the queen really knew her, or maybe she just felt sorry for all those who ever died in this war. She was one of the few who knew what happened in Itsqueen and chose not to reveal the whole truth to those around her, because she risked getting us into trouble, and this could affect our current relations with the natives, with whom we were about to begin trading activities. Count Laroy literally turned red with anger at these words. He clenched his fingers into fists and did not expect that Ilifreeta knew about the death of Laroy¡¯s daughter, because we told her about it. And she vowed not to tell anyone the truth about what happened. Laroy, meanwhile, exclaimed in surprise and questioningly: "How do you know?!" Ilifreeta, having heard the question, played it in her own way, much more cunningly than anyone could imagine. Still with sorrow on her face, she asked Laroy a counter question: "Do you want me to tell everyone what really happened at Itsqueen?" Laroy suddenly became petrified at these words. He knew that he would fall in the eyes of others if everyone found out that he kept Princess Ilifreeta, a member of the royal family, in his dungeon. The eyes of the rest of the nobles in the Duke''s retinue harbored curiosity at the queen''s words, one might even say some suspicions. And although the Duke was clearly not interested in revealing the secrets between these two, even he was a little surprised by the reaction of Count Laroy and preferred to personally demand an answer from him:Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "Laroy, what is she talking about?" "I-I¡¯m..." The Count could not find words, it was as if he was trapped, surrounded on all sides by enemies. His gaze darted from side to side and after a few moments he tried to change the topic of conversation to something more pressing. "I don''t know what she''s talking about! Now it''s important to find out where King Monrid is! He should be here! Where is he?!" "He disappeared." Ilifreeta answered and took more air into her chest and continued loudly. "From now on, I am the queen of the kingdom of Lakuus. Draun Rudrin fell in battle, from now on the crown passes to me as the true heir to the throne." "Absurd!" The old duke shouted. ¡°A woman cannot be a monarch! This is the right of men! You are nothing more than a whore who you only want to sell like a whore and die like a whore! You are no queen! You cannot be one!¡± "Draun Rudrin bowed his knee before me and promised me the throne. The people are my witness." ¡°Draun Rudrin is a traitor! He is a vile usurper, and everyone around him is a pack of callous traitors! He did not have the right to become king! He broke the law! Which means you cannot be queen!¡± "Royal blood flows in my veins. I am the daughter of the late King Leff, I claim the throne. My brothers are dead, and the youngest heir Leff is too young to rule." ¡°You are breaking the law! The law was written by your ancestors, the men who founded the kingdom of Lakuus! The law is hard as stone and changing its foundations is a crime in itself!¡± There was little else Ilifreeta could do to convince the Duke that she was right, this was clearly noticeable by how many words she was choosing for an answer, but then Furgur leaned over to her and whispered something, after which the queen said with a proud look: ¡°Are you talking about the law, Duke of Athen? Is it really written in the law that women cannot rule instead of their husbands? I will tell you what is written in the law. It does not state that only men can rule. Inheritance is passed on by seniority to the eldest to the heir, regardless of whether the heir is a young man or a maiden. Your words, Duke of Athen, are empty and meaningless and themselves contradict the law about which you so zealously care. Ilifreeta, queen of the kingdom of Lakuus and will remain so until Sod takes me to his garden." From the queen''s words, unrest began in the duke''s retinue. They hurled curses and addressed their warriors, preparing to rearrange the order of the army for the assault on the city. The stunned Duke kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, but before finally deciding to fight, he asked one last thing: "Tch! Little girl. Why does the damned princess claim the right to the throne? Answer me, Ilifreeta. And how will you protect the people? How will you fight? How will you walk and how will these people look at it? You can¡¯t even stand you can! How can you rule? The rebels laughed in support of the Duke¡¯s words, adding weight to his words, as if the very situation that a girl could be a monarch was simply nonsense, a fable, someone¡¯s cruel joke, which was difficult to take seriously. However, Ilifreeta, even without the help of Furgur or Krezhd, already knew the answer, her face did not change, and she calmly answered and spoke so that everyone could hear her and everyone could hear her: "I am pure in my soul. I did not succumb to the temptations of lust, like brother Slackersh. I did not taste human flesh, like brother Monrid. I did not bathe in power and wealth like mother Bentia. And I will not crave to remain in the world of the living for more than my due time, like my father Leff. But what I do have is a desire, a desire to help my subjects, to guide them on the right path, to calm their troubled lives on their short journey in the world. Mortals all have desires, but my desire is to rule for the people, not for myself." The old duke, as the queen said, shook his head and chuckled: "Beautiful words come from your lips, but this is still not enough to call yourself a queen. Everyone dreams of something, but not everyone achieves their goal. So why did you suddenly decide that you are a queen? Even if Monrid and Slackersh died , the crown is still promised first to a man, that is, Prince Fgorman." Furgur answered this question instead of Ilifreeta: "Since she inherited the Punishing Hand." The rebellious aristocrats instantly fell silent upon hearing the words master of the bow. A stern grimace appeared on their faces, as if they were in a death trap. The Duke looked at the Queen silently for a while, and then said with a chuckle: "Impossible." Another nobleman shouted behind the Duke: "Prove that you have inherited the Punishing Hand!" Following this, several more nobles shouted out similar demands, wanting to see the truth. Ilifreeta smiled when she saw the reaction of the rebels. Everything went as she planned. If she shows the rebels her ¡°punishing hand,¡± they will see her as a true queen, and then she will forgive them for their rebellion. The Duke will swear allegiance to Queen Ilifreeta, apologize for the words spoken, and then the rebel army will return back to the west and be disbanded. This plan sounded good in name only, but there were still enough variables in her to ruin her card structure. However, this was expected, and soon this scenario of events suddenly began to be interrupted by one of the rebels, with a ringing sound, removing his sword from its sheath. A young dark-haired, blue-eyed man looked at the queen with fury and almost spitting shouted: "Liar! She''s blatantly lying to all of us! She''s just a Draunian whore! Don''t listen to her! You need to kill her!" And his voice resonated: "Yes! Death to the lousy bitch!" "Kill her!" "Let''s cut off her head!" "Prepare for battle!" The situation was getting out of control, and fear lurked on Ilifreeta¡¯s face. None of us clearly expected such a reaction from the rebels; the queen could hardly say anything in response to such pressure. The guards on the walls looked angrily at the rebels and pulled arrows onto their bowstrings, ready to release them at any moment. A fierce battle was about to break out, followed by considerable casualties. Victory would have been guaranteed to be ours, but it is unlikely that Ilifreeta would have accepted such an outcome. Sigrun, standing next to me with her arms crossed, added: ¡°We both heard people fighting outside. She was so scared. She clung to me and twitched from every rustle, reminiscent of the ringing of a sword and the cutting of flesh. She won¡¯t stand it again.¡± The black woman¡¯s face was sad, but she understood that there was nothing she could do to help her now. And we continued to watch the last moments of the opportunity to establish peace, and then suddenly the queen, taking a deep breath, loudly answered them all: "I''ll prove it!" A few moments later, all the rebels fell silent when they saw dozens of swords rise into the air behind the princess. Levitating and smoothly bending in the air, they pointed their tips towards the rebels and were ready to pierce right through the strongest shields that they had. The Duke, seeing with his own eyes that very ¡°punishing hand,¡± fell to his knees with his mouth open, and that aristocrat with black hair darted his eyes from side to side, but then soon he himself gave up, falling to his knees. The moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived. She did it. The soldiers lowered their shields and began to bow their heads, as did the nobles, knights, spearmen, all bowed before the queen, whose destructive, punishing hand hung over them. From now on, they recognized her as the mistress of these lands, but whether they were loyal enough to her is another question. "I Ilifreeta, daughter of Leff, now claim to be queen of the kingdom of Lakuus, by right of the ancient power bestowed upon me by the blood of my family." "Long life to the queen!" The guards on the walls shouted and then these words were repeated by the rebels. "Long life to the queen!" Sitting inside the castle, we breathed a sigh of relief, and the general, with a smile on his face, connected to the air and gave the order: ¡°Canceling full combat readiness. Everything went smoothly. "Y-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-s-s-s-s~!" Will was almost dancing and rejoiced. "Yoohoo~! Victory! Without a single shot!" "Keep it up!" "Victory!" "She did it!" We rejoiced as if a great event had happened, however, it was not surprising. Finally, we managed to defeat the enemy without shedding a drop of blood. We can say that we have achieved the perfection of the art of war, as Sun Tzu wrote long ago: "The height of the art of war is to defeat the enemy without fighting." And that was just the beginning. However, it was still difficult to imagine what the future would hold. Moreover, the army of Duke Fellrick still remains and no negotiations can be held with him, and therefore the general, rising from the sofa, gave a new order: "?Archon?, commence Operation ?Golden eagle?. Burn them out." "This is ?Archon? speaking, we are commencing the operation, taking off. Should I activate Flight of the Valkyries?" "At your discretion." As soon as the general answered this, the famous ancient music of Richard Wagner began to play on the main channel, and from the side of the forest one shuttle took off slowly. A little more and the war in this country will come to an end. Chapter 81. Bad rumors Only five days have passed since the start of Operation Berkut, but this was enough for extremely unpleasant news to reach us. It was raining lightly outside the window, gray clouds covered the sky, hiding the radiance of the local star from us, and the general, the queen and several other people were sitting on two sofas opposite each other in one of the palace¡¯s bedchambers for the next round of negotiations. This time we have gathered here to listen to an audio recording from a tablet, a report from the commander of the Apostle shuttle. We all listened attentively to the stern male monotonous voice coming from the small speaker and not to say that the voice was pleased, but rather puzzled. "We sent out reconnaissance drones to monitor the area and search for enemy forces, but subsequently came across a number of places where battles were taking place. We were able to determine which of the fighters were Fellrick and his subordinates, but we were not able to determine the other side of the conflict." There was a click on the recording, followed by a short pause, which indicated that the recording had been slightly edited. Perhaps different parts of it were recorded at different times, or during the first recording the commander was distracted on urgent business. "At least about five thousand people fought without insignia and some of these warriors headed towards the capital while others headed in the opposite direction." And again there is a click and a short pause. "The next day, on the orders of General Zeonid, we attacked the forces approaching the city with air-to-surface missiles and wiped them off the face of the earth, that is... from the face of this planet, but there seemed to be more and more places for clashes between the native forces. I decided to interrupt the operation until further circumstances were clarified. End of report." When the audio recording was interrupted, the general put the tablet aside and crossed his arms, leaning on the sofa so that he could then turn to everyone around him and ask: "This can''t be the royal army, right?" "Yes." The old military adviser nodded. Krezhd, sitting opposite the general, this time in his white and gold aristocratic attire, coughed slightly and continued: "Obviously this is a cult that has retreated from the capital. I think Swidok is with them." "Then we can attack them all and deal with both the cultists and Fellrick." Hearing these words, the queen awkwardly inserted her word: "Maybe we can come to an agreement with them?" Krezhd and Zeonid frowned and turned their heads towards Ilifreeta, dressed in a white dress, and both asked in unison: "With whom?" "With Uncle Fellrick." Hearing the queen¡¯s words, General Zeonid shook his head with a sigh, and Krezhd chuckled with a snort. ¡°My queen, you don¡¯t think that your uncle, by his grace, will decide to swear allegiance to you? All his life he dreamed of the throne, which his brother, that is, your father, deprived him of. Now imagine what will happen if he sees you with a crown on your head.¡± "But he''s fighting against a cult..." "Dear Queen Ilifreeta," General Zeonid turned to the queen, straightening his cap. ¡°In war there are never clear sides to the conflict. It is rare when numerous forces conclude a truce among themselves, but in fact this is only delaying its inevitable continuation and the war truly ends only when the last enemy is completely and completely defeated.¡± Ilifreeta''s face seemed disappointed, as if she had just learned a terrible truth about us, which she had just seen with her own eyes. She may have been paralyzed, but she did seem kind of¡­angry. This is the first time I have seen her like this, one might say she simply did not agree with the general¡¯s words, she could not accept them as truth. ¡°So this is what you people from heaven are like, cruel and merciless.¡± The queen said in a stern tone. ¡°This is the only way you reached the stars, over the dead bodies of innocent people.¡± "Illif," Suddenly Sigrun turned to her, sitting down next to the queen. "General Zeonid is an old man, he has been in many wars and knows what he is talking about." "He may be a stranger, but I agree with him." Krezhd added his word. ¡°It¡¯s unlikely that your uncle will put up with the idea that his niece has taken his throne and wears his crown. As far as I know, Fellrick is a cunning snake who craves power more than anyone else and for her sake he will shed rivers of blood and no matter who, enemies, friends, guilty and innocent, or even his own allies.¡± "How can you say such a thing?" "How can I speak?" Krezhd snorted. ¡°Forty years ago, he defeated the capital¡¯s garrison just to return to the palace from where King Lef expelled him. He tried many times to return what he considered his rightfully until one day he decided to terminate the oath of allegiance. Tch! The ducal title and land were not enough for him, but Lef did not back down from his and simply allowed Fellrick to live his life. And with this man, do you think it¡¯s possible to come to an agreement?¡± Ilifreeta, however, insisted on her own, believing that it was possible to limit herself to just words.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°But if you talk to him, he can understand everything, realize it and ultimately change.¡± Krezhd sighed heavily from the queen''s words before sharing his thoughts. "Duke Fellrick is 90 years old, he is as old as your father. It is only a miracle that he is still standing on his feet and is zealously striving for power. Even if he finds out that you have inherited the ¡°punishing hand,¡± he will never stop and would prefer to take your life so that some queen does not stand in his way. I can say with confidence that he does not see anyone or anything other than his throne." "No." Ilifreeta shook her head, not believing what she heard. "I don''t believe he can do this. I just want to talk to him, I don''t want him to die." "Queen¡­" The general tried to get his word in, but he was quickly rejected. The Queen suddenly became harsh in her words and even slightly frightened us with her raised tone. Her eyes widened so much that it seemed she would scorch us with her angry gaze. "No! I order you to help Fellrick. I don''t want him dead." "QUEEN!" Krezhd got up from his seat and choked slightly, realizing that he had slightly overstepped the boundaries of what was permitted. "Forgive me for my tone, but this doesn''t go anywhere. It''s just... BUSH! There''s no way he''s going to deal with you." ¡°You¡¯re not even trying! None of you know how my uncle will actually behave! So why rush to take his life?¡± Everyone in the room looked at each other in surprise. This is the first time that Ilifreeta so blatantly orders her allies to do something that they did not want, but still the general followed the queen¡¯s advice and, rising to his feet before leaving the room, said the following: "Okay. We will not attack Fellrick. Instead, the Archon will land a squad and begin hunting the cultists, supporting the ducal forces, and they will later make contact with them. However, if your uncle does something unwise later, then know that it will be your fault. And I do not want to lose even more people for the sake of our alliance." After adjusting his uniform, Zeonid and several paratroopers in police camouflage left the room, ending the current round of negotiations. There were still many questions that the general and the queen had to discuss, but apparently they would be postponed until the next day for now. However, as always. "My Queen," Addressed to Queen Krezhd. "I think I''ll leave you today." Ilifreeta was silent for some time, it seemed she was out of touch with reality, deep in thought about something. "Queen?" Krezhd repeated and the next moment Ilifreeta woke up. "Huh? Ah... yes... you can go." Having bowed respectfully, the military adviser began to leave the room, throwing a stern look in my direction along the way. I can¡¯t say that he trusts me, on the contrary, he is very skeptical and I respect that. I think the person who will act as ¡°Doubt¡± is very important for politics, and he can raise many topics in public policy discussions. But on this day, as on all previous ones, it was clear that Ilifreeta was not ready to rule. Either she gives all the initiative to advisers and servants, or she strictly insists on her own, as happened today. Fortunately, she herself understands this very well. But I was worried about the question of why she decided to save her uncle¡¯s life? She has never seen him, she has spent her whole life locked up and all she can do is throw dishes with her telekinetic ability and, of course, choose between ¡°yes¡± and ¡°no.¡± What did she see in the man who threatens her life? I don''t understand. I walked around the room from corner to corner, thinking about why she made such a decision, but not finding the answer I needed, I still decided to ask her about it directly: "Why should Fellrick be alive?" Ilifreeta looked at me and, slightly lowering her gaze, answered, not very confidently: ¡°I don¡¯t know what my uncle is like in his soul. I¡¯ve never seen him and to be honest, I feel that he is now being slandered just like me. It seems to me that we have more in common than he can imagine. If you talk to him... get to know him better, maybe... maybe everything will be fine with us.¡± Indeed, I heard Diana talk glowingly about the royal family and how she casually mentioned Ilifreeta as if she were some kind of eyesore, an ugly duckling, a dirty stain on the good name of the kingdom. It may be the same with Fellrick, but I can''t be sure. Rumors are a terrible thing that gives rise to erroneous ideas about people they have never seen, and yet something bothered me. "Do you think he was the victim of dishonest rumors? Do you think he went to war for a reason other than for the throne?" Ilifreeta, hearing my words, nodded. "I need to get to know him better, and to do that I need to meet him." "This is not a wise idea." I inserted my word Sigrun. ¡°You will be in danger. What if he decides to kill you? Do you think your invisible super hand will stop him?¡± "But at least I''ll get a chance to save more lives. I don''t want people to see me as a ruthless and cruel queen, otherwise they will never respect me, no one will believe in me." It seems that I am beginning to understand what the real reason for her decision is. "Do you want to make people''s lives better or do you want to meet their expectations?" "I¡­" Ilifreeta, hearing such a strange question from me, blinked her eyes. She was at a loss about how this question was posed. Even so, but a moment later she answered quite clearly: "I want both." Hearing these words, the treasurer turned to her, adjusting his glasses. This man was second in rank after Krezhd and his name was Mierto Luke. ¡°My queen, I understand the responsibility that has fallen on you. You have been given the right to command all the people, but I assure you, you should not overwork yourself for the sake of your own reputation. If you want to show your best side to the people, then you will have many more opportunities to do this, but now you better focus only on what you really need to do: end this war with victory.¡± Ilifreeta, slightly nodding her head, agreed with the words of her treasurer and, looking at all of us, said: "You are all right. However, know one important thing: it was not I who decided to become your queen, but Draun Rudrin. He promised me that he would help, that he would always be there, but he died, he is not with us and I... I don¡¯t know what to do next. I just want the best for everyone who deserves it and to punish those who do evil. The world is full of rabble, but it is not deprived of good either. I want to be strong and merciful at the same time. I must be a queen who will mean something and not lie to her subjects. I swear I will always be honest with my people. I will rule until Sod takes me to his garden." These were quite strong words and yet her adherence to principles can create some problems not only for her, but also for us. And although she was essentially an idealist, she hid our crime from everyone else, buried the memory of it in the depths of her consciousness and did not even show a hint of what had happened, which makes me even respect her. Crossing my arms and nodding, I added my word: ¡°Good. In the end, you are now in charge here and you decide what will happen and how. Our job is only to carry out the orders of our general and give advice, and not to put pressure on your decisions.¡± And after these words I was finally about to sit down, when the queen reminded me of something. ¡°Speaking of the decision, you promised to heal me, have you forgotten that?¡± The treasurer widened his eyes as soon as he heard these words, and with a bit of surprise, he turned his head in my direction and asked: "Y-you really can heal her?" Fred answered instead of me, silently listening to our entire conversation on the sidelines. He dealt with the wounded natives for a long time and, with additional equipment, studied the bodies of the fallen, exploring something. While we were talking, he did not take his eyes off the tablet, and yet, having heard the native¡¯s words, he hastened to answer with a smile on his face: ¡°The general said that the Pharaoh base has all the necessary medical equipment to carry out a neurosurgical operation. Restoring a nervous system damaged in an unnatural way is quite possible, but it is unknown whether the operation will work. If the operation does not work, then we will try to implant an exoskeleton into her bone and muscle tissue. Such an operation will be more expensive, but in essence it should also work. Both options will allow her to move her arms and legs.¡± Maybe Ilifreeta didn¡¯t understand a little from the words of the senior medic, but she was glad that she had at least some chance to get back on her feet. I decided to clarify something with Fred in private and so we stepped aside so that I could ask him one very important question: "Is it safe?" After making sure that no one could hear us in the room, Fred answered honestly: "No." This is what I was afraid of. Chapter 82. Curse (part 2) What do you know about horror? You don''t have to answer. You still don''t know. I''ll tell you. Behind me was a pine forest, and before my eyes appeared a wide cave whose walls, floor and tops were strewn with blood and torn pieces of human bodies. A most disgusting smell filled my nose, the cadaverous stench of rotting bodies. The dead settled here, their restless souls screamed in a symphonic nightmare orchestra. If souls had eyes, everyone would see their fears. They could not forget the horror that they saw in the last moments of their existence. In reality, while the rustling of leaves was heard behind my back, only two sounds were heard in front: the noise of a heap of flies and the echo of distant screams, male and female, that came from the very depths of this terrible place. Do you still want to know about horror? And you are a daredevil. You can be proud of yourself... For the time being. In that case, let''s continue. Without looking back or to the sides, I boldly stepped forward, ending the lives of the last unfortunates who so desperately clung to their miserable existence. They had no need to cling to them; they no longer needed lives. The fate of the weak is to be a stepping stone for the strong. I don''t feel sorry for them, not at all. Moving forward into the realm of nightmares, I entered pitch darkness. Stepping on the bodies, one could hear the disgusting gurgling and groans of those who were not dead. It seemed that this cave literally consisted of human bodies and was created by some mad creator of flesh, who tore this place out of the very depths of the underworld. I was disgusted to see it, hear it, smell it, and even realize it. This is not my aspect of sin, not my world, alien, forgotten and lost. Yes, that''s what happened. I lost it. I thought with annoyance, walking forward until I reached a pit in the middle of which a large scarlet fire was burning. The place rather resembled some kind of arena, only here literally everything consisted of corpses. The fire itself was strewn with bones and only souls and blood burned in its unnatural flame, so no smoke came from the red fire. From here came the heartbreaking scream of a woman, from whose shoulders blood was gushing with might and main. The man who raped her tore off her hands. He threw one into the fire, and held the other in his teeth, splashing scarlet liquid from it into the unfortunate woman¡¯s face. The man held her by the legs, fucked her hard, growled with anger and lust while she screamed with her last strength, sobbed, cried, looked away to the side, towards her children. She didn''t know what to feel: terrible agony or great pleasure. A tangle of passion and suffering lingered in her lost soul. It would be interesting to know what kind of monster would be born from this ball, but alas, I won¡¯t find out now, that¡¯s not what I¡¯m here for. The children huddled in the corner under their hanging arms and legs. They could not move, their eyes bulged out, they trembled, quietly whispering ¡°mother¡± on their lips. Droplets of tears flowed from their eyes and dripped onto the corpses. They are abnormal, they have gone crazy, chaos and horror have taken over their souls, they can no longer be saved. But they could be freed, and I knew how, and therefore, turning my gaze to the naked man who continued to fuck the mother of these children, she loudly called out to him: "Monrid." His black hair was mixed with blood. There were clear red patterns on his body, they moved across his body from heel to heel, running away from the sound of my voice. The prince stopped fucking the woman and turned his head towards me, dropping his hand from his teeth. I saw insane surprise on his face. A swollen, blood-stained face, swollen veins all over his body, that¡¯s what appeared before me. It seemed he didn¡¯t believe what he was seeing, but he knew for sure that he couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. What did he see? A black robe decorated with golden jewelry and short wheat-colored hair and, of course, red eyes shining in the darkness. He couldn''t help but recognize me. "Reykuta." The prince hissed as if speechless and the next moment he broke the woman¡¯s legs, turning them inside out. "a-a-a-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A~!!!!" The cave was filled with a hellish scream, which instantly stopped when the prince grabbed a knife and cut off her throat. She quickly died, not having time to choke in blood. He dealt her not just one blow, but a whole set, as if her squealing had ingrained itself in the prince¡¯s memory and was irritating him madly. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" He''s gone crazy. He turned into a mad animal thirsting only for blood, violence and copulation. I wouldn¡¯t refuse the last one, but the rest was disgusting to me. He deserved only my contemptuous look from above and nothing more. He is no longer a man, just a pitiful beast, just as stupid, wild and insane. "What are you doing, Monrid? Shouldn''t you be king by now?" "What?" He was surprised, crawling on his knees on the corpse carpet. Looking around, he began to gradually come to his senses and whisper madly: "The king... yes... I am the king. What? What is this place? Huh? Ah... I know... I know... my dream..." A mad grin spread across the prince''s face. He lowered his head down and licked the blood from the bodies, enjoying every drop on his torn tongue. He looked at it all predatorily, as if he were at a luxurious feast that he could only dream of. "Oh my beautiful dream. Hahahahahahaha~!" Monrid began to laugh madly while the still barely alive victims clustered away from him and trembled with fear. Naked men, women, old people and children saw a waking nightmare in front of them. They cried, sobbed, begged for mercy, threatened revenge, tried to climb the corpse walls. It was surprising to see people still alive in this place, I thought that Monrid had already dealt with them, but it seems that I overestimated him too much. These people, this harvest, were prepared especially for him. Mardefay did a good job, bringing such a glorious herd to slaughter, for which he will receive an immense reward from me, the key to the palace of pleasures. Yes, the baron will crawl on his knees, lick my feet for the gift of fame, wealth and tons of various temptations, but now I need to do what I came here for.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It''s time to take back what belongs to me. "Wake up, Monrid." "I''m not finished yet." He groaned, staring at me angrily. "I''m not done with YOU yet!" He remembers everything that happened to him, how I took control of his carcass, instilled false memories in him and controlled him like a doll. Yes, it''s wonderful to see his embittered face. The boy finally realized what kind of world we live in. You can''t trust anyone here, so this world is disgusting to me. It¡¯s a pity he¡¯s completely satisfied with this world. Pathetic fool. Before I had time to despise him to the full extent, his barking rang in my ears. "Who are you really?! Answer me, bitch! I have to know, I''m the king!" His yapping is disgusting to listen to. He turned out to be more boring than I thought. ¡°Do you want to know? And don¡¯t rely on it. If you find out, you will greatly regret it.¡± "What?" He exclaimed in surprise and laughed. "Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~! Will I regret it?! Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha~! NO! You will regret it! You deceived me! You are no sister to me! YOUR EYES! YOU CURSED! You damn demoness!" So he guessed it. I grinned and tilted my head to the side touchingly. ¡°Wow... how interesting... you guessed it. Oh-oh-oh, how scary it is now. I¡¯m afraid, afraid, what the naked king will do to me. Will he kill? Well, well, try it, a walking misunderstanding.¡± I defiantly raised my right palm and instantly formed a white ball of lightning above it, illuminating my part of the cave with a dazzling glow. Lightning sparks sounded and the bodies under my feet began to shake, reacting to the lightning bolts that swept down my body. Monrid looked at me with hatred and horror at the same time. He hissed from powerlessness, but could not do anything about it. He was absolutely nobody, a complete nonentity, who had lost everything he had achieved and everything he could have inherited. "Monrid, now you are nobody. You have lost everything: family, loved ones, country and of course me." "I will rip out your little eyes and shove them down your throat! I will gut your guts and cut you into small pieces! YOU WILL PAY FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID TO ME!" But these words seriously angered me. I clenched my palm and exploded a ball of lightning, causing black roots and burns from terrifying magical energy to spread across my face. It hurt me, but I can¡¯t count how many times I felt this pain, I even learned to enjoy it properly. However, now through it I poured out my anger, my contempt and my weaknesses. I no longer intended to listen to him babble. ¡°What did I do to you, huh? Tell me, stupid ogre. I only came to your aid when you needed it so much. You failed in your role and now you are insignificant. You are weak.¡± ¡°Shut your mouth! How dare you threaten me?! You will die! Not quickly, but I swear to the gods you will die!¡± "Are you finished?" Monrid angrily threw his dagger at me, but this toothpick only crashed into an invisible barrier and fell back into the meat pit. He screamed, fell to his knees, beat and cut the bodies under his feet. He was furious with his powerlessness and apparently that¡¯s why he ran to one of the victims and killed him with one blow of his fist with a savory sound, breaking all the bones in the unfortunate man¡¯s skull. "Stop! Don''t touch my dad!" A girl''s voice was heard. Someone tried to stop him, but the muscular prince was quite strong despite the fact that he was out of breath from recent copulation with one of his victims. If he is not stopped, then I will lose him again, and this time forever. "Don''t move, Monrid, I''ll give you a chance to atone for your sin." Hearing my voice, he again directed his gaze in my direction and clenched his fists and asked a question: "What are you going to do?" "The doll is not supposed to know this." Monrid hissed again, his face so red with rage that his head seemed ready to explode. "BITCH!" Meanwhile, I looked at the surviving people, emaciated, trembling, struggling in agony and bleeding. There was so much blood, pain, grief and agony here. The god of violence, blood and war would be pleased with this spectacle, but I did not gather this harvest for some gods, but for him, Prince Monrid the cannibal, to release a terrible monster into this world. "? Te''lay''sa ?! ? U''hika lun ? Tai''son va''earan ?..." A beautiful song sounded from my lips, in harmony with nature itself, its basic nature and with the world itself. Ordinary words are just sound, vibrations of air, but these sounds are special, they vibrate not the air, but reality itself, distorting it beyond recognition, awakening to light the dark forces lurking in the most distant and hidden corners of the universe. "? En¡¯sha¡¯ta ? MUR¡¯LAK¡¯TA ?! ?RA¡¯E¡¯ATSIAN¡¯LU¡¯CATAN?!" "What are you doing?" Monrid asked with horror in his eyes, but I ignored him, rejoicing at what I was doing with this sinful corner of the world. I spread my arms to the sides and finished the song with one single human word: "? APPEAR! ?" A wave seemed to pass through the body of everyone living in this corner of the world, a strange temptation, just some reminder that their old decrepit world really meant nothing against the true forces of the universe. I WAS EXCITED! Cracks began to appear from the air, and scarlet energy poured out of them like a haze, the intoxication of the demonic universe. I call it ¡°a true blessing.¡± It was absorbed into the bodies of the dead and the living, distorting them and breaking bones. The dead came to life, and those barely alive died and came to life again. The carpet of bodies grew together, the blood evaporated, hardened into sinuous red roots, as if a crazy, uncontrollable wave was growing through everything living and inanimate. The corpses began to move, the mass of flesh gathered into something huge and monstrous. Faces moved across the bodies, claws, teeth, tongues, eyes grew from the hands and feet; this something was both solid and liquid. The skin changed color from natural to red, blue, yellow and green. It doesn¡¯t yet understand who it wants to be, but that¡¯s not scary, then it realizes who it needs to become. The people huddled in the corners screamed, trying to run away from the monster, but when they inhaled the scarlet veil with their mouths, they began to suffocate. They, clutching the throats of the fallen, scratched themselves, their voices were distorted, seemed inhuman, squeaky and low. One man, covered in blood, tried to climb up, crawling out of the hole, he looked up straight at me and asked with a fearful and pleading look: ¡°For what?! I¡¯m not guilty of anything! I¡¯m just a carpenter! I don¡¯t want to die! WHAT¡¯S HAPPENING?! I BEG FOR MERCY!¡± A pitiful human life meant nothing to me. A tentacle that emerged from the pit enveloped the body of this pig and sent it into one of the monster¡¯s thousands of mouths. Like a tsunami, the fangs circling in a whirlpool tore him apart, gushing blood and guts in all directions. An anatomical choir from the very depths of the underworld enveloped this entire cave with its sound, and the only one who had not yet been touched by this creature was Monrid, who stood in terrible amazement in the midst of this madness and could not comprehend everything that was happening. The demon collected everything around himself, not only bodies, air and blood, but also feelings: aspirations, desires and fears. It feeds on my pleasures, people''s fears, but especially Monrid''s thirst for flesh. From the chaos, a creature was reborn that the world had never seen before, and it was he who would bring the final victory in this war. It¡¯s a pity, of course, that from now on I will have to repay Adam for this gift, otherwise I would face severe punishment from my master. Now I have a chance to fix everything and give Verhane this land, where he will create everything that he wanted and planned. I will fulfill his wishes, I will do everything for his aspirations. The huge, shapeless creature growled, and from its body came the screams of thousands of people, doomed to experience eternal death throes. "Behold, Monrid, there is a real demon before you. The horror that you brought gave birth to him, and he considers you your master. You snatched him from the clutches of the underworld and gave him freedom." "WHAT IS THIS?!" Monrid screamed with horror and fear. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" "You are mine now, Monrid, you will do what I command." "FUCK YOU!" ¡°You made a sacrifice to this demon, so command them.¡± Still not believing my words, Monrid looked at this formless monster and stammered and tried to give him an order: "Y-Y-YOU... K-KILL HER!" ~ HER STINK ~I AM FAMILIAR. ~ SCARY! ~ HELP! ~ HELP!!! Different voices sounded from different faces, women, men, old people, children. A mad chorus of screams, pleas and cries poured out into words generated by the demon and gave Monrid an answer. The prince turned to face me and shouted in horror: "HE...HE DOESN''T OBEY ME!" I grinned maliciously in response. ¡°Of course... why should a demon obey any person at all?¡± "A?" "I won''t explain anything to you. You''re just food. Goodbye." "N-no! STOP! DON''T DO THIS! I DON''T WANT TO DIE! GET ME OUT OF HERE! I-I WANT TO LIVE! NO-O-O-O-O-O-O!" The last thing Monrid saw was my insane grin before the demon''s tentacles enveloped him and crushed him like a ripe fruit. The demon did not kill him until that moment only because it fed on his thirst for flesh, but when horror and brief hope replaced this sweet feeling in him, the demon devoured him, and he does not touch me only because a demon whose name is Swidok already lives in me. The horror will continue, I will enjoy it. Chapter 83. Children of Pantora Secluded in one of the rooms at Lecite, I started one rather serious conversation with him. Due to the recent battle, Camelia''s body was tense, and the girl''s mind seemed to be convulsing. I held back this tension, but it could not last long. You can call this ¡°pain of the mind,¡± a phenomenon in which a real person cannot stay outside the rhythm of his thinking for a long time, which is why nerve cells begin to go crazy and even die. Because of this, Camelia¡¯s body had to be given back, and lately this had to be done more and more often. There is only one way to solve this problem. This is exactly what I decided to talk to Lecite about. No one should hear us here, and if someone is watching us, then the magic will drown out all sounds, which is what I actually took advantage of. He was probably thinking about why we were here. We had just recently had sex and neither he nor I felt the need for it, and therefore his face was quite serious. Perhaps he guessed that I called him here for a very important conversation. Having thought everything over carefully, I sat down on the edge of the bed to his right and looking into his eyes said: "Lecite, today is the last time I communicate with you in this body." Lecite, hearing my words, frowned, but continued to listen carefully, clenching his palms into fists. He knew I would never joke. He knows that everything I say is absolutely serious and of course he was very worried about what I just said. In the light of the torch and the noise outside the window, I continued: ¡°I will be forced to ¡°sleep¡± in this body. The human brain is not capable of accommodating two minds at once, you can see that very well.¡± Lecite''s gaze was understanding. He remembers and saw how much I ate and how often I grabbed my forehead with my palm. ¡°Pain of the mind¡± was accompanied by physical pain, and if I were in my true form, I would have endured this pain, but in the human body this pain distorted the mind, making me weak and vulnerable. Whatever my will may be, over time, due to the growing pain, I will soon go crazy along with Camelia. "What should I do?" Lecite asked. I¡¯m glad that he understood everything quickly, and therefore I immediately began to explain to him: "You need to find a ship, a pantorian super-cruiser. I will show you the coordinates. All you have to do is touch the hull and say the password. Once you are inside, find the beam teleporter and materialize any body from the clipboard." Lecite nodded, and then I handed him the stone on which the password and coordinates were scratched. "Keep it as the most important thing in the universe. If I do not return the body, then I will soon die in the depths of Camelia''s consciousness. My mind will dissolve and disappear forever, like all memories." "What should we do with her?" ¡°You will take her with you. Take care of her life, make her fall in love with you and lead her into the buffer. As soon as you create the shell, set up the neuroatomic code of the mind so that my personality leaves her body. You will need mekhanites, you will find them on the ship. Separate us, and then wait for my further instructions. And if you do not cope with your task, then decide for yourself how you will live out your days here.¡± Lecite nodded, accepting my orders. As a person who welcomes the pantorian idea, he will certainly still be close to human nature; even now he is closer to humanity than to the great order. If he seduces her and makes her fall in love with him, then he will probably fall in love with Camelia himself. This can create problems: he may not make up his mind and give up halfway. I can''t let this happen. Grabbing the palm of Lecite, I whispered one spell on my lips. I felt an invisible tremor pass through the space, and my body and Lecite¡¯s body synchronized in a kind of magical flow. Just for a moment, a magical whirlwind connected our bodies and at the same moment separated us. He didn''t understand what I had just done, but he guessed that it could be magic. Blinking his eyes, he asked: "What was that?" "Oath." I lied, knowing that the truth would make him succumb to unnecessary emotions. "With the help of magic, I connected your soul with fate. Now if you do not do what I told, this body will die." It''s not true. It wasn''t an oath, it was a curse. If Lecite does not fulfill the given condition, then both he and Camelia will die. I felt a little disgusted that I was forced to lie, to go against my nature, succumbing to humanity. By depriving Lecite of choice, I increase the chances of success, for me this is much more important than the feelings of one person. Leaving everything to him would be the height of madness and irrationalism. Lecite, meanwhile, was sincerely perplexed. He didn¡¯t understand why the oath was needed: "But why?" The question hung in the air. I didn¡¯t answer him, giving him time for my own thoughts. I knew that he would quickly find the answer to his own question, and he soon found it. "I get it, it''s because I''m human. You think I''ll give in to feelings. Is that true?" I nodded. ¡°You yourself understand perfectly how self-willed people are. You understand the nature of the human species better than me, and I know why the pantorians abandoned everything human. Reason and logic should be above all. Little things like sympathy are just an outlet for the mind, a drug for the shell, a way to escape from reality. If you love her, you should know that you will lose her in any case.¡± Lecite looked at me, not knowing what to answer or what to feel. For him, obviously, all this was quite sudden, and yet he understood that the feelings that he had for me would become a bitter burden that he would have to bear. He knew everything, but he didn¡¯t want to believe it all. His eyes, his gaze and facial expression clearly spoke of everything he was feeling right now. "I know you will surely love her, but in the end you will have to choose between her and the great order. You swore allegiance to me, which means you dedicated yourself to the great order. Pantora allows everyone to make their choice either to remain in a world of chaos or to achieve order. It is up to you to decide." For some time, Lecite was still trying to figure it all out. He understood that the great order requires sacrifices, enormous sacrifices, including that he must sacrifice his humanity in order to achieve this goal. It will be difficult to reject all the emotions that a person has, and yet, with great determination, it will be very possible to achieve this.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I take too much risk, entrusting the fate of the great order to one person, who at any moment can betray me and the great order. However, I have no choice. If Lecite is the only way the path can be continued, then I will do everything I need to do. "I understand." Answered by Lecite. ¡°So this is the last time we communicate like this?¡± "Yes." I confirmed, making him very upset. "Only milliseconds may pass for me, but years may pass in the world. For our purpose, you must do all this. The great order must come. The Universe must find peace. Pantora must live, and the Eternal must rule." "Pantora alive, Pantora eternal." The pantorian motto Lecite chanted quietly. Even without his words, I saw that he understood everything perfectly. He may be an unworthy man who desires to become a pantorian, desiring to achieve a great order, but never underestimate the determination that the human species possesses. For this I hope that his feelings will not hide from his eyes the true path to the order of the universe. "I''ll miss you." He said and with a smile on his face, he kissed me tenderly. During this sweet moment, I fell into a long sleep. I did everything I could and now all I can do is wait. I have nothing to regret now: either victory or death. *** "A?" W-what?! I jumped back, feeling a strange and sweet taste on my tongue. This guy k-kissed me! "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I screamed in panic. Lecite swallowed, looking down guiltily. "WHERE ARE WE?!" I looked around, realizing that I was in some modest room inside the castle. Lecite, meanwhile, said something strange. "I''m sorry. My feelings are with Elpata, not with you." I didn¡¯t understand his words, or rather, what they could mean. "W-what are you talking about? What did she do? I mean, what were you both doing just now?" Oh no! If they did ¡°this¡± again while my consciousness was asleep, then... then I don¡¯t even know what to think about now! It''s so cheesy! While I was blushing and waiting for an answer to my question, Lecite pursed his lips and said with sadness in his voice: "She''s gone." "What? Who are you talking about?" "Elpata is no more." I couldn''t believe my ears. "She''s gone? You-you''re not kidding?" Lecite nodded, and when I heard his words, I didn¡¯t know what to feel: either joy that I was finally free or some sadness that I would now have to live without this stern and indifferent voice in my head. Of course, I felt more surprise, and only then some joy. Lecite frowned slightly as he noticed the slight smirk on my face. He clearly did not share my joy. I won''t give her my body again? It seemed like some kind of joke, but it didn''t seem like it was a lie. I really didn''t hear her voice. My head didn''t hurt, and my thoughts seemed free. My soul now belonged to me and only me, how could I not feel joy after this? But Lecite is so upset. I noticed his sad look. I knew that they both loved each other, although it seemed to me that Elpata was the one who would never love anyone at all. Her thoughts about the great order of things, about Pantora, about earthlings, magic and about many other complex things drove me into depression. I didn¡¯t want all this, I just wanted to return to my family, to my dad, but now I was free. "Are you happy?" Lecite asked me and I was honest with him because I really felt joy and lightness in my soul. "Yes." I said with a smile and at the same time decided to cheer him up a little. "I should be sorry that you lost the one you love, but you know I don''t really care." Lecite grinned. "I see you learned a lot from her." "And what?" "Pantorians never cared about human feelings, neither their own nor others." ¡°Ah... are you talking about this.¡± Really. She didn''t care whether I was angry with her or not. "Yes it is. She was so angry." Suddenly, sadness washed over me. If Lecite speaks the truth and I never hear it again, then who will protect me? Who will give me advice and teach me life? Who will teach me how to use magic? She herself said that everything I know is just the top of the mountain and I don¡¯t know everything about magic. So how can I now comprehend this power now? She connected my life with magic, and I will have to use this power to live further in this world. If I could, I would bring my family and friends back to life, but I can¡¯t. I am now alone and now I really didn¡¯t know how to live now. This made me feel uneasy. I looked up at Lecite with my pitiful gaze, I looked at him with hope, I thought that he would help, tell me how to live further. But I quickly realized that I was afraid, afraid to ask him about it. He sees her in me, but I''m not the one he needs. It¡¯s strange to feel needed by someone, or rather, on the contrary, it¡¯s nice, but it¡¯s so stressful when you¡¯re left completely alone. "What should I do?" I whispered sadly and Lecite put his palm on my fingers. I know he wants to see her in me, but I''m not her. I am not that evil and great warrior from another world, I am just a girl in the body of an adult. From now on, I must live like an adult, which means I must not rely on anyone. "Camellia." Lecite whispered my name tenderly. ¡°I will be by your side. You can ask me as much as you want, and I will definitely help you.¡± "But¡­" I couldn¡¯t find the words to let go of my hand from his hands. His words made my heart pound so much. There were so many questions in my head, so many experiences and feelings that I simply didn¡¯t know how to react to all this correctly. And he simply promises to help me, although I didn¡¯t ask him to do so. And yet inside myself I really wanted this. I know he is a good person, I see kindness in his eyes, and yet it seemed to me that accepting his kindness was something dishonest and wrong. I feel both happy and sad. I spent so much time with Elpata that it seemed that she would always be with me, that she would become a part of my life. I didn¡¯t think that one day the moment would come when she would suddenly be gone. What about Eternal? Weren''t you going to find the deity you worshiped? Weren''t you going to find your people? How could you just up and disappear? And then I realized that I had missed something. I didn¡¯t know how she disappeared and this became my second question that I voiced out loud. "Lecite, tell me what happened? Why did she suddenly disappear?" He was silent for a few moments before answering. I expected to hear from him ¡°she died,¡± but I heard something completely different, which gave me some hope and filled my heart with slight joy. "She fell asleep. She said that she could not awaken herself in this body, otherwise she risked destroying both herself and you. She sleeps inside your soul." "Is she just sleeping? She''s not dead?" Lecite nodded, and I sighed with relief knowing that she was okay. ¡°Since she¡¯s fine and she just fell asleep, then I¡¯m glad.¡± "Is it true?" The guy frowned and I smiled. ¡°At first I felt bad for her, but now I understand that in my own way I loved her. She saved me, then in that cave. I almost died, and she healed me even though she stole my body and lived many years of my life. I didn¡¯t want to forgive her, but she used me again and I had no choice. I was angry with her for this. She promised me to return me to my father, but it looks like I¡¯ll have to do it myself.¡± I was still thinking about what else I should say to Lecite and soon after a few moments I stood up from the edge of the bed and decided: "She said that she has a body. If she is sleeping, then I will find her body and wake her up." I turned my head to Lecite. "Are you with me?" The guy was somewhat surprised, but after a few moments he smiled and rose to his feet. "I-I o-of course!" He stuttered. "Hurray~!" I jumped up, clapping my hands, and then something unexpected happened. In a moment of joy, Lecite hugged me and kissed me right on the lips. Again this sweet taste and again I looked at it in shock. I tried to escape from his embrace, but he squeezed my hands tightly. He caressed my face with one palm, and I blushed like a tomato. Only after hearing my dissatisfied moo, Lecite unhooked himself from me, stepped back and guiltily lowered his head down. I took deep breaths and exhales, and my heart was pounding quickly from his vulgar actions. This was unexpected and for this I was angry with him. For me, a kiss was something romantic, something forbidden, and he shouldn''t have done it to me! But before I reprimanded him, I remembered who he saw in my face. "I''m not her!" I shouted. "S-sorry." I understood and was still angry. "Don''t you dare do that again! Do you understand me?!" "Yes." Lecite whispered quietly. "Go away! I want to be alone!" And he, having listened to me, left the room and then went to the next room. That''s right, we live next door. I remembered and fell back onto the bed. This taste of a kiss on my lips awakened something wrong, forbidden and hot in my thoughts. My fingers reached between my legs, but I quickly came to my senses by grabbing my hair. "No. No. No! You shouldn''t think like that! You shouldn''t! You can''t do that! It''s wrong!" How did I feel now? Remembering Lecite''s beautiful face, I could only feel this sweet taste for him. It seemed wrong to me, because he loves Elpata, and Elpata loves him. Is it right to love him? Chapter 84. How to force them? While Queen Ilifreeta was dealing with royal affairs, another royal was waiting in the wings, whose name was Niana Ilti. She is the crown princess of the kingdom of Hippolyta and was one of the first people we encountered when we arrived on this planet. I still remember how she fled from a terrible threat, saving her life and the lives of those few who relied on her. She was desperate, she had waited too long to return home with an army and retake her homeland from the hands of foreign invaders. In reality, no one wanted to help her, neither Queen Lacuus nor even General Zeonid, which made me feel very sorry for her. And although both of these individuals were almost the same age, they grew up in different countries, with different cultures and traditions, and were separated by only two dangerous forests, which were very difficult for local residents to cross. It¡¯s hard to imagine what the Imperials are doing to the Hippolytians now. Most likely, the Antigonians impose their own rules and slaughter the entire population, populating new lands with their own settlers. There are reasons for this assumption. According to Granid, about three hundred million people live there in the Antigone Empire, which is too many for a country of this era. It is unlikely that without a sufficient level of technological development, one country can feed so many people. Surely the main goal of the Empire is to expand living space, otherwise I don¡¯t know why, after tens of thousands of years of stagnation, the Empire suddenly started a war against neighboring states. There must be a reason for all this, but we cannot find out because we are too ignorant of what is going on in this mysterious country and what threat it poses to us. We don¡¯t even know whether it is possible to establish neutral contact with her, let alone conduct military operations against her. Therefore, having found free time, I organized a meeting between representatives of the kingdoms of Lacuus and hippolytians, and also invited representatives of the Republic of Earth. Our side at this meeting was an observation group, and yet we could become participants in these negotiations if appropriate circumstances arose. The general sat with his arms crossed, and it was clear from his face that Zeonid was not at all interested in negotiations regarding the Antigone Empire, despite the fact that they were responsible for the death of our people. Perhaps the general simply did not particularly trust Granid¡¯s words, or rather, he really wanted to verify them personally, and for this he had to take a risk and send scouts to the Empire, which he did not want. Getting involved in new adventures is the last thing Zeonid wanted and I completely share his point of view. We first need to focus on collecting the necessary resources, building a ship and developing a new jump engine, and let the natives stew in the cauldron and not interfere with us. Just let them try to enter into confrontation with us. I thought and sat down in my place watching all the delegations in the meeting room. Negotiations soon began and ended immediately when Niana immediately demanded to intervene and send troops through the goblin forest, in response to which all Lacuus representatives shook their heads, rose from their seats and silently left the negotiation room. This is what I expected. Even Ilifreeta told Furgur to take her to her office and left behind her a pitiful look, as a sign that the queen deeply sympathizes with Niana, but cannot help her in any way. In the end, only the hippolytians and we, the people from the sky, remained in the room. Niana, in turn, sat as if dead, looking at the door through which the lacuusians passed as if she had just been betrayed. She was silent for some time before turning her attention to Zeonid, who was sitting quietly, whose face was stern as stone. "You¡­" Niana tried to speak, but Zeonid immediately answered, shaking his head negatively. "No. Don''t expect help from us. We have enough problems of our own." The general spoke briefly and clearly. It was clear from the girl¡¯s face that she was not just in despair, she was terrified and did not know how to get out of this situation, after which she hurriedly and without a word left the room. She seemed about to cry. Zaden got up and hurried after her, and we continued to sit in place. ¡°Then I won¡¯t stay here either.¡± Zeonid said and also left the room, accompanied by his bodyguards. Here, in this spacious and at the same time cozy room, where one could lazily spend days and nights, only me, Granid and Ripun remained. The rest also left without knowing why they had organized a meeting doomed to failure. While clouds floated peacefully outside the window and flocks of birds flew by, I sat down on the sofa with a heavy sigh and spoke to the prophet. I wanted to somehow dispel this heaviness that I felt towards Niana, so I couldn¡¯t think of anything better than asking the prophet a somewhat everyday question. "How''s Alza doing?" Ripun''s gaze directed into emptiness was as serious as Zeonid''s, but he, having heard my words, quickly found an answer, simultaneously folding his fingers. "She''s due soon." That''s all he told me and apparently deciding that I decided to ask the same question, but to me. "How are you doing?" I could only grin sadly at his question. ¡°We see each other every day, I think you already know.¡± "Really." Our conversation was not going very well, and at the moment when it seemed that we would spend the rest of the day in awkward silence, Granid inserted his word. He, too, was an observer and did not utter a word from the moment the negotiations began. The old wizard sat down on one of the chairs, scratching his beard at the same time, and set a topic for conversation. ¡°Princess Niana will become a wise queen, but now she is too young. She does not understand that you cannot get power in easy ways. You need to work long and hard to achieve what you want, and this is not an easy road on which anything the Gods want can happen.¡± "She understands that very well." Ripun said and added. ¡°She was just tired. You don¡¯t know what happened to us in the poisonous forest. There were thousands of us then and people, men, women, old women and children died every day. They died following the heiress and daughter Femila. They believed that she would save everyone. But they almost all died. Only me, Zaden, Alza and Niana remained. There was no one else left. But then we found you, at the moment when they were ready to kill us. And we were very happy about it. miracle." The prophet''s gaze directed in my direction was full of reverence and gratitude. Rinun showed with all his appearance that they were still grateful to us, which made me somewhat happy. I''m sure they expect more from us than just protection, but in reality we haven''t gotten everything we wanted from them yet. ¡°We hoped that you would help us, because you defeated these damned Antigonians. We followed you and got here, but we never found anything that would help us save Hippolyta. Our people are suffering, they are dying. Maybe I can¡¯t see this, but I just imagine that the great mother herself shows me these terrible visions in my dreams. I see suffering, great torment on faces frozen in mortal agony and every time I I wake up and it¡¯s not me who¡¯s crying, Niana is crying as if she herself saw the horror that I dreamed.¡± From such revelations, I could only bitterly acknowledge his pain. "I understand you perfectly, Ripun, but we really can''t help." The Prophet only became angry at my words, clenching his fingers into fists. His face, previously full of awe and gratitude, was distorted into a grimace of anger. It seemed like he was about to pounce on me. And as I guessed, he almost took off. ¡°Then why are we here?! Why did we survive?! Isn¡¯t it to become the last hope of our people?! Or maybe to perish here, to become the last reminder of the kingdom of Hippolyta?! Do you know?! No, you don¡¯t know, you are a stranger, you have no desire to help us, our people, and I realized this when you killed those people in Itsqueen! You do everything for yourself, your people... and we too.¡± The last words were spoken with a degree of self-condemnation. Even though Ripun said all these words with anger directed towards me, he definitely understood that such behavior concerns absolutely all people, and not just us. Not everyone is ready to help those in need, and because of this, people get angry at others and at themselves in particular, realizing that they themselves would not be ready to provide support in such a situation. Alas, we still do not know the exact degree of danger posed by the Antigone Empire, which means we have no need to be at enmity with it now. Even if a whole and unharmed ship with a jump engine had wandered into their territory, we would still think a thousand times before acting decisively.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Ripun and Niana may have lost the country, but we also had something to lose. We risked remaining on this planet forever and never seeing our families. Therefore, I could not adequately share his pain. "We are all suffering." That was all I could say. Ripun didn¡¯t respond to these words, and by that moment I had already lost all desire to stay here, so I decided to say goodbye: ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go check on my people. Maybe the general didn¡¯t give me a new rank, but he kept the current one. I promise that if I somehow get to the division headquarters, I will lobby for your interests within the 127th Army. Maybe we will find a reason to send troops to Hippolyta, but now, unfortunately, there is none.¡± "So you need a reason." Ripun said it and didn¡¯t add anything else, just like Granid. Without saying anything, I simply left the room and walked along the corridor of the palace to the barracks. In the future, I will need to prepare and await orders from General Zeonid. I don¡¯t know exactly what he was able to prepare for us, but I hope it won¡¯t be a one-way suicide mission. Perhaps he will decide to organize a search for Leo''s platoon in the mountains to the south, but first of all it is necessary to gather information about these lands, and perhaps he will decide to do something different with us. I wonder why we''re still here? *** Princess Niana''s chambers. Only now do I realize what I just did. Instead of asking for help, I demanded it, which is why I did not receive any help or even advice. The golden-haired queen could only give me a sad look and nothing more. Ilifreeta, the young queen of this country was still poorly versed in government. She preferred to give the initiative in making decisions to her advisers rather than doing something herself, but even she understood that she could not help us in any way. Even those strangers from the sky were against helping us. I didn¡¯t even have time to ask for help, and this old man had already rejected my offer, knowing what was on my mind. They were completely indifferent to the fate of our country. They did everything just for themselves. Even now I understand that back then in the poisonous forest they did not save us, but simply defended themselves from the Antigonians. We were just lucky that they decided not to kill us, and we fools believed that they were those same magical dryads, and only then realized that they were strangers. They allowed us to follow them to learn more about our world. In their own way, they themselves were fools, but unlike us they were very distrustful and cautious. And even though they saved us then, but in fact they were the real villains! They mercilessly killed Itsqueen civilians to save Sigrun. Perhaps if I were in their place, I would have acted in exactly the same way, but it still seemed to me that by killing innocent people I would have a huge burden on me for their lives. I didn¡¯t see it on their faces, as if people¡¯s lives were nothing to them. They are real monsters! That¡¯s what I started thinking from that very moment, but I still decided to follow them, because there was no one else to follow. Now, when I reached the capital of the kingdom of Lacuus, I was only concerned about the lives of my people, the people of the kingdom of Hippolyta. The Empire began a war of conquest against the whole world and Lacuus was simply obliged to provide support, but they refused and did not even utter a word when leaving the negotiation room. And the strangers from the sky who call themselves earthlings decided to build a wall in front of me, as if I were nothing to them. At such a moment, I simply could not tolerate my own helplessness and hurried to leave the room and return to the guest quarters. I asked the palace servants not to let anyone in to see me, so that I could cry alone with myself all the tears of grief, pain and sadness that had accumulated in my soul. I swore to myself that I would protect Hippolyta, continue the work of my mother, avenge her and return freedom to our people. However, in reality I was very weak. I had nothing to offer in exchange for help. I could offer my allegiance to Queen Ilifreeta, but that would be too much responsibility for her. Protecting not only your people, but also mine, is truly an impossible task for a young lady. And it is unlikely that hippolytians would agree to serve someone else¡¯s monarch even in words. It''s the same as if a man groveled before a pig in order to bathe in mud. If I were an ordinary person, I would hardly come to terms with the idea that I live in a country where a man can afford more than a woman, this is simply unacceptable! Strangers from the sky would also be unlikely to agree to this, because their homeland is too far away, outside of our world, and they just want to return there as soon as possible. I have nothing to offer them. And I know little about their laws, even though they had enormous power, it could be used for evil at any moment, and I no longer wanted that. As a result, I discarded the idea of ??offering my allegiance and considered it untenable. I was too proud to accept living in submission. I was raised as the future mistress of Hippolyta, as the mistress of countless souls. I will never accept such a fate, but then what else can I do? After long hours spent in the chambers with my nose buried in a soft pillow, I calmed down a little and plunged into thought for a long time, thinking about what I should do to save my country. What could I offer that would help me and only one thought came to mind, which I also really didn¡¯t like: Niana Ilti I could only offer myself, offer my body as payment in exchange for help, but not to the Republic and Lacuus, but to someone more powerful who would be able to fight the Antigone Empire. Escape from the clutches of Sod''s fanatical servants to become the toy of a foreign king... I was much more disgusted by this thought than by the idea of ??simply swearing allegiance. However, I did not know who, other than the strangers from the sky, had such power to fight the sacred Antigone Empire. It seemed to me that such kingdoms simply did not exist, and I knew for sure that such countries did not exist. The Antigone Empire is the strongest country in the world and going to war against it is simply stupid. History has repeatedly witnessed how coalitions were formed against the servants of Sod, which were subsequently destroyed due to internal squabbles or on the battlefield. We can say that the Antigone Empire was truly invincible and I am in vain hoping to gather an army of liberation on foreign lands. The earthlings, however, showed themselves to be truly powerful and at the same time there were a lot of them, one might say enough to not only free Hippolyta, but also to bury Antigone in ruins. This meant I didn¡¯t have much choice, and I knew that the Republic was the only force capable of crushing the servants of Sod. There was just one problem: But what to offer them? Will this old one accept... I didn¡¯t even think further. The thought of lying with this old man seemed worse than death itself, and I instantly threw it away. I am the daughter of Queen Femila! I am the last of the Ilti line! I have pride! I shouldn¡¯t give myself up to be torn to pieces by all sorts of freaks! B-but what else can I do?! Long hours of reflection were interrupted by a knock on the door behind which a familiar voice was heard: "Madam, this is Ripun, may I come in?" "Come in." I ordered, wiping the tears from my face and sitting down on the edge of the bed. The Prophet, in his brown robe, entered the room and bowed respectfully to me. On his face I noticed notes of enthusiasm, as if there was some excellent thought on his lips, which is why I decided to ask him: "What do you need at this late hour?" The words I heard later surprised me very much. "I know how to get Boris''s people to help us." I froze for a moment. Force us to help? Not to ask, not to exchange, but to force? I hoped that he would offer something new that I had not previously thought of and, filled with hopes and trust in the prophet, I asked him: "How?" Ripun looked back, as if avoiding unnecessary ears that could overhear our conversation, and then, coming closer, he quietly whispered to me: "We will kidnap Zeonid and send him to Hippolyta." "WHAT?!" I screamed in shock. From such words, my eyes almost bulged out, and Ripun immediately covered my mouth with his palm. "Please keep your voice down." The prophet said with fear on his face and removed his hand from my mouth. "Sorry." I had to apologize for reacting to his idea like that, it was too crazy. Kidnap their leader... oh great mother... I didn¡¯t believe in what was proposed, and meanwhile Ripun continued: "I know this will sound very cruel and ignoble towards our saviors, but I think this is a great opportunity to free your kingdom." "What do you mean? Why would we kidnap the leader of these aliens and¡­." I fell silent, starting to guess something, and without noticing it myself, I finished with Ripun. ¡°He is their leader, they will be forced to save him, which means the earthlings will send their army to Hippolyta on these flying fortresses.¡± "Yes." The prophet nodded. "We will tell them that their leader will go with us to Hippolyta, and the earthlings will be forced to send their army to save him." "This sounds like a very evil plan." I said while my heart was pounding wildly with excitement. I really didn¡¯t want to do what Ripun suggested to me, but I¡¯m afraid I had no choice but to agree to his crazy adventure. There was only one important question left: "But if I return to Hippolyta, I will be captured and killed. I am a princess after all." "You won''t come back." "What?" "You will stay here. Only Zaden and I will return to Hippolyta with the captured general." "What will happen to Alza?" "She will stay with you. She must give birth to a child here. She cannot return there." "What if they threaten my life or Alza''s life?" Ripun wanted to quickly answer something, but fell silent. He himself understood that this was very risky, but shaking his head, he soon confidently said: "If something happens to you or Alza, their general will die. That''s what you tell them." "Can you kidnap this old man?" "I''ll think of something." Ripun said confidently. ¡°I am a prophet, I will definitely think of something. I will die as many times as necessary, but I will fulfill your wish. Boris said that they could help, but they need a good reason. I thought that saving their leader would be an excellent reason.¡± ¡°But won¡¯t this make the earthlings our enemies? They will stop trusting us after that.¡± ¡°Yes, they will stop if they know that it was we who kidnapped the general. And if they find out, then it will no longer matter since they will still be forced to do what they must, namely send their army. We will save our country from these fanatics, murderers and rapists.¡± Ripun spoke angrily, clenching his fingers into fists. ¡°Victory requires sacrifice, great sacrifice, and believe me, I will do everything possible for us to win. I will sacrifice myself as many times as necessary. I, like you, no longer want to see how our people suffer, how our people die and how we flee in horror from the Order of the White Moon. I am a faithful son of the great mother and will preserve her legacy until the end of time.¡± His words were full of confidence. He looked at me firmly with his orange-red eyes and with his very appearance he encouraged me. And although I knew that doing such a thing would be wrong to those who saved us, we really had no other choice. I would like to believe that there could be another path, a path without breaking our friendship and our connections, but I knew that there simply were no such paths. And can our relationship be called friendly if they don¡¯t want to help us? No. They do everything only for themselves, so we will do everything for ourselves. I thought about his words for a long time, weighed all the pros and cons, and eventually I rose to my feet and looking the prophet in the face with all the severity, with all the confidence that I had accumulated in myself, I gave him the order: "Ripun, I order you to kidnap Zeonid and go with him to Hippolyta. Do what you have planned and save our people." And even though after these words there was no turning back, I decided not to regret anything. Victory is worth the sacrifice, but not ours. Chapter 85. Death of Nalthea My name is Fion le Moykraf, I am the Count of Charshin County and my family is in danger right now. A monster in the form of a woman, no, in the form of a demon, grabbed my wife, my children and threatens to kill them if I don¡¯t do something terrible, namely kill Queen Ilifreeta. If this bitch lives, my family will die. That''s what she said. As proof of her ¡°mercy,¡± the demoness released my son from her clutches, but my wife and my daughter are still in her captivity, and I don¡¯t know what this monster will do to them if I don¡¯t do what she demands. I was very scared, I was shaking like a beaten dog and thinking about how to get close to the queen and kill her. She is, after all, a queen, she is very seriously guarded and she herself has a punishing hand, which means that you can only kill her by being close and unexpectedly, but I don¡¯t know how to do this! Walking through my chambers inside the capital''s estate, I thought about what I should do, how to get out of this trap, but I could not do anything except decide on it and kill the queen. A child''s cry could be heard in my ears. My son, not forgetting that pain, kept moaning and shedding tears, burying his face in his knees. He was scared, he lacked his mother''s affection, but I could not help him. My consolations were not enough. No matter how much I reassured my son, he could not come to his senses, he constantly called his mother, and I also could not sit idly by for long. "We''ll be al-alright." I lied to myself and to him. Many days have passed since that ill-fated meeting. I had already established connections with some of the queen¡¯s opponents and together we began to gather like-minded people to commit an assassination attempt, but literally today in my bed after a difficult sleep, as if a terrible warning, I found a piece of black hair. By the smell, I immediately recognized who they could belong to: Tulea, my wife. Among other things, I smelled blood in my hair. He is so bitter and disgusting, which is why I again trembled in horror, imagining in my head all the pain that my love is experiencing. I was shaking more than ever and, shedding sweat, I thought about how to get out of this terrible situation, how to save my family and how to kill the queen. She''s hurrying me up! She threatens the life of my family! She''s torturing her! AND WHAT SHOULD I DO?! Questions, questions, questions, just these damn questions! I have no idea how to get to the queen and kill her. Although in fact I had a couple of ideas, namely to attack her openly, but then I risk dying. Either way, I took too many risks. If I die, will the demoness really keep my family alive? She will simply kill them, and then find a new ¡°victim¡± of her intrigues and bring the matter to an end. I¡¯m just the first victim that comes along and I can simply be replaced at any moment. And yet the demoness let my son go, which means she keeps her word. At least that''s what I wanted to believe. Even so, I don¡¯t want my wife and daughter to die at the hands of this monster. I have to do what she told me! I constantly imagine in my head how my wife, exhausted, cut up, sits in some basement, and her intestines are falling out of her stomach, where a mountain of maggots, worms and flies are in full swing building their kingdom. Such a terrible sight just makes you want to puke. Grabbing my head, I repeated to myself: I won''t allow this! I will save you, Tulea, the love of my life. Be patient, survive! I''ll come back for you! I was suddenly interrupted from my thoughts by a knock on the door. "Who is this?" "Fion, it''s me." I immediately recognized the voice of Rayek, my brother, and hastened to open the door for him. His gaze was stern and at the same time worried. "Fion, what''s going on? Where is your woman and..." My brother''s gaze fell on his crying son, and then on me. I subsequently had to tell him everything so that he would no longer suspect us. He learned about the meeting with the demoness, the kidnapping and the deal, and then I begged him: "Help me brother." "Should I help you?" I nodded. ¡°Rayek, I can¡¯t take it anymore, time is short! We need to kill her and quickly!¡± "Fion, calm down." My brother grabbed me by the shoulders and sat me down on a chair. I took deep breaths in and out as my heart raced, pounding loudly in my ears. "Okay brother, I''ll help you." He made a decision quite quickly, for which I was very grateful to him. "Thank you, Rayek. I-I''m glad you''re with me." "And what do we have?" I thought about it, trying to remember the connections I had made. ¡°Some of the palace guards are on our side and are waiting for the moment to attack, but they need an escape route. Several court maids are also involved in this and the aristocrats from the central counties.¡± "It''s clear." Rayek nodded, starting to think about something and offered a number of his ideas. Often our thoughts coincided and therefore were quickly cast aside, but then he suggested something unthinkable. "Brother, I understand how difficult it is for you now, but you will need to wait. Now is not the best time for this." "But¡­!" I tried to object, but Rayek interrupted me. ¡°Don¡¯t give in to this demoness¡¯s provocations, she¡¯s just rushing you. Your wife and daughter are fine. You just have to wait for a better moment.¡± It¡¯s difficult to just wait for the right moment when the demoness is rushing me. I then saw how she strangled my children, and now she can kill my wife and daughter! How could I just wait?! And I was thinking of yelling angrily at him, when the next moment this ¡°right moment¡± finally arrived, when a new knock on the door was heard in the chambers. "Who is this?" Rayek asked and were very surprised by the appearance of a new guest. *** Diplomacy is a difficult thing. I understood this while watching General Zeonid and Princess Ilifreeta negotiate. And although their cooperation is largely unequal and often the issue of misunderstanding arises between them, they take a step towards each other and do not allow the relationship to break due to disagreements. You can see how the connection between us is growing, and with it a share of mutual respect. The general had to spend a lot of time discussing a number of important issues. First Zeonid asked about the kingdom, their people, culture, traditions and peace, and then about everything that was happening at the moment. So the general learned many details about this planet and entered them into the database for general study by the soldiers of the 127th Army. At the end of the exchange negotiations, the general brought up the topic of resource trading and requested information about the missing people, that is, the platoon C1-2-2D1, which Leo commanded. And of course, information about the ¡°shooting star¡±, which is the Zeus cruiser that crashed far in the east and which could begin the irreversible process of deterraforming the planet. Fortunately, a month and a half after the crash, we did not notice anything noticeable about the global environmental catastrophe, but who knows when irreversible changes will begin to occur.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Having received a number of information, the general gathered the army command and made a number of key decisions, one of which concerned us and our platoon C1-2-2-D4. A week after our arrival, he gave orders and assembled us in the morning at a camp outside the city. All the units sent here were housed here, including the elite stormtroopers we once wanted to emulate. While one shuttle was on a mission, the remaining two were located on both sides of the camp and were ready to take off at any moment. These shuttles served as living and working quarters and were ready to be converted into a flight vehicle at any time. There was barbed wire, surveillance cameras and turrets around the perimeter, and in the middle of the camp there was an empty grassy parade ground where I and my entire platoon stood at attention in front of the general and several other officers. With his arms crossed behind his back, Zeonid made a speech addressed to us. His face was serious and therefore it was difficult to know what he was going to say: either he would thank us for something or sternly reprimand us. In any case, we were serious and swallowed every word that his lips uttered. "Platoon C1-2-2-D4 remains the last unit of Regiment C1-2-2-D. You are still subordinate to the third division, and therefore must be located at the Pharaoh base and protect it. However, I have decided that you will remain here as a special forces reconnaissance force. You already have experience in combat, daring attacks and contact with local residents, and of course you have all the necessary knowledge for conducting reconnaissance." Walking from one end of the parade ground to the other, the general stopped right in front of my face and said with the firmness of a seasoned soldier: "Second Lieutenant Boris Kipito will retain his current rank and receive official uniforms... but only when they are sewn." A roar of laughter rose in the air, but the general did not shut anyone up, he himself chuckled at his own joke, and then continued: ¡°Although you do not have proper officer training, I think for your services as a confident commander of your unit, you deserve your current rank. However, you should forget about promotion until you finally undergo officer training, and this will happen when an officer school is built on the basis of Pharaoh.¡± The soldiers looked at each other after hearing these words; in essence, they meant that we risked staying here for a long time, since the general was going to build military infrastructure here. However, I guessed about this and still I was very restless inside because I would not be able to see my family for decades. ¡°I see you have already guessed what I mean. Your guesses are correct: we are here for a long time. We have no resources to return home, no ship, nothing except our strength. The 127th Army of the Republican Armed Forces of humanity is currently the most powerful force on this planet. This will be so if you believe the information we received from the kingdom of Lacuus. The greatest threat to us is only a certain Antigone empire, which is rumored to be more than ten thousand years old. You yourself witnessed how they attacked you and killed dozens of your colleagues. At the moment, it can be considered that the Republic of Earth and the Antigone Empire are in a state of conflict." Zeonid began to circle again before stopping in front of Ashwani, who was dressed in our uniform. He apparently didn¡¯t really like it, he didn¡¯t follow the military regulations, but fortunately for him, he didn¡¯t need to. The main thing was to find out what happened to him. Zeonid stopped in front of him and finally continued his speech. "You also have another task ahead of you, namely to find out what happened to Ashwani and find out if he really is a member of the Republic Armed Forces of Humanity." Zeonid turned away. "Based on the report of a junior lieutenant: Ashwani was part of the platoon, but suddenly disappeared from reality after he touched a mysterious stone inside a hole in a tree trunk near the crash site of the Persia shuttle. Several members of the platoon confirmed the incident and wrote the same in their reports. The name Ashwani is not in our databases, which means we cannot yet be sure whether this native is really your colleague. In fact, the headquarters put forward a theory..." And then I pricked up my ears. We thought a lot about what happened then and it all boiled down to the fact that Ashwani, or rather information about him, was erased from reality, there could be no other option. Now we are prepared to hear another theory, which probably contradicts ours. ¡°Most likely, one of you touched that stone and you were instilled with false memories. The doctors did not notice any significant changes in your nervous system and brain structure, which means that if there was an intervention, it was incredibly surgical. As evidence, the stone materialized a rifle with the index and initials Ashwani. The theory sounds crazy, I know that, but you already know how absurd everything that is and is happening on this planet is. So I think there is a place for such an assumption.¡± We stood in a stupor when we heard Zeonid¡¯s words. The very idea that all those memories about Ashwani were lies really scared us. How anomalous is this planet that it was able to instill these memories in all those... who were close to that tree and that stone. But really... The more I think about it, the more convincing this theory seems. Why did the stone erase the memories of everyone who was far from it, and not vice versa? Could something so powerful simply exist? Rather, it happened exactly as the general said. It is we who have been given false memories of Ashwani. It''s entirely possible that the stone created the rifle as evidence to make us believe all this, but what about the occupancy of the shuttle? Why did the shuttle carry 499 people instead of 500? Could we really have missed one person during the evacuation from the ship? If this is so... then why? Who or what needed this? Did someone really know that we would meet Ashwani and this someone wanted us to take him with us? Isn''t he just an ordinary native? Maybe he''s actually hiding something? Oh Sod. From such thoughts I even began to pray to the local deity. It all seemed too crazy. Zeonid, meanwhile, did not stop: "Since this is just a theory, I''m thinking of considering Private Ashwani a native to be the first to enlist in the Republic Human Forces. Congratulations." From this point of view, we have not essentially lost him, but at the same time we will be able to observe him. It is quite possible that someone wanted Ashwani to enter our service and perhaps give a start to our starting to replenish our forces at the expense of the local population. On the other hand, Ashwani could be a pawn or even a spy to monitor our activities, but it is too early to make such assumptions. Meanwhile, we clapped our hands congratulating Ashwani on his enlistment in the 127th Army of the RVCh. The general handed him blue shoulder straps on which the number ¡°0¡± was carved in white. This means that he is a recruit and will undergo training for the time being before he is allowed to perform combat missions. I was curious to know where and who would train one single recruit, and then the general¡¯s gaze fell on me: "Second Lieutenant Boris Kipito, Recruit Ashwani is being transferred to your command. He knows the terrain better than us. So don''t let him lose and train him properly. Is the order clear?" "Yes, sir." I answered. "Okay, that''s all. At ease. Everyone is free." After these words, everyone began to disperse, and in the meantime I hurried to the general to ask a number of questions. "And how is this to be understood?" I asked Zeonid, to which he answered quite seriously. ¡°We will stay here for a long time, no one knows exactly how long. While you were here, we suffered huge losses in battles with xorxs and we need reinforcements.¡± "And you decided to make up for the losses with the local population?" The general nodded. "Do we have a choice? We risk getting into a whole series of conflicts where we could lose even more people. In ten, twenty or thirty years, someone will have to fly back to Earth, but who will be alive by that time? Will any of us remain at all? I will be honest with you, Boris, I absolutely do not care about the lives of the local residents, all these natives. We are stuck here because of an anomaly unknown to us, the nature of which we simply cannot determine, and there are hundreds or even thousands of intelligent species on this planet, trapped here just like us, but what''s even worse is that they have degenerated and are stuck here forever." After these words, the general¡¯s decision became more logical and correct for me. And although we may be safe in the desert, some resources are lacking there, which means we will invade the lands of the natives in order to obtain resources that are useful to us. We are almost guaranteed to suffer losses, given what we have seen here. We may face an even greater force than we currently have, including the remnants of the Pantora Empire, our greatest enemy. ¡°Boris, you know, you said it yourself, that there could be pantorians here. And although we didn¡¯t notice their direct presence here, they could leave behind dangerous technologies.¡± The general¡¯s gaze rose upward and, following him, I saw in the sky one of the three gray moons of this planet. It was tiny, even smaller than the Moon in Earth''s sky, perhaps due to the fact that it was simply further away or maybe due to the fact that it was actually smaller in size. ¡°Three hundred years ago, Naltea died. You remember that, right?¡± I nodded and began to guess what he was talking about. The death of the planet Nalthea. The population is 17 billion people and the same number of victims. During the Pantorian war, they miraculously managed to kill the pantorian general, but his body remained lying in the rubble of heaps of bodies and seven hundred years later, someone found the general¡¯s body and a pantorian device on the pantorian¡¯s left hand, which is popularly called the ¡°reality glove.¡± The owner of this device could influence reality with the power of thought, but it consumed too much energy. In general, someone intentionally or accidentally decided to move the moon in the sky, after which it changed its trajectory and collided with the planet. Only a few million people were evacuated on ships on that ill-fated day; the majority could not be saved; they perished along with the planet. I remember at school they showed a recording of the collision of the moon and the planet. People who escaped from Nalthea saw how their home, where they were born and lived all their lives, perished only because someone decided to move the moon in the sky closer to Nalthea. Knowing this story, I quickly guessed what Zeonid was talking about. "If the locals repulsed the Pantorians, they probably left behind their destructive weapons. Under no circumstances should they exist." Zeonid nodded. "That''s right. By Republic law, as part of our obligations with the interstellar confederation Fucult, we are required to search for and destroy all pantorian technology. Their use is strictly prohibited. Even if we find a pantorian ship here and are able to control it... we still must destroy it." So terrible were those times and so hateful were these creatures that any reminder of them that words or their artifacts should be eliminated. Even if the natives do not know this, they are also bound to be destroyed if they are caught using pantorian technology. All this was scary and yet we need to remain human, this is our main task. What will be the point of returning if bloodthirsty monsters and not people return home? None. Therefore, the general decided to start recruiting natives into service so that they would die, and not us. Therefore, we will fight with the natives to collect all the resources we need. This nightmare will not end. Soon, a communications officer suddenly ran up to us, or rather to the general, with panic on his face: ¡°Sir, a message has just been received: there is fighting in the palace!¡± "WHAT?!" Chapter 86. Kill the queen! Ran is the capital of the kingdom of Lacuus. This ancient city has stood for many hundreds of years, its high stone walls are impenetrable, and thanks to its favorable geographical location, trade has flourished here. People were mainly engaged here in handicrafts, carpentry, the same trade and maintenance of expensive homes. It was from the streets of the capital that servants and guards were recruited to the estates and castle. After the Battle of Ran, frightened people wanted to return to a peaceful and calm life as soon as possible. Many of them even left for the countryside away from the unrest, and at the crossroads of the city, people from the palace continually recruited guards, promising them generous pay. Unless in these speeches employers are silent about the responsibility that people will have to bear during their service. Of course, among these people there were also cultists who took advantage of the opportunity and secretly entered the palace. Together with them, nobles, Fellrick spies and some others entered the palace. Together they had one common goal: kill Queen Ilifreeta. She was a nuisance held by new forces, and her very life was an eyesore. Among the highest nobility it was believed that there was no place for naivety and girlish idealism in politics, and that it would be difficult and unprofitable to conduct behind-the-scenes affairs with a person like the queen. The death of Ilifreeta should launch a process of rapid changes in the kingdom, start a huge fire that will engulf the entire country and then the only contender for the throne will be Duke Fellrick, whose power can be beneficial for all those in power in this fragmented state. Queen Ilifreeta was guarded by the most loyal and experienced warriors of the kingdom, including the master of the bow Furgur, who decided to protect her at the cost of his own life, leaving behind his glorious path as an adventurer. Finally, he found his calling and was ready to stand impregnably as a wall until the end of his days in order to protect an honest and innocent girl who was destined to rule in this turbulent era. However, not everything was so simple. While people were rebuilding the palace after the battle, removing dead bodies and all kinds of debris, observers appeared among them, carefully monitoring the queen''s actions. Ilifreeta often walked along the corridors of the palace, entering different rooms and meeting with strangers from the flying castle and advisers loyal to the queen. Dougman, the Privy Councilor also carried out his work and carefully monitored the observers, but did not take any measures because he did not know who these spies belonged to and what they were really seeking. However, he knew that providing enemies with information about the queen''s daily routine, as well as the shift schedule of the guards, would not bring anything good to the kingdom, only problems. No one knows exactly where and how this or that information can be used, in any case, any knowledge can be used, Dougman knew this very well. Anything can happen here, the queen¡¯s life is in constant danger, and therefore the Privy Councilor took slightly different measures to take control of the situation and find out who exactly is watching her majesty. One day he sent his faithful man to follow a suspicious servant in order to find out where the thread of a web hidden from human eyes stretched. The servant, remaining in the castle, entered the guest section of the palace and visited the chambers of Bishop Azann and reported to him about the political positions of the people from heaven. As soon as Dougman found out that one of the spies was working for the bishop, he began to suspect his friend of collaborating with the Antigone empire and was not mistaken in his assumptions. The entire church of Sod worship is subordinate to the Antigone empire, which is why for many years the empire did not need to wage wars of conquest. The Antigone Empire did not feel any real threat from its neighbors, but for some reason the highest clerics of the empire decided to change doctrine and launch a series of military campaigns against all neighboring states. It is only a matter of time before Imperial forces reach the lake kingdom of Lacuus, either through the goblin forest or directly from the west through the Principality of Farson. However, the espionage of the Antigone empire was not the most dangerous and significant in Dougman''s opinion; he already knew that the church belonged to the empire and the demonstration of weakness was enough to avoid a possible threat from Antigone. Therefore, the Privy Councilor continued his work and sent several more people to spy on other observers unrelated to the bishop. This time, his people stumbled upon an underground shelter in the city''s sewers, where criminals usually hid, escaping punishment. Dougman reported that a whole base had been built under the city, where cultists were preparing an uprising. Most likely, it was through the city dungeon that Swidok escaped, but it will be impossible to know for sure now. Since the city is ancient, no one knows where and how far the sewer tunnels stretch and whether there is an exit from there outside the city. If he reports a cult base under the city, the cult will most likely start an uprising before the city guards can gather and attack the enemy. In addition to this, enemy spies can lie low and then Dougman will definitely not be able to find out who else is threatening her majesty. Silence in this case was simply necessary. Instead, he decided to do something different: the Privy Councilor ordered all entrances and exits to the sewers to be sealed and continued to look for the organizers of the spy network. One day, the Privy Councilor''s men came across a skirmish. At night, two gangs clashed among the streets of the city, or rather groups of two different factions, which apparently belonged to the nobility and the Duke of Fellrick. The battle was short-lived and both sides chose to retreat in a hurry because their noise attracted the attention of the night guards. Dougman continued to monitor and found out who else was watching the queen: the Antigone Empire, Duke Fellrick, the royal nobility, the cultists of the new world and most unexpectedly... the Republic of Earth. It turns out that General Zeonid¡¯s people are also watching Ilifreeta, but unlike the others, it is not so obvious and noticeable. They placed certain artifacts throughout the city and palace that tell people from the sky about the position of the queen and even the details of conversations. That is why the Privy Councilor was unable to find out what exactly the earthlings were hiding and why. What was known for sure was that they were always prepared at meetings with the queen and knew everything in advance, which indicated that the earthlings were really conducting surveillance. People from the sky seemed the most dangerous, not only as an open force, but also as a hidden one, acting from the shadows, piercing their claws wherever they could reach, which frightened the Privy Councilor madly. The only leverage they have to put pressure on them is to spread rumors that they are behind the Itqueen massacre, but what will that do? Unless, in response, the earthlings can repeat this process and leave nothing from Ran except scorched earth and mountains of corpses. Taking such a step would be extremely unwise and Dougman understood this very well. The Privy Councilor continued to monitor everyone to understand what Her Majesty''s enemies were planning until he noticed the sudden movement of everyone: the cultists, the nobility, the church and the people of Fellrick. Dougman reported that all four forces began to act simultaneously, which caused the Privy Councilor to drop his writing pen from his hands. Can''t be. Dougman didn''t believe it. They''re all together! How did I not understand this?! And only the earthlings continued to watch from afar, without showing themselves in any way, but most likely they too could take part in this, they were just very secretive. The people from heaven were still hiding a lot, it was impossible to keep track of them, they did not allow anyone in who was not familiar to them. On top of that, the language barrier was very hampering, which could not be overcome without the magic ring Granid. His help would not have hurt, but it is unlikely that he would have helped the Privy Councilor with contacts, because Granid brought these strangers here, which means he was on their side. The old wizard and his student Incartia left the city and returned to the forest. The old wizard said that he did everything he wanted and just left. It seemed that after this the earthlings could begin to act more boldly, but instead they continued what they call ¡°cooperation¡±. The third sorceress, whose name was Camelia, completely disappeared along with one of the strangers. They left the city and disappeared from view as if they had suddenly disappeared. Even the earthlings were looking for their relative until they decided not to abandon this matter and continue to go about their business. Perhaps the white-haired woman used some kind of spell to avoid surveillance or was very quick in leaving the city. In any case, the magicians have already left the city and are unlikely to be able to show themselves again.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Meanwhile, by morning, thunder struck from a clear sky and hundreds of people came out of hiding and began to wreak havoc everywhere. Cultists with swords and axes, crazy faces full of bloodlust, somehow managed to get out of the ancient sewer and began killing everyone in the middle of the city streets, diverting the attention of the city guards. At the same moment, inside the palace, people of the nobility, under the guise of royal guards, attacked their comrades and began to capture the palace and castle. It was difficult to distinguish allies from enemies, but Dougman was not going to trust anyone other than his loyal subjects, and he knew exactly one gesture that the people of the nobility used in the form of a fist from which the middle finger was extended. With this sign they marked each other as allies. So the Privy Councilor decided to kill everyone who showed this gesture. The church also did not sit idly by and also took part in the uprising by closing the gates to the cathedral and setting fire to barns throughout the city where grains and other foodstuffs were stored. And finally, Fellrick¡¯s people emerged from the shadows and attacked the subordinates loyal to the Privy Councilor. Somehow Dougman managed to get out of the trap, but he managed to lose many people. Most of all, he hated the loss of control and therefore ground his teeth every time enemies stood in his way among the corridors of the palace and took the initiative. He fought like mad, drawing blood in different directions and thinking along the way. He, unbiasedly going through the options for current events, tried to build a general picture of what was happening and the puzzle began to gradually come together. The sudden chaos led the people into terrible panic. It seemed that a fierce battle for the city had begun again. Many did not even know what the reason for the uprising was, when everything was just beginning to get better in the city, and therefore the shock and horror was only multiplied. In the palace, the servants fled in all directions, some hid in the first chambers they came across, others went downstairs to the exit, and others jumped from the windows, avoiding every armed man who attacked them. The guards slaughtered each other and also killed the servants. This picture was not pleasant and inspired real awe. He took out his short blade from under his cloak and cut the throat of the maid, who, before dying, with a hoarse and madness on her face, shouted: "Let a new world come!" Her blood splashed onto the floor, like the cultist herself, being already dead. It all started too suddenly, but the Privy Councilor quickly realized what needed to be done and hurried to the chambers of Queen Ilifreeta. She is guarded by the most faithful guards. None of them will have to point a blade at the queen! So Dougman thought, until he soon reached the queen¡¯s chambers, where the corpses of the royal guards were already lying, and the ringing of blade blows could be heard from behind the open door. ¨C We''re late! Dougman hurried inside and saw a wounded Furgur, clad in the plate armor of a royal guard, fighting with a man in a dark cloak. Sword and dagger, it seemed the odds were in favor of Furgur, but the master of the bow managed to be wounded in the stomach. He could barely stand on his feet, blood flowed down in a stream, and his skin quickly turned pale. The Privy Councilor saw how he lost concentration and could die at any moment through carelessness and inattention. The queen herself had already woken up by this time, she was still lying on the bed, immobilized and with wide round eyes looking at the ceiling, perfectly hearing the clanking of weapons and painful moans. At one moment, Furgur spat a clot of blood from his mouth, and the next moment a dagger entered his chest and the master of the bow in the blink of an eye fell to his knees, no longer able to stand on his feet. He still held on to his life, trying with his bare hands to stop the blade that cut his heart, but it was too late. Life quickly left his body and without saying his dying words, Furgur fell dead. The man who killed the master of the bow picked up his sword from the floor and reacted to the guests who had just arrived. Dougman and his men rushed to attack the assassin until he suddenly turned to face them and shocked the Privy Councilor. He couldn''t believe who appeared before him. "What? " Dougman stopped a couple of steps from the killer. "Prophet?" He couldn''t believe that this man could be one of the cultists. This stranger did not show himself at all; every now and then he sat in his chambers and consoled Alza, his pregnant girlfriend. Dougman had a lot of questions, but he didn''t have time to ask them. Before pouncing on him, Dougman holding his sword towards Ripun decided to ask: "What are you doing here? Why did you kill Furgur?" Ripun lowered his blade down and answered the Privy Councilor''s question with fatigue on his face and heavy shortness of breath. "I''m sorry. I received a prophecy and learned that Furgur was going to kill Queen Ilifreeta." Again this is a prophecy. Thought the Privy Councilor looking at Ripun with skepticism. Dougman did not believe in the abilities of the orange-eyed prophet, and yet his participation could indicate that even the people from the sky decided to kill the queen with the hands of the hippolytian. However, it was clear from his face that he felt cornered. He was afraid, trembling with fear, and still did not dare to raise his sword to defend himself. Ripun really did not inspire any credibility either with his words or with his murder. "You''re lying." Dougman said and brought the tip of the blade closer to the prophet¡¯s throat, but he did not move. "Furgur would never betray Her Majesty." "And yet he did it." Ripun said confidently, pointing to the killed guards. "Look at them, they were hit in the back. Only Furgur could do that." One of Dougman''s people approached the murdered royal guard, to whom Ripun nodded and turned over the body, where there was indeed a bloody hole on the back. Ripun did not lie, the guards could only be killed by Furgur by delivering an unexpected blow on the sly, from behind, and yet it was not clear how this stranger could fight Furgur on equal terms. Was he hiding his abilities? Or maybe someone helped him? Before Dougman had time to voice these questions, Ripun immediately answered them. "I arrived in time. The guards managed to wound him, and I fought with the already weakened Furgur." "W-why?" Ilifreeta suddenly began to sob, sniffling through her nose, still unable to move her body. "Why did he betray me? ¡­*sob*¡­ W-why?" "I don''t know that." The prophet said with sadness in his voice. ¡°Perhaps someone has subjugated his mind?¡± "This is impossible!" Dougman protested, widening his eyes as if he had heard the most fantastic and impossible thing in the world. "All royal guards undergo a protection ritual. It gives them immunity to magic. No one could subdue them!" Ripun did not deny this. ¡°Perhaps so, but we do not know how reliable this ritual of protection is.¡± "The ritual is very reliable." Dougman hissed, lowering his sword and hastening to hide his face under his hood. "Now go away. You are no longer needed." "What''s happening?" Ilifreeta asked through tears. "W-why did I wake up¡­ *sob*¡­ and find out that Furgur b-betrayed m-me?" "Insurrection." Ripun and Dougman answered in unison, causing them to even look at each other in surprise. "A-rebellion? *sob* W-why? W-what did I do?" The Queen was very shocked and heard terrible details from the Privy Councilor. "All our enemies have united against you. Cultists, antigonians, durshlagds and even the rebellious nobles." Perhaps earthlings too. The Privy Councilor did not finish speaking. Dougman said all this while approaching the queen closer to take her in his arms. There was horror on her face. All the furniture in the bedroom shook from her emotions. The power of the punishing hand was getting out of control and the room was filled with both anger and sadness of the queen. She sobbed and cried, not understanding how all this could happen. Death surrounded her again, and again she could not do anything about it, she could only watch. Ripun, meanwhile, decided to listen to the Privy Councilor and left the queen¡¯s chambers. It seems that the prophet had his own spy network or he really could foresee the future since he knew that there was now an uprising in the city. In any case, he does not pose a threat and did not even lie, but he was still suspicious. Meanwhile, Dougman, having picked up the queen in his arms, decided to hide her in a safe place, namely in his own chambers, which no one could reach yet. After this, he gave his people the order: "Find the royal advisors, protect them and call for help from all those who are still loyal to her majesty." Silently nodding, the people in black hurried outside, and Dougman moved along the corridors of the palace. "Furgur... for what?" The queen whispered, not believing in the betrayal of her faithful protector. However, not only she did not believe in it, but also Dougman. Still, if Ripun also decided to kill the queen, he would have done it immediately after killing Furgur, but instead he lowered his sword and simply walked away. It seemed that Ripun was not lying, but then why... "Kha-a-a~!!!" Dougman screamed from a sudden blow to the back. The tip of the sword pierced straight into the Privy Councilor''s heart and his blood gushed straight onto the queen''s face. The Privy Councilor fell to his knees and, trying to catch his breath with his mouth, fell to the floor and released from Her Majesty¡¯s hands. Dougman died instantly. "NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!" The queen screamed in horror, falling immobilized to the floor along with the Privy Councilor. The queen fell on her side, looked into the distance of the corridor and did not see the face of the one who came to kill her. There was nothing nearby that the punishing hand could grasp; it was powerless. If she could tremble, she would have done so, but she could not and instead was filled with primal horror. It seemed that the end of her life had come, such a pitiful and sudden end. "N-no...s-stop!" She screamed with tears in her eyes until the killer, approaching her from behind, picked her up and ran further down the corridor. "What are you doing?! Let go!" The killer did not answer anything and simply shut the queen¡¯s mouth. Ripun knew that if he revealed himself, he would ruin his entire plan. He, hiding his face in a rag, ran into the street, where a fierce battle of all against all was taking place. Through all this chaos, he was going to deliver the queen to the church, where he could carry out his plan. This is my last chance. I''ve died so many times that I don''t remember how many years have passed. I am no longer the prophet I was before, I have become different. This time the cycle will be broken, and I will... finally kidnap General Zeonid. Deprived of the will to live in his eyes, Ripun pursued one single goal and all in order to change the fate of the world in favor of his homeland, his beloved woman and himself. For this, he decided to die as many times as necessary. Chapter 87. The Age of the Groundhog A week earlier. This has already been the 200th attempt to kidnap General Zeonid. The result is the same every time: I didn¡¯t succeed. I simply didn¡¯t have the strength to cope with this man. Even though he looked old and seemed like a rather weak person, he was actually very strong. Even wounded, he poses a threat. The last time I attacked him from behind, I managed to take him by surprise, but even with a blade stuck in his chest and bleeding, the old general did not blink an eye as he took out his knife and cut his throat with it. I fell unconscious and went back a day to the past. If I had known earlier that he did not feel pain, I would not have even tried to kidnap him directly. I thought about it and decided to change my approach. It is impossible to deprive him of consciousness, his security is very strong, but even if I manage to tie him up, I will not have time to take him away and his people will find me. We need to make sure that it disappears quickly and also quickly ends up in Hippolyta. Waking up inside the chambers of the palace, I carefully think about what I experienced in my unfulfilled future and decided to act differently. Sorry, Boris. Three hundred tries later. I open my eyes and remember Boris''s face. It was as if he was asking in surprise, ¡°what?¡±, and then in shock, ¡°why?¡± and I felt ashamed. He may be a stranger, but he saved us, and I thanked him by going into battle against his people, his people and himself. From his point of view, I was a traitor, and I understood him perfectly, imagining how I would feel if I were in his place. However, I could not do otherwise, they must help us or our people will perish and lose themselves in the ocean of horror, fear and death that the servants of Sod, these damned Antigonians, carry within themselves. I have to do what needs to be done and it doesn¡¯t matter what Boris and his people ultimately think about me. I''ll force him. In one of my attempts, I started trying to hijack a shuttle, the very ¡°flying castle¡± in order to deliver Zeonid to Hippolyta, but I encountered many difficulties, starting with the fact that it was a complex device that I was not even trusted to try. I tried to learn how to use it on my own, and then I killed myself to turn back time. Each time taking my own life became more and more disgusting, but I endured, otherwise I could not return everything as it was. I soon realized that as a stranger, purely because of my origin, I could not control it. I must be an earthling, otherwise the ghost of the on-board computer will not recognize me as its master, and I must also have some kind of sign, that is, the mark of a pilot with some kind of flight rank. I don''t know what it is, but without it I can''t control this thing. Although I learned how to board the shuttle, I was unable to take off on it. Every time I tried to activate the machine, Boris¡¯s people found out about it, came running inside and found me, and there was nowhere to hide. Knowing that Boris wouldn¡¯t kill me, I cut my throat to go back to the past and repeat everything. But after three hundred attempts, I realized that I could not hijack the shuttle. I had no chance and I had to change my plan of action again. No... that won¡¯t work, there must be something else. Another fifty tries later. I killed the pilot and tried to use his eye and fake voice to make friends with the ghost of the on-board computer, but suddenly it turned out that the pilot needed to be alive and awake, and also speak in his own voice. The ghost of the on-board computer can distinguish between the living and the dead, so again I failed. Even having studied English, I could not properly do everything as needed, and therefore I gave up trying to take control of the shuttle. O great mother, I began to speak and think like an earthling. Five hundred tries later. Having abandoned the method of abducting the general using the shuttle, I began to explore the city in search of another way. I had to comb every corner, every gateway to find other ways to accomplish my plans. I learned that the people here worship Sod, but they are not part of the Empire, but the church... was. At first I was afraid that the Antigone Empire was ruling here in the shadows, but I soon decided to do something different and use them to help kidnap General Zeonid. I found out that the local bishop, who is part of the royal council, actually reports to the Empire about everything that happens here. I was careless and in one of the unfulfilled destinies, I was grabbed in an alley and then dragged into a dungeon, where Bishop Azann himself appeared before me in a clean white sacred robe and a high headdress, under which the tired face of an old man could be seen. It was unusual to see how he held a sword with a red-hot blade in his hands, and I immediately realized what he was going to do to me. In this unfulfilled life I was destined to suffer. ¡°Are you really that same prophet?¡± Azann said with a devilish smile. "Saint Yasmi returned safely to Gollei and shared with the synod an interesting story about how she met the dark ones. I could not even imagine that she meant your friends." Azann held out the crystal ball to my face with his left hand. I had no idea what it was, but what was surprising was that there was no reflection of me in it, only the chair to which I was tied. "I reported your friends to the Empire. In the name of the great Sod, this country must be cleansed of all the dirt and all the heresy that lives here." I was filled with disgust for these fanatics. They conquered my home, killed so many people and that wasn¡¯t enough for them, they decided to do the same here. I couldn''t let that happen. Seeing my expression, Azann grinned and removed the crystal ball from my face and continued: ¡°As the most faithful follower of the great Sod, I decided to make sure that you really see what you shouldn¡¯t. Do you really see the future?¡± I nodded. It would be pointless to hide this, but it seems that my modest nod did not surprise him at all. His next words only reinforced my belief that these fanatics must be stopped. "Only Sod knows the future." The bishop said and put a red-hot blade on my neck. The next moment I experienced agony and could no longer think about anything, only feel how the unbearable heat was burning my flesh to the bones. "A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A~!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. How it hurt me, I screamed so loudly that it seemed that people outside would hear me and maybe respond to my suffering, but no, it was just me and this bastard. From the terrible burning pain, I strained my voice and staggered from side to side trying to get out, but I was still tied on a chair while my skin was burning. "You are nothing more than a heretic who thinks too much of himself." The bishop said arrogantly. "N-no... please!" I begged hoarsely, not wanting to experience this terrible pain anymore. "Kill me... I beg you!" "Kill? Have you not repented of your sins and want to die?" Azann didn¡¯t show it, but he was clearly very angry, which is why he cut my hand with one light movement of his sword. "A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A~!!!" "YOU MUST SUFFER!" The bishop shouted and the next moment he cut off his other hand. "YOU SHOULD BEGGING SOD FOR FORGIVENESS! REPENT, YOU FREAK!" The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "AHHHHHHHHHHH~!!! ENOUGH! PLEASE!" "I HATE YOU! DIE!" A thousand tries later. Since then I have become more careful. I learned that the bishop was watching not the queen, but rather the general¡¯s people, and having essentially noticed people from heaven, he doomed this kingdom to destruction. I collected evidence that the Antigone Empire would invade the Kingdom of Lacuus, but when I told about it... General Zeonid simply flew away with Boris back somewhere to the east. Watching the shuttles fly away in the twilight sky, I fell to my knees in despair. Not only were they not going to help Hippolyta, but they also abandoned the kingdom of Lacuus to its fate. They did not want to get involved with the empire so much that they preferred to sever all ties rather than give them a fight. Underpants! I clenched my fingers into fists. The decision to get out of here was immediate. Just a couple of hours ago there was a meeting where I spoke about the betrayal of Bishop Azann. He was captured and taken into custody, and General Zeonid rode on a mobile cart to the camp from where the shuttles flew back to Pharaoh, whatever it was. Meanwhile, chaos began in the capital, people began to erect barricades, and some even began to pack their things and run. People despaired, thinking that they had lost a faithful defender, but in fact they never intended to protect anyone. They always thought only about themselves. The queen, having learned that Zeonid had flown away, drooped, and before that she completely closed herself in her chambers when she heard from me the words that the bishop was a traitor. I despaired more seeing how the mighty earthlings simply ran away, leaving us to be torn to pieces by the wolves. For this I hated them so much that I continued to try to hide my face under a mask so that they would not see my true feelings that I felt towards them. I hate them. From the next attempts, I didn¡¯t say a word about talking about the bishop¡¯s betrayal, instead I continued to monitor the church and think about how to use them. They were both bitter enemies and a great opportunity. I also learned that not only the bishop was watching the queen, but also someone else. Some of them were cultists, others were durshlagds, and still others were local nobility. They all acted on their own and more often killed each other than working on a common cause, but they all wanted one thing: to kill Queen Ilifreeta. In one of the attempts, I developed a clear plan and, following it, decided to organize a meeting of all four factions. I sent letters to them all, and they sent their representatives to the hotel I indicated, where I shared my observations. In the first meeting they killed me, and then they killed each other, but somewhere on the third attempt I found the right approach to these paranoid people and lured them into a trap. I stole a lot of money from the streets and hired security so that the representatives of the four factions could not escape, and when I walked out in front of them, I immediately told them that they were now working for me: "I invited you here so that we can join forces and kill Queen Ilifreeta." How many times did I say this before we managed to share enough information and started an uprising? I learned that Bishop Azann not only had a sphere of contact that allowed him to communicate with Antigone using magic, but also an altar that, if necessary, representatives of the church could use to escape. This altar was located right inside the city''s cathedral and could be activated through a ritual. I convinced the church that General Zeonid needed to be kidnapped so they wouldn''t interfere with the Antigone Empire''s plans to invade Lacuus. I dodged as best I could, but eventually finding the right words, I was able to deceive them, and they decided to do everything as I suggested. I had to study each of them, find out their every intention, every step they took, and only after that I managed to take control of everything. I didn¡¯t even notice how, in just a day, I led the organization of the most ambitious uprising in the history of this country. It is unknown how many attempts later. The plan was ready, but only the most difficult thing remained, namely its execution. I got the role of the queen''s kidnapper. I will have to kill the Privy Councilor and take Queen Ilifreeta to the altar, and then General Zeonid will have to rush there. When he falls into a trap, I will send him straight to Hippolyta, or even to the Antigone Empire. After this, the earthlings will have no choice, and they will be forced to invade the Antigone Empire to save their leader. There was just one problem: I was never a fighter, and therefore it was very difficult for me to fight. I was never a fighter, all I could see was the future where I would eventually die, and I would leave the battle to the noble hippolytian warriors. And yet, having taken up arms, I began to try myself in battle, but I managed to fight with great difficulty. Who would have thought that combat is a whole science, where you not only need to swing your weapon correctly, but also choose the right direction, follow the enemy¡¯s movements and skillfully deceive them. I didn¡¯t think that fighting was so difficult and... fun. Living through the same events again, I learned to read all the predictable actions of the enemy, but I could not fight with everyone in a row, otherwise I would have to learn new techniques and ways to defeat the enemy in battle. I decided to fight only a few people, namely Queen Ilifreeta''s bodyguards. Getting to the queen''s chambers, I was met by the royal guards, who quickly killed me. I thought of getting inside by deception, but Furgur was adamant and would not let me in. No matter what words I tried, nothing worked, and Her Majesty¡¯s chambers were guarded around the clock. I had no other choice, and therefore I decided to take the difficult path. I began to learn a complex and precise dance, the outcome of which should be the death of each guard, but their death should be such that I could later convince Dougman that Furgur betrayed them, and not I killed them. With a lot of repetition, I fought Furgur again and again and eventually I found the perfect path in which I could kill him. One wrong mistake, one wrong pose, one missed moment and I''m dead. The hardest thing was to deceive Dougman, who immediately began to suspect me. I decided to do everything possible to gain his trust and lied, lied, lied, lied and lied again as best I could so as not to learn new techniques and waste time on another battle. Finally, I succeeded in this, but the last part of the plan turned out to be even more difficult: namely, to lure General Zeonid and convince Azann not to kill the queen ahead of time. Even though I became very cruel, experienced so many deaths and felt so much pain through myself that it seemed that I had become a real monster that the world should not see, and yet I did not want this girl to die. My goal is the kidnapping of General Zeonid and the intervention of his people in the kingdom of Hippolyta for his release, not his death. I follow the path of evil to do good, this is the path I have chosen. I didn¡¯t regret it because I knew what I wanted and what I was going to achieve with it. The plan prepared in haste must be completed with ideal steps, my ideal actions, and I must not make a single mistake, not utter a single extra word, not miss a single necessary phrase. All these difficulties are in order to save the people of Hippolyta as soon as possible, and so that my Alza returns home with her child, and does not live in poverty in the middle of unfamiliar forests, rivers and fields. I have to put the finishing touches on this and finally break the vicious circle that I have created for myself. I will save Hippolyta. With the queen in my arms, I reached the church and did everything possible so that people could see me and Ilifreeta, who was in my arms. She was too excited to use her punishing hand, and so I was safe and sound. I went inside the temple, where I was met by people in white robes, priests of the Sod worship church. Among them, Bishop Azann was saying a prayer and heard the creaking of the door behind him, he turned in my direction. His face was pleased to see the young queen in my arms. ¡°I see, Muran, everything worked out for you. I am glad that Sod heard my prayers and blessed your righteous work.¡± Hiding my disgust for the Antigonian, I bowed and came closer to this very altar around which many small white spheres shone in the air, circling around the altar like a hurricane. The altar itself looked like some kind of clawed paw, which was half buried under piles of stones. It was as if he had drowned in molten stone, which was then made into smooth tiles. On top of this paw there were only sharp claws that rushed to the sky. It was quite an amazing sight, as if the hand of the earth was reaching out to a heavenly deity, but personally, I saw here the clawed paw of a monster who died a long time ago, and not something sacred. This place was sacred for believers in Sod. This was God¡¯s hand, a piece of Sod itself, around which entire temples were built. They say that the angels themselves died here, leaving behind the gates to the garden of Sod, and people pray every day that their life would not be in vain, and that after death this very garden would await them, into which they with all their hearts wish to go. I felt disgusted by this false, evil religion, which destroyed my people, the country in which I was born and raised, and left the princess Niana and the simple maid Alza with whom I was in love unhappy. I hated all this and yet I used them to free Hippolyta. If Sod were really as powerful as they say, he would never allow his loyal servants to help his enemies. This means that we were right and that Sod is not really omnipotent and that the great mother is a real deity, worthy of worship and faith instead of this vile creature. Internally, I was delighted that the Antigonians were digging their own graves with their erroneous actions. I was glad that I could repay them for all of us. They will very much regret that they attacked our country and contacted me, the one who swore with his life to destroy this damned empire. You''re finished. Having carried the queen to the altar, I took a bottle from under my cloak and poured the contents into the queen''s mouth, after which she instantly fell asleep. I calculated the right dose so she would not die. The queen, almost choking on the liquid, instantly lost consciousness, and then I, turning towards the bishop, finally asked: "Is the altar ready?" ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready, but answer me, Muran, one question: why should she live?¡± Azann asked, starting to slowly approach me. I''ve seen this moment dozens of times already. Azann suspected me, did not believe that I was who I said I was. I thought for a long time about what to say at that moment before the sacred magic incinerated me with lightning, after which I fell to my knees and made a prayer gesture. "That''s Sod''s will." I answered in a false impulse of righteousness. Azann raised an eyebrow at my gesture and lowered his palm and agreed with me. "That''s right, everything is Sod''s will." Fool. I was happy to myself that I had finally completed my plan. Any of my statements other than faith could not convince Azann to leave Ilifreeta alive, I did not know what to answer him until I thought: He sincerely believes in his righteousness, in Sod, which means... So I decided to do it, fall on my knees and pray to the god whom I sincerely hate. ¡°I see the pain flowing through you, Muran.¡± Azann said, lifting me to my feet, holding me by the shoulders. "I see how loyal you really are to the great, all-powerful and all-forgiving Sod, so be calm. I believe Sod sent you to us because it was his will. You are a manifestation of his will and destiny continued by his steps. I will follow you, Muran, our sacred paladin." I nodded in response. "We''ll wait for the forces of darkness to get here and lure their leader into a trap. Sod will do everything!" "It''s all Sod''s will!" The bishop and all the priests in the hall repeated. I began to wait for the moment when Zeonid would be here. This moment will soon come and the vicious circle will finally be broken. Chapter 88. Suppression of the uprising The guards at the gate fled after their comrades shouted at them from the walls: ¡°get out of the way!¡± and the next moment the gate is knocked down with a roar by an armored personnel carrier, scattering dust and fragments of huge steel hinges around. People fled in fear in different directions, seeing a column of growling iron monsters rushing through the streets of the city straight to the castle, leaving behind deep furrows and clouds of dust. The natives were in shock and did not understand what they had just seen, either real monsters that they had never seen, or strange magical self-propelled carriages from fairy tales. In any case, they were scared and hurried to hide somewhere while a column of dozens of cars drove in a column through the narrow streets of the city. Inside the leading vehicle in the landing compartment, General Zeonid sat and looked at the tablet screen on which the view of the city from the drone¡¯s camera was displayed. In some areas of the city, small battles were fought with swords and spears. Groups of people in black attacked everyone, and the guards barely had time to save everyone and respond to the threat. "We''re on time." General Zeonid reported to himself and plunged into short thoughts, drawing up a plan of action. The car bounced on bumps and the wreckage of wheelbarrows and carts left on the way, and possibly also on people who did not have time to get out of the way. The noise of the engine drowned out all sounds outside, and the soldiers inside were preparing for an immediate landing in the middle of residential streets. Soon the general finished drawing up a plan and, turning on the radio, gave an order over the main channel: "Velen, support the natives and go to the large concentration of cultists in the east. Is the order clear?" The answer was immediate. "That''s right, sir. I''ve already received the data. I''m starting the task." The third armored personnel carrier separated from the column and, having demolished the corner of the house, moved off the path heading towards that same large concentration of cultists. Now the general was only interested in what was happening in the palace and judging by the installed video surveillance cameras, the same nightmare was happening there as on the streets of the city, only much more confusing. There were fights inside the palace, but it was difficult to identify the enemies among them due to the fact that they were all palace guards and, moreover, were dressed in the same robes. Most likely, the cultists infiltrated the guards immediately after the battle and were waiting for the right moment to rebel. But it was not clear how they even identified their allies and enemies among the other guards, Switching from one camera to another, the general searched within the palace for Queen Ilifreeta and immediately found her. "Fuck!" The general swore when he saw a man in a black robe running down the spiral staircase in the tower and holding the immobilized queen in his arms. She was kidnapped, and who knows who really needed it. In any case, our task is to prevent the collapse of the state for which the general flew to save us. I decided for myself that I definitely would not allow Ilifreeta to be kidnapped and used as a ransom item or something else. Moreover, Sigrun would be very upset if something happened to her friend, and I don¡¯t need an engineer who has his head in the clouds because of a tragic incident. Hang in there, Your Majesty, we''re coming. Holding the clip in my teeth, I hurried to prepare my assault rifle and prepare as much ammunition and grenades as possible on my belt. My squad consisting of Itami, Will, Forn, Esko and Ashwani was ready for battle. Except that I entrusted the last of them with a sword instead of a normal firearm so that in case of emergency it would protect us if the opponents got too close. Still, this Ashwani is better at swinging a blade than shooting from a rifle, so I think giving him a sword is a good decision. It seems that he himself was not against this, just watching with curiosity as we fiddled with our weapons. The native is clearly interested in how our weapons work, but it¡¯s too early for him to think about it. When the time comes, we will train him to use firearms. We were all wearing the same green camouflage police uniform, and our heads were covered by dark blue helmets. We also had body armor, walkie-talkies, visors and bladed weapons. Until we establish energy production, we will have to wear such equipment and abandon combat suits in favor of mobility. But we also had a problem: the available ammunition was not enough for a long battle, however, I hope that we will not fight for days and days and will complete the task in a few hours, if not less. Zeonid decided not to waste time preparing combat suits and packed the rapid response squad as modestly as possible, hoping that the existing ammunition in the vehicle would be enough to suppress this attack. It''s a pity that Granid left us. I clicked my tongue, remembering our last conversation. We could use his help. He could well have dealt with all the enemies alone, but he hurried to return to his home and left us here. At our last meeting in the empty throne room, he said that he had done everything that was dictated by fate, after which he called his student Incartia and left. I didn¡¯t even say goodbye to him properly or thank him for helping us. I feel very lousy after this. I''d rather not think about it. Having scattered all the shops and street obstacles like a battering ram, our armored personnel carrier reached the castle gates where a life-and-death battle was being fought. The ringing of swords intersected with painful cries, and the battle was not going to subside. The guards killed each other and it was difficult to determine who was an ally and who was an enemy. Meanwhile, the general gave the order: "Feilen, parachute and wait for orders." Having received the order, the second armored personnel carrier opened the hatches from which the second detachment of fighters from the assault platoon landed. They pointed their weapons towards the guards and also could not identify the enemy, wagging the barrels of their weapons from one guard to another. The general looked at the tablet and carefully watched the battle, and the next moment, noticing something, he gave a new order: ¡°Feilen, shoot those who have a bracelet on their wrist.¡± "Understood." A response was heard in the earpiece and the street was instantly covered in a flurry of fire. Half of the guards were immediately killed by bullets, spattering blood on the stone tiles, and the other half froze in fear and looked at the arriving earthlings with a shocked look. They muttered something in their own language and fell to their knees, as if they were begging us for mercy or maybe simply in this way they expressed their gratitude for salvation. It was difficult to determine for sure what exactly they wanted to say, without the ring it was difficult to determine. But then, after some kneeling, a guard ran out from behind the gate and shouted something, after which the rescued natives instantly rose to their feet and rushed through the gate into the castle, looking around. It seems that inside the castle, in the courtyards and corridors of the palace, the battle was still going on, and therefore they were most likely ordered to join as soon as possible. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "I don''t like all this." Esko commented as he loaded his sniper rifle. "Those bastards couldn''t have gathered so quickly and attacked the palace. Someone helped them." "Now is not the time to think about it." I answered the sniper. "We''ll deal with everything after we put down this... uprising." Will chuckled at my last hesitant word. "Hah! Obviously this is a rebellion, not some kind of rebellion." "You''d better keep quiet." And Will immediately shut up. He always listens to me when required of him. Another thing is Esko¡¯s assumption, with which I agreed one hundred percent. All these people were loyal to Draun Rudrin, which means they should have been loyal to the queen, but for some reason they pointed their blades towards her majesty. Without someone''s help from within, the enemies certainly would not have been able to pull this off. Someone actually helped them. Meanwhile, Zeonid gave new orders and sent all the other fighters either to the castle or to the city, while he himself watched the battlefield from drones, or rather local battles inside the city. I watched with my own eyes how the general skillfully took control of the situation and indicated on the general map the positions of the enemy forces and their landmarks. I, also watching the battle from drones, saw on the tablet screen how dozens of cars drove around the city streets and poured lead on buildings, destroying enemy units in batches. There were corpses everywhere and even bloody streams began to flow. This sight was so terrifying. Now the natives have seen with their own eyes a particle of the power of the 127th Army and a tiny spark of the human Republic of Earth. In one of the sections of the city there were so many cultists that they blocked an entire street, causing an armored personnel carrier sent there to fire a rocket into the crowd, subsequently blowing up all nearby buildings. The shock wave demolished all fragile structures, destroying doors and windows hundreds of meters from the explosion. It was worth recalling, of course, that the buildings of this era were made by human hands and were not a stronghold of strength and reliability, and therefore it is not known exactly how many ordinary people died from a fired rocket. Even the general, seeing the explosion and subsequent destruction, gave appropriate orders. "Chavin, refrain from using high explosive charges and rockets!" "Sorry, sir!" The commander of the armored personnel carrier that fired the rocket exclaimed on air and left the battle helping the natives clear away the rubble where wounded natives could be found. The capital''s uprising subsided as quickly as it flared up, and therefore the general turned his attention to a more important target, namely the man who kidnapped the queen. He somehow found the blind spot of our video cameras and had already left the castle, being a couple of tens of meters from the huge city temple, where large forces of cultists also began to gather. But what''s even worse is that the cultists, guards and men in white were dragging civilians inside the building and using them as hostages. They have already begun to execute some people in the square and hang them over the temple gates. To our surprise, they were in a hurry to build barricades on all sides, which is why the armored personnel carriers could not break into the square and land fire groups. If armored personnel carriers ran into these barricades, they would immediately get stuck in them, and therefore the option of a frontal attack is unlikely to work. Our guys will have to dismount outside the very temple square and begin a comprehensive assault on this sector. The plot was quite impressive in size and clearly belonged to the clergy. It is strange that the cultists decided to use this particular place for a general battle for the city. The rest of the city fell silent. The alerted soldiers of the city garrison were already beginning to gather around the temple square, while civilians were hiding in panic in their houses and running out of the city with whatever they had. All remaining vehicles rushed in that direction and gradually surrounded the sector. "We''re going to the square." The general ordered the driver of our armored personnel carrier, and we began to move from the spot heading towards the temple, and then the general turned to me. "What do you think is going on?" I carefully examined the battlefield from the tablet, looking at the bodies of killed opponents and civilians. I didn¡¯t really understand what could have provoked this uprising and where the cultists came from. After their retreat from the city a couple of weeks ago, they headed south and encountered Duke Fellrick''s army, where they are still fighting. Zeonid even sent one shuttle as support and a battalion of soldiers. By now the cultists should already be surrounded and practically destroyed, but the operation has taken a little longer. At the request of the queen, our fighters decided to side with Fellrick, expecting a favor from him, and apparently we received it. But the cultists turned out to be more persistent and skillfully waged guerrilla warfare, hiding in the depths of the forest and caves in the middle of the hilly terrain. Even with a bioscan, it was difficult to determine their exact location; or rather, something prevented our devices from scanning the area and we had to navigate ¡°by touch,¡± that is, with our eyes and ears. Since the cultists were here, they were probably those who managed to hide among the city population or were holed up in some hidden areas of the city, such as the sewers. I cannot see any other explanation for their appearance. This is unlikely to be the same army that retreated from the city and somehow found its way back to Ran. Another thing was to understand why they raised an obviously failed uprising? Is it really just to kidnap the queen? And how did it happen that the uprising happened a couple of days after Granid and his student left? Did someone know about this and plan everything well? Who could have organized this anyway? In general, it was difficult to answer all these questions and therefore I was able to voice only the most obvious to the general¡¯s question: "I think they''re trying to lure us in." Zeonid nodded also thinking about it. The enemy knew about our presence and also knew that we would quickly begin to act. They have gathered all their remaining forces at the temple, which means something could happen there that will cause us serious damage, for example, a powerful explosion. Fortunately, out of a thousand soldiers, the general in a hurry gathered only a hundred, so the enemy¡¯s plan was a failure here too. Still, we valued the life of every Republican fighter and for the sake of our safety, it would have been best to demolish the entire building, despite the fact that there could have been thousands of hostages there. One accurate missile salvo and the uprising would be crushed, but we could not do this otherwise we risked destroying our relations with the kingdom of Lacuus, and in particular could kill Queen Ilifreeta and plunge this country into chaos, from which we are trying to pull her out. It is necessary to free the queen and at the same time suffer the minimum possible losses, and it is better to do without them at all. Looking at the face of the old general, I saw how his heterochromic eyes ran from side to side, he was clearly thinking, making a plan and finally completing it. ¡°To all fighters, begin the assault on the temple square, do not enter the building and keep the entrances and exits at gunpoint. Keep a distance from the building and scan everything with all devices. If unnatural thermal energy arises, retreat immediately.¡± Soon the drones showed how detachments of earthlings began to move like snakes along the city streets, aiming their firearms forward. They began to fire smoke bombs ahead, guided only by a thermal imager. Following them were the soldiers of the city garrison with spears and swords. The natives also took part in suppressing the uprising; it was clear from their faces that they were furious, but still stayed behind the earthlings, maintaining an even formation. On the tablet screen, I noticed how bullet tracers appeared and the cultists in the square, one after another, fell from the hits. Spilled with the blood of hundreds of bodies of cultists, the temple square was captured. The capture went smoothly and quickly, and most importantly, without losses. All that remained was the temple, in which there were people and which was completely barricaded. The general received bioscan data on the tablet and was convinced that there were thousands of hostages inside the building. Some signatures were already cooling, indicating that they were dead. People had already begun to be killed, and the queen herself might soon be among those killed. "jun-lieut Kipito," Zeonid contacted me. ¡°With your squad, block the back exit from the temple. Don¡¯t let anyone escape from there. Is the order clear?¡± "Yes, sir." I saluted and immediately left the armored personnel carrier along with the soldiers, just finding myself a couple of dozen steps from the captured square. From here one could already see a temple with high spiers of Gothic and Arabic styles. The general followed us out, already giving other orders. He organized a special forces detachment, and he himself decided to come closer to directly observe the progress of the assault. On the one hand, this might seem reckless, but it is worth remembering that most of our fighters were in the temple square, and remaining in the car alone with the driver would have been a much more reckless idea. While we were trying to get our bearings, a squad with black diagonal stripes on their faces ran out from around the corner of a stone house. Most likely these were members of the "nightmare" squad, which was chosen by the general as an assault squad. It was necessary to launch a swift attack and immediately eliminate all hostile targets without any delay and, of course, save Queen Ilifreeta. Only the Nightmare Squad could cope with this task, mainly due to the fact that they were the elite of the 127th Army. If rumors are to be believed, they were recruited from the department for combating alien sabotage, so they could have enormous experience in such a matter. Their faces showed confidence and determination in their craft. Any civilian would be horrified to look at them. The soldiers stood in front of the boarded up double doors, preparing for the assault, and we headed towards the back exit from the temple, on the opposite side. There were no battles in this area, as well as cultists, and therefore it was quite calm here, which was even suspicious. Perhaps after the start of the assault the enemy will try to escape here, and therefore we must prevent this. What happened next depended on the ¡°nightmare¡± squad. "Boris, is there anything you want to say?" Will, as always, decided to make a joke at the wrong time. And I, as always, rolled my eyes and said encouragingly: "Guys... get to work." Chapter 89. Et tu, Ripun? The assault squad blew up the entrance gate and began shooting, killing all the enemies who stood near the hostages. Shots were heard behind the door, but none of the cultists tried to escape through the back exit, which made me somewhat happy. At least we didn''t have to waste ammo, which was very helpful, knowing how much we now hated wasting it. After the ¡°nightmare¡± squad finished capturing the temple, we received the command to hang up and calmly went inside. Opening the narrow door and walking along an equally narrow stone corridor, we went out into the main hall where we saw how soldiers of the 127th Army, together with members of the city garrison, were leading crowds of freed hostages outside. The cultists, in turn, lay dead, leaving only traces of bleeding. None of them showed any signs of life. Having found no strange energy impulses that would have resembled an explosion or any kind of magical traps, the general considered the temple safe, and therefore then went inside in a calm manner, straightening his general¡¯s cap. Our detachment helped the civilians get out and, although without the rings we did not understand their language, we probably guessed that they were saying words of gratitude to us. Will even glanced at one girl, but he immediately returned to reality when Itami nudged him. "And what? " Will was perplexed seeing a smug grin on the signalman¡¯s face. "What do you need? If nothing, then fuck off and do your thing." "Okay, okay." Itami answered. "But this applies to you too." "What concerns me?" Will looked stupid. ¡°I¡¯m the most responsible and peace-loving person in the world. I didn¡¯t even kill anyone today. Why can¡¯t I look at my ass?¡± "Both of you, keep quiet." I ordered them and they instantly fell silent, continuing to help the natives. Looking around the temple hall, the walls of which were decorated with luxurious gilded paintings and rainbow mosaics, I found the general, the queen and, to my surprise, even Ripun. Approaching the trio closer, the orange-eyed prophet in his usual brown robe greeted me with a joyful expression on his face: "Boris! I''m so glad to see you." "What?" I was surprised to hear my native speech. "Do you speak English?" "Yes." Ripun nodded and extended his palm forward, showing a stem-shaped ring on his middle finger. "I asked Granid to make it for me so we could talk. It was his last gift." "I didn''t even know he left you such a gift." I commented and decided to ask him something. "How did you end up here? Were you taken hostage too?" Ripun nodded. ¡°Yes. I was walking around the city, looking for some decoration for Alza from the merchants, but then they showed up, grabbed me and...¡± It became difficult for the prophet to speak further, and therefore I did not insist, already guessing how his story would unfold. "It''s clear." I answered briefly, patting the prophet on the shoulder. "I''m glad you''re okay too." After that, I drew attention to Zeonid, which hovered over the body of Queen Ilifreeta, around which the native healers and our military doctors crowded. The Queen in a white nightie was lying on the floor unconscious and her condition was very deplorable. Usually her skin color was quite normal, but now she was very pale. In addition, her breathing was very weak, which indicated only one thing: "She''s dying." One of the doctors stated, frightening the royal advisers who came running here. "She was poisoned. It is difficult to determine the substance that damaged her body, but if she is not immediately detoxified, her heart will stop by the end of the day." One of the royal servants said something in his own language, and General Zeonid with a translator ring on his palm understood what was said and nodded. Ripun hurried to breathe a sigh of relief and said: "Thank you." I immediately decided to ask the prophet what they were talking about: "What did he say?" ¡°He wanted to know if they would help her, and Mr. Zeonid agreed that she would be healed.¡± Now it was my turn to breathe a sigh of relief. "Phew~...that''s good." We did not interfere with the doctors, who put the queen on a carrier, carried her to an armored personnel carrier and took her to the camp, where all the necessary medical equipment was prepared. There is no need to worry about the queen¡¯s life, she will be fine. We can rely on our healthcare and advanced technologies, at least for now. General Zeonid continued to give orders and even talked with some of the natives, asking them about the uprising, but after several conversations, the general pulled away and with dissatisfaction on his face began to walk through the expanses of the temple, where the few remaining people continued to care for the wounded and carry away the bodies of the dead. The temple itself looked very beautiful, especially when there were few people here. The feeling is as if you are looking at something very ancient and majestic. It is not surprising that such a place is used by locals to worship God. From the outside the temple was colossal in size, but from the inside it seemed even larger. And although the building was smaller in size than the shuttle and the palace, it was a truly impressive structure for its era. In addition to civilians, the soldiers of the 127th Army held at gunpoint the associated cultists, among whom I noticed a familiar face. He attended many meetings, but more often he preferred to listen silently and stand in a prayerful position and as far as I know his name was Azann, he was a bishop and one of the most important members of the royal council. A couple of fighters holding his hands behind his back hurriedly took the bishop outside and as he passed us he cast a contemptuous glance towards Ripun and no less contemptuously uttered one word with a wheeze: "Muran." After this, the old bishop was taken outside and no one saw him again. "What did he say? Was it some kind of insult?" I said, turning to Ripun, and without thinking twice he confirmed my words. "You are right." At this moment, General Zeonid suddenly joined us, approaching from behind: "And what does the word ''Muran'' mean?" Ripun froze for a moment before giving an answer, biting his lip. "I don''t even know what it means." Zeonid looked at the prophet with suspicion, crossed his arms over his chest and asked with skepticism: "Are you sure about this?" The Prophet nodded. It is unlikely that he had a reason to hide something, and at the same time it was strange that the ring did not translate this word for the general. I expected it to translate for the general to something like "heretic", "bastard" or something similar, but it seems that it was indeed some kind of unique word that is not used in any language other than Lakuusian. It can also mean someone''s name. I thought about it and considered my guess fair. The general, in turn, did not dwell on his suspicions and immediately expressed them. To my surprise, our train of thoughts coincided and, in fact, the general said the same thing that I had just thought. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "It seemed to me that the bishop pronounced this word as if it sounded like someone''s name. Is ''Muran'' your real name or maybe your pseudonym?" "I really don''t know." Ripun shook his head. "Then why did he say that? What happened here while we were preparing for the assault?" "General?" I turned to Zeonid, but he ignored me. All his attention was drawn to the prophet and this attention was not a manifestation of curiosity, rather it was a real suspicion that Ripun might be involved in something. ¡°For what reason did he turn to you?¡± Zeonid asked. "I-I..." Ripun didn''t know what to answer, continuing to shake his head. "I really don''t know." "I may not be a pantorian, but I can see that you are lying now. He looked at you as a traitor... you are the same person who kidnapped Queen Ilifreeta." What? I was very surprised and looked at the frightened prophet in disbelief. Only now did I notice his wrist, on which dangled a thin white fabric bracelet, and by which the cultists identified allies and enemies. "This can''t be true." I said it and Ripun, having guessed everything, covered it up and hurried to hide the bracelet from sight, but it was already too late. "Ripun, is this true? Is it you we saw on the cameras?" I may have been calm, but General Zeonid, not allowing the prophet to give me an answer, suddenly grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up and pressing him to the wall. Ripun grabbed the general''s hand and tried to unhook it, but it was in vain. The prophet simply did not have the strength to cope with the republican general. Zeonid''s face was seething with rage and he looked as if he was ready to kill the prophet at this very second. "Sir, stop!" I tried to reason with the general, but he, still not paying attention to me, suddenly started screaming. "YOU ARRANGED THIS ALL! THIS IS ALL YOUR HANDS! ALL THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF YOU FROM THE VERY BEGINNING!" The natives and soldiers of the 127th Army paid attention to the cry of the old general, and I, grabbing Zeonid by the wrist, tried to loosen his grip. The general instantly realized what he had done, nevertheless paying attention to me and slightly loosened his grip, but did not dare to let go of the prophet. Ripun was choking at that moment and could hardly say anything, but tears of remorse were visible on his face. It was as if he was afraid of something that should never happen. As if what he was so afraid of would happen: that we would find out about his betrayal or whatever his actions were. Somehow, but he was still able to utter the following words: "I¡­ really¡­ did it." At that moment, the world around me seemed to turn upside down, I was so shocked by his confession. I didn¡¯t believe, didn¡¯t want to believe in what I heard, and with a stupid expression on my face began to repeat: "W-what? No... that''s not it... why? Why did you do that? W-why? You were with us all this time... how... how could you do that?" I was in no hurry with the questions, but I still needed to give him time to give an answer. Zeonid, meanwhile, loosened his grip and released Ripun down so that, after catching his breath, he could pronounce his confession in full, with all the details that he had so far hidden from us. His face became different, it instantly became stern, as if he had gone through more than one thousand battles, as if before that he wore an impenetrable mask behind which was hiding a real and ugly monster. He looked so different from himself that I even asked: "Are you sure...Ripun?" I waited for an answer with a bit of hope that this person was really the one I saved a month and a half ago. He helped us a couple of times, predicted the future, essentially saved us from meeting Swidok, predicting her appearance in the village where we were going to stay. Are that person and this one the same people or maybe this Ripun is imitating a real prophet? Continuing to wait for an answer, I swallowed my saliva when I saw the prophet looking at me angrily. There was hatred in his fiery gaze, and I sincerely did not understand where it came from. What could I do that could make him so angry? A moment later, everything fell into place and Ripun finally told everything that was on his mind: ¡°I believed you... I believed that you would help us, save our country... but I was deeply mistaken... I was very much mistaken in all of you. You turned out to be not saviors, you turned out to be just villains, an evil no less terrible than Antigone and his ¡°holy¡± armies. You came here from heaven, and I understand you, it¡¯s not your fault that you invaded our world, no, it¡¯s the fault of higher powers that allowed you to find yourself here. I know you¡¯re here. not with good intentions, you are not here to bring justice to our world, saving the weak and innocent is not your goal to subjugate and conquer, like everyone else in this world. You are just people... just like us, I only recently realized this and also realized that you will not help us in any way, and therefore... I decided to force you." "Force?" Zeonid asked, perplexed. "How were you even going to force us? What was this uprising for?" "No use." Ripun admitted, pulling the magic ring out of his finger and also continuing to speak in English. "I just used them. It was the only way I could bring you here." "Sir!" One of the fighters shouted with a scanner in his hands. "A sharp energy pulse has been detected throughout the temple! Telemetry is going crazy!" The sudden message from the fighter took us by surprise. In an instant, many bright white spheres appeared above a strange statue in the form of a paw sticking out of the floor, which, just as instantly as they had appeared, silently headed towards us. They were the size of a man¡¯s head and at those moments seemed like peculiar stars that would burn us right through if we did not get out of their way. The general and I instinctively tried to run away from these things, covering our faces with our hands so as not to be blinded by the bright light, but of the two of us, only I was lucky. I jumped to the side in time, dodging one of the spheres that emitted intense heat, but most of it rushed towards the general and Ripun. While Zeonid tried to jump to the side, the prophet detained him, grabbing his hand and holding him in place. The spheres flew past each of them at these moments, but also prevented their escape by stopping in place, thereby creating something like ¡°sea mines.¡± "What are you doing?!" The general shouted at the prophet, trying to shake him off, but Ripun held Zeonid tightly, despite the fact that the prophet was weak. "Let go!" "You will go with me to Hippolyta! You will save my country! YOU MUST!" Ripun shouted back, his voice breaking. "BASTARD!" Zeonid shouted, taking a pistol out of the holster with his left hand and putting the barrel to the prophet¡¯s forehead. "YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS! LET GO OTHERWISE YOU WILL DIE!" "No!" Ripun resisted. Looking at it, I could hardly do anything. The spheres emitted enormous heat and, after a short pause, began to circle above the couple, causing anomalous spatial distortions. The man with the scanner shouted in panic, still continuing to stand not far from us: "Oh, hell! Is that antimatter?! I don''t understand what''s happening to the mass indices! Sir, you have to run! The antimatter will blow a hole in space! It could send us all into subspace! Oh, my God! What''s driving these things?! B-black holes? Sir! Can you hear me?! Run!" It became very dangerous to be here, all the people began to run out of the temple in panic, and of all the few remaining, I was closest to the general and the prophet. I had no idea what was happening and what these things were, but inside this ¡°fiery arena¡± the prophet continued to hold the general¡¯s hand while he tried to unhook himself, simultaneously threatening him with death. Right now we were at risk of losing two important people: the prophet and the general of the 127th Army, and there was nothing I could do. It was impossible to get close to them, and spatial distortions gave rise to anomalies. It was as if everything was falling towards these spheres, and the visible spectrum was shifting to the red zone, causing everything outside the field of view of the spheres to darken. Inside the temple, the wind began to blow towards these spheres, which apparently were pumping out air. It looks like they really made a hole in reality and led to subspace. I didn¡¯t think that magic was capable of such things, and yet it wasn¡¯t that that scared me, but the fact that Ripun for some reason kept the general in place. Soon the chaotic rotation of the spheres turned into a systematic circular rotation above the heads of Zeonid and Ripun, generating something like a rupture in the space-time continuum. The distortions looked frightening; it seemed that the prophet and the general were stretched into noodles, painted in a bloody color. "I WILL NOT REPEAT! GET OFF!" Zeonid yelled, his eyes bulging out angrily. "You are our hope!" Ripun screamed in despair and shook like a doll, holding the general in place. "You must live! Your people must free us!" "WE DO NOT OWE YOU ANYTHING! I DON''T CARE ABOUT YOUR WORSE PLANET! I ONLY WANT ONE THING: TO RETURN TO EARTH! AND YOU FUCKING ABORIGIN WILL NOT STOP ME!" "I have died thousands of times for you to do this! Just free our country! I beg you!" "NO!" "I SUFFERED FOR A HUNDRED YEARS LIVING THE SAME DAY! I BECAME DIFFERENT BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU CAN''T LEAVE US! I SACRIFICED MY SOUL FOR THIS!" "I COUNT TO THREE! TIMES!" "I''M READY TO SACRIFICE MY POWER FOR THIS!" "TWO!" "YOU HAVE NO CHOICE!" "THREE!" "I DELIVERED YOU! YOU HAVE TO DO THIS OTHERWISE...!" "HOW DID YOU GET ME!" Through the bright light of the white spheres, I noticed how Zeonid put the barrel of a pistol close to the prophet¡¯s forehead, and he still held the general¡¯s hand tightly and did not let go. The whistle of the wind grew in the air, the space above the spheres was distorted, as if something invisible was absorbing the light itself, and then through all this anomalous chaos the familiar sound of a shot was heard. Ripun, with his brains flying out, let go of the general''s hand and fell on his back. The general wanted to slip under the spheres the next moment, but after another moment... ...he suddenly disappeared. All these strange mysterious spatial distortions stopped, the spheres and retinues of the wind disappeared, as did General Zeonid. On the floor in that place there was only dead Ripun, and instead of his head there was only a bloody mess with everything that followed. I hurried to him, looking around in search of the general and asking myself many questions. What the hell just happened here? Was it really Ripun who did everything? Is this all to force us to act against the Empire? Questions and a feeling of colossal horror washed over me and all I could do now was scream with deep breath and panic: "A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!" I strained my voice, tore out my hair, punched the wall and continued to scream as hard as I could and not believe what had just happened. I couldn¡¯t calm down, I just couldn¡¯t come to my senses, I wanted to convince myself that this was all one terrible dream, but it was all for real. "FUCKING BASTARD!" Out of anger, I kicked the prophet¡¯s body, not believing that he had died at all. Or maybe this isn¡¯t true at all, maybe I¡¯m just in a Panthora simulation projecting the future, but then why does it continue to exist when the prophet is already dead?! I couldn''t understand it. There can be only one explanation for this: this all really happened and this is not a nightmare. And when the rest of the fighters and people came running here, they only saw me quietly shedding tears, regretting what happened today. Ripun moved the general to Hippolyta. For what? Think, Boris, why did he do this? So that we go to save him, so that we send our army there and liberate Hippolyta. He wanted us to help his people free, but we immediately said that this was not part of our plans. This forced him to act decisively, so much so that he took such a desperate step and accomplished his plan. Died thousands of times for this... "Bitch!" I pressed my palm to my face, wiping away tears and collecting my thoughts. ¡°And did you have to go that far?¡± He achieved his goal. General Zeonid is an important member of our 127th Army, without him it would not have survived and is unlikely to continue to exist. Even though we were civilized people and could work together, but without a general, our leader, the organization of the army could rapidly deteriorate. Zeonid knows the 127th Army like the back of his hand, and he always makes only the right, balanced and pragmatic decisions. We have maintained his ¡°dictatorship¡± to this day, but now the future of the 127th Army has become very vague. I can¡¯t even imagine how we will continue our existence and whether we can even live without him. In this case, we simply have to save the general, and if we knew exactly where he could be, we would have sent just one shuttle with a rescue group, but the problem was that we did not know exactly where he could be. This in turn means something else: that we will have to go through the entire kingdom of Hippolyta or even the entire Antigone Empire to find the general. It is unlikely that he will be able to return back only on his own. Today was a real disaster for the 127th Army. Chapter 90. True World Gollei, capital of the Antigone Empire. There''s too much white here. I noted to myself as I looked at the quaint room where I had been kept for more than one year. I don¡¯t remember exactly when, maybe a couple, or maybe five years ago, that man named Ripun, whom I considered a false prophet, kidnapped me and since then I¡¯ve been here, in the very heart of the Antigone Empire. He provoked an uprising and lured me to the temple, and there he activated some kind of magical device and transported me here. Here I first met our first enemy, whom Boris spoke about: Saint Yasmi. "You''re lost in your stupid thoughts again." Said an attractive white-haired girl sitting on a chair at the table on the opposite side and sipping a sweet drink from a porcelain mug. Conversations with her are sometimes interesting, but more often she tries to change my way of thinking to hers, so that I abandon the materialistic view of the world in favor of an idealistic one. I, in turn, could not accept this so easily, because for me the world in which we all live is too chaotic to be someone¡¯s man-made creation. I believe that matter arose before consciousness and it was the chaotic nature of matter that determined the laws of nature and physics of our universe. And although many answers to questions remain inaccessible to us, I can say with confidence that we can get them if we explore the universe in which we all live. Because of this, my reaction to her words was skeptical and, one might say, carried a share of condemnation. How easily it throws aside the basic functions of human thinking, as if our consciousness does not depend on matter, but depends on another consciousness that we ourselves are unable to comprehend. ¡°What you call ¡°stupid thoughts¡± I call logical thinking. It¡¯s only thanks to this that I haven¡¯t gone crazy yet.¡± The upper part of the girl¡¯s face was covered with a thick veil, behind which it was impossible to see her eyes shining with white light, but I could clearly see her radiant smile. She was clearly amused by my answer. She knew that I would resist and, having illuminated herself with a pillar of light with the help of her power or maybe a kind of magic, whatever it was, she became like the most sacred creature in this world, which carries within itself goodness, righteousness, love, humility, hope and, most importantly, peace. Even though this picture looked divine in its own way, and carried a passionate splendor, as if I was really looking at a real messenger of higher powers, but at the same time, she warned me with a smile. And this warning did not carry any hope, love or peace. She uttered these words so calmly, but a threatening tone slipped through the thin veil, as if she were simultaneously calming me and destroying all my hopes in the world. This is difficult to explain in simple words, but imagine that you see someone who carries light within you and hear these words from this person: "You can''t escape." It is difficult to express in words the trembling I felt at that moment. It seemed that I looked too insignificant and too black against her background, wrapped in my usual dark blue uniform. It was as if I was the only dirt in this room that needed cleansing. I knew what she was trying to do: convince me that I was weak, that I was too insignificant before her ¡°God,¡± but even so she barely succeeded. I was too adamant to give up so easily. "Am I trying?" I answered and drank a little sweet drink, the only thing they serve me here so that I don¡¯t die of thirst and hunger. "I''m just waiting." My attempt to avoid the topic of conversation was unsuccessful, and she immediately decided to move on to the main dish, namely the reason why she was here in the first place and was trying to win me over to her side. This didn''t suit me at all. This was the first stage of torture, and even if her words had no effect on me, the imprint of them gnawed into my memory and carried so much pain that an ordinary person had never experienced in his life. "Sod will not let you leave the true world. You are here forever, just like the dark ones, like the demons, like the red angels, like the elves, beastmen, gnomes, dragons, sea peoples and many, many other peoples that gave birth to false worlds, whose dark seeds grew these wicked lands. Everything is the will of Sod. All sinful souls will be purified, such is His will and we will fulfill it." I still don¡¯t understand why the rest of the universe is fake for them. Is it because magic doesn''t exist in the rest of the universe? This is a rather strange concept of the world order, a denial of the existence of the entire universe, as if we are all fictions, fantasies of someone¡¯s dark forces, and they are real, true, those whose desires are much more important than the desires of some fakes. Only these inconsistencies stop me from making the wrong decision. To me, this is a very obvious form of manipulation and propaganda, but it was quite strange to watch how easily they themselves succumbed to it. As if this "Sod", whoever he was, could prove the truth of his teachings. Either this energetic entity has brainwashed people or their foundations have an incredibly strong foundation. It may even be that their teachings have real foundations. At such an important moment, I simply could not leave this young beauty without an answer. She thinks we won''t leave this damn planet. Well, she is obviously wrong. This planet has all the necessary resources to build a ship, and no matter how many years it takes, we will fly away from here. ¡°We will try. A person is a creature who will step over any obstacles and achieve his goal, no matter how crazy and unattainable they may seem.¡± And it was true. Maybe an individual person is too insignificant and insignificant, but human civilization as a whole is a huge force. People who, once in the past, chiseled stone and sculpted clay and did not suspect that their descendants would gain the power to change the landscape of entire planets and travel to places that the human mind could not even imagine. And although this fact awakened in me a feeling of human patriotism, for some reason my words made Yasmi laugh. She giggled as if she had heard childish stupidity, which is why she lightly covered her mouth with her palm, barely maintaining a calm expression on her face. To her, my words seemed not just stupid and implausible, but simply insignificant, as if I was obviously wrong. She seemed to think that a person would never be able to achieve unprecedented heights through his own efforts alone. And to be honest it annoyed me because I am living proof of this. I ended up here thanks to the efforts of hundreds of thousands of people, the work of the entire human civilization, who learned to travel through space and subspace, but she throws it into the trash and simply does not believe that people are capable of this. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "How naive. Are you so stupid that you don''t realize your situation?" The saint spoke boldly after a few laughs. "An insignificant pig who desecrated his body with poisons in order to prolong his life. You know nothing about the world in which you find yourself. What you called Eusberia is the true world where the great Sod works real miracles and looks after his faithful children. He sees me, he sees you, sees everyone, he watches, he protects, hears and I am the one who hears his voice from the sky. I am the one who looks after his children. I know... He... hates you." Now it was my turn to grin. It was impossible to listen to such fanatical speeches without a grin on your face. Does she seriously believe that their energetic essence, calling themselves God, is capable of competing with the interstellar civilization of humanity? It just sounds hilarious. Because of this, one can inevitably remember the Goddess Elarasia, who also raised loyal followers from people. The first colonists of Elarasia discovered Her and tried to study her, but then they began to worship Her, and this despite the fact that those people were materialists. Now I should seriously fear that I will be brainwashed for real. I thought and continued to grin at Yasmi¡¯s words. "Heh... I''ve heard this many times already. Come up with something better to brighten up my time with such conversations. You already know everything about me. You know everything about the world where I come from and the capabilities of the 127th Army. I told everything, but you are still trying to get something out of me. Not even like that... you are trying to win me over to your side, but you don¡¯t know how to do it, because we have too different principles by which we live. You prefer to believe, but I prefer to think." Yasmi seemed to have not digested my words and immediately replied: ¡°I¡¯ve heard this too many times. You pretend to be righteous, you see the world in your own way, but you don¡¯t know the real truth. For you, our world is just a series of chaos, a continuous changeable rainbow that has formed grayness. For you there is neither good nor evil and you don¡¯t believe in the existence of fate. Is it really so difficult to realize that there are people who bring good into the world, and there are those who do evil? Don¡¯t you really realize how much evil you have brought into this world and how zealously you poison it with your destructive grayness? Even when Sod himself touched you, you saw his divine face, you saw his garden, you comprehended what not every saint could see, but you continue to not believe. Open your eyes, Zeo. "Zeonid." I said and at the same time adjusted my cap. "Zeonid Kudrinash, General of the 127th Army of the Republican Armed Forces of Humanity, home planet Earth. I am no-name Zeo. And no, I am not running away from the truth, I accept it as it is. It is you who should open your eyes and see the world around you, and not live by the postulates of this fictitious religion. What kind of childish naivety is it to divide the world into white and black? Only fools do this, they always want be right." "It doesn''t matter, you keep running away from the truth." ¡°The truth is only what I see with my own eyes, everything else is nothing more than words, the truth of which still needs to be confirmed. And you invite me to believe that the face that I saw belongs to your god? This is nonsense! You pray to an ancient holographic monster and call It a god! Are you okay with all this?¡± My words did not convince Yasmi at all; she put on rose-colored glasses and saw only what she wanted to see. ¡°They speak the truth when they say that people from false worlds will never see the truth. They are nothing more than children lost in the void. When will you understand that there is no such world in the universe as the Earth. You were created by demons to bring death and destruction to true people. Therefore, you deny the existence of Sod, you were told a lie, and you believed it. All your memories, all your past, all your deeds and life are all lies. You were born just a couple of moons ago, you are not much older than a month-old child, that¡¯s why you are so stupid. The demons staged a performance, and you are just a minor character in it, or rather a sacrificial pawn. You were made to react to everything that happens here as they need, and you don¡¯t realize, you don¡¯t see how you are falling into the abyss of madness.¡± "Some kind of nonsense." I shook my head, tired of listening to her crazy tales. It cannot be that the Earth does not exist. It¡¯s as if hundreds of thousands of people came out of nowhere, out of thin air, like our whole life, the memory of the Earth and the past. Our feelings, emotions, experiences and memories... cannot be false. Ashwani. Thinking about him, I actually started to doubt a little. What if she''s telling the truth? What if the Earth is a fiction, like this whole huge, long story? And yet, even if so, the question remains: who are we if not people from Earth? Are we really some kind of homunculi, programmed to suit these unknown creatures? But if so, then why didn¡¯t they immediately instill in us the goal of killing and destroying all people indiscriminately? We have enough nuclear weapons to contaminate the entire planet with radiation. We could have directed the ship to collide with the planet, but we tried to enter orbit until these energy beings interfered with us. I prefer to think. I remembered my own words and understood what my ¡°stupidity¡± that Yasmi was talking about was. I think the Earth is real, but I don''t believe it, I doubt even that. This is what distinguishes me from her. She accepts the truth as it is, but I need to think before believing, to prove that this or that statement is true. In this vein, it is certainly easier for her to live in her rainbow little world, and I, in turn, am only needlessly throwing an extra burden of thoughts on myself. As soon as I doubt my own rightness, emotions begin to take over me, drowning out the facts in favor of faith. I have to doubt everything so as not to fall victim to her false words, but how? This is essentially to act the same way, that is, succumbing to emotions to keep oneself in check. Do I really have to do this to avoid going completely crazy? Emotions alone are not enough. I came to the necessary conclusion for myself and hastened to give my holy answer: "You are a native. Your faith is supported by convincing lies that you yourself believe. You will not break me." Seeing how morally strong I was, she made a boring expression on her face as if she was tired of wasting her precious time on me. She finished the drink to the bottom and sat more comfortably on the chair while the light warmed her snow-white skin. ¡°You don¡¯t have to try to convince me again, false person, I know perfectly well who I am. I am true, I was born from flesh and blood, and you were created in the void, a pathetic creation of demonic forces. Why do you think you ended up here?¡± ¡°I have already answered this question for you: your planetary system is anomalous and we were thrown out of subspace. The ship systems were damaged, it was impossible to restore the flight path towards the outer boundaries of the system and activate the jump engine, so we made a maneuver and flew straight to your planet, where these energy entities met us.¡± Yasmi smiled tenderly when she heard about energy beings. ¡°What a rude phrase you chose for the angels who protect the heavenly limit from the creatures of the void. Sod wanted to protect our world from your demonic presence. Your masters want to rebuild our world, build in its place a new world, a kingdom of chaos and horror. What you call progress and advanced technologies is the same magic that the demons gave you. Soon all your friends, fake people, will understand that their toys do not work here and that it is stupid to consider the Sun a real deity. May the great Sod forgive me for such words." Her answer confirmed my doubts. This explains why many species did not maintain the level of development at the cosmic level and degraded to the level of this era. Someone clearly tried to make them degrade and this someone is probably Sod. To be honest, her words scared me, and I really found a bit of reason and logic in them. The thousand-year history of the Earth, the multi-million and multi-billion-year history of the universe, the countless number of space civilizations, their cooperation, alliances, alliances and wars... all of this really could be a lie. And even though I was trembling with fear, not believing in such a turn of events, I remained just as adamant. Since we are creatures of emptiness for them, then we will be them. "We''ll look at it." That was all I could answer, and after a couple of moments the guards took me by the hands and led me outside. Now it''s time for the most unpleasant pastime for me. It''s time for torture.