"Damn… hell… what happened in god's name?!"
The soldier's voice was shaking, as if his soul was still stuck inside that bloody hell.
Another soldier answered while pressing his temple with a trembling hand:
"I don't remember anything. The last thing I saw… that fight… the monster, the boy, the imperial guard… then darkness. As if someone pulled my soul out of my body."
A third soldier spoke with a sharp voice, as if he was still screaming from the inside:
"I fainted. I thought it was the end. Damn it… I saw death reaching for me."
"These… are not humans."
One of them said while staring at the destruction around him, his eyes lost.
"The giant monster is understandable, but that boy and the guard… monsters in human shape."
"Idiot!" another one said sharply. "The monster is clearly not human. But the others…? No. Those were born from blood, not from wombs."
"Look around you…"
The soldier waved his hand toward the ruins.
"This place was wiped out of existence. Their fight wasn't between humans… it was between disasters."
A brief silence… then the voices exploded again.
"But what happened?!"
"First we were fighting each other… then the wolves… then the monster… then that boy fought the guard… what kind of madness is this?!"
"And why?! Why did the boy turn on the guard suddenly?!"
"Oh god… then he teamed up with the monster to turn against the imperial one? This is not human logic!"
The voices rose, fear mixed with anger and shock.
---
Leader of the Blood Blade Faction
He wiped the blood off his face and said with a heavy tone:
"Ah… damn it… what a day."
Leader of the Blood Hands Faction
He pressed his lips with irritation:
"All of this… is the work of the Corpse Purification Faction. Their schemes never end."
Blood Blade Leader
"They played with us like dolls. Impossible that our sects didn't notice…"
Blood Hands Leader
"No. The leaders aren't that stupid. They definitely noticed, but they stayed silent. Either to hide something… or to lure something."
He gave him a side look:
"If it had been a real war… you wouldn't be standing here breathing."
According to the rumors, we wouldn't have stopped at small skirmishes below the ranking… we would have fought a full brutal war.
Blood Blade Leader, his voice shaking:
"I also found it a bit strange that our wars were just small skirmishes… Ah, now it makes sense… but damn it, our lives are nothing but a play in their hands."
Blood Hands Leader clenched his teeth:
"This is our world… strength is the only master. And we… are just bites waiting to be swallowed."
Blood Blade Leader:
"What a strange path strength is… we chase it to survive, but in the end it devours us."
Blood Hands Leader:
"Nothing is free… every step in this path is paid with blood. If you hide behind someone else, you'll give them your soul in return…
Our world never leaves you alone, as if it's a living creature feeding on the blood of its inhabitants."
The Blood Blade Leader raised his trembling hand:
"Damn… everything that happened today… I felt like my mind was going to explode."
Blood Hands Leader:
"Truly, today's sequence of events is something the mind cannot accept… if we hadn't escaped the stone forest, we would have become ashes in the aftermath of that battle."
Blood Blade Leader:
"What hurts my heart the most… is that boy. His power… his face… the aura around him… something terrifying. And yet… he shifts between enemies and allies like chess pieces."
Blood Hands Leader:
"That imperial guard played with us as he pleased… but the imperial family's power really is terrifying, even if they're starting to decline."
Blood Blade Leader swallowed his voice:
"Lower your voice! He might hear you!"
Blood Hands Leader laughed bitterly:
"Not here… there's no sign of him. No sign of the boy… or the monster."
Blood Blade Leader:
"The important thing is that we survived. But who is that boy in god's name…? At first I thought he was a hidden talent of the imperial family, but after his deadly fight with the imperial guard, it's clear he doesn't belong to them."
Blood Hands Leader:
"He really is strange. I remember seeing him near that old man's group when we arrived. Could he be with them?"
Suddenly — a sharp sound cut through the air:
"Ahem."
Everyone turned.
The old man stepped forward with calm steps, as if he were in a village road, not standing in the middle of ruins.
"There is no need for this wild imagination, honorable ones. I also don't know who he is… all that happened is that when I first came here, I found him already present… then you two arrived."
Silence fell.
Not normal silence… but as if the air had frozen.
Then—
A suppressing aura dropped on the camp.
An aura that did not press on the body… but directly on the soul, like a boulder crushing the heart.
Some soldiers fell to their knees.
Others gasped like drowning men surfacing from water.
They all shouted:
"Our respects… to the Imperial Guard!"
The guard walked forward with steady steps.
He had returned to his human form… but his wounds were deep, and the evil in his eyes still burned like an ember.
He looked at all of them…
One look was enough to make each of them feel as if their neck was exposed to a blade.
Then he asked, his voice like cold iron:
"That boy…
Does he belong to any of you?"
The old man took out a strange crest shaped like a bloody scorpion and stepped forward, handing it to the imperial guard.
"Honored one… that boy was here from the start. He does not belong to any of us."
The guard inspected the crest… then raised his eyes:
"There is no need for all this politeness, elder. I came specifically to destroy the work of the Corpse Purification Faction and to look for you."
Then he turned to the two faction leaders, his voice turning into a death sentence:
"You may leave. And guard your tongues… one word against the imperial family… and your heads will fall."
The two leaders bowed quickly, their bodies trembling:
"We meant no insult!
It was a slip of the tongue!
We will leave immediately!"
The guard turned toward the old man:
"Gather what remains of your group and let's go. There is no reason for us to stay."
The old man bowed slightly and breathed in relief:
"Then… we will be under your protection."