Chapter 19: Chapter-18: Shall I butcher you all?

Aquilae stood on the rubble of what was once a mansion, a relic of the past, a tale forgotten by many yet remembered by everyone as a fable that never existed. She herself did not feel any melancholy as she should, Her aunt’s life was defined by this place. It felt surreal to stand at a place she had heard about in her nighttime stories. She only saw it in her dreams; as a valiant warrior she fought to protect, everyone sang praises of her, she became the most trusted knight of the Caretaker, slaying dragon that attacked the First Gate, and so on, as she continued the dreams in her daydreaming. An escape from the boring and bitter life at home. Now, this place was just a piece of land. In the coming years, it would be a heaven for bandits or monsters, whoever dominated the other, for there would be no claimant to this land at the end of the world. Maybe even an attraction to the demons and ghouls with how many she was going to kill today. At least ten thousand, if not more. A pity, for such a mystical place to become uninhabitable. Not that she would bother herself with it. Just thinking about looking after this place was tiring. 

Currently, Aquilae stood and waited for the commander to get his bearings in order. He wore full body armor, not that it would protect him, his face was not visible. His sigil-less armor, or lack of a flag in the army, made it clear he was a pawn on someone else’s board. No true knight ever raided without wearing their master’s sigil; it was a matter of pride. Pride and Honour of their master, a knight wore an insignia when they marched out to conquer lands, putting their lives and their master’s dignity at stake. Without it, they were nothing more than mercenaries. 

The army itself was larger than she had thought; how did someone deploy this many people without causing a stir? There was no news of it whatsoever. Tomorrow, all the newspapers would have the same headline, of her slaughtering an army, the First Gate, and of the Fabled Caretaker.

Who was behind it? Coloured armors? Who used them? ‘Stop thinking’ she berated herself, the more she thought, the more she would be caught up in some shallow political scheme. She was too lazy to stop them. She just needed a simple plan of action and using her genius brain, she thought of one. Easy and simple. Kill the army and take Aunt Celine to Krestia. 

After a moment of pondering, she understood it would not be easy. Perhaps even difficult. Nonetheless, she should take care of the easy part, which was to kill the army. 

Or Aquilae would if not for the Warlord's pity. A ridiculous name. And even more ridiculous was that she felt no pity, yet she had to present it as such. At last, the commander looked sober enough for a talk. Not that she wanted to. Even after so much talk, her cute yet not so well-behaved little fox went too far. She observed the bridge, a bloody mess. It was crumbling but mages on the other side held it in place. Alenor might as well be stronger than Arcane II mercenaries. How many did she kill? Not enough.

When she saw Alenor, the only thing she looked, was pitiful. She did not want to hear her heartbreaking story. She did not crave sad stories. If it was heartwarming, then she would have stayed there, all ears for it. 

"I’m Aquilae, the Weeping Blade. I’m a warlord, you should know. It’s mandatory for you to know, or else I'm not required to have pity on you. So you do know me, right?"

 Aquilae awaited a few moments for confirmation, but they did not respond; one of the soldiers was not even pretending to hear her. He had his hand on the sword, his whole body shivering.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

She pointed at the soldier in question, her tone casual. The soldier shook his head, then lowered it. Was he presenting his head for a beheading for his disrespect? She was pleased; she would not kill him if he surrendered.

"And answer the questions." She ordered the purple stone statue. 

"Y...yes, I do."

‘It would have been easier if you had not.’

Stammering, he answered. He was tense and inexperienced enough to show it. Even so, he had absolute command over his army. The other side had not tried to get here, even after this long of no communication. They were dazzled but did not move to attack her as soon as they saw her. So, trust as well. A young prodigy then. Or somehow everyone here knew her. Now, which country had such— ‘ STOP’ She screamed in her head; again, she was falling into that rabbit hole. Nothing good would come out of this mess, if anything more problem. A drama she had no desire to be a part of; if it hadn't been for her aunt, she would never have had to deal with this—she was her only family.

"You’re the commanding officer?"

"Yes"

"Great. Now listen attentively; I am not going to repeat"

"You have entered my aunt's territory without a prior decree, a crime against Elder Halls. And it displeases me greatly. Shall I butcher you all for this sin, no one will raise a voice."

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She said so and awaited their reaction. Every one of them wore full body armor, without an insignia. There was no face to see their reaction, but their mana wavered like flames caught in the wind. She raised her finger…

"However, it would be unfair for any army to fight a Warlord without prior notice, not to mention I would be committing the same transgression as you. As such, out of fairness and the generosity of my heart, I give you this opportunity. Surrender, and you shall be given a chance to represent your justification and face punishment as appropriated by them. Or just die here."

… they did not respond again. Not that she did not understand them; if a girl came out of nowhere and spoke about fairness and surrendering, she too would be dumbfounded. After giving them a moment to soak in her words, she continued.

"Now, if you wish to surrender, take off every piece of the armory, throw down your weapons, and go down to your knees. Put your hand above your head and lower your face to the ground. And say ‘I surrender’. And I will present you to the Elders' Halls"

"W..what!?"

"I won’t repeat"

"I heard you, AND LIKE HELL WE’ll SURRENDER! I HAVE AN ARMY; IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE IF YOU'RE A WARLORD OR NOT. ONLY ONE WHO HAS IT UNFAIR IS YOU. DO YOU THINK I WILL FALL FOR A FALSE BRAVADO? TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTH AND DANCE, AND I WILL LET YOU LIVE."

Aquilae suppressed her smile. A desired effect, taking an army as prisoners would be very inefficient. Furthermore, she would be liable to make sure they behaved. And would cause political drama once their names came out. Even Elders Hall would support her this time. That's the end of her diplomacy. She unearthed her sword from the ground. 

"So, are you going to fight?"

"SOLDIERS!!, today we make a name for ourselves. We will take down a Warlord. And I will make her my bitch. Signal the ones in the backline, Voice. And fight with everything you've got. Riches greater than your wildest dreams await you. Once you capture the warlord master would grant you all the titles of nobles, remember it."

All the soldiers cheered, he certainly had the charisma to be a commander. The one to whom Aquilae had asked the question unsheathed his sword and fired a red pillar of light toward the sky. In just a second, the whole army on the other side of the bridge roared. Aquilae threw her sword. It flew faster than eyes could see, leaving behind a trail of depressed blueish-green glow. In a second, he, Voice, let go of his sword, it fell on the ground along with his head. Then his body drummed the ground. Every soldier looked at him, then towards her. She was not going to kill him but he did not surrender, he could blame whoever he served. 

"How foolish to let go of your sword. Soldiers CHARGE" purple chicken rejoiced. 

Aquilae looked to see where her sword had gone; luckily for them, it had only killed that one and then flown off the chasm to places only Elder knew about. Soldiers on their Harrocks charged at her. She raised her right arm toward the sky and waited. Her sword fell from the sky, and its grip landed perfectly in the palm of her hand. Purple armor withdrew in the back. She could easily kill the commander, but then killing this many unorganized ants would be troublesome. The first soldier reached Aquilae, his spear charged with mana, dashing at full speed. Aquilae stepped aside, the soldier missed completely, and she raised her right hand, which held the sword and cut the soldier and Harrock in half from dead center. The momentum threw them and dragged them through the ground. As all the other soldiers came to a halt in silence, the sound of bones snapping echoed, and the ground was covered in red and white. Aquilae looked at her sword. King Slayer, The sword was named. No blood on it, that was its specialty; no matter what she fought, she would never need to clean her sword. She looked over at the soldier. 

Another came swinging a large mace with spikes on its head. She met it head-on. Her sword struck the mace, Sound of metal clashing echoed. With no resistance, Mace was sliced in half along with his hand. She stepped on the side as Harrock ran through her previous position. And swung down her sword, slitting both of them with her abnormally long reach. An arrow, Wind blades circling around it, tearing through the rock cutting it into pieces as it crossed the chasm, traveling through the air, toward Aquilae’s head. She grabbed it with her left hand without resistance; mana channeled through her hand. All the soldiers gaped as they watched it happen and hurriedly paused in their tracks. Backing off. 

"Come," Aquilae whispered as if asking for time, as she crushed the arrow. 

They did not move. Were their spirits this fragile? She swung her sword, sending a gust of wind. They stepped back. Aquilae's mood soured, she did not like killing someone who did not fight. One, it was time-consuming; second, it seemed cruel. Also, villainous. Aquilae sighed, It was turning into an annoying chore.

 

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