Resentment: Level 40

  I stared at that one particular line in my Status Sheet. It was a Mutation that I had ignored once again after my last evolution to an archdemon. And it was only natural that I did, because Resentment was already incredibly dangerous before it changed and evolved. I didn’t know what to expect, when my mind was already in a terrible state. I did not wish to find out what the consequences of making the problem worse might be.

  But now, I’d gotten better. My wounds had scabbed over and scarred. Countless ugly and jagged marks were left in my psyche, but I believed I’d healed as much as I possibly could. Any more would take an eternity, for even the scars to fade. It was time to confront myself, a darker demon that dwelled within, when I could already be so… terrible, sometimes.

  I simulated a long-unused organ, and it answered my call without delay.

  …Kill.

  Destroy. Slaughter. Despair.

  Now. NOW. NOW!!!

  I used my experience while rotting in a cell to not lose consciousness. I aligned my thoughts with my Resentment so that we could coexist. I was at the peak of a mountain deep in the barrier range right now, but it could still be disastrous if I lost myself to the rage. I could fly straight to the nearest city. I could betray my allies and watch that dawning look of horror when they faced the blade of their savior. I could slaughter all the innocents who hid in their homes and wrongfully thought themselves safe. I will cull the weak and the strong in equal measur–

  I took a deep breath and calmed my thoughts. My muscles had tensed, but I did not move from the mountain peak. I turned my attention inwards and spoke to myself.

  Let’s talk.

  Talk is useless. Just kill. Destroy this world. Forget my attachments. They are useless. WEAK. Use and abuse them as the stepping stones that they ar–

  Those… were certainly thoughts, of mine. But not entirely. Resentment was its own entity. Now I could finally truly give voice to that truth. It could finally give voice to that truth. It had gotten so much more coherent than we last ‘talked.’ I felt almost proud, amidst the endless despair of my existence.

  Be proud of my power. Devour their potential. I can get so much stronger, enough to kill the angels. If I just sacrifice everyth–

  My eyes snapped open. Mists of curse and hellfire lapped at the peak I was on, and the tough earth began to soften and turn to dust. Power poured generously through my body, and I felt as though I would break something if I moved, without using a shred of mana.

  This is my power. This is our power. Use it. USE IT. USE IT!

  I began to understand more, of myself and of Resentment. It was my mirror, so endlessly separate, but still so heavily connected.

  Yet here I remain.

  I had not gone off to kill everything. I was not tempted by power I could simply attain in time. I alone governed myself. Passing desires, rabid emotions, the darkest of impulses; None of those held a candle to my will. I was in control.

  I wanted access to this vast amount of power Resentment could give me, however. It would be troublesome if the entire Mutation became useless just when I could finally utilize it properly. This resentment was precisely what I held inside my own hearts, but I would seal away this power forever if I had to.

  So once again, I ask you, Resentment. LET US NEGOTIATE.

  This is my weakness. All this talk, all this care. Let go. Cut it all off. Start with my grandpa. He’s a fucking husk. His death will be a mercy. Then that Moonwash. Always so pretentious. Like she knows everything. Wasting so so so so much of my time–

  Guilt struck me, upon the direction my thoughts were heading. I grew angrier and I wanted to rip my Resentment out. That fury grew, a cascading effect that plunged my mind deeper into darkness. I knew that this only clouded my thoughts further. The fury would persist, forevermore, but it was up to me to rise above this ocean of curses. And that was exactly what I did.

  No. Not my family, not my friends. No one that I cared for.

  But… everyone else is negotiable.

  “Let me borrow your madness, and I will show you the great rivers of blood you desire. We will kill our enemies, slaughter hordes of monsters, and flip over entire societies and ecosystem!”

  “Join me, and we will kill an Angel.”

  ANGELSSSS!!!

  It is them It is always them. Ruining my parents, my relatives. The god of my family, of my enemies. They imprisoned me, tortured me. I will have my revenge, I will burn their entire kingdom to the ground.

  And we shall do it. I will do it.

  I want to kill. More than them. Everything.

  You will kill nothing if you try for everything.

  Then I am useless! There is no point.

  Not everything. But something. A LOT OF THINGS.

  There is so much. So many monsters. So many enemies.

  Give them peace, give them respite, by doing nothing.

  Or give them hell, by saving the few.

  We will not tolerate a pittance. I shall have it all.

  But you won’t. I won’t. So choose.

  I hate you.

  I hate me.

  I hate us.

  I hate myself.

  ……………………………………okay.

  I grinned, for we had come to an agreement.

  My teeth gnashed against each other to the point of bleeding, for I could hardly contain all this hate.

  I set my sights on the forest below me, still so peaceful, yet violent in only that way raw nature could be. I decided to interfere, and the creatures in between the trees immediately scattered as the aura rolled off of me.

  I jumped and flew and charged and burned through all the trees in my path. I landed, and it immediately felt like I was in a fucking oven inside my armor. It hurt. The blood-red light made the pain unbearable. But I could endure it, easily, for I knew I would inflict the same pain on others.

  My anticipation only grew. Under my gaze, all would wither. They would writhe and beg as the heat sears through their mind. I would hear their pleas, but answer only with greater torment.

  A twig snapped, and I was upon the wolf who did it in a flash. I ripped the creature limb from limb with my bare hands. I carried it to a bear, and then beat the second beast with it. I ate its heart as I strangled a bird. I boiled the river and rotted the fish within. I made it to the next mountain over and repeated the same process. I dug up a mole and killed it a hundred meters into the sky. I caught the attention of a whole murder of crowgers, and there were several Level 40s among them. I welcomed the challenge, relished their pain, and reveled in the carnage. The massive black bird harassed me from all sides, but my magic could fly in any direction. Their elites got close, but I traded with them blow for blow. My wounds would heal, but theirs would not. I fell from having large chunks of my wings torn off, but those quickly regrew. Only a handful of them even survived a single hit, only if I’d most missed.

  I crashed into another mountain, and found a big arbeast snacking on trees and drinking of the world’s energy with its own tendril-roots. One of those massive trunk-like legs kicked towards me, and I did not stand for it without trying to chop the damned thing off.

  I was unceremoniously tossed away, but at the cost of a deep gouge on my enemy’s legs. It wobbled. I leapt for its main body and began hacking. Its exoskeleton was fucking shredded. The confluence of my wrath ravaged through muscle and organ. I evaded most of its retaliating tendrils.

  My body healed.

  The monster fell.

  I sawed through its outer bark, already healed and ready to butcher another one.

  The abreast had died too quickly, where it could’ve taken at least a hundred punctures and survived.

  I took a deep breath of the deathly air, and calmed my breathing hearts. The flow of new mana slowed. Resentment… would never be satisfied, nor pleased, but it… accepted.

  My Resentment was put to sleep without fuss.

  ~~~

  “ARX! HEY ARX! GET YOUR ARX UP HERE!” My shout echoed down below as I searched for my friend. A trail of bright hellfire followed in my wake as I flew. I wobbled a little as I had to carry some massive packs slung all over my body.

  This was the best way of meeting back up we could think of.

  And it fucking worked.

  “HAELL! HEY HAELL!” I heard a booming shout, which made me swivel to the mountain on the left. There, Arx’s massive form could be seen, almost as tall as the trees. He truly towered over them once he stood only on his two rear legs. “OVER HERE!”

  “I CAN SEE YOU!” I responded and sped up. I slowed back down once I reached the canopy, and started dropping my many pieces of heavy luggage. Arx was right in front of me by the time I truly came to a stop and stood on solid ground.

  “Hey!” he twitched his mouth and mandibles in what I interpreted to be a smile. “You looked like a fat angel up there earlier. What happened?”

  “Shut up.” I snorted. “Those were your things, dumbass.”

  “My things?” he wondered.

  “Yeah. You mentioned missing or running out of a lot of things while staying here, right? And I told you I’d get them for you, so here it is.”

  “OH! You really did it. Thank you!”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I commented. “You’re welcome.”

  “Ah. I really am thankful.” He nodded sheepishly, then looked at the trail of massive packs going down the mountain. “I… don’t think I asked for that many things though.”

  “Eh, you complained about a lot of things.”

  “Not this much, I didn’t. Are these all for me?”

  “Yes. All of them.” I rested my chin on my hand. “Well, I did remember everything you said, and then palmed off a quick list to a friend. I didn’t think it would be this much either, but I guess I never told him any actual amount. What did he think I was using all this for…”

  Arx whirled around on me. “Did you tell them about me?”

  I met his gaze. “No. It’s your secret to keep.” As in, that was exactly what I told Moonwash and everyone else when they asked about my extensive luggage. That it involved someone else’s secrets.

  My parents were briefly worried if I was getting involved with shady business, but it was well and truly and utterly too late for that. They… should be worried about anyone involved with me, frankly.

  “Oh. Okay. Sorry.” Arx relaxed his tension.

  “Don’t worry about. I’d tell you they’re trustworthy, and that they hate Edengar just as much, but I’m the last person to criticize you about your trust issues.”

  “Yeah…”

  A long silence passed. I gestured to the mess of torn-up bags scattered around the mountain forest.

  Arx got the message and went to explore them.

  “Oh, salt!”

  “Oil. Nice.”

  “Oh no, that spilled…”

  “Enchantments… this must’ve cost a lot. They look really good,”

  I actually just swiped them off Moonwash’s lab for the aforementioned ‘secret project,’ and she just let me.

  “I don’t have much mana here though, especially if I had to look for an element.”

  “Wait, repositories? This many!?” Arx turned to me. “How much did you pay for it!?”

  “A fortune. Which I have. I own a city.”

  “Still…”

  “Oh, what’s this?” Arx unfurled the massive rolled up cushion. “Isn’t this too big? Too conspicuous.”

  “Worried that someone might suspect something?” I smirked. “‘Oh look! They bought a massive bed! They must surely be giving it to a secret inhex in training!’ That’s a fucking stretch.”

  “I suppose it is.”

  “SOAP! Thank you!”

  “Ah, I dropped it.”

  “Perfume. Smells great.”

  “Deodorant will definitely be useful…”

  “HAELL, IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SAY!?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve been there. Roughing it out in the wilderness, covered in blood and gore…”

  “SO THERE IS SOMETHING!”

  Arx grumbled until he finally came upon the packs of books.

  “Nice. I’ll see if you have good taste.”

  “Oi. Now are you the one trying to say something!?” I postured threateningly.

  “Not yet!”

  Arx checked out the titles and began sorting them out.

  “Actually… this is a lot. Is this not too much?”

  “What? You don’t want them? I would’ve wanted at least this much if I’m to rough it out in the woods for decades! I’ve done it before!” Albeit not entirely alone. Ah, good times. Our first secret base.

  “Well… I’m definitely grateful to have a lot to read. But how the fuck do I bring all these with me!?”

  “...Good point. But you’re big. Far bigger than even me. If I can carry all that while flying, then you can figure it out.”

  He hesitated. “I guess I can…”

  I pulled out something from my pack that I forgot to add to his packages. “Here!”

  Arx caught the threads and needles. “This is…?”

  “Oh my Devils. Don’t tell me you don’t know what sewing is?”

  “I KNOW WHAT SEWING IS!”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Ah, good,” I sighed in relief. “I won’t need to teach you what a ‘Status’ is.”

  “Oi. You picking a fight?” He bit the poor defenseless air with his mandibles..

  I grinned like a long-starved beast finally offered a veritable feast.

  “YES.”

  “Oh. Ah. Well, I’m not.”

  I cackled, a hint of disappointment. “Unfortunate. But anyway. Use that to fix up the bag, sling them over your back.”

  “That’s… huh. That could work.”

  “Of course it could.” I tsked. “I had to do that earlier, because…! Shit got banged up on the journey.”

  The teleport naturally could not protect the massive bags, despite their guaranteed quality. That’s why some of the contents are even a little banged up.

  “I, uh,” Arx gently scratched his head with his big claw, “don’t know how to sew.”

  I heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. I’ll teach you the basics. There must be a book here somewhere…”

  “You brought everything of every genre to hide your shit taste.”

  “No. My thirst for knowledge is just that extensive. Sorry if yours is too narrow. I should’ve just brought the illustrated children’s stuff.”

  ~~~

  “Okay, I definitely did not order this,” Arx commented as he rolled the dice and moved the little kraken figure along the board.

  “Eh, it’s useful isn’t it?” I made my own roll, moved my slug kaijuu along the board, and defeated three angels, earning me five points.

  “I’m always alone! Who will I play against? A friendly Arbeast!?”

  “THERE’S A FRIENDLY ARBEAST!?”

  “NO!”

  We made a few more rolls, and I ultimately won after I’d conquered both angelic and draconic kingdoms. The Leviathan challenge had stomped us both, though.

  “I think I can befriend one.”

  “What?” Arx grabbed a piece of steak from the massive grill, and then tossed me a piece.

  “An arbeast.” I’d followed the instructions Moonwash had shown me once, using only the herbs I knew could be found in this area, and the resulting steak was certainly delicious. “I’ll go befriend one of them!”

  “...No.” He chuckled incredulously. “You can’t.”

  “You mean like how you thought I’d definitely lose to you, you arrogant prick?”

  “That’s different.”

  “Oh Haell, you’re so nice and kind and thoughtful and righteous…”

  “DO NOT PLAY WITH THE CORPSE! Too far.”

  “Then why are you laughing?” I smirked.

  “I’m not.”

  “I don’t know. Your mandibles are twitching. I think that’s mirth...”

  Arx chased me with an annoyed screech, but immediately stopped once he saw the bloodstarved grin on my face.

  ~~~

  “You leaving soon, right?” Arx asked after a whole buffet of a dinner. He did all the hunting himself to ensure the meat was good. As if a little rot ever killed anyone.

  “Yeah. It’s been a week.”

  “Cool, cool.” So Arx said, but I knew being alone for this long did take a toll on him. Even I had never isolated myself for this long, granted I’d certainly had one isolation that was far more harrowing despite the technically shorter duration… “Take those bags with you,” my friend continued, gesturing at some massive packs filled only with Level 80 Materials. There was even the carcass of an endrasen among them, those birds with a powerful dropkick and earth magic. Arx had apparently won by leaping up as it descended, and then managing to fucking get one of its wings. He still almost died to its earth magic on the ground, but he managed to eke out a victory and heal. I had to try that myself sometime. “It’s not enough to pay for what you gave me though…”

  “Bah! Don’t even worry about it. In fact, it might just be enough.”

  “That does not sound reliable.”

  “The value of stuff changes. You know how it is. Economics.”

  “Do you know how it is?”

  “Nope!” I cackled. “But seriously, you underestimate the value of hero-rank materials. Especially that endrasen I haven’t been able to take out yet! I’ve tried lunging for it, but the bird will just shift. The fucker!”

  Arx chuckled and began to help me pack.

  I pulled out a map from his pile of stuff in the nearby cave to confirm one last time. Not that I could actually forget. “You’ll be going to this stretch of mountains next, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. You mind if I bring someone with me next time?”

  “What? No! Can they be trusted?”

  “She made poison rain on Astro City.”

  “Poison rain…?”

  “Well, not exactly. It was more like a disease rain. Astro City, as you know, is what came before my Arisen City. At the time, it was Edengar’s, and Moonwash made them all sick. Not as sick as actual poison, you can’t get that kind of persistent coverage with that. But it was more than enough to overwhelm their capacity to heal, especially for such a prolonged battle.”

  “That… sounds horrific. Now I have even less reason to trust someone like her!”

  I looked at him blankly. “I slaughtered an entire manor.”

  “Well, that’s sad. But that’s war. I understand. You were imprisoned and tortured.

  “And her girlfriend was imprisoned and tortured.”

  “...OH! Ah, so that’s why she did the… That’s Moonwash...?”

  I nodded. "Yeah."

  “...I guess I can understand then, why she did it. But, um… Honestly, no offense to her, or you; but it’s still really hard to trust someone like that. It’s like… what will she do next, you know? Ah! From my perspective only, of course…”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, but pondered for a moment.

  “You know those beautiful, powerful, and incredibly efficient enchantments I gave you.”

  “Yes…?”

  “Moonwash made those.”

  “Ah.” Arx paced.

  “Those sturdy bags, the various utensils, she’s also the one who made most of those. She's the damn finest crafter you'll ever meet this side of the continent. So if you need something custom and specific made, then there's no one better.”

  “...You can’t bribe me!!” he finally claimed.

  I barked a laugh, before growing more solemn. “I suppose I can’t. But can you just… trust me? I really want to tell her about you at least. We usually don’t really keep any kind of secret from each other. I made an exception this time only because of how enormously sensitive it is. Your very existence is a secret, hated by the world. I’ve been there. Except yours is ever worse, somehow. That uh, really fucking sucks.”

  Arx stilled in thought, his mandibles squeezing. “Well, I don’t think you’re trying to trick me, at least. You could’ve just come with a hidden army. Hell, I might already die to you one-on-one. You could… well, you hate the angels just as much as me, and they hate you, so you won’t go to them, but I’m sure my information is incredibly valuable anywhere. There are really so many other things you could’ve done, but you chose instead to be… a friend.”

  We bumped fist and claw.

  “So?”

  “Bring her here,” he sighed, not sadly.

  “Thanks. You won’t regret it.”

  “No. Thank you. I’m just… wary. But it would actually be nice to have another voice around here.” His three mandibles made the equivalent of a grin. “It’s tragic that yours is the only one I’ve heard in years.”

  ~~~

  I flew west. I’d recently focused more of my personal war efforts north, but a more urgent request had come from here in the south. They’d actually managed to lose one of our hard-won cities. Without my intervention, there was a good chance they might be on track to lose another.

  A certain… savant from the enemy side who had been a constant thorn on New Grandera’s side had recently grown more bold. We’d somehow not run into each other yet throughout these years, but now that she was taking more obvious action, I was excited to actually fight and kill this woman whom I had heard so much about.

  The so-called Swordreaper.

  Finally, I reached the target city, and came to a stop just above the gates that had already been pushed open. Its right side hinges… had just been cut through, somehow. And now enemy soldiers were streaming in.

  I flew closer and activated my intimidation package, including a rain of curses that would poison and corrupt the mind. My enemies responded, avoiding eye contact, and relying on their shepherds to resist my influence, but many still fell to the chaos or lost all will to resist.

  And yet, amidst this tide of foes whose morale was already dropping simply due to my arrival and fame; There was one island of… elites, completely untouched. Dozens of people over Level 40. One woman held the equivalent of a katana pointed at me and spoke thusly:

  “HAELL ZHARIGNAN! GET DOWN FROM HERE AND FACE ME!!!”

  There was fury in her face. The pathetic and flimsy kind, but anger nonetheless.

  I smirked and answered the swordreaper.

  “One on One? I’m down!”

  She frowned. “NO! This is war!”

  Well, I didn’t disagree.

  In which case, further dialogue was unnecessary.

  I confirmed that most of my allies had already been pushed farther back from here, before I bombarded the invaders with curse and hellfire. They retaliated with wind, water, and other elements. A few projectiles even made their way over to me, and I had to dodge or smash them out of their air. Some still made it through, but other than some minor temporary turbulence, I made it out of them whole and hale and healed.

  A blast of hellfire and curse was sliced right open. An invisible slash traveled past, still not spent. It hit my armor, and managed to make a thin and shallow but long scar, despite the distance it had already traveled.

  That swordreaper really had an anatomic mastery. Not that I ever doubted it.

  “Hellfireball.”

  I was given the opportunity to make some quick rituals, so I naturally took it. I heard louder grunts of pain, which meant I was successful, but there were sundertops among them, for starters. I knew that they too had the capacity to heal, and sure enough, not a single one from this elite squad had died yet. Our exchange of artillery lasted for a whole longer as the war raged on ever so horrifically in many other parts of the city.

  Finally, I decided to end things.

  A particular exchange left my enemies scrambling as their main sundertop healer roared with his golden-white feathers set on hellfire. I landed in front of them and immediately struck my hardest. One of their warriors was outright killed, another put in dire straits, and one broke a bone from the effort of resisting my slash. That confluence of wrath was powerful because I’d steadily gotten better at incorporating my blood magic with its activation. A wave of curse naturally followed, and even that was strengthened, spreading rot and cuts through my already injured adversaries.

  A flying slash impacted against my armor and dug deeper than before. Blood poured from gaps and thinner areas in the way. The heavily injured were pulled back into their over a dozen-strong elite formation to be healed by their sundertop and belfegor healers. My magic enveloped the field and manifested in a strong torrent crashing against them from all directions. Their mages countered with the wind and water, but also earth! The earthen barriers were too effective, able to stall my hellfire for a long while, and still quite effective against my curses. The curse element was in large part immaterial, so some segments just seeped through, but that was what their other magic types were for. Only a few motes of my attacks managed to make it through their defenses, and my enemies were hardened enough to not freak out at the slightest touch of hellfire. They even had the leeway to shoot magical projectiles of their own right at me!

  My tail flicked, hooves bucked, and I dodged most of them. Devilcalibur slammed down against their frontline, but their formation had already largely reformed. Human, ogre, and centaur frontliners had rushed to fill the gap, and they managed to weather my next blow without a single death. The swordreaper landed another sharp slash from afar, and then another. It was far more effective from this distance, a steady stream of attacks that drew blood and compromised my armor. Some other squads lingered nearby, behind windows, atop rooftops, and around the streets. Most of them were archers, with a few mages mixed in, and their projectiles rained down annoyingly.

  “ARRRRGGHHHH!!!” I roared and changed for them instead. My enemies immediately took this opportunity to go on the offensive, and I was forced to defend and push them back. The squads around us repositioned away from me, but soon continued their own bombardment. They paused upon my regular intimidation package, but the traitors and deserters weren’t enough to break their assault, and this line of attack would only get weaker against the same target over time. I could reach them if I wanted to, but not without taking significant amount of damage from their one very elite formation.

  They could keep me here and whittle me down. I wasn’t even sure that I could outlast them this time. It was a formation very similar to the one I was studying to slay an angel, so I gave them another minute of going between defense and offense before I decided on my line of attack.

  I disengaged with the confluence of wrath and a push of my elements towards the elite squad. I suddenly took to the air and began to take out the annoying flies atop the rooftops while sending hellfire screaming through the full building below. This time, they weren’t able to easily put away the hellflames any longer.

  The enemy projectiles naturally followed me as I made my rounds, but I could dodge most of them while I was on the move like this. I grinned evily when the elite squad moved to follow, but they did not come close to actually entering any of the buildings.

  Unfortunate.

  My enemies moved, and the soldiers and adventurers ran out of the buildings wholesale. Now they were only on the streets, and I dropped back down to meet them. I circled and killed another squad or two before the most elite team caught back up with me. I disengaged again with my most powerful attacks, but they arrived even swifter this time once I began my slaughter of their goons anew.

  At least all of them congregating on the ground like this made it more troublesome for their soldiers to aim. I clashed again with the elite squad, and the same powerful exchanges as before followed. My armor cracked, and dented, and finally broke into pieces. Their blows landed on my body, but the cuts, and burns, and frost quickly healed.

  It had become a battle of attrition. I got a handful of the elites when I detonated all the blood I’d spilled all at once. I killed another handful when they foolishly allowed me to finish one ritual on the ground.

  The rot and ruptures along their arms festered for every time they managed to land a blow on me. My enemies had to pull back and heal more and more, but I never backed down. I pressed them even harder as they scrambled.

  Another one fell. A templar.

  The swordreaper shouted again. She’d been trying to have a conversation in the middle of the fucking battlefield since earlier. Stupid.

  “YOU KILLED THARIAN!” she complained.

  I did not know any Tharian.

  But well, I wouldn’t be surprised if she spoke the truth. I had killed a lot of people. She wouldn’t be the first to come looking for answers or outright vengeance.

  “THAT’S YOUR OWN FRIEND! YOUR PARTY MEMBER OF DECADES!!”

  I furrowed my brows. There was only one long-time friend I’d ever killed, and it’s…

  “Do you mean Therick?” I asked despite my better judgment.

  “YES! HE WAS TO BE MY PROTEGE.”

  …What? Really? I heard her words. I slashed at the people protecting her. My hearts weren’t truly in it. I was working almost on autopilot. My mind churned, and I needed to think.

  So I did.

  I dug up long, painful memories. Therick betrayed me, and joined the enemy. He must’ve gotten something out of it. Now I knew what. To become the disciple of someone so weak that she needed to be protected, else I would’ve ripped her apart already!

  It was embarrassing. It was infuriating. It was not fair! I was being held back here, by a bunch of people my level. None of them would last five moves in an actual duel. But like this, they’d created a stalemate I couldn’t just break. I was already giving it my all. By the time they broke, the city might’ve fallen.

  If they break at all.

  It wasn’t a given that I would eventually win, I had to admit to myself. And that made me mad. This was Edengar. I would not lose to these fuckers again!!

  I took a mental step back, and actually considered if I should retreat. It would suck, but New Grandera could lose a city. I’d done my best.

  What if I just turn around and go for their bigger army? No, this elite squad would just do the same and support their own frontlines.

  There was really only one card left for me to play, if I wanted to break this stalemate, and then break them.

  I could bring forth my Resentment, but was it worth revealing here?

  I wanted it to be a surprise for the angels.

  I just had to retreat and worry about retaking this city later.

  I will not.

  She who has involved herself with my imprisonment will fall here.

  We will not forgive this.

  The entire army she’d brought could be buried will her.

  And then her disciples. I’ll make sure that her legacy dies here!

  “ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

  I screamed and crashed into their ranks. Devilcalibur slammed into their vanguard, and they fell where previously they would’ve only faltered. I did not give them the chance to recover and swiftly executed them with another swing. The tendons I’d broken along my limbs weren’t even fully healed by the time I repeated the same process to their next rank of fighters. Gold-rankers celebrated and praised the empire over fell like the insects that they were under my assault.

  Finally, the swordreaper was in front of me, and my greatsword immediately slammed towards her own. The words died in her throat as she desperately defended… and I actually found my strike deflected! But the ordeal still left her shaken and numb, and death would not wait for her to recover. I forced my body to move, and my next attack severed both her arms as she staggered back. Her few lackies closed in to stop me, and their mages abandoned defense for the first time, but it was too little too late. My blade bisected the swordreaper right in half, and then those two halves were torn apart by writhing bone and coiling muscles from the inside.

  Dozens of blades, arrows, and spells, intersected against me. I continued my charge forward to dodge most of them, and then kill the mages, archers, and healers in the back. They had left themselves vulnerable to my magic with that last attack, and were now in disarray. My greatsword went through them like butter, and their bodies quickly deformed. The lingering shockwave of curses rendered them injured and slower, so I caught up quickly even as they ran. I’d just killed two of their sundertop healers, when someone finally sounded a full retreat.

  But there was no way I would let them. They would not leave here alive. There was no escape. They’d made of themselves my enemy, they colluded with my tormentor: Now they shall face the consequences!

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

  I roared again. They fled away in terror like I was a mindless monster. The way I chased after them only solidified that wrong impression. I tore them apart with all my means available, biting and scratching, and stomping, among the twisting of my greatsword. Most of my wounds had already healed by now, though my tattered clothes and the blood on my body still remained.

  The Edengarians scattered more and more. Even I wouldn’t be able to get all of them like this. I spent only a few seconds longer leaping after some of the remnants, before I decided to go after some far better targets.

  The armies behind me. That of both Edengar and New Grandera.

  No. Not the latter. New Grandera was an… ally.

  Or, I could go for the remaining half of the enemy camp that was still outside the walls and streaming through the gate and a couple other openings that had been made along the unmanned walls.

  Yeah. That’ll be better. I’m confident it’ll be fine even if I intervene in the ongoing clash behind me, but it’s best that I don’t risk it while Resentment is here.

  Just go for where the enemy had conveniently isolated themselves from my allies.

  I grinned, just before I carved through a line of soldiers to arrive at the front of the gates. My enemies continued their charged, carried along by momentum, as if I could be brought down. I weaved through their line in a mist of blood and explosive sounds, for my every move broke the sound barrier. I tossed the head of their precious swordreaper into the air, and then broke their wills with my intimidation package. They had already sent their best fighters ahead, so those who remained here were no match for me, even unarmored. I drank of their blood and restored myself, dashing any false hope they might’ve had of tiring me out. My storm of hellfire and curse waned eventually, but they were in a rout by then. I chased after them as I pleased, indulging in the violence, until they had scattered far and wide enough that I could not easily find new prey any longer.

  I flew back and saw the burning sea of corpses that covered the land. Once people. Rotting in piles, like in the nests of goblins.

  We smiled, for a job well done.

  Hoooooohh. It’s over. Long, looong chapter. I actually wasn’t planning on having Resentment be used in a true war so soon, but the swordreaper’s squad actually managed to push Haell far enough to do it. So, good on ya, dead bitch! AHahahahhaha!

  If you like this story, then please consider supporting me over on , and read 30 Chapters in advance! Book 3 is finished there, and I'm starting to make moves with Book 4!

  I'll also drop my link again. You've obviously read the book already, but in case any of you would want to support me further by buying the ebook version. As you might know, I shot myself in the foot, and I wasn't getting paid for the first week of the books. KU reads weren't registering in the Algorithm. It's very sad.