Stray Elf: Lost in the System

This is a bonus chapter!

The Demon Armys’ Flags spread across the northern section of this country like wildfire. The territory was slowly falling under our control. As it did, I had more time in between conquered lands to establish my bearings in this world and on the battlefield. My Status Skill’s S Rank Stats were no joke, no matter where I was headed, which made me feel like I was somehow being complacent. I trained with my troops and ruled over them with an iron fist.

Well, I mused, that was according to them and fellow Captains but I felt like I was following the Hatred Army’s training regiments to the dot until I got bored and added some variation to it. I only did not partake in the killing insubordinate or weaklings that the Commanders and Captains in the regiments did, since heads were expensive and I needed all the free help I could get.

They probably would say otherwise.

I marched along the rows of softies practicing their weapon forms. I had started incorporating training sessions for weeks on end inspired by action movies I remembered from my past life. Or rather, thought I remembered. The longer I live in this world, the further my past escapes me. I had them each climb the Spine’s vertabrae towers in the sun in their armor, and if they fell or died somehow the Pit would consume them anyways. We swam through muddy swamps created by Dios magic and carried boulders for miles as we marched city to city.

As the training period ended, the survivors of my supposedly brutal training I was left with were fit and deadly enough to survive many battles. I gained flag bearers, and an evil logo on my banners that I could not read. There still was a lot of yelling, but since we recieved the flag for free our army became notorious amongst humans and demons alike.

However, the Generals had taken notice of our army and its relatively clean history of successful skirmishes and sieges. They began to send us deeper into unsecured territory alone instead of joining forces with the other Armies. Was this a sign that we have made it? Still, we proceeded to smash defenses down and claim our enemy’s land.

On the way towards a stronghold housing rebel forces situated in the furthest east, we marched past a small insignificant village consisting of farmlands, small houses and a tavern. I told them to ignore it and move out. Why waste energy on clearing out a village when it is nightfall? So I ordered the camps to be set up a distance away from it, but secretly I was bored and also the boss now— I could do whatever I wanted.

It was time to hear about what the locals have to say about us, I sighed. Without armor on, I hoped that I could glean information out of anyone inside that tavern. Yokgu laughed at my dainty appearance as I covered myself in bandages and a cloak. I looked like a human with it on, and nothing like a true warrior or whatever orcs go on about. I told him I’ll be back by the Twin Suns’ rise.

I was bored enough as is from our endless marching, so a break by messing with humans seemed like a good way of breaking up the monotony. I stalked through the night, and like a moth drawn to the flames I followed the warm glow towards the tavern. I breathed in. Soft and somber music played, the tone from a bard who has lost a lot in this war. I quickly realized how unprepared I was when it came to speaking with someone. Did I need to? If anything troublesome wanted me the Death Spear would take care of them. Quietly, I pushed open the door.

Luckily, everyone ignored me. I supposed I did not look far different from a sentient pile of rags. I tentatively looked for a place to sit down in the corner away from people, but the man at the bar slammed a mug down and called for me. Most of his teeth were missing and his facial expression looked like it held the weight of the Moons upon it.

“Welcome, traveler,” he said boldly to me. “My stocks and mugs aren’t as full as they used to be, but you may rest here with us.”

Huh, I supposed maybe some humans had decency left in them. Or they knew the end was coming and they gave up. The gesturing continued until I reached out with a shaking hand and felt the mug’s handle. No alerts. He eyed me as I did, with concern. Perhaps, my red eyes gave me away.

“Th-thank you,” I said in a broken form of the human language. I knew that language by heart now, but I could pass like I was a typical fleeing traveler broken by the elements like he assumed I was.

“You’d be wise to stay here,” he growled, but it was of compassion instead malice. He kept his voice gruff and low. “A Demon army rolled through here hours ago. An even larger force of the Rebellion is soon to follow—“ He grabbed the mug and poured some kind of drink into it while keeping eye contact. “Neither take well to women.”

I bowed hastily, taking the mug quietly and scurried to the corner of the room. Some men were sleeping on benches, in less than good conditions. Others slumped against the walls, others were wounded. None complained about the sad bard playing his music. The place was cozy, vulnerable in a strange kind of way. Melancholic was too strong and soft was too weak. These struggling lives were too short, but a small break would not hurt, right?

I inspected the liquids in my own mug, quickly realizing there was something off about it. My Status Skill alerted me the reason why. Humans did not usually drink themselves to sleep like demons did they? Especially with this type of leaf in it? Something was too fishy, but it was amusing to me all the same. Another mug slammed down on the table I was sitting and a couple more joined. A group of old men sat at the table I slumped at, too engrossed in their rabble to even notice me.

“Damn that Empire’s ceaseless desire for expansion,” the man who slammed his mug was the first to spill his troubles out to his grunting friends. The wooden table creaked as someone joined them. “Blatant thieves, of lands to tax and sons to paint the fields red! Who is left to pay taxes? Who is left to plow the fields?”

The others agreed. These are the problems they worry about? I slumped against the wooden wall. I haven’t hid in the shadows for a long time, unnoticed. It was nice.

“I married my daughter off to the neighbors in the next village,” one lamented. Huh, so they do that here still? I did not know whether to stop feeling bad for these fools or start feeling sorry for the daughters sold. “It makes no difference to my family’s future, since my daughter’s husband will be sent off to fight those damn demons!”

They commiserated together for an hour or two, but I heard no information about the city. They ignored me, though. As far as they cared, I was just a weary traveler like the rest. Honestly, I preferred it that way. I blinked and suddenly the room was a lot darker. Hours must have gone by as I slept. My Skill alerted me that someone or something was approaching me. Hostile? I searched my surroundings, and found fresh souls to reap. Souls essences that I reaped, I found, were glowing, translucent shining balls of cyan mist. They swirled around in place, waiting for me to take them with my Skill. I was not sure of the overall range of how far I could reap souls, but it was something I got used to quickly.

Several of the souls became drawn to my skin and I absorbed them. These people were murdering women here, I discovered. Kidnapping them silently and killing them behind the tavern. Was that friendly bartender in cahoots with them? A muscular hand lifted me and hefted me over his shoulder, while I flopped like a dead fish. These fools should have killed me first, then did whatever they were planning to do with my body afterwards. It would have worked, had I not possessed the Status Skill. The cold air rushed over me as the door creaked open quietly, and I was carried out. More souls drew into me as I was brought closer to a cluster of them. The man flung my body into a small pile of corpses covered in flies and mud.

Why couldn’t any of my Skills be normal? I sighed, ignoring my situation. Laughter carried above me, and the smell of dismembered bodies began to plug my nose as they tore off my robes. As a soldier, I don’t feel cold or hot anymore as an inconvenience. Temperature was simply a state of being. I was ready to fight at all times. Not that they would know. My skin amazed them under the Spiral Moons’ light and even though I kept my own eyes shut, I felt their lust on me.

“We’re going to gut her,” the voice was familiar, but the greediness was taking over their supposed mission. It was definitely the tavern owner. That snake! He had planned to drug me and do this from the start. I heard a buckle become undone, and trousers drop. Big mistake, fool. Uncontrollable urge filled his voice, while disgust filled me. No one’s tried their luck on me since I was a Tusk way back then. “But first I get to go first while she’s still warm.”

“You all know I’m awake, right?” I chuckled, feeling my wrist spasm as pain started to twist the bones inside it. “And now, you all will be awake while you are each slaughtered by my hand, one by one.”

“A N-Nameless?” Their shocked voices panicked. Ah, my cold accent gave me away.

They snapped out of their shock as they realized they should probably kill me quickly. Their blades were worthless! The Death Spear was an odd Unique Skill, consuming a sword as it attempted to cut off the tentacle growing out of me. It was devastating to those who wished to do foul things to my decency, but I could not summon it by itself on command. My arm split apart as the impossibly massive spontaneous growth launched from my wrist straight through the tavern keeper’s groin. The tendril tore him in half, before flailing and grinding the man into fine pulp on the fields next to all the dismembered women. It was not like the others could interfere or flee, since Death Spear’s aura horrified them and froze them in place. The Ruler of Death exercises her will over the living, or something.

Their screams carried through the night as similar macabre work was done on them, making me glad I could not summon the Death Spear on command anyways. Naturally, everyone in the tavern itself also had to go. And also everyone else. No witnesses, right?

Yokgu howled with laughter at my exploits, while the other soldiers looked in horror and stole sick curious peeks at my nakedness as I came back. When we returned to the village to see the carnage I left, we did not see the army that was supposedly chasing us.

“They kill women, eh?” Yokgu looked at the remains of the bandits’ work strung along the ground in pieces. “Cute.”

“Is it some kind of religious thing?” I asked. “Why do the humans kill those?”

Yokgu stood in steep thought as the silence fell upon the crowd inspecting the massacred area.

“I dunno!” He surrendered with a shrug. I groaned. For now, in my twisted mind I assumed the Goddess Usalah demanded women to be used as sacrifices, although She did not care what state they were in. People naturally would take advantage of that. “If I may, Captain.”

That sarcastic tone in his voice made me realize he was thinking about something stupid.

“The City of Aing’Cang is a right bloody pain in the ass,” he told me. “The Hells have sent armies to its borders, only for it to grind their damn armies slowly into dust and resist for years. The Generals, in all of their Fair-ass wisdom, have wasted thousands by now, just to capture a single fort.”

“So,” I tried to remember my old world’s history but came up with nothing. When I saw the map, however, I knew why it would take years to capture the fortress. It had six massive angled walls, and was backed by the seas. They were also surrounded by floodgates that could fill not only their moats with sea water, but also the entire wetlands that surrounded the elevated city. It was, as Yokgu put it, a right pain in the ass. “It surely isn’t any different than the others, right?”

Yokgu looked at me along with the others, each with an exasperated look on their faces.

“Does this Demon Captain know limits?” One of them whispered to his friend. He shut his trap up when he sensed me glancing at him.

“How big?” Yokgu asked. “The enemy army.”

“100 to 1, according to these fools,” I lied and gestured at the bloody remains in the village.

“The army might take Prisoners of War to the city?” He suggested. Wait, what? He waved his hands defensively. “I-I’m just saying, man. They capture women, take them to the city, what if we were to make a certain someone get captured and taken there? And by certain someone, it’s certainly you! Y-you make them go boom? You’re good at that!”

I glared at him with such disbelief at his stupidity, but realized he had a point. The process was simple enough, grab a bloody sack and stuff me into it, then hand me over to the army passing by as a truce and double back to the Damned Army waiting near Aing’Cang. Eye… sang? I tried to pronounce the city’s name as I bumped around in the burlap sack. Aing’Cang had a ring to it. The meeting with the humans was going to be catastrophic. I had the men hide amongst the dead and in the gutted houses that were left in tact. The plan was the only way to survive, and my anticipation rose when I heard the thunderous march of a sea of soldiers headed towards us. Yokgu took great pleasure sticking me in this bloody sack and tying me up, making me feel like this was personal for all the shit I gave him over the year.

“Halt!” The Lord General of the Human Army, a mountain of a man, shouted at the Orc.

“No, you halt!” Yokgu shouted at the General. Well, it was a pleasure knowing all of you, I thought to my men. Why did I entrust our lives to such a brute? His acting skills were on par with his subtlety! Before the General could swing a Skill at him, I saw Yokgu raise his hands through the fuzzy and damp burlap. “G-Get back! N-Not another step! S-She might be awake still!”

“What?” The General barked. Concern flashed across the men surrounding him. They must have been dragged into this army by force, since none were willing to approach and kill then ask questions later. “Who is in that!”

“S-Slaughtered all of us!” Yokgu’s voice shook. Wait, why was he so good at acting? “Slaughtered this here town, man! S-Stay back! We b-barely contained her!”

“A Nameless?” The General’s voice shook. He was falling for it? All I could do was remain uncomfortable lying motionless in the mud. The horse was approaching, but Yokgu shrieked again.

“We should burn this place,” one of his officers suggested.

“D-Don’t kill us! Look,” he protested. “We’ll give you this thing! Let us through. We’ll not bother another soul, build a town elsewhere! We’ve been through enough already!”

“Foolish orc,” The Aing’Cang's General laughed. “We will take her then. Get out of my sight!”

“Maximum security! You hear me!” Yokgu scurried away as heavy hands lifted me. “She might be weakened and easy to subdue now, but it took us a Moon fall!”

Well, now I had to pray to every god that they would not try anything. That stupid orc must have enjoyed calling me weak. Still my world lurched as they tossed me into a metal caged wagon in the stupid sack and the deal was sealed. My army got to go join up with our allies without a fight, and the humans get to take me to their home and die. He would owe me big time for this, I swore.

The info was right, though. This human army snaked for miles from the mountain path. Despite the majority of them being commoners dragged into the battle by force, there were many Crowned and Elite enemies among them. I started to regret this decision, but the Rebellion’s flags were marching much more swiftly than my own army. We would have been swallowed whole if a battle broke out. The City was near us, dwarfing everything on this forsaken wetland this wagon splashed through. peered through a hole in the sack I poked through. Amidst the thundering rain and stampeding noises of boots, the soldiers chanted a merry song much different than the bard I slaughtered last night.

It was a tune for returning back home. Heh, I chuckled to myself as the caged wagon rocked me over again and again. Let them be merry and sing the last song they will ever get to hear tonight.

I heard the gates lower and multiple Status alerts showed in my vision. There were tons of Crowned and Elite enemies here. The Ruler of Death exerts her will upon the Universe by reaping souls. Well, I tore through the sack with an arm to see the view of citizens clapping and praising their rebel army’s glorious return home. A small child pointed to me in the cage, as I gripped the steel bars that confined me. If I was not mistaken, the Skills can be evolved further. The phenomenon was discovered shortly after a fervent Demon officer learned he could use Land Breaker, a Skill that was an improved version of the Skill: Power Breaker.

Alert: Spend Souls to evolve the Skill: Power Breaker?

Yes. I grinned. I guessed a lot of people were going to die here, but the child kept pointing at me. It almost made me regret my decision. The citizens and the gaudy nobles at tables situated on beautiful ornate high rises above me cheered as the army marched triumphantly onward. My souls were reduced to zero, making me swallow a groan at how expensive it was. Their lands are dying, demons slaughtering their livestock and eating them, but they have forgotten how to fear the enemy and all these souls I reaped! Something changed in my body as the magical energy coursed through my every limb. The atmosphere or perhaps the deafening silence changed the citizen’s mood fairly quickly, as my newly acquired Land Breaker Skill began to build up an aura. I was not sure how powerful this skill would be, but others began to notice the pressure tearing at their skin.

The soldiers surrounding my cage quickly realized the danger and moved to stab me, but it was too late. I crunched the bars I gripped on for support in my fists before muttering the fateful Skill’s name.

“Land Breaker.”

I saw nothing but white light as the Skill exploded like a nuclear bomb. The smoke rose into the air in a cloud, as the energy broke my bones. I screamed in pain as the number of Souls defeated rose rapidly, and the battle began after the cloud of energy and death raised from the scorched earth. It was not much of a fair fight after my Land Breaker, and I was not helpful during it anyways because I could not move easily with broken legs. Instead, I emerged from the crater I left in my Skill's wake, pain be damned. It was the price I paid for destroying this place anyways, I guessed. Yokgu caught up to me in the ensuing charge, and I gave him the hardest slug I could with a grin.

“You owe me one,” I told him. “Now get me a healer.”

“That’s no fair! You’re the freak,” he protested as he jogged with me to the tents of mages. “Now you have Land Breaker.”

We were to plunge our swords into the back of this city, resulting in a one sided victory as the walls were completely leveled by Land Breaker. What a useful toy, I mused. My armor was recovered, but it took a few days to get here because of its weight which Yokgu had no trouble reminding me that I was a freak. So I took to the city wearing whatever shoddy armor I could find.

Amidst the fires I caused I saw her kneeling there, bent over and scooping charcoal uselessly up with her charred hands. A survivor? I was beyond feeling ashamed for thinking such things. This city’s rebellious forces were destroyed by my army’s capable hands, her walls taken and treasures plundered. This survivor merely would be another treasure for someone more despicable than I am. She screamed something at me as I skirted around her, the charcoal crumbling in her palms as she did. As I ignored her, she hit my boot with a paper-thin wrist.

I stopped and turned. The woman shrunk as she realized that she invited Death to look her in the eyes. I saw tears, anger, wailing, and an indescribable feeling in what was left of her eyes. The feeling was a question: Why did you take everything from me? The fear spread briefly across her face, but then was replaced by brazen defiance.

Do it, she spoke with those broken irises. She glowered at my Black Blade’s hilt and dared me to seal the deal. I guess I really had stolen everything she owned. Would it be a mercy if I reaped her soul now before the rest of the army shows up? A small spark fluttered from a blown out ruin that probably was her home. I wondered how that was going to make me justified for my work here, for I was just a Nameless nobody fighting until I got the authority to travel to the Golden Land’s Holy Empire. A foolish, heartless demon soldier with nothing but power and greed in her hands. She hit my boot again and spat on it. I knelt down and matched her eyes with a smile on my own face. I pointed at the setting Suns and the Seven Moons.

“When you look up and scream at the stars and Moons, human, do you think anyone hears you up there?” I kept my gaze until she broke away from my violent, crimson eyes. “When our banners hang high above your cherished City, will the Goddess deliver you freedom then?”

I did not know if she understood what I meant and neither did I, but I simply resumed my patrol and soon the wailing began again behind me. I had other things to worry about in this godless city and a Skull enemy to find.

Number of Souls defeated: 2027

I sighed. It will not take long to recoup the lost souls I spent on upgrading that skill.