"Don't slack off. Keep walking, woman."
"Ha..... hahaha... do you think that you can force me to walk? Sure, I'll walk. Walk walk walk..... walk right to my death, if you want me to."
"Enough of your madness. Keep your eyes forward and your hands where I can see them."
A blue haired woman was pushed along, surrounded on all sides by legionnaires.
Her hands had been cuffed behind her back, and she was in a position of absolute desolation. Surrounded by enemies, one glance was enough to know that she was in a horrible spot.
This woman looked around with twitching eyes, her own hands still lightly trembling.
Yet this trembling was not due to her position in the slightest.
'I.... didn't say anything.... I didn't say anything!!!! I didn't!!! So..... she hasn't killed me yet.... yet.... yet.... haha..... but will she even kill me? WILL SHE EVEN KILL ME!?!??! Haha.....heh.....ahaha..... w-wouldn't that... be fine?'
The woman looked around with fright as she was pushed along.
"Oi oi, I understand that you're not in a place to act proud, but what's with all your mood swings? One moment you're spouting out cocky statements, the next you're shivering like a lamb?"
One of the guards spoke directly to the woman, causing her to turn her head all the way around in the blink of an eye.
"You... you... would never understand."
With a whispering voice, she spoke this with her eyes wide, and an expression which could only be described as possessed.
Possessed by madness.
The man who she had glared at shrunk back for just a moment at that horrible glare.
Even in a position of authority, even when this woman was handcuffed and captured, he did not feel safe next to her.
She was losing her mind.
Perhaps she would break free and attack him like a rabid animal, just as the rumors about the hero of the Ruthobold Kingdom said.
'Kill me.... kill me.... kill me..... please, Determined.... please.... please please please..... if you wish to do so, kill me!!! KILL ME!!!! Don't..... don't make me go through..... THAT..... not again.... no.... no.... please!!! Please! I.... I'm begging you!!! Please!!!!'
The woman fell to her knees as she thought these things, crying.
"Ugh.... mmmm..... urgh.... sniff..... arg....."
"Oi oi.... what on earth is wrong with this woman?? She..... she's....."
Many of the men had stepped back merely watching, unsure what to do.
"Out of my way. We don't have time to wait around for a madwoman to cry her tears. Those can wait for later when we've taken this country. Do you call yourselves soldiers of the Empire, and yet you're sitting here feeling sympathy for the enemy?"
A built man stepped over, grabbing the arm of the crying woman with his own hand.
"Get up. We don't have time to wait around here. This is a march, not a morgue."
0.43 seconds.
The amount of time it takes for an object at a height of 3 feet to hit the ground, from free fall.
Under conditions of normal gravity.
In 0.43 seconds, the head of this man, who was bent over as he grabbed the woman, painted the grass red with a splatter.
As the head landed in front of the woman, she could do nothing more than smile and laugh in terror.
"Ha....haha.... agh.... no.... no..... she.... she's here, isn't she?"
"How distasteful it is. Don't you know that you shouldn't force a woman to go places with you? Take a hint, will you? Losers all over the place who think they can just casually order a lady around. How..... ugly."
A voice with the mature yet horrid tone of a demon pierced the ears of the people within the vicinity.
The woman with blue hair remained on her knees.
Her trembling returned, and her arms fell limp.
She did not dare to turn around, for fear that something worse than death would encroach on her soul if she did.
"Oi....."
"What.... is that?"
"It's..... a demon..."
The men drew back, pulling out their spears with their mouths agape.
Floating into the center and lightly landing, was a woman.
With skin as black as tar on her left side and as pure as snow on her right, she was an abominable mix of good and evil.
Yet she was beautiful.
She was gorgeous beyond all else, to the point where even the men who had drawn their spears and shouted that a demon had approached were enveloped in thoughts of admiration, if only for a moment.
"It really does hurt when people call me that.....I'm still a girl too, you know."
The voice which spoke was the innocent voice of a caring young woman, and the kindness which it carried was enough to twist the faces of those around with confusion.
"But if you believe that I'll save you from myself, then you're dead wrong. After all..... you all are working with that man, aren't you?"
The kind voice still spoke, yet the words which exited from it were enough to shake the people around her.
"W....what do we do?"
"Is there.... even a choice here? We fight it!!"
"Wrong."
With closed eyes, the demon stopped the fluttering of her wings, and all movement came to a stop.
"That was the wrong answer."
The demon reached out her hand to touch the face of a man before her.
"You don't fight me."
"Agh!!!!!"
The man thrusted his spear forward, into the tarlike shoulder of the woman.
The spear was engulfed in the tar, and the demon seemed to roll her red eyes with annoyance.
"This is a nice dress. An inch more and you would have torn it."
Grabbing the face of the man with her pure white hand, she began to squeeze the man's face with an intense pressure.
"Touch."
Throwing the man to the side, the woman sent him crashing into the others.
It was then that the floodgates opened as a wave of people rushed towards the woman.
"Attack her!!!!"
"Kill that thing!!!!"
"It's a monster!!!!"
Closing her eyes, the demonic woman merely sighed.
"It really does hurt..... to be called that. But..... somehow..."
Looking up with a horrible smile, the demon looked around her with a condescending expression.
"It also makes me very happy."
It was then that the woman began to twist and turn, dodging every which blows as if she were a genius in combat.
With the slightest amount of effort and swaying, the blades and spears which were thrusted at her were dodged within an inch.
Not a single one hit, as if she were completely elusive.
If not for the one man who had managed to land a hit on her just earlier, these men would have thought it impossible.
She danced.
The demonic angel danced about the men, throwing one into another with a smile.
"Come on, what's wrong? Can't even fight a little girl like me? Is that man not going to come and SAVE YOU? Hahaha.... of course he isn't. Why?"
As she tiptoed back and forth, arms folded, the demonic woman held up a single finger.
"Because we're living in a false timeline which will soon cease to exist."
It was then, with the snap of her demonic finger, that the bodies of the men were sliced.
Into perfect cubes, like an egg which had been put through a slicer.
50 men were killed in an instant, and blood drenched the landscape.
Those not caught in the chaos could merely look in horror as the demon before them smiled.
"Ah. Whoooops. I accidentally set their deaths in stone. Sorry about that, my other self."
"Do you think that I am such a good person that I would care about the lives of those shitheads? What am I? Some sort of angel?"
The two laughed together as the voices merged into one.
It was horrible.
It was beautiful.
It was terrible.
It was soothing.
It was everything, good and evil.
It was chaos.
"Now then..... come with me, slave. Did you think you could get away if you were captured by that man? Or perhaps the opposite? Maybe you were attempting to gain my attention by acting as the damsel in distress? How adorable..... but you can't do that. After all, I'm a busy woman. I have so many cities to run, and so many demons to enslave..... and tomorrow is such a big day. As much as I'd like to tend to you, I'll have to just leave it at recapturing you and returning you to your post."
Grabbing the blue haired woman, the demon laughed with a crackle.
"You haven't forgotten the job I gave you, have you? Ah, is that why you're trembling? Because you thought you would be unable to fulfill it?"
"Don't worry! I know you care a whole lot about those people. I do too, so I'll bring you back to them."
"The Indeterminant is truly a devious man to capture the protection which I left for those people. If they were attacked in this short time, it would have been his fault for interfering."
"And more people..... would have died at his hands....."
Two voices spoke from the bipolar woman as she flew off, carrying the limp and trembling woman in one angelic arm.
"Ah... are you ok? Your mind is in such a chaotic state. I suppose.... I should fix that for you."
Placing one hand on the head of the woman, the demon sped through the skies.
The woman then looked up at the demon, teary eyed and choking up with a light 'hic'.
"There there. I know. It must have been scary. My other self, that is. And that man as well. There is so much evil around us, isn't there?"
The blue haired woman's mouth lightly opened, her lips quivering as she let out a whisper.
"Who..... are you?"
"Who am I? I thought you knew already, but I suppose that isn't what you're asking. If I were to just tell you 'I'm the Determined', that wouldn't be enough, right?"
The Mackayla stared up at Claire with teary and fearful eyes, to be met with a smile.
"Let's see..... how should I put it then? I'm the woman who is trying to become the one and only evil in this world."
----
Claire arrived at the village of Repan to see the people happily living their lives as if nothing had happened.
'How nice.'
'Perhaps I should destroy their happiness by showing up in their midst and scaring the shit out of them? 'Hey everyone! I'm here to collect your souls!!' Something like that?'
'Don't do that just yet. Let them at least have their moment of peace. We can destroy their happiness later.'
'So you're fine with destroying their happiness? You really have changed.'
'Ah, did I just say that? I really am changing. Haha..... am I supposed to be the good one?'
Landing outside the village, Claire rested the woman down.
She was able to stand now on her own two feet, for Claire had used a condition on the woman to ease her mind.
"I want you to stay here and kill anyone who tries to hurt the people. Can you do that much for me?"
"W-w-w-w-w...."
The woman couldn't seem to get the words out of her mouth.
"Why? Is that what you're going to ask? Why would a demon like me take pity on you? Why would a demon like me bother to force you to protect them? No... that isn't what you're about to ask."
Thinning her eyes, Claire smiled.
"Why won't I just kill you?"
Turning around, Claire looked forward with a slight sadness.
"Do you know what it feels like to be killed? I do. And it's nothing I want to experience ever again."
'Then why did you let me torment her like that? Why did you allow me to put her through such agony in that moment?'
'Oh, that? Ever since coming to this world.... I've learned something.'
"Take care of them. Protect them. Here, I'll even grant you some power. Look.
[Set Condition: Protector]
Claire then walked off towards the distance, and jumped upwards in flight, leaving the blue haired woman to wonder in torment at what had just happened.
'The only way people can grow is through torment and pain.'
And with that, the demonic claw of Claire scratched her angelic right hand.
And then, the world around her warped.
Time turned back, and now she sat in her desk, alone and looking out the window once more.
Brushing her hair with her demonic hand, she laughed quietly to herself.
"I will rid this world of that man. No matter how long it takes, and no matter how many preparations I have to make. No matter how many people I have to kill.... no matter how far I have to go.... I will make it so that I am the one and only evil... in this world."
And then, with a demonic grin, madness flashed in the red eyes of the woman.
"Even if I have to slaughter everyone."
----
A massacre.
As Mackayla walked along in captivation, as if jolted by some strange force, her mind became slightly at ease.
She no longer felt the surge of madness which she had been assaulted by just before.
It was as if she had a migraine and out of thin air it had disappeared.
It was as if someone had stopped time and taken it away, only to resume time.
'Why..... where am I? Ah, right.... I've been captured..... Kyle has been killed..... the Determined..... took over those people..... and.....'
Mackayla grabbed her heart as she realized her situation.
'The Indeterminant will be no help against her. I cannot speak out, or she will put me through that again..... I..... do not wish to go through that again...'
It was then that something strange happened.
Mackayla fell to the ground in tears, crying.
'What?'
On her knees, tears flowed out of her eyes as she blubbed to herself.
'What am I doing?'
It was then that a burly man made his way through the crowd, an irritated look on his face.
"Out of my way. We don't have time to wait around for a mad woman to cry her tears. Those can wait for later when we've taken their country. Do you call yourselves soldiers of the Empire, and yet you're sitting here feeling sympathy for the enemy?"
'No, I.... I'm trying to get up. I get it. I'll get up.... or.... I would.... but..... my body..... it.....'
It was then that a thought slipped it's way into the mind of Mackayla.
'This is..... something done by the Determined, isn't it?'
The man placed his hand on her shoulder, and appeared to be about to thrust her up, yet.....
Instead, something fell down.
A head.
It took 0.43 seconds to fall to the ground.
A mere 0.43 seconds.
And as Mackayla watched this head fall to the ground, she breathed in, taking a deep breath.
'Why do I feel so calm?'
'Why..... do I feel at ease?'
'That man..... is dead.'
'He is dead.'
'He died in an instant.'
'I know this. I didn't kill him. I was not fighting him. And yet..... I feel nothing.'
'Even if he is an enemy, I would not usually think like this..... normally, I would.....'
Mackayla remembered back to her own ventures as a Knight.
She honored her fallen opponents.
She did not spit on their corpses. Even those who were nothing more than beasts and pillagers.
She felt a weight with every life she took, but she understood that she did it for what was right, so she continued swinging her sword.
And regardless of the countless battles she fought, she never once became accustomed to killing.
Nor did she become accustomed to the death around her.
"For if I do that, then I cease to be a warrior, and I proceed to become a tool of war."
Yet right now, faced with this head, she felt nothing.
'Ah, I see..... so the Determined has set her sights on this location?'
It was then that the men around her began to fight.
They swung wildly.
They brawled with an unknown and unseen enemy.
They were thrown about by an invisible force, and Mackayla could only listen to the madness which surrounded her.
'I see... I see..... so this is your true goal, Queen of Chaos?'
Then, they exploded.
Chopped into cubes of meat, the men ceased to take living form.
Mackayla then felt herself being lugged off into the skies at an unimaginable speed, and the men around her disappeared.
In a mere moment, she was now in the town of Repan.
Alone.
'Why.... am I here?'
[You are a protector. Go do your duty. I have other things to do before taking down that man, so for now I will end with this. Ah, but never forget..... at any moment, I could easily make you experience a thousand deaths. Do not try me. And never..... ever... trust the Indeterminant.]
----
"50 men have died spontaneously!? And the captive has disappeared!?!?!?! What kind of report is that!?!?"
"It..... must be the enemy. They've shown up again. I'm heading over.", Oscar stated, stepping forward.
'If you think you can escape me twice, you've got another thing coming to you.'
However, when Oscar came to the back of the lines where the men were chopped to bits, there was not a single trace of an outsider coming nor leaving.
"They just started flailing their hands about, throwing themselves around and then they all exploded like this!!!"
"....."
"What?"
Oscar was now in no mood to play.
He could not hold back his irritation, and spoke in an annoyed tone.
"They just..... went mad, and then they all died? Is that what you expect me to believe?"
"It's the truth, Indeterminant!!!"
"I know how insane it sounds, but that is legitimately what happened!!!"
"And the woman... she was on her knees crying, but then she just disappeared!!!"
Putting his hand to his forehead and taking a deep breath, Oscar calmed himself.
'Calm down. Calm down. Whoever they are, they're gone. They're gone. I don't know what they did, or how they did it. But they will show up again. They went out of their way to avoid me, so they don't have a way to deal with me. They're trying to irritate me. They're trying to get me to do something rash.'
"We continue as we were. Whatever just happened.... it is over."
"Indeterminant....."
"I understand! Let's move, men."
"For the sake of those who have died, we will surely take this Kingdom and put it under the rule of the young Emperor!"
Quickly gaining light from their previously shocked faces, these men resolved to move on.
They did not know nor understand what had happened, and terror still filled their hearts, yet there was no point trying to understand something which was so absurd that it went against all logic.
So they ignored it.
They pretended like it had not happened, and moved forward.
Oscar flipped his golden hair, pointing towards the Capital, the walls of which were right before the Legion.
"We continue our march. Behold. At long last, we have arrived."