Chapter Five
PROWLING THE HISTORY
Dionysus had taken his time to thoroughly scan the file that he had gotten from the suspicious woman at the black market. He didn't fully trust her, but as long as he got the information that he was searching for, he was fine with it.
'So four years back, I was being chased by the empire for claiming a dungeon, but then I all of a sudden decided to leave it and they cornered me in Qualdecia. However, I barely escaped by somehow making it through the humongous dome surrounding the city. It's suspected that I ran off to this very capital, as it was in the direction I fled . . .?'
The documentation within the file left some questions within Dionysus' head. For example, just how did he escape from the dome? Did he have accomplices in the past to help him, or was it due to an ability?
These were just some of the questions he had floating around in his head. However, above all, although he had been given a trail to find the answers to how he lived his life before, the trail was a weak one that wouldn't take him that far.
'Shit, the more I learn about myself, the bigger the shit hole I see that I've dug up for myself . . .'
Dionysus wanted to curse out his old self for putting him in such a curious predicament, but also wanted to pat him on the back because it seemed he really did have a knack of getting into trouble, just like himself.
'Whatever, the past isn't that big a priority anyway. It has nothing to do with the current me, it's just something I want to know.'
He wasn't as big a fool to dedicate all his time to finding out the past. While it could assist him to know it, it also wouldn't most likely would not have a huge impact on him, and he could dedicate more of his time to doing what he wanted instead.
He threw the head he had on his lap far away, and then stood up. He had been sitting on the walls surrounding the capital, though he had to kill some guards to get to the position. The reason that he was all the way out here was because he had followed up on his promise to gain the information, but the target was a noble, meaning that serious repercussions would follow.
'I'll most likely have to leave the capital for now.'
The reason he had decided to follow up on his promise to the woman wasn't because he was nice, but because he heard that it was specifically to kill someone. If it was anything such as delivering something or fetching someone, he wouldn't have done it.
Basically, he just wanted to have some fun, but it also made it so that he could rely on her for information in the future if the need was there.
'Let's see, where to . . .'
Before he left the capital, he made sure to grab himself a map. He still hadn't fully memorized the layout of the continent, and having the map would help.
To the left of the empire that he was in was the Gratnian kingdom and some native tribes, both of which were currently at peace with the empire. To the right of it lay the Rajulian kingdom, which was currently at all out war with the empire.
'If I try to head to the Rajulian kingdom, I might run into more troops that belong to the empire, and they could very well be after me by now. Along with that, the Gratnian kingdom and native tribes really are just closer.'
Dionysus had already eliminated the Rajulian kingdom from the roster of choices that he was going to pick from. Now, there was only the tribes and the Gratnian kingdom.
'The whole continent speaks Danglesh except for the native tribes, and the land that they live in is charted out as a whole, but what is actually inside of it is unknown. Along with that, while everyone is at peace with them, they don't like outsiders . . .'
At this point, it was basically guaranteed that Dionysus would be heading to the Gratnian kingdom thanks to him accumulating all the knowledge that he had now off the streets.
As for just leaving the continent, Dionysus had thrown the idea out of his mind. It sounded like it would be too annoying to leave, and he still felt that there were interesting things to do here. For that reason, he had decided to stay.
'Alright, off I go.'
--- SEQUENCE 2 ---
"Sir, the target has left the capital and is heading in the direction of the Gratnian kingdom."
Another meeting was once again taking place in the middle of a hall deep within the royal palace. However, something was different this time.
This time, the arch-general was present, and the son and daughter of the noble that had been slaughtered were also sitting around the table.
"He's going to use the fact that we are at peace with the Gratnian kingdom against us. Both our nations have established that no military of one can enter the nation of the other."
Not sitting at the table but instead standing was a short, stumpy blond man who was simply in charge of relaying the information. He was standing behind the arch-general as he stated all the information. Of course, he made sure to look proper and threw on a suit.
"Since he left the city, does that mean the previous plan of sending squad three after him is off the table?"
The way that the squad system worked was that each city had five squads in it, and their sole job was to take care of the city's internal affairs, the physical ones at that. However, even if it is a criminal that they were tasked with capturing, if they leave the city, they no longer have the power to pursue the criminal.
"Actually, this could work out in our favor."
For the first time since the meeting had begun, the arch-general finally spoke up. He was a man with a vertical scar on his right eye, and a tattoo of a rose on his forehead. The last eye he had remaining was also fully blind to top it all off, so he could officially see nothing. His dark blue hair only added to the suspense he brought to the table.
"Esteemed children of noble Henry, the fugitive will surely be caught by the legion that General Artius is in control of, so worry not."
Everyone stared at the arch-general with confusion in their eyes. Of course, the arch-general wouldn't end his explanation so abruptly.
"Artius is returning from a failed attempt at diplomacy with the Gratnian kingdom, which truly is unfortunate. The reason that he took his legion with him is because we, as the mighty empire's military representation, thought it would be appropriate to show our power to coerce them into signing the documentation that Artius brought for them."
"We can have one of our communicator's use their ability to inform Artius of the situation. Although it most likely is overkill to use a whole legion to capture a singular man, it is the only way we have left to capture him."
The arch-general took a seat, indicating that he was done talking. Everyone at the table was talking with one another, whispering, and so on. Finally, all the talking stopped and the daughter of Henry took it upon herself to show that they, her and her brother, agreed with the plan.
"No need, younglings shouldn't worry about this type of stuff. It truly is unfortunate that your father has left us, and I offer you my condolences."
After letting these words out of his mouth, the arch-general showed a gentle smile to the children of the deceased noble. After finally realizing that the current struggle of having to deal with their father that is now gone is complete, they began to emotionally break down. The brother made up an excuse for both of them to leave the room, which they did.
'No children should have to deal with such a thing at such an age.'
The arch-general proceeded to stand up and adjourn the meeting. The rest of the table stood up after he left, and all of them began to disperse to their respectful positions.
'This 'Dionysus' is threatening everything that the empire has dedicated it's history to, peace for humanity. He cannot be allowed to continue with his antics, or more innocents will be involved.'
The arch-general continued to have these types of thoughts swirl around in his head as he left the royal palace using the secret entrance at the back of it, which immediately bypassed the walls of the capital and led outside.
HOOOOOOOOOO
HAAAAAAAAAAA
The arch-general took many deep breaths over and over, before beginning to stretch.
'I suppose I'll go finish the war with the Rajulians.'
With that thought, he began walking in the direction of the Rajulian kingdom.
--- SEQUENCE 2 ---
A couple of weeks had passed, and Dionysus was around halfway to the Gratnian kingdom. He could have been closer by now, but he constantly saw creatures to slaughter on the way there, so getting side-tracked was something that happened often.
As of right now, Dionysus was walking through a hills zone. In fact, ever since he had embarked on his journey to the Gratnian kingdom, he had been ascending and descending hills. The scenery was really nice, as there were flowers, stone fences, and windmills everywhere. It truly was a dream-like countryside.
'I'm sure they'll enjoy my goodbye gifts . . .'
Dionysus was referring to the fact that he had been murdering a household every night so that he could sleep in a nice place. Of course, most of these families were most likely complete out-casts to society that wouldn't have their murders found for months, maybe years. However, some of them were bound to be farms that consistently granted the empire food, so those ones may be found earlier.
"Yo, is anyone there?"
Over the hill that he was currently ascending, Dionysus began to hear the sound of something similar to a march. He doubted his ears at first, because he was currently in the middle of the country-side. Why would there be such an annoyingly loud march out here?
'From the sounds of it, multiple people are marching in my direction.'
The more that Dionysus analyzed the situation, the stronger the chill going down his back felt.
"Oi, I'm beginning to shiver over here. Mind showing yourself before you see me shit myself or something?"
Dionysus' natural instinct to mock anyone popped up, and he wanted to see if aggravations would work.
'Oh?'
Although he got no reaction, and the march was still continuing, the dark mist over his head did increase in size. In fact, now that he was looking at it, the dark mist was consistently increasing in size, and at a pace so rapid that it had already surpassed the size of a cloud.
Dionysus' words, which were supposed to be a mockery of the enemy, actually rang true as he genuinely felt his body somewhat shivering. However, this shiver wasn't the type that was related to fear.
It was the one that was related to ecstasy.
'This . . . thrill is beyond human!'
At this point, he was developing rapidly. He was physically losing the form of a human, and he was mentally progressing so much that he could challenge the world's elite, knowledge wise, and possibly win.
'No, calm it down. It'll be even better if they see me in human form and witness my transformation. They'll be scared shitless . . .'
At this point, Dionysus was quite literally drooling at the thought of what was about to happen. He began to run like a mad dog up the hill, desperately seeking the meeting he secretly desired.
Finally, when he reached the top of the hill, he looked down the other side of the hill and saw what was actually going on.
There, standing before him, was a legion that he literally could not see the end of. He stared straight at the horizon and saw that there were still soldiers even all the way back there.
Someone riding on a horse with immaculate design appeared from within the legion. Missing both an arm and seemingly an eye from the looks of the eyepatch, this brown haired man that would be considered a beauty to the eyes by all women got off the horse.
After doing so, he pointed a finger at Dionysus.
"By order of the arch-general himself, we are to apprehend you. I, Artius, shall put you down myself, as it would be dishonor to the empire to use a whole legion against a singular man besides the arch-general."
An aura enveloped the general, one that caused a slight vibration throughout the land. However, it didn't radiate danger, but instead the feeling of justice emanated from it. It was as if this man wasn't going into a battle, but was instead simply carrying out justice, denying the truth.
However, this didn't matter to Dionysus. The dark mist had become large enough to envelope the whole sky. Anything that was considered negative fed this dark mist, which in turn fed Dionysus. The feeling of each and every soldier in the legion wanting to punish Dionysus for his actions was considered negative, which was why the dark mist had reached a new high.
Yet, one man ignored this all. This man was Dionysus, who was currently holding himself and drooling. When he stared at the legion, all he could see was a playground, and a big one at that.
"THIS THRILL . . . IS IMMEASURABLE!"
Dionysus was finally tapping into the true insanity that lied within him. All of a sudden, an echo resounded throughout his mind. It's contents were . . .
Rule two: To give into the madness more will result in a new version of god.