After Arkham killed the Commander, the battle got even more disorderly. At this point, Arkham stopped actively participating in it. He had acquired the power of a great general, but he wasn't ready to have this known to the world. Everyone here could not be left alive.
Arkham already felt a little bad about killing the soldiers, not because of sympathy but because they were so weak in the face of his power. He felt it wasn't in good sport, so he felt even worse about having to kill the slaves. So, he took himself out of the battle and let the enemies take care of that.
"P-p-please help us..." A slave crawled towards Arkham, begging him for help.
"I have already helped enough." Arkham said, dismissively.
"N-no... Aagh!" With that, a soul started to form over his body.
Gradually the sounds of battle died out as the night went on. As Arkham predicted, the soldiers ended up being the last group remaining. But they had suffered heavy losses, there were only about five of them.
"Congratulations, you have survived until the end." Arkham said as he attempted to clap his claws together.
"You monster! Why have you done this to us!?" One of the remaining soldiers shouted, his face was all swollen and bloody.
"Why have you decided to invade Iunia's lands?! There was peace for a thousand years!" Arkham retorted as he slowly walked towards them.
"No, stay away!" Another soldier shouted, raising a bloody sword with his only good arm left.
"Don't you want your prize?" Arkham smirked, or at least he tried to with a scorpion's face. He reared his tail over his shoulder and opened his claws. "Your prize is that you get to die last!"
Arkham's tail struck one soldier's stomach and tore upwards while his tail claws crushed two others. For the final two soldiers, Arkham whipped his tail and slammed it in them. The force of the impact caused their bodies to bend in unnatural ways.
"Now for the hard part," Arkham sighed as he got to work, there were many bodies to take care of. First he went about to make sure everyone on the ground was actually dead, this was gone by crushing or stabbing the body in the head or heart.
At least for the ones who were dismembered, Arkham was pretty sure they were dead. Although they were most definitely his kills if they were in pieces already.
Now, Arkham had to do this to the entire camp. He didn't want to slip out on Souls to return him to human form. When he had finished eating in the soldier's side of the camp, familiar looking words popped up again.
"Raaggghh!" Arkham shouted in frustration as he slammed his tail down on to a body, splitting it in half. "Those generals must have consumed thousands of souls by the time the empire fell."
When he finally made it to the caravan's side, he made a startling discovery in one of the tents.
From the inside, it looked like it was used to house the slaves. In the corner, Arkham could see and hear movement when he looked in that direction. He heard chains rattle, so he didn't immediately attack.
Arkham slashed the space above the slave's head, allowing rays from the sunrise to peek down from the ripped tent.
The first thing he saw was the long obsidian hair that still shined despite being dirty and frazzled. Despite the fact that he had just tore a hole above their head, the girl did not react.
All she did was just look at the ground, behind the hair that blocked her eyes.
Arkham slowly reached forward with his right claw and softly lifted her chin up to see her face.
In that moment, Arkham's blood red eyes met her azure blue eyes.
"Impressive, all that I have met could not help but react with terror when they see me." Arkham spoke with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Even after hearing his sinister voice, the girl showed no visible reaction. Or rather, it seemed like her eyes had no light.
'Her eyes, they're dead and yet they seem like they can pierce through you. I wonder... can I work with this?'
Arkham started formulating a plan in his head, especially after seeing her face. Her blue eyes were not native to people from the 12 cities but rather, they were more common to the nations from the south. Her skin and hair were definitely like those in the 12 cities though, which meant she was mixed.
"What is your name?" Arkham asked the silent slave girl, who merely blinked at him.
"If you do not have one then I can give you one." Still she didn't say anything, only now she narrowed her eyes at Arkham.
"Elaine, how about that? I think it's a name from the south."
"Just finish me like you did the rest." The girl finally spoke, in a despondent tone. She moved Arkham's claw towards her neck, with some tears now falling from her eyes.
"Why?" Arkham asked as he closed his claw over the soft flesh of her neck, just barely touching her skin.
"I've lost everything, I have nothing left but this horrible life!" Tears flowed from her eyes but her emotionless expression did not change.
"Then will you allow me to take your life as my own?" Arkham asked as he leaned in closer.
"Do what you will." The girl said as she closed her eyes, waiting for the end.
"Since you have graciously handed your life over, your name is Elaine from now on." Arkham said as he backed off and removed his claws from her neck.
"What!?" The girl opened her eyes in confusion, when suddenly the Scorpion monster threw something at her. It looked like a black centipede if she was not mistaken. It landed on her shoulder and started moving!
Intense pain swept over the girl as she felt the thing burrowing into her skin, wriggling in with all those legs moving. She fell over in pain and her vision started to blur, eventually she passed out.
'Elaine' was unquestionably the most beautiful girl Arkham had ever seen, even in the conditions she had endured. There was no question the nobles of the cities would pay a castle's worth of gold for her. Her beauty with both northern and southern features allowed Arkham the formation of something he called the 'Saint' project.
Arkham then noticed something strange on the girl, on her back was the brand of a slave but he could also see the black centipede as a tattoo there. It had been a bit since it bonded with her, but her body still had not undergone the same change as Arkham.
"How interesting." Arkham mused as he sat down next to the girl, waiting for her to wake up.