Freda was puking up blood, enough to nearly kill her, yet she was healed again and again. Each time, she would black out. Her body was overworked. the amount of blood that was being created, yet also vomited out, wasn't natural. until 5 full days have passed.
She was chained by her wrist. Her stomach was stitched up. her blood dried on the floor, her body more malnourished than ever. And without her knowing, her family, her clansmen were killed. there souls captured with the necromancer of the golden city mage division, and she unfortunately was made a bomb by that same division. in the eyes of the king and pope. she was but a killer. and one for hire. they broke the contract with her long ago, only to then use her, experiment on her people, and now make a weapon out of her.
She woke up and heard the archmages and necromancer speaking.
"Is this wrench ready now to be sent out? I don't think the king wants his cells to be wasted on someone like her. "
"she's ready... the moment she dies, it'll trigger the spell built into her body, and what's more... thanks to her being near death, I can control her or rather The king can. she's a puppet now, our eyes and ears. We'll see this demon in that mock battle... It'll be a shame I won't be able to collect their souls like I did with her clansmen..."
"Alright... I'll get to the king... and we'll have her sent out right away... she's standing on her own piss and blood. The sooner she's dead and gone, the better, so make sure this place is cleaned up thoroughly... we have more people to fill these cells. "
They spoke with each other further. but she learned the fate of her people, not to mention. she learned of her own fate. she didn't cry for she couldn't. all hope for her was lost. her reason to side with the Demon Mason was to free her people. but there wasn't even a chance. she was now going to be sent back to see him as a puppet. there was no hope in her eyes, her heart hardly beating. her body fragile. she lost so much. she saw no purpose in going on. she learned the truth.
'Humans are the real monsters... forgive me... you were right...' she thought and went on. with little consciousness, she had to ask for forgiveness from anyone higher than human. the gods, the devil's. she wanted to just rest.
"im... I'm so sorry... everyone... I broke my promise... our clan..." she was in despair. feeling completely broken mentally and physically. it wasn't until the mage and necromancer approached the woman. grabbing her hair. the necromancer with a blade stabbed out her eyes as she could only feel the coldness of the blade.
"I'll put this to use... you don't need it... go ahead and put in the gem..." he told the mage, as only then a special gem was placed to replace her eye.
"Now... she's a bomb... and a walking recorder... well, hear everything and see everything. we can't half ass this assault if we want to see what we're dealing with... think you can prepare some Frankenstein's?"
Frankensteins were undead gaints. human-made golem of undead parts from humans and beast.
"I can prepare only a few... have carriages ready to hide them... this battle will be one to mark our lords existence... it's in the air.. and the world will know it. " The necromancer spoke and finished his work. both left the men, only to collect her the next day and send her on a day's trip on foot marking a week has passed.
it has now been a week since Mason established his newfound kingdom. The ghost town happened to be a little lively now. children farmed a while but got to play the rest of the day. Food was still scarse but with trees baring fruit and bushes of berries, and natural animals and beast around. it was easy to harvest thanks to the help of both Liz and Jessica. Mason disliked the idea of using children for labor, but as king, what else could he do when the only other adults were malnourished teenagers and few beast people. if they didn't learn to pull their weight after his grand help and blessing to their new life. he would only be used like before. this thought didn't stop him from still helping more. going the extra mile to make sure everyone last one of his people was fed. It was in this time that he learned key parts of the world thanks to Rebecca, the queen of Valkyiers, now that she had recovered. he would spare with her and always lose on fair enough terms. she was beyond skilled with all kinds of weapons. and with the plenty he stole from his kills, they practiced every day. Today, however. the trees were alarmed brushed rattled, and the druid Liz appeared before him. "Members of the church are nearby lord...!" she was worried. her forest was in danger, but so it was Mason kingdom she was concerned about.
Mason set down his pole arm against the dirt and looked to her. "How many? could you tell how many there were...? Rebecca, get the children to the mansion and warn Jessica..." he ordered quickly while keeping calm of the situation.
"I'm not sure... but... it's much more grand than the war party you killed. in fact. I think stronger in numbers... and I felt something familiar... but also sinister...." she couldn't explain it. and gave all the information she could.
"Get to safety in the mansion and tell Rebecca to ready at the door should any slip past me do you understand, kill with extreme intent... and prepare a secret exit in the basement of the home... if you so kindly for a last resort." he asked of her. and soon, she rushed off.
"Yes, king!" she left quickly and made sure to use vines to ring the bell. a warning system of danger for everyone.
Mason walked with the pole arm and picked up a sword as he made. "For a big army... You'd think they'd go and surround the area.."
and in moments, Rebecca answered, holding a scythe. the same scythe he stole and killed for on his arrival. "You're right... but this is also different. normally, they'd have a cavalier... men on horseback... but I only see carriages and horses. the men seem more like a mob than actually knights in armor..."
"I gave you an order to stay at the door... but I'm glad you disobeyed. what more can you analyze?" he asked of her.
"hmph... I'll accept that as an appraisal... well, they are wearing those dammed churches and kingdoms colors. but... something feels unnatural..."
"Liz said the same thing... what do you think that may be..."
"Nothing like you or what you faced when you arrived... dark and... oh no... don't tell me there some of the undead among them?! that's forbidden even among demons!!" she was alert and angered.
"Easy... it's fine... we'll just put them to rest." He tried to comfort her.
"tch..." she calmed down and stepped back behind him a bit, obeying his order.
"I know you hate dark magic... and humans, and this must be repulsive, so to see this must be aggravating. just watch my back and hold the line here, okay... I'll end this quickly..." he told her. and walked on ahead. "I can't have them polluting my followers' forest... or my kingdom with their rotting flesh and human trash"
unbeknownst to Mason, however. was a woman. leading the entire army of human men and women in poverty who lost their will to live, and the many undead along them. was in fact Freda. her hair a mess. only in tattered white clothes and a helmet on as she was still shackled down. her more toned and defined body was now reduced to bone and flesh almost.
as Mason approached, he noticed the woman. and felt sorry for her, and it wasn't until he was now in front of her that he spoke with her. "I gave you the chance at freedom... and you repay me by bringing an army..." he didn't sound mad, but his tone could hint it. through the holes of the helmet, she spoke quietly as she looked up to him.
"Forgive me..."
"You were right..."
"Humans are evil... rotton... to the very core..." she wanted to cry, but when she did, it wasn't tears. but her own blood. "they killed my people... chained me up... and... experimented on me... again and again for several days. I was their toy. and this isn't my body anymore, my lord. they are controlling me..."
Mason listened. and could hear her pain. it was all within her voice. her dread, agony, and sorrow. she wished for death over and over
"You must be in a lot of pain..."
"I am... so much... my lord... please... end me... end all of this... I can't... bare this anymore..."
he watched her as she gave in to the human cruelty. he family, her mind and body. her spirit. her will. it was all shattered and taken from her.
"I will not be able to save you this time, you know..." he wanted to.
"I never expected too... if I die... or... if this body is tampered... I'll just blow up..." she raised her shirt. showing the scar. "I'm just a bomb now... I'm sure they will activate it themselves... they thought I was asleep... but I watched and felt everything. when they took my eye away. when they cut me open... I felt all of it. I watched all of it. it hurt.... so much... I don't want to live anymore... those people... we're so cruel to me... but you... a Demon. spared me. promised me a hopeful future. and they ripped even that away... and never kept their word"
she said before soon falling over. Mason caught the woman. and removed the helmet to see the blood and new eye on her. he listened closely to her. "they are watching us... hearing us... so please, Lord... show them... make them witness true living hell." she asked, gripping onto him arms
her stomach began to glow as the spell was started.
"You don't need to ask Freda... since the very beginning, the moment I came to this world... I vowed. every last human will die." he began to hold her stomach and attempted to dispell the bomb being casted. at the same time. the army began to close in on him. he didn't resist, and soon Rebecca charged in.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on my lord!" she screamed as she behead a few of them with just a swing of the scythe.
"You will die if I fall, you know that, don't you? having not healed all the way just yet." Mason said to her. "You'll leave the people unguarded... and no one will be left capable if we die here..."
"That spell is that strong, huh!" she dripped sweat but chuckled. "I faced death once for my gods. I'll face it again for the man who is my lord and my savior. is that what you want to hear?"
"No... that sounds more like Jessica. " he chuckled and remained calm.
"You're right... so let me say what I want... don't you dare lose to human spells, got it... or else you'll fail as my lord..."
"I'll live up to those high expectations... and I'll remind you who's in charge, Rebecca... if we get out of this... you'll see, damn tomboy."
"Haha! tempting my lord! and quite the threat. " she swung her scythe with excitement. Dread was in the air, and it was a battle.
"Don't hold back, do you hear me... these people are just mindlessly being controlled... kill them all... if they can't think for themselves, do not spare a single one." he told her, giving her permission to go wild. she covered him while he was operating and defusing a live bomb being cast.
'Girls! get here... Now!' he called for both Liz and Jessica. and in unison, all would do as he orders.
"Lord!" they left in a rush, leaving the other in their care of Elli as they went to the battlefield.
"Defend me and cover Rebecca. this an army of human controlled individuals... and some are even undead... I'm defusing a live bomb, and I can't fight and do this at once. It's so damn potent and intense. It'll be set off if I don't pour all my focus into this. So fight like hell for me... kill them all!" he ordered as his authority as King began to show.
"Of course!" They said together and along the way.
"Man... he's such a badass!!" Liz said happily.
"I wouldn't go that far... but I get what you mean... let's not disappoint our king... and give them all hell!" Jessica said.
"A goddess really should be saying that... but here we're are..." they smiled and laughed together before suddenly barging into the battlefield.
"HELL, yeah!" Rebecca cheered. "Let's fuck shit up... who ever gets more shit done.. stays with the lords tonight!"
she made it a game, as the other girls got more eager. light magic, wind and earth magic and even celestial magic was being used in intense authority through the battlefield.
"I don't even get a say... when I already told Rebecca, fine" Mason sighed not disapproving or sounding all that mindful of what they did. they were loyal, and that was all he asked of them. so for that, he had let them indulge themselves into what they wished.
"Freda... how was your clan...?" he asked her. to keep her conscious. to also make her hopeful of living. if she could recall the days of her clan, she could hopefully regain moral and hope to survive.
her eyes were closed, but she did attempt to speak weak as she was. "Why do you want to know?"
"I told you, I cannot guarantee your survival, and in your final moments, I'm not going to lie, but I'm just disarming your bomb..." in that pause, he waited for her to understand, before then speaking again. "so... remember your family... your clan. your loved one... I know all to well... what you are going through..."
her heart, for what felt scattered tightened up a bit. and beated harder. her irrational breathing was more relaxed, slowing taking in deep breaths and exhaling all the same.
"see... I'm not from here... I'm front another plain of existence all together... my father... a man of not my skin, took care of me. taught me what I should value... when no one else would a kind old soul... who I saw for the last time gutted and beheaded.... my wife and children, no older than 6. were jewels I cherished and loved... we're raped and killed right in front of my eyes. the man who did It, made sure I watched. I had no friends. my entire life. so... I know what it's like... losing people you care for so very much... in this moment, this world, I do not see myself as human anymore... and even now... as you, a human girl is in my arms dying, and likely going to explode from a spell... I do not a feel a thing... I just want to disarm the bomb casting within you... I do not want my people to die..."
he was blunt. too blunt, yet. it was the first ever truth she heard. "I... I see... so... your not saving me... because your kind... but because I'm a danger... at least in this moment..."
"correct..."
"I loved this pork recipe... from my clan... it's spicy... but the meat ended up sweet and saviory... I ate it a lot as a child...! and... before all this..." she stared beyond Masons head, and to the sky.
"I remember the time I trained... with a sword... a technique my clan passed down for generations... we always had been mercenaries... but we kept a code of honor... I was the youngest of my generation... and gifted as the elders said, it... it was fun... but, needless to say, we aren't the best at keeping our hands clean... I've seen deaths. I have taken lives... but it was never without reason... or money... we kept to ourselves mostly... but things changed as that filthy golden city grew." She explained weakly, taking the time to feel peace if she could.
he listened closely to her. as she went on about her past. the food she ate. the training she went through, the people she met, and how her clan grew and changed.
"I get that, I may not live much longer... But Mason, please see to it that your wish comes through. the horrors I saw and had to go through... being locked away in that dammed dungeon... no one should live... no dammed human... put them to rest... please... we are but wicked and heartless souls..."
"And why do you think that?"
"we kill each other through pointless war... take resources through it, we hunt and slave at other races for our own greed and selfish desires... nothing good has come about humans... at least... in this world..."
"True... this world is quite primitive from my old one... but, I assure you... humans can be far more cruel... day to day, people argue over the smallest and selfish of things... woman and men, arrange themselves in horrid situations, be it choice or not, some vow to other their lives only to then sneak off with someone else, or... they constantly attempt to seek validation for anything they do... just to feel the slightest of approval that they are not in the wrong, and so many more idiots reasons... i hated it... all of it. I'm someone of simple desires... so, to see grown men, fight for food, a method of transportation... or even someone to spend their lives with... I see them all lose everything for a moment of it... a moment of relief things went their way... no one is humble. no one is good... they all pretend and constantly, stabbing at each other with words and imagery. and that's only the thin layer that hides all the more foul things humans are able to achieve... and I think we both have witnessed some of that..." he told her, from his experience of what he's seen in his old world.
"Yeah... I can imagine... I'm sorry for your family... I'm sorry for us... humanity... is a sorry race... and this world... wouldn't be affected much if we all were to disappear... even now... we just seek conflict... as a form of entertainment and reason for our greed..." she said, as she was growing weaker. "Your friends... those girls... take care of them..."
"I planned too...hey, keep your eyes open now..."
"im... trying..."
"Try harder... or... do you want to cause me more trouble..."
"No, I'm sorry.." she said, tearing up.
Mason stared at her, then looked around him. the horde was thinning out, and they were doing a damn good job not letting them get close.
"My family... are somewhere on this world. "
"Huh?" she looked to him.
"the God of my world... gave them a choice, and I have no other option. I wasn't allowed in his heavenly realm. in fact, he never had his eyes on me. I grew up, an orphan... I was sold I to underground fights... and this was unnoticed... God watched over everyone but not once took care of me. I was under the mercy of the devil. and when I finally met him. he kept my family in his gates. and gave me a choice. to come here. or to be sent off to hell. my family pleaded they come along... and as we were all being brought here... a disturbance separated us... I'm looking for them... in this massive world... I'm trying to find only three people..."
"I'm... I'm so sorry... and it looks like you will get a second chance..."
"Right? so don't you fucking give up now Freda!" he yelled demanding of her.
"why?!" she was awake more from. his sudden yell and now encouragement.
"You really want to die here...? after having your clanned killed... after being sent as a bomb and experimented on...? is that really how you want go? there is a lot worse... trust me... but if you want to hear from me... my goal is to completely erase humanity... ever last soul... I will kill and obliterate... I know how awful humans can be. . and I've experienced all there is to it... I have my reasons to live and fight, and this something I will certainly die for. looking for my family. and killing them all... it's my reason our of personal hatred and diststain for there lives... so I ask you... Freda. is this you want to you die as the last head of your clan? think of your people? did they wish you died with them? did they not want your freedom? answer!" Mason's magic, healing magic, that was holy, was greatly influenced and affected her.
"i... I DONT!" she gripped onto his arm.
"good... now keep your eyes open... and I can assure you. I'll help you get revenge, and I'll let you have your second chance." he gave her a choice again.
"All right!" she cheered, looking at him. "I want to kill that king... and that dammed pope...! Those noblemen and that asshole torturer" she wouldn't let it slip this time.
"hmph... good. that ambition may very well all you need... so live you damn brat!" he told her as the magic spell was decrypted and defused. in that moment. Mason didn't just save her. but learned how to remotely detonate a bomb and cast one.
"That should be it... now you can rest for real... once we're done, we'll take you home with us..." he told her as Mason then. looked at all enemies left. at the snap of his fingers, he combined the spells remotely places and triggers the spells.
"Girls to me!" he ordered them before the sudden explosion.
the girls rushed to him with their back turns and carefully guarding him and the mercenary.
"Was that you're doing?" asked Liz.
"Yes..." Controlled explosion went off, and the flames shot only upward in a sort of eruption, making pillars of fire all around.
every last enemy was killed, and he was able to save Freda.
"took you damn long enough!" said Rebecca, as she then looked to Freda, lifting her up.
"You went the trouble of saving this human. do you wish to take her back with us.." Rebecca asked.
"Yes... have the children tend to her and have the nuns clean and feed her." Mason, order
"Wait!" Jessica covered Freda lips as she tried to speak up. "It's the masters wish. you'll be taken care of, that's that"
"Um... I don't want to stop us or anything... but, Sir, who won?"
the three went silent since they did hold a competition to see who would stay with him the night.
"I did... no go home all of you, " he told them, as he then left their sides. and of course, they all pouted except for Rebecca, who just clicked her tongue, hiding her own disappointment. that he couldn't just pick for fun.
they all began walking home, and Mason stayed behind.
"I hope you all enjoyed the show. of just what you're dealing with... that bomb. was extremely potent... in fact... almost something similar to the bombs of my old world... if that's how it's gonna be. there are a lot of tricks up my sleeve this world isn't prepared to deal with..." he chuckled before breaking apart the connection that tracked and listened to Freda through her false jew eyes.
"he... he's a monster!" the torturer said, thrilled and in excitement. however, it wasn't just him but another noble who watched all of his actions. as well as the other woman who seemed to listen to him. "he is the true enemy of god!"
Mason marched his way home. as every last corpse was soon burned to dust and ash in the wind. like a battle never happened. "Why is this such a thrill?" he asked himself, as there was joy at the idea of having an enemy. and to think humans themselves would do the work for him. it worked out far too well in his favor to have a purpose.