I looked at the six soldiers in front of me. I wasn't intent on killing them. If they retreated, I would have no reason to go out of my way to kill them. After all, nothing good would come out of starting an unnecessary conflict.
"Huiwy wyei dhget nowur" The soldier whose sword had broken said to me, still pointing his broken sword at me.
The disrespect irked me. Even if the rest could be spared, at least this one had to die. I walked closer to him, and he began to panic. In this frenzied state, he raised his sword against me, but I easily evaded it. Not because it could in any way harm me, but it just looked so filthy.
I swiftly appeared behind him, and as soon as I did his neck twisted and immediately, his dead body fell to the ground. I gazed at his body and the last expression displayed on his face was fear.
"Too late for you" I said to him, not that he could hear me.
"Ahayyw aywiw mksos wuwus wwsbu" the remaining soldiers ranted as they saw this sight. "What a bother," I thought to myself.
I couldn't even understand them. That was annoying. I decided to try something. I looked at the five soldiers who seemed furious at me for killing their comrade. If only I could hear them then maybe I would be able to understand some of their dissatisfaction.
Moving swiftly once again, I was behind all of them, and in one fell swoop, I struck down four of the five, leaving one alive. The one with the bronze armor. He seemed to be of higher rank compared to the rest. Before he could respond to me, I grabbed his head with my hand. I tightly gripped it and activated one of my body's features.
In order to adapt to any situation, I had devised means by which I would get by. One of such means for adaptation was Memory Collection. I could access memories of people and learn what I could learn from them.
To be honest, I was a little skeptical about this, since as a Primordial I knew what all gods and man didn't. Even my siblings didn't know as much as I did in certain departments. However, I am glad I included this feature. Thanks to it, I would be able to access this man's memory.
It wasn't the life of the man in particular that I was interested in, but the current state of the world, the language he spoke, and whatever information he possessed. However, since this feature only worked in a straight fashion, I had to access all his memories from scratch to finish.
Since he was a soldier, he was fairly aware of matters in the land. I learned a lot from him, a lot of which disappointed me. I decided to sort out the memories I uncovered later and focus on the girl I saved. I twisted the neck of the servant and disposed of his body by flinging it away.
I walked toward the already brutally bruised girl. Her ears were pointed and long. A feature exclusive to elves and fairies. However, she was not in possession of wings, which would make her an elf. But I still had a notion that she was a fairy.
I gazed at her, and she looked frightened of me. Who could blame her? I just singlehandedly killed five soldiers effortlessly. The same soldiers who were too much for her to handle. The natural state of a being who was facing a more powerful being is fear.
I stared at her. She was really injured. Perhaps I should heal her. That would be good. I stretched my hands toward her. She immediately growled, showing her intentions to bite me as she did to the other soldier. I found that cute and laughed.
She seemed surprised at my reaction, but not as surprised as I was. After all, this would be the first time I would laugh in this new body. It felt strange.
Once again, I stretched my hand toward her. She initially wanted to bite but found herself hesitating to carry out the act.
"Smart choice" I mused to myself.
My hands glowed and her body glowed as well. Immediately her body began to heal. The wounds she had closed, and the parts which were injured glowed more than the rest. This was when I saw the brightest glow coming from her back.
My eyes widened at the realization. She was indeed a fairy.
"Those bastards." I said to myself.
I wasn't really angry at them for doing what they did. They were too low for my wrath, however, I still felt a stirring within me. I couldn't explain it so I just calmed it down till it died out.
The fairy girl saw that I noticed her back, and she looked away in shame and embarrassment. For fairies, losing their wings would be the most shameful thing they could ever imagine. Death and defilement would be even better. I wondered how it had happened, what led to it. The cruelty was certainly repulsive to me.
After a few seconds, I was done with healing her. She hesitated, but finally, she looked at me and struggled to open her mouth.
"T-Thank y-you." She stuttered.
'You're welcome," I replied.
She looked surprised that I understood her. I had the appearance of a human after all, and she had just spoken in fairy tongue.
"Y-You understand my words." She said, questioning herself even more than me.
"I do" I responded.
I wanted her to explain the reason behind the eyes she gave. That was the sole reason I saved her. I would have my answer even if it meant I would drain the memory from her, though I suspected it wouldn't have to come to that.
Before I could ask her I noticed a presence.
"Looks like we have an intruder," I said to the girl.
Emerging from the forest was a well-built man. He looked older than the soldiers I had just killed and was wearing a more distinguished armor compared to them. It had bronze color, but with silver designs on it.
"A higher rank I suppose." I said to myself.
He paused as he approached us. He looked at the dead bodies around him, even the leader of the bunch. He closed his eyes for a bit and then finally he opened them. His expression remained the same. Calm, stern, and resolved. I could tell this was a man who had witnessed countless deaths and was aware of his strength. A survivor.
"Did you do this?" He asked me.
"Ah" I was relieved. I could finally understand their language.
At least the bronze armored man didn't die in vain.
"What if I said I did?" I said, replying to him in the same language, though it felt strange to me.
I was getting used to it though.
"Do you know who I am?" He asked in a menacing tone.
I remained silent.
"I am their leader." He added.
"You sure aren't acting like it. Shouldn't you be a bit sad for them?" I retorted.
"Why should I be? Such weak men do not deserve my sympathy or grief. They were simply weak, that is how the world is. The strong prey on the weak." He said.
Finally, someone gets it.
He understood the nature of the world, so was he going to let this slide?
"However, as their superior and as a warrior, I can not let this go unpunished. For your crime of killing six warriors of the Western Kingdom, I, Sir Leon Bertuli will dispense justice." He declared, drawing his sword.
I stared at this man, overall, he was vastly stronger than the ones I had previously faced. He was still weaker than I was though.
And what was with his noble speech on justice, especially after kidnapping and brutalizing the fairy before me, going as far as taking away her wings. How repulsive!
"What is your name?" He asked me.
"It would be wasted on your ears" I replied him.
What purpose would it be to tell someone who would die my name?
"Ho, you're fairly confident in your skills then. However, you are too confident." He replied, taking a battle stance.
I kept staring at him. I looked at the fairy girl and she seemed greatly terrified of this Leon guy who just showed up. Was he that strong?
Of course, I had seen him in the memories of the soldier who I killed. He was one of the Imperial Knights of the Western Kingdom. He was also the leader of their whole group, and they had captured the fairy girl. She managed to escape but they caught up with her in the forest region before I showed up.
For him to be among the Imperial Knights meant he must have been fairly strong. I watched him take his stance. It was good. All that was left was his actual attack.
He leaped toward me at full speed. It seemed he was serious about killing me. Interesting.
I dodged the first slash, but it seemed he had anticipated that too. He twisted and turned revealing his sword to be headed my way. I jumped and avoided the hit once again, but he quickly leaped and with great force he once again slashed vertically at me with his sword.
I was impressed. His swordsmanship was good.
I lifted my right hand and then a katana appeared. And I used said katana to parry the sword and the impact sent both of us backward.
"I'm surprised. I didn't know you're a user of the arts'"
"I'm not sure I know what you mean" I replied.
"What else would you call that move just now? Summoning a sword just like that?"
It seemed I still had a lot to learn in this world. I scanned through the memories I had received from the dead soldier and indeed I saw mentions of the arts to which the man before me was referring.
"It looks like I won't have to hold back against you after all. I will also use the art. The one which devastates enemies and renders all things naught." He said to me.
I was curious to learn what he would say. The soldier's memories of arts were limited. So there were different kinds of arts?
"This is the end of the line for you!" He bellowed.
"Art of the Ultimate Destruction. Hex!" He declared, and suddenly a massive rush of power swelled from within him.
I was conflicted about how to feel. But there was mostly shock.
"H-How is this possible?" I thought.
If that was what I thought it was then I might be in more trouble than I realized.