'As I suspected… I feel nothing.'
Lucius looked at his bloodied hand, feeling the thick and slimy red liquid drip from his pale skin as he noticed the dead body beneath him.
Despite ending someone's life, he felt no remorse… no guilt.
'It's the same way I felt no fear even when they pointed their blades at me, and how I felt no pain when their swords hit me.'
He initially found it hard to believe, but he really was beyond human.
'Back when I tried opening the secret entrance, I accidentally broke through it. I forgot to unlock the door first… ahh it's still embarrassing to think about.' Despite having such thoughts, Lucius' outward expression remained stoic.
He recollected how nervous he was to show up naked in front of all the soldiers, which was why he delayed a little before proceeding out of the hole.
'Is it possible to get a proper dress or something?' As soon as he had this thought, something dark rose from his body and he felt blackness swirl around him in a flash.
His nude form was covered with a simple black cloak, hiding most of his pale skin from view.
'Whoa! That's neat.' He smiled within himself. 'What else can I do?'
He stared at his bloodied hand, watching as the liquid dried off and crumbled away—almost as if they went through rapid degeneration and faded without a trace.
'So, I have superhuman abilities, I'm practically invulnerable, feel no pain and fear, and now… it seems I can cause stuff like this to happen.'
Lucius stared at one of the soldiers and felt his curiosity leading him to test something out very quickly.
~WHOOSH!~
In a single breath, he was right next to the soldier, who seemed frozen in time.
'Let's see…' He placed his hand on the soldier, wondering if he could recreate the effect of the crumbling blood.
Much to his amazement, he could!
"UWAAAaaaaaa….!" The screaming soldier helplessly struggled under Lucius' touch, rapidly aging as his body grew more emaciated and wrinkled.
The armor he donned was also no exception to this.
Black rust appeared all over its metallic surface, and the item experienced rapid degeneration until it faded alongside the dust that was the soldier's corpse.
'It only took a few seconds, and they crumbled to dust.' Lucius marveled at his power. 'It seems I can render death to anything I touch. Judging by how I was able to touch the other soldier he didn't age, I can assume that it's an ability that can be activated at will.'
The reason that the blood vanished in the first place was because he wanted to get rid of it. That was most likely what triggered the activation of his ability.
'I wonder what else I can do…' He found himself smiling..
There were a lot of things on his mind, but Lucius pushed all of those aside and focused on learning more about what he had become… and what he could do.
A newfound excitement coursed through his body, and he knew precisely why.
'All my life… I've been afflicted with X-C Syndrome. A new illness was discovered as some cancer variant.'
The Syndrome didn't kill those affected by it, but it made living hell. Unless proper medication was taken, the person would be infested with unending pain, and even with medication, constant light pains would become a norm.
The X-C Syndrome also gave him a weakened body, which meant he had to remain indoors for most of his life, and the hospital practically became his second home.
'And that's why…' Lucius rushed towards his third opponent and grabbed him by the throat. '... Being able to move like this feels good!'
He was bursting with power, and it felt amazing!
A part of him thought he should feel guilty for the pleasure he was getting from the suffering of these soldiers, but he chose not to dwell on it. He felt no aversion to taking life, and since these people had killed those whom he now sided with… they were his enemies.
'Even those we consider enemies in war are humans… but they have to die because they are on the other side.' Lucius remembered the words of his father.
For the longest time, Lucius had a deep respect for his father. He was a patriotic soldier who believed in the greater good and wanted to protect those he deemed to be his family. If that meant killing fellow humans, he was determined to do it.
That was what it meant to be a soldier: the harsh reality of war
'In the end, he too was killed by someone on the other side.' Lucius thought to himself as he snapped the neck of the man he held.
Thinking too much about the morality of the situation was too bothersome, and frankly unnecessary.
The situation was very simple.
'They're my enemies, and since I have the power to kill them… I should.'
If they could, they would do the same to him. After all, it wasn't the X-C Syndrome that killed him in his past life.
'Humans were the ones who sent that nuke towards my city, dooming millions to die. They too must have had families.' Lucius thought as he reached for the next person to kill. 'I'm sure they didn't want to die… yet they killed me and so many others.'
After experiencing death once, Lucius already understood what dying meant. He wished people didn't have to experience it, but the world was that way. Even if he did nothing, people would die by natural causes or kill each other.
By killing them, he was simply making the process quicker.
'Maybe all of these are just excuses—justification for taking human life so carefreely. But… does it really matter?' Once he was done killing the one in his grasp, Lucius focused on the soldiers who were now running towards the exit.
Flattening his hand like a blade, he slashed at them, loping off their heads in one clean strike.
Once again, he felt nothing.
"In the end, sympathy towards the enemy was unwarranted." He muttered, watching the remaining sixteen soldiers fall to their knees, begging for mercy.
If they lost the will to fight, didn't that mean they were no longer a threat to him—hence, no longer his enemies?
"No…"
Lucius was not as naive as that.
They could always be future threats. Not only had they already killed people on his side, but he had also killed people on their side. There was no longer any room for diplomacy, so sparing their lives was pointless.
"You would do the same if it was me." After uttering those words, Lucius killed all of them in the same manner as he did to the ones who tried to escape.
In perfect harmony, their heads thumped on the wooden ground as blood sprayed from their open necks like a fountain.
Lucius found the sight a little funny, but he tried his best not to laugh.
"Sorry…" He whispered, despite not feeling an ounce of remorse.
Within a single minute, he had killed all forty soldiers—none of them putting up a decent fight against him.
'Should I be proud of myself?' He wondered. Before he could properly dwell on those thoughts, he heard sounds from the secret entrance of the room.
"Lord Mors… it seems ten more soldiers found their way to the back and found the back entrance of the base." The feminine voice that came from below belonged to none other than Lili.
Despite saying this, she didn't seem at all frantic.
"Hm? Is that so? I should take care of them…"
"There is no need for you to bother with lowlives like them, Lord Mors." She swiftly responded. "I can take care of them myself."
"Are you sure?"
"I appreciate your concern for my safety, Lord Mors. However, men like those will not pose any problems for me."
'Ahh… it's not like I was particularly concerned about your safety, though.' Lucius smiled wryly. 'I just wanted to take them on myself to test out a few other things.'
Still, it was surprising that a young woman like Lili was confident in handling ten soldiers. Sure, they were no match for him since he was superhuman, but he wasn't sure about how she would fare.
'Well, she is the Cult Leader, so I'm sure she has some tricks up her sleeve.'
Perhaps she would gather the remaining members and they would launch some kind of ambush. Lucius didn't know the details, but he assumed that they would have all of those figured out.
"Okay. I'll leave them to you."
"Thank you, Lord Mors. I will now be taking my leave." She said, her voice suggesting glee.
From the sound she made, it seemed like she was leaving, but she quickly backtracked, and her voice came once again. "There is a Knight leading them. Forgive my impudence, but may I ask for you to eliminate him? I would have done so myself, but I am not confident in my ability to kill him."
"That is no problem."
"I praise your magnanimity, Lord Mors." Once again, she beamed. "I shall now take my leave."
Lili's footsteps reverberated as she left and their echoes only grew more distant until Lucius couldn't hear them anymore.
'Guess she's gone…' His thoughts trailed, and then his attention shifted to the entrance. '... And the person approaching must be the Knight.'
With senses now far sharper than ever before, Lucius had already picked up sounds beyond the building. The approaching individual was already close to the entrance, so they were going to meet any moment now.
'A Knight, huh? First is a Cult, then we have soldiers dressed in medieval armor, and now there's even a Knight. This is feeling a lot like the Middle Ages…'
Since he was able to get transmigrated into the body of a certain 'Lord Mors', it wasn't impossible that he somehow also went back in time. In fact, it wouldn't be strange to him if he found that to indeed be the case.
"Weird…" As Lucius said this, so also did the voice of the man who now appeared at the entrance of the building.
They said the word at the exact same time.
'Jinx! Ah, what are you thinking about, you idiot?' He shook his head, slowly covering his face with his palm as he felt self-embarrassment.
"You killed all of them, huh?" The Knight's voice woke him from his reverie, causing his gaze to fall on the flashily dressed man.
He had fancy blond hair, with a well-trimmed beard and an overall appearance that made him look prestigious when compared to the soldiers that had just been killed.
Then, Lucius' gaze fell on the sword that the man wielded.
'Hm? Why am I getting a feeling of danger from that weapon? It's not normal, is it?' His eyes widened almost immediately..
"You're wondering why I'm not surprised, right? I'm not surprised that you killed my men because I wanted it to happen."
'What the hell is this guy saying?'
Lucius decided to take a moment to understand the words of his adversary.
"I intentionally left out the part of the Cult Leader being a powerful Witch to them so they would let their guards down and be killed. I also made sure to take my sweet time before coming here so that they would all perish before my arrival."
'Why is he telling me all of this, though?' He wondered.
"Why? You might ask. Why would I do such a thing to my loyal subordinates? The answer is simple!" The Knight grinned widely. "By having casualties in battle, it will add some standard of difficulty to the mission. It's not enough for me to tell Lord Geralt that I completed a difficult task. If he sees that half of the forces he sent with me died, he will definitely believe it to be an arduous task and reward me appropriately!"
'Lord Geralt? He's that Lord's Knight, huh? Does that mean… this Lord Geralt is the one oppressing the Heresy Cult?' Lucius thought. 'If I eliminate the Lord, won't that mean I've fulfilled one of their three wishes?'
"I know what you're thinking! Isn't it better to have witnesses to testify to my great deeds? Well, that's why I left fifty more soldiers on the hill to watch from afar. I'll make sure your execution is as flashy as possible, don't worry."
'Hmm? Is he still yapping?'
"Hehehe! I heard you were a witch called Lili, but to think you were a man instead. I guess the rumors are wrong. I wonder if rumors of your power have also been greatly exaggerated." The Knight reached out for the sheathed sword on his hip.
'Oh crap—!'
"I guess there's only one way to find ou—"
~SQUELCH!~
Before the Knight could say another word, he felt the taste of blood in his mouth and felt a hot sensation pierce his chest.
His eyes were wide in shock, as if saying 'E-eh? What in the world is happening?'
Before he could have another thought or utter another word from his bleeding lips, Lucius removed the hand lodged in his chest and ripped out his heart.
"—t."
The Knight collapsed on the ground, dead before he could even fully draw his Blessed Weapon.
*
*
*
[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
Such a buildup to the first real battle, and it ended so quickly. It's disappointing, I know… but it is what it is.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.