"What is strength?" Another yell sounded in the distance as a volley of arrows fell from the sky. It was a chaotic battlefield, but even then, the only thing that stuck in the minds of the soldiers who fought relentlessly against the Empire was victory. Naturally, not all were willing to easily throw away their lives, so some of the rebels tried to run, only to get caught by his men and slaughtered amongst their kin. Garedrick jumped onto a nearby battleship. His boots landed with a heavy thud on the deck of the ship as a sword from an enemy soldier swung toward him, but he easily blocked it with his shield before cutting the man's head clean off. Tossing the body to the side, he moved just in time to dodge an incoming sword aiming for his neck, his hand reaching out to grab the man's wrist as he sliced it off.

  They were no match for him. He was far stronger than they were. So why did they fight even though they knew they would lose? It didn't make sense.

  Was it the money? Prestige, maybe. Perhaps their emperor promised them something great for the price of winning the war. Even then, it didn't make sense. Did these men not know that this was a losing battle? Did they not know that they should retreat?

  It was foolish.

  "AHHHH!" One of the enemy soldiers lunged at him, but the instant the man committed to his move, he quickly realized his grave mistake. Without even hesitating for a moment, Garedrick stepped forward, driving his sword clean through the man's heart, his eyes going wide as he twisted the blade at the hilt, ensuring the strike was fatal and as quick and painless as possible. The man had a dagger and had not realized how much of a reach Garedrick had over him, and that was a mistake he made that cost him his life. With a final push, he cast the body aside. It was the most honorable death he could offer to the man, so it would have to do.

  Another one lunged at him, this time much faster than the previous one. As Garedrick’s blade sliced through the air, it met resistance in the form of the opponent's dagger, and despite how weak the man looked, he was pretty strong, much stronger than the others, in fact, as he even managed to parry his blow. He felt the satisfying clash of steel against steel, and the moment an opportunity presented itself to him, there was no hesitation in his heart. With a twist of his wrist, his sword broke through the enemy's guard, and his blade struck forward towards the man's neck, his effort being quickly rewarded by a sickening crunch as the soldier's head was severed with a single clean stroke.

  Before the man's lifeless corpse could fall to the ground, he quickly grabbed the man by the chest, throwing his body toward another soldier as he pulled out a dagger from his side, his boots hitting the ground roughly and almost causing him to stumble as he quickly ran to a nearby soldier, easily disarming him before lodging his knife straight into his neck. It was a swift death, one devoid of unnecessary struggle, and the body crumpled to the deck with a dull thud. Ripping off the man's head, Garedrick barely acknowledged the fallen soldier as he tossed the headless corpse aside, instantly moving to the next threat, as if death were a mere inconvenience in his path.

  He was a monster in every respect, yes, but that's what the empire wanted from him.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  He leapt onto the next ship, and with a swift downward slash, he cleaved one of the nearby soldiers in front of him in two, the clean cut leaving no room for resistance from the poor guy as the two halves of the man's body crumpled to the deck, with blood spilling outward from his lifeless corpse. "Shit!" one of the surviving crew shouted, drawing an arrow with his trembling hands, the fear on his face palpable as he stared at him. Of course, they all knew who he was, and that was why they were afraid.

  'You don't have to fight... It's okay to be afraid, it's okay to run away. I don't want to hurt you anyway,' was what he wanted to say, but that would make him look weak, and that would be dishonorable to his captain.

  And not only that, it would break the contract that he made with the demon.

  He could have killed them all, just as easily as he had with the others, but something held him back. He didn’t want to kill them, and to be honest, he didn’t need to. They had already been defeated and were effectively non-combatants, unable to really fight back against him, and any effort would have been futile. Even if they did manage to pierce his skin, they would never be able to wear down his regeneration.

  “Put the bow down,” he said softly, his voice surprisingly calm. The soldier hesitated, his grip tightening, then loosening.

  "Why?" the man croaked, voice trembling.

  “Put the bow down, or else I will have to kill you. Since you will be registered as a combatant, you will be considered a threat. If you put the bow down, you will be a non-combatant and unable to be killed under the jurisdiction of the empire.”

  “Kill him” he didn't want to though.

  But the man didn't listen. Sighing deeply in disappointment, Garedrick swatted aside the incoming arrows with a swift motion of his sword, moving towards the man as he shot another volley of arrows at him, which were ineffective as he just slapped them away or moved his body out of the way. He was a poor shooter, which was unfortunate since now he was technically branded as an enemy and now had to be killed. As the rest of the soldiers rushed in to defend their comrade, they quickly met a swift end as he decapitated them, using one of their bodies as a shield against the arrows before quickly stabbing the bowman's heart, making sure to twist the knife so that it would kill him quickly as he fell to the ground.

  Looking down at his blood-soaked hands, he let out a slow exhale.

  He was tired.

  Tired of killing, tired of going to war, tired of... tired of living this way. At first, when he made the contract with the demon, he expected to live a life of... gratitude. He never assumed that he would regret this kind of life since he always thought that the sword was the way of living. But now, more than anything, he regretted it. Now he had to live in constant fear of death, and even more so, the fact that he was actually taking the lives of living people who had dreams of their own and had a life they envisioned for themselves. That realization killed him inside. The bodies that were just lying there glowed for a moment, a red ball-like energy floating away from the corpses as his sword drunkenly absorbed the energy. The demon that was in the sword sang with glee as it drank the life force it had taken from his enemies.

  An enemy from the left attempted to sneak up on him from behind, but the sword had already warned him. He turned around, viciously backhanding the woman in the face, her jaw ripping off from the intensity of his blow as he violently sliced her in two, grabbing her by the neck as he tossed her upper half into the ocean.

  He wanted to be strong…

  Turning around, he looked up at the sky, which had completely darkened due to the arrows hovering in the air. By now, his shield had completely shattered and would be utterly useless against the hail of arrows.

  Jumping into the ocean was a bad idea also, since, while it might protect him, there's no doubt he would drown from the chaos, and he wasn't much of a swimmer to begin with.

  “danm rebels.”

  The arrows began to fall like a torrent of death, screaming through the air like a furious storm. Garedrick clenched his teeth, his muscles tensing as he prepared for the impact. He could very well die; the possibility was very, very high, and he had no doubt in his mind that his regeneration couldn't kick in and heal any of his major wounds if the arrow itself was plunged with some kind of poison.