Book Three – Chapter Nine – Part Two – Who Guards the Guards?

The gas affected everyone differently. Two of the guards died instantly with what seemed to be no pain. The lone female Elf amongst them suffered the most. Clawing at her throat in an attempt to breathe something different, she ended up digging a gory hole directly into her windpipe. And even as the panic grew and bodies dropped, not a single person ever ran away. It wasn’t as they didn’t think of it. They did. It was that the poison was far too aggressive.

Servi took a step forward, powering through the yellow gas that fogged up the area around her. Her footsteps crumbled the grass below her, which had already turned a sickly brown color. She felt pain in her lungs and body and felt warm liquid drip down her nose. After taking a deep breath, the symptoms exploded until Servi bled from her missing eye. The blood squeezed out from under her eye-patch, giving her the appearance of a crying corpse. It wasn’t until she stopped breathing all together that her wounds healed up completely.

Okay, so it doesn’t attack via contact to the skin. I'm only affected if I breathe it in. And since everyone has to inhale and exhale, except me, I don’t think there’s a way to avoid it.

She heard a large crash and dropped to the ground while holding a sword. It took her a second to realize that she wasn’t being targeted. The source of the noise was a horse-drawn carriage that entered the area contaminated by Kaasuvuoto. The brown beast instantly collapsed, bringing the wagon down with it.

The three inhabitants inside, who were on their way to meet up with family, died moments after each other.

Servi returned to her feet and sheathed her weapon inside her ring. She turned around in a circle and held her hand up as a torrential amount of souls poured inside. Everything inside the area: people, pets, bugs, and even the grass, were dead. Servi had created a large cube of death which killed everything that entered. And it would stay that way until she willed it to move. Even a hurricane couldn’t whoosh away the gas inside the invisible boundary Servi created.

However, since her job was completed --that being the slaughter of the guards-- Servi snapped her fingers, and the gas quickly dissipated. The yellow fog was gone before she knew it, and she felt the sun’s hot rays shine on her exposed face. The blood trickling down had gotten crusty, and Servi picked it off with her nails. She looked at the bodies in the meantime and activated The Shadow's Embrace. It wouldn't be long until they started to warm up to the point where the nauseating smell of death overtook the entire area. And as if that wasn’t vile enough, the waste expunged from their bowels was most likely going to become part of the godawful scent. If the wind cooperated with her and wanted to betray the town, it would send the disgusting odor all over town.

But maybe that won’t happen. If it does, good. If it doesn’t, then that’s not a problem at all. I can’t control wind. Not yet, at least. Once I complete the Trial of the Primordial Being, I’ll be able to. But I don’t know how far I am from doing that. Hell, I might be too weak to even start it.

Servi soon found herself surrounded by the familiar shadows she came to love. The hidden blade device on her wrist only waited to be activated by her command. She had total control over it. Perhaps that was why she spent so much time in it? Her mental state had reached a point where it didn’t matter if people spotted her soaring across the city with a single jump, yet she still chose to be embraced by the warming darkness.

If she had an answer, she didn’t think it. Instead, her mind became focused on the one building she had yet to hit. And after kicking off the ground, she raced across town, kicking off buildings and serpentining through streets and alleys with her arm held out and blade extended. If she saw or encountered any guards, she spent the short seconds to cure them of the gift of life. If she saw any nobles or seedy thugs, she stole them of their lives as well. The whole city was a shit hole, and as far as Servi was concerned, she was doing it a favor.

By removing the undesirables, she felt better. It was like every kill, every slice, stab, poke, or thrust followed by a red soul joining her repertoire sent an unimaginable amount of dopamine surging through her body. She felt good and happy. Joy and sparks of life surged the growing smile on her face, which showed off her ferocious teeth resembling that of a caged beast mad with the gluttony of murder.

It wasn’t wrong to say that, at that moment in time, she truly encapsulated the true meaning of a Mad Dog gleefully satisfying its hunger for murder and death. And like a good person following a path, Servi soon found herself lying down on the roof of the building that housed Markka.

There was just one more building to take out, and all guard-dwelling barracks that she knew of would be exterminated. But before Servi commenced her attack, she wanted to wait until the moon made an appearance. If Servi did miss any, she was sure they would head there, but they couldn't do so instantly. She wanted to give them the time to regroup so they would all be in one spot.

All in all, without including the civilians that she knew didn’t do a damn thing to help Arcton, Servi killed 695 guards located across 14 buildings.

“Well, I guess it’s about time, isn’t it?  I wonder how many bastards are about to taste death...” Servi growled as she laid on her back. She went to stand up, stretching her arms and shoulders until they audibly cracked. Turning around, the awful skyline of the city stared back at her. The decrepit buildings in the distant, half-torn and destroyed, fit right into the general atmosphere she thought the city was trying to display. Like water to a stain, she wanted to cleanse it.

If a baptismal wave of fire engulfed the city, then she believed whatever sprouted from the ashes would have to be better than what laid before it. She could see it in her mind when she blinked. A wave of red crimson, giving off heat so intense that metal shook in fear, purifying the town’s sins, appeared in her mind. Since she knew Momo wasn’t in the city anymore, Servi only didn’t have a single reason to deny herself the pleasure of being the one to light the hypothetical spark.

At least, she thought she didn’t. Servi sighed, and her mind traveled back to a building filled with broken desks and equipment. She just so happened to pass by it while searching for guard barracks, and it was hers and Momo's original destination: the Arcton Warden Office.

If I destroy it, then Momo can’t be promoted. That’s the only goddamn thing stopping me from scorching this wretched town. Ha, it’s a good thing it wasn’t near the place where I used Venti Aqua or Kaasuvuoto. I have no qualms about razing this shit hole, but it has to be after she gets promoted.

Servi sighed, turning her attention from the town and focusing on the building next to her. If her count was correct, the structure with seven or eight floors contained the last of Arcton’s guards. Or if it didn’t have the rest, it had most of what remained. They might have known the other barracks had been hit. How could they not when that monstrous Venti Aqua roared to life and obliterated everything in its path, but Servi didn’t hear anything suggesting that while she waited for the moon to come out.

More accurately, she didn’t even catch the tiniest whiff of people organizing any kind of rescue attempt. Perhaps Snare’s, the only one willing to provide any aid, death brought forth a suffocating sense of dread to Arcton. He attempted to do the right thing, and only death awaited him in the end.

“In the end, people are selfish. They only think of themselves and how to get ahead even at the detrimental cost to others. Since I bring death, it’s safe to say that I’m no different. But I would’ve fought. I’d use every bit of my power to destroy anyone seeking to oppress. I’m different. I’m different! I’M DIFFERENT!” Servi screamed into the night sky in an attempt to pierce the moon’s rocky surface with her shrills.

A murder of crows flew away after being startled by her voice. Their black, feathery bodies were like disgusting pimples on the moon as it acted like a backdrop.

Servi placed a foot on the roof's ledge and hopped over it. She smashed into the ground, leaving a tiny crater. The option to use Feather Fall ran across her mind, but she just chose to not rely on it. In the end, it didn’t matter because her broken legs and shattered ankles healed within a tenth of a second. The pain hurt, but she didn’t feel it. Perhaps all of the killing had mentally numbed her? She didn’t know.

She walked up to the large structure, what she thought was the last beacon of the Arcton city guard.

“Yeah, it’s probably about eight stories tall. Should I slam it into the ground?” Servi asked as her boots crushed tiny rocks and pebbles. The two men standing by the door had armor and weapons that put the other guards to shame. They had a sharp eye on Servi since they heard her scream, but they made no motion to move. Even when she approached them, they didn’t do a single thing until she came within a pre-determined range.

The one on the left held out both hands and launched six Fireballs in rapid succession by only shouting the skill’s name. Their orange glow roared alive and brightened the darkness around. Moments before they were to slam into Servi, she formed a fist and smacked the deadly, fiery orbs away. They soared into an arc, smashing down around her and catching whatever they hit on fire. And since the Warden office wasn’t near her, Servi did nothing and allowed the fire to spread like a deadly disease.

“Shit! GOD-FUCKING- DAMNIT!!!” shouted the Skill User with a voice full of rage that couldn’t have come naturally. His partner drew a bow and grinned at the monster who parried fire with only her hands.

Evidently, he had something ingenious planned, but Servi didn’t give him the time of day. She held out both hands and muttered. “I’ll show you a real Fireball.” Two small orbs appeared in the palm of her hands, but they steadily grew until they became so big they touched each other. At that point, the two combined into one blazing ball of fire that dwarfed a Kobold. Instead of tossing it out and destroying the building in one fell swoop, Servi used Telekinesis to bind her opponents’ hands behind their back and lifted them to her.

The two tried to scream, but air couldn’t escape his throat. At the same time, anything he inhaled was blocked by an invisible grip. The would-be archer had replaced his smug expression with one of genuine fear as the heat increased. His armor was the first go. Their armor may have been fancy, but it still had a melting point.

“I bet I can make it even hotter. Now burn!” Servi sent even more Skill Energy into her Fireball, more than anyone in the history of the world, though she didn’t know that, and smiled when the orange flame turned blue. The azure ball of fire was suspended above the ground, but that had started to liquefy.

But Servi went even further beyond a blue hue and overcharged the skill until the fire shined a pure white. It burned hotter than 2,500 degrees Celsius. The guards were already dead from having their armor melted down onto their skin, which eventually burrowed through their bodies and onto their hearts when the flame went blue. But now that the heat it gave off was nearly comparable with the destructive power equal to a Rank 3 skill, the very ground started to liquify. The stone buildings ten meters away began to deform, including the large structure standing right in front of her. Servi quickly ended the skill, and the white-hot ball of pure flame disappeared.

“Why didn’t anyone come out? Surely what just happened was important or dangerous enough to warrant a little investigation? Why is this fucking town so fucking selfish?!” Servi stomped like a toddler having a tantrum, sending little splashes of liquified mud and dirt everywhere. “I just don’t fucking get it! I summoned a goddamn hurricane in the middle of town, and I don’t hear a fucking peep. Then when I do get a reaction after something, it’s not what I fucking expect. Surely someone should have come out when I created that giant fucking Fireball, but nothing. I don’t get it, Itarr. I just don’t fucking get this town! Is it the Monotonia?! Is that what’s making them not care about a goddamn thing?! This whole fucking city is like a theme park of absurdity! AAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Servi stomped forward, ripping off the two doors that acted as an entrance. Still gripping them, she rampaged through the unfinished lobby. The floors wooden floors were half-installed. There was more dirt than proper flooring, and about three-quarters of the walls didn’t have any paint. She saw no furniture or desks. Out of the three doorways in front of her, two were blocked by debris and trash. She screamed once more at the insanity of what she saw and threw the two doors. With her reinforced strength powered by almost ten thousand souls, the blockages were cleared out. She couldn’t see where they went because she rushed through the one unobstructed doorway, but the red souls that soon flowed towards her told her all she needed to know.

Through the only available doorway was a hallway that went on for a few short meters. It led to a large room with two staircases. An open door sat to Servi's left, and she went inside. The flooring never made it past the pathetic lobby-like area, so she stepped in dry dirt that caked solidly to the bottom of her boots. And in the building’s devoid state, she saw nothing on the walls. The guard headquarters in Canary put the one in Arcton to shame. But in its defense, Servi might have overlooked something. Was she in the right place?

Even if I'm not, it’s not like I won’t destroy this one anyways. And hey, I don’t necessarily need to charge right out and take it out. It’s all going to be destroyed anyway, so why don’t I have a little fun here. I’ve been hearing a bunch of footsteps from above, so I assume this place is flimsy and weak. It’s probably the same with the support beams. It honestly feels like the engineers and construction company only focused on the outside appearance. Maybe the Mafia arrived before work could be done on the inside?

Servi looked up the stairs for a moment before walking into the only door available to her. It led to another hallway a bit bigger than the one she walked through before. It was all dusty and filthy, with plenty of creepy crawlies squirming around in the dark. The only light came from up ahead, so she trekked forward. She expected to enter a large room, but it ended up being something that caught her off guard.

She found herself in a room that had nearly no work done. Even the walls weren’t put up, and the walls she saw belonged to the building’s exterior. And she saw guards. Many, many, guards leaned up against the walls or lying face down in the dirt. And in the far corner, she saw one of the doors she had tossed. It laid surrounded by a pool of blood, but not a single person was tending to the body beneath it. Obviously, nothing could’ve been done to help the Kobold, especially considering the top half of his head was missing, but Servi wanted to believe that someone cared and wanted to help, but couldn't.

She went to walk forward with the intent of killing them, but her foot kicked against an empty glass bottle lying nearby. A Kobold immediately to her left, wearing only a rusty helmet, gargled something unintelligible while pointing to the bottle. Servi smiled, picking it up. After reading the label and finding out it used to contain fifteen White Monotonia, Servi crushed it. The helmet-wearing Kobold roared alive in a fury of rage and came down upon Servi with weak punches.

She took the blows and laughed. Even if she didn’t have a Goddess inside her granting her unparalleled power, Servi knew she could take the hits. She figured even Fisher’s children could take the pathetic punches targeting her face and stomach. And it was those punches that sparked an idea in her head.

She turned her head to the 60 or 70 other guards wearing a varying amount of armor and smiled. Ten seconds later, she had every single nadrium weapon floating beside her. It was far more than what she could do without any backlash, and the splitting headache kept reminding her of her limit, but Servi powered through the pain and sent every weapon up. She didn’t intend to slaughter the guards above her, but if a few dozen or so died, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Twenty seconds later, Servi knew her little project was complete when she heard a thundering noise. Her goal was to make the multi-storied building into a single floor, and she accomplished that by literally cutting the floors’ support beams above her. The building shook, vibrating to the point where even the relaxed guards were forced to act. Their self-preservation overpowered the tremendous grip the Monotonia had. The majority of them pounded on the walls, but a few tried to run past Servi.

She didn’t let that happen. She threw a spare sword down and used it as the basis for Metal Wall, which she manipulated and configured until it slotted perfectly into the hall she came from. Even still, their self-preservation fueled their desire to live. The weapons hanging from their hips weren’t just decorations. Servi simply leaned back and enjoyed the orchestra of metal banging against metal. She commanded Itarr to take control of the weapons and bring them back down so they can be absorbed. The Goddess silently obeyed.

“Try as you want, but you can’t escape,” she calmly yelled. Suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared right at her. That was when the upper floors finally crashed down into the center of the room. Dust and flakes of cheap wood exploded out, sending everyone into a mad coughing fit. Servi walked forward into the dust and started absorbing the corpses of those that died in the process. By just a rough count, she estimated ten percent of the 90 guards who inhabited the upper floors perished upon impact. Servi used Telekinesis to slam the 81 survivors against the wall with enough force to startle them but not enough to break through to the outside.

Itarr had absolutely no idea what Servi tried to accomplish. She wanted to speak and ask, but she didn’t want to at the same time. It was like she was afraid to open her mouth, so she stayed silent even when her beloved friend threw down ten swords. A few uses of Metal Wall later, Servi had constructed a crudely-shaped fighting arena.

Everyone stood motionless while Servi did what she did. It wasn’t until she stood in the very middle of the silver arena created from wasted swords that they even showed the tiniest hint of emotion.

“Who is the fucking captain?!” Servi shouted as she turned her head upward. Just like she wanted, she saw nothing but the roof standing tens of meters above her.

“I am!” a deep voice yelled. Servi didn’t expect a reply. She turned her head to the speaker and saw a Koena adorned in full armor. The armor he had on was rusty, but it did give off a vibe of authority. And like the other guards she seen before that acted as a commander or captain, he had a feather on his helmet.

“Good! I’m glad to see you aren’t a bunch of fucking zombies drugged outta your minds. I’m going to keep it simple. I have a lot of time to—”

“You dare think we’re going to stay here? Fledge, break the wall already!” the Koena, who claimed to be a captain, barked an order to the large Kobold standing beside him. Nodding wordlessly, he raised an arm covered in black scales. Before he could punch the one and only wall standing between them and freedom, Servi manipulated the metal she stood on.

She willed it to travel down a meter before extending in a radius of twenty meters. Then like a birdcage being constructed from the bottom up, numerous thin lines of metal shot out of the ground. They followed along the walls, breaking whatever pieces of floors above that didn’t come down until it reached the very top. Then the many lines thickened up, growing larger and wider until they connected together to form a building-sized bell-shaped object. The only things that wasn't covered by a layer of metal were windows located on the fifth floor. The frames themselves were covered, but the actual glass was free to remain unobstructed.

At the same time, Servi sent a swarm of Lux Spheres up to act as lights. The moon was full and bright, but even it couldn’t fully illuminate the now-single-room-but-multi-storied-building. When the floors came crashing down, the impact and dust smothered every lantern and candle out of existence.

But she wasn’t done yet. The metal that punctured the ground started to spread out and covered the area with more metal, and it lifted, descended, shrunk, and grew for the next few minutes until they were surrounded by nothing but hardened steel. The building was still there, but it now had a metal skeleton reinforcing it from the inside.

“Fledge, break it! It’s only steel!” ordered the Koena with panic in his voice. He felt the very ground below his feet shift and wobble.

Fledged nodded his scaley head and punched, but his strike bounced off.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” the Koena turned to Servi, who had sat down.

“It’s simple, really. I’m here to kill you. And you. And you, and you, and you, and you.  Everyone here, in this room, will die before the sun comes up. He can’t break it because the metal has been reinforced and layered multiple times. It’s also currently spreading out to the entire building, not just this one room. Don't think that if they aren't here, then they'll survive. They won't, and you can take that promise to the bank and cash it. Maybe I should send a few Fire Walls to kill them? Maybe I should scorch the metal until it’s hot enough to melt? It'll be like a brazen bull, then? Yeah? Why don't I just roast all of us alive? You'll all die, but I'll survive. Then we—"

“What the fuck can a Human do against me?!” Fledge roared after shouting and cutting Servi off, and she couldn’t help but scream with glee.

“That’s what I’m talking about! When I walked into this room, everyone was totally different. No one showed any emotion. But now that your lives are in danger, I’m finally getting a response! Maybe you all can answer a question for me!” Servi stood up and bounced on the balls of her feet. She felt a fight coming up, and the Mad Dog inside of her couldn’t wait to kill.

Fledge went to shout, but he quieted down like a trained puppy when Servi’s head was growing in size. More accurately, it wasn’t that it became bigger; it was that he flew towards her against his will. The Koena looked on with a face full of fear at experiencing the impossible, and he wasn’t the only one. The anguish he felt at the situation spread like wildfire.

“Answer my questions, or Fledge is going to be the first casualty of the night.”