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

Servi yelled and shouted, and she charged towards a Kobold leaning against the wall. She gripped his head and screeched into his face. “WHY WON’T YOU FUCKING FIGHT ME?!?!”

“Because we can’t win. How could anyone expect to give you a proper fight? If I’m gonna die, just fucking kill—”

Servi ripped off the green scales protecting his neck and ripped out his spine, along with his skull, through the opening. She turned to the closest opponent, a shivering Elf, who shook her teary head.

“FUCKING! FIGHT! ME!!!! DIE LIKE A GODDAMN WARRIOR!!! YOU ALL DIDN’T JUST FUCKING STAND THERE WHEN THE MAFIA FUCKING ROLLED INTO TOWN, DID YOU?!!” She raised the spine she carried, with the skull still attached, and slammed it down like a whip on the Elf’s head.

“WHEN THE TOWN NEEDED YOU THE MOST, YOU DIDN'T DO A GODDAMN THING!!! YOU DON’T HELP THOSE WHO NEED IT!! YOU DON’T EVER TRY TO THINK OF ANYONE BUT YOUR GODDAMN SELVES!!! NOT A SINGLE ONE OF YOU FUCKERS EVEN TRIED TO ATTACK ME FROM THE BACK!!! FUCK! THIS! WHOLE! FUCKING! TOWN!!!! IT’S YOUR FAULT IT’S SUCH A SHIT HOLE!!!!! AAAARRRHHHGGGHHH!!!!!!!"

For the next five hours, Servi committed murder, after murder, after murder. She slaughtered: tearing limbs from limbs, heads from torsos, skewering her enemies with her arm, and even ripping out solid chunks of throat with her teeth. Blood became the decorative choice, covering everything in red. She couldn't take a step without splashing IN crimson.

And yet, the people she killed didn’t fight back. They didn’t move, they didn’t cough or speak, they never whimpered or cried out even when Servi skinned a few unfortunate bastards alive. The life had already left them, and only a hollow shell, filled with blood and organs, remained.

Instead of each soul bringing her the gift of power, it only fueled her hatred and anger because they could have done so much. If they had done their job in the first place and protected the city, then the past few days would have never happened. She’d be back in Canary with her best friend, and all would be well.

Servi knew Momo’s general location: the forest nearby. Even if she didn’t know the exact spot, she had the ability to scour, scout, and search for hours and days without rest. Yet she didn’t go charging into the forest. A part of Servi wanted to wait until the last minute to find Momo because it gave her more time to bring vengeance upon the worthless sacks inhabiting Arcton and New Arcton.

She shook her head, ridding herself from thoughts that didn’t provide any substantial help, and focused on the slaughter she had conducted without thinking.

Every punch she threw contained her full power. Bodies exploded, and the metal wall crumbled. Immediately, it regenerated thanks to the ongoing Metal Wall Servi channeled. She grabbed her latest would-be victim, a Dwarf with long black hair peeking out of her helmet, by the back of her neck and dragged her along the wall. Suddenly, Servi stopped and rapidly scratched her victim's body against the wall. That created heat, which burned away her helmet, melting it, but Servi didn’t stop. She continued skin, muscle, and bone scraped against the wall. Finally, she spun on her heels and launched the Dwarf to the wall facing across from her.

Like most of the others she had tossed, her victim landed with the force that could shatter mountains and exploded into a festive rain of even more blood and guts. When compared to the growing river of corpses, body parts, and crimson that slowly pooled up, the fear Servi wanted to give off diminished. Spilling more blood served to increase the Mad Dog side of her.

And she was satisfied with that.

Somewhere along the way, Servi's face twisted into a wide grin that showed off her blood-stained teeth. Every hit she threw, every punch she landed, every jump she performed was followed by an otherworldly growl that benefited no one but her. She smashed, slammed, threw, and stomped without resting for a single moment.

Only when the sun started to peek through those blood-covered windows on the fifth floor did she come back to her senses. The blood filled the arena up to the top of her ankles, and by then, it had dried up and gotten cold. Instead of splashing around it when she walked, it parted with the consistency of dried paste that had a little bit of moisture left. The lavender hair she wore atop her head didn’t match up with the color of her favorite drink anymore. Having been dyed red like everything else, Servi looked like a red crayon. Any traces of her pale skin were blown away after after her night in the murder bell.

She looked down and felt blood escape from underneath her eye patch. Somewhere during the guards’ extermination, someone’s life force must’ve snuck in.

“I only intended to keep it up until 4 AM… Didn’t I say that?” Servi muttered. Those words were the first things she had said since she began the massacre. They emerged up from her throat with difficulty, almost as if she had forgotten how to speak. She plopped down on the crimson, crossing her legs and squeezing even more blood against her. She felt the liquid-like paste penetrated through her pant’s fabric and coat her legs.  “Ahh… I planned on having a bit of fun in New Arcton before the sun came up. But I’m not in any hurry to kill those fucking pathetic nobles. They’re so lost in their goddamn world that they don’t even know where their asses are. Whatever, I’ll just rest here for a while and continue tonight. After all, today is Friday. Tomorrow is Saturday. The time is almost here…”

A low growl escaped her throat as she laid down. A bit of blood went into her ears, distorting her equilibrium, but that came back instantly. She never dozed off because she didn’t want to risk re-experiencing that nightmare. But now that she thought about it, perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. After all, she considered herself to be a Mad Dog.

But was she really? The bloody Servi from the nightmare told her she had to remove her collar, and she did that in the form of beheading herself with her own hand.

Her words were different. I say I’m a Mad Dog… The blood-covered Servi said the Mad Dog. Am I one of many? Or am I unique? Does it even matter in the first place if there’s an ‘a’ or ‘the’ in front of it? What if the only way to regain my memories is to rip off the 'collar?' But who will I be after that?

Since she couldn’t hear Itarr’s lovely and comforting voice, Servi became lost in her own thoughts. The time was nearing, and she wanted to have the right words at the ready when she reunited with Momo.

For the next twelve hours, that was how Servi passed the time. She remained motionless, on her back, inside the building, inside the metal cage-like bell structure, and on top of a large pool of blood. When the moon peeked through one of the uncovered windows on the fifth floor, Servi tapped the ground and stood up.

The back of her body had so much blood that gravity failed to bring it down. It had caked and almost engraved itself into her very clothing. Both of her ear canals were filled with dried crimson to the point where it affected Servi’s sense of balance. But when she realized something was amiss, True Immortality fixed everything up and forcibly drained her ears. Meanwhile, Servi walked over to the wall. She pressed her hand against it and pushed. The metal couldn’t take it and started to bend outward. Once it had endured enough pressure, her hand poked right through it, and at that point, Servi ripped the metal wall with as much effort as tearing a piece of paper.

The moon shined its light down upon the world as she emerged from the metal construction. “Huh, I guess the building did fall down. With how shoddy it was constructed, I guess it’s not that surprising,” Servi muttered as she turned around once her feet touched solid ground. She stared at the building’s debris, or rather what was left over after scavengers came and took what they could.

The bags of tools she saw some distance away were situated near the back part of her metal cage. She closed the distance and started to hear a scraping noise. After advancing a couple of more meters and rounding the curve, Servi rubbed the metal shell to her left. Her fingertips lightly danced over the carved surface and became intimately acquainted with the scuff marks. She continued to follow them until she came to the source of the scraping.

“Hurry up, we can sell this for food.” The hunched-back boy with a hammer and file did his very best to carve off metal that would fetch a decent price. “I don’t know where this came from, but it’s all ours!” He crouched down with his back to Servi.

He didn’t know she was there.

“Domme, my hands hurt… We’ve been at this for hours now, and my tummy’s rumbling—” A weak voice filled with pain and exhaustion barely spilled from the girl’s mouth. Unlike the boy, who looked to be about fourteen, the girl seemed to be a few years younger. The blanket of black, knotty hair atop her deformed skull made it looked like a family of grotesque bugs lived there. The odd shape of her head suggested she suffered an injury early in her life, and it didn’t heal properly.

“Dani, keep at it. After we get food, let’s go get you some pain medicine. Hey, maybe—" Domme, the hunched-back boy, started to speak, but froze when he noticed a shadow moving. He dropped his tools and picked up the dagger hidden between his feet. In a fluid motion, he spun around and stabbed his blade into the gut of the fool who dared to approach him.

That fool was Servi. Her one eye stared down at his trembling hands, wet with her warm blood. But even though his body was scared, his mind wasn’t.

“Domme!!!” Dani screamed. She reached for her own weapon hidden beside her, but stopped in her tracks when Servi lifted Domme up by his neck with one hand. The frightening girl raised him up until they were at eye level. Dani found courage she didn’t know she had. It was as if her body had a thousand weights preventing her from moving, but she somehow stood up.

“LET HIM DOWN!!!” Dani shouted. She was supported by shaky knees and held her dagger towards Servi. She wordlessly stared at the courageous and foolish girl. Her free hand gripped the blade in her stomach, pulling it out and raising it up. Its sharp point aimed at Domme’s head.  Dani rushed forward, screaming a war cry with her eyes closed. She only became quiet when her blade had found its target and crimson coated her hands.

Dani's eyes opened, staring up at the girl with an eyepatch. Her mouth twisted into a small grin, and she flashed her teeth.

“You attacked me. You are an enemy. You do know what happens to enemies, right?” Servi said. “They die... I kill them.” Suddenly, a small flash of red light appeared beside Servi. It was her ID, and Itarr flew it up to Servi’s face. However, the words she wanted to say came out too slow. Servi dropped the dagger she held and tensed her hands, breaking Domme’s neck with a sickening crunch. He wasn't dead, but he was as close to death's door as a person could be.

She let go, and his body fell to the ground with a thud. Dani froze in place, believing her friend had perished. One of her hands went to her deformed head, grabbing and pulling her knotted hair. Such an odd and violent motion was what she did when she encountered a situation she couldn’t emotionally handle. Itarr slammed the ID into Servi’s face, but she didn’t react.

WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!?! She hastily wrote with scratchy handwriting. At that very moment, she wished, more than anything in the world, for the ability to reconnect with Servi. Perhaps if Servi heard Itarr’s urgent, frantic, tearful voice, and even if it was just through words, she’d be more willing to calm down.

That didn't happen.

Servi dropped to her knees and grasped her head with two shaking hands. She shivered as if she was cold, yet her skin was scorching hot. "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" She screamed and screamed as an unknown battle raged on within her mind. It felt like something dangerous was gnawing at her innards, desperately trying to break out.

Since Servi was having some sort of mental breakdown, Itarr acted with no time to waste. The Goddess subtly healed Domme and brought him back from the brink of death, doing the same for Dani in case she had any injuries. She then used Telekinesis to lift Dani and Domme, then sent them soaring across Arcton in an effort to save them from Servi.

Dani was too frozen in shock to realize what was going on, and Domme only groaned in pain in between gasps of air. By the time Servi had ceased her screaming, her potential victims were long out of sight. Not even Itarr knew where they were. She only sat them down behind a faraway building after using 400 stacks of Protection on them. Even if they wouldn't survive past the next day, at least they were safe from the time being. Itarr wanted to do more-- she wanted to give them a peaceful life, one that was free of any hardships and scrounging around in dangerous areas for food, but she knew she couldn't convince Servi to spare their lives. Especially not after they attacked her. Giving them money was only asking for trouble because someone might attack them and steal it, so Itarr couldn't do that. She could have given them food, but that thought only passed her mind the moment before Servi calmed down. It was right when her hands removed themselves from her head and fell to the ground. Gritty concrete pressed against her palm, and she carefully took a few deep breaths. Nothing substantial had changed based on her appearance, and Itarr didn't feel anything odd from their interconnected soul, but Servi had a breakdown for a reason, and the fallout from that was yet to be seen.

"Where are they?!" Servi demanded as she slowly got to her feet. She wiped the dirt from her legs and pulled Dani's dagger from her stomach. She brought the blade to her mouth and licked it, tasting her blood. She then threw it behind her, not caring who or what it landed on.

You don't remember? You killed them... Why did you kill them? Itarr had to lie if she wanted to steer Servi away from Dani and Domme.

“They were enemies. They stabbed me. Are you sympathizing with them? What if they had something to do with the Mafia taking the town over? Be thankful I gave them a painless death." Servi was convinced she had ended their lives, and even if it was for a brisk second, Itarr felt relief.

Servi, are you even hearing yourself?! They were children!!! They were— Itarr was cut off. Even if it hurt her, she had to play along and believe in the lie she had told Servi. That falsehood became her newfound truth.

“No, they weren’t children... They were enemies... They held weapons. They had the chance to kill me, and they took it. Don’t let their ages fool you. Even a five-year-old brat can slit a throat. This is a war, remember?” Servi placed her hand on the metal the two were carving at and used Fire Wall to engulf the structure in a thick blaze of flame. It burned hot enough to begin the melting process. Within a few short seconds, the bottom of the metal arena was bright red.

War? What war? What the hell are you talking about?! Fine! Then what about babies?! Would you kill babies if they had a weapon?! What if they were born after the Mafia took—

“Don’t ask such a ridiculous question. You’re pissing me off.” Servi grabbed her ID and threw it into the pile of molten metal. With how large the structure was, there was a lot of metal that needed to be melted. The bottom was the first to liquefy. With no support holding the top up, it fell into the growing pool, splashing extremely hot, silver metallic goop everywhere. A few spots landed on the corpses inside the structure, burning a hole straight through their skin. The smell of burnt flesh began to radiate up, and Servi simply walked away, leaving that entire mess behind her.

She didn’t bother to use The Shadow's Embrace. Instead, she performed her superhuman feats with nothing to shield her from being seen. Flying through the streets with a single leap, she barreled through solid brick buildings as if she was a Human projectile. The people inside perished, but to her, that was a good thing. She hopped, using all the strength in her legs to continue crashing into buildings. After six buildings, she suddenly stopped and walked away. The destruction and death she left behind her never crossed her mind for a second. Instead, the apathetic reception of her chaos brought anger. The many witnesses who saw her walk away only stared with absented-minded eyes. Not a single one dared to search for survivors, especially when it seemed like the city was falling apart at the seams.

“I only have one more night left to play,” Servi said as she stood atop a worn-down building on the brink of collapsing. With every passing second, she felt the foundation slip under her feet, even though she stood on the roof.

Her hand went to her eye patch and ripped it off. Since part of it had healed within her skin, a sizable piece of flesh came with it and exposed the innards beneath. Next came her wig. Most of the strands were under her skin and rested on her skull. But even as Itarr cried from Servi maiming herself to tear it off, her thoughts weren’t about the self-inflicted pain.

She focused on the hundreds of people Servi had killed within the past hour. Weapons or not, Itarr had grown tired of the murders. She didn’t believe in Servi’s words that the entire city was their enemy. At least, she didn’t think that way anymore. The death and pain she witnessed were enough for a thousand lifetimes, and she was tired of it. And while she did want to rescue Momo, that was it. She didn’t yearn for the chance to force her captors to pay. Perhaps she did a week ago, but now everything was numb. Even the moon Servi kept speaking to had lost its luster when viewed through Itarr’s eyes.

I just want it to end… I just want to save Momo and go home… if Servi's upset with me for this, then how angry will she be when I have to tell her of my betrayals? Itarr, you’re so stupid… Why the hell are you a Goddess when you’re feeling such emotions? I… I… I want to cry… I don’t understand anything anymore. Servi, what war are you talking about? This is the first time you ever mentioned a war… And then you said you had one more night to play… It’s all confusing to me, and I’m so damn helpless. Nothing has made sense for the past week. Servi, it’s like you’re a new person every day. I—

“Heal my face after I shower. I have no need for any more disguises,” Servi commanded, interrupting Itarr and her monologue. Servi’s hand went to her one disguised eye. She had used a piece of glass from her disguise mask with colored lenses to hide her unique red eyes, but there was no more need for that. She broke the glass and ripped her eye out. Then she used Create Water to produce a stream of water, and she stood underneath while staring at the moon.

The clear liquid entered the two voids where her eyes used to be. Blood and shards of glass rained down, and Servi turned up the intensity. Instead of absorbing her clothes, Servi ripped them off, throwing them to the ground below. The water was boiling hot. True Immortality prevented her from feeling any discomfort, but some of the pain remained.

But when compared to everything going on, the pain being doused in hot water barely even registered. Two bottles appeared next to Servi as the bloody water accumulating at her feet found a crack to fall through. She squeezed out some of the body wash onto her hands and rubbed herself down. Her hands slid over her soapy breasts, rubbing them sensually as they traveled down to her snatch, yet she didn’t feel any pleasure.

She turned around and leaned forward, allowing the flow of water to douse her back. The stickiness of where the blood had attached itself to her remained, so Servi increased the water’s temperature to 120 degrees Celsius. Her skin started to melt. It joined with the bloody water below her, dying it a slightly brighter shade of red. Itarr cried out and forcibly rammed her ID into Servi’s body, but Servi didn’t react. Suddenly, she leaned back. The tremendously hot water poured down her face, entering the black voids that her eyes used to inhabit.

In a way, the very skin melting off was like a caterpillar shedding its cocoon and emerging as a butterfly. It was the final step in the long and arduous task of transforming Servi the Human into Servi the Mad Dog.

Itarr helplessly stared at Servi’s flesh. Trapped in a never-ending cycle of creation and destruction, she knew that an incalculable of stress surged through her beloved’s body. As much as Servi showed nothing even resembling pain, the damage was still there. Such a high amount of willpower couldn't have been developed overnight. A month wouldn't have been long enough. Maybe not even a year. Even a decade of a torturous life wouldn't give rise to the willpower Servi had.

And that only fueled Itarr’s wonder of what kind of life Servi led before the two of them met.

“Now, heal my body.” Servi stepped out from the water and stared up at the night sky. As if time rewound for her, and her alone, the pitch-black strands of her hair slowly appeared. It was only a few stray hairs here and there, but it quickly grew until it passed her ears, only stopping when the longer strands brushed against her shoulders. The empty eye sockets became filled with fleshy tissue. Solid white and lumpy at first, they soon became as red as fire as two black pupils appeared. Then part of the red faded away to become the whites of her eyes, the sclera.

In only a single second, her body had regenerated from its self-mutilated state. Her hand went to the sea of black hair; as silky and smooth as ever, it parted effortlessly. The softness of her scalp felt pleasant and wonderful, especially since she had to stay deformed for nearly a week.

The blessing of having another eye to process information couldn’t go unstated. Servi should’ve been affected by her loss of depth perception, yet True Immortality prevented that.

“I’m feelin’ good,” she said as she submerged her consciousness within her ring. A few minutes inside turned out to be only a few moments outside of it. During which, Servi found a set of clothes and armor that were almost an exact fit. However, since she always wore equipment that never quite suited her, size-wise, she verbally spoke aloud about rectifying that.

"It’d be nice if I had shit that actually fit me. Maybe I’ll swing by an armorer after I’m done with everything?” Servi returned to the ring and searched long and hard for a suitable weapon. Unfortunately, the only thing she found worthwhile was the stock of nadrium weapons she recovered from Parrel’s mansion. Nothing else could withstand her unadulterated strength. “Shit, maybe I need to find a weapon, too. Well, that’s a problem for future me. I guess I can use that sword for the time being.” The weapon the drugged-out man with the bulging veins used appeared in front of her. The blood dripping down the sleek blade stayed well within the two blue pulsing lines. She didn’t know why the liquid couldn’t cross over, but it didn’t matter at all. Her weapon was a tool for killing, nothing more.

She reached out with a single hand, grasping the hilt with a stern grip. “It’s not heavier than a feather,” Servi muttered. She walked away towards the edge of the building and tapped her blood-stained boots on the roof’s safety rail designed to prevent careless people from falling. Somehow, that piece of preventive railing appeared to be the only thing in a decent state.

Out of Servi’s equipment, her weapon and footwear were the only things stained with blood. And she didn’t bother trying to wipe away the crimson because it wouldn’t be long until she was painted from head to feet in the blood of her enemies.

She retrieved the map she acquired a few nights ago and compared it to what she saw. It didn’t take long for her to match up particular landmarks that were somehow still standing, but Servi reassured herself that she would correct that. “I got it! Itarr, that’s the first base we’re gonna hit. It’s somewhere around 10 PM, and there are eight bases marked with a green ‘B.’ We have more than enough time. We’ll destroy seven of them, leaving Deset until the end. I want to look at the despair on Carmelo’s face when I kill him after slaughtering the boss. That son of a bitch thinks he can control me?!?!?! He really thinks he can control what I am?!?!?!? I'll rip his fucking throat out..."

What about the RASP buildings? Are you going to do something with them? Itarr wrote with a pained expression that Servi couldn’t see.

Servi’s two red eyes scanned over her stone ID. “Maybe. I don’t know. If I kill them, I’ll get more power. Besides, they’re probably the enemy. Seems to me that the most optimal choice is to kill everyone. That’s what I’ll probably do.”

But…

Servi turned her head away from her ID, not even bothering to read it. Itarr whimpered, falling and crying into a sense of deep sadness as the ID fell to the ground. When it shattered, turning into red dust and flowing into Servi’s body, the newly healed girl with black hair and red eyes hopped over the building’s safety rail. She activated Feather Fall and kicked off. The building was already on its last legs, and it crumbled and collapsed from such a powerful kick as Servi soared through the air.

She had everything she needed for the banquet of murder that was about to begin. The tools—weapons—were yearning to be used, and the people—locations—were known.

As the host for such an event, she believed it was only admirable to personally deliver the invitation—death.