Killing

Chapter 50: Killing

Hey, this is your author here. Yes, I know that a self-insert is usually rare, but I think this is the perfect time. Chapter 50 is a big milestone, after all, so I have decided to introduce myself here.

As you might know, my name is Liam. Liam K. R., to be precise. I'll keep my surname entirely hidden, but do feel free to speculate what the K. R. stands for. I just want to thank you all. Whatever capacity you may find these writings in, I'd be happy for anyone to see it.

To be quite honest with everyone, I was never sure if I would even go and make this book public. Even now, I don't quite know how to do it, but I think releasing it in volumes would be fun. I'm unsure of a title, but hey, in case you know the final result, I'll at least document that the working title up until now has been "Adventures of a reincarnated Catboy".

Hm, what else is there to say? I'm proud of how far I've gotten with this, and I hope that in the future, we will see each other again. Perhaps in chapter 100, then? I suppose that would be an appropriate time for me to shortly interject.

Well, I'll no longer take away your valuable time. Please, do enjoy the next segment of worldbuilding. It's always a joy to do those small segments to get into the zone, after all.

/What on Chronagen has happened to this world? Have all things gone mad?

The dragons have gone mad with their power and immortality, declaring a formal war on their lesser bretheren of xialj, the serpent people.

Then, the demons have broken their long standing allegiance with the devils. they have begun a terrible, terrible war, and while I have only heard tales of the destruction and flames in the west, I do not dare look more closely, for even being near those warmongers could get one killed.

But this is not even the worst. The dwarves and giants in the far north have disappeared. They retreated underground, so far into their everlasting halls that no one has seen a trace of them ever since. They even closed all of the entrances to their city and closed them shut so thoroughly that they can no longer be opened without shaping entire mountains themselves.

To the south, the water-dwelling gwan have gone mad, rising from their lakes and fighting the elves for larger territory and hunting grounds, and the usually peaceful folk has begun a brutal retaliation, massacring any and all who would take a step into their territory.

But what is worst is the beastkin. Their feral instinct have taken over their minds, and they have begun slaughtering all humans in our city. I fear that as more survivors seek out shelter in our camp, we will run dry of resources.

We cannot hunt, for fear of being hunted, by the pointy ears or the beasts, we cannot travel as all around us we are blocked. It feels like we have been trapped within a cage of the gods' making.

Is this the end? Has this world truly gone mad?/

A part of "The Remnants of Humanity", written in the first book, by the ancient chronicler El-Ro.

- - - - - -

This chapter contains depictions of violence that may not be suitable for all readers. Viewer discretion is advised.

- - - - - -

The battlefield was pandemonium.

Mercury had never seen war, but he had always hated the thought of it. He never joined the military. He hated the thought of the regime there, and quite frankly, he would even prefer his hated job as a bureaucrat to the army.

Sure, he had a sucky boss, but at least he still had his humans rights... most of the time, at least. Sure, he would be yelled at and didn't get a lot of sleep, but having every detail of his life micromanaged... what a disgusting thought.

Mercury spit on the ground next to him, then forced himself back to reality. Because, as a matter of fact, people around him were dying. People that he somewhat cared about. He could even see Marcel somewhere in the fray, conjuring up a shield to stop an arrow every now and then.

Right, he should make himself useful.

Mercury nodded to himself again as he started running across the plains towards the forest. He sure as fuck wasn't taking on any human swordsman without some proper armor, but backstabbing a couple of archers? Now that was more doable.

The cat ran across the fields at a decent speed, avoiding many of the boots that got close to him. There wasn't much fire going his way, since he was just a mopaaw, even though he sure was a weird looking one. Maybe the pet of a tamer, sure, but those were never quite worth full soldiers, so he was able to make his way through relatively decently.

Only at the very end before he reached the forest, some archers and a spearman tried to get at him, but when Mercury used his mana veins, his stamina vessel, as well as <Dash> all at once, he got a burst of speed that immediately propelled him over the attacks and into the shrubbery, where his cloak made for very good camouflage.

Of course, he himself was still light, but he already got sprinkled with some grass and dirt, and quickly took another two rolls on the ground to help with that. He could still hear shouts and metal hitting metal over in the east, but for now, he wasn't too close to the centre of the fray. Instead, he could now occasionally pick out the soft twang of a bowstring.

The mopaaw looked around for a little while, but was soon able to spot one of the archer. They may have been stationed well, and weren't very easy to see for most people, but then again, his eyes were made for a predator.

Immediately, Mercury used <Sneak> and <Quiet> as much as possible so he could inch his way a little closer, and with all of the hectic going on where the archer was aiming, sneaking up was very doable. Within half a minute, Mercury was behind his first target, and then he hesitated.

Of course, as someone from the 21st century, this seemed immoral to him. He didn't really want to kill someone, and with this choice in front of him, he could certainly understand the weight of it.

Mercury had always valued life, sometimes more, and at the end of it all quite a bit less, but he still didn't feel like it was fair of him to take some else's life away. Well, not by his standards at least.

For a moment, the cat hesitated, but then he took a deep breath. He was in the middle of a battlefield, he couldn't stop at this. If he hesitated, other people were going to die, and did he really want to risk-

As Mercury was in thought, his ears twitched, and he heard the twang of a bowstring, followed by a pained yell.

Even moments of hesitation were moments too long, it seemed.

He took another deep breath and steeled himself. He was an adult, and if it was necessary, then he supposed he'd have to take responsibility for what he was about to do.

With that, he silently took out his backpack, and hurled four sharp rocks at the archer. Whoever it was, they had not heard his breathing, not the hissing of the rocks over the sounds of battle in front of them, and it was only moments later that they died.

The stones had pierced their cheap leather armor, two of them going through the back of their head and into their skulls, another deep into the middle of their back, and the final one, a little off target, dug itself into the archer's left shoulder.

Immediately, the body slumped down, dropping like a wet sack of potatoes as Mercury grimaced slightly. He took a shaky breath, then walked forwards, and took his rocks back into his backpack and inventory. For once, he had ammunition enough, and sharp one, too, and yet it was the first time he thought about what he was doing.

There was a little adrenaline in his veins, sure, but definitely not as much as the time his life was threatened by a crossbow. Still, he simply pushed it off to think about later, though he did wonder if there was pain involved.

But with a sigh, Mercury moved on. <Steady Heart> was doing its job, after all. And even his willpower was greater than the average human's. It was possible to push it aside, to deal with it later, to face his guilt.

Now was not the time to think, now was the time for action. And with that in mind, Mercury crouched down low to the ground, and scanned his environment again. His ears were ringing a little, and his head was spinning a little, but it was all manageable.

After a few bits of sneaking around, he laid eyes on another target. An archer, male, brown hair, tied back. Tall, and, from what Mercury could see under the dirt caked face, a little older. Perhaps 40, maybe a bit more.

Within a moment, Mercury could see his eyes, focused forward and hard, his lips, tightly pressed together, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled one final time to hold his breath, and without hesitation, Mercury threw himself at the man's bow.

He jumped off the ground with all he had, and all his abilities and Skills, and tackled the side of the weapon, causing the arrow to not go very far before lodging itself into the ground. It didn't matter much who would have been hit by it, Mercury had stopped the attack.

For a moment, he felt dopamine flood his brain, before <Intuition> rang warning bells in his head, but before he could react, he had been slammed in the head by a bow.

Mercury was launched quite a bity, rolling over himself twice before regaining his footing and immediately running.

His sense of direction had been fucked by this, and it took him a moment to realize he was heading deeper into the forest, but as soon as he did, he started to take sharp left and right turns, before he could get something sharp lodged into him.

The mopaaw started panting heavily as he ran, his head spinning, and his version of straight being a little wobbly. He probably had a minor concussion by this point, but he grit his teeth, and jumped onto a tree trunk.

The little guy even managed to spin in mid air, turning around, landing on his feet, and jumping off again to perform a 180, rapidly heading back to the middle-aged man who had smacked him before.

He could feel some blood on his fur as he ran, but he paid it no mind. He needed to stop this man, whoever it was, before he could loose another shot. It was his duty, his reason here, if he couldn't even stop something as simple as that, why was he here?

And so, very quickly, Mercury reapproached his foe and leapt towards the man's face, only to be smacked down onto the ground. This was a soldier with some training, not cannon fodder.

Mercury's world was spinning as he regained his footing, only to immediately roll again, this time out of the way of a curved dagger. The archer had apparently sheathed his bow and was now trying to stab the mopaaw.

The older man's blue eyes were hard as steel, looking down on Mercury as nothing more than a beast, something else to be taken out of his way before things took a turn for the worse. But then, the thing suddenly conjured up a rock from thin air, its inventory, he guessed, and launched it towards him.

Not a worthwhile risk, the man knew that much, and sidestepped the throw, and caught the second attack headed for his foot, only to look back up and see a little ball of fur charging straight at him with more speed than a mopaaw should legally be allowed to build up.

Troublesome, the man thought and clenched his jaw, entering a low stance with his dagger in front of him, when the mopaaw suddenly jumped, conjuring another two rocks from thin air, instantly launching both of them at the man.

The archer was forced to sidestep, but tried his best to keep his eyes on the furball, only to be sorely disappointed with himself when the thing disappeared. Mercury had activated <Dash> and <Stamina Vessel>, as well as vaulted a half successful attempt at <Breath>.

Half success was seemingly still enough though, as his muscles immediately screamed in pain, only for him to see a small notification pop up again.

Strength: 51 -> 52

And moments after, he slammed into the adult man, only to instantly flood his claws with mana and scratch and bite at everything he could. He needed to stop this guy, whatever it took.

"Ahhhh! Littl' fucking beast!!" he screamed out, swiping at Mercury again, and knocking the small monster off himself.

Mercury could barely even stand anymore, but when he looked at the old man, he saw deep gashes on his face, and across one closed, and heavily bleeding eye. Then, he realized that while injured, the soldier was still in decent shape, and his leftover eye was strongly focused on Mercury.

"Oh-oh."

And with that, Mercury darted off towards his now angry foe, wobbling left and right a little bit as the world seemed to slowly tilt. He just had to make it there, just a little bit more...

And then he did, colliding with the man's and instantly scaling upwards.

The soldier tried to swipe, but Mercury dug his claws deep into the bastard's flesh, and wasn't knocked off by the first or second glancing blow. By the third, he had reached the archer's throat and instantly bit down on it.

Mercury could feel the hot blood trickling into his mouth, but he was far too full of adrenaline to recognize what he was doing, and instead wildly shook his head around, tearing flesh away.

Only moments later, he was hit by a heavy blow into his side, knocked to the floor, the dirt sticking to the blood he already had on his face. But by the moments later, he had gotten to his feet, he saw the archer slumped against a tree, holding his throat.

There was no longer malice in his eyes, only a silent panic as he covered the grizzly wound in an attempt to stop the blood, giving off soft gurgling sounds as he slowly bled and choked to death.

Mercury's feet were rooted to the ground as he watched this. He couldn't move them, somehow, and he watched in abstract horror as the seconds stretched out for an eternity, before finally, the man's eyes grew empty, and his body slumped over forward.

And for a few seconds longer, Mercury stood there in shock, silently watching the body, before another yell from the battlefield shook him awake again.

The cat took a long, shaky breath, and then another. He could taste the iron and earth in his mouth, feel his fur caked with grime, and the bruises all over his body ached terribly. His head was spinning, and he still couldn't walk straight, as with every step, it seemed as though his world was tilting.

But when the floor grew closer to his face, Mercury breathed yet again, and then once more, as he took another step forward. He was slowly sinking into a state of ihn'ar, because he understood what he was doing. Breathing, walking, and fighting. A battle inside and outside.

He took just one more step forward.

[<Limitlessness> has levelled up! <Limitlessness lv. 1 -> 2>]

And then just another step. And one more. A few deep breaths, hearing the ringing in his ear, and looking around the distorted world for an archer. None?

Just one more step.

[<Limitlessness> has levelled up! <Limitlessness lv. 2 -> 3>]

Just one more. If he could take out just one more archer...

- - - - - -

Rondo was still on the walls when the battle raged, and so were most the guards. They were providing long ranged support for now, but in a few minutes, the godseekers would pull back to sort out their wounds and rest their stamina for a moment, as the guards took over.

Rondo saw that the enemy army was surprisingly well organised. They were swarming Avery and Iris, providing them little opportunity to move freely, and not giving them many chances to carve bloody paths into the army. Of course, the two of them, with Lucia's support, still performed amicably.

All of the godseekers did, in his eyes, but most of the time, they were fighting enemies that were equal to them in level, with a lot more drive to fight. After all, the seekers could, in the end, just run away. Walk into another city. But the northerners?

This was do or die for them.

Rondo ran his hand through his beard, cursing his age in his head, scanning the battlefield for the general, when he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

His eyes narrowed for a moment, then he turned around with quite a smile.

"Well, if it isn't count I'htar. What brings you here?"

"Captain Rondo, it is a pleasure," the man said, his voice smooth as silk. He was wearing a black suit, with vertical, grey stripes, and looked immaculate as usual.

Count I'htar was a man in his late 30s, always well kempts, tall, and slim. He had sharp eyes, and brown hair that had just enough red in it to add some fire. His eyes were a deep brown, always seemingly mulling over many things, but also sharp and focused. His nose was thin, and a little long, his lips pale, but slightly glossy.

"Yes, yes, sure. What brings you here, count? We're having a bit of a situation, so please get to the point quickly," Rondo said, eyeing the man in front of him up and down. He wasn't particularly tall or strong, but if the count was here, there must be a point.

"Well, I do believe that you could use some help, no? It just so happens that one of my security agents, one of with many eyesight-related skills has figured out where the enemy general is hiding."

Rondo's eyes widened at this. "Where?!"

"And yes, you may think there is a price to it, as the bank usually does business that way, but not this time. Though perhaps you'll get out loans when this is over, the interest we offer is better than that of the merchants anyways," the count said, a slight smile on his lips.

Rondo, on the other hand, simply was clenching his teeth. He grabbed the count's shoulders, moving his face closer to the much smaller man's. "Men are dying, count. Where??"

"In the forest, Rondo. About 600 meters west, and another 150 north," I'htar said, still smiling confidently. It would have been better for business to let this rage on a little longer, but it would have been a gamble. Maybe some houses would have been broken, but it could have also ended in some of his businesses damaged.

Additionally, corpses wouldn't need new weapons. No new weapons, means no gold being loaned from him, and no loans means no profit. So, I'htar saw this as the chance to strike.

Without a moment's pause, Rondo let go of the smaller man, stepped to the edge of the wall, and formed his hands as a funnel around his mouth. Then, after a deep inhale, his voice bellowed out over the battlefield.

"AVERY!!! 400 WEST, 100 NORTH FROM YOU!!!!"

And then, as the master of the Godseekers' Guild heard the words, Avery looked back and nodded. Within a few seconds, he slammed a potion down his throat, and his muscles bulged as steam began pouring off him en masse.

And then, with the ground cracking a little, and a howl of wind, Avery was gone from where he stood.