Slay the Remnant

Year: 1025

6 MONTHS LATER

"FORMATION!" yelled a booming officer to his troops. Before the man dressed in a white and black military uniform belonging to soldiers of the Empire were about 10,000 troops. These men all shared the same uniform as this officer save for of course little patches indicating their respective lower ranks. On the right shoulder was the symbol of the Imperial Army while on the left was a sigil in the shape of a snowflake which represented the legion they belonged to. In this case, these soldiers belonged to General Esdeath's personal army. Though given past events, this was no longer the case.

Although they were supposed to change the sigil to a new symbol representing their new commanding officer, it was expressed that they keep the representation to demonstrate their pride as being men who served under the legendary general themselves prior to the reorganization of the command chain. They were the Imperial's finest and most ruthless soldiers in the entire military. This group of 10,000 was the best of the best that fought behind the ice queen without fail, subjugating tribal rebels to even taking down the northern rebels for what seemed like a lifetime. Though, their biggest and bloodiest moment in history was when they were tasked with taking down and thoroughly eradicating a clan of assassins who dared to turn their blades to the throats of the empire.

6 years ago to the day, they fell. Yes…5,000 expert killers were erased from existence by this very regiment. They moved like thieves in the night on that fateful night. It was a brutal battle and they lost quite a chunk of troops but before the sun even rose, their camp was torched and bodies upon bodies of dead assassins laid about in rivers of red. It was their foolishness for trying to turn to the Revolutionary Army instead of remaining loyal like the dogs they were before. At least, that was the perspective of those present and those involved with that order. However, for the one who survived and lost everything, this was only a fire of vengeance that was set to ignite a vendetta of incomprehensible proportions.

The brigade present all stood before their superior officer amid a large, temporary military base that was around 100 miles away from the Capital. Far plains of greenery spread far as the base had been established in the plains. Given the fact that there were no trees within sight, it would be hard to attack the base out of surprise.

"Alright, men listen up! Remember that we are here to perform a wide variety of training exercises for the coming war against the filthy rebels along with all those who oppose the crown!" shouted the officer to the multitude of soldiers present. He yelled as loud and as clearly as he could to those present while other officers relayed the message along as they heard his words. Given the well-trained silence of those present, it was hard to imagine that anyone didn't hear the man.

"Squad leaders, you have your orders for your teams so be sure to adhere to the orders you were given! If all goes well, we could be moving out in about 3 days to a week at most so be sure to do right and don't fuck it up!"

"YES SIR!" the collective of soldiers exclaimed acknowledging the directive they were given. Suddenly, daylight had begun to fade away to darkness. The sun had been shining brightly overhead at the time of the formation of the troops. It seemed that it would be a rather mild and beautiful day for the most part but something changed. As the men that stood on the ground gazed up to the blue sky above—which was now turning gray to black—there was an eerie silence. Even the commander had to stop and gaze up above him at the bizarre event.

An otherworldly darkness cascaded in the heavens blanketing the entirety of the oceanic sky blue heavens above and blotting out the sun. The wind that flowed in a light breeze suddenly picked up to violent, howling gusts. The various tents, weapon crates, and even the makeshift stables for the horses had their structures greatly shaken and nearly torn away from the sudden barrage of air. Debris began to flow about as a result of the disturbance in the camp hitting some soldiers in the head and causing injury.

"Batten down the hatches! Secure everything that isn't nailed to the ground quickly! MOVE IT NOW!" ordered the officer. Scattering like roaches, the soldiers quickly tried to obey orders and do as commanded though it would be difficult to move efficiently when numbered at 10,000; however, they did the best they could by working in a coordinated fashion to secure anything that blew around. All that could be heard over the gusts of wind was the yelling of soldiers trying to get everything fastened but soon, they would be faced with more confusion.

A deep, bellowing noise booming like the deepest beat on drums echoed in the skies. It had now begun to thunder which only suggested that this weather was going to get worse and worse. Tents were nailed down and tarps were thrown over them to provide better protection as the camp was slowly making progress but then an arm of light zig-zagged down from the darkness above and struck down upon a batch of tents. Loud, shrieking, and bloody screams began to echo as bits and pieces of soldiers went flying spraying the ground with splashes of crimson. The result of the impact of lightning had taken out about 10 or more men. This was only worsened by the fact that the resulting heat sparked a fire at the impact site which rapidly began to spread to other tents. The unit now had to deal with securing their stronghold, tending to any injured, avoiding the danger of lightning as well as fighting against fire. It was like the gods themselves hated mankind in this very instant.

More arcs of plasma lunged from the blackness down upon the camp one after the other upon the encampment. With each impact, a group of soldiers had their lives ended and the fires spread consuming whatever was in their path. One shot of lightning streaked across the ground and hit storages of gunpowder that was kept within the military installation. The kegs ignited causing a large explosion that consumed a significant radius within the grounds of the area wiping out hundreds.

"My god…just what the hell is going on?" spoke the officer in horror as he witnessed his men being ruthlessly slaughtered by what appeared to be the vengeance of Mother Nature; however, he didn't know that it wasn't nature or God's fault.

"It's like Budou himself is wiping us out but…no wait…it can't be!" gasped the man but it was then that more waves of electricity struck the grounds causing more pandemonium. As one would be able to bear witness to this horrific sight, one could see that this was not a natural occurrence at all. In fact, it was like the weather was being FORCED to target these men.

More and more blood-gurgling cries echoed in the atmosphere as chunks of human matter and pools of crimson were tossed like salad all over the place. The 10,000-strong legion of soldiers was quickly dwindling in number from this travesty of unfortunate weather.

What appeared to be steel scraping against steel began to melodically take over the sounds that emanated from the terror. Like a hypnotic symphony, it seemingly possessed the minds of the terrified soldiers but the severance of lives didn't end as a result. Rather, it seemingly intensified. Something akin to a pale blue ghost had raced around the fields at speeds that amounted to a blink of an eye. Every time that blur was seen, massive waves of bodies had been diced up and chopped like onions.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

"GOD HATES US! RUN!"

"FUCKING HELL!"

These were just some of the vulgar things that spewed from the lambs as they were slaughtered mercilessly one after the other. The commanding officer of the brigade couldn't do anything but stare helplessly as he witnessed the end of Esdeath's legacy. He stood there, wide-eyed and practically pissing himself as a result.

"General…forgive me for this," he spoke with regret. The blue blur continues ripping through the horde of soldiers tearing them to bits. If the ghost didn't claim their lives, then there was the striking of lightning, smoke inhalation, flying debris, and being burned alive presented as options for the helpless souls to die from. Quite frankly, they didn't stand a chance. As time quickly passed, the numbers that counted into that high thousands soon dropped to just one—the commander himself.

As the man was left standing there to gaze at the embers and scent of ash as well as the stench of charred flesh and the iron smell of blood, he suddenly clutched his body in anxiety. His body was then struck over and over by that blue blur. Numerous cuts appeared along his body but none were fatal or too deep so that he could bleed out.

"Please no! Stop!" he cried out. As though reacting to that plea, the blur disappeared, as a result, replaced by the sound of footsteps walking up to the man. Lightning danced about behind the silhouette of this individual as he made his way toward the officer that was too cut up and mutilated to move. Dark, glowing red eyes shimmered in the darkness while the illumination of the fire as well as the arcs of energy displayed an iconic patch of white among a bush of black hair.

"Please? Is that what you just said? Please? Did you and these men stop when innocent people cried out please 6 years ago?" a brooding voice of seething anger and agitation asked while approaching the man.

"6…years ago? What are you talking…wait…no…I know you!" the officer panicked as he backed away slowly, "You're him! You're the one who killed Great General Budou! That guy that General Aquilo is forever telling us to be wary of!"

"You didn't answer my question, not that it matters anyway," he chuckled as he stepped closer toward the man.

"Yeah, I know exactly who you are now. You're the last of the Order of the Blood Wolves right? The one everyone is calling 'The Red-Eyed Harbinger of Death'! You're…"

"Raizo," he stated finishing the other's sentence with a small smirk on his facial features.

"Yeah…you think that slaughtering my men and I will change anything? And that fighting with those foolish traitors and that rag-tag band of assassins called Night Raid will do anything? You think you can save everyone by overthrowing the Empire?!"

"Tch, I don't give a damn about any of that at the moment. I'm just…getting rid of unnecessary baggage by taking the opportunity to wipe out the 10,000 men who killed everyone I ever knew."

"Heh, you're nothing but a filthy dog that should learn how to kneel before his master. Besides, it's not like you're some symbol that dumbass believers can look up to!" the officer spat. Raizo merely crouched down to the dying man's eye level looking him directly into his irises as if peering into the confines of his very soul.

"Commander, I'm assuming that's your rank, but let me ask you a question. Do I look like some Red-Eyed Hero to you? Look into my eyes; is this the gaze of someone who saves people? No. I'm just someone who knows how to kill and if it manages to help out the innocent, so be it but that's not necessarily my goal. Do you have any final words before you leave this world?"

The officer could only quake in fear and be silent as the domineering stare that Raizo gave him pierced him deeper than any weapon could. The male stood slowly before him drawing a blade from his right side and aiming it toward the commander's neck.

"Blood is the price you pay for your sins in this world of corruption," the assassin spoke before lopping the man's head clean off his shoulders. Shaking the blood off the sharp blade with a flicking motion, Raizo sheathed the weapon before taking a deep breath. He would walk over and grab the man's head before drop-kicking it high into the sky where it would be impaled on the flag pole where the flag of the empire soared. With a snap of his fingers, a bolt of lightning set the fabric ablaze.

"Well…I didn't mean to cause this much of a mess but all things considered, I was able to satiate my vengeance. Forgive me for this sin and let me wash my hands clean. I know I said I'd let this hate go but understand that everything I do is to honor the memory of you…all of you," he spoke. Then, as quickly as he had come, he vanished leaving nature to do its business as buckets of rain began to pour down upon the earth.

Far off located on a nearby cliff were the silhouettes of five people who were watching what had transpired, one stepped forward and spoke.

"My magnificent boy…oh how I cannot wait to see you soon," the voice uttered before a loud snap echoed and the group vanished as well.