Hive Mind

Mortimor slammed his blade down, but a black fog clouded the area, making him immediately jump back. Gunn was about to fall on his stomach, but he was caught by none other than Marshy.

Marshy whispered, "You brat. I can't believe I came to save you. You're gonna kill yourself."

Marshy vanished, the fog cleared, and Mortimor stood there alone. He huffed and puffed slowly.

'I let them escape. It is because I'm at my limit? No..I failed once again. I can't face Bramwell like this.'

"Oh Mortimor." A woman's voice said behind him.

He turned around, and he saw the maid Catherine, standing there with a sinister smile.

Mortimor said, "I failed again. I can't face Bramwell like this. Please let me do this."

Mortimor put the Guillotine weapon to his own self, and was about to end it, but in the blink of an eye, Catherine stopped him. She held his arm, saying with the same sinister smile, "Oh no. Bramwell would not like that. He needs you, remember?"

"But I failed him! He took me in when no one genuinely cared for me."

"You'll be failing him even more if you do this. Cutting off ones head is the key to stopping all regeneration abilities, and Gunn couldn't even succeed in killing you. You're still useful. But whoever that woman was that saved him, you wouldn't have won due to your current status."

"How in the hell am I supposed to face him?"

"Go see him. Dear Mortimor. Embrace the fathers love for us. If he wanted to kill you, he wouldn't have sent me. You know he's in pain. Seeing his forces lose against only two people. One being Gunn, and another one being unknown. Due to Bramwell's rage, his command and obey would have ravaged this entire city. His daughter would've been caught up in it, but you took up the mantle to stand in for him. That's what matters." Catherine smiled maliciously.

Mortimor lowered his weapon, saying, "Okay. What are you going to be doing? Gonna escort me or something?"

"Nope, got specific orders from Bramwell."

"Tch. Have fun."

Mortimor was walking, walking past automatons that were cleaning the area, even the medial workers and medical automatons helping the wounded.

'Gunn..my rival..I'll have your head next time, I swear it. I'll get even stronger, and stronger, so I can end you in one attack. I won't fail again. That's a promise. Bramwell is the judge, jury, and I am the Executioner. I will do my duty.' Mortimor thought.

Catherine watched him, smiling brightly. Suddenly, her smile slowly faded into a menacing frown. She turned around like some robot, and began walking. She walked faster and faster, thinking about Bramwell. She thought about the night she and him had where they were loving each other, their hands feeling each other, the soft sounds they let out.

She walked faster and faster, and then she started running, she ran faster and faster, and she leaped in the air, twisting, and she punched into a building, shattering a large hole out of it. She landed in the building, and there were over a dozen constables sitting in there, fearing for their lives as they were huddled up against each other. 

They exclaimed in fear:

"W-We did our best!"

"We did everything we could!"

Catherine, keeping a menacing straight face that poured out bloodlust, walked forward slowly, "You fools ran from the fight. You ran from your duties, you didn't save a single soul. The Empire is about public safety, we defend the people, not run from them. You know those who desert their duties die."

"Please! Give us another chance!"

"Gunn is out on the run. If you bastards hadn't run…" Catherine's smile curled like a psychopath, "..Then maybe we would have his head..hehe.."

"Please! Please! We'll do it right this time!"

"I'm not sorry for this.."

THOOM!

THOOM!

SHIING!

KATHOOM!

The front of the building blew up, and Catherine walked out of it as smoke was coming from her body, and she was holding the bloody decapitated heads of the constables, her maid dress was covered in their blood and dust. 

She smiled, "Bramwell is definitely going to praise me! I'm so happy to be his lover.. will he finally propose after this? Calm down, calm down Catherine! I kill for him, I help his daughter, he'll eventually propose! Trust the process!"

…

…

Gunn's consciousness slips into a vivid, otherworldly vision, a manifestation of his deepest fears blended with the ephemeral comfort of lost loves.

Snowflakes glide gently through the cold air, forming a silent, white curtain around Gunn as he finds himself standing in a vast, snowy landscape. Each breath creates a mist that lingers like a ghost in the frosty air, and his footsteps crunch softly beneath him, the sound stark against the muffled serenity of the snow-covered ground.

Ahead, figures appearâ€"shadows at first, then gaining color and form. Gunn's heart clenches as recognition dawns; it's his family, their faces glowing with warmth and life, just as he remembered from his distant, happy past. They were taken from him by the Empire when he was just a child, slaughtered mercilessly, but here they are now, almost tangible, calling him.

"Gunn!" his mother's voice rings clear, a melodious sound he thought he'd never hear again. She waves him over, her smile wide, enveloping him in a surge of joy he hasn't felt in years.

"Mother! Father! Wait for me!" His voice is a boy's, unbroken, full of hope and desperation to bridge the years lost. His legs move of their own accord, half-running through the deepening snow, his family always just a few paces ahead, leading him onward.

His sister, a few years younger than he was when the tragedy struck, giggles and beckons him to hurry. "Come on, slowpoke!" she calls playfully, her dark hair fluttering behind her like a flag marking their path.

They pass under the gnarled limbs of frost-laden trees, each step bringing Gunn closer to that which he has longed for a reunion, a redemption, a reversal of all the pain. But as they reach a clearing enveloped in the soft twilight of the waxing moon, the dream shifts, the air thickening with ominous foreboding.

Standing in the center of the clearing, stark against the snowy backdrop, is Chief Bramwell, the infamously ruthless commander of the Empire forces. His eyes glow a demonic red, piercing the twilight like coals in the freezing air.

"Gunn... welcome," Bramwell calls out, his voice both a taunt and an eerie solace. He extends his hand, his stance open but undeniably commanding. "Come, join us, embrace the power you were denied."

Gunn, heart pounding, eyes darting from his inviting family to the imperial nemesis, feels a twist in his gut. This isn't right, they shouldn't be together. Confusion muddles his thoughts; his family's faces are still tender, but their eyes plead with him to flee.

"I don't understand…why are you with him?" Gunn asks, the childlike timbre gone, replaced by the graveness of the man he's become.

"We are always with you, Gunn. We guide you towards your destiny," his father explains with a sorrowful tone infused with a strange finality.

His family steps aside, leaving a direct path to Bramwell. Gunn's brows furrow, a mix of anger and despair seizing him. He knows in his heart this isn't real, just as he knows what must be done.

"No!" he shouts, defiance igniting within. "This is not wrong!"

Gunn charges towards Bramwell, determination etched into every feature. But as he advances, Empire soldiers materialize from the shadows, each a ghostly sentinel awaiting his charge. The points of their spears glint cruelly under the moonlight.

As he reaches Bramwell, the soldiers move as one. Spears drive forward, and one finds its mark, impaling Gunn through the stomach. The shock halts him, pain flashing brilliantly as his vision blurs.

"Even in death, you cannot escape us," Bramwell's voice echoes, distant and cold.

His family fades into the snow-strewn air, their faces dissolving into whispers of what could have been, their final expressions painted with grief and apology.

Gunn's vision darkens, the cold biting, whispering to him at the end. The reality of his bloody battlefield body slips back into perception, his last thoughts, ones of bitter regret mixed with the unyielding desire for vengeance, his spirit collapsing under the Empire's cruel machinations, even in the throes of his mind's final, tragic fantasy.

"AGH!"  Gunn wakes up, he was laying in a bed, and he sat up fast, and he noticed he was in a wooden room with one candle on the wall. Gunn turned to the right, and he looked at his hand, seeing the black veins showing even more. He was half covered in bandages, even the top of his head around his forehead.

"Crap." Gunn said to himself. 

'I overdid it.'

[You are on the brink of death. Any more use of your skill will result in automatic death. 1 quest failed. Completed the Quest : Survive against Mortimor for 5 minutes. Reward: 50% raise of any skill]

"What the hell am I supposed to do then? If I can't use it anymore, what good am I? I'll just be back to where the hell I was before, a powerless brat. I'm impulsive, and too young for this. But I'm ready for it. That's why I'm alive now, right? I have too many flaws, they get in the way.."

On the other side of the door, Marshy, in her normal clothes, sat on the floor, her arms folded, her eyes closed, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

'He sounds just like him.'

"You can stop standing there like a creep."  Gunn said from the room, talking to Marshy.

Marshy gasped, and she walked in through the door.

"You were reckless."

"..Tch. Why did you come after me?"

"Hey, shut up. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let a youngling die because he wants to kill everything, and I'm over here helping him. I made that mistake before, I won't make it again."

"I'm 19."

"Like I said, a youngling. What were you thinking? You barely had a plan, and you almost died."

"..Whatever. I almost..."

"You didn't almost have shit."

"Why do you care so much? I've done nothing to make you save me."

"..Like I said, I'd feel bad for letting a twerp like you get himself killed. I've seen it too much before. Anyway, we need to set things straight. Based on what you were saying to yourself."

"I wasn't talking to myself."

"Sure sure."

"I wasn't!"

"It's okay to be weird."

"I'M NOT. YOU ARE."

Marshy grabbed Gunn's cheek right cheek, and made a puppy face, saying, "Aw, you need to laugh more."

Gunn kept a straight face, replying, "You are lucky I am weary. Laughing at jokes is for the weak."

"But I'm strong as hell, so what's your point?"

"â…Hmph."

"So after everything that's happened, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I don't want to waste time. But I know I'm pretty much useless now. I can't complete that Cursed Tower, that was the only way to get rid of this timer I had for my abilities. But I need to be at a certain level or strength to even clear the first floor."

"Every time you used it, you got weaker?"

"Worse."

"Oh. Want my suggestion?"

"I'm not laughing at your jokes."

"Shut up and listen, brat. Based on what you've told me, this system thing seems to be charging you a deal for using such a great load of power. Before your execution, we killed many constables with the toxic herbs I created. And you used your ability to blend into society and carry out the kills. We could go back to the old fashioned ways, until you get strong enough to clear these towers on your own."

"…You."

'That's not a bad plan. I could go back to being powerless, wait..I'm not exactly powerless. I have enhanced speed, strength, and durability. So it'll be easier to carry out kills. I could still craft things with Marshy's exotics. I guess it's not technically over. Once I reach level 15, I can clear the first floor, and will that buy me more time to use my abilities? I'll use Marshy until I'm strong enough. Why is she helping me this much? I have more heat on me than before..'

[Yes. Each floor you clear will buy you more time. Clearing the entire tower will gain you unlimited time]

'So this fucking thing can read my thoughts? That's new. But I can do this, right?'

Gunn looked at Marshy, saying, "I agree to your terms. But just know, I don't trust anyone, but I barely trust you."

"Oh? How much."

"1%."

"Damn that's low." Marshy frowned, smoking her cigarette even more.

"You trust me too easily."

"In reality, you're harmless."

"What? I'm not afraid to kill anyone or anything. I'm deadly."

"Was that supposed to be badass or something? You're a troubled kid, a victim of the Empire's reignâ€"Bramwell's terror."

As Marshy and Gunn stood in front of each out her, Marshy saw her son from the past in Gunn, and she just kept staring at him.

Gunn asked, "Why are you staring at me? Are you thinking of betraying me?"

Marshy said, "Sorry. I spaced out. So you need to rest here for a few days until you're ready to go out and kill some more of those Empire fucks. I'm gonna go find my two partners, one of which will be training you, and the other, well, that little brat is as crazy as you are."

"Where are we anyway?"

"Under my shop. That's it. Nothing special. Got something bad to say about it?"

"Plenty of things."

"Tch. You should know I decorate things to the core. Anyway, goodbye. Do not leave here until I get back. I don't want to come saving your ass again."

"Hmph. Go do what you are gonna do. I'll be here."

Marshy left, eventually leaving her shop, walking on the sidewalk. Many civilians were in the streets, and constable patrols were on high alert. The murmurs amongst the people were loud:

"We barely escaped with our lives!"

"I knew things were weird once it got too crowded."

"So many people killed.."

"It was Gunn!"

"The Empire needs to deal with him fast! Before there's any more casualties."

"I heard one of the constables who died, their parents embraced some kind of dark power and went berserk, but were taken down by the higher ups."

Marshy walked past them, her hands in her pockets, dressed nicely in a formal dark red and black attire, her white and red hat on her head sitting firmly at the top. 

'The war is just starting, people. Just starting. Whoever wins decides on who makes the first move. And knowing Bramwell, he'll do whatever it takes to be victorious, which requires planning. We're gonna be the ones to win.'

Back in the room, Gunn stood by himself, his fists closed. His frown turned into a malicious smile, saying, "Haha…I have another chance…that stupid Executioner, stupid Bramwell, I'm ready for round 2!"

'I'll do this the smart way this time. I'll try my hardest not to act out of impulse.'

…

(Meeting room)

(Empire base)

Bramwell was sitting in his chair, his daughter Eliza on his lap asleep. In the other seats were General Maston, Magistrate Vonthal, and Engineer Laurette.

The three of them were not saying a word, not even breathing. Sweat ran down their heads, and their hearts pounded. They know Bramwell for being unpredictable. Out of anger, they knew he could just up and kill all four of them effortlessly.

Bramwell said, "I acted harshly. I was about to let my rage consume me and I would've killed everyone out there. Forgive me."

General Maston said, "Chief..."

Without looking at him, Bramwell commanded, "Shut up."

General Maston's mouth was closed shut by an unseen force, making Vonthal and Laurette flinch in fear, their breathing patterns were corrupt, they did their best not to show their fear in front of him.

Vonthal thought, 'Don't show your fear..Vonthal.'

Laurette thought, 'Calm down, my heart. Please let this netting hurry up and be over..'

Bramwell continued, "I brought my daughter here to ensure I wouldn't kill you, to keep myself from killing any of you. For I will not kill anyone in front of her, her eyes will not be cursed with the sight of death or any evil. I cannot taint her eyes with terror. I will go around and ask you all one question, and then this meeting is over. General Maston, give me the status of your forces."

Maston's mouth was open now, and he sighed, "The constables in this district, district 7, have been getting low. In the other districts 1-6, from Hellhun to Gradebell, our numbers of constables are higher there. But this is district 7 of Thornville, there is more criminal activity."

"Then it's settled. We will host exams. Exams to reorganize the constable system of squads and their roles. Starting tomorrow morning, we will be accepting new recruits, those who have what it takes to be a part of the Empire. We will allow 300 recruits to participate."

Vonthal exclaimed in shock, "300?! That's a a lotâ€"."

Bramwell looked at her with glowing red eyes, saying with a straight face, "Did I say something wrong?"

"N-No sir.."

He kept looking at her, staring into her soul. Vonthal's heart pounded even louder every second he looked at her, her hands were sweating. Bramwell stood up, and walked towards her slowly, leaving Eliza in the chair, and he got close to Vonthal. Vonthal didn't look at him, but she wanted to cry. Her eyes were watering, she could physically feel Bramwell's eyes.

"I-I apologize.." a tear ran down Vonthal's eye, and Bramwell smiled.

"Good." He grinned, going to sit back down. "The top 5 recruits of the exams who perform the best will be a part of the main squad, assigned to the Gunn case. Next, Vonthal."

Vonthal jumped slightly, smiling, "Y-Yes, Chief?"

"The black crystals you found in the woods. How can you acquire more? We need to amplify the effects of them. So people won't have to rely on fully embracing its power to become strong as a last resort."

"I-I can search in the same area."

"Have our scholars found their origins?"

"Not yet, sir. But the crystals are otherworldly, putting one alone will disperse whispers from the core of the crystal."

"Odd. Okay. We will find a way to modify them so we can use half of its power instead of using it fully, because it takes a lot to save someone from it. And we are all about saving. Work on that. Next, Laurette."

Laurette with a serious tone, "Yes sir."

"I'm gonna need you to create more rogue Automatons, but work with Vonthal to merge them with the black crystals power. And assign at least one of them for each squad out there in patrols."

"Yes sir. I'll get it done right away."

'Stay on his good side. Don't show fear, everything will go smoothly.'

Vonthal looked at her, thinking, 'How does she stay that calm around this man?!'

General Maston thought, 'Tch. What a bunch of kiss asses. They're scared of Bramwell, so they'll kiss his ass for favor. I was raised to not be a yes man. But here I am, a yes man for a man who could kill me any moment just for looking at him the wrong way. My parents were soldiers!'

Bramwell stood up, saying with a smile, "I am harboring my true feelings behind this smile, so my daughter doesn't wake up and see my true rage. I will be talking to Executioner Mortimor, he will now be my second in command. Now rise."

An unseen force made everyone stand, and Bramwell stated, "We are the Empire. Founded centuries ago by the enigmatic and ruthless Emperor Gaius Thorn, the namesake of the city, the Empire was established on principles of absolute control and the suppression of any dissent. Legend has it that Gaius conquered the warring factions of the region with both occult prowess and militaristic might, later establishing the Empire as a beacon of invincible power. As time progressed, the successors of Gaius continued to uphold his merciless policies but introduced a structured system of governance. The Empire is now ruled by me, a direct descendant of Gaius, who maintains the tradition of strict governance, aggressive expansion, and ferocious law enforcement. The Empire of Thornfield, with its might and dread authority, stands as a bastion of order in a world teeming with clandestine magic and burgeoning industrial might. While some citizens of Thornfield sleep soundly under the protective gaze of the Iron Constables, others lie awake, pondering the cost of security and the price of silence in the shadow of an Empire built on fear and absolute power. Let's not fail my ancestors and the founding fathers of the Empire. Our target is Gunn, the King of Rot. We will kill him!"

Bramwell then screamed, "We will kill him, right?!"

Everyone else's eyes glowed red, and something made them scream, "We will kill him!"

And back in the city, all the constables and automatons' eyes glowed red, and something made them scream in the air, "We will kill him!"

Even In all of the other districts, it was screamed by the automatons and constables.

Mortimor and the maid Catherine just stood in between the constables.

Catherine was smiling, as she was blushing, saying, "Ohohoho, this is Bramwell's doing! We're gonna kill that Gunn!"

Mortimor said, "It has to be done by me. By me only, by my hand. In all of my years, as many beings as I've fought ever since I was a kid, he is my greatest enemy."