What If Grey was wearing a mask his whole life as Arthur, as he struggled to adapt to himself having emotions, and the death of his father finally broke the mask he was wearing, revealing his true self Slowly returning to his old self, a monster, and a cold-blooded killing machine.
Arthur POV
I looked at my father's corpse as I didn't drop a single tear nor felt any sadness, but I felt something changed inside me, something locked open.
"Arthur" Sylvie called, but I ignored her as I was embracing the feeling of my old self
I didn't need emotions it made me weak, pathetic, incapable to think with logic, and to be unable to make logical sacrifices. This was war, and we needed to win to free ourselves from the shackles the other continent wants to tie us up with. If no one is willing to throw away their emotions then I'll do it myself. I flew back to the castle my gaze cold, and my face expressionless like who I was before I came to this world. A cold-blooded killing machine that is driven by revenge, and rage. I walked towards my room to change and went to the training grounds, as I cut off my mental link from Sylvie completely. In my old world, it may be impossible to fight an army alone, but in a world of magic, there are countless possibilities to do the impossible. I could make up with my quadra elemental, and mana rotation, I experimented on myself on new magic and trained my swordsmanship to be precise, fluent, direct, faster, and stronger. I locked myself inside for nearly a week as the activities I did were only train and train, trying to be better than before. Create new ways to utilize magic to its fullest. I managed to create a few useful tricks in there such as reversing the flow of air inside someone, creating water bubbles that would stick on my enemy's head drowning them, inserting shards of ice inside someone's body then growing the ice shards inside creating spikes from the insides tearing their bodies apart, and combining soil with dirt to make mud and using it to slow my enemies.
I trained the entire day only stopping to eat and drink. I left the training room feeling somewhat refreshed after that. I walked back to my room to see Sylvie inside staring at me.
"Where were you I couldn't feel you or connect to you at all wha.." Before she could continue I reconnected our link, and simply showed her why.
"Arthur you'll only hurt yourself if you continue your path," She said
I scoffed at her words "I hurt myself when I decided to have emotions Sylvie" I said as I changed my clothes
"I don't need them, never did never will" I simply said as I left my room
I walked around the castle to meet Virion, as I walked a few people greeted me but I just ignored them and kept walking until I entered the commander's room.
"Commander Virion are there any missions that you have available at the moment," I asked
"Are you sure you just.."
"I'm sure commander," I said firmly cutting him off before he could continue
"Ok," He said nervously
I was sent on a mission to Darv. I left for Darv leaving Sylvie behind in my room. When I arrived I could see signs of a battle that happened not too long ago. I entered a camp where the captain was. I received the report and went to where the Alacryans were stationed. I spotted a few thousand of them. Hovering above them with mirage walk I slowly manifested a tornado big enough to swallow them all. A few alacryans were left alive as I killed the remaining with Dawn's Ballad. I plunged, dissect, split, burnt, tore, froze, suffocate, drowned, and zapped many mages killing them all from the pain. I left a dozen or so alive by just breaking their cores. As I prepared to interrogate them my scroll buzzed. I ignored it and placed it back into my ring, I walked towards them already knowing what to do.
"Now you're going to tell me what I want to know or you'll be leaving to the gates of death today, and your God won't be able to stop me," I said as I conjured fire in my index finger. I pulled one of the alacryans towards me making sure the others could see what I was about to do to him. I used the fire in my finger, and placed it under his palm, and froze him so only both his palm, and his head were unfrozen. I placed the fire for a few minutes before I began to hear the alacryan mage howl in pain as his hand slowly changed colors. I then moved my finger under his other palm. I did the same until a big hole had formed from the alacryan's once whole palm, leaving a big black hole which he's still screaming until now. I used my water magic and washed his wounds by covering them with hot boiling water so the wound would sting, as I slowly broke the ice that was freezing his feet, as I did the same thing with both of his feet. A few minutes later two more holes formed in both his feet each having one big hole. I also covered his feet with hot boiling water, making his screams of pain more louder. I waited until he stopped shouting when he stopped I stood back up and walked towards him ignoring his begs, sobs, and pleading. I started to pull his fingers one by one as I covered it with hot boiling water for each individual finger, I turned back to the other people making the flinch, and some even piss their pants. I continued focusing on the man who was inside my Ice coffin as I once again waited for him to finish screaming. When he finished I started to ask him questions and every second he waits to answer I either broke his bone or dislocated his bones. So far I've broken three fingers and dislocated both his shoulder. With the right motivation, he answered my questions. I killed him afterward giving him a quick and painless death. I turned to the Alacryans who were still chained.
"That is the best act of mercy I could offer either that or you could die slowly, and painfully as the man experienced before I killed him," I said as I dragged another one
I ignored his cries and screams as I put him on the same kind of coffin next to the other man.
This time I asked him questions and for every second he takes to answer that's one minute of his palm on fire. He answered quickly and was specific. Satisfied I killed him as promised quick, and painless, I proceeded with the others, some of them gave up instantly while the other made me leave them limbless, even then they still refused to answer so I plunged an earth spear through his chest, and rose the spear up letting him hang there until he eventually died.
Varay POV
I was sent to check on General Arthur because he didn't respond to the commander's call. I flew towards where the captain pointed, and when I arrived there I was shocked as I felt a shiver run down my spine, as I saw corpses everywhere, but the worst part was at the middle where I saw nearly a dozen ice coffins as I walked closer I realized there were body parts inside, and out scattered on the floor. hands with holes in the palm some with fingers some lost a lot of fingers. I saw feet in the same position as I looked inside the coffins I saw how wrecked their bodies were, even I as an enemy felt bad for them, as I inspected the worst wounds that were inflicted. I saw a mage's body plunged with several ice, and earthen spears as I saw some losing their eyeballs, ears, and tongues. Some weren't suffering as bad as them, but some even to the point I picked up a whole arm with a dislocated wrist. As I followed the path of Ice coffin I heard screams I fasten my speed to see General Arthur interrogating the last remaining mage alive, but his condition was beyond bad, as he already lost all his limbs, his eyeball on the floor, one of his ear cut off, and his wounds were covered in boiling water, as General Arthur kept beating the man without his gaze fazed, and expression change. As I saw him plunge both of his hands inside the man's flesh where ribs were supposed to be located, and ripped one out by force making the man scream in agony, but he didn't stop here as he healed the man just enough so he won't die. General Arthur then took another rib from the mage, even from this distance I could see tears forming from the mage's eyes. I knew they were our enemy but this was just wrong and messed up in many different ways. Even I didn't dare to stop General Arthur when I saw his gaze, his once bright face replaced with an expressionless gaze, and a beast's eyes. In the end, I watched as the man was slowly dismantled bone by bone, parts by parts until he eventually died. I turned my gaze back at the young general, to see him just staring at the corpse, but then he cleaned his clothes, face, and hands that were covered in blood, a few seconds later he was clean. I recorded the whole process with an artifact and stored it quickly before he saw me his gaze was like a predator staring at its soon-to-be lunch.
"General Arthur" I shouted as I forced myself to get closer to him even when I felt my body telling me to run, to turn back, to not meet his gaze.
"I've come under the commander's orders to come and check on you, and pick you up back to the castle if you were done," I said as I tried to be as confident as I could.
"Yeah I'm done let's return," He said his voice with no signs of trauma from what he just did
Our flight back to the castle was awkward, as I constantly kept him in check afraid he'll kill me for witnessing what he did. When we returned to the castle I parted ways with Arthur as I waited for him to exit the commander's room. After he exited I went in to show the commander the recording.
Virion POV
Lance Varay ented a while after Arthur had just left, but when she entered it looked as if she was cautious, as she slowly closed the door making sure no one was outside.
"Commander I have something to show you," She said as she took out her recording artifact, and played what was stored in there
I watched it for the first time still in disbelief as I asked her to replay it once more.
"Commander I think it's best to let Lance Arthur take rest for a few days to calm him down" She suggested
The sights of the people in the ice coffin came through me as I nodded in agreement, it wasn't weird or prohibited to torture an enemy, but Arthur's action for a teen was too brutal even brutal than what he did to the wykes brat, to say the least as I replayed the scene where he slowly dismantled someone's ribs.
"Lance Varay for now call in a meeting with the other council members we need to vote this first," I said
He didn't seem like he did it out of anger or revenge as I pictured his expressionless face. It just seemed that he was used to it, as the agony screams the mage let out rang inside my head. I sighed and sat on my chair as I pondered on what to do. The meeting started an hour after I told her to call them. As we all sat down
"Commander Virion may we know the reason for your call," Blaine asked
"I wish for you to look at a recording and I wish for a vote after all of you see, and hear the whole recording," I said as I started the recording
I saw gasps and screeches throughout the recording.
Alduin POV
Whatever I saw Arthur as before completely changed me as I saw the recording of the way he tortured the enemy mage, and the condition of the other enemy mages one by one all of them at least lost some parts of their body. Their scattered remains on the floor, pools of blood surrounding each ice coffin. As I saw Arthur's gaze not fazed as he's used to it, and his expression not changing at all from the beginning until the end. I knew this was a recording, but I felt as I was truly on the battlefield watching live as Arthur slowly dismantled the mage, from his limbs to his bones, and until the mage died. I felt one thing and one thing only after watching the recording as I could also see the other having the same reaction as me. Dread was the only word that seemed right to express what I had witnessed, a teen boy doing something even our dungeon torturers weren't capable of. The video ended as I felt sweat traveling from my head, down to my body.
Blaine POV
My first impression of the boy was that he was dangerous. But what this video showed me was something I didn't think a teen boy would be capable of. Even I felt shivers traveling to my spines when I heard the mage scream in agony begging not to be released or spared, just simply to be killed. Arthur broke him thoroughly, and slowly as he dismantled the mage, and still beat him from time to time. After this no matter what I didn't want Arthur anywhere near my children.
Merial POV
When I first met the boy when he was young my first impression was he was a bright boy, until the discussion of Tessia's kidnap, he turned cold disregarding any thoughts if we were the royal family or not as he only bowed out of respect. Seeing him now a teen already dismantling people fears me of what will happen to the boy, but he didn't seem to be traumatized as his gaze just simply stayed the same from the beginning until the end of the video.
Priscilla POV
I knew that he was a friend of my childer, as I've only met and talked to him a couple of times but seeing him in this recording made me fear him for he didn't even hold back when he interrogated all those mages, getting any information no matter what he needed to do, as I focused my gaze on his eyes, and expression that stayed the same, I felt like I was watching a predator simply dismantling its prey to prepare for a feast. I didn't know how scary he was until the commander showed this to us all.
Virion POV
"Now that you've seen the recording the vote that I mentioned last time was about letting Arthur rest for a while, and not partake in any missions at the moment until let's say three days." I said
"So please raise your hand if you agree" I continued
Everyone raised their hands, as quickly as they could. I could see the fear they had in them towards Arthur as I also began to fear what the boy might become after the war. Will he stay like that forever? I asked myself that question