บท 10: Monster

"Well, that should about do it… Venessa, how is Lia doing?"

Standing back up, Alex paid no more attention to the former knight leader which he had left of death's door groaning incoherently in agony after not only skinning him alive but also removing most of his non essential organs and muscles.

"She's still sleeping."

Catching sight of the state Alex had left the knight leader in Venessa became even more impressed with her new (self proclaimed) lord, not only did he possess an extremely high affinity and control over chaos, but he was also able to torture someone so masterfully. Instantly sensing Venessa's deepening respect for him, Alex's mood soured.

While he did hold a certain amount of professional pride for his own skills which had painstakingly perfected, it was not something he was proud of.

"My lord, should I deal with the knights that escaped?"

"You can do that Venessa?"

Having long since resigned himself to the fact that most of the knights would escape and potentially call for reinforcements, Alex was slightly surprised at Venessa's eager sounding suggestion.

"If you leave it to me, my lord. While I can't torment them to your standard I will make sure they all die in agony."

"No need to make them suffer, just kill them."

"... Why not make them suffer, my lord? Don't you hate them for that they did to Lia?"

Finding Alex's softness quite unexpected, Venessa couldn't help but ask for his reasoning, something Alex had long since expected would happen.

"Because cruelty is a psychological weapon that will only remain effective when used with restraint."

"Understood, I'll make sure to take that lesson to heart, my lord."

Bowing to show her respect, Venessa drew in the chaos in the ground she currently stood on as a series of crest engraved into her flesh lit up bright purple. Uttering an incantation in a long dead language Venessa gladly paid her painful atonement without flinching before unleashing her spell. Although Alex saw nothing more than a surge of chaos, the spell Venessa had used managed activate before he could ask what she had done. With a loud buzz, countless hornet like insects started flying out from under Venessa's cloak as if a plague had suddenly been unleashed. The hornet like creatures with massive fangs and greatly pronounced stingers quickly spread throughout the city, hunting down every single escaped knight before stinging and biting them to death, a process which was as painful as it was slow.

"Did you even hear what I said?"

"Of course my lord, this was the quick and comparatively painless way for them to die."

"Okay, then let's get out of this place fast. I'll pick up the both of you."

While trying to ignore what Venessa had just mentioned about being stung and bitten to death by insects being mercy Alex walked over and picked up both Lia and Venessa before the latter could protest.

"We're moving, don't bite your tongue."

"W-wait a second!-"

Immediately biting her tongue even as Alex warned against it, Venessa suffered for a full hour after that as Alex ran faster than a car on a highway without much of the shock absorption which would make such a trip even slightly enjoyable.

Meanwhile, Lia simply slept through it all, partly because of her injury, but also because she was already used to being carried around by Alex at extremely high speeds.

"AAAAAARRRAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!!!"

"My lord!"

"I know! Hold her down!"

Having spent a few days on the road with his new companion, Alex had slowly started getting used to being called lord like he had some claim to a stake of land, like a far off prince from that fairy tale book he had found in a landfill.

"AAAAAARRG!!!"

"I know it hurts Lia, but please don't trash around so much!"

Recently Alex had spent his time tending to Lia after he had found an abandoned farm with the help of Venessa who had used those strange insect creatures to scout the area. Holding down Lia as she continued thrashing around in pain Alex continued attempting to heal her spine which seemed to have fused incorrectly as it had healed, leading intense pain to assault her in waves of her own consciousness until she fell unconscious from exhaustion.

(The only thing I can do at this point is just hoping that she gets better with time… Even if I tried doing surgery I can't just eyeball something like that without some support equipment.)

Eventually, Lia once more lost consciousness, leaving her exhausted comrades behind.

"... Do you think her condition is improving?"

Collapsing limply on a chair Venessa spoke out from under the mask she was still wearing to hide her face, but unlike when Alex first met her she was no longer wearing a cloak to cover her unkempt long black hair and the light blue simple dress she wore beneath her heavy cloak, whenever she moved around she would reveal her incredibly thin constitution, if she fell over dead in Alex's former world she wouldn't even be hauled off to reprocessing.

"She's slowly getting better but her mind might break before she has recovered… More importantly, will you be able to hold out until then?"

"... I hope so, are you perhaps worried about me, my lord?"

"A bit, my policy is to repay favours owed and you saved Lia's life."

As Lia once more fell quiet Alex started thinking about his future plans, even if he had somehow dealt with the knights that were hunting him down Alex was not naive enough to think he would be left alone after that.

(If anything I need to escape out of this country… Or perhaps even past that as those knights seemed to have some sort of connection to a religion of some sort. Fuck.)

From what he had seen of this new and strange world so far, instituted religions carried a lot of weight here and even if he escaped out of the country they might chase him to the end of the world to kill him if he made enough noise, something he feared he had already inadvertently done.

(At this point in time it would be easier to disappear if we found somewhere to lay low, preferably somewhere densely packed with people coming and going and a loose moral code on top of that…)

"... Is there even any place near this place where one can lie low and disappear?"

"Eh? What's wrong with this place, my lord?"

"Too many things to list… Is there any large and preferably lawless city somewhere nearby we can move to?"

Presented with a sudden serious question from her lord, Venessa chose that moment to better understand the person she had now chosen to follow.

"Is a city really that easy to hide in?"

"Yeah, it's my preferred terrain… Or rather, I lived my entire last life inside a city, so it's what I know best."

Although Alex had no idea of the cities of this world he figured they would at least somewhat more comparable to the mega blocks of the northern European economic zone that he was used to than this empty wasteland.

"Your last life?"

"Yeah, my last life or that's at least what I'm calling it for now. Before waking up in this body I was a 'normal' human living in the slums making my living as an unground doctor and a black market extractor dealing in cybernetic enhancements."

Having figured that things would be easier if he explained his circumstances, Alex chose to reveal his last life to Venessa, everything from how he was abandoned by his parents in a slum and left to die to the criminal empire he founded and how he died after being betrayed.

"Although you probably don't believe me, I wanted to tell you and Lia the truth. You can just forget what I said if it didn't-... Why are you bowing like that?"

Before Alex could finish explaining himself Venessa had bowed down on the floor in front of him, prompting Alex to sigh deeply as he felt this kind of thing had happened way too much lately.

"It is said in legends of old that remarkable people hailed as heroes who were killed unjustly would be granted a second chance at revenge by being reincarnated into a new body made of pure chaos by the old ones. Those heroes of legends were blessed by the old ones and granted complete control over chaos, something you have already demonstrated, my lord. Please allow me to follow you to my last breath, it is the foremost wish of all followers of chaos to serve those heroes of legend."

(... That actually makes a tiny bit of sense.)

Thinking about the events he had experienced so far, Alex could accept the fact that his 'soul' or something like that, had been transported to this world and given a new body after his execution, the only question is why anyone would do that and for what purposes.

(So if what Vennessa is saying is true I was brought here by a 'god'... Those old ones, or whatever.)

DON'T DISRESPECT US, CHILD.

"!!!"

Suddenly the world came to a complete halt as an unimaginable presence descended on the world. The presence's voice came from every and no direction at the same time, like a punch from a powered exoskeleton it landed in Alex's stomach, knocking the 'air' out of him as he fell to his knees. While pain filled his body, Alex's mind was filled with a primal fear as the presence further manifested around him.

BECOME POWERFUL CHILD, SO YOU CAN FULFIL THE PURPOSE OF YOUR BIRTH, AND SO YOU CAN ENTERTAIN US.

FAILURE TO DO BOTH WILL LEAD TO SUFFERING.

Leaving with those worlds the presence dissipated as the world once more started moving, except for Alex of course, who still was frozen stiff in fear. In an instant, Alex had been made to realize some very important things: 1, he had been brought to this world for some purpose, and 2, whoever or whatever seeded him to this world was far more powerful than himself and 3, they could read his mind.

"O-okay Venessa, raise your head. If you want to follow me I'll use you for my purposes, just don't ever call me a hero, if anything I'm a monster."

(A monster summoned by something far worse than the devil… But that works out perfectly, I'm the kind of person who works with the cards dealt by me, no matter what.)