Good Soldiers Follow Orders

"Those with power are jealous of those who can live a normal life."

"While those who live a normal life are jealous of the wealth and influence of those in power."

"Both sets of people only see the positive side that the other's lifestyle brings without knowing the suffering and tradeoff in exchange.

"A man with power will never know the terrible feeling of powerlessness that a commoner can feel when suppressed by those with influence and power."

"While a commoner who lives a normal life will only understand the constant struggle for power the cost for its protection when they too have attained that lofty position…."

"Even to the point of sacrificing your love and happiness for the good of your country and citizens, for this is the curse that royal families must suffer for their opulent lifestyles and tyrannical power."

Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in dynasties online.

….

Daemonus coldly looked over a battlefield filled with blood and the dead corpses of thousands of men, a freshly fired crossbow in his hand whose bolt shot through the air like a thunderbolt.

Breathing heavily with axes, which still shined in the sunlight despite being drenched with the blood of her enemies, was an armoured Thorilsia, who stood surrounded by the few surviving loyal soldiers of House Aurellion hugging the dead body of one of her children who had been ruthlessly shot in the heart by the Chavarian commander of the imperial guard.

Her beautifully crafted silver armour, now stained with the blood of her enemies, shone like a beacon of hope for the few alive loyal soldiers of House Aurellion, whom the far more numerous Chavarian force had slowly picked off one by one each dying in a heroic struggle to protect their lady and her family.

The furious Marquess of Nalora had just killed a master-level fighter belonging to one of the many noble families in Chavaria when she heard a young voice cry out in pain before the small body of her youngest son crashed to the ground. A crossbow bolt sticking out from the once cheerful small 6-year-old boy's heart who had a pained look on his tiny face before he died.

With red eyes filled with hatred from watching her youngest son die, she charged at Daemonus, cutting down any man who stood in her way, her grief temporarily turning her into a god of death. The axes, which were expertly wielded, were made from one of the strongest known metals craftable by mortal hands, cut through the steel armour of the imperial guards like paper, many being bisected by the raging Dwarven women who slew a man with each swing of her bloodthirsty axes.

Beside the Imperial Guard Commander rode Flavius, the architect of the day's events, who momentarily closed his eyes before reopening them as a ruler had no right to be guiltless and ignorant of the consequences of their orders and actions. Every cry of pain and anger seared the future crown prince's soul as he calmly watched the grief-stricken women charge towards him with red, teary eyes.

'This was the cost of his future throne.'

'But the suffering of a few thousand loyal subjects is nothing to the hundreds of thousands of innocents who would be sacrificed otherwise.'

"FLAVIUS YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD! I WILL TEAR YOUR FUCKING BODY APART!"

Thorilsia roared, her voice full of heartbroken pain. Standing at the back of the Chavarian was Archtorius, who looked away, unable to watch the bloody battle, his body shaking as he remembered the sword he put through Lucius' back, the man whom he respected the most in this world. The pitiful eyes that did not blame him for his actions would haunt him for a lifetime.

"It's about time."

Daemonus said, dismounting and walking calmly towards Thorilsia, his heart already cold and empty from all the death he had wrought in the emperor's name. The cries for mercy of the emperor's enemies had long been ignored as the commander's sword fell again and again, taking their pitiful lives.

Today would be no different as, on the orders of Flavius, he had initially allowed the nobles to attack alone, promising them great rewards if they could kill the traitors. Little did these greedy nobles know that the imperial family was only trying to deal with their experts and veteran soldiers, as the ones they sent to attack were on the emperor's kill list as they fearlessly sent their men to their deaths against the elite troops of House Aurellion who could fight these low-quality soldiers easily, stacking the body count higher and higher.

It was not long before the two foes met, the imperial guard commander expertly blocking each of the marquess's rage-filled strikes, their fight seeming like a blur to those below the master level.

Dodging one axe, Daemomus sidestepped the other before his sword slashed the dwarf woman's gut, then turned around in the blink of an eye to slash her back before she could defend herself, leaving a large wound, then went back on defence to protect himself from her desperate onslaught of strikes while blood oozed from the fresh wounds that he had delivered.

The few Pelican Guards still alive tried desperately to get to their lady but were mercilessly cut down by the rest of the imperial guards who slaughtered the tired soldiers. The exhausted officers got a few last kills before falling to the Chavarian forces, overwhelming numbers of bloody cuts filling their bodies like paint on a canvas, showing their unwillingness to surrender and determination to protect House Aurellion.

Kneeling on the bloodstained ground while more blood flowed from her wounds, Thorilsia had no more strength left as a multitude of cuts graced her once beautiful, unblemished body. Her hair, now a tangled mess, looked up with rage at Daemonus, who cut her throat, ending her miserable life with an expression devoid of emotion, all the while like a mantra, the same words repeated over and over in his head.

'Good soldiers follow orders.'

'Good soldiers follow orders.'

'An imperial guard's duty was not to worry about whether an order is good or bad.'

'It was to execute it without hesitation.'

Daemonus had to continually remind himself as he was uncomfortable with his orders to exterminate a noble house so loyal to the empire. But he still went all out to complete the order, giving the warrior woman before him a death worthy of her status and martial skill.

In the end, he would not risk the fracturing of an empire that had brought peace and prosperity to millions for the sake of a single noble house.

The fight had lasted barely a minute, but the imperial guard commander was impressed by the women's skill that went far beyond that of a standard master fighter.

"Bury her and her family nearby with respect."

The cold man said, respect present in his voice as he sheathed his sword, which seemed as shiny and new as the day he got it as the commanders struck so fast that blood did not even touch the blade, the only evidence of battle on him was the blood that stained his armour.

"But commander didn't his majesty say to hang the bodies of the traitors up at the city gates to rot as a warning to others."

A vice commander of the imperial guards asked before his blood ran cold when he felt his commander's cold aura wash over him like a bucket of ice-cold water.

"What was that? Did you say something!"

"Do I need to give an order twice?"

Daemonus said, his voice colder than usual as he directed a predatory gaze filled with killing intent at his subordinate.

"N-n-no, Commander, we will bury them immediately."

The vice commander stuttered fearfully, immediately getting to work. He had never felt such a threatening aura be directed at him and wondered how his enemies felt when dealing with this monster-like person as an opponent.

House Aurellion had lasted far longer than Daemonus expected as they quickly changed from bulky and slow carriages to fast horses, forcing them to chase for a long time. Then, they had to fight a gruelling battle with the House Aurellion loyalists led by their tenacious lady.

"Commander!"

"Commander!"

A bloody black-clad rider shouted as blood oozed from cuts scattered all around his body. Two arrows protruded from the man's back as he used the last of his life force to report to his commander, making Daemonus' eyes widen in surprise before the man succumbed to his wounds and dying, joining the thousands of corpses scattered on the battlefield.

'A grandmaster, huh.'

'As expected, the spider of Chavaria still had one last trump card up his sleeve.'

'But why did you have to kill Scorpius!'

Daemonus lamented as Thorilsia's lifeless body fell to the ground, finishing this battle. Around the field of war, many corpses lay as the imperial guard commander reflected on the battle as a young man appeared beside him whom Daemonus had only met the night before.

Scorpius was finally close to becoming a grandmaster worthy of succeeding him, but his life was cut short by this mission. The power that House Aurellion had surprised even him as this noble house had only been landed nobles for around a decade, but they had already secured so much power and loyalty of their people. Many thought that once Lucius died, the house would fall into obscurity.

"You made that look easy, commander."

"Seems the gap between master and grandmaster is similar to that between heaven and earth."

The young man shouted in an upbeat tone.

"She was skilled and lasted a minute, two times longer than most master fighters do."

"For that alone, she deserves a respectful burial.

Daemonus said as he looked at this young man who had come up with this devious plan for Flavius, looking into the man's cunning, intelligent, bright orange cat-like eyes, which seemed to see through his very soul. The demonic aura that emanated from him and his small scheming smile only sent one thought through his mind as his muscles twitched in response to a hidden danger.

'This man….'

'Is dangerous!'

Daemonus thought, putting his guard up against this young man, whom he could not believe was only 25 years old as at this young age, he was already indirectly, if not directly, involved in the death of a beloved prince but would still be granted an audience with the emperor before being put on his kill list.

It was most likely the young man's extraordinary talent that allowed him to live after what he had done.

"Seems things have not gone as smoothly as you envisioned."

"The troops we sent after that small force of 300 men led by that butler...."

"Are all dead, Vice Count Lorenzo Martínez. It would appear that Leon Mantelon was secretly a grandmaster."

Daemonus said, trying to gauge some sort of reaction from the young man, but he just calmly dismissed it as if it was unimportant.

"Is that so?"

The Chavarian vice count said before sighing slightly, a thought crossing his head.

'Yare yare, this is why it's never good when things are going too well, as something always goes wrong.'

The young player thought before continuing with his interaction with this powerhouse of DO.

"So three masters were not enough?"

"Ah, I'm jealous! A noble house with barely 20 years of history already has a grandmaster, while I can barely get one to serve me!"

Lorenzo said relaxedly. No matter what, now that Lucius Aurellion was dead, he had already succeeded in his quest to establish Flavius as crown prince while shifting the blame for the prince's crimes to someone else. He was only trying to improve his score by cleaning them up thoroughly, so he stayed near this grandmaster as his survival was this player's primary objective.

'Though I'm more a politically leaning dynasty anyway, so of course, my dynasty's combat power will be weaker than a dynasty founded out of a large-scale war like the Chavarian war for unification.'

'I still did not think that there would be such a wide power imbalance between them.'

'That Sorrell person under Archtorius was also a problem that nearly cost me this quest.'

'The bastard had almost escaped with the leverage I was planning to use against that stubborn count in the form of his young son.'

'The system really does not give us nobles who want a decent amount of power easy quests.'

The Chavarian vice count thought while looking back on his dynasty history quests with an exhausted expression as the late afternoon sun blazed in the sky before being pulled out of his stupor by the Imperial Guard Commander.

"Let's head back to the capital and report to his majesty. We couldn't catch up to them now even if we wanted to."

Daemonus ordered as he led his men back to the imperial capital, which would be the last destination in the lives of many of the greedy nobles accompanying him who were on the emperor's kill list, for if there is one thing that has always been true even as far back as the days when the emperor was only a crown prince of a kingdom.

It is that anyone that the emperor has wanted to die has died!

Whether by the sword or an assassin in the night, only those protected by powerhouses of the world can escape from the ruler's Sword of Damocles, which was silently raised above the heads of several noble houses within the empire.