Chapter 1: My reality

"H-hey…" A voice nervously whispered, "who do you think will have to go feed that monster today?"

"Don't ask me!!" Another agitated voice replied, "s-shouldn't it be better if the automatons like… you know… do it? After all, any person who interacted with that monster has either gone bat-shit insane or died a horrible gruesome death!"

There was a bout of silence for a long time which was interrupted by the sound of a shrill phone message notification. Another long bout of drawn-out silence followed it for several minutes.

"Fuck!" the first voice broke the silence.

I then heard the sound of shoulders being petted as the second voice spoke out, "We might have had conflicts here and there but you were otherwise a great guy and lots of fun to be around."

"Oi don't just go writing me off on your own!" The first voice indignantly shouted with clear exasperation in his voice.

"Although you were a great guy, there were a lot of things you could have done better man." The second voice continued as though he heard nothing. "Why the fuck did you have to beat up your wife man?!"

"What?! How do you know that?!"

"She told me obviously… and she also sought comfort and reprieve from you through me. We even did it every day you were away on your day shift."

"You did what?! Son of a bitch you dared lay your hands on my wife?!" The first voice shouted in anger and agitation, "I trusted you as a brother man and you just had to pull a green hat on me bedding my wife?! Fuck you man! Alright you son of a bitch… since I'm still gonna die today I might just as well take you with me!"

The first voice shouted before I heard the sound of something being drawn followed by a clicking sound.

"Wait? What the fuck are you talking about and what the fuck are you doing?! Since when did I ever say I laid my hands on your wife and why are you shouting at me all of a sudden?! Wait.. don't do this man!"

The second man tried to talk reason to his friend but I knew it was futile. After all, just like I had been doing every time they spoke, I warped the perception of the first man resulting in him hearing the words, "So what if I dared fuck your wife?! There is nothing more enjoyable than the fruit of passion born from cucking your own best bud. Plus let me tell you something, Griselda was an awesome lay in bed and she would writhe and moan with every stroke of mine. I could make her cum in a few seconds far much more than you ever did with your tiny dick and single stroke load blow out. You had her starved for twenty years dude. Its only right she turned to the big guys."

Through the sheer number of minds I had hacked into, I knew that there were three major taboos that were guaranteed to incense any man. The first was bedding their wife, the second was saying it in their face and the third was the greatest of them all… bringing to question his performance in bed and this just had to come out of the mouth of the very person who cucked him.

This was akin to playing with fire in a store house full of ammonium nitrate and fuel.

And sure enough, the reaction was instantaneous.

I heard a shrill inhuman scream that made even me question who the real monster here was before the sound of gunshots rang out followed by a dull wet thud. The gun shots never stopped until all the bullets in the magazine were cleared out and all that resulted from pulling the trigger were sharp clicks.

I heard the sound of heavy breathing followed by a mad cackling as the dull sound of wet stomps and kicks rang out followed by the snapping sounds of bones being crushed.

My breathing also got heavier as a potent sense of euphoria swept through my body that no number of super drugs could ever induce in me as my face flushed red and my heart started pounding. I could feel the dissipating soul and essence of the dead man surge through my body and straight into my mana core. The harrowing pleasure it left in its wake had my mind blank out for a while before it dissipated. Now I was starting to feel my muscles spasming as my mind got dizzy.

The withdrawal symptoms were back as the euphoric pleasure dissipated and left a gaping emptiness in its wake. I craved more blood… I craved more death! How I wished that I had personally snuffed the life out of that man! It wasn't over yet; it was time for the main course.

I licked my lips in anticipation as I lifted the veil of insanity I had induced in the man who was busy stomping on the corpse of his friend and reason returned to his eyes. I went on to lift the veil of deception which I had cast upon him making him aware of the true events that had transpired and the murder of his friend he had just committed.

I heard a soft thud as the man sat down followed by a grievous wail of anguish that penetrated deep into my soul. The man started incoherently muttering as he cried and I could make out the sound of nails scratching out flesh and pulling out hair as he mutilated himself whilst grieving.

I had no doubt that the sheer weight of what he had done was crushing him and even if he were to somehow pick himself up there and refrain from committing suicide, his superiors would still execute him for murdering a fellow soldier and comrade in arms. He would be seen as a traitor to their fucking nation.

Either way no matter what he chose, suicide or not he was still going to die and since my actions were the cause of his death, I would be credited with his kill and receive the full nourishment of his soul essence. I wished he would take his time dying because the greater the suffering he went through, the richer his soul essence would become.

I had no love for these bastards from the Slade Confederacy and the mole that had condemned my fellow brothers and sisters in arms to the gruesome fate they suffered. I had no doubt of the fact that the imperial family had leaked intel of our operation on the border of the Slade confederacy to the enemy. This had resulted in an ambush that saw most of my brothers and sisters in arms in my entourage dying and those that survived were captured and subjected to untold humiliation and suffering.

We had known all along that this mission we were sent to was meant to be our grave. We had been a thorn in the side of the imperial family for far too long and they had finally decided to dispose of us. No-one would save us from this hell… we only have each other to lean on in our suffering. For a moment, my mind could not help but wonder back to the circumstances that had led me into this situation.