Calyx

What is the most profitable business in the world, or even the universe?

War.

Wars were the quickest way to get rich… or lose everything instantly. 

Only the victors, those who shed rivers of blood and built mountains of bones, profited from wars.

And as for the losers?

Their existence became bleak, fleeting, just like the settlement in front of him.

Hovering above the demonic settlement on his brown hawk, his deep green eyes watched on calmly as demons were slaughtered left and right.

Their dark blood tainted the already reddened earth, the witness of countless slaughters like this and their cries of terror, illuminated by the setting sun, gave an eerie artistic glow, like the sounds of a possessed choir.

The fading of the sun sinisterly aligned with the fading of their lives as they entered their death.

Triumphant roars and bellows were heard from the human soldiers, resplendent in their green and brown armors as they hacked away at the demons.

A burly soldier, drunk on excitement and bloodlust, thrust his spear through the back of a female scorpion demon.

The spear crushed her heart and she fell limply to the ground, clutching her child even in death but the soldier showed no mercy, stomping the crying infant to a pulp, crushing it to meat paste.

Another soldier, red flames blazing in his palms, laughed wickedly as he hurled missiles of fire at various houses.

They exploded from the intense heat and dark smoke ascended into the sky like incense from a flame kissed altar to a brutal god of carnage.

Screams came from some of the burning houses as young demon kids rushed out in fear and panic. 

Unfortunately, their existence was cut short as waiting archers gave them quick deaths.

'Hmm?' he furrowed his brows as his communication crystal glowed green, the sign of an incoming transmission.

'Commander Calyx, the town leader and two of his guards have escaped west to call for reinforcements. Capture them.' 

'Affirmative. Moving out.' Calyx ended the transmission and took one last glance at the carnage below.

With a click of his tongue, he veered his hawk away and took off to the west. 

Those looking at him from below could only spot a flash of green light as he spurned his hawk forward, his senses spread out and covered hundreds of meters of land.

Nothing could escape him.

In the air, he was the predator, the hunter.

Green light glowed from his eyes as he spotted a minor disturbance about eight hundred meters away.

There were people moving beneath the earth.

Calyx smirked and as if sensing his thoughts, the hawk zoomed over, hovering above the spot.

With a wave of his hand, dense green energy smashed into the ground, causing a fifty-meter-deep crater to form. 

Tendrils of green energy shot out to remove chunks of earth, revealing a heavily injured centipede demon and two cockroach demons.

The tendrils of green energy became green shackles which quickly pulled the trio of sorry looking demons from the ground. 

Though bleeding heavily, they were very much alive and palpable fear was evident in their eyes.

Captives, especially high profile ones like them, never enjoyed a good time in the hands of their enemies.

Calyx ignored them though and sent a transmission with a simple message; done.

With the three captives in tow, he headed back to the demon settlement… or what was left of it.

Almost nothing was standing.

Houses which had been built with wood were now ash and sturdier ones made of earth and clay were now heaps of rubble.

The soldiers cheered victoriously even as they ruthlessly dragged captives, the survivors of this massacre, to waiting cages. 

Some too, pulled out treasures which were well hidden and heaped them beside the rubble.

This extermination mission had gone smoothly.

The demons had no time to react and the scouts had done an impeccable job. 

Calyx tossed the town leader and his two guards to the soldiers below but not before crippling their cultivation.

They were now harmless and docile.

Their eyes were listless and lifeless, devoid of hope. 

The women wailed and the children cried creating a sharp contrast with the laughter of the soldiers.

They were now prisoners of war, subject to the bludgeonings of cruel fate.

Such was war.

Only the victors had the privilege to laugh after the battle.

The losers could only put their tear ducts to work and cry their hearts out.

'Move out!' Calyx called out to the soldiers.

The celebrations were put on a temporary hold as the soldiers assembled themselves into neat ranks, prisoners and trophies of war in tow, as they headed back to their fort.

Calyx landed on the ground even as his vice commander, Harper, a middle aged man with short brown hair and a thick beard, walked over to him.

They both had similar armor designs only that Calyx's armor had golden trims and Harper's had silver trims. 

'Vice commander reporting, Commander Calyx. Mission was successful with no casualties on our side. Of the five hundred soldiers we brought, only twenty-six suffered minor injuries.

An out and out victory,' Harper said.

Calyx nodded. 'Good work.'

Harper gave him a salute, his right fist thumping on his chest, before he departed.

Calyx though looked at what was left of the demon settlement and his vision extended further into the vast wasteland. 

It had a peaceful beauty to it but he knew the wasteland was anything but beautiful. 

After all, it was demon territory.

…

The enormous black gates of Fort Blackrock came to view.

Like the gates, the walls were a deep black tint, bouncing away all light. The dried blood of countless of demons made the walls even darker and sinister.

They were made of tenebrite, an extremely thick and strong stone, black in color and exclusive to the wasteland.

Demons here were far stronger than that of other strongholds and the fort acted as a bastion of defense for the southern border of the Niran kingdom. 

Ordinary defenses could not hold the demons here back, so powerful experts brought heaps of tenebrite from the wasteland, the haven of demons. After all, only such durable material could withstand the fiery onslaught of the dark spawn.

Many demons had tried and failed woefully to invade Fort Blackrock.

Thus, the very air around the fort had a heavy scent of blood and the decomposed limbs and innards of dead demons were strewn around like a gory work of art.

The gates swung open after the watchers in the observation towers confirmed that the returning soldiers were not dark spawn in disguise.

Forming a contrast to how slowly it opened, the gates quickly swung shut the moment the last soldier entered the fort. 

While the soldiers split up to send the prisoners of war and trophies away, Calyx though had to go and deliver a report of today's mission to his superior.

Adroitly, he jumped off his hawk and gave it a pat on the neck. 'Go get some rest, Caceres. You deserve it,' Calyx smiled.

The hawk gave a shrill cry and flew away to its abode.

With his ride gone, Calyx had to walk. 

Passing soldiers gave him respectful nods and glances of appreciation as he entered the command center, a tower in the middle of the fort.

It wasn't surprising.

Calyx was the youngest commander to be transferred to the southern border and had proven all doubters wrong that he won his current post due to his family connections.

Under his command, the Hawk Unit had suffered little losses whenever they went out to raid demon settlements.

Casualties in his unit were always low.

Soldiers always appreciated warriors and leaders who didn't pointlessly send them to their deaths.

'Another demon settlement razed, heh? You keep performing above and beyond, Calyx,' said a light voice from a corner of the room at the base of the tower.

Even without turning, Calyx knew who it was.

Bifran Maddock, commander of the Eagle Unit and a talkative but effective commander.

'I do my best for the kingdom, Bifran,' Calyx responded even as he ascended the steps. 

Bifran raised his cup of wine from the corner. 'Don't we all?' 

He emptied the cup and watched the departing figure of Calyx. A lazy smile curled up his lips and his gaze lingered there, even when Calyx was long gone.

Calyx knocked on the wooden door and entered.

It was a small but neat room. The design was miniscule as the only available pieces of furniture were a table and a couple of chairs.

Behind the table was a beautiful blonde lady, her face devoid of immaturity and youthfulness even as she went through countless files with a light frown.

Despite being inside a guarded building, she wore a silver and green armor with a golden trim which accentuated her well-shaped athletic body. 

Leaning on the wall within arm's reach was a broad bladed great sword. Runic marks glowed a faint blue, adorning the blade. 

She lifted her head from the paperwork and her blue eyes visibly brightened when she spotted Calyx.

'Have a seat, Calyx. How did the mission go?'

Calyx pulled a chair out and sat down without ceremony. 'Relatively well. No casualties, only a few minor injuries, none escaped.'

'I knew you would ace this mission, Calyx,' the woman's smile brightened, lighting up the dreary room.

'You should stop trying to pad my missions, Liya. The more difficult it is, the more interesting. I barely got the chance to stretch my muscles today,' Calyx complained.

Liya gave him an apologetic smile even as she scribbled a report on a parchment. 'I'll give you tougher missions next time, commander Calyx. Don't you dare die,' she threatened.

Calyx smirked. 'I won't.'