53. Mercenary Life (part 1)

Character : Eric Axwell, Mercenary Life

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The rain was harsh, and blood continued dripping endlessly.

From the skies, pieces of human bodies fell and splashed to the muddy street. The sound of screams was heard very loudly on the empty street as even more body pieces separated from the original body.

As my feet moved past the dead corpses of mercenaries around me, my right hand held the long bloodied sword that had killed countless bastards who messed with me. Sparks of black lightning can be found enchanting my entire body, turning my movement incredibly fast and powerful.

As of right now, I am one of the strongest mercenaries in Avenor. Who would be daring enough to challenge someone like me?

Perhaps, some… dumb mercenaries like them?

'The Green Rats' is an infamous mercenary group within the lightning clan. They are known for their unethical conducts that reap benefits for criminal actions. They steal, kidnap, hide, every crime possible are their territory.

My mercenary group does similar things, but we have a clear line at what the limits are. We don't kill unnecessarily, we don't place harm to the innocents, we don't cause permanent damage to society. Anything beyond that is not the way for my 'White Venom' mercenary group, but the Green Rats do those things without a second thought.

They kill. They kidnapped, tortured, and raped even government officials. They are the most corrupt mercenary groups that have ever existed anywhere.

However, I find a liking for their existence. Because our methods are quite similar, our paths collide quite frequently. And every time we met each other, my mercenary group always comes out on top.

This difference definitely pissed them off, and they even placed bounties on my head. It is not that big of a deal to me, considering I've never once worried about ants like them. But, it does concern me if they do things that aren't towards me, but towards other people I care about.

For example… the innocent civilians of the lightning clan.

"Five months… I left this place for five months." My cold voice startled the scared mercenaries in front of me until they all shudder. Not because of the cold morning rain, but because of just how afraid they are of my existence.

There are over twenty of them. Five of which are diamond ranked mercenaries, which is the second highest ranked mercenary in all of Avenor. And their leader, who is cowardly standing at the very back of the crowd, is an emerald ranked mercenary just like me.

And all of them knew. The moment I came back to the lightning clan, they would all suffer at my hands.

"I left for five months and a dungeon appeared. I left for five months and a quarter of the population sought refuge in the wind temple. I left for five fucking months… and the entire mercenary system collapsed.

You guys had so much fun with me gone, huh?"

My cold voice sliced the air once more, and as expected, there was no reply. Every mercenary present is afraid of me, and they do not wish to mess with me whatsoever. After the showcase I did by killing half of their members, not even their leader who is at the same rank as me dared to make a move.

"Cowards… you bastard ruined my hometown and now are too afraid of paying the consequences?" I asked them with rage, and this time, their leader opened his mouth.

"As if you'd know anything about what we faced!! If you were here, you would've done the same!!" The leader of the Green Rats mercenary group shouted at me, and I let out a sigh.

"Don't lump me with bastards like you…" I said quite tired and annoyed, and I lifted my sword up high to the skies.

The rain above us is artificial rain. It was created after a long preparation done on my part, and it was all because of good reasoning.

Thunder strikes occur quite frequently during heavy rains, after all.

BZZTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My entire body got cladded in a black and white lightning, charging my body up with a ton of energy. From the distance, the twenty four mercenaries who are left from the Green Rats group prepared themselves for the demon that was about to come to kill them.

"Bring it on then, Axel Cleric!! Your power means nothing---"

"Good bye." My cold voice cut off the leader's voice quite loudly, and it was followed by a bright white light that came down from above. All twenty four mercenaries in front of me were caught at the very center of the lightning blast, and I did not spare them with mercy.

It's a pity that the only thing I can do is kill them… the damage that they've done was already far too horrible to think of. I hate the fact that I knew nothing of it while I was away. If only I could've come back sooner…

'Don't blame yourself, Eric.' A voice within me spoke kindly, and I realized the one talking is the person inside of me.

"Axel... I'm sorry. It's not your fault too--"

'It's not our fault. We were away, and we were very busy. We solved problems at every other place aside from here. If anything, it's the lightning clan's people who couldn't protect themselves.' Axel pointed out what he thinks is the truth, and I only chuckled because he does say some understandable arguments.

"Then… I wonder what I could do better."

'Well, we've made new friends, haven't we?' Axel pointed out, and I realized that he might have an idea.

That is... true. I can always use them.

My eyes studied the surroundings that I have caused when I unleash my wrath, and I can only feel annoyed that I didn't get a chance to do more. I guess I can still enjoy it while looking at their charred corpses, but there are still things I could've done.

This country... I don't see a chance it might survive the next few years.

After everything these bastards have done, what I did is only necessary. Now, my task is to find out how the situation can be fixed.

To my surprise, it wasn't that difficult.

VWUNGG!!!!!

Above me, the loud sound of a Steelbird flying was heard quite loudly. I turned my gaze up to follow the Steelbird that is flying above the skies of the slums, and I leaped to the top of the tallest house near me to see better.

The Steelbird looks small but important. It's different unlike the other Steelbirds I'm familiar with, and it seems like it is carrying a very important individual inside.

That… has to be her, right?

With haste, I began to leap from building to building. The Steelbird has landed in an area that I'm quite familiar with, and I began heading there right away.

The area where the Steelbird landed is an open plaza at the center of the city. The plaza is bustling with people because it is the center of shopping. It is currently quite early in the morning, and every shop owner or seller who wishes to sell stuff is preparing each of their own shops hurriedly. The rain just subsided thanks to my lightning strike, so the people are using this chance to quickly set up their shop.

The Steelbird lands in the middle of the large road, blocking the path almost entirely. It looks like it's still possible for an automated carriage to pass from the left side of the ship, but it's pretty much blocking the entire road.

And from the position it was parked, I knew right away that the people on board wanted to go somewhere. Judging from the buildings surrounding the ship, my guess was that the largest building is only a few buildings away from the parked Steelbird.

The mercenary guild central office. It's a place I called home many times in the past. It is home not just to me, but to every mercenary who worked and lived at the lightning clan city.

It's a big building, and it's the center of all mercenary activities. It's one of the largest mercenary offices in Avenor, and the reputation held by the guild is looked quite highly.

KRING!!!!

The sound of a bell ringing was heard when the front door was opened, and everyone who was inside quickly turned their attention towards me. 

They all noticed the clothes I'm wearing and understood I am not just a random visitor, but one person in particular quickly realized my identity.

"Sir Axel Cleric! You have a visitor!" From the center desk in the middle of the lobby, a young man who took charge of the receptionist table lifted his hand as he shouted my name.

Hearing that infamous name, every mercenary in the office quickly took notice of my identity. I can see that every eye is now staring at me, but that's not exactly what I'm particularly concerned about.

"Show me where she is." I said to the receptionist guy, and he started leading me towards the room upstairs.

TUK! TUK!!

"Guild master, sir. Axel Cleric is here." The young man said without opening the door, and a confirmation was heard from the inside.

"Come in!" The energetic heavy voice from the guild master was heard from the inside, and the young man bowed at me one last time before leaving.

After the young man left, I took the liberty and opened the door without knocking. The first thing I noticed was the two cups of coffee that were prepared above the table, with one of them drunk almost all the way to the bottom while the other was untouched.

The old guild master who I'm very familiar with lifted his hand to greet me, but my eyes turned towards the 'Visitor' who has put in a lot of effort to come this far into the lightning clan just to see me.

"You're pretty quick. Did you hear that I was gonna come?" From the sofa across the guild master, the Crown Princess of Valkaria, Frisena Valkaria, turned her cold grin at me.

My hunch was right after all. She definitely came here to look for me.

"I saw your Steelbird. I guessed that you'd come to see me." I said while closing the door behind me, and I just stood at the space in front of the door. The guild master noticed that he was in the middle of the conversation, so he quickly got up.

"Funny. I saw your lightning strike from far away as well. What timing, huh?" Frisena commented while lifting the cup of coffee that was on the table, and I recalled the giant lightning strike that I made to kill the leaders of the Green Rats.

The guild master has now arrived in front of me, and he patted me in the shoulder before continuing his walk to the exit. He seems to notice that the crown princess wanted to have a one on one talk with me, so he respected it and left obediently.

The guild master was a very calculating person… it's surprising that he isn't taking this chance to coerce Frisena into supporting him in any way. I guess he knows his position quite well.

That… or Frisena is just one fearsome individual to begin with. Even with her calm and alluring sitting posture as she sat down while drinking coffee is already mysterious. Who knows what crazy batshit plans she got inside her head, and no sane person would ever contest her when it comes to things like that.

Monster recognizes bigger monsters. The guild master knew that he was no match to Frisena, so he left willingly. Now, how am I going to react to this information?