Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: 163

Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: 163

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Commissioned by Shaderic

Wordcount: 2500

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We flew over Empire lands unnoticed by any below, but it was hard for us to do the same.

“Damn, they’re really down there just killing each other.” We passed by places that were hit hard by the Eldritch corruption. Places where people and animals warped into unseemly abominations that were freakishly fast and strong. However, most places were relatively untouched in body, and only their minds suffered. That might’ve been the worse fate. “This is what? The third army vs army we’ve seen?”

“Correct, my lord.” Henri stood by my side demurely and provided me with a magnified look of what was happening below. The concealment around the ship was holding, and we were just clouds floating in the air. Unless some meteorologists managed to retain their sanity, we weren’t going to get spotted flying against the wind. Was medieval meteorology even capable of that? “Shall we ignore this one, too?”

“Yeah, we’re not wasting time or effort on these. Just speed on forward.” Some would say I’m leaving behind potential loot and experience for my troops. However, my troops are maxed out, I’ve got money, and we’re heading for a raid. We’re avoiding any mobs or encounters that we don’t need to fight. “Let me see the generals though, so we can update Roseanne on who’s alive.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

The various generals of the Empire led different armies. Some specialized in defense, offense, siege, and even retreat actions. Not only that, but the generals were actually one-man armies themselves who could wade into battle and kill a lot people to make their plans succeed. This really was turning more and more int K*ngdom the more I thought about it. Hopefully, there wasn’t any bullshit mountain-dwelling asshole around to kill off great characters. Wait, technically, I’m coming from over the mountains and planning to kill anyone who might be a threat.

Damn, I really am the bad guy.

Man, I’ve done a really good job.

“I see three generals. They seem to be commanding an army each, but they don’t appear to be doing so well.” I nodded. The madness got to them and they were basically leading their forces against any threat they found. It was a miracle that they didn’t cannibalize or fight each other, or maybe it was because they knew that their peers and their peers’ armies were around, so they had people to fight. “One seems to be excessively mutated, unlike his two counterparts, and his troops are much the same.”

“Is he a person of interest?”

“Hard to say. Most of his banners are gone and what heraldry that remains is tarnished.” Henri mused. “It’s likely that he and his warriors won’t last the battle. They’ve forgotten even long-range magics.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right. What do you think, Reiser?”

“I do not recognize the man, but the other two generals are known to me. House Lise and House Ferroan, each led by their heads.” Reiser was helping keep us updated. She looked at what happened with to the Empire with a sort of resignation, and no small amount of pity. The Empire fucking up so badly that a zealot of theirs broke off and is now leading a settlement of traumatized peasants was never going to get old. “Their houses were closely tied and they have fought together side-by-side for a long time.”

“Well, it looks like that’s because of some seriously repressed feelings for one of them.” Kindred Mana permeated the air now, and those without protection were affected strongly by it. Women were turned into lesser Kindred, or otherwise became insatiably lusty until they found themselves acquiring the mana they needed to transform. A few men, meanwhile, were given the bodies they always wanted, even if they never admitted it or had to hide it. “Almost tempted to help actually.”

“I didn’t take you for a matchmaker, my lord.”

“I’m literally betting that the kids I’m teaching will be able to save me from most of Ylstu.” I shook my head and moved the magical screen up. I had a clearer view on the battlefield now and it was a lot prettier from up high. There was a lot less blood, shit, and dead bodies flying around. I found that I disliked it. It took too much of the horror of the whole affair away. “I’m absolutely a matchmaker.”

“Noted.” Henri giggled and I was divested from my ruminations regarding the terrors of battle. No wonder so many generals and soldiers were so smitten with women in all war accounts. They really help convince you that everything’s okay. Wait, what do you mean that’s just what healthy relationships do? “Reiser, who do you think will be the victor of this battle?”

“If nothing is done, then the Houses Lise and Ferroan will be the victors, but some aid can be rendered.” I raised an eyebrow, and Reiser simply held out her hand. A bow of light came forth in her hands. Forgot that she could do that. “Permission to practice my methods against Eldritch creatures, my lord?”

Hm.

“Permission granted, but make sure that we’re not found.” It was a tall order, but Reiser had plenty of practice. With a nod, the disguised Heroine focused on her bow and made the light upon it disappear, or rather she muted its radiance until it was just a transparent weapon faintly bristling with heat and flowing magic. “Looks good. Fire.”

Reiser didn’t waste a moment after my order, and a second later she let loose the invisible arrow at her foe’s way.

We sped away while the mutated general perished and his armies of abominations were swiftly overcome thereafter.

No attacks came our way, so I took that as a mission success.

Near-invisible, flying ships armed with cannons that fired invisible projectiles at unsuspecting targets below.

It sounded like a great project to have after the war.

Heh, I could already imagine Roseanne struggling against an aneurysm.

…

The further we travelled, the more fantasy-like the terrain became, and not the generic, middling fantasy either. This was high-fantasy at its peak. Massive white citadels that stretched into the sky with immense walls filled with whole siege engines commanded dominating views over chokepoints and battlefields. Hundreds of thousands could fight under the shadow each fortification cast, desperately trying to open massive gates whose material could create whole castles.

Unlike the Frontier, this was a place where the Empire invested immensely in defense, because if the armies of the Kindred showed up here they needed things that could withstand the firepower of thousands of witches, sorceresses, and more, while a Demon Lord supported them. Naturally, they weren’t just physical barriers, but also a system that blocked long-range attack. Even with my poor ability to detect magic, they looked like a massive curtail wall stretching across from horizon to horizon with each fortification invisibly connected to one another. The wall stretched all the way into the sky, too high for most Kindred to fly over.

Which meant, technically, Roseanne saved my life way back when she stopped me from charging into the Empire.

The magical protections of the Empire, hidden in plain sight to their mages, was something I never accounted for.

But I’m digressing.

These final fortresses should’ve had the firepower and resistances necessary to fight against the creature that I unleashed and kill it.

So, while we passed it by, I couldn’t help but have a pit stop and land on one to investigate just what caused them to die before they did what I want.

It was pretty rude of them to do, after all.

“Everyone take a bit to stretch your legs and relax. Get a small fire going and cook up some meals. As for me, I’ll be taking a look around.” We landed at the top of the massive fortification, where a general or two would survey battles below safely and maybe leap in as they pleased to deliver massive amounts of damage. This sort of fortification should be teaming with soldiers and maintainers keeping it all running, but there wasn’t a single soul present. A’Bel drifted close to me, shrinking down to fit within the halls, which turned and turned many times over to give defenders chokepoint after chokepoint. “This place could’ve consumed entire armies. Maybe all that the Kindred could’ve thrown at it. Why didn’t it stop the creature I summoned?”

I, of course, was asking both Henri and A’Bel, while we made our way down and down surrounded by guards. Our path was lit up by crystals in our path.

“Perhaps, the Empire grew strained from the conflicts and the lack of Kindred material. They were desperate enough to hire slavers amongst the Kindred, after all, and magical fortifications such as these are very hungry.” Henri’s explanation made sense. I couldn’t imagine all the protections in these stones, and the giant magical wall, were easy to maintain without a constant influx of high-quality bodies to throw into the magical furnace. “From a cursory glance, I can tell many protections have been deactivated, but I can also tell that they could switch power from one form of protection to another quickly. An ingenious design… but if they grew lax with the protections of the mind at a fatal moment.”

“So, she just got in a lucky shot?”

A’Bel decided to speak up.

“The creatures of the void bend space and time to their liking. The laws and rules of reality tremble in their wake. To look upon them is to invite madness… and they become more terrifying the more capable they are of thinking like mortals, instead of beasts.” The bloodlust in A’Bel’s voice was plain. The fact that she wanted to fight the creature that toppled a polity over the course of a month was obvious. We rounded a final corner and entered a large room, presumably an area where the fort’s host would gather to repel intruders from above and below. Two large doors to the sides were on elevated platforms with wooden steps that would be easy to shatter by magic-enhanced humans. It was empty and none of the defensive measures were taken. “And, this one was connected with your mind, my dear summoner. It didn’t just gain knowledge. It gained cunning and skill in warfare. Can you imagine it? An Eldritch creature feared by the gods with the simple ability to wait, to be patient, and to emulate humanity?”

“Sounds like a fight you’ve been waiting for all your life.”

“Naturally.”

A’Bel beamed, while I chose one of the doors to enter. I had the urge to go right, so I went left instead, and found another long series of hallways. A glance at Henri had her summon small familiars composed of bones from hummingbirds and they flew down the halls. Two returned, while one didn’t, and we followed its path until we found it fluttering around the heart of the fortress.

It was giant, glittering, and crystalline core the size of a house that thrummed with enough power that I felt like needles were prickling my skin, until A’Bel placed a hand on my shoulder and shielded me with her power.

No one spoke at the sight of the glittering effigy, because everyone present could see past the smooth facets and glow into the horror within. Limbs, faces, eyes, hearts, and other pieces of Kindred were compressed and forced into this thing. Pressure and power and horrible spells turned lobotomized, captured soldiers into crystal hearts to power immense engines of war and fortresses such as these.

As horrible and terrible their fates were, the Empire’s people were paying a price that was arguably just.

Not that I cared for justice.

I only did what I wanted.

“Break it apart, A’Bel. Henri, I want the souls trapped to be on their way. I won’t hear anything about them wanting to come back. These ones deserve to rest.” It wasn’t just about the power in their bodies. The Empire practiced their own form of necromancy, even if they didn’t call it that. The soul of a Kindred remained trapped in their body through their methods, it’s just how magic worked. A pile of meat and nerves couldn’t cast magic, so the Empire did what they had to access the power and ability of the Kindred by trapping them in their own bodies and breaking them to do as they’re told. The giant, crystal heart we looked at, glowing a light baby blue, was tens of thousands of tortured people amalgamated into an easy-to-transport energy source. I could use it, but there was no way in hell I was. “We’ll proceed when you’re both done.”

Both my subordinates nodded at me, before moving to do as I commanded, while I kept my gaze up at the Empire’s crime.

One of many.

Surprisingly, I felt disgust looking at it, whereas once upon a time I’d have wondered how to use it against them.

I suppose that, after all I’ve accomplished, I really did recover somewhat, despite all odds.

Still, though, I wasn’t going to let up on the Empire.

I’m not who I used to be. All those years spent fighting battle after battle as a slave, sacrificing so many lives, and then doing everything for the sake of vengeance made me into a different person. If not for the people around me, I’m sure that I would’ve become someone completely different, someone who didn’t care about what he was looking at, and just used it as a piece of ammunition against his next objective.

But, in spite of this world, in spite of the empire, and in spite of my own desires, I’m could still recognize myself in the mirror.

Yeah.

Hikigaya Hachiman: petty and selfish enough to overcome being kidnapped, turned into a slave, and given the chance to commit terrible things against the people who hurt him. Fuck you, I’m retiring peacefully, getting all the toys and luxuries I wanted from my previous world here, and having all the great relationships a hot-blooded man can get.

That’ll be one hell of an ending line for my obituary… but I still had a job to do.

The giant amalgam of crystallized corpses fell apart and was destroyed, a deluge of power coursing through the whole building, while I met the gazes of my advisors and guards.

Together we moved out to join everyone else in our brief moment of rest before the battle to come.

The Empire was a bloody mess turning itself inside out, that was going to be partitioned into warring states by the Kindred, until it was forgotten or absorbed piecemeal.

I could think of no better ending for those stuck-up bastards than that.