Will of a Prince

Monlo soldiers were dropping like flies. The number advantage they had quickly diminished into nothing within moments. Slimo was getting closer and closer to the back. The man in the Fleece charged toward Slimo out of nowhere, which was something he never expected to happen. He braced his broadsword and block the incoming attack with ease.

"Well... if it isn’t our little friend here right on the front lines with us!"

Slimo grit his teeth, his eyes fueling with a sudden rage.

"Tell me, how is that sweet older brother of yours doing? Did he enjoy seeing his own brother betray him?"

Slimo screamed and threw his sword at the man wildly. The man easily dodged his swipe and threw a counterattack perfectly. It clashed against Slimo’s armor, denting it slightly. Slimo threw himself back and held is head.

’What is wrong with me? Why do I feel so... angry?!’

However, he didn’t care about why, he didn’t care about how. All that was on his mind was wrath, even if that meant hurting his own soldiers. Slimo yelled and jumped toward his nearest ally, swinging his sword wildly. The onyx armor split under Slimo’s strength and managed to cut right through his soldier’s arm. Everyone else around him looked at Slimo cautiously.

"Grab him! Captain isn’t himself!"

"But... he just cut off his arm. He betrayed us!"

"You know what, maybe it’s time for the captain to retire. I can’t believe he would do such a thing!"

Slimo screamed and shook his soldiers off of him.

’Wait. This isn’t right. Why are me and my soldiers fighting?! It’s that bastard I want! That stupid fleece of his pisses me off!’

Slimo’s heart trembled. He shook off his soldiers trying to hold him down and he charged toward the man once again.

"What are you doing to my head?! Was it you?! Was it you or your shitty emperor who did this to me?!"

"My my, you must hate me quite a bit to not attack those people close to you."

"Get out of my head, you bastard!"

Slimo continued shoving his sword forward, clashing against his opponent every chance he could get.

Suddenly, he felt extremely depressed. What was the point in fighting this battle? They were all outclassed anyway. He simply didn’t feel up for it anymore. Slimo held his helmet and dropped to his knees.

"Urgh. This is so... hopeless."

Just then, multiple swords clanged against the back of his armor. His own soldiers had begun their mutiny out of pure rage welling in their hearts.

"We’re nothing but soldiers to you!"

"You don’t really like us!"

"Just die, Captain. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be!"

Slimo’s armor was becoming more mangled by the second. Every hit from their swords brought it one step closer to shattering. In a desperate gamble, Slimo slammed his fist into the ground, causing everyone to lose their balance for a moment. That moment was all he needed.

He darted forward and took off his helmet as he flew towards the man in the fleece.

"Just. Die already!"

"You will never win. Give it up."

Right as the same depressing emotions began welling inside of his heart, he took his helmet and hit himself as hard as he could in his head. Blood gushed out from a massive wound as he continued to stumble forward.

"Ah. My head is much clearer now. Actually, I can’t really feel or think of anything right now."

Slimo’s plan was simple: Someone’s emotions can’t be controlled if their body doesn’t know what emotion’s it’s supposed to feel, similar to how some emotions or brain functions can be hindered under the influence of alcohol.

Now taking away the opponents only advantage, Slimo raised his broadsword over his head and prepared one strike to end it all. The fleeced man raised his sword to block at the final moment. However, when Slimo threw his sword down over his head, he let go of the handle and let if fly through the air.

And just like that, his broadsword penetrated straight through the man’s skull, killing him instantly. Upon his death, Slimo’s soldiers, who were chasing after him to finish what they started, snapped out of their rage. They looked at one another confused before immediately seizing the approaching reinforcements from the Monlo’s.

Slimo apologized to the man who lost his arm and sent him back towards the barracks for a tactical retreat.

Meanwhile, Sarah continued ravaging through the center of the formation with little effort. With the man who was keeping the entire army brave being dead, soldiers finally appeared to start running away as Sarah came closer.

At this point, Sarah’s body was covered from head to toe in blood. It was getting to the point where she struggled to keep the blood out of her eyes as she cracked her opponents heads open to continue attacking. She looked more like a wraith than a human anymore. Once enough soldiers had been killed around her, they all began to run away. Sarah panted heavily watching them run. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind hit her face, causing most of the blood to be thrown off her hair.

She covered her face using one of her axes to see where it was coming from. A man in royal blue atire and an azure necklace floated downwards with a smirk.

"Ah. The infamous ’butcherer of the North’, I take it? I must admit. I imagined you a lot bigger and a lot less... well, pretty."

Sarah continued taking deep breaths, staring at her prey with vicious eyes. The man shivered slightly feeling her gaze.

"Geez. Do you not talk?"

Sarah threw her axes in the ground and stretched her arms lightly. After three awkward moments in silence, she picked them back up and took one last inhale. She looked right into the man’s eyes and pushed off the ground to slice him in half. However, a massive gust of wind pushed her back towards the ground.

"Oh please. Do not make me LAUGH! You seriously didn’t think I would let you jump at me like that, did you?! My my, for such a scary name, you sure are stupid! My power is the total control of wind. I can create forces as strong as tornados if I wish! You don’t stand a possible chance against anything I can do! Oh, and this necklace around my neck?"

He lifted it in the air and shoved it in the direction of Sarah’s face.

"It provides me immunity to slicing attacks! You’re completely helpless against me! YOU HEAR ME?! HELPLESS! YOU’RE NOTHING! I’M EVERYTHING! YOU’LL NEVER WIN FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE YOUR BORING, MISSERABLE LIFE!! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE BENEATH ME! YOU HEAR ME?! I AM A GOD! AHAHAHAHA-"

Suddenly, an axe shot through the air, smashed the necklaced in two, then lodged itself right in between the man’s eyes. His body floated in the air for three more seconds before falling to ground lifelessly. Walking over to his body, Sarah lifted the axe out of his face then spat on the ground next to him.

"Creep."

By the end of her fight, there were only three hundred Monlo soldiers left, all of whom were already starting to run away with the others who had run before them. However, the storm clouds never stopped rolling forward. Lidia strode towards the storms with confidence.

The woman underneath the storms held an aloof, confident stance while she stared down at Lidia. She wore a dark grey jacket, long blue pants, and her long grey hair was messy as it laid against her back. Even though she was standing above Lidia on a small slope, she bowed her head towards her.

"You must be Commander Lidia. We have been warned about you. I must admit before we fight, I know I will not win, but I request that knowledge doesn’t stop you from holding back."

Lidia looked up at her and crossed her arms that were soaked with blood.

"Hmm. You look far too young to be leading an army like this into the front lines. What’s your name?"

The woman tied her hair in a ponytail and tightened it.

"My name is Enlil. Close friends call me Enny."

"Enny... you have a similar name to one of my friends. Where are you from?"

"I was originally apart of a kingdom in Paria. The Manlo’s mercilessly slaughtered everyone there, but I was spared thanks to my Zalo. Please understand that I do not want to do this, I am simply following orders."

"Orders? From whom?"

"From the Emperor, of course. He gave me one command: lead my soldiers into battle and don’t return until you are the last one standing."

Lidia smirked and put her hands on her hips.

"Wouldn’t you much rather join the cooler side? We have brownies!"

"...what’s a brownie?"

Lidia sighed and shook her head.

"Listen. I don’t think I can handle killing a woman who looks the same age as my daughter, so let’s make a wager."

The woman remained silent.

"If you can manage to leave one scratch one me, I will let you keep this land and you can claim victory. However, if you can’t do that, I am afraid you must join our side."

"Interesting."

The woman’s cloudy blue eyes shook for a few moments.

"Deal. My attack is preparing. Please be ready."

Lidia slowly took off her armor and stretched her body. Suddenly, she flex all her mucles, making them pop out like balloons. Lidia’s muscles were so pristine it looked like there wasn’t a single blade in existence that could cut them. She sent her energy coursing through her body, causing steam to roll off her skin.

"LET’S DO THIS!!"

Enny raised her hand. The clouds in the sky grew pitch black and swirled around Lidia.

"Release."

Suddenly, a loud thunderclap echoed around the area and a massive vortex of snow, rain, ice and lightning, all poured on the area Lidia was standing. The ground around her was turned into dust and charred rock. Slimo looked at the storm in fear.

"W-What the hell is she thinking?!"

For three minutes this cyclone stayed in place, ravaging the area it was stuck. However, once the dust finally cleared and the cloud dissipated, Lidia was standing in the center crossing her arms. And to everyone’s utter shock, there wasn’t so much as a bruise on her skin.

Enny fell to her knees and coughed heavily.

"Damn... it."

Suddenly, she passed out.

Lidia ran over to her and picked her up, putting the back of her hand to her forehead.

"This girl is sick. She needs a doctor."

"We can’t bring an enemy of the state back to Paria."

"Sure, we can! Watch me! As far as you’re aware, we found her wandering lost after the battle!"

Slimo sighed heavily and slowly walked with Lidia and Sarah back towards their barracks.

"Say, how in the hell did you strengthen yourself so much?"

"Oh. I didn’t! I used my energy to heal myself of the scratches. Don’t tell her that though."

"You... cheated?"

"I like to think of it more as bending the rules but sure!"

Sarah chuckled slightly.

Once they reached the barracks, they all looked back at the carnage one last time before entering.