(Westpoint – Occupation: Lit/ Fools/ The Trapline Army) (Zero)

  All is quiet as anticipation builds. Any second now, the fighting will start, and blood will spill. Cazel grabs Zero’s shoulder. “Brother, we wait on Amos.”

  “I know. My heart won’t stop pounding,” Zero says, as the short wall covering him cracks under the pressure of his hand. “We’ve fought them hundreds of times, yet this feels different.”

  Cazel nods. “That’s because it is…”

  Zero’s heartbeat becomes overwhelming. Trying to calm himself, he begins to think of his mother. “Evil and good…” Zero mumbles.

  Cazel raises an eyebrow. “What did you say?”

  Zero shakes his head. “Nothing.”

  A few seconds later, Amos strikes. Boots drag along the stone road.

  Cazel jabs Zero’s shoulder. “Let’s go.” Cazel leaps from the roof.

  Zero hesitates as his friend hits the ground. “Define who I am? Right, Mom…” He steps back before leaping from the roof himself.

  Having jumped a little over ten meters to the ground, stones crack under his feet. Zero scans the area. Before his first strike, he must assess whom to charge.

  With a single blow, Amos knocks Anderson down. Christ anchors his flail into Robby, Cazel strikes Krio, and Xander clashes swords with Javoo. This leaves Nontla and Messi, who both lock their gaze on Zero himself.

  Christ brings his flail down onto Nontla, who leaps back just in time. Christ continues his swift flicks of the flail, while Nontla can only dodge and deflect the spiked ball with his sword. In seconds, the two clear hundreds of yards.

  Amos crashes into a church, the clashing boom of metal echoing throughout the streets.

  Zero’s eyes snap back to Messi, who hasn’t taken his eyes off him. “Let’s make this quick,” Zero says as he strolls toward him.

  Messi’s eyes aren’t the same as the last time they fought. Once sadistic but now sorrowful, he too walks toward Zero, closing the gap between them. As the two begin charging one another, Zero’s helmet appears out of thin air – encasing his head – and his greatsword appears in his readied hands.

  Sparks fall behind each duelist. For a moment, the two no longer face each other. Only a meter separates their undefended backs. Messi flips his greatsword, gripping the blade with both hands and bringing the guard down on Zero.

  However, as Zero expected, Messi is nothing more than an open, heavy hitter without Robby.

  Zero shatters Messi’s hilt with a single blow. The steel plates on his elbows smack against Messi’s helmet. Spinning, he brings the base of his warhammer into Messi’s chestplate.

  A wet cracking echoes in the ruined room as Messi’s ribcage implodes, collapsing into his stomach, lungs, and heart. Not even steel armor could have stopped such a hit. Blood leaks from the vents of his helmet as he coughs, and his knees hit the ground. His gauntlets drop his blade and Messi digs his fingers into the earth.

  The steel warhammer vanishes as Zero faces his opponent. Grabbing the back of Messi’s helmet, Zero slides it off, and they lock eyes. Messi’s mouth and nose are covered in blood, dripping from his chin. Coughs lead to Zero’s platelegs being painted red. His eyes are like they were before the charge—sorrowful. But why?

  Unable to speak, Messi mouths 'Kill me.' Zero’s eyes flicker around the area, then return to Messi. No, Zero won’t to grant him that mercy. To hell with him – let him suffer. With a sharp motion, Zero drops Messi’s helmet to the ground and starts walking toward Javoo, but he halts.

  Messi rolls over, collapsing onto the sandy road, each labored breath a painful gurgle, as if every inhale and exhale is tearing at his insides.

  A bow appears in the air and Zero draws it back, the string stretching like a strand of muscle, and lets an arrow fly. The arrow strikes the side of Messi’s skull, just beneath his right ear, killing him instantly.

  Zero doesn't hate the man, not truly. Nor can he deny the strange flicker of something like affection, or perhaps even love, for his enemy. It's confusing, disorienting, and he can't grasp why it's there, why it's growing. But there's no room for such tangled feelings now. He pushes them aside as his gaze sweeps the area, searching for Javoo, his next target. But before he can move, he realizes Javoo already has company.

  Xander leaps back as Javoo slams the ground with his steel claymore. Xander’s sword disappears, replaced by a crossbow. He pulls the string back, a bolt appearing in the groove, then releases it.

  Javoo sways his head to the left, dodging the first bolt, then to the right to avoid the second. As the third bolt leaves the crossbow’s groove, Javoo catches it mid-air and snaps the shaft like a twig. His movements are fast and fluid, effortlessly smooth, demonstrating a level of skill far beyond that of the others, and even of Xander himself.

  Zero swings his warhammer at Javoo’s head, missing by a hair. A few quick exchanges follow before Xander joins in, sword raised high. They switch positions, circling their target, their movements growing faster with each passing moment.

  Javoo snaps his fingers. The stone around him cracks as a black figure leaps from his body. It punches its clenched knuckles into Xander’s chestplate, leaving a small dent.

  Xander brings his sword down for a stab, then strikes at the wrist, but misses both attacks. Without a weapon, a powerful kick to his helmet sends him rolling back thirty yards. His knees buckle, and his gauntlets dig into the ground to slow his fall.

  Zero continues his relentless barrage of swings, each one seemingly endless, but his level advantage only fuels his frustration as he fails to land a hit on Javoo. With a swift kick to his knee, Zero’s legs give way, and Javoo lifts his claymore like a golf club, bringing it down hard onto Zero’s head.

  Zero activates his melee protection Syndesis just as the blade strikes his helmet. The clash of energy sends him flying backward. His landing sends him tumbling thirty yards.

  The black figure leaps forward, throwing a punch at Zero. Due to his low level, the Syndesis is weak, and the figure breaks through it, slamming onto Zero’s chest. The sound of cracking echoes, and most of the air is knocked out of Zero.

  Pain shoots through his body, but with a single movement, Zero grabs his warhammer and swings it, smashing the black figure away only for another to leap at him. His hands are ready to strike. With a swift kick to the wrist, Zero redirects the incoming fist. As Javoo’s claymore swings toward him, Zero barely dodges, the blade missing him by an inch.

  Before Javoo can swing his blade again, Christ's flail ball strikes the black figure, knocking it back into Javoo and sending him skidding several yards.

  Before the black figure disappears, Cazel lunges with his spear. With a snap, Javoo’s third finger breaks, and another black figure emerges, redirecting the spear and punching Cazel in the helmet, sending him into a flip.

  Seconds later, a roar escapes Javoo as he readies his blade, but his movements halt when he sees his dead clanmates beyond the others. “Wha…” He gulps, his throat dry, and drops his blade.

  Seconds later, the church behind them erupts in a massive explosion, scattering debris into the air.

  Xander steps in front of Zero. 'Don’t speak. It’ll only make things harder than they already are.'

  Javoo shakes his head. 'I will avenge my clan, even if it kills me.' A teleportation scroll appears out of thin air.

  "No, you don’t!" Xander shouts, casting a teleportation block just as a streak of lightning zaps across the short distance between them.

  Javoo activates his magic protection Syndesis, deflecting the attack. The four charge at him. Javoo tosses the scroll into the air and slices it in half. With an eerie, high-pitched sizzle, Javoo vanishes, leaving only the sand on his body behind, which falls to the ground with a hush.

  “Fuck!” Zero stomps the ground, then gets in Xander’s face. “You were supposed to block him before the fight even started!”

  Xander grinds his teeth. "I did, but as you can see, he activated his protection syndesis just like we did."

  “We had that asshole too… Now he's going to be another thorn in our side!”

  "The Trapline Army might offer him sanctuary too." Cazel shakes his head. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Look what happened, Xander! Now we’re going to have to track this bastard down for ages, aren’t we?

  “First, let’s regroup with the others,” Xander says. “We’ll get him, just give it time.”

  "No..." Zero says, pulling a teleportation scroll from Krio. "I'm going after him."

  Xander’s eyes widen. "No, Zero, don't!"

  Zero rips the scroll without hesitation, his eyes flickering from one location to another. The same high-pitched sizzle that heralded Javoo’s departure fills the air.

  In the center of Durmax, RoT controls one side, while the Trapline Army controls the other. Zero scans the area until his eyes lock on Javoo, being escorted by a few Trapline Army members. “JAVOO!” Zero yells. Javoo and the Trapline Army members turn to face him. Zero feels a burning pain in his chest as he exhales heavily. He's ready.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Durmax – Occupation: RoT/The Trapline Army(Zero)

  Durmax is the second-largest city on the map and the most fortified. Despite being surrounded by dense forests, it’s almost as hot as Westpoint. The city’s buildings are packed tightly together, except for those in the expansive park to the north.

  Zero approaches the Trapline Army retinue, his gaze fixed on Javoo. A member of the Trapline Army positions himself between the two. “Let’s relax a bit, Lord. We should talk, not fight...”

  Zero bashes the soldier across the head, blood spraying into the air. “Stand in my fucking way, and you’re all dead!”

  A few dozen Trapline Army members begin to back up. It wasn’t that they couldn’t take on a tired Zero; rather, they didn’t want to start a war. A few scramble to retrieve their bloody clanmate.

  A long sigh escapes Javoo as he pushes his second companion away from him. Meeting Zero’s eyes, his expression shifts from annoyance to that same, oddly sorrowful expression.

  Zero’s eyes widen as he struggles to understand why he’s receiving the same reaction. First it was Messi, and now Javoo. Zero and his clan had just slaughtered Javoo’s friends, yet that damned look of sorrow remained!

  Javoo rubs his three dislocated stone fingers before speaking. “Do you hate me?” Zero doesn’t respond.

  As much as Zero dislikes the bastard, he doesn’t hate Javoo. He finds him infuriating and forces himself to endure the ire. It’s always some damned calamity with them, and that breeds nothing but anger. Getting doxxed by them is more than enough reason to hate them, yet Zero can’t seem to bring himself to feel that way. The inability to justify his absent hatred only frustrates him more. And why the hell is Javoo still wearing that sorrowful expression?

  Javoo’s steel claymore appears. “I honestly knew we wouldn’t get along. But I was true to my word. I wanted peace.” The tip of his blade strikes the ground, and his damaged armor disappears. “Perhaps, before all of this began, we could have been friends?”

  Zero halts thirty yards away. “Perhaps…I might have liked that.” He leans into a leap.

  A quiet chuckle escapes Javoo. “I might have liked that as well.” He too leans into a leap.

  The world holds its breath. In a single motion, the two flash past each other, too fast for any eye to follow, too fast for a thought to form.

  Blood spills between the plates of armor on Zero’s forearm. The steel is cut clean through, the blade buried deep in his flesh.

  Javoo holds out his claymore. Only half the blade remains intact, and much of the guard has crumbled. As the broken half falls, he turns back to Zero and catches it in his left hand before it can hit the ground.

  Zero’s plate body vanishes into his inventory. With the dented armor gone, his breathing comes easier, though his arm still stings and throbs, the pain now sharper and more focused. He turns back to Javoo. Once again, they leap toward each other.

  This time, flames erupt through a nearby building, bursting through walls. From the ground floor to the second, then up to the roof, the fire rages as they clash, putting on a brutal display for the watching clans.

  Clan members swiftly clear the buildings and the surrounding area, eager to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Despite their efforts, some are not quick enough. The two combatants, though not at their peak levels, battle with intensity. Their movements are swift and precise, each kick carrying enough force to send a brick through several walls. What feels like an eternity is compressed into three minutes.

  ?Zero's warhammer vanishes mid-air before seizing Javoo's legs and hurling him into the adjacent building. Not wasting an instant, Zero casts a tier-two fire bolt, launching it toward the impact site.

  Javoo snaps his fourth finger, turning it to stone. Zero’s fire bolt strikes the summoned black figure with a sudden burst of force.

  Before the fire fades, Zero charges through the flames, swinging his warhammer.

  ?At the last moment, Javoo blocks the strike with his arm. For once, a grisly snap of breaking bone comes from Javoo’s forearm rather than his fingers. As bone fragments emerge from his skin, a mighty kick to the ribs from Zero propels Javoo through the nearby wall and into an adjacent building.

  Zero leaps through the hole and into the other building, bits of debris crumbling down around him. Javoo, now leaning against a mound of debris, snaps his thumb against the ground, but realizes he can’t snap any other fingers. As the first black figure charges Zero, Javoo bites off his pointer and middle fingers. They lithify in his mouth, resembling pair of crooked stone cigars. Javoo spits them out, and as they clatter on the floorboards, two more black figures spring from his body.

  Zero dodges, bouncing off the wall behind him and then springing to the next before leaping past the black figures. He locks eyes with Javoo in the center of the room before flipping into the air. His feet touch the ceiling and he launches himself at Javoo, bringing his warhammer down. The force of the blow shatters the floor beneath them, the burst of air pressure blasting the building’s front door off its hinges and shattering its windows with a deafening boom. The trio of black figures rush down in pursuit. The closest black figure swings a fist at Zero, before vanishing. Amidst the dust, the heavier debris begins to settle.

  Zero stands over Javoo’s motionless body. Javoo’s chest has caved in, leaving a crater of gore where it once was. Blood flows from his lips. Breathing heavily, Zero collapses next to Javoo, blood staining his forearm and gauntlets. How many people has he killed so far? Counting them in his head, he comes up with four. Yet it could have been more in these three weeks if he hadn’t been trying to make a point. Still, the weight of all those killings pales in comparison to the gravity of what his mother would think of him. “I still don’t understand what you want… what you want from me…” Zero rasps.

  After a few minutes, a strange aura begins to envelop the building. Only one man dares to open the door to the living room, which offers a view of the two lying on the ground, surrounded by planks and rubble.

  “Do I even have to guess?” the man asks, crossing his arms.

  Zero swallows, his throat dry. “Feef, is that you?”

  Feef is RoT’s second-in-command and Ruto’s right-hand man. “You didn’t impress me, but to kill for real... WAL is more than just a mask, my friend. It seems you never had one to begin with.”

  Zero pushes himself up, locking eyes with Feef. “You sound disappointed.”

  “Me less, Ruto more… And for Reign of Terror, it’s just another day.”

  Zero stands, holding his arm. “Before the war starts, could I get a few hours in a resting area?”

  Feef smiles. “Don’t know what war you’re talking about.” He extends his hand toward the door. “Right this way, Zero the Notorious.” He turns and leads the way out.

  Zero steps forward.

  So, you loved us…

  A heartbeat pulses through his body, freezing him as his knees buckle, collapsing onto the oak floor. His vision distorts, and it feels as though poison courses through his veins. His head rocks back and forth and his stomach churns. Black tar bubbles up his throat and oozes from his mouth.

  As everything begins to sink into a white, pixelated haze, his vision soon forms what appears to be a white room, enclosed on both sides. A single white door stands blurry, close to the eye yet distant to the touch. He can’t make sense of what’s happening, and he doesn't want to know. The air pulses with a strange, vibrating hum, every flicker of light a harsh, jarring distortion. The sensation claws at his mind, clouding his thoughts, dragging him further into a suffocating, unknowable void.

  Why would you kill what you love?

  “Huh!?” Zero cradles his head. “Wha… Who are you!?” There’s no response. His words only echo, and he clutches his ears. “Fuck!”

  Black liquid seeps through the white floor, rising slowly. Zero’s eyes begin to leak a writhing darkness, which crawls up his knees.

  We are the three in one, bound by cursed love…

  The darkness rises to his belly. Zero’s thoughts are no longer his own. A forgotten word echoes relentlessly in his mind, evoking something to do with two others: “Good… Evil… Good… Evil…” He cycles between the two, trapped, until a memory surfaces: his mother telling him that the elusive world is fifty percent good and fifty percent evil, but the rest slips away from him. “Shut up!” Zero stands, the black liquid staining his hands and face. “Let me out; I don’t want to be here!” After what feels like an eternity, the silence becomes deafening. His vision distorts and fades into darkness.

  Zero’s eyes snap open, his body slick with sweat beneath the blanket that covers him. Breathing heavily from the nightmare, it takes a moment before his heartbeat slows. Blankets cover the windows to his left, and a single candle flickers on the nightstand. Scanning the room, he notices a girl sitting at his bedside. Long brown hair covers much of her eyes and her smile is unsettling. Apart from her perfectly aligned teeth, that smile belonged on the face of a serial killer.

  “So, you must be Zero the Notorious. I’ve heard quite a bit about you from my uncle.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m a nobody, just a member of the Relic clan,” the girl says.

  Zero shakes his head. “Relic clan? Never heard of them.” As she blinks, Zero notices a faint, silvery glimmer in her eyes. Were they…mechanical?

  “The Relic Clan is a relatively new branch of RoT.”

  Zero couldn’t care less about RoT’s changes. “Where is Feef?”

  “After he dropped you off, he had to go to the front lines. Tension is growing fast across the world, an hour after the death of the Dulman clan,” the girl says, her voice heavy with excitement. “War is coming, hopefully sooner rather than later.”

  “Right…” Zero shifts to the left, lifting the covers from over him. “Give Feef my thanks, and if you see Copper, tell him we will likely be based in Frauw.”

  She nods with a hum of joy.

  Zero scans the room for his warhammer. “Where is…” He leans between the bed and nightstand, finding his weapon lying there. “Never mind.” His fingers brush the warhammer and it vanishes. Zero rises from the bed and gets dressed, while the Relic Clan girl remains sitting with the same unsettling smile. Zero makes his way to the door.

  “Bye-bye…” the girl says with a sing-song lilt. Zero pauses at the door, turning to face her.

  “You wouldn’t happen to know where Ruto is, would you?”

  The girl loses her smile. “I… I don’t know. Feef says he’s fine but has been training hard since day one.”

  “Right…” Zero reaches for the door again but turns back once more. “You know what happened to Javoo’s body?”

  “A few Trapline Army members forced their way in and took…what was left of him. My guess is they’re going to bury him in the Village of Tatter.”

  Zero nods as he reaches for the door. A third time, he turns back to the girl. “Why are you letting me just… go?”

  “I was ordered by Feef to watch over you and protect you until you woke up and left. That’s the extent of my knowledge. But I’ve heard in the past few days that Ruto wants to improve relations with WAL, Dulman, and Meco. Now that the Dulman clan is gone and The Trapline Army absorbed Meco, your clan is all that’s left.”

  “That was my last question. Thank you…” Zero opens the door, joining the bustle of the street. RoT members rush back and forth. Most, if not all, are less than half Zero’s level in combat, though he’s sure they don’t have much time to train before the upcoming battle.

  Zero wonders how many of them he could take out before succumbing to their strength of numbers. Too bad he can’t test such theories. As he scans the chaos around him, the onset of a headache makes him feel light-headed.

  Do it…

  Zero stumbles forward, cradling his throbbing head. “Hello?” Zero asks, sensing a presence in his mind. No response comes from inside his head. Closing his eyes, he takes a measured breath. When he opens his eyes, his head feels clearer. As he begins his journey west, he wonders whether he should meet up with Vodka and the others at the monastery, or else join Amos and the others in Frauw. Usually he’s good at thinking while walking. At least now, he has time to do so.