1 1. Cruel Reality

Tragic cries, desperate screams, indignant curses mixed with crazy laughter…

Everything seems to be meaningless in this moment. They come from those who are on the same path, from people who have no reason to live.

They laughed in that last but brief seconds, tears streaming down their faces.

But those haunting laughter never stopped, their bodies burned by fire, spears pierced their throats, eyes devoured by dogs.

But they still laugh...

Those freaks seem to never end their laughing as long as the body is still there.

The person standing next to me began to panic, his face gradually changing color.

"Shut up! Why are you smiling, why are you even smiling, how can you laugh?! Damn it!"

The point of the spear was deeply embedded in the man lying on the ground, he repeatedly stomped on his throat, screaming.

What am I doing here, and why with these people? All behave without reason, and the one being punished…

After all, who are the demons in human disguise.

That night, the whole village burned down, the smell of smoke rose to the nose, the fires also went out. Bodies were lying everywhere, there were "executors" who were also caught in the fire and died.

But no one knows, and they really just don't care while in the middle of this deadly ensemble.

I've seen people slaughter each other countless times, and it wouldn't be strange if one day I'd end up like them, the "comrades" who lost their humanity.

A blonde, slender figure approached me. Besides the codename "S", I don't know much, only remember that she was always the one to talk to me after every "Enlightenment".

The cold gaze seemed to cut into each vertebra.

"Why looking so dumb? I didn't have time to watch you hunched over in a corner. Get up and clean up the body."

I raised my head, looked at her face and that fake smile with half my eyes.

"I don't want to repeat it again. Genocide… You call this work? I can't be so enthusiastic after every time we kill someone without even knowing why…"

"You, don't believe in the King?"

If I had to use words to describe how I felt when she mentioned His Highness, I would probably stay silent for the rest of my life.

I gripped her hand tightly, as if to crush it, and stood up.

Her fingers lightly touched my pale lips.

"Can you feel it? The taste of dried blood on my fingers? I really can't remember how many people's blood was on this hand. If you don't put your trust in the king, if you want to be free, I'll be more than happy to help. But at least for my sake, it's hard to find someone who is still rational even after just one day of implementation. I need you, the enforcement team needs you."

I went with the rest of the team to clean up and destroy the remaining corpses until dawn of the next morning. So the third "Enlightenment" ended, and we returned to the Éclairer citadel.

Located to the west of the Sanctuary, the Éclairer citadel was the base that controlled the entire western side.

At the same time, this is also the fortress of the enforcement team, under their management, the area has always maintained a stable order, or at least I thought so.

The horses marched towards the Great Gate…

In the citadel, guards were deployed at key points. Two large watchtowers faced east to directly observe the Sanctuary and the situation in the distance.

I wandered down the hallway.

The squad members looked at this "Deputy Commander" with disdain, and their displeasure having to take orders from a coward who didn't dare to put half his foot on the battlefield; I can understand all.

Aside from S, I rarely had a conversation with anyone, and all orders came directly from her so my presence ended up being the equivalent of a trainee.

But maybe that is also a part of my happiness.

It is better to be treated like this than to take up arms to face those demons.

I always wondered, a little tormented myself before the act of "carrying the name for the King".

Is there a good, noble reason behind its inhumanity, why those people became like that.

My current position makes me not much different from an empty book, because it doesn't contain anything...

Stopping at the door of the training room, was the first mission in the name of Deputy Commander.

Behind it, hundreds of rookie, boys and girls with no dreams.

Different from the fairy tales about the soldier who volunteered to sacrifice himself for the illusory country that the Church still propagates day and night in the minds of the people, everyone knows that going to the army is the last and most desperate choice, when there is no longer any way to make a living.

Opened the door, I quietly walked in. They were all like dying old man, knowing in advance what awaited their future.

The atmosphere was suffocating...