A turn of events

Inside the throne room, Sniper stared at the luscious mountain range outside of the massive window behind his throne. Mike entered by the front door and walked toward Sniper.

As he walked, he noticed how much more luxurious has the throne room gotten since his last visit. The shiny silver stairs were removed and replaced with steps made from pure gold. The statue of Atlas behind Sniper's throne was removed and replaced with a towering statue of Sniper himself dressed in a luxurious imperial robe. The inscription that used to be "pax est fortium" (peace is for the strong) on Sniper's throne was replaced with "imperium aeternum imperatori" (eternal power to the emperor).

Upon arriving in front of the staircase leading to the throne, Mike kneeled down and awaited Sniper's orders.

[Sniper] - "It's a resounding success, Mike. After 3 years of brutal conflict, we are finally one step closer to greatness. The world shall see my vision of a greater humanity. "

[Mike] - "Indeed, uncle, our success is... "

[Sniper] - "That is "my lord" to you, young man, but go on. "

Said Sniper as he returned to his throne.

[Mike] - "Of course, my lord. What I was saying was how quick our success was. "

[Sniper] - "Indeed, dear Mike. We are about to bring an age of peace and prosperity never seen before to the world. You must realize how lucky you are to witness the birth of a utopia. "

[Mike] - "I do realize, my lord. "

Sniper signalled for Mike to rise up with a hand gesture.

[Sniper] - "So what brings you to visit me all of a sudden? "

Mike hesitated for a second before opening his mouth.

[Mike] - "Our empire, my lord. I happen to witness behaviours that soil the reputation of the imperial army go unpunished. I also remarked indecent and cowardly use of the godly power of the crystals by Cyberknights. Unrestrained by the hands of the law or of nature, these Cyberknights have brought dishonour and shame to the empire and you, yet they received no retribution for their action. "

[Sniper] - "Hmm... I see. So what do you suggest, then? "

[Mike] - "That we punish these delinquents with the appropriate sentence that corresponds to their wrongdoings. "

[Sniper] - "So you are suggesting we must punish the entirety of the imperial forces? "

[Mike] - "Only those who have abused their power. "

Sniper chuckled at Mike's serious expression.

[Sniper] - "You see, Mike, no one is innocent in a war. Those who overstep their boundary will be dealt with accordingly. I'm not blind, Mike, I see everything! You believe people are guilty but how innocent are you? I know your little love affair despite how I prohibited you from engaging in any relationship. Does this mean I should cut off your head too? "

Mike kept his head down and remained silent while Sniper stared at him with a vexing look in his eyes.

[Sniper] - "You should know your place, Mike. Who are you to judge others? You are a general, you command armies and organize strategy. These kinds of concerns are none of your business. You will do as I ask of you and that's all there is. "

Mike struggled to breathe as the echoes of Sniper's words pressed against his lungs like a massive bolder. The sheer power in his voice was enough to suffocate Mike's will to fight back.

[Sniper] - "This war and everything was already determined from the start. All my effort, all this diplomacy, all this rule, has taught me how miserable the world is. All I needed to do was a single punch for 4000 years of civilization to end and yet, I chose to save it. When I offered people freedom, I was met with resistance. When I liberated countries from tyrannical rules, I was met with rebellions. When I offered a chance for people to join me, I was fooled with corruption. What's next, will my rule be put into question? "

Said Sniper as he stared directly at Mike.

[Mike] - "I shall serve you, my lord. I will not disappoint you! "

[Sniper] - "People will die, Mike, you can't save all of them. Only the strong shall rule. My empire is the mother of all omelettes, you can't fret over every egg. Those who understand the opportunity offered to them will rise to the top while those who choose to undermind this chance will fall to the bottom. That goes the same for you. Stop crying for the few ants that perished while the ultimate colony is right ahead of us. "

Mike, although deep down he was unconvinced by Sniper's arguments, still chose to show acknowledgement of Sniper's philosophy.

[Sniper] - "I'm glad we can come to an understanding. Now, go. "

[Mike] - "As you wish, my lord. "

Sniper stood up and walked back to the window which overlooked the snowy mountains.

[Sniper] - "Remember who your allegiance lies with. A knife does not discriminate between blood if it's forged in the fire of betrayal. "

Mike's hands started to tremble uncontrollably as Sniper's words echoed inside his mind.

As Mike made his exit from the Sniper's office, he looked one last time back at Sniper who faced the windows while the fog covered the sky. The crystals on The Sniper's arm glowed while the window blinds closed on their own, leaving the room in total obscurity.

[Mike] - "God fucking damn it... why am I trembling so much? "

Whispered Mike in frustration after the doors closed behind him.

After looking at the clock displayed at the top right corner of his view, Mike pushed himself off the wall and began to walk away.

Inside the Mount Everest base, a transport ship slowly landed before a bunch of assassins walked out of the ramp that protruded from the craft's back. All of them were equipped with different sorts of visible cybernetic modifications or weapons except for Kadyn. Despite Kadyn's tame appearance, all of the other assassins seemed to keep a certain distance away from her out of fear.

After moving to a larger area, the assassins quickly dispersed around and left Kadyn alone in the middle of the hangar. Unbothered by the amount of attention aimed at her, Kadyn crossed out another two names from her target list.

[Mike] - "Miss me? "

Said Mike as he gently hugged Kadyn from behind.

[Kadyn] - "Don't do this in public, you are going to get caught. "

[Mike] - "Who cares? He already knows anyway. "

[Kadyn] - "You don't want the entirety of the empire to know you took me for your girlfriend. It's going to be unmanageable for you. "

[Mike] - "Oh, is that so? "

Said Mike in a smug voice.

Mike suddenly called out to all the personnel and assassins that roamed the hangar.

[Kadyn] - "What are you doing? "

Whispered Kadyn as she tried to shut Mike up.

After making sure that he got most of the people's attention, Mike abruptly grabbed Kadyn and kissed her on the mouth. Although Kadyn was shocked by Mike's action, she made almost no effort to struggle out of his grip since she knew it was useless. After a few seconds, Kadyn closed her eyes and simply accepted the fact as it was.

Mike was commonly known across the empire as a celebrity and well-liked by the men he served with. Many in the crowd who personally knew Mike cheered for him while those only heard of him showed an expression of shock at what they just witnessed. By the time Mike pulled away from Kadyn, she was already red like a cherry.

Like a pair of newlyweds, Mike moved with Kadyn across rows of cheering personnel and soldiers. While cowered her face against Mike's coat, Mike saluted the people he recognized amongst the crowd. After exiting the hangar and moving to a place without people, Kadyn immediately stopped Mike and stood in front of him in anger.

[Kadyn] - "What has gotten into you? Do... do you know what kind of consequence this could bring? "

[Mike] - "Oh please, my little fox, without my armour or my helmet, most only know me as General Mike. Most don't even know I'm the Grand Cyberknight. "

[Kadyn] - "That's beside the point! I want to know why did you do that. "

[Mike] - "Because you are free! I just paid a little visit to Admiral McCain, your director of operation. And let's say I "convinced" him to grant you your freedom. Considering who he is, sooner or later, everyone will know about us, so I thought might as well reveal it on my terms. "

Kadyn's expression quickly changed from anger to mischief. With a smug grin on her face, Kadyn quickly dragged Mike into a busy hallway before sticking her body against him and resting her head on his shoulder as they walked. The passing men and women quickly started to whisper amongst themselves upon seeing the two of them walking in such an intimate way.

After a while, they arrived inside the assassins' barracks where Kadyn arrived at her bunkbed and kissed Mike in front of her fellow assassins.

[assassin] - "Huh? How! "

Said one of the female assassins with a confused look on her face.

[Kadyn] - "Guess the demi-human got more charm than you. "

Said Kadyn as she hastily packed her stuff before leaving with Mike.

As the two walked in the hallway, Mike finally broke the silence after so long.

[Mike] - "Can I know why- "

[Kadyn] - "It's payback for what you did to me in the hangar earlier. Who said I can't do it back to you? "

Said Kadyn with a satisfied smile on her face.

[Mike] - "Fair enough. "

Once inside Mike's room, Kadyn threw her suitcase onto the side before jumping onto Mike's bed. After snuggling herself with the blanket, Kadyn allowed her camouflaged fox ears to pop up from her golden hair.

[Kadyn] - "Hmm... How can you sleep on such a stiff bed? "

[Mike] - "Well, how about this? "

The crystals on Mike's arms suddenly began to glow with a gentle blue light before Kadyn levitated into the air. As if gravity had disappeared only for the two of them, Mike quickly swam up and lay beside Kadyn. With a snap of his finger, the room's lighting quickly switched to an ocean blue light which gave the impression that they were floating inside the ocean.

[Mike] - "Is this good enough for you? "

[Kadyn] - "It's like a dream. "

Said Kadyn with a giggle as she turned around to face Mike.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Kadyn spoke.

[Kadyn] - "Thank you, Mike. I owe you my life for everything you have done for me. "

[Mike] - "You have done so much for me too. "

[Kadyn] - "Like what? "

Said Kadyn as she moved closer toward Mike where their noses almost touched.

[Mike] - "By blessing me with this heavenly body of yours. "

Said Mike in a sarcastic voice.

[Kadyn] - "Ah, stop, it's not like you didn't give me a good time as well. I doubt any other man can rock me as hard as you did in bed. "

Said Kadyn in a playful voice.

Just as they got closer to kiss, Mike suddenly saw a figure behind Kadyn. He immediately jumped up and used his ability to blast the figure into the wall but when the both of them got a clear look at the figure, they realized that it was Mike's armour set. Somehow, even though Mike only used his ability to make Kadyn and himself float, the armour began to float as well.

Kadyn didn't think much of it after this realization and turned around to face Mike.

[Kadyn] - "It's just your armour. "

Said Kadyn while being quite amused by the situation.

But Mike found the situation to be quite strange instead. The usage of a crystal is directly tied to the mind and the ability often tells a story about the user or shows his true nature.

[Kadyn] - "Say, Mike, can you call me something else than "Little fox"? "

[Mike] - "Sure, what do you want me to call you? "

[Kadyn] - "Well, call me "Lemon". "

[Mike] - "Because of your blonde hair? "

[Kadyn] - "No, because when life gave you a bitter lemon, you took care of it and turned it into a sweet lemon. "

Said Kadyn with a joyful smile.

Mike smiled back accordingly upon understanding the meaning behind Kadyn's words.

Later that night, as Kadyn slept soundly against him, Mike's eyes remained fixed on his armour which remained without a motion against the wall. Something was unsettling about it. He felt as if something was staring at him through the helmet's visor, something beyond this world, something that could not be defined by words.

To be continued...