act9d0

I know what I said. No one could just watch from the sidelines. There could be no bystanders.

And yet, I still wanted to escape from the war. From Babel, from W, and from Her Majesty...

So I ran.

...What a hypocrite.

Do I regret it? Maybe.

But even if I stayed there, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything.

5:58 A.M. \ Light drizzle

Northernmost outskirts of Kazdel, mercenary camp at the edge of the warzone.

A few months after leaving Babel...

This intel...

C'mon, say something. You're normally pretty glib.

...What's there to talk about?

Why are you throwing a question back at me?

...This deadlock has been dragging on for ages. Do you think the scales will tip overnight?

What the hell happened these last six months? Aren't things moving way too quickly...?

We all know something went wrong.

But as to exactly where, nobody knows.

I guess I shouldn't say nobody.

Her Majesty... and the people around her. That never should've happened to them. That's what we all think.

But right now... what about us? Will the same thing happen to us?

Too soon. This war ended too quickly.

Up until last month, we were still working our contract with Babel. Then, they went quiet. We stopped getting any news...

Everyone knew which side we were on, and it's not like we were even ready to leave.

...If that's really the end of things, we have nowhere to run.

Tell the Messenger to start pulling contacts and see what intel we can dig up.

Maybe we'll... have to return to the real battlefield.

I also figured that day was coming.

We all knew it deep down, didn't we?

If we really wanted to wash our hands of the whole thing, we wouldn't have agreed to work with them in the first place.

We could've left on our own, crossed Lake Valendan, and made a killing somewhere else—

Ines, I...

Stop.

It'd be even harder for us to pull out of there. Too easy to get lost in that warmth. We'd get drunk on it.

Maybe we should just abandon Babel and take our people away.

You still have that same old problem. You're getting sentimental again.

I can't tell you how long, but it feels like it's been ages since I've made a good decision that actually helped us.

Maybe we really don't belong on the battlefield anymore...

Enough of that. Which one of us is the Sarkaz here?

Is there a single other place on Terra, like even a wooden shed over our heads, that can handle a bunch of bloodstained Sarkaz?

Don't always blame yourself. We all share the burden.

Also, looking back, I can say that you made the right decision to take in W.

She's made a lot of money for us. And offed a lot of people.

...Hope so.

W... Is she still alive?

I don't think she'd die so easily.

She spent a decent amount of time with Her Majesty as well. Who knows, maybe she learned a thing or two.

We need to get a grasp quick of the situation in Kazdel right now. If we can find her again, things might get a little easier.

Do we really need her to back us up?

Fine.

...What a damn shame.

—There you are. Ugh, you sure know how to run.

You look dead inside. I heard what you've been up to lately, W.

Then, you should also know that you're the last one.

You're right. As you can see, a lot of people died in this battle.

All you're doing at this point is running up the score.

The way I see things, anyone who isn't dead yet has done a lot more than you ever have.

Shut up.

Do you need another reminder?

Theresa is dead. All of Kazdel, all of Terra will know that Kazdel has a new king.

But that was just a decapitation strike. A lot of your core operators are still alive.

Like that commander of yours who never showed up again. They made the right call.

His Majesty didn't completely annihilate you because he wants to put a stop to the chaos. Kazdel needs him to pave a new path forward—

—But what about you? Who are you to lecture anyone about right or wrong?

Of course you won't say it, but I know that's what you're thinking. And while you're thinking, you're trying to erase all those faces from your memory, one by one.

After all, you're just here to vent. Just a petty little mercenary, drowning in her worthless revenge.

You can't beat anyone.

I can definitely beat you, pretty easily too.

Killing me doesn't prove anything.

All you do is run your mouth. Are you trying to read my mind, or just getting some last words out before you die?

A bit of both. I won't deny it.

Ever since that— since I almost choked on the blood of my friends, I haven't been able to hold a weapon.

We've all bled. Splattered it across Babel's palace. What you've seen, I've seen so much more.

But since you found me, I guess my fate is sealed. Hah.

I know.

Save your breath. To be honest... I just kinda wanna kill you. Call it a little relief from the stress of unemployment.

Bah... I really underestimated you, psycho.

Can you really pull that trigger without any anger behind it? Or, are you so far gone that you don't even feel anything?

You're alone now... How many of our people do you plan to hunt down?

Don't you realize... you're not even thinking about Her Majesty Theresa? You're helping him silence us, and...

Will you shut it already? I thought you wanted to die?

If you ran back to your little Regent, do you really think I could butcher my way through Kazdel and drag all of you out one-by-one?

But you won't. None of you will. When you people killed her, you knew that you'd never be able to return to Kazdel again. You'll never go back to the way things were before.

Nobody who actually saw what she looked like would've been able to keep cool. Except for those real monsters.

So you're all waiting for one special person: me, your executioner. I'm here to finally set you free.

And I'm doing it for free too! How great is that?!

Tch... Self-righteous lunatic...

But, what you said is true...

We... We stained our hands with her blood... But even then...

I...

You never should've call that man 'His Majesty.' Theresa is the only one who gets that title. You might've lived to speak a few more words.

I hope the usurper isn't rushing to get fitted for a crown. I mean, he'll be losing his head in a minute here. It'd be such a waste. Just wait 'til Theresa...

*sigh*.

Theresa...

If you don't surrender, you get other mercs on you. Next time, you'll be the prey.

—Well look who it is.

I thought you two left Kazdel ages ago... Long time no see.

...Compared to how long this war has been going on, it was a weekend getaway. But I can't believe how you've grown.

I spooked you? Your hands are shaking.

Just a little rusty.

Our intel did say that you'd be alone here—