The village on the lake's shores wasn't far away from [The Pure Trees], but it wasn't close either. The Niqols had tasked the recruits to travel there and take care of the mutated creatures, but the latter would need at least two and a half hours of flight to reach their destination. Khan would remain alone for more than one hour, and that time was enough to inspect most of the small houses in the area.
Kelly and the others didn't lie to themselves when the order from the Niqols arrived. They had received many details about the situation since the aliens could use the menus inside their habitation to convey them. They set off knowing that their job was to take care of the mutated creatures that the Niqols couldn't muster the courage to attack, but they didn't object nor complain.
The recruits didn't need maps or cubes. Their Aduns received the details about their destination from the Niqols' eagles, so they could depart right away.
The lake's shores had become more populated in the time that they took to arrive. The radiation had affected only the younger Niqols living in the village, and they didn't create powerful monsters, so most of the older aliens could handle the threat. Casualties had happened only when the Niqols found themselves unable to raise their weapons against the mutated creatures. The rate of suicides had also been relatively high due to the overwhelming emotions experienced during the event. Still, a fair share of members of the older generations had survived nonetheless.
Most of those Niqols had been in the forest when Khan arrived, but they had started to gather on the lake's shores afterward. The seven recruits could basically see all the survivors of the crisis once their Aduns landed on those muddy areas. That sight made the faint determination that they had managed to muster during the flight crumble.
The Niqols put their younger generations face to face with death quite early. Students who were fifteen or sixteen years old would already join hunts that could lead to casualties. It was a normal part of their culture which inevitably led to more experienced soldiers.
However, the older Niqols camping next to the lake were far from fine. The recruits saw how even aliens who radiated the aura of experienced soldiers were in tears. Some didn't manage to raise their heads at all when the humans arrived. Blank gazes, sobs, and the intense smell of booze filled the area. The scene depicted pure desperation, and that feeling overwhelmed Kelly's group.
At that moment, the humans realized how lucky they were to have George among them. The boy had never behaved as the most reliable recruits on Nitis. His scene in the human camp and his dedication to the parties had given him the fame of an immature, careless, and uncaring soldier. However, his companions understood how all of that was fake when they saw him stepping forward while they remained frozen on their spot.
"Doku said that Khan is already inside," George announced after turning to show a cold expression to his companions. "We can't waste time here."
George's usual cheerfulness and relaxed attitude had disappeared once his mind switched to its war mode. The boy went back to Istrone, and his companions noticed that. Failing to see the sudden change in his behavior was impossible.
Many professors said that experience mattered more than training on the battlefield, and those recruits couldn't help but agree with those words at that scene. George was the only one among them who had seen the ugly side of war. He moved without shaking and walked toward what could become the worst experience of his entire life without hesitating.
Veronica had seen that side of George's character only during his drunk outburst, but the feelings that he radiated at that moment were completely different. He appeared in total control of his actions and thoughts. George seemed born for those situations.
George's steadiness made the recruits rely on him. They didn't exchange words as they instinctively followed the boy moving among the groups of Niqols sitting on the muddy ground.
The recruits' young age made the Niqols' mood worsen. Many failed to notice them due to their poor mental state, but those who could ended up feeling profound shame. It didn't matter if they belonged to a different species. No one should be cruel enough to make kids handle those matters.
Still, the Niqols couldn't raise their weapons or palms against mutated creatures who had once been their children, grandchildren, and nephews. Most of those who had managed to muster enough courage to kill them had ended up overwhelmed by emotions that led to their suicide. The order to let the humans handle them came from their higher-ups, and many aliens accepted that as a necessary action to ensure their survival. Their intense feelings were a curse in that situation, and they didn't want to activate it.
The recruits received the same treatment as Khan. The soldiers patrolling the village past the membrane handed them flasks with strong booze before resuming their sad gathering. The action increased the humans' worry, but George didn't hesitate to move forward.
Veronica and the others promptly followed George, and their grips on the flask tightened when they saw that he took a sip of the strong booze before storing it and drawing his short sword. The recruits hesitated when they looked at their bottles, but they decided not to follow his example.
The village appeared empty. Its peripheral areas didn't have any corpses, and only the creaking noise of the wooden tiles moved by the light wind resounded in the environment. The scene carried a faint chilling feeling, but that wasn't enough to scare away the recruits.
The problems began when the first corpses started to appear. The recruits gained a general idea of how severe the crisis had been when they saw the signs of suicides around them. The dead mutated Niqols on the ground also confirmed their worries, but everything was still fine for now.
The scene was sad and nauseating, but it wasn't impossible to bear. Those recruits weren't even strangers to the sight of blood and insides due to the past hunts, so they could move forward without lingering on those images. The only real problem was the stench that filled the area, but the group couldn't do much about it.
The only positive aspect of that situation was the apparent absence of living beings. None of the recruits' sensitivity to mana was on par with Khan, but they could still rely on it to confirm that everything around them was dead.
A peculiar scene unfolded in their vision when they reached a large square in the village. Many suicides had happened there. Hanged corpses and dead bodies that featured self-inflicted wounds filled the houses and streets in the area, but the recruits' focus quickly went on a familiar figure sitting on the short wooden staircase that led inside one of the houses.
Khan appeared relatively fine, at least on the outside. Red spots had tainted his white robe, with most of them filling the lower part of his clothes. The recruits noticed how he wasn't wearing shoes. His trousers even left most of his legs uncovered since they had lost a huge chunk of their fabric.
Khan noticed the arrival of the recruits, but he didn't turn. His eyes were blank as he stared at the two hanged corpses on the opposite side of the house. The image was ugly beyond reason, but he found some comfort by looking at it.
The flask containing the strong booze was in his grasp, but he had barely touched it. Khan had taken a sip after sitting on those steps, but he didn't find any reason to keep drinking. Clouding his senses wasn't a solution. Still, he didn't store it either, so it remained among his hands laid on his knees.
The missing shoes and torn trousers were his fault. He didn't want to keep the most tainted parts of his clothes on him, so he had thrown them away before reaching his current spot.
Khan had taken care of every presence inside the village. Most Niqols had died naturally due to the mutations, so he didn't find many living beings during his inspection. Yet, the issue wasn't with the number of kills.
'Was it mercy?' Khan wondered as he stared at the inflated dead faces a few meters from his position.
It took an intense love to generate pain capable of leading to such a final act. Khan didn't kill the creature inside that house. Those two Niqols had probably taken care of it, but it was clear that the effort had required a price too great for them to bear.
Khan had found similar scenes during his inspection. The mental barrier had removed every trace of hesitation from his actions and had prevented him from stopping to really think about what he was seeing. Yet, his emotions had returned now, and he couldn't help but feel profound respect for that couple and all the Niqols who had ended up killing themselves due to their pain.
Accepting the nature of his actions had turned out to be easier at that time. Khan felt empty, devoid of every emotion. He even felt the urge to cry. However, those feelings weren't as bad as during his first kill.
Khan didn't know if his current relatively okay state was only temporary. He couldn't even be sure about the reasons behind his different reactions. That apparent acceptance might come from his increasing experience as a murderer or the development of his character. It could even be the result of his rationalization. It had always been too late for those mutated Niqols anyway.
The situation would have been different if the crisis had happened near one of Earth's cities. The humans' knowledge of mutations and their technology would have probably been able to save some lives, but that wasn't certain either.
Instead, on Nitis, developing mutations was akin to dying. The cynical part of Khan's mind could view his victims as nothing more than monsters and disregard their origin. Of course, the same didn't happen for his emotional side, but having such evoking displays of the Niqols' intense affection all around the village helped him accept his actions.
Khan had saved lives that day. He had prevented Niqols from having to deal with the matter themselves. Some of those aliens would have probably fallen apart if they had to kill such young members of their species.
Liiza's words resounded in his mind as he kept staring at the dead couple. She had asked Khan not to hate the Niqols, but his feelings couldn't even come close to that emotion. He despised that he had to go through such tragic scenes, but he couldn't blame the Niqols after seeing how hard it was for them.
Khan only felt emptiness, doubts, and a lingering sadness that made him unable to move, but that was nothing compared to what the Niqols had experienced. That sorrow was better inside his mind. He could endure it and spare useless suffering to the species that was giving him so much. He felt almost glad to pay that price in their place.
The recruits remained in a daze for a few minutes, but George eventually decided to step forward, and his companions followed him. The group reached Khan and gathered around the short staircase. Brandon risked hiding the hanged corpses due to his size, but Veronica made sure to stop him before he could reach that position.
"The mission is over," Khan revealed while straightening his position. "You can leave."
Khan didn't look at his companions for even a second, and they opened a path when he descended the steps to return to the square. His eyes appeared lost on the scene, and they never reflected the recruits' faces as he moved through the environment.
"Will you join the hunts?" George asked while turning toward Khan's departing figure.
"No," Khan revealed without turning. "See you at tonight's party."
Kelly frowned. She didn't want to disrespect Khan's efforts, but he was leaving them on their own. He was the only one who had a communicator, so it was his responsibility to remain close. Moreover, it was still morning. The missions were far from over.
Kelly stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak, but a shadow appeared in front of her before she could say anything. The recent breakthrough in her martial art's proficiency level couldn't help her during that unexpected event. An unstoppable force suddenly landed at the center of her chest and made her fly away.
The girl flew past the recruits and slammed on the house's wooden walls, piercing them due to the immense momentum that the attack had generated. She stopped only after her back hit on a second wall, and pure anger appeared on her face when she fell on the floor.
Kelly couldn't fail to recognize her assailant. Khan had actually decided to attack her. His actions could lead to countless troublesome issues due to the army's regulations, and she couldn't wait to report the event after jumping after him to have a fair fight.
Yet, something was clearly off. Kelly didn't feel any pain coming from her chest. She had seen how destructive Khan's kick could be, so her lack of injuries left her confused. It was as if Khan had chosen to push her inside the house on purpose.
Kelly stood up as doubts mixed with her thoughts, but her mind went blank when she saw a small bed appearing in the corner of her vision. She turned, and retches tried to rise through her throat as she studied what the Niqols' couple had killed.
Every desire Kelly had to fight Khan vanished. She didn't even dare to imagine what he had to kill while they were still flying on their Aduns, but she felt glad that he had taken care of that on his own. Gratefulness even replaced the intense annoyance that she felt toward him.
As for Khan, he resumed his march toward the village's exit. He didn't care about what anybody said. His mission was over, and no Niqols would dare to say something after what he had done there. His recent attack didn't even worry him. Kicking Kelly had been incredibly easy after everything he had seen that morning.
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Author's notes:2-3 hours for the second chapter.