“Commander! Your orders, my liege?” A man came running from the side and asked Leo. He turned to his side to see a kneeling man.
“My orders?” He asked, curious about what they were.
“The enemy has surrendered. Do we slaughter them as usual?” The man asked him.
“No- Yes. Of course, we do. I will be joining you,” Leo said. The minute he said that he cupped his hand over his mouth with disbelief. He had no intention of saying those words, but they came out without his control.
“We are honored to have you join us,” he replied and went a certain way. Leo followed the man.
The minute the man arrived, Leo lost control over the body. He couldn’t control where he was going or what he was saying. The previous interaction was not him but someone else saying those words for him.
The man led Leo out of the corpse toward an army. There were thousands of soldiers, all Aura Knights, in a group that shouted when they saw him approach them.
“Blood God! Blood God! Blood God!”
Leo realized what position he was in. He was currently in the body of the blood god. But what he couldn’t understand was what he was supposed to do. What was the trial about?
“We are ready to begin, my liege,” his aide said. At this point, Leo still had control over his body, so he decided to get acquainted with the situation.
“Explain the situation to me,” he said to the person beside him.
“We already killed two-thirds of the Wheeler Kingdom’s army. The rest are people who have either surrendered or people who have run away.”
His mouth suddenly felt unpleasant when he heard this. Why were they going to kill people who have surrendered? If they already won the war, then it should be completely over, right? As he was thinking this, he lost control over his body again.
“Kill!” He shouted while lifting his spear.
The army roared loudly and thumped their own equipment onto the ground three times. Each time they did it, the ground shook three miles out. The sounds were thunderous, creating fear in the people trying to run.
Beyond the army was a canyon where the people trying to run away were. Those who surrendered were kneeling in neat rows while there were a spare few who were running for their lives in the distance.
After the three thumps, the entire army turned around and took a step forward. They shouted loudly as they took that step.
“Hup!”
When they took the step, the people who had surrendered jerked back in fear. All the soldiers had eyes that screamed for blood. Looking at their captors approach them with the killing intent they displayed openly made the prisoners regret not running away like the others.
The soldiers took another step forward and shouted. It seemed like they were purposefully leaving a small gap between each step to give their captives time to think about running. But the fear they generated voided that. Everyone on their knees felt their legs become weak when they saw the display of power.
After a few more steps, the soldiers reached the first row of prisoners. They didn’t seem like they were stopping anytime soon but the prisoners were still trembling, unable to move. Leo watched as they took another step forward.
This time, they held their spears in their hands and pierced forward while walking forward. All of them pierced through the heads of the persons in front of them, splattering the remnants of their brains all over the people behind them.
Leo wanted to look away, but he didn’t have control over his own body. He just watched as the soldiers under his control were going forward, slaughtering the helpless people. When the first row of captives was killed, the rest realized what was happening.
Most of them stood up and were about to run while a spare few didn’t. Those people accepted their fate. When people started to run, the army no longer walked forward so slowly. Their superior who was standing in the front shouted loudly.
“Charge!”
They all ran forward toward the fleeing enemies with passion. The people who had given up were killed on the way as they chased the Wheeler Kingdom Soldiers. Leo couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
The amount of blood spilling was the most he had seen in his entire life. He had killed people before, but never as grotesque and on a massive scale like this. This was filling his mind full of pictures he wouldn’t be able to unsee. After all, inside he was just a 15-year-old kid.
They charged forward while his subordinate talked to him.
“So, my liege, when are we planning on facing the Bandit King?” He asked Leo.
He was about to reply with a question asking about who that was, but his body acted on its own again.
“We will attack them as sunrise, Dmitri. Prepare the reserve troops. They will be the vanguard for this attack,” he said.
“But sire, the current army is full of morale. They will do amazing and might feel bad that they are being put to the back,” Dmitri said.
“No. These soldiers are drunk on victory. They will be complacent, careless, and tired from today’s battle. As for the reserve troops, they will know about this victory. And they will want to prove themselves to be just as useful. Keep the reserves in the front.”
“Of course, my liege. May I ask why you aren’t joining your men?” Dmitri asked him just as Leo got back control over the body. He quickly thought of a good answer.
“I don’t wish to waste my energy on already dead men. I will lead the battle tomorrow.”
As soon as he said that, he partially regretted his answer. Now he would have to participate in the battle. But then again, he would probably have to partake anyway. If he didn’t say that and tried to stay behind the front lines, then he would most likely lose control over the body.
What he hated the most was losing control over the body. Not being able to do anything except observe was scary, and he didn’t like it more than he didn’t like the needless slaughter. That was justified because it was war.
“Then I will take you to your quarters, my liege,” Dmitri said and lead the way. He rose to the air and Leo’s body did as well. He finally understood what Nefrati meant when she said flying with aura.
Until now, he hadn’t used aura so he only knew that the body he was in had a lot of it. A huge amount of it. But now he was finally feeling its effects.
With magic, he could fly as well, but it was a completely different experience. This was because his magic was more powerful than his aura, and it could easily use the elements. However, it had limitations.
The flying was not meant to be used in battle, since maneuvering was very difficult. But flying with aura was as natural to him as walking on the ground. He felt he could do just as much and move as freely.
On top of that, the aura was a lot more powerful. According to what he felt, he had 8 circles around his dantian. He was an 8th Circle Aura Knight!
When he realized this a while back, he thought he was dreaming. Then he realized he was. That was when he realized that he was supposed to start figuring out what to do and break out of a daze. He had tried to ask a few questions to Dmitri for that reason.
The goal right now for him was to understand what he was supposed to be doing to pass the trial he was in. The only way he could do that, for the time being, would be to follow his aide.
The only thing going in his way was unfortunately the temporary loss of control. Every time he was about to do something that would definitely disturb the natural order of events, he seemed to be losing control and it would correct his responses. It was an easy way to get a little understanding of the situation.
They floated slowly over the ground, allowing Leo to get a better view of the world he was in.
It was a massive area without any signs of greenery. There were a few hills and that was it. The rest was a desert. Near the place he had first possessed the body, there was a campsite. It was gigantic and could easily accommodate more than 10000 people.
This was to be expected though, since just the people he had seen numbered a little over 6000. If there were reserve troops as well, then they would all have to be staying somewhere.
What piqued his curiosity was why there was a war in the first place. The scale of this war was far beyond his imagination. All the soldiers he had seen were at the bare minimum, a 4th Circle Aura Knight. There were more than a thousand 5th Circle Aura Knights and around 50 6th Circle ones.
Even the people who had surrendered were Aura Knights of a similar level. So what made this war happen in the first place? Why were such powerful people fighting each other? What could possibly be at stake?