Chapter 64 - Dawn Breaks

"Do you understand now?" One asked.

"Yes," Fran stared blankly into the night.

"Then, you will fulfil your end of the bargain,"

One began to descend as he has accomplished what he needed to accomplish. Though he never really thought of sparing Fran's life, having a spy that would penetrate deep within the enemy would speed up his inevitable victory.

Why? Information, of course! One has the opportunity to strike gold and shove it down the enemy's throats. They shall choke.

One had to be careful, and so, he needed to ensure Fran's survival. To ensure his survival, he needs to have something that would motivate him to do his duty, and that motivation is already there. His daughter and quite possibly his wife, if he has a wife at least. I mean, One does not know if his wife even loves him or if he loves her. If so, One only needed to protect the daughter if the wife was of no value whatsoever.

A good plan!

But needs to be appropriately executed or else all of the benefits that may be reaped will be lost. There are so many risks and many buts; it sometimes gets tedious.

The two finally touch the solid ground and Fran was more than delighted to feel the solid earth under his feet.

"I thank you, your grace, for offering me such mercy, you may not be the demon the council makes you to be,"

One stared at him and said.

"There are no demons, nor are there, there is only the will of an individual that decides how society will portray him as,"

Fran listened intently with One was saying.

"For example, I invented something that would benefit billions but would kill millions, they would see you as someone evil, they only care of the negativity you bring and monopolize on the hate they create. They don't care if you save billions, they decide whether you are an angel or a demon,"

And Fran was silent again after hearing the words of One. He could not clearly see it but he was certain that One smirked a bit before returning to his blank and cold stare. Fran took the initiative and bowed low.

"I solemnly swear my allegiance to you, o wise one,"

"I accept," He announced.

'Humans are so simple; it's a wonder how I am considered one, I am merely in a shell of a human but who I far exceed a human. I only cooked what I said to this man through what Hailey educated me about human society before its eventual demise back on Earth. They are simple in a way that makes them unique, a form of structure so fragile yet so durable. This man has a family, something I think I had but no longer have, of course, if ever, they most likely died when humanity did.

It's heart-breaking, is that correct? Well, it's not like I feel anything similar to it but let us say I do, it's heart-breaking in a sense that I, a human still, lack what makes a human, a human. I only possess the physical properties but I lack everything else.

If I ever find who I was, what I was and how I was back then, maybe, just maybe, I can relate more to this man, Fran. For now, all of you are merely tools for my mission, pawns on a chessboard. I hope you do well, or else you'll get eaten by the better chess piece.'

One was lost in thought and is soon snapped back into the real world by Fran.

"Milord, If thou don't mind me asking, what is thy name?"

One opened his eyes and saw Fran still kneeling before him with his head up high and eyes staring at his person.

"I am, One," He answered.

"Juan?"

"No, One,"

"Ah, yes, Juan,"

"Sigh.."

While One was explaining how his name should be pronounced, Hailey connected herself to One's communication channel.

"One," Hailey spoke through his mind.

"What?" He replied through his psychic abilities, in other words, telepathy.

"The second offensive was, no surprise, successful and the entire enemy front has collapsed,"

One then replied, using his mouth.

"Good, tell the armies to march forth, have the central army reinforced and we will lay siege on the nearest city,"

"Roger,"

"Pay it no mind," One said after noticing the visible confusion of Fran.

"I merely made contact with an ally, you will soon meet her and the others who have joined our cause,"

"There are others who joined before me?" Fran looked even more confused. He had only heard of them a few weeks ago when the crusade started and he knows that there was only one highly-skilled and powerful enemy that lead the metal men.

Now, he was being informed by that very same enemy he was warned about that there are others more like him.

"Oh, but don't worry," One suddenly said.

"They aren't as powerful as me but still in equal terms with what you consider powerful," One read his mind, not literally but it was an expected mindset and thought process.

"Anyways, enough chit-chatter, you need to be sent on your way before my soldiers lay siege upon Barbur. And concerning your family, where are they right now?"

"They are probably at our home town of Leet,"

One offered Fran to sit down beside him as he himself sat down on the ground despite how uncomfortable it was for a normal person. Fran, however, still followed suit and sat down regardless if it was comfortable or not.

"So there are also towns and not just villages,"

"Yes,"

"Can you explain to me how towns are different?"

One knew clearly what the differences were, he was just extracting information from Fran bit by bit.

"Well, sire, towns are bigger than villages with populations ranging from 1 thousand to 3 thousand while villages are only composed of 50 to 300 people. Villages mostly focus on farming while towns are more developed and visited by travellers and merchants. Also, towns end to be situated near the cities and through important trade nodes, hence the development. If for example, a village is connected directly through an important trade node, said village would evolve into a town and subsequently become a city if handled right,"

"I see," One was very skilled in the art of trying to look stupid.

The man went on and on explaining to One how simple economics and civilization worked. Although it may seem that this was a waste of time, One used what the man was telling him to determine his education and by far, he seemed to be a very educated person in the standards of a peasant-ridden world such as Fiorg.

"Now then," One stood up and dusted himself.

"Yes, sire?"

"Your mission begins now,"

"Eh? Sire, I am too far away fro-"

"Pay it no mind; your transport is here,"

A roaring sound echoed in the distance and became louder as the thing flew nearer. It was a speeding hovercraft directly requested by One to drop Fran back to Barbur. The hovercraft shined its bright searchlight directly at the two. Fran finally saw how One really looked, he wore a black uniform with yellow strands across his shoulders. His hair was down and face blank as ever, the glowing cracks that he saw came directly from his exposed skin. He was terrified.

'Did I really make a deal with the devil?' he thought to himself.

"I bid thee, farewell," One walked a few steps back. Fran did not know what was gonna happen. The hovercraft suddenly opened up its bottom and descended directly above him.

"Ha!"

In a second, he was pulled up inside the hovercraft through the use of a magnet that carried him using the armour he was wearing. The hovercraft the ascended and above the clouds it went, it slowly made its way above the dead forest, the thick smoke and the raging fires.

One stared as the hovercraft disappeared from his sights and once again he was alone in the dark.

"Hm,"

One walked alone again through the rubble, his feet already dirtied by the ash and burned foliage that clung onto his pants.

"This is a gonna be a bit of a nuisance," He lamented.

He decided to take a stroll and inspect what the drones were doing, he had his two elite drones go with the army of one thousand during the second offensive hence their absence.

Ever since they began to speak, One now had official companions and not just puppets who stared at him every time, though, One seems to prefer the latter.

After presumably walking for a good thirty minutes again, One stumbled upon the severed head of a drone. It had burn marks, likely after its core exploded after it's defeated. One leaned down to have a closer look and grabbed it.

He gently wiped its face and rid it of the ash and dust that covered it. He then looked at the surrounding area, there was a crater. No doubt, the drone's core exploded.

One knew he sent these puppets to fight and quite possibly to their deaths but One cared for them still. He gently rubbed the head and placed it back where he got it.

"You fought well," One paid his respects, quite unusual for someone like him to do.

In times of war, always expect that not every one of your soldiers will return home. Don't expect that everything will be the same. To achieve victory, there must be sacrifices; One knew that. The sacrifice of this unnamed drone will forever live on as its legacy. It fought an enemy of the empire and died fulfilling its duty, such is a true warrior.

"Ha!" A voice suddenly rang out from the dark, a glowing white blade suddenly appeared and flew towards One.

"So, you're still here," One moved his head and dodged the sword. The sword then suddenly pulled itself back and was now coming towards him again.

'Magic," He thought.

Again, he dodged the sword and it returned to its owner.

A glowing golden swordsman, his aura was glowing in the darkness of the night. He literally wanted to make himself known, but that was his shortcoming, if he had stayed stealthy, he could've survived longer but since One does not need to use his night vision, it was game over for him.

"Die, demon!" The swordsman shouted and released a flurry of flying swords through the use of a spell. One then started running sideways since he knew the swords would follow him. He was evaluating his enemy and the capabilities of the said enemy. As the swords followed him, the golden swordsman dashes in-front of One's way holding his sword up and ready to slash One.

"This is very dumb,"

With only a flick of his finger, One summoned his energy blade and in one fell swoop, as the two were about to meet, he slashed the golden swordsman's swords into two and proceeded to go behind him. With this, the golden swordsman acted as a type of shield and to his horror, the swords he summoned all stabbed him mercilessly.

He screamed in pain as 30 swords stabbed him simultaneously, his blood spurted out with each sword that penetrated his armour and body.

The man stopped moving and that's when One knew he was dead. The aura he exhibited faded as soon as he stopped breathing.

"Idiots, all brawn, no brain,"

His body fell towards One's direction. He stepped to the side and the body slammed the ground. The man was no more, and so was another failed attempt to end One's life. The poor soul probably did not know that he fought the very leader of the enemy they were fighting.