Chapter 413: For my 'Freedom'... Part-2.
Ten years after,
Orc war, western front, Fort Moljo.
"Pant... pant... phew... We survived... We made it back to the fortress..."
Just when Ashtel was panting heavily, a punch hit him in the face, and he flew away and hit the wall.
"You piece of dog sh*T! I already told you to let them be! Why did you go to help! See what happened! You attracted that massive group of wolf monsters upon us instead!"
Just a while ago, when Ashtel, Neo, and Nicolas were on their usual patrol duty, they discovered another squad that was being attacked by wolf-type monsters.
There were just too many; it was a better choice to call reinforcements and come back to deal with them later.
But Ashtel, being a crybaby and idiot, couldn't digest the fact that they had to abandon those people who were being attacked by the wolves!
He charged head first into the monster horde and attracted the attention of the monster upon the two of them!
They barely managed to survive and escape back to the fortress, or they were dead today! "I am done being in the same group as you! You always do reckless things like this!"
"Can't you understand others's opinions! To live is to be free! And in an all-out war kind of time like this, you got to work less to preserve energy so that you can save your own life!" "War is not about victory or defeat; it's about the one who survives till the end!"
"Staying with you always puts my freedom to do things and handle situations calmly at a complete disadvantage!"
"Moreover, we are still a few months away from awakening! We are just ordinary humans right now! Can't you understand that we can't survive like this!"
"You need to think about only yourself, and that's the only way to live in this selfish world!" Neo's mentality was always different from the likes of Ashtel and Nicolas.
His ultimate goal in life was to be 'free' from the constraints of the world and every other rule.
But ever since the day Neo entered the military and ended up in the same group as Ashtel and Nicolas, his freedom was greatly reduced.
The two of them were both honest and idiotic kinds of people.
Unlike Neo, who had already matured at a young age and had high goals from the start, the other two were still mentally just kids; they hadn't even learned too 'selfish' yet.
They were just honest kids who used to think that the world was all flowers and happiness.
Neo's childhood was stolen away from him by his father; thus, he never experiences what it means to be truly happy and honest like a child.
From the start, he had learned to be a liar to survive the world.
Neo's situation in this squad was like that of an adult being placed in a team with little children who didn't know how to do anything.
Nicolas was still a bit better as he was older than them both and was already an awakener, but Ashtel was the worst!
He was so weak that it was pathetic! His mental state was that of an idiot, and he didn't know the first thing about planning either.
All in all, he was a complete burden, and thus, he was an obstacle and a shackle for Neo in his path for freedom.
Neo's goal was to become strong, so strong that no one could be an obstacle for him and no one would be able to stop him from doing whatever he wanted.
Being able to do as your heart pleases and no one being able to stop you and shackle you- that was Neo's true definition of being 'Free'.
A few months later.
Just when Neo had thought that things would calm down for a while, Asthel became an SS- ranker and awakened his 'World Authority'.
The era of criminals and those who used to do as they pleased was coming to an end.
Ashtel's ascension to rank SS put an end to the chaos brimming in the empire; just his presence alone was enough to shut up all the people and keep them all in check.
The war ended, Nicolas died after sacrificing himself to end the war, and Neo also became an
SS-ranker, but nothing changed.
Neo had lost his freedom by now. Every time he tried to do something that he wanted, Ashtel got in his way.
He tried to capture orcs to make them pay for their sins and use them as his own summoned beasts, but Ashtel got in the way of his plans.
He tried to use monsters and dungeons for his own entertainment, but Ashtel got in his way
again.
He tried to make the people respect the SS-rankers more and make them give exclusive tax to SS-rankers, but Ashtel got in the way again.
Neo's dream of being 'Free' was completely shattered when he was forced to sign the treaty to stay in the country obediently and not do as his heart wanted to.
For others, it might be a moral and good life to live that way, but for Neo, it was tragedy.
He was stripped of his 'freedom' and he wasn't allowed to do as he wanted to! This wasn't the dream he had hoped for; this wasn't what he fought for all those years.
Even after reaching the peak of the world, he still couldn't do whatever he wanted; Ashtel
always got in his way!
This was unacceptable!
...
(Back to present) Liam's face twitched, and a maniac-like smile appeared on it as Neo seized full control over
the body.
"FINALLY!!! I AM FREEE!!!"
"ALL THESE YEARS!! I HAD TO TOLERATE YOUR ORDERS!!!!"
"All this while I was planning! I had already figured out that as long as you live, you will
always get in my way! As long as you are alive, you will always be an obstacle for me!" "You are a shackle placed by the world upon me! Perhaps this is also fate, I guess..."
"BUT THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ANYMORE!!! NOW NOTHING CAN GET IN MY WAY!!! AHAHAHAHAH...."
"I HAVE SURPASSED THE FATE ITSELF!!! ALL THESE YEARS, ALL THAT SUFFERING... It was
all for 'MY FREEDOM'!!!"
Ashtel is the biggest obstacle in Neo's path to being free; as long as he can get rid of him, he
can do whatever he pleases.
"From the very start, it was all about myself, Ashtel Rex! It was all for my own sake!!
Ahahahahah..."