“Al, are you really sure about this?” Pulling out his axe from the head of the celestial, Uffer looked at the general. Squatting down, the burly man tore a piece out of the corpse’s robe before wiping the blood out of the blade of his weapon with it. While nearly half of the head of the deceased was split in half and bloodied beyond recognition, the gentle and underdeveloped hair above the corpse’s lip reminded the man of the guild that he attempted to hold back.

“They are celestials. That all we need to know and care about.” Not showing even a hint of remorse or guilt, Al reached for the handle of his short-sword before pulling it out of the chest of a young woman. “They might be young, but it doesn’t matter at all.”

‘As if…’ Putting up the tough front before even before his most trusted friends, Al cursed his fate under his nose. “You might feel bad about killing those kids, but this world no longer treats them as such. If it wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t venture out to the forest on their own.” After cleaning up his blade in the same was as his enormous friend, Al threw the patch of cloth at the face of the girl’s corpse. “Just look at them. Would they bear weapons if they didn’t wish to fight?”

Turning his head away from the motionless body, Al sheathed his weapons before picking up the pace. In the end, this was just one of the many fights that they had to prepare themselves for. ‘That’s the burden only I should care…’ Sending a quick look to his two friends, Al could breathe a sigh of relief when he noticed how unperturbed Lessen’s face was. ‘At least he is just the same as always… If only it was a good thing.’

Shaking his head, Al refused to allow the fearsome killing intent of his younger brother-in-arms to shake his composture. Ever since they went to the battle before all of this chaos happened, Lessen bore the same look on his face. The look that would only disappear after hours of him cuddling with his wife. And given how only the expedition army appeared to be affected by this godly ploy they were all subjected to, Al could only hope that someday, Lessen would manage to find peace on his own.

“I know we are the scouting party but still… Didn’t we have the baseline agreement? I thought you to be a better man than to break it so easily…” Before Uffer could even accent the end of his sentence, Al’s main weapon already glistered below his chin.

“Tread your words carefully, brother. You are my friend, but no one will ever doubt my honor like you just did.” Lowering his handy axe, Al sent a heavy look to his clanmate. “I will forgive you this once because of the history we share and how strange this entire situation is. But don’t forget that by putting my decision into doubt, you are doubting the will of the entire clan!”

Back before Al was elected chief, he couldn’t care less about honor and other silly stuff like that. Even if he always strived to keep true to his words and decisions, he had no qualms about breaking them if necessary. Yet, ever since he was chosen to lead the entire tribe, he could no longer afford such a laidback attitude.

“How about you actually respond to my words, rather than threatening me? Once again, I thought you to…” a slight rustle of the leaves alerted the trio in an instant. Whatever problems they had with each other could wait.

Dropping low on his knees, Al relaxed the grip on his axe before pointing it down. As the handle slipped out of his hand, the burly warrior only tightened his grasp when the weapon was about to completely fall out of his hand. Doing everything in a one, fluid motion, he then threw the axe towards the source of the sound, aiming it right above the perceived head of the enemy.

Swiss!

The sound of the rotating weapon cutting through the air was music to the Gener’s warriors. For a moment, this single sound made them feel like they were back in the world they were already used to.

“AH!” The sound of a young person shouting in fear and surprise quickly brought them back to reality.

“I’m on it!” Shouting his intentions, Uffer rushed forward. Yet, even with his reflexes worthy of the second in the command of the entire tribal army, he was too slow.

Thump!

Just as Al’s axe lodged itself into the wood of a nearby tree, Lessen appeared out of nowhere behind the bush where the rustling originally came from. “Should I kill it?” With his hand grasping the long, dark hair of yet another young woman in the easily recognizable clothes, he brought her up, out of the bush.

“Please, I will do everything, please, don’t kill me!” Tears of terror trickled down the face of the girl. Her eyes appeared as if she lost all her sanity, not even attempting to retaliate against the tribesmen.

“I will do it. Keep her still.” Ordering the youngest of their group, Al released a tired sigh before pulling out his short sword once again. As he moved towards the bush, Lessen pulled his hand even higher, keeping the girl’s feet above the ground in order to make her unable to wrestle her way out. Even though the difference in their physical ability was as clear as the bigger of the twin suns on the sky, Lessen was perfectly aware how someone backed against the corner could struggle.

“Al! The baseline…” Bringing the same topic as before up once again, Uffer attempted to protest, only to be met with a furious glare of his commander.

“Are your eyes hidden in your ass? Or are you just outright stupid?!” Barely keeping his emotions in line, Al stopped in his tracks. Canceling the noise of the struggling girl in his mind, he pointed the blade of his sword at their surroundings. “The great spirits are enslaved. That I believe you noticed. Now tell me, when was the baseline deal agreed upon? WHEN FOR THE MERCY OF THE GREAT SPIRIT HAVE WE SIGNED IT WITH BLOOD?!”

As he spoke, Al’s emotions started to take better of him. Noticing the problem right before he would completely lose his control, Al took a few breaths to calm himself down.

“Do you really think I didn’t notice it?!” Snapping as well, Uffer slammed his gianormous axe at the unfortunate tree nearby. ‘That’s it for the stealth…’ Commenting on his friend’s behavior in his thoughts, Al didn’t even flinch under the display of anger. “But does it matter? Even if we somehow moved through time, do you really believe our promises are voided?! Is that all your word means to you? Is that all to the dignity of our blood?!”

For a moment, Al stopped. Not even his chest moved as if he stopped breathing at all. Then, he opened up his eyes, darkened even further than they were before their routine of murdering everyone they crossed paths with started.

“And you just signed her death sentence yourself.” Resuming his march towards the girl struggling in Lessen’s hold, Al ignored the voice of his friend. ‘Now that she heard it, only the great spirits themselves could intervene to save her life. And given how they are still enslaved in this world…’

“No! Please, please! I have a little sister, I didn’t hear or see anything! Please, no!” The girl’s efforts to free herself only intensified when Al took a swing. His sword rushed toward’s the girl’s chest, aimed right above where her third rib should be. ‘I will make sure you won’t feel any pain.’ Even if he hated it, Al had his own responsibility as the chief of the clan. The most he could do for this pitiful little one was to make sure her death would be easy.

“CHIEF!” Out of nowhere, a new voice entered the fray. Initially alarmed, everyone halted their moves and prepared for a clash. Even Al’s hand stopped in its tracks, redirecting his weapon to a guarded position. But instead of yet another group of enemies, a familiar face appeared from between the woods.

“Ation?” Al leaned his head to the side while his eyes widened. “How could that be? Weren’t you stationed at the northern fort?” So far, everyone Al saw coming out from this strange rift in the world belonged to the expeditionary army or the forces that clashed with it. ‘Could it be…’ Just as Al was about to at least attempt the reason behind this unexpected reunion, his eyes turned into slits as he lowered on his knees. Yet, before he could rush forward in an attack, Ation raised his hands and gestured his chieftain to stop.

“I know how it looks like… But it’s not the case. Those two, are not celestials, that I’m sure off.” Pointing his hand at the duo of mixed genders, Ation made sure to stand in the way of the potentially incoming attack.

“If you say so…” Still not relaxing his stance, Al slowly returned to his senses. ‘Is this the mission that wore me out so much?’ It wasn’t common for something so simple to tire the veteran warrior so much. And outside of physical tiredness, only the corpses of the many kids he slaughtered during their scouting venture could wear his mental state down so much.

“I know how it looks like, but they have some really interesting things to say.” Seeing how there was no imminent threat of his commander attacking the two he took on himself to protect, Ation released a sigh of relief. But after this moment of relaxation, his entire body tensed up as he stood up straight and reported.

“While I have little to no means to confirm it… They appear to not come from our time, nor from the time of the celestials. What they appear to be, are our descendants!”