Weltkrieg: A Youjo Senki Fic

When he woke up, not a field of red poppy greeted him, or the toiling bell of an angel. He couldn't move his hands, mouth cuffed into silence.

Then he realizes, the room was bereft of anything, only long winding darkness he couldn't perceive beyond his eyes. Standing on the middle with only a single flickering light above him.

Mph! Mphh! Hmphh!

Struggles were futile, this is not what his lord's promised. Is this hell, he assured no. Only, one thing came to his mind

Information.

Prisoner.

Torture.

No, this is not what he wanted. Yes, he must find a way. To connect his soul to the lord's, quick and painful. It doesn't matter, it will recompensate the pain he will face if he stays in this world.

Die,

Or suffer.

So, he kept struggling, trying his best to cough and spit the dirty rag forced on his mouth. F.o.r.c.i.b.l.y tear his hand off the binding, a wall would be a good start to bash his head-on.

It is better.

Then, a cold shiver jolted throughout his bodies.

Blood, blood, blood. That what he felt.

Sweat trickled down like a river.

Like a long step, deliberated, echoing in the whole room. Shoes against the cold grey floor, with a winding footstep, announcing the presence to be known.

Nevertheless, in fear, he struggled further, and further.

Eyes dilapidating, trepidation muffled by a rag, futileness bundled to the back.

Then the cuffed that keeping his voice was thrown away, in a single swipe behind the rustling of his hair.

And yet, he didn't scream, he couldn't bear to scream.

A boy, none older than 10. A boy, who was out of place, playing between the darkness.

His eyes were grimdark, like an infinite amount of abyss were to stuffed together inside little pair sockets of the boy. A pair of eyes, perverted beyond help, staring listlessly against him.

Yet, for all the thought, there's no killing intent, a d.e.s.i.r.e to torture him, or a wave of anger emanating from the boy. Like a doll, hiding its emotion when played with, only a cold wriggling sensation he could perceive from the stares.

Then, he tried to utter a single word, yet, it failed to escape as a blinding light, with a crunch, his nose was broken.

Nor a cry of pain couldn't ease, distract his mind. Another concession of light he can't perceive keep assaulting him.

"Ag-

Only a painful crunch of his bones, and the thud of a palm against his body echoing through the room. Like he wasn't permitted to cry, and beg a single tear to sliver down his cheek.

The boy won't give him a chance.

Crunch.

Crush.

Crunch.

Even the chair supporting him, cannot bear the sheer force his body was putting as it crumbled down to the hard, concrete floor.

Yet, it didn't ease his pain nor giving him a brief respite.

Another thud to his left cheek, then the right one, then his temples, eyes, nose, mouth.

No sounds were left to return, other than a sickening mash of his skull.

For long hours, no sunlight or the moon could tell him how long he was in here.

A mockery of magic was cast on him, bathing in a green light when the boy senses his body couldn't keep the sheer stress it put under no more.

It was healing. The place where the nose, battered beyond red pulp was rapidly regrown back. The splintered flesh started to show the sign of life's back.

The spell came with a price.

It f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y regenerated every cell in his body, putting all the energy reserves in rapid regeneration. In a way, he felt the pain twice than he bears before.

"AAGH-

The scream was silenced once more, as another painful jab was shoved to his face, again, and again.

Heal.

Torture.

Heal.

Pain, pain, pain.

In a haze, he could only think.

It was hell.

---==++Deus Vult++==--

"Thanks for your work, Kommandant."

I gratefully took the towel Violet gave to me.

Though the red stain couldn't be removed from the clothes, I better change soon.

Ascending the stairs, violet trailing behind, I thought once more of what happened in the past weeks.

With the single sign from the prime minister, after a day work of "convincing", Dacia had capitulated under the Empire banner.

With total casualties from the empire side in mere hundreds of men. Dacia suffered devastation both in their armies and structures, not to mention astronomical economic loss they have to pay to the Empire, and repairing their capital as they will struggle to build the country once again.

With a total of more than 300.000 soldiers lives accounted for death, and the estimation of thousands of civilians died in the wake of the Empire raid.

Empire raid, I grit my teeth.

Fist still reeked in blood, curling up.

I was almost court-martialed in the behest of war crimes, a week ago. Though with careful manipulation, I managed to pull a wool over the Reichskriegsgericht eyes.

For all my effort to subdue the damage, it was an ocean of water to hold. The news kept coming of the atrocities the empire commit, mouth to mouth, transmission radio, rotten journalists bombarded the empire with criticism.

The Commonwealth in their shameless display paraded the empire like a circus of freakshow to the world.

They won't claim their soldier that was sent as volunteers, claiming they do that of their own accord and splintered off the main forces.

They were rebels that the commonwealth wanted to destroy. They said.

I swear upon my name, they shall be bombarded to utter ruins. And their island sank into the depth of the abyss.

Dust to dust, blood to blood.

Kommandant!

"Kommandant!"

"What is it?"

"You've been frowning in that chair for hours, at least, please snapped out of it."

Freesia scolded me, as I instinctively c.a.r.e.s.s violet that was sleeping on my l.a.p.

"And what's that list you kept holding anyway?"

I looked back at the paper I hold in the other hand.

"This, oh, this is the list target the Wolf Brigadier need to cross off."

Anyway, our relentless passion was kicked in after that incident over Dacia. The new doctrine was drafted, in an anticipation of the so-called holy night of solace organization or the god intervention.

I was dazed, an entirely new military doctrine based on the concept of the element of chaos. The outside intervention will put any plan into complete disarray. Or at least that will be the gist of the new doctrines.

New manpower was educated, drafted, and recruited all over the place in a careful inspection.

And we were beefing the manufactory, to hasten the production of new capital sh.i.p.s, subs, planes, and any other both military and civilian armament.

The research budget was poured over like a bursting dam full of water. Our priority was to reach the complete prototype of computer targeting systems, and modern electronic devices by the end of December. Following the development of targeting missiles system, rocket, and jet.

Hopefully, with that, we can launch a satellite to the orbit. Nothing more powerful than information, and eyes in the sky.

"Well, please just keep it in moderation. I don't want you to feel stressed by all of this."

"I wish I could."

Now you think about it. It began with that damned cube in the Prime minister's hand.

Time's to manifest a new one, maybe.

Might relieve my stress, experimenting with the cube.

Though I will enjoy, for now, the tranquil atmosphere as I sipped the coffee Freesia left on the table.

And somehow, I felt, a chilling premonition that today is not the day.

Shrugging it off, just another day.

Or so I thought.