"Victory has never felt so good, Commander," the Elite Ethisian carrying the Blood Bishop on its shoulder dropped his body before the Commander and bowed afterward. The others did the same as a sign of respect, neither wishing to have their heads kicked off. "The Blood Mutant that once belonged to the Granians is now in our control." Mockingly, the Commander used his leg to roll Ace’s body over, expecting a reaction. Any reaction was what he wanted to see as a way for him to gauge the Mutant’s strength. To his disappointment, the Blood Mutant gave no reaction. In fact, it didn’t seem as though it was breathing. ’Dear goodness, please be alive,’ the same Ethisian began to hyperventilate, its heart racing as its commander stood from its ’throne’ and examined the Mutant’s body. It prayed and hoped that the Human had simply passed out and that it wasn’t dead. If it was, the Ethisian surely knew that they were going to follow soon. "It’s not breathing," as calmly as he possibly could, the Commander lifted the Human’s body off the ground, placing it next to his ear. Feeling no breath blowing on his scales, the Ethisian pressed the Human’s chest deeper on his ear. If he at least heard a pulse, then he’d be okay with it. "And its heart isn’t beating either. What is the meaning of this?" The room suddenly got cold, and that wasn’t an understatement given that the area they were in was basically a fridge. A cold, sharp wind blew on the Ethisian’s body, making it shake from where it kneeled. Sensing the uneasy tension coming from the Ethisian, the Commander gently placed Ace back on the floor and offered his hand to the Ethisian. "Get up," he said, using that same gentle voice. "Please, get up. I wish to speak with you on this matter. All of you." With his eyes gracefully gazing at the Ethisians, the Commander waited for all of them to stand, all twenty-one that were with the one that ’killed’ the Mutant. "Please, explain to me what happened, soldiers. How did the Human end up dying?" The thing that frightened the Ethisians the most was how calm the Commander was. It was no ordinary event to see a powerful being such as he act so calm in a situation as grave as this, so his behavior played tricks on their minds. Some trusted and thought he was well with them, but the wiser ones knew that he was devising other things in his mind. "I’ll start," the Elite who carried Ace stood tall, keeping its head bowed the entire time. "Look at me, Ethisian," the Commander spoke, almost as though he was roaring but laughing. Even the frowning smile on his face confused it. "You’re speaking to your commander. Have some courage and look into my eyes." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⟡𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵 "Yes, Commander," the Elite obeyed, quickly looking into the Commander’s eyes. Instantly, a crushing weight fell on its chest, nearly choking the breath out of its lungs. "Now, tell me how that happened. And please, make sure to explain it in full detail, okay?." Patiently, the Commander crossed his legs, waiting for the Ethisian to talk. "We managed to beat the strength out of the Human. It had managed to take the life of two soldiers so we avenged them," it answered, keeping a straight and serious face the entire time while hiding the fear pounding at its chest. "After that, I got the Human by its hair and tried asking some questions." "Believe us, when we say this, Commander," another pitched in, bowing respectfully while looking at the floor. No matter what, it didn’t dare to look the Commander in his eyes unless he said so. "The Human was talking when we had it. It looked at all of us, breathed, and even mentioned a few things to itself." "Then would you kindly explain that to me," a small, almost unnoticeable scowl grew on his face, his large finger pointing at the lifeless human. "Why isn’t it moving? It isn’t breathing, it isn’t moving, it isn’t speaking. Tell me why?" "We...we do not...we are not sure, Commander," the former apologized, laying prostrate on the floor. Awaiting punishment, it hoped that the Commander would at least have mercy and kill it quickly. Taking a deep, long, and heavy breath, the Ethisian stood from its ’throne’ and set the Human on it. It then joined the Elites, helping each one of them up and afterward led them outside the tent-like room. "Look at that," the Commander pointed at the Granian forces retreating. "We came to do that. Defend this planet from those Granians. It has worked, my comrades, it has worked. We came with a goal and we accomplished it. One simple human dying should not discourage all of us at all. Instead, it should encourage us and..." "Every single time...." One Ethisian sighed, its face currently stained with the blood of its own kind. It happened so quickly that the Ethisian didn’t see what had happened. It didn’t even know what had happened, only that the head of its comrade was no longer on its body. Eight feet of Ethisian muscle fell to the ground, with no head lying around to at least show that it was decapitated. Only blood and a headless body remained, bringing all the others to their knees at once. "Forgive us, Commander," they pleaded, praying that the commanding Ethisian would take pity on them. "We did not account for how fragile the Human was. If we did, we would have gone easier on..." Another head was cleanly disintegrated from its body, no traces of it left behind whatsoever. Another eight-foot-tall Ethisian body fell to the ground with blood spilling everywhere. "I understand your judgment," the one who carried Ace inside accepted its fate, bowing its head in wait for the Commander’s judgment. A minute passed, then two, then four, then eight. No attack befell it even though it knew that the Commander was going to do that. "You’re wondering why I haven’t killed you, yes?" "Y-yes, master..." stuttering, it started to smile in disbelief, failing to see the reason why its life wasn’t flashing before its eyes. "Is the Human alive?" "No, but," the Commander placed his arm on the Elite’s shoulder, "you and the others ensured our victory. You killed the Mutant which would have caused us a lot of trouble. I couldn’t tell before, but I felt as though this one was as strong as the ones we have, maybe even...." The Elite was granted the mercy killing it wanted. One that was quick and painless, only lasting for a few seconds with its body falling to the ground afterward. Now all that was left were the other Elites who didn’t go to battle and Eronis, the only other Ethisian that shared the same rank as Commander. "You keep raising their hopes and make them think you won’t kill them," Eronis wondered, questioning Commander for his behavior. "Why is that?" "If they know they’re going to die, it doesn’t make this fun for me anymore," he replied. "Also, I only wish to have soldiers who explain their issues in detail, not these ones who simply stuttered and looked at me as though I wanted to kill them." "But you did want to kill them...and you did," the female Ethisian grunted, a stream of hot Ethisian breath escaping its nostrils. "The leaders will not be pleased when they have to give a report to the higher-ups on our behalf." "It doesn’t concern me," Commander shrugged it off like it was nothing, just going to show how many times he did such heinous activities and the reason why his soldiers feared him. "Well, it should and...." Eronis froze, her body shuddering in fear with her face growing pale. She acted as though she saw a ghost, or rather, a dead body coming back to life. "What is the matter, Eronis?" Commander, who was standing with his facing the female, did not see what she was seeing. "If you have something you wish to say, say it to me." The sounds of bones and flesh breaking apart and restructuring themselves disturbed Commander’s ears, plaguing him with feelings of cringe and disgust. He looked back at the Ethisian, disgusted at her for making such awful noises. However, when he laid eyes on what she was seeing, he too froze in place, his body shuddering in fear. "Do you feel it?" the female Ethisian whispered, her eyes daring not to look away. If they did, she would surely die. "Do you feel that presence?" "It’s the one," Commander gutted words out, his neck engrossed with the poisonous aura emanating from the body standing before them. The stench of blood filled the room with over sixty Elite Ethisians bleeding out, their heads neatly laid before the two leading Ethisians with blood spikes supporting them. "That’s the presence I...I felt..." Commander mustered the courage to move, his hands listening to his command, followed by his legs and then the rest of his body. "Eronis...can you move?" "Don’t move," Five voices rocked the foundations of Commander’s tent, bringing it down to nothing but a pile of rubble. Every piece of technology, weaponry, every machine, both land and air, was destroyed just by the power of the voice. Those who weren’t strong enough to handle the voice’s magnitude died immediately, their blood flowing out of them like rivers, turning the Ethisian Command Post into a lake of blood. "Do so, and your blood shall be added to this pool."