Empire Of Souls

By far though, the majority of the soldiers were the Barbarians of the Steppes. This was a diverse group of many races from Humans to Orcs, as well as Beastmen. Although they had once been mostly an unruly mob, with Lenia"s strict training, they had become a cohesive and powerful force. The majority of the soldiers were Intermediate cla.s.s beings, these numbered in the tens of thousands. 

Already, the majority of Steppe warriors were at this level, but there were over a thousand Advanced cla.s.s beings as well. Originally, there weren"t nearly as many Advanced cla.s.s beings among the Steppe warriors of the tribes, but they had gathered this number by combining the members of many tribes. Even though tribal distinctions still existed, they were attempting to get rid of such distinctions over time. 

They were attempting to create an empire, and tribal loyalties were not conducive to such an endeavor. It was something which was a long term goal and would not happen overnight. Nonetheless, it was something which was happening much more rapidly than one would expect due to the fact that Aleks had not only become their worldly leader, but also their spiritual leader. To these uncivilized mortals, Aleks was already on the level of a G.o.d.

Naturally, this was their army"s first excursion and it should have been a proud moment for Lenia. This was a chance for her to show her hard work to her master and to ultimately receive a reward from him. Of course, in Lenia"s mind, a reward meant his praise or even just more of his affections. This is what she dreamed of most. He was her closest family and even though she had gained a sister through Nelay and technically a brother through Grobak, it wasn"t the same. She was relatively close with Nelay, but Nelay was also a rival. As for Grobak, well, it was Grobak. That explained much in her mind. 

Despite this moment being so important to her, it was completely and utterly ruined. And that was because of the "thing" that was walking close by. 

That huge and disgusting she-demon thing named Anathema. Why did it have to be her? Another female around master…

Lenia couldn"t help but feel an intense jealousy. At the same time, she considered this monstrous thing near her and realized that her master couldn"t possibly love such a thing. It wasn"t even Human, then again, there were plenty of interspecies relationships. 

Lenia shook her head, No, not master. He wouldn"t be interested in something like this.

Or at least, she wanted to think that to calm her anxiety. She glared at Anathema much to Anathema"s annoyance. However, Anathema didn"t respond or even look at Lenia. Lenia was no more than a bug to her and instead of getting angry, she would just ignore her. The reason for Lenia"s hostility towards her wasn"t important, who cared what a bug thought about you? 

If she reacted then she would be lowering herself to the level of an insect and it would anger Cladem. Her only mission was to ensure that the army was victorious by defeating the Spider Queen and her pet. Anything else wasn"t important, but she did wonder why this bug hated her so much. They had only just met and had not even spoken once the entire time they were traveling.

"No point in trying to understand the logic of an insect." She mumbled to herself.

It was too low for Lenia to hear, but Lenia caught a glimpse of her lips moving from the corner of her eye. She didn"t know what Anathema had said, but she was annoyed nonetheless. Many curses went through her mind at that time, but what could she do? It wasn"t as if she could compete with Anathema with strength alone. As a woman, she clearly viewed herself as superior though. Was Anathema even a woman technically? She appeared female, but she was some kind of demonic creature. She comforted herself with these thoughts. 

The irony of this situation was that each thought the other was inferior, but for completely different reasons. They were really the worst combination to work together, but it was an order from her master. Even if she hated it, this was her duty. As for Anathema, it was even more the case. As a Daemon, she couldn"t go against the wishes of her master who was her progenitor and of course the master of her progenitor, who was a being even above those who were Celestial beings. 

In summary, both were suffering from an extreme headache based on their current circ.u.mstance. The two carefully eyed each other like two cats in a dark alley. For some reason, perhaps on an instinctual level, neither liked the other. In this situation, they were forced to work together. 

"How long until we reach the enemy?" asked Anathema begrudgingly.

Distance and time were strange in the mortal realm to her. It was very different from what she was used to. Everything happened so slowly, it was difficult for her to adapt.

"A week or slightly more, it depends on how far the enemy has advanced." Lenia didn"t want to speak with her much, but she replied out of duty.

Anathema grumbled when she heard this answer.

"Mortals are so slow." was her only reply.

"How blessed you must be to have been born as something more than us pathetic mortals." Lenia scoffed, she was already annoyed as it was. However, Anathema didn"t pick up on this.

"It"s good that you know."

Lenia glared at her from atop her mount, but kept her criticisms to herself. It wouldn"t do her any good to quarrel with this dense woman-like thing. She refused to accept her as a woman like her. With such an atmosphere, the time pa.s.sed as their army slowly moved towards the distant horizon.

___________

Aleks lounged on his throne as he was wont to. One might think he was lazing about, but he was in serious contemplation as was the norm. His mind was entirely occupied with the many issues facing a newly developed nation. Well, in his case, it was much more than the usual. He hadn"t only just become the sovereign of a new nation. It was a nation which was being built from the ground up. A nation which had very little foundation and which needed to be developed with care and serious consideration. 

Of course, thankfully, he could rely on Lariel for most things. In reality, Aleks had no interest in running his own nation. He couldn"t care less about being an emperor or anything else for that matter. It was all for the sake of his revenge, it was all he cared about. This even got in the way of his interpersonal relationships and it was why he kept himself distant from most even from a young age. It wasn"t much different from his original life anyway. That was the only life he had accepted as real, and even then he hadn"t been too concerned with others. 

Why? It was simple really. The pain, regret, and overwhelming guilt he felt at the loss of his family and his exploitation at the hands of an overbearing and uncaring government from a very young age had ruined his life. It would be easy for an outsider to judge him as being weak and expect that he shouldn"t have allowed such things to determine his life, but things weren"t so simple. The death of his parents was entirely on his shoulders. 

If not for his excessive genius and talent would the government have staged such an incident which led to their deaths? His life was micromanaged down to the tiniest detail with even his friends, enemies, and possible lovers being determined by others. He had resisted in what small ways he could, never having actually taken a partner or had children. Choosing to isolate himself and become a loner with only becoming close to one who he had called his brother. Even knowing that even his brother was just another shackle keeping him within a prison of lies, but he also knew that his brother was sincere in his friendship with him. This didn"t mean that he didn"t hold a grudge. How could he not?

Aleks sighed, "Everything was decided for me and then I died. After death, did I know peace? No, I was thrust into a seemingly endless cycle of pain and torture. That wasn"t the end of it, no, now I am forced to face endless troubles even while being able to finally live. At least I don"t remember most of it."

That was the only silver lining. He only knew a general overview of what happened to him, with some unpleasant memories, but for the most part his memories had more or less stabilized. He was very clear about the events of his original life and the one he was currently living, but thankfully he couldn"t remember much of the hundreds or even thousands of other lives he lived.

"If I could remember it all, I think my mind would have broken."

He was mostly mumbling to himself, but he didn"t find it embarra.s.sing. He didn"t care what others thought and none of his servants, or any of the guards within his throne room would dare to utter even a single word. That didn"t mean that there wasn"t anyone who would reproach him though. There was only one, and he was truly thankful for it. He didn"t particularly like everyone bowing and sc.r.a.ping to him all the time nor did he like the fear that paralyzed most who came into his presence. It wasn"t something he could ever get used to, but in a sense it was somewhat comforting. As a person who had little contact with others in the past, it was a familiar feeling. For even if there were dozens in his presence, it was almost as if he were entirely alone.

"An-Namrud."

That name drew him out of his thoughts. There were very few who knew that name.

"Lariel."

Yes, she was the one he loved, but at the same time she was also one he hated. He had still not come to terms with these contradictory emotions.

"Must you call me by that name?" he asked with little emotion. 

Although it sounded emotionless, Lariel could tell what he was thinking. He was most likely embarra.s.sed by being referred to by this name. Only she knew the slight intricacies in his emotions and actions. To others, he might seem no different from a golem, an automaton, or something like a robot from Aleks"s original world. Only she truly understood him. He both hated and enjoyed being called by his original name. It was a source of pride and achievement, but also a source of endless regret.

"I only wanted to gain your attention since you seemed to be brooding again. There are some important matters we need to discuss."

Aleks nodded after a moment of hesitation, "Fine, it wasn"t as if I was doing anything anyway."