Chapter 15: The Flier of Allusion

 children.”

Arthen laughed. “Hahaha. Kids, do you want to know what we did? We killed everyone else. You and the royal family are the only ones left.”

Every player was shown a device called an Animus. If they lay inside it, it would take their soul to a game , and every player’s age would be twenty‑five. Somewhere in the world, Tacrc and his gang were fighting Ivore. From the start it was clear the battle would end badly for Tacrc: his gang was overwhelmed and Tacrc was killed by Ivore. Elsewhere, Arthen Vail, one of the sixteenth royal commanders, declared war on a neighboring country. “Burn them all,” Arthen screamed. “I want everyone dead. Let no one escape. Kill them all.” Soldier 90244 stepped forward. “Commander, there are only fifty‑nine soldiers left. Over two thousand civilians were with them: five hundred ninety children, one thousand women. We have four thousand one hundred forty‑five prisoners.” Warden Malrec’s voice came from behind. Malrec laughed softly to himself. He didn’t understand why Arthen had declared war on their allied neighbor. “We were only walking on foot,” Malrec thought. “We’ve been marching for four days through the desert. We sent one man to ask for food. They offered a little because we are allies. But the commander wanted more.” The city chief had slapped Arthen in the face hard enough to leave a mark. Arthen said he would take the city by force. It was impressive that the commander declared war over that insult; the people who’d fed them were now at their mercy. Malrec tried to reason with Arthen. “Sir, don’t you think this is too much? The chief only slapped you, going after an entire country for that… it’s excessive.” Arthen put a hand on Malrec’s shoulder. “Have you ever felt true disrespect?” he asked. “I have,” Malrec admitted. “It happened to my family once.” “This isn’t for pleasure,” Arthen said. “It’s to put people in their proper place. If you let one person take action and you do nothing, others will do the same. You understand that, right?” “But they were one of our allied countries,” Malrec said. “When the royal family hears about this, who knows what they’ll do to you? Aside from that… what are my orders?” Arthen sat on a rock. “You want an order? You want the glory? Fine. I want you to take the head of the royal family, every royal member. Bring them to us. We will torture them to death.” Soldier 04223 whispered to soldier 95824, “It’s astonishing we took down a whole country with only ten thousand men.” Soldier 95824 nodded. “Credit to Warden Malrec, he made that thing called The Flier of Allusion.” “We were up against 399,000 soldiers and millions of civilians,” 04223 continued. “Now we’re down to three to five thousand people total, kids, men, women, soldiers, and the royal family.” “Begin the bombardment of the Flier of Allusion,” Arthen ordered. Arrows and other projectiles flew out of the device. “It’s like walking in the park,” Arthen said, smiling cruelly. “Warden Malrec,” Arthen added, “go after the royal family.” Soldier 90252 hesitated. “Captain, there are over two hundred children here. What shall we do with them?” “Let me see,” Arthen replied. A child, 93233, fell to his knees. “Sir, please don’t kill us. We did nothing wrong. We are just children.” Arthen laughed. “Hahaha. Kids, do you want to know what we did? We killed everyone else. You and the royal family are the only ones left.” Arthen waved a hand and called a soldier closer. “You may keep your life on one condition: every child here must tell us where their family is. If anyone lies, we will sell them as slaves. The nobles of other countries will pay good money for them.” Malrec and twenty‑five soldiers went to find the royal family. Malrec addressed them: “Your country has fallen. One hundredth nations have ended. We will take you with us. Don’t worry, we will keep you safe.” One princess spoke up. “Our brother is only ten. He went outside. Can you help us find him?” Malrec raised an eyebrow. “If you have a little brother, tell me where he is.” “Go,” Malrec said. “We can take you. He might be nearby