April 3rd, 628

I stood in the airfield of Camp Phoenix, staring at a small group of Nephilim. The dark of night prevailed in this part of the airfield.

They were being guarded by two soldiers. Of the original population of Nephilim that stepped onto this Camp, there were half a tenth left. Eight students stood before me, all of them naturally more behaved than the other 95% that had been expelled from Iron Legion for disobedience and hostility.

Was I surprised? Quite the contrary. I had expected, and was hoping, for this to happen. In fact I expected it with such certainty that I hadn't ordered the instructors to haze or drive them to anger. While the original discrimination could be considered grounds for enraging them, it wasn't like they hadn't been offered the same opportunities as those who had gone to the Glass Desert.

The Instructors had done things according to the rules, and the Nephilim had nobody to blame but themselves for being expelled. Half of them were gone within the first week. The other half had reached their limit over the subsequent three weeks.

Those left were more disciplined than the rest, but I hardly believed they were any less hostile. In fact, their discipline stemmed from both deeper intelligence and greater evil.

I could sense the hatred in their Aura, even though they stood rigidly with neutral faces. They knew how to hold their anger. They wouldn't be controlled by it.

That didn't mean they wouldn't let it fester. Corrupted wouldn't be anything less.

Silence prevailed until another plane landed, driving over and opening. Inside were the rest of the Magisterium students, the normal humans.

They stepped out, dressed in standard issue Iron Legion armor, something the Nephilim lacked since I refused to arm my enemies so directly.

The Puppet Master glanced to the side, sighing when he saw how few Nephilim there were.

I scanned across the students, seeing their weathered postures and Aura. A week mingling about the front lines was no doubt exhausting, but they would grow from the experience and take that knowledge back with them.

Similar to how we had controlled the show during Iron Legion's joint operation with Stronghold Echo, these students would return and forever judge by the standards they had been shown here. By extension, they would be one more influential group of people that would go on to indirectly promote my way of warfare and by extension, promote my products. The Kingdom would be forced to adapt, nobles would desire my weapons, and I'd be even richer than I was now.

I gave the students before me a few words.

"Congratulations. You've all performed well over the last month, have learned military tactics that few outside Iron Legion are able to learn. Although I'm sure you've all been reminded enough, all of the training and knowledge you've acquired is for the sake of not just resisting the scourge, but defeating it. Mindless battle, like that which the Kingdom has engaged in for too many decades, will do nothing more than spell humanity's doom. "My tools of warfare offer a new way, a systematic method of pure extermination that preserves our lives while multiplying the deaths of our enemies. But what allows this method to thrive is the mindset we carry, the hatred we bear against the Scourge. We must not forget why we fight or the sacrifices we've made, lest they try to take advantage of our complacency and destroy us instead."

I glanced at the Nephilim before turning to the Puppet Master.

"I leave them to you, Puppet Master. Don't let the Scourge take any more of them while underneath the eye of the Kingdom."

"Don't worry. I don't ever intend to allow what happened to your class ever again. That was a hard lesson for me to learn that day."

"Mm. Just remember that they don't have to kill us to defeat us."

I shook his hand, all the students boarding the plane to return to the Capital.

I saw Faey, giving her a smile before the hatch closed.

Soon they were in the air. I watched them fly for a short time before turning and walking to a nearby vehicle, boarding and getting driven to another section of the airfield.

Underneath a camouflaged canopy I saw several armored men and women from Sector 4. They were checking their supplies, a few helicopters nearby ready to fly.

Umara was there waiting for me, as were Polly and Jasmine. They turned to me as I approached, the soldiers giving quick salutes before going back to preparing.

"Ready?"

"Yup. All high value targets are still in the area."

Jasmine responded from behind a terminal. On the screen was a live view of a town.

The entire town was our target.

It was entirely populated with Nephilim and a well known development site. Once upon a time, the entire town had been normally human. But over the span of just a month, a small group of mid-Authority Nephilim had corrupted every last person there. The majority of them were not turned willingly, but unfortunately it didn't matter any longer.

The town was attempting to expand and usurp other nearby settlements, and they were doing it employing hostile means. They would send groups of Nephilim to infiltrate and harass, taking over leadership and promoting themselves before corrupting more.

The town we were looking at now was like a base, and I intended to begin my campaign there.

"John…"

Polly walked up to me, the two of us stepping to the side and speaking quietly.

She had a look of concern on her face.

"I know what you're doing, and why. And I believe in it. But I can't help but feel like this is a point of no return. Is there really no other way to go about this?"

I looked into her eyes. There wasn't any hesitation or nervousness. It was just plain concern, for the future and for what we were about to do.

I responded with a question of my own.

"Is it possible as of this moment to reverse Corruption?"

"...No."

"Are the Nephilim Corrupted?"

"Yes."

"Then they are our enemy, and the enemy must be killed before they can be allowed to spread."

"I know… But they were once human, and as simple as we try to make it, we're about to slaughter several thousand people, including those who are incapable of even fighting."

I stared at her for several moments before glancing around.

Everyone was watching us. I could see the gloom around some of the soldiers, my Pale Horsemen.

They were all loyal, they all believed in the cause. They would do what I told them to, as would Polly.

That didn't change the nature of our task, though.

I looked back at Polly, raising my hand and grabbing her shoulder. I pulled her in, leaning down to speak into her ear.

"This blood is not on your hands. Not unless you want it to be."

I raised myself back up, looking over Polly's head at the others.

"All of you are moving by my order. Is that understood?"

They all silently snapped off salutes. I nodded and let go of Polly.

"We leave in five."

I left those words, stepping away from Polly and letting her think.

I walked up to Umara.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay behind?"

"You don't get to dirty your hands without me. Nor do you get to take all the blame. I'm going with you."

"Hm. Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"You have. Every day, actually."

"Oh good. Just making sure."

I gave her a kiss on the forehead before turning. The nearby soldiers boarded the helicopters, a new model designed for stealth. Even spinning right next to us, I couldn't hear a sound.

Umara and I boarded last, and soon after the doors shut, the helicopters became invisible, and we took off.

……

"Approaching target. One minute."

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I heard the pilot's voice over the TACNET, scanning the soldiers around me.

Their armor was pitch black, void of all markings, and lacked the standard design of armors found at Iron Legion. Even the technology within it was different, from the hardware to the software. Nothing on the armor nor their bodies could be traced back to Iron Legion or Sawn Industries.

Nevertheless, it had even greater functionality than the latest production models. Everything was enhanced and designed specifically for what was about to happen now.

Not to mention the weapons the soldiers held. I glanced at the weapon on one of their laps nearby.

It was called a Crystal Rifle, and the one the soldiers were using was a precision variant called the XCR-108. It was the magical version of a gun working by the same mechanisms as the tank cannons. It used propellant to fire a Crystal through a barrel at extreme speeds, the Crystal detonating on impact and releasing whatever magic it was enchanted with.

I hadn't neglected the possibility of creating guns in this world. Unfortunately it simply hadn't been worth it in the past, not to mention the logistical nightmare of trying to arm a military with it. However, for Sector 4, nothing was off limits. These experimental prototypes that I had Wonderland work on in the background could finally be field tested.

The technology wasn't difficult. It was simply a scaled down version of the tank cannon. However, that itself demanded more precision, quickly running into the same issue that the hypersonic program at Wonderland had been stumped with. These prototypes were the best of the many products built and were accordingly expensive, not to mention the manufacture of cartridges and bullets. A production line for actual smokeless powder had also been set up to be used for propellant, but it was small and inefficient.

This mission would be using up a significant portion of the stockpiled gunpowder and bullets, but I was hardly concerned. The soldiers had been using them during the Magisterium's excursion, training their aim and handling. For now, only knights would be using them, their strength affording them more reliable accuracy. That meant half the force carrying out this operation wasn't armed with a Crystal Rifle.

However, they were not to be left out, for they were armed with a scaled down version of the tank turrets. The XMR-138 Mana Rifle was similar in appearance, a rifle-shaped weapon enchanted with high-intensity magical spells and powered by an Elemental Crystal. Each Elemental Crystal acted like a magazine, capable of explosively powering a matching elemental enchantment several times before depleting and demanding replacement. The difficult part about making these wasn't construction or even logistics, but the spellwork itself.

New spells had to be developed that could properly take advantage of the Elemental Crystals while being suitable for taking on the role of a firearm, at least according to my expectations of it. On top of that, since testing them would be carried out in a covert manner, they needed to be adjusted for missions like these. This demanded precision not in fabrication, but in the enchantment.

Umara had been working hard over the last couple months working on this project alongside her studies of spatial spells. Now making her way to becoming a professional enchanter, she could participate in suitable Wonderland projects where she offered magical expertise backed by my exclusive knowledge.

With swappable enchantment modules, these Mana Rifles could change their spells with even more ease than changing a caliber. The Crystal Rifles could do the same with different bullets as well. Both of them were versatile, the Crystal Rifles slightly more so than the Mana Rifles. They were both extremely similar but represented two different logistical demands and scaling potential

Today, we'd be getting a better glimpse at which one was better.

I stood and pulled open the helicopter hatch, looking down at the town below us. With a population of 7100 Nephilim, it wasn't exactly small, not to mention that it had previously been a farming export, so there were houses and tilled plots of land in the distance.

I looked up into the distance, seeing the other helicopters stationing themselves at their predetermined points. We hadn't attracted any attention yet but that would be changing very quickly.

I took a step back away from the hatch, my exosuit appearing and enveloping my body. I put on the helmet as it did so, the HUD blinking to life and running a half second diagnostic.

Everything booted and I linked to the TACNET. In my vision, every Nephilim I could see in the town below was highlighted and marked, the indicators red denoting an enemy.

I looked back up, the helicopters standing by.

"Green light."

I spoke into the TACNET, starting a count on my exosuits stopwatch.

Everyone moved.

The knights started dropping from the helicopters, jetpacks bringing them down to the ground. While they dropped through the sky, warlocks started casting spells around the town. Umara was one of them.

I saw flames flicker in multiple areas, massive spellwork blooming in the sky before vanishing with the cast.

My vision brightened as a dense wall of fire encircled the entire town, spanning entire miles of distance. It rose into the sky, clearly marking the area of our attack.

There were screams in the town as everyone still awake took notice. More started waking up. Moderate Authority enemies started stepping out, their energy no longer dormant.

They wouldn't be allowed to do anything.

I kneeled in the doorway of the helicopter, those around me dropping out the other door. Umara remained behind me, watching.

I brought out a sniper, a TAC-50E, an updated version of the original TAC-50 with all the bells and whistles of what the future offered. A digital telescopic sight, a ballistic predictor, exosuit integration, and an ability to chamber high tech, high pressure rounds while still retaining the old glory of the .50 BMG.

I chambered a 860 grain high explosive round that was rated for 4200 feet per second. After my empowerment, I didn't even want to guess what the numbers would sit at.

I shouldered the sniper and aimed at one particular building, larger than all the others and sitting near the center of the town.

The sole Authority 9 combatant was there.

I could sense him scramble out of his house, standing in front of the window for a second before leaving. He ran through the front door before looking around.

One man ran up to him, the two talking.

I took my chance.

I centered the reticle on his head and pulled the trigger, the weight of it awfully light.

The recoil kicked my shoulder despite the exosuit, speaking to its power.

I didn't even have the time to wonder what it would feel like without the exosuit before the bullet sliced through the Authority 9's head. The high explosive kicked and released a sizeable explosion, reducing the rest of his body to gore.

I remained there for a second longer before sending the sniper away, bringing out Totenstahl and stepping out of the helicopter.

Umara followed, the two of us dropping a few thousand feet. Our jetpacks flared and we were gentled to the ground.

We dropped on one side of the town, just outside of it. The massive wall of fire continued to blaze, all who tried to run through it reduced to a crisp.

However, there was one portion of the perimeter that was open, one portion that wasn't on fire. With the wall so tall, everyone in the town could see it.

An obvious funnel, an obvious trap, but it still worked.

The other teams landed within the town, within the fire, and started hunting. They systematically swept through each road and each building, killing every single Nephilim they came across. With every step they were either leveling a building and killing everything inside, or killing those who were running away from them.

Umara and I stood within the open perimeter, the gateway to freedom, and we waited for our Pale Horsemen to drive the Nephilim toward us.

It didn't take them long. We saw crowds of people flood from the alleys and streets, first dozens, then hundreds.

Some of them froze when they saw us. Some continued charging. Some of them were around Authority 4 or 5, and they sprinted toward us with a deranged look in their eye, rage painted across their face.

I saw the horns on their head and the marks across their bodies, and I lifted Totenstahl, whose barrel glowed bright red.

I was glad I had a helmet on. Umara couldn't see me smile.

The trigger depressed, and the familiar feeling of recoil kicked into my arms. With the exosuit, the weapon was lighter than every, my Psyka lightly pouring into every round.

I drew a line of lead across those that ran toward us, nobody, not even those of intermediate Authority, took any more than a few bullets to kill. My arms steadily adjusted, providing a generous volume of firepower to every sector with an enemy.

Umara didn't even get the chance to cast a spell, all of the first wave cut down, her mana resting within her palms.

Totenstahl released some smoke from his barrel. I scanned across the mounds of fresh corpses.

More batches soon came, trampling over their dead and charging us. I fired again, cut them all down just like the last. Another few hundred, dead.

This repeated several times. At some point Umara stepped up and forced me to let her take over. I stopped firing, and she started letting off spells, killing with just as much ease as I did. After some time, and after taking turns, our kill count rose to over two thousand.

I saw some of the Pale Horsemen emerge from the perimeter. It didn't take long to sweep through the town when every enemy was so weak, not to mention all the scanners preventing a single one of them from slipping past. Anything living, anything with Aura, would be found and hunted. Not even an underground tunnel could save them. The scanners were ground penetrating.

I killed a few more batches before no more showed. Then I saw the rest of the Pale Horsemen emerge.

The massive wall of flame went dark, flickering out, the night regaining its eerie silence.

I heard a voice over the TACNET from our eye in the sky.

"Scan complete. No hostiles detected. Town cleared."

I nodded, the helicopters coming down from the sky and landing around us.

Silently, we all boarded, quickly taking off.

I glanced at the stopwatch, deactivating it.

16 minutes, 49 seconds.

The ride back to base was quiet. Once we landed, everyone jumped out and went to the armory, storing all the experimental rifles.

I spoke with Polly for a short time, sending her the report I wrote on the way back before leaving with Umara.

We went to our own residence within the Glass Desert, a private area within Sector 4's confines of the base. Once there, we settled down and readied for bed.

It wasn't even past midnight, but both of us were tired.

We lay in bed, the light on while I went over a few more things on my Aerial. After some time though I shut out the light and prepared to go to sleep.

In the silence of our bedroom, I heard Umara mutter.

"You're so much stronger than I am."

I turned my head, looking at Umara. She stared up at the ceiling, eyes still wide open.

"Is it as easy for you as you make it look?"

I was silent for a bit, eventually muttering back.

"Yes, it is."

"...I know you're a bit used to it, from your time in the black markets. But I struggle to understand how something like this can become so easy even with that experience."

I didn't respond, the two of us silent for a few moments before she turned to me, her eyes glowing a bit with mana.

"We just killed thousands of people. Slaughtered them like rodents. It was so unbearably easy. The mana I used in those spells was regenerated seconds after. Most of those people weren't even past their first Authority. They would've been ordinary if they hadn't been turned into Nephilim. T-The young. How many young did we kill?"

I thought for a second before answering.

"Around thirty. There weren't many. Reports from earlier stalking said that they had sent the young away to the big cities, likely for their sick rituals."

"What rituals?"

"Tomorrow I can show you. We have video of it, most of it coming from the town we just eradicated. All you need to know is that nearly all of the children in that town were deliberately kept human. Tomorrow I'll show you why."

I felt Umara's Anarchy flare before quickly simmering down, tears welling up in her eyes.

I could tell how hard she tried to keep her emotions down.

"I just… don't know if that's supposed to make me feel better about this or not."

"...Umara, normally I'd tell you not to have any sympathy for any of them."

I moved over and held her, my voice lowering.

"But I think it would be better for at least one of us to have some. Leave all the thinking for tomorrow. For now, just do what you can to get some sleep. It's been a long day."

I gave her a kiss on the forehead before settling in.

I remained awake as long as she did, only getting to sleep after another couple hours.

My last thought was about how successful of a mission it was, and how many more were to come.

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