Reborn; A Slave to the World
Chapter 36: The Great General

Chapter 36 - The Great General

With my new armor secured it's time for me to find this general. I'm not entirely sure I know where to look just yet but that won't be a big deal.

They left the blacksmith shop and Artemis begins to look around for someone who sticks out amongst the crowd of people. Someone has to have the symbol he's looking for or maybe the appearance alone would be enough.

There was quite a variety of people in the streets wandering about while he continues to scan for this general.

I don't know if I'll even be able to spot this damn guy if there's this many people here— Yet something tells me that it will be real obvious when he shows himself.

There's no way he isn't here or that would mean that both Shimada and the keeper lied to me about him. I just don't see that being the case after the way things went with both situations.

Amelia taps on Artemis's shoulder and he quickly turns around. "What are you looking for Art?" She asks with a bit of a confused look on her face.

Telling her that I'm hunting these guys down directly wouldn't be the right thing to say right? I'd have to be stupid to tell her I'm on the path of revenge and revenge alone.

"He's helping me look for someone." Shimada speaks up, catching her off guard.

Shimada's timing only gets better each time, but that means I'll have to thank him for saving me on this later.

Amelia just looks even more confused as she turns her attention towards Shimada. "Who though?" Amelia asks with a curious, yet confused look on her face.

Stomp! Stomp! The sounds of something huge walking could be heard from behind Artemis as he quickly shifts his attention to see what it is.

Standing a few inches away from him was a really tall man with dark black heavy iron armor, it seems he also has the exact insignia that Artemis was looking for on his shoulder plate, and his face was covered by a knight helmet.

Even though Artemis couldn't see his eyes he could feel his gaze looking directly at him. "Hmm. I understand now, you are the one." The man's muffled voice speaks from behind the helmet.

I don't know what it is yet, but I feel as if I'm stuck in place before this guy. The other followers I've encountered so far didn't have such an effect but yet he does— I don't understand what's happening right now.

Am I actually terrified of this monstrosity before me?

Everything felt as if it was slowing down all around me as I stood there without the ability to move. This man was the first one in awhile to have such an effect on me but even back then I forced myself to move.

Killing the man who destroyed my family without any sort of hesitation so why is it that now I can't move.

"You're scared, scared of someone who might be a lot tougher than you're used to." A girls soft voice echoed within his head.

Maybe I am scared....

The others watched as Artemis stood there silently, wondering if he was okay or if something happened. Shimada immediately notices the insignia on the man's shoulder plate and goes to shout. "Everyone get back!" Shimada shouts as he draws his sword.

Everything around him was still, silent—but his chest was chaos. His heartbeat thundered, erratic and wild, a war drum in a quiet room. Artemis couldn't hear Shimada calling out to him and the others to get back, just the loud beating of his heart was all he could hear.

Her voice begins to get closer as she speaks once more. "If you don't want to die, you will need to move." She speaks softly, almost like a whisper in his ear.

Just as she finishes speaking, The man brings his warhammer down like a falling star. One strike. One quake. The ground groaned as the head cratered the earth.

Artemis just barely manages to move himself out of the way as he notices the destructive power of this man before him.

This is the general that they told me about, the man that I need to kill no matter what so that their ranks will falter. I doubt he'll share any information with me so this is the best possible outcome to go with.

"Artemis!" Amelia's scream tore from her throat, eyes wide with horror. She surged forward instinctively, only stopped by the burning fear locking her legs in place.

The dust from where the hammer hit was blocking the line of sight that they previously had on him.

Shimada's jaw tightened. His knuckles whitened around his blade. "Damn it—" he hissed, already calculating the distance, the next move, anything to help Artemis in this situation.

It seemed that everyone was well aware of what was going on currently.

Cynthia didn't speak. Her eyes narrowed, scanning the dust cloud like a hawk. One hand gripped the hilt at her side, knuckles taut, the other raised slightly—ready to move, to defend, to strike if needed.

Her breath came sharp, steady. "He's alive," she said firmly, more to ground the others than herself. "Focus."

I heard Amelia scream for me but everything will be okay as long as I calm myself down and focus. Everyone will be fine so I just need to take him down like every other enemy I've faced so far.

"There's the Artemis I know, turn that fear into strength and fight against him." The girls soft voice speaks once more.

Artemis drew his blade and ran, The sword flashed in his grip. Dust bit at his heels. He didn't flinch. He went to strike at the enemy before him.

I don't know if my sword will be strong enough to pierce through his armor but I'm going to do my very best to defeat him. I'll just have to utilize everything in me to beat him.