Ixion stared blankly at the paper, recalling what he’d been shown; the hundreds of lives he’d been forced to live.

The changes his mind underwent as he tried to piece the fragmented memories into somthing whole again.

When the old Ixion had died, a new one reborn in its place.

One willing to sacrifice his life for the ’greater good.’ One willing to subserviate himself to a stranger.

Yet, that was a story for next entry.

For now, Ixion was southbound. Headed for the third most lawless place — behind the front lines of the Scourge and his bed chambers.

***

After warning Runa and Andrea that he’d be absent for some time, six months or so, he ordered Zabaniyah to closely guard his body during that time. His body, which had been transferred to a reinforced coffin — a nearly indestructible one.

The only way to get out was by activating the Enchantment upon it, which could only be done from the inside.

Currently, Ixion’s soul floated above the convoy which had made less than satisfactory headway in their southbound travels. Not only were the dirt roads long since destroyed and marred by the horrors roaming the lands, but those same horrors attacked the convoy regularly.

While most, if not all, the beasts were weak to Ixion, they were meanaces to the regular soldiers. Many of whom had not awakened their bond with Aether.

A few died, a good bit were injured. They would eventually adapt to these constant attacks, but as of right now the chain of command was in a bit of a stasis.

Not to mention that as they traveled further south, these beings would only get stronger.

Strong enough to where even Knight Julius wouldn’t have an easy time fighting them. As for Ixion... the beasts who could challenged him lived much too far south for any of them to show up.

’Probably.’

As for why these powerful beasts all congregated in the south...

It was because it was the point furthest from the Scourge.

Regular beast, uncorrupted, lived on pure survival instinct. And their instincts screamed at them to get as far away from the Scourge as possible.

This led to the Convergence Zone, the furthest point opposite of the land under the Scourge’s control, where the strongest beasts of legend inhabit — beasts not even Ixion dare wished to face. Then on the outskirts of that zone was where Fort Luminara existed. The fort that served as a barrier between Catatran and the Convergence Zone, keeping the worst of the weakest away.

Naturally, many slipped by and those were the ones the convoy was currently facing in battle.

Having a little fun, Ixion stop spectating from time to time, crushing a few beasts’ souls and then tearing apart their kind while inhabiting their body.

Truly, living as a beast was most liberating!

And fitting!

A beast hunting other beasts?

Was that not the most apt description for himself?!

Finally, as night settled, the second one the convoy would be undergoing, the march dribbled to a stop and tents were set up as well as defensive preparations like trap arrays and mounted canons.

As for Ixion?

His soul found its way to the carriage loaded with swords, spears, and shields, then slipped inside of Veritas.

’Ah...’

His heart began to beat, slowly.

After a few minutes, Veritas was alive as he’d ever be!

Ixion, stealthily, threw the crates off of him then darted away under the cover of night.

"What was that?! An attack?!"

"Fuck! It might be a Wraith! Alert everyone!"

’Ah, how quiet I am! Nobody even noticed!’

As a swarm of guards staggered to their feet and drew their blades, pointing them toward the unseen threat, Ixion found himself walking amongst the tents lit by dim fires, completely ignoring whatever the regular soldiers were up to.

The alarms spread faster than the sense to verify them.

Boots pounded over trampled dirt. Canvas rustled. Steel hissed from sheathes. A few of the men shouted to one another with all the confidence of soldiers who had not the faintest clue what they were looking for.

"Around the weapons cart!"

"No, the eastern perimeter!"

"I saw something move!"

"Then go stab it, fool!"

Ixion nearly laughed.

Nearly.

Instead, he drifted between them with measured steps, hands clasped behind his back as he studied the camp with all the detached interest of a scholar peering into an insect terrarium.

Messy.

That was his first conclusion.

The tents had been erected quickly, but not intelligently. Officers and knights nearer the center, naturally, the wounded clustered around the larger fire so the medics could work without needing to stumble through darkness, supply wagons arranged in a loose half-circle, as though whoever gave the order had wanted the appearance of structure without understanding why structure mattered.

There were gaps.

Too many of them.

Openings between wagon lines large enough for a lean beast to slip through. Blind spots between torch placements. Traps layered thickest near the northern approach, because that was the direction of the road and thus the direction men still foolishly imagined danger came from.

But beasts did not follow roads.

Beasts followed blood, noise, and weakness.

Which meant the southern and southeastern edges were insultingly vulnerable.

Ixion’s gaze shifted.

A mounted Aether cannon had been placed on a slight incline, giving it a decent angle over one portion of the perimeter, but its wheel had not been chocked properly. One good impact and the thing would shift uselessly to the side. Beyond that was a supply crate left open, salted meat and dry ration packs exposed to the night air.

The scent alone was invitation enough.

Then there were the men themselves.

Some stood alert, eyes scanning the tree line with white-knuckled discipline. Veterans, or those near enough to becoming them. Others were already sagging with fatigue, leaning on spears, muttering complaints, jumping at shadows. One boy — no older than sixteen — kept licking his lips and glancing anywhere another soldier glanced, as though hoping borrowed fear might suffice for awareness.

It would not.

If the camp were attacked in earnest, that one would die first... or second.

Ixion filed the thoughts away without sentiment.