Chapter 10: Out of Character

“No.” Klauna said as she glared at Lionel. Her tone was absolute.

“That wasn’t a request Klauna. That’s an order,” Lionel replied, giving the same serious glare back at her.

“Screw your orders. I’m not going to order them to die. You can take and put those words where they belong. In the trash.”

After the devastating defeat on the third assault, Lionel had ordered all high ranking officers to gather to make a new plan of assault. Things can be summed up in two ways, either the Seventh Army were tenacious or they were stupid. 

Either way, Klauna had enough of the nonsense and outright refused to have any more part in the battlefield. She was alright with providing long-range bombardment, but when Lionel had requested that her battalion man a siege tower for the next assault, Klauna snapped.

In the middle of the meeting room was the sight of a broken table— shattered to pieces by a powerful slam from the Analyst. All discussions had come to a halt as Klauna made a scene. There were some demons who wanted to object to her stubbornness but was quickly made quiet when Klauna did her show of force and ordered them to not interfere, that the matter was between her and the general.

The normally rambunctious demons could not say anything back, as if being suppressed by some sort of pressure. The only other person who didn't flinch was Lionel who stood strong with his arms folded.

“Klaunaliorilatica. I am ordering you to fulfil your duties as an officer of the Northern Demon Kingdom.”

“You have no right to order me anything, Narulionel. You refuse to listen to me, why should I listen to you? I don’t lose anything if I don’t follow that order, and I lose everything if I do.” Klauna said to Lionel, her eyes never taking off from his.

“Klauna…”

“I told you this was a stupid idea. That people will die. I told all of you!” 

Klauna shifted her attention to the other captains and their aides. “Are you fools happy now? What happened to all that confidence and bravado? Honour and glory was it? Peh! Not feeling so great now when you have hundreds of bodies out there aren’t we?”

“...”

“Why so quiet? Come on, mock me! What happened to your strong captains? All that confidence? All that glory and honour you guys like sprouting so much? Is it dead now alongside your friends out there?” Klauna mocked the captains— whatever leaders of the Seventh Army that's left that were gathered there.

“Don’t you dare mock my soldiers. They died bravely out there. Their deaths were because you deserted your duties in the first place, Captain Klauna!” Cera shouted back, the only person in the room who had a legitimate reason to rebuke Klauna.

"Duties? To hell with that! I've done the best I could in that situation. You would have done the same! If I was out there, you arrogant fools would have no qualms in sacrificing my men!" Klauna yelled back.

"That's…"

“I’ll take my part of the blame, fine. But is it truly all my fault? He deserves part of the blame as well." 

Klauna pointed to Lionel. “Your men died out there because of his incompetence! Because he couldn’t pull the reigns of his own army. Because he gave the go to such a haphazard plan. Because of his lack of foresight! Why not yell at him instead?" 

Cera tried to yell back "General Lionel only did—" but her words got cut off by Klauna.

"Don't act like you are all innocent either. The biggest part of the blame falls on you, Stardivacera. This was your plan. Those men followed your orders and they died because of it!" Klauna shouted.

It wasn’t that loud by any means, but the intensity of it caused Cera to backed away. There was some sort of pressure being asserted on her by the Analyst, causing her to not be able to talk back.

“Klaunaliorilatica, enough," Lionel said as he stepped in between the two.

Klauna saw this and backed off from the argument, shifting her attention back to Lionel.

"This next plan… I’m asking this as a favour from you,” Lionel said.

“Favour? Don’t you dare say that to me. It is you who owe me a favour. You owe me your life, Narulionel. You won’t be standing there if I didn’t do what I did all those years ago in Divinatus. The only reason why you are standing there right now is because I pulled you out of that fire.” 

The room went quiet for a while. Harbin was clutching her grimoire in fear as she sees Klauna being so out of character. This was the first time she’s seen Klauna so angry, the first time she’s seen Klauna hold such a dominant position in one of these meetings. Harbin had wanted to back away from Klauna, but her feet stood firm. She wasn’t about to run away from the person that she respects. Harbin only stood there, right next to Klauna, her body shaking. 

Klauna took this time to gather her breath and calm down before standing firm and glaring right into Lionel’s eyes. “Let’s just get out of here Narulionel. If we don’t win the next battle, then we all die. The enemy will not hesitate to rout us. We only have that much resources left. This all-out assault plan will not work. Listen to me.” 

The two gave each other a silent stare, waiting for the other to say something. Lionel then took a look at the room— looking at the sight of his subordinates around him. They wore a face of curiosity and shock. Lionel's men respected him, and he respected them back. The last thing he wants to do is to send them to their deaths.

He understood where Klauna was coming from. She may not seem like it, but she cares more about her soldiers than she does herself. It was her berserk button. 

Yet, Lionel could not back away from this fight.

“I’ve made a promise to the late Venti, Klaunalioriratica,” Lionel replied, resignation in his voice.

Klauna’s eyes widened when she heard Lionel speak. Not because Lionel referenced the Fifth Demon Lord, but because Lionel mentioned the word promise.

“I told her that I will support Sylendri the best I could. I’m soul-bounded. There is no turning back for me. I will charge into that fort alone if I must.”

The room went into an uproar as they heard this. Murmurs and silent talks occurred between the captain and their aides. They couldn't believe what they just heard.

The saying, ‘A demon never breaks his promises.’ is often used by humans.

Although seemingly unbelievable, it is true.

Despite all their superior physical advantages over the humans, the Ak’hims have weak souls. A promise made by an Ak’him is a contract marked on an Ak’him’s soul. Depending on the severity of the promise, an Ak’him might be bound to a contract for life. To break this pact is to lose your soul forever. It’s biologically hardwired into every Ak’him that they fulfil this pact. 

Lionel literally cannot run away from this fight, lest his soul be lost to the void of nothingness.

“I know it may be selfish of me. But I ask this favour as a friend, Klaunalioriratica.” Lionel gave a polite bow to Klauna.

Klauna could only click her tongue in response.

"...if we are going to go down this route then we do it my way. Everyone here does it my way. No exceptions.”

Klauna then stared at the rest of the demons in the room.  “No more stupid fights, no more bullshit, no more glory hunting. Everyone follows the plan down to the bloody paper.”

Lionel gave a look to everyone as well. To see what their reaction to this whole situation was. To his shock, everybody looked back with a face that says that they are ready to do what must be done. Most of the troublesome people died in the first three assaults. The people left here are all the demons who respect and owe Lionel a great debt. 

Sure, most of them were rather confused at what kind of past that Lionel and Klauna had, but they knew something was off when Lionel, a Warrior was willing to bow to her.  They saw firsthand how their first three assaults went. How much worse can the fourth one be? The worst-case scenario was that they die together. If the general trust Klauna, then they are willing to give the Analyst a chance.

Lionel let out a satisfied smile before nodding towards Klauna. 

Klauna let out a sigh.

“We meet back tomorrow. I need to think about the plan.” Klauna said before leaving the room. Harbin followed after her closely behind.

* * * * *

“Harbin, would you pass me that bottle?” Klauna asked Harbin at a certain bottle to her sides, her eyes never moved away from the map that was laid out in front of her. 

“Ah! Yes,” Harbin responded before moving to grab the bottle in question.

Harbin then quickly brought the bottle to Klauna which she took and placed it on the map. Klauna was looking closely at the map, moving the pieces on it up and down non-stop. At times, she would take a few moments to think about something before completely removing all the items and placing them before moving them again.

Klauna was simulating for the battle ahead.

Harbin only kept quiet and observed Klauna as the Analyst murmured to herself about the battle ahead. Klauna’s words were rather nonsensical and were rather soft so Harbin couldn’t make out what she was talking about. It was like she was speaking in another language. Still, Harbin only stood still and stayed by her side in complete silence. Waiting, just in case Klauna needed her help for anything else.

They stayed like this for what felt like hours, with Klauna just staring at the map and Harbin next at her side. It was then that the entrance to the tent opened up and Lionel entered.

“Ngahh! Hey! Why are you here! This is a woman’s room!” Harbin went over to the general and tried to push him out of the tent.

“Eh? No, I need to talk with her about something…”

“You can't just barge into a woman’s room like that, Lord Lionel! Get out!”

The two then struggled with Lionel trying to explain himself to Harbin and Harbin constantly blocking his sight, seemingly showing no fear towards the General.

Although Harbin’s intention was good, her voice was distracting and made it hard for Klauna to concentrate on things. 

Klauna who soon let out a sigh and looked towards the two. “Harbin… Mind leaving us alone for a while? I need to settle things with Lionel.”

"Ngeh? But!"

"Please," Klauma responded.

“...Alright. I’ll be outside if you need anything...” Harbin said as she left the room. Not without giving a weird glance towards Lionel.

Lionel let out a sigh before turning his attention back to Klauna who simply went back to staring at the map and moving the pieces on it. Seeing that Klauna won’t be entertaining him for a while, he observed around the room. 

It was… messy to say the least. Spare clothing and undergarments could be seen all over the place. Her bed was a sloppy mess and her room was barely in a livable state.

Lionel could understand why Harbin doesn’t want him to be in here. Any normal woman would be crying out in embarrassment. Too bad the woman in front of him is anything but normal. Klauna just continued staring at the map, not paying any heed to her surroundings.

Lionel took a look at the map as well, but soon give up as he could not decipher what the Analyst was doing. He was a great general, not a tactician nor a strategist. These kinds of things were outside his area of expertise. 

The silence was killing Lionel so he decided to open up a conversation with her. “I didn’t expect you were the type to wear black.”

“If you want them then you can take it. I got plenty more.” Klauna responded, her eyes not moving away.

“... You aren’t going to get a husband if you continue to act like that, you know.”

With a flat tone, Klauna responded. “Not interested in love affairs.” 

Lionel could not respond to the statement and simply moved to the next topic. “How’s the plan going along?”

“..." Klauna kept quiet at the question and so did Lionel who couldn't really say anything back.

"...I’m sorry about earlier by the way. I should have told you about this sooner,” Lionel said, his eyes looking towards the ground.

“Say that to the people who are going to die, Lionel. Not me. I couldn’t care less.”

The two went into an awkward silence yet again.

Klauna put one last piece on the map before letting out a nod. Her plan was complete, all that she needs to do is to refine it further. She took a deep breath before looking towards Lionel who was looking at the map as well.

“Lionel. Do you know why I joined the Seventh Army?” Klauna asked out of nowhere.

Lionel had a perplexed face. He then took a few seconds to think up an answer. None come to mind except one. “Is it because I forced you to join?”

“...”

“Wrong answer, huh. I expected as much.”

“I could have easily refused you. There was nothing you could have done to force me.” Klauna said.

“Yeah... I know that now. So why?”

“I was looking for a reason to die,” Klauna said as she stared at some random object. A distant look on her face.

Lionel was shocked to hear this. His eyes wide and his breathing stopped just for a moment.

“I’m so tired of it all. Thinking, breathing, living… It was such a pain to even open my eyes. It’s a pain even now.” Klauna continued.

“...I see.”

“I thought if I joined the army. Then I could just rush into the lines like an idiot and die that way. But then… I met those guys.”

“...”

“It’s one thing to die alone. But when your decisions decide the life of others… It’s different.” 

Klauna gave one direct look at Lionel, into his eyes. ”I am thinking of retiring from the army after this fight. Maybe I’ll even bring the others with me. I got past subordinates saying that they’ve created something back in Divinatus. Sennari says that he needed manpower.”

Lionel could only feel sorrow when he heard this. Losing Klauna and the Analysts would be a big blow towards the Seventh Army and its effectiveness. However, Lionel knew the reason why she wanted to leave. The war won’t be over even if they won here. As long as Lionel is the general, the Seventh Army will keep finding themselves in unnecessary battles. He is soul-bounded into these kinds of situations. Eventually, the Seventh Army will fail and die.

Lionel only gave a nod back towards Klauna. “I’ll get the discharge papers ready, I guess.”

“Thanks, Lionel,” Klauna nodded back.

If it was the Klauna from that time, then maybe she wouldn’t have cared. But she has people she cared about now. People that depended on her. Her life doesn’t only belong to her. 

“When this is all over, let’s have one final drink as our goodbyes,” Lionel said before turning his back towards Klauna. He then steadily walked out of the tent.

“Um... Sure,” Klauna said as she stared at Lionel’s back. The mantle of a lion and the spear he held flashed by her sight. Klauna caught sight of the spear glowing red for a while before returning back to normal, the banner of the Seventh Army on it.

‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep Lionel’ Klauna thought to herself as she continued staring at the spear.

Kotohood

Klauna wears black guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you do then fav or whatever and let me know your thoughts!