A Story of Evil

Chapter 109: Two Leaders

"Damian I'm getting tired waiting! When are we going to strike?" The tall muscular figure demanded. With four other individuals included in that meeting. All of which sat on thrones.

"Can you calm down Al? Didn't I say that we'd wait a year before making our move?"

"Why do we need to wait that long? We have everything we need at our disposal right now! The more we wait, the more those inferior beings would claim the lands from us!" Damian simply sighed at the suggestion. As if it was done by a hopeless musclehead.

"This decision is not for you, nor I to make. You know very well that we can't just do as we please. There is a hierarchy of authority Al."

"But!"

"Kneel." Damian increased the gravity on his ally. Making him bend the knee in defeat. 

"Do I look like I'm accepting your opinion? We strike when I say we strike."

Al tried his best to get up. Increasing his physical strength even more. Yet nothing he did worked as, Damian simply continued increasing gravity. 

"Quit fucking around!" Al said, increasing his strength even more and finally getting out of the bind. One member of the group whistled while the others were just silent. Waiting for Al to continue which he did so immediately.

"I've always been suspicious of you Damian. You're weak! You always take your sweet time to strike when we can do so earlier! If it were up to me those weak second generation fuckers would already been dead! Yet here we are because of your incompetence!"

"You're so screwed." Said one of their members who watched the scene with a gleeful smile. An expression worn by everyone who pitied the hot headed idiot. With some even sighing as, things began getting dangerous.

"You dare call me incompetent Herald?" 

Just by being called by his real name, Al already felt his legs weaken. Something sinister seemed to wrap his whole body at that moment. Preventing him from even speaking as, his lungs felt like it was out of air.

Damian didn't even need to cast gravity once again. His sheer presence was enough to make Al fall to his knees once again.

"This is the last time we'll be holding this conversation Al. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-Yes Damian." The gigantic creature said in reply. Finding difficulty in both breathing and staying awake.

"Good. Now, unto the order of business."

Before the sun even came up, the soldiers of Sol's division were already awake. They all wore their uniforms. White shirts worn over black long sleeved button downs. With emblems pinned on top of their left chest. Symbolizing what domain they are from.

A candlelight flame for the Fire Domain.

A snowflake for Ice Domain.

A chunk of rock shaped like an edged oblong for Earth Domain.

A white spiral for Wind Domain.

A dragon for the Summoners Domain.

A chunk of silver steel for the Steel Domain.

A red sword for the Enhancers Domain.

A raindrop for the Water Domain.

A yellow lightning bolt for the Lightning Domain.

Black wings with white linings for the Void Domain.

Aside from King Jubilee and his closest confidants, nobody else understood what the insignia meant. Most of humanity still had zero clue on the existence of Pandora and the other Seraphims after all.

"Okay everyone, gather up. We need to eat before the sun comes up." Sol clapped his hands as he spoke. His body was still a bit sore from the fight with the wolves but, it wasn't something he made evident.

"Isn't it too early my lord?"

"That's the whole point of saying 'before the sun comes up' Jared. Now hurry up, we have a long day ahead of us."

During the five months of leading the Domain Expansion Division, Solomon has grown much. The way he carried himself. The way he spoke. The way he acted. Every bit of it slowly turned regal without him noticing. All because Sol valued order and discipline. Something which he instilled on himself, with some deviant behavior still being done by the teen. With his young age bearing this guilt.

"Do we at least have steak for breakfast?" Hendrickson asked. Making some soldiers laugh while others smiled.

"Who takes steak for breakfast Rick?" Solomon said, with Hendrickson raising his hand and saying:

"I do."

"Yes, I think you already made that clear." Sol said in reply. Finally getting a bunch of soldiers laughing hard as the commander needed to clap his hand thrice to get their attention.

"We'll eat light, nutritious, and easy to digest food. I don't want your bodies suddenly betraying you while we move out. Everything's already prepared so just get your portions."

"Thank you my lord!" The soldiers said in unison.

"We'll use the long table. I'll discuss the next part of the plan while we eat." Solomon said, with the soldiers finally going to the tables to get their servings. Meanwhile, Alice came close to him with a look of inquiry that the commander knew fairly well. 

"Did I say anything weird?" Sol asked.

"Well, I'm just a bit curious why you seem to be rushing."

"Rushing?"

"Yeah. Aren't we supposed to savor the last moments of this division's life?"

"Of course we do Alice. But with the fight our unit had yesterday, it was made clear that our unit can do even better. They've all grown to be decent and reliable soldiers. And because of that"

"I see. You want to show better results  than what they'd expect from us. Is that it?"

"Well, we already exceed all of that. It's just that, everyone here will have a brighter future as soon as we finish this mission. I can make that even better by pushing all of us to the limits. Finishing the mission even before our deadline." 

"We already beat that didn't we? They expect us to finish within the next month. Yet here we are needing only two weeks at best to complete our assignment."

"That doesn't excuse us from doing even better right? I think being consistent in our effort is just as important as anything else."

"Honestly, I can't understand how that brain of yours works. But if you say it's for the best then, it probably is." Alice simply said, smiling at the boy and remembering all that he said to her before.

That his passive would slowly erase his emotions. That he would turn into a heartless creature who would stop at nothing to reach his goals. Yet there he was, caring for every member of the unit like they were his own family. Treating each of them equally without any exception.

"What part of that is supposed to be heartless?" Alice murmured, with a warmhearted smile on her face.

"What was that?" Sol asked.

"Nevermind boy genius. Just hurry up. Rick would probably eat everything up before we can even take our servings." Alice said, walking away with Sol following right behind her.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that." 

The team filed into a line when getting their meal. Even the rowdy Hendrickson followed this standard, making the rule absolute. The soldiers had their fill of a healthy serving and went to the long table together with comrades from other domains. Talking among themselves as they waited for everyone to get their portions before starting to eat. Another custom which Sol declared, with everyone else being more than willing to follow.

As soon as this part was done, everyone said grace and began digging in. With Sol laying out the plan as the soldiers focused on his words while they ate. With the commander reminding the team that they only had five more areas to clear. With potentials threats being close to none. 

"With everyone's growth, doing this mission has been easier and, the burden wasn't that heavy anymore. For that alone, I'd like to congratulate you all." 

"That's not true at all! Without Commander Sol most of us would've probably died." One soldier commented.

"Yeah, this mission only became a success because of you my lord!" Another one said. With every other soldier agreeing and clapping, not for themselves but for their commander.

"Thank you but, I'm not trying to humble myself when I said that. We need to acknowledge everyone's effort. Nobody is irrelevant nor am I higher than any of you."

This was the way Solomon lead. With words filled by nothing but truth. With unwavering decisions that lead them to victory. With each person trusting their whole life to him. In the face of his troops, Sol was still powerless. But even though he was, every soldier would agree that he was still the strongest.

Hence everyone listened to him with respect as he proceeded. Giving every detail of the plan that was ahead. With all of them having an equal responsibility to gain victory. 

"With that I have one last request to make. Everyone" Sol bowed his head to his team as he shouted:

"LET'S DO OUR BEST UNTIL THE VERY LAST MOMENT!" This pumped everyone up. Making them all stand up and raise their left fist to the air as they responded.

"YEAHHHH!"