A Tale of a New Commander

Chapter 17: Return 0;

Are you up?

"Who?"

Irrelevant. Once more, are you up?

"Yeah... I'm dead aren't I? Can I finally be granted peace?"

Mistake... You have been connected with the 'Original'.

"Original? Man death is confusing me for a chicken recipe."

"And you are one..."

"Huh?"

In the blurry distance a man emerged, his black hair waved off as if being blown by the wind and even in the dark his black eyes shined like an intricate pearl. He had a smile on his face and on his hand was a sword similar to mine drawn from its sheath. The two of us were both trapped in a black void with the floor seeming like some sort of liquid murk, separated only by the distance between us.

"A chicken, you are scared, forever indecisive and scared to pick a side. You will never be the one to end the warring and so I wonder why she is putting so much effort into saving you."

Clenching my fist, I walked over to him. Despite being unarmed, my heart felt as if it had the courage to face him. My head was still, and my vision was focused on him. Seeing the change of pace, the man paused for a bit, letting out a chuckle with his head looking up above with a hand covering his eyes.

"And so you snap, a mere coward pushing himself to act is as good as a gerbil biting an elephant."

"If that gerbil can hit you once, then it will be enough... Everyone in that universe, that reality suffered for your actions! If only you were gone!"

"Then what? What if I were gone? Would the war change you naive rotund infant?! Unlike you I chose to fight for what I believed in!"

"Twisted morals, twisted gain?! What is peace under tyranny you insane bastard!"

We were only inches away, and so I swung my fist that connected with his jaw. He recoiled from the impact and he dropped his blade. I never intended to give him time to recover though so that punch was swiftly followed by another kick, forcing him to crash into the black void we were inside in. Yet, despite all that, he chuckled.

"Tyranny is just a means to an end. If the commander wins this war, then no more wars will ensue, neither ship nor human will be hurt. Everyone can hang up their swords under the banner of peace."

"At the cost of countless of lives, you moron!"

He retaliated with another hook, smashing his fist against my face. I staggered back, tasting a hint of iron in my mouth as my assailant smiled. The two of eyes locked eyes for a moment, unflinching, unending, both parties wanted to overcome the other, and without any words, I let out another roar as I ran to him, my fist raised in the air, ready to punch.

The man saw my action and decided to launch a straight, to which I swiftly stepped out of the way and with all my power, I slugged the man in the face, knocking out a tooth or two. He recoiled from the attack, skidding a few meters back as he stopped himself from moving past the void before spitting out some blood from his mouth.