Way of the Knights

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*Roooooaaaaarrr!!!!*

"Argh! No!! Help!!"

"Help me!!"

"No! I don't want to die!! Please spare me!!" 

"Stranger!! I surrender!! Please let me leave!! I promise I will never return again!!"

"Me too!! Argh!!"

"No!! Boss, help us!!"

"Damn!! Get this foul beast away from me!!" 

There was total mayhem within the platoon. 

Rocky who's busy dodging attacks, can't help but show a bitter expression on his face. He gritted his teeth as he held on to his left arm....or whatever's left of it at least. His face is covered in blood, there are numerous wounds on his body. 

Wherever he went, he can see the panicked faces of his men. Majority of them are severely injured, some were missing limbs, others turned into shredded corpses floating around. 

His platoon...whatever's left of it, was done for. Judging by their current situation, there's no telling if their corpses will even make out of this place. 

Bitterness rose from the depths of his heart, it only got stronger when he saw the fate of his close friends, all of them were dead, not even an intact corpse was left of them. Hank's lower half was missing. Adie's head was swimming in space and Gil...he can't even see him anywhere anymore. The last time he checked, only a finger of his managed to escape. 

Who would've known that their endings would be this cruel? It was a mistake coming here from the very beginning. Now that he thought of it, he felt endless regrets plaguing him. 

There's an unofficial rule within the Outsiders...

'Never mess with the Insiders'. It's simple really. Not that hard to remember nor that east to forget. Of course, there are some caveats attached to this rule such as Outsiders are allowed to retaliate when they are attacked and they are entitled to resources from the borders of the Divine Realm all the way to depths of the Outer Worlds. 

They can negotiate with the Insiders, too. Keep things civilized to maintain the diplomatic relationship between camps since despite their circumstances, the camps are still connected to each other. 

Now did Rocky, with all of his charismatic leadership and intelligence considered this rule? The answer is simple...never. 

To Rocky, there are no Outsiders or Insiders. There's just Scavengers. Everyone does this for their own survival. It's either to eat or be eaten. This has always been the rule he followed and it's because of this, Rocky pushed himself to become stronger in order to carve out a piece of the world for himself. 

He succeeded...kind of. But he never realized that there is a possibility that his refusal to acknowledge the established norm of the world around him, will come back and bite him in the ass.

So much for his bravado and his fearsomeness. Didn't he acted all high and mighty when he told his men to get ready for harvest? Now look at him. Trying to escape with his tail between his legs, losing an arm in the process. He was reduced into this wretched state because of his arrogance...and the most painful thing about this?

All of this...literally...all of it. Could've been avoided if he reeled in his greed even just a tiny bit. 

Alas...regret doesn't come first...it always comes last.

"STRANGER!!!" Rocky screamed on top of his lungs, "I KNOW YOUR WATCHING!! We admit defeat!! We lost!! Leave my men a way out!!! They have families."

"Oh so now, you're playing the family card." The strangers voice fell into their ears, his tone was rich with sarcasm. "Well, guess what Outsiders, I have one too. Surprise!? But be honest now...did any of considered that upon intruding this place? You know of my presence. You know what I'm here for. It's not like I'm purposefully fighting with resources against you guys, I'm here under official orders. Did stop you though?"

"..."

"Right!? A fat 'No!' on that one." The stranger continued. "You were focused on profit and literally nothing else. You never intended to spare me in the first place. Hell I'd say that you guys will hunt me down if you could since you wanted to steal my things as well."

"It was you people who didn't follow the rules." The strange continued speaking. "And if you're thinking about appealing to my 'Human' side, well...I've given you a way out earlier, remember that?"

"..."

"Yeah...another fat 'No!' What a surprise!" The strangers tone was filled with cold sarcasm. "And here I thought were a smart one too. Heck I even gave you a hint that pushing it will not bode well for any of you. But did you listen? My, no! Right?"

"In the Divine Realm, we have a popular saying. It goes like; 'One might survive a random act of God, but one can never escape a disaster they courted for themselves.' "

"You chose this ending, Outsider." The stranger's voice turned frigid and uncaring. As if he was talking to a pest. "Straighten your spine and die with dignity. Hope that in your next life, if you're lucky to even have one, you'll be born surrounded with wiser people."

That's the last thing the Outsiders heard from the stranger before the humongous Space Beast roared at them and finished them one by one. 

Rocky stood within the vacuum of space with a broken spirit and forlorn aura. He had a self-deprecating smile as thought of one thing and one thing only...

'I lost.' 

He realized how stupid it is to beg the stranger for forgiveness or mercy. If their positions were switched, would he show mercy? Yeah, a big fat 'No' is the answer to that. 

The stranger is not one the wrong here. All he did was to return the animosity they showed to him. He just responded to them. It was indeed Rocky himself who courted this disaster for him and his team. They looked down on the stranger and planned to get rid of him. It was them who came with bad intentions. 

Their own hubris was the cause of their fall. 

Rocky released everything at the last second. He felt free. He no longer had any inhibitions. He calmly accepted his death. He straightened his back and stared at the jaws of death closed-in on him he didn't fight against it anymore. He just accepted it, released everything that's binding him in this life and died with his dignity intact.

---

"Okay...good job little guy." Raven smiled and patted the small creature which appeared to a fox with a lion's mane in front of him. "You must have exhausted most of your energy during that little game of tag. Go on that asteroid and rest. I'll wake you up when there's another batch of playmates for you okay?" 

The creature nodded and skipped away, disappearing to the nearest asteroid and falling into slumber. With how adorable that creature looks like, none would've dared to imagine that it can expand up to 50 times it's size and become a ferocious Space Beast that devours everything it encounters.

Raven encountered this Space Beast nearby as he was setting up traps for the Outsiders. It was injured, covered in wounds and famished. It initially bared it's teeth against him but Raven knew how to handle Space Beast so he managed to stay alive. 

He healed it and gave it shelter, he also got rid of the tracking devices attached to its body which earned it's gratitude. In exchange for his act of kindness, the Space Beast returned the favor by acting as a pseudo-guardian of this place. He will protect the Young Star until it matures and will work with Raven to get rid of the Scavengers. 

Coincidentally, Outsiders are also delicacies for Space Beasts so it's a win-win trade for the both of them. 

'Well, I doubt they asked for reinforcements.' Raven muttered to himself as he rested inside his tent. 'They were pretty full of themselves so the thought of sharing profits in exchange for righter security never came to them.'

'They died inside the isolated area as well.' Raven added, 'I made sure that none of their attempts to as for help, escaped the area. All of their equipment were destroyed. The space beast devoured them cleanly, not even leaving a single bone behind when it's done with them.'

'The chances of another group of Outsiders arriving is pretty low. Emphasis on 'low', no zero, just 'low'.'

'Meh. I'm prepared for it anyway.' He snorted, 'I've done sufficient preparations and I've got myself a furry bodyguard. I can afford to relax for a bit.'

'Another group of Outsiders might come but since there are no traces of battle outside of the isolated space. They won't get anything. In fact, they might even think that Rocky's group is still alive since they won't saw the star anywhere.'

'Well, others knowing that they died is also highly plausible. Life Jades are a thing after. That being said, their mysterious ending should act as an intimidation for other Outsiders.'

'In short, I should expect some peace for quite sometime. I'll use that to focus on my cultivation while monitoring the situation of the star as well.'

After coming to this conclusion, Raven closed his eyes to sleep and get some much needed rest.

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