Content Warning: This chapter contains explicit sexual content and violence.
☽⟲✧⸸✧⟲☾☽⟲✧⸸✧⟲☾☽⟲✧⸸✧⟲☾
Wrath Domain, Beyond the Wall, October 7, 2025
The Bloodwall army had numerous scattered secret camps beyond the wall.
They were usually occupied when they needed a temporary rest from the constant battles without having to go back to the Ashbastion.
Most of the camps were often caught by the Narkals and burned and destroyed, sometimes even occupied.
But one such camp had luckily survived the monsters' attention for long enough to have a proper structure and even some entertainment establishments where soldiers could let go and ease the pressure of the battlefield.
The camp was never truly deserted since most of the scattered army converged there at intervals. Things got to the point that even some daring civilians dared to venture there to do business with the soldiers when they heard of this place, ignoring the dangers associated with it.
In one such establishment, a group of soldiers gathered around two other soldiers who were in the middle of a fight.
The ring of soldiers tightened, boots scuffing against the dirt as two men circled inside. One lunged, fists snapping out with power, each swing carrying a wave of frustration behind it. The other slipped aside with casual ease, weaving just out of reach, shoulders loose as if this was a warm-up and not a fight.
Thud—whiff—thud!
Each miss only made the attacker's face redder, sweat beading as his punches carved through air. The dodger, calm as stone, barely lifted his hands.
Then—crack!
The soldier who had been constantly dodging strikes suddenly lifted his fist and struck once.
A clean fist landed across a jaw, snapping the man's head to the side. He staggered back, eyes wide, before dropping flat into the dirt.
The crowd exploded.
"Ohhh! Way to go, new guy!"
"Ha! Magnus didn't even lay a finger on him!"
"Oi, Magnus! Seven years in the Bloodwall and you drop like a fresh recruit!"
"That's eleven straight! Not a scratch on him!"
"Guy's built different, I swear."
Laughter and whistles tore through the ring as Ashen threw up a lazy salute, smirking at the noise. Magnus groaned in the dirt, rubbing his jaw, but even he managed a weak chuckle at the upset.
"Alright, folks, let's stop here for today. It's my nap time."
He leisurely waved his hand as he went through the crowd.
"Oh yeah, I still can't believe that someone that fierce is actually from the Sloth pathway..." a man remarked idly.
"True. But with the amount of time he sleeps each day, there's no other explanation... that shuteye bastard, haha," the man beside him added.
Ashen overheard them, but he didn't stop his steps as he exited the arena and started roaming around idly in a rare moment of stillness.
Nowadays, if he wasn't on the battlefield, he would always be in his dreamscape. But from an outside perspective, he looked like a guy who was always asleep, only to wake up when it was time to kill monsters and then go back to sleep right after.
The bored soldiers and the friends he made during his stay in the army didn't waste time giving him all sorts of nicknames when they picked up on his habit.
War Napper… Dozing Wolf… Some nasty ones like Corpse-in-Waiting… or simply and more commonly, Lazy Bastard.
His favorite one stayed the Seer, though. It had that mystic flair that stirred at the boyish part of his soul.
As he quickly learned that feeling anything positive in this hellhole could go a long way to keep his sanity intact, he was willing to indulge in his thoughts every now and then, even if it sounded childish.
Of course, he wasn't the only one with a sanity to worry about, but indulging for others meant something else entirely—something far less innocent than his boyish fantasies.
"SLURRRP SHLURRRP GACK! HKHKHK!"
And as if his thoughts willed it into existence, a perfect example of a soldier "indulging" appeared before him.
A sideways glance at the alley on the side showed three figures.
A woman kneeled between the two men, her posture just right to position her head between their crotch areas.
Thwack... shuffle... gasp...
"SHLURRRP! SHLURRRP!"
And if it wasn't clear what she was doing from her position alone, then the sound of her eager sucking, the bobbing of her head on the groin of one, and the frantic hand movements on the shaft of the other surely gave it away.
They shoved and pressed on every part of her body, but she bent and tilted along with a strange but willing precision.
Slap... thud... grunt...
The men's rough voices barked over the sounds. "Faster! Keep moving!"
"SHLIP— GLK! HK-KHK! COF!"
"Don't stop now... yes... just like that... don't even think of slowing!"
"FWUHP— G-GLK! HKK!"
She responded with short, hurried nods, the faintest breath escaping her lips, matching the pace demanded.
Smack... thud... thwack...
Her movements flowed with the chaos as she kept switching between the two men.
Ashen didn't linger, his steps barely slowing. Things like this were commonplace in the camp, and he wasn't about to interfere since he knew the woman herself was willing.
Women like her often came to this camp while fully knowing what to expect.
To them, it was all business. They were starved for AP, and being a soldier was actually a well-paying profession.
But with every soldier fighting for their lives most of the year, they didn't even get to spend their AP, so they happily indulged whenever they found a chance.
This created a kind of symbiotic relationship between soldiers and prostitutes.
But not every soldier could be generous, and not every man was honorable.
And that woman was unlucky enough to encounter such men.
SLAP.
"Kyaa!!"
Thud.
He halted at the cry and slowly retraced his steps.
Walking into the alley, he was met with the two men's satisfied smirks as one held the woman by the hair while the other kept tapping her already reddened cheek.
"A whore like you dare to ask for points?!"
"What a cheeky bitch. We soldiers are already protecting you by putting our lives on the line every day, and you still dare ask for payment just for a blowjob?"
Ashen's gaze drifted downward to the kneeling woman.
Torchlight caught the glint of sweat on her skin, the tense lines of her muscles, the curves of her form. She didn't resist; each shove, each sharp bark seemed to just make the tears down her cheeks fall harder.
Not willing to watch the farce any longer, he took a loud step, making his presence known.
"Is this how you treat a lady after finishing with her?"
The three froze for a moment before turning their heads to him.
"...And who are you? Some white knight rushing to the rescue? Why don't you mind your own business?" The man who had been slapping her cheeks snapped a beat later.
"Heh... if it allows me to deal with scum like you, then... Mr. White Knight, at your service." He did a theatrical bow.
But he didn't stall much with the theatrics, promptly straightening up, preparing to dish out some well-deserved punches to these lowlifes.
"C'mon, man, are you really going to take this bitch's side?"
The same man softened his tone somewhat as he saw Ashen going for a fight.
"You don't even know the full story. This slut is actually trying to scam us... Who'd pay that much for a whore, right?"
The man kept trying to convince Ashen, not noticing his partner hurriedly letting go of the woman's hair and slowly backing off, his expression getting stiffer by the second.
Ashen decided to humor the bastard before beating him up as he heard the excuses. "Before even arguing about payment, your sad excuse of a man needs to get acquainted with basic human qualities first..."
"You bastard!" The man finally lost it and attacked first.
Ashen easily dodged the wide swing, caught the hand before it retracted, and slammed him to the ground with a shoulder throw.
Thud.
"The first quality," he lifted his boot and slammed hard on his back, "is when someone does you a favor..."
THUD!
"You thank them."
"Arg!"
"...And this lady here had just relieved your itch, all while doing it in such a dirty place, so diligently..."
THUMP!
"Khhhk!"
"...So devotedly."
STOMP!
"Ghhkkk—!"
"...So passionately."
BAM!
"Nnghhh!"
"...Isn't that enough favor for a scummy boy like you?"
Each stomp, despite being seemingly at random, actually delivered much more pain than anticipated… As if he knew where it would hurt the most.
"The second quality."
Seemingly having had enough of stomping him, he lifted him up by the collar.
SLAP!
"A man shouldn't hit women."
SLAP! SLAP!
"Especially not after she sucked your little prick."
SLAP!
"Oooofff!"
The man was so out of it by now that he was barely listening, so Ashen refrained from going any further; otherwise, he would probably get into trouble for assaulting a "comrade."
A little bit of roughing up could pass, but never in case of permanent damage.
As for the man's partner, he just stood there frozen, not daring to make a peep.
Ashen tightened the fist that held onto his collar and lifted him until his feet left the ground before slamming him against the wall, held his chin with the other hand, and started forcefully turning his face left and right, as if admiring his work.
He then tilted his head. "Hey, are you listening to me? I'm bestowing upon you life lessons that your father forgot to impart. You can't ignore me and just nap there, yeah?"
Tap. Tap.
"Khhhk!"
"Is that a yes? I'll take it as a yes, anyway." He asked and answered in a single beat, before putting on a mock serious face.
"Ehm, the last quality that makes a man, and arguably the most important if you ask my opinion, of course, is to respect women!"
He then threw him at the woman's feet, making him fall face-first.
"Hik!"
"Ah, don't worry, my lady. This is part of the lesson." Ashen followed behind, reassuring the woman.
"So where was I? Ah, yes, respect. Listen here, you retard: If a woman kneels and gives you head, it's not a sign for you to start disrespecting her, but actually the complete opposite. That's the cue for you to show respect."
"What you did was an absolute disgrace as a man. So… how about salvaging whatever dignity you have left?"
He squatted near his face and lifted it by the hair. "C'mon, I just taught you how..."
The man barely managed to open his swollen eyes to look at the nervous woman.
"Thhh...hank yuhh..."
"...Thank you… for what?"
"Thhank yuhh f'r reliev'n mehh..."
"Louder."
"Thhh...ank yhh... fuhh... r'liev... mhh..."
"Thhh...hhhnk... yhh... fuhh... r'leev'n... meh..."
"...And?"
"Shhrry... s'rryy..."
"Thhhank... yhh... I'm... shhhrryy..."
"..."
"...It wasn't that hard now, was it? Good boy. I hope you become a man someday."
Ashen got up and dusted off his hands, as if he had just done a job well done.
He then glanced at the other guy.
Ashen didn't even say anything before he jumped up and kneeled right beside his passed-out partner.
"THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING ME THAT PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCE."
He then hurriedly took out his slimslate and presented it. The woman was now bewildered, on top of being nervous, as she confusedly accepted the points.
The man bowed, even in his kneeling position, and shouted once more. "I'M SORRY FOR NOT SHOWING PROPER RESPECT, MY LADY. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"
"...O-okay."
He turned and glanced at Ashen upon the woman's soft approval.
"Acceptable. You are smarter than your friend here." Ashen gave an approving nod.
"Thank you, Sir Dozing Wolf!"
"Oh, you know me?" Ashen tilted his head in wonder.
"Yes, sir! I'm a fan."
"Hah, no wonder, but no autograph for you."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Sir Dozing Wolf!"
"Also, change that nickname. I don't like it."
"Yes, sir Dormant Devil!"
"Try again."
"Sir Sleeping Blade...?"
"Not that."
"Mr. Seer?"
"Uhm, yeah. You can go now and take the garbage along."
"Yes, Mr. Seer! Thank you, Mr. Seer!"
With that, he took his half-dead partner and scurried off as if he were running from the devil himself.
Only Ashen and the woman stayed alone in the dirty alleyway.
He looked at her before getting closer and casting a simple clean spell, removing the dirt, spit, and other fluids that dirtied her.
The clean spell was one of the few useful spells that anyone could learn with a bit of persistence. Seraphine tried teaching it to him in the tutorial phase, but he wasn't interested back then.
But now with the constant gore and blood clinging to him, it became a necessity, so he used the dreamscape to recreate the lessons and learned.
Now, with a single cast, the woman was back to being clean, not unlike just taking a bath.
"The bad guys are gone, my lady. I apologize on behalf of all men for their stupidity."
He approached and gave her a disarming smile.
"I hope you are not too hurt by what happened. Do you need a hand?"
"..."
She remained kneeling, chest heaving, hair damp and clinging, shadowed by the flickering torchlight, the alley silent except for faint, ragged breathing.
It was because while Ashen thought he was reasonable enough, and he may have been to some, but the moment one looked deep into his eyes and glimpsed the madness hiding within, they'd sooner be afraid than thankful.
It wasn't for nothing that two hardened soldiers folded so easily, no matter how much stronger he was, after all.