Hero of Darkness

862 The Matrix

Romulus and Rathnaar revealed a different side of cause and effect to Kahn as they made him understand why such a heartless decision was taken for the sake of maintaining peace across the empire.

But Kahn wasn't still sold on this. To him, it appeared more like a hypocritical justification to maintain the rule.

It reflected on how to maintain the status quo and authority, the top echelons would even kill every witness and victim to cover up for their failures.

As for the innocent people who died… Their lives were just a commodity.

They were expendable and sacrificed not for the greater good but because the top powerhouses of the empire could afford to.

As Romulus said, they were just a 'number' and their lives didn't mean anything more than that to even the Empress of the Empire.

Why?

The answer was obvious.

Because they were weak.

Kahn was given another harsh reminder that the world he lived in was no better than Earth where weak people and masses governed by a government or an organization were just unimportant and insignificant.

In another scenario, if all those million citizens had high standing in the society, affected the economy of the empire, held authority in any way, belonged to some powerful clans and tribes or some of them were Saints… would they be treated as sacrificial lambs?

Conan would have been put on a trial and then executed in front of the whole empire for messing with the powerful people.

This was just a gradatim method of brainwashing one to get accustomed to such decisions in their journey of power and strength.

Kahn didn't know what would he do if one day, he was to be faced with a similar situation or had to make the same decision as the Empress.

Would he keep silence to avoid backlash or hold the culprit responsible?

Whichever decision it was… It was easier said than done when you judged it from a bystander's viewpoint.

TWO DAYS LATER.

The incident at the border of Aztlan was officially revealed to the populace of the Nadur Empire.

That a mythical rank monster species named Hodag suddenly emerged after decades of slumber and wantonly massacred an entire city nearby, causing the death of more than a million civilians including the soldiers and other forces stationed across the city.

And finally, it was a member of Hero's Party aka Conan Doykle who arrived at the scene as the first response and killed the monster by himself, avenging the innocent victims and putting their souls to rest.

An empire-wide funeral ceremony was held in remembrance of the victims and broadcasted using thousands of projection artifacts.

As a reward, Conan was then given the title of Sword of Retribution by the imperial authorities, commemorating him as a valiant warrior and engraving his name in the history of the empire.

Atreus and Dorian also saw this ceremony that was arranged for the public through their fortress.

No one knew that it was Atreus and Dorian who killed Hodag and avenged the dead.

Neither of them wanted the credit for it.

As soldiers… They followed the orders but what irked them the most was the glory, valor and fame received by Conan.

How ironic it was to see the main perpetrator of the great tragedy being rewarded as the warrior who brought justice to the deceased.

The Killer was hailed as the Savior.

"What a fucking joke." spoke Atreus with visible wrath on his face.

Sigh!

Dorian sighed but he too had no answer or any remark to make.

Something like this was his first time. Back when he experienced a similar situation, he too reacted the same way as Atreus but now, he had given up on resisting knowing that no matter what he did… he would never be able to make a difference.

The normal citizens of the Nadur Empire who held Conan in high regard after the ceremony didn't know how the Matrix was brainwashing them while hiding the brutal truth.

That all of their lives mattered little to the ones who were supposed to protect them.

That every single one of them was just a collateral chess piece that can be discarded for the so-called 'Peace' as long as it fit the narrative of the system controlling their lives.

"To think something like this has been happening ever since Heroes were summoned to kill the Demon God…" spoke Dorian with an incredulous voice.

"You're wrong. Demon God or not… People have always been this way.

Both Evil and Good have always been the different sides of the same coin.

What is Evil in your perspective is Good in the eyes of those who are from the opposite side.

But it doesn't change the fact that both options are fundamentally similar." spoke Atreus in a gloomy tone.

"How?" asked Dorian as he gazed at the grand expanse of Aurelius city from the tall walls of their fortress.

"Whether you kill someone in the name of Greed or Revenge, both sides have one thing in common." responded Atreus as he folded his arms.

A chilling gust of wind passed by both the wolfkins and the brawler saint replied with a stern countenance.

"Self-preservation."

He just didn't stop there and explained.

"You can justify a deplorable action such as massacring innocents for the sake of survival or to maintain peace based on the story you tell yourself inside your mind.

On the other side, your target or rival will assume that you did it because you coveted what they had or because you were simply a chaotic person who sought after war and bloodshed." he replied.

"People with power obey neither policy nor principles.

No one is different. No one is… Neutral." spoke Atreus in a serious tone.

"Then tell me, shadow disciple… What choice would you have made in such circumstances?

Would you own up your failures or you'll bury the incident for the sake of peace like our Empress did?" questioned Dorian as he wanted to see the blue wolfkin's honest take.

"I… Do not know. My heart says the first choice while my brain says the second one.

But in the end… We do it based on self-preservation and convenience. Whether it's you or me, there's a harsh truth of reality.

When you're forced to make a decision that goes against your ideals but will protect you and everything you have amassed in your life…" stated Atreus as he gave an honest opinion about people from his personal experience.

"Everyone in the world is a Hypocrite."