I became a legion lich

Chapter 36: Chapter 3

The monster’s will was non-existent, but there was a foreign will that made Athos’s mind reel and his body tremble. The hive hawk didn’t seem to have a will of its own, or any instinct for self-preservation. He didn’t have a mind of his own, he was just controlled by another being.

Something no one knew about hive hawks is that the female does not have the natural ability to mentally control the males. The species has a two-way psychic connection to each other, the problem is that the females use the link to implant thoughts of servitude in the hatchlings while they are still in the eggs, destroying their minds before they fully form.

Their bodies were nothing but an empty shell, as the female gave orders and moved them around like puppets.

Athos felt sick at the voice in his head and began to vomit. Although the hawk was much weaker than he was, the queen’s remaining will was much more powerful than his, balancing the game. Despite magical superiority, Athos found himself slowly at a disadvantage and hated it. His mind began to wander as he searched for anything that might help him.

But the only thing he found was a dormant hatred, slowly staining all his thoughts. The hate burned in his mind whenever he got distracted. The hate that influenced every decision he made. It was hatred that gave Athos strength when he needed it.

Khali was only half right about Athos’ mindset. It is true that Athos cared for him, but he did not feel indifferent about the rest of the world. No, he hated everything and everyone. His mind had collapsed these past two years. Athos had constant nightmares and had been driven to the brink of suicide countless times, but the hatred motivated him to continue.

But it made him wonder: What next? What would he do after completing his revenge?

.....

He felt only an emptiness where his heart was at the thought of it. He was tormented by this for a long time, until he came to a simple conclusion: If I never stop hating, I will never feel empty.

It was the moment when he changed his life goal. He wouldn’t stop at the baron and the priest. He intended to keep killing, just so he wouldn’t feel empty. It was the moment when Athos Savage died and something took his place.

Athos felt a blow to his head and realized that he had lost his balance and had fallen to the ground. ‘How could I be so blind? If my willpower isn’t enough, just use the force of hate!’ Athos began to laugh maniacally, while daydreaming about how to torture his enemies.

He imagined himself in the middle of the town square, with the city on fire and corpses piling up around him. In front of him were the disfigured bodies of the priest and the baron as he held both their severed heads.

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Athos’ laughter grew louder, while the queen’s remaining will was flooded with bloodthirsty madness, thanks to the bond between the two.

KILL! DESTROY! BURN!

Athos took the advantage, using all his strength to attack the queen’s residual will, extinguishing it. The hive hawk froze suddenly, before falling to the ground unconscious. His mind was already destroyed a long time ago and he offered no resistance to Athos’ will. Its core began to disintegrate, and its life force flowed through the link, until it was absorbed and merged with his own. The hawk’s body crumbled to dust and was blown away by the wind, scattering through the forest.

The forest was silent, the laughter stopped echoing, while the hatred again fell asleep in his mind.

And Khali watched it all in embarrassment, watching Athos begin to vomit, fall to the ground, and then get up with an evil laugh. “Is this boy schizophrenic by any chance?”

Athos ignored him, focusing instead on his own core, but specifically, on the foreign life force he felt. He could feel the familiar, but there was no noticeable change in his body.

“Try to summon it, Athos. Focus on the familiar’s life force and try to separate it from your own.” Khali instructed and Athos obeyed.

A beam of red light shot out of its body and took the form of the hive’s hawk. It flew over Athos a few times, before landing on its shoulder. The feeling of having a familiar was strange, he had no memories and no will of his own, but he could still reason and understand simple orders.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a hive hawk as a familiar, what does he do? Is he still able to use magic?” Khali asked curiously.

‘Show me what you can do.’ Athos sent a mental order to the familiar. The familiar obeyed and Athos felt it draining mana from its core. It was an unpleasant sensation, but he didn’t bother, realizing that he could cut off his mana flow at any moment.

His point of view changed and he saw through the familiar’s eyes. He ordered the familiar to fly and was able to see the entire forest from above. “I can see through the hawk’s eyes. He seems to have a sensory sharing ability.”

“That’s a good skill, but it’s weird that he can’t use magic. The hawk’s memories disappeared after he became a familiar, so he may have forgotten how to use it. Use a simple wind spell and order him to copy it.” Khali said, instructing Athos.

Athos conjured a small bolt of lightning in his palm and asked mentally. ‘Can you use magic?’

The familiar did not copy the spell, but Athos sensed from the link between them that he was trying to do something. Athos couldn’t resist and suddenly, the spell on his hand disappeared and reappeared on his wings.

“Which?” Khali asked in disbelief. He saw with the mana vision the spell was absorbed by Athos before flowing into the familiar. “Do it again!”

Athos used a fireball spell this time and the familiar once again absorbed the spell before shooting the fireball skyward.

“Can he absorb magic?” Athos asked, excited by the myriad possibilities.

“No, his ability is to transmit his spells. You can cast your spells from a safe place and your familiar can shoot for you. That would explain why all hawks can cast spells. The female would cast her spells safely and the males only would transmit.” Khali was shocked and jealous by the discovery.

‘Reminder to myself: get a Hawk hive as a familiar once you reach the fourth layer’ Khali thought.

‘As of today, your name is Falco. It is a pleasure to work with you. Athos mentally spoke to the familiar, stroking its head.

“I really want to brag, but I’m mentally exhausted so I’m going to go back to the hideout, clean myself, and sleep.” Athos said yawning.

“Haa, let’s go.” Khali sighed, tired of being surprised.

******

3 years later.

Time passed quickly after that. During this time, the Yellow Dagger Gang destroyed and assimilated the Rotten Finger Gang, taking control of half of the city. The red gold gang bowed their heads to the baron, leveling the playing field. They received unofficial permission from the baron to smuggle and the guards began to ignore their actions as long as they didn’t exaggerate and the deal between them didn’t go public.

Strange murders began to occur throughout the city. People first suspected that the gangs were responsible for this, but casualties began to occur in both groups, confusing investigators.

The baron received a penalty from the country because of the state of the city and his noble title was demoted to baronet. Its territory was reduced and its only current territory was the city of Faltra.

The wizard Ricley rejoiced at the news. The taxes the baron received declined and he was no longer able to maintain the protection contract with the order of magic without collapsing the city for good and he would soon be freed from his torment.

The darkness on Athos threatened to awaken countless times, to the point that Khali made Athos use the ring constantly, with the excuse that it was to help control his murderous urges. Athos knew he was useless at that point, but he used it anyway to please Khali.

But none of that mattered to Athos and Khali, who were wearing the best clothes they had. Khali had paused training since the day before, to ensure that Athos was at his peak for today.