A Familiar Void

Chapter 44

The man swung his sword, as he was supposed to. The sword hit a metal object, his opponent having blocked it, as they were supposed to.

Following with that motion, he tried to swing in a different direction. Moving it so fast caused pain to rise up his shoulder, but that didn't matter as he should attack the Insect in front of him.

Insect… Why was he fighting an Insect again?

"For the Glory of Reconquista."

That was right, it was for the glory of his home country. And, killing and fighting these Insects meant bringing that glory home.

He swung again, but missed, the dark made it hard to see.

That was right he was in a cave, fighting them in their home turf.

Hallownest, he recalled how many of the elders and nobles would complain about it. How it undermined Albion as the premier source of Wind Stone.

While their country had an abundance, so much so that it could fly, it paled in comparison when the Insects could dig deeper and last longer within the caves that held them underground. Their mining golems only made it worse for them.

The ones older than he was hated them, the people that ran his country hated them, and as such he hated them as well.

He was eager to fight back.

Until…

Albion…

The grip on his sword faltered as the memory came back, a pause in his movements. The Insect in front of him took advantage, and sliced him in the stomach.

The pain hurt, but it didn't affect him. The force of the attack however, did.

He was pushed back, and suddenly the ground under him vanished. The rocks that he fell onto gave no comfort, their jagged sides piercing his skin and breaking what bones that they could reach.

The Insect gave chase, leaping from its high point with the lance it had been using.

The man saw the other Insect, body as tall as a room with a blade to match. Swinging it around and killing swaths of his countrymen without a single pause. The fear, the fear returned and made hi-

"For the Glory of Reconquista."

Despite the pain, he moved.

That was right, for the glory of Reconquista. He remembered the words of Cromwell when he had approached him and the others that didn't want to fight. He had said those words, and until today he and the others were inspired them.

He swung his sword once more, it missed due to the arm holding it having broken at the wrist. The pain-

"For the Glory of Reconquista."

-Didn't bother them, even when his sword clattered to the darkness of the caves around him. He lunged forward towards the Insect with his other hand, swung a fist at what he thought was its face.

The pain-

"For the Glory."

-Kept him moving, and he struck again and again. Until it grabbed it with its claws. He lost all feeling in his arm, when the Insect tore it off.