Over the next while, the three searched the Eternal City for traces left by this slave legion.
Besides slave soldiers who were not quite dead, they also found some items in the other buildings.
For example, the back of a tower shield bearing a reverse eagle crest had vertical lines carved into it, as though someone had been keeping a kill count.
"They must be the number of giant ants they killed," Godrick said, holding up the shield.
"True, there aren't that many enemies here." Zhao Si examined the nearby corpses, which bore signs of gnawing. "They could also be their own people they killed."
"How so?" Godrick asked, heedless of the danger.
Helena answered him. "What else would people do when they were driven into a corner and ran out of ammunition and food?"
"You can't answer a question with another question," Godrick said.
"When people run out of ammunition and food, they stop being human. They eat their companions' flesh," Zhao Si said, spelling out the cruel reality.
Godrick's face fell. "So..."
"So before deciding who got eaten, they would fight. Whoever lost would naturally quench their thirst and fill their bellies." Holding a severed arm, Zhao Si waved it at Godrick.
Godrick immediately felt his stomach churn, waves of nausea rising into his throat.
Finally unable to bear it, he braced himself against a wall and began dry heaving.
"Want to take a break?" Zhao Si asked considerately.
Godrick covered his mouth and nodded frantically.
The three left the building. It looked like a shop, with two floors, but there was no longer any way to tell what it had sold.
They eventually rested on a broad street, spreading their bedrolls on the ground so they could lie down and stretch their limbs properly.
Thanks to the