Ep 104. An Even Worse Monster. (2)
A newborn soul is a pure, shallow existence – for it possesses no experienemory to alter it.
But once born, the life one leads affects the soul in a myriad of ways: whether that be its depth, purity, color, shape, or something else altogether. A only known rule was that a good deed purifies the soul, while an evil deed taints it bck.
However, this was a rule that urposefully distorted to sway children in favorable ways. Good and evil were subjective matters to begin with; none could serve as an arbiter ht and wrong. In the passing millennia, a piece of the inal rule had been lost in time:
The standard of good and evil is the soul itself; the morals of their possessor.
It did not matter what a one would take. As long as they perceived it as virtuous, then it was so; if they perceived it sinful, then it was so.
Hehe purity of one’s soul was actually a meanirait. It was dictated not by an absolute standard, but simply by one’s beliefs.
However, this did not stop a certain few from judging another by the purity of their soul.
‘…Dark.’
In the assaint’s eyes, the dragonlord’s soul was a drum.
A darkness of immeasurable depth, bed beynition. He may as well have been staring into an abyss.
But even in that endless void, an undeniable light gleamed from its core. A pure, i light of a human soul, embrag the darkhat surrou.
And that very light – the light he believed to be the in of the woman standing before him – was beginning to flicker, as if it would disappear at any moment.
“…Curious.”
After discarding his broken on, the cloaked figure summoned yet another spear into his hand, pointing it towards his enemy ahead.
‘Uhey’ve reinated hundreds of times, a human soul could not possibly attain such depth. Their soul should undoubtedly belong to a demon…but what of that light? Man and demon, unified within a single body?...’
Discarding the array of disahoughts, the cloaked figure thrust his spear forward several times to pierce his oppo.
Unfortunately, the on was no longer of any threat to the dragon before him; the metal harmlessly cshed against her scales, and soon, shattered apart from the impact. He may as well have been thrusting at an iron wall.
After his spear was destroyed yet again, the cloaked figure retreated back a few steps.
At first gnce, he’d thought the individual to be the deity of stars. The depth of their internal misgivings and grievances, and their overall presence, had been simir to a staggering degree.
However, the individual before him couldn’t possibly have been the deity he thought she was. She looked nothing alike, acted nothing alike; and, most importantly, Aymeia’s soul was nowhere near as whole and stable as the dragonlord’s.
‘It’s as if all of her faults were simply removed. If anything…’
“…Perhaps you’re an even worse monster.”
“…”
A quiet sigh escaped the dragonlord’s lips. Ever siheir meeting, her assaint had muttered nothing but nonsense.
Kig herself off the ground, Serenis raked her cws at her oppo. Despite the cloaked figure hurriedly bag off another few steps, the fabric hiding his figure were caught iack, tearing off to reveal the figure beh.
And once she could see her assaint’s face, Serenis couldn’t hide her astonishment.
“…? How…”
“…”
Hiding underh the bck cloak was not a living body, but a wooden mass carved to resemble such. Although hiddeh yers of fabrid bahe insides were not a person, but a well-sculpted wooden mannequin.
Though, that doll was moving like a person, and somehow even speaking like one.
“…I hadn’t quite inteo show this far…”
When the doll extes hand, another on was summoned into its grip. The summoned scythe was then sshed across the front, skidding past the unscaled portion of Serenis’ face.
Soon, the two stepped back from each other to stand at a distance.
“Even you should’ve realized – that you’ve nothing to gain from this battle.”
“…”
Up until just now, Serenis had been fairly certain: that the individual standing before her was yet another divinity, wielding powers pertaining to the soul. After all, reading another’s soul through mere sight was one of the First’s divihorities.
But the usage of ons, puppets, and hand-to-hand bat – none of those were how the First had handled flict. Given the sheer amount of divinity her parental figure had held, it was difficult to imagine him engaging in bat through a remote decoy trolling dozens of physical ons.
And soon enough, the wooden doll cut off the dragonlord’s train of thought.
“You seem fused, demon.”
“…No thanks to your ridiculous visage.”
“Hmph.”
When the doll discarded his scythe, the on transformed into a mass of light, disappearing thereafter.
“A demon like you would never uand. The times we endured under your kind’s pitiful rule – the heights we climbed to surpass it.”
“…And still, your only notable aplishment was to defile our brethren’s remains and wield them as your ons.”
“Mock all you’d like – it does not ge that your kind are now lesser than our own. Soon, the final demonlord will die in my hands – and with her, the rest of your kind. This war only ends once every single one of you are extinguished from our world.”
Serenis frow the sudden threat, but instead of ret back, she remained silent. Strangely, despite their mention of a ‘lord,’ it didn’t seem like they were talking about her.
When no answer came back, the doll scoffed at the dragonlord.
“Resist if you wish. I will await your arrival at Telberk.”
The grey aura surrounding the wooden figure faded out. Soon, it powerlessly fell to the ground, ying there motionlessly.
Their st few words echoed in Serenis’ mind for several mihereafter.
‘…The final demonlord?’
Until Serenis’ reappearahe dragonkin had lost their notion of having a lord; the dragons whnized her as their lord were few and far between. It only made sehat her assaint wouldn’t reize her as a dragonlord.
‘But if that were the case, then whoever is this supposed demonlord?’
Despite sounding like a decration, her assaint may very well have been provoking Serenis to lure her into a trap. If one of the other lords had still been alive, Serenis should’ve been able to seheir presence upoar, however faint.
The dragonlord hovered one hand over her chest. A deep frown crossed her expression and she grasped at her heart, as if to make sure it was still there.
‘Unless…’
? ? ?
In a dark room lit only by a single dle, a maed upon the chamber’s stone floors quietly opened his eyes.
The Akeian emperor remained prostrating behind the figure. He dared not lift his forehead off the ground.
“My lord.”
“…Lavnore.”
After a curt aowledgement the emperor’s presence, he remained silent. The man instead rose to his feet, pig up the pitch-bck cloak beside him to cover his figure.
As silensued, it was Lavnore who broke it while the man donned his robe.
“I hope your meditation was satisfying.”
“I was merely inviting an iing guest.”
“…An iing guest? Who...”
“Is that any of your ?”
Whe with his lord’s cold stare, the Akeian emperor smashed his forehead once more unto the stone floor, coating it in bits of blood.
“Five me. I’ve overstepped my boundaries.”
“…”
The man callously turned away. He then headed towards the chamber’s o, creaking it open to reveal the snowy mountains outside.
Still fag the sery before him, the man spoke to the emperor behind him.
“If you’re here, I trust that preparations are plete.”
“They are. The empire is ready to depart immediately.”
“…We will wait another day at this keep.”
A single day. If his guest failed to arrive in that timeframe, then they were never worth being sidered a threat.
‘It matters not who es.’
The Reaper – the oy he’d feared of standing against – was no more. There was noo test him on this star, not even among the dragons or the remaining Twelve.
Unless some ridionstrosity had somehow returo life.
Praybird
