The once serene environment was no more.
Half of Uladia was gone.
A trail of scorched earth could be seen expanding, going far into the horizon.
The blue beam of pure flames and destruction had turned everything in its path into cinders of the past.
And throughout it all…
*Ding*
[You have killed one -Chosen- Human]
[Devouring one life force]
[You are evolving]
[You have reached the dull-topaz core]
[Your physical strength has significantly increased]
[Your mana purity has significantly increased]
[Your affinity toward mana and light has increased]
[Your resistance to the light element has increased]
Silas breathed out before dropping to his knees.
The commander was no more.
The commander was dead.
So why did he still feel like sh*t?
Why did he feel like his heart was being thrown into a blender, and his stomach was eating itself?
‘Calm down, Silas… You did nothing wrong…’ Silas paused briefly before exploding into hideous laughter.
Who was he kidding?
This was all his fault.
He was the reason so many people died.
The blood was on his hands, not anyone else’s.
Looking behind him, Silas could still see the enormous golden shield protecting the town’s square and all the survivors of this attack.
Silas’ laughter halted after a while before finally standing up and walking toward the golden shield.
‘Silas Skylark, I presume?” A cold and calculating voice spoke.
‘No no no no no no… F*CK! F*ck F*ck F*ck! There had to be more. WHY THE F*CK DID THERE HAVE TO BE MORE!?’ Silas grit his teeth and got into a fighting stance.
His mana core was filled to the brink and shone with a murky yellowish light.
But he was too tired.
He couldn’t do it anymore. He was mentally exhausted.
This felt like the apocalypse all over again.
“Haha… Do not worry. I am not here to kill you.” The young man spoke, his voice not matching his face.
The young man had black hair and yellow eyes. He looked like he might be anywhere between 16 and 28, but due to the black and gold masquerade mask he was wearing, Silas couldn’t tell.
He wore a butler’s long coat with an elegant shirt and bowtie. He wore a pair of black gloves over both his hands…
Everything about his was elegant, and that made him instantly untrustworthy in Silas’ eyes.
“If I was, you would be dead.” The young man continued, making Silas frown.
He had to be lying, right?
‘I didn’t feel his presence at all. And…’ Silas’ expression went pale before he eventually relaxed his posture.
“Is that the chief?’ Silas looked at the decapitated head the man was holding with narrowed eyes.
“You killed our commander, so I killed yours. Fairtrade?” He asked while holding up the lifeless head.
‘And there isn’t a scratch on your body, but there were many on mine.’ Silas inwardly snorted.
“What about the girl?” Silas asked as his eyes shifted toward Nymira’s unconscious body.
“We both know you don’t care about her.”
“…”
“…”
Silence descended upon both of them.
“Am I wrong?” The man finally asked.
“No… You’re right. She could die for all I care.” Silas sighed while rubbing the bridge of his nose. If he was about to die, he wouldn’t suppress the voice in his head.
The man before him looked more than capable of killing Silas without a second thought. He was calculating, distant and cold. Yet he remained polite, as if he was trying to portray an image of kindness when it was quite clearly a show.
“Are you going to introduce yourself?”
“My apologies.” The man smiled before dropping both Nymira and the chief’s heads on the ground, cupping his hands before giving a small bow.
“I am the Architect of the Darkless organization. It is nice to finally meet you. I have heard quite a lot about you.” He smiled before straightening his back and taking a step forward.
“Let us skip to the chase.” His eyes gleamed before he spoke once more.
“I want to make a deal with you…” He smirked.
“What could you possibly want with-“
“I want you to become mine.”
“…”
“…”
‘Buy me dinner first. Geez.’ Silas rolled his eyes.
“You killed our commander. I watched you play him like a fiddle and exploit his rage. His ego was his downfall, and it was a matter of time before he died in such a fashion.
He was weak, and you found his weakness in less than a minute. You pummeled him into a rageful fit of anger. You planned it all out, every since second of it.”
“…”
“Even at the end… You knew he would destroy half of Uladia. I saw it in your eyes. Let me guess your excuse? Necessary sacrifice? For family? For your sister?”
“…” Silas clenched his teeth.
“You and I are the same. No one understands us because we are so much more than they can ever be!” The man began to walk toward Silas, yet despite wanting to move away or turn back and run, Silas didn’t move from where he stood.
“We are not monsters. You are not a monster! We are one and the same. We have been created from the same mold, so I understand you. Everything you think, and everything you say.” He smiled almost maniacally.
Yet, it wasn’t the smile that scared Silas, nor was it that the man before him could probably kill him instantly.
“We all have people we love, and we’ll protect them no matter what, even if it means our own damnation. We will kill millions to save a single person. Does that make us monsters? No… Of course not!” He shouted, making Silas look up at him with a complicated expression.
“But…” His smile fell into a pitying gaze as he spoke his next words carefully.
“When we become monsters to protect those we love…
Who’ll protect them from us?”
Silas’ eyes widened.
He was aware of what was happening. This was manipulation. The man was manipulating him, yet despite knowing that, he couldn’t find a rebuttal for the Architect’s statements.
“Tell me…” The Architect’s face fell into a deadpan expression while his voice became eerily cold.
“Do you want to protect your family?”
***
“Archie!!! HELP!” Death screamed as he bled out of several cuts, staining his clothes.
Lochras, Diveen, and even now Kiera were beginning to finally gain the upper hand against him. Diveen was too focused on ensuring the barrier was up, but after the explosion occured and everything died down, she allowed herself to lower the barrier and help the rest of them out.
Two mages and a knight capable of using the third stage of toki. Death was essentially a dead man walking.
*Swoosh*
An ethereal blade made of toki suddenly pierced through the air, appearing before Death.
Death saw his life flash before his eyes. The blade was mere inches from stabbing him through his chest, yet a moment before it could do so…
*Shatter*
The ethereal blade shattered into a million pieces and disappeared a second later.
“I apologise for disturbing your battle, but our job here is done.” The Architect’s voice echoed from all directions before his figure finally appeared behind Death’s, with both of his arms behind him and his long coat flapping in the wind.
“Archie!” Death shouted joyfully, yet he quickly received a chop to his neck that knocked him out immediately.
The rain had already dissipated, so the only thing left was wind.
“Where’s Silas!” Diveen immediately asked. She could tell that man in a masquerade mask was dangerous, possibly even more dangerous than the commander himself.
“Silas? You mean the boy?” The Architect asked, his expression still unreadable.
“I swear. If you’ve done anything to my son-” Lochras raised his blade and pointed it toward the Architect.
“Oh… Your son?” He smiled warmly.
“Your son is dead.”
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