With every step Kaiza took, the gra.s.s around her turned black and died. Ash settled beneath her feet, like rose petals being thrown in her path. She had an imperious presence and a beauty that captivated even the hearts of monsters.As she got closer, it became apparent that her black dress made of ash was not so much something she wore, but something that was a part of her.
Everyone was frozen stiff by the other element of Kaiza"s presence. She was terrifying. Despite her beauty, in her shadow lurked an unfathomable power. Even though Kaiza looked like she was in her early twenties, or even her late teens, she still gave off a refined air of ancientness.
Her smile never faltered as she approached casually. Her irises were a mix of violet and blue; a sea of color surrounding the cat-like pupil. No one in that place had ever seen someone so beautiful, except for maybe Somnus. Somnus himself had an ideal form, but his mannerisms and constantly neutral, if not disdainful, expression ruined any chance at appearing appealing, even though he held that air of a cool beauty. People were too afraid of Somnus to consider him in any light other than threatening.
Kaiza placed her hand on Somnus"s shoulder and looked up to his eyes; she greeted him like a long-lost friend, yet with the gentleness of a lover.
"I have finally found you…" she whispered and her voice was anything but human. The clarity of her tone was as clear as a bell, yet the overtones were like that of crystal chimes singing in the wind. She cradled Somnus"s cheek and whispered, "Come with me, my love."
Where Kaiza had touched him, Somnus"s skin turned black and his flesh seemed to crack, sending sharp, black lines crawling across his skin like a web.
Somnus removed Kaiza"s hand from his face and coldly said, "Request denied."
In the background, Emily swallowed and sweat poured over her brow. Her eyes were firmly set on Kaiza. None of them bought the whole "my love" part of that conversation. To them, Kaiza was a monster.
"My lord… pl—" Arcadia began to speak with a low whisper.
"Silence!" Kaiza glared at Arcadia, the action itself causing Arcadia to fall to her knees as if she had been struck.
Then, Kaiza"s expression softened and she longingly looked up to Somnus, "We are all waiting for you, my dearest. You belong with us… not them." Kaiza tilted her head slightly in the direction of the two human girls.
"Define allegiance," Somnus said, narrowing his eyes.
As if sensing the impending catastrophe, Arcadia and Emily began back-tracking towards the convoy of monsters. The other human adventurers also started backing away.
Kaiza chuckled—it was a beautiful, melodic sound. "I belong to you, can"t you tell?" she asked, taking Somnus"s hand in her own and pressing it against the center of her chest.
Her skin was hot to the touch, but it did not burn—it was soothing. Even so, Somnus"s hand turned black at the touch, flakes of his skin falling off like dried paint.
"Define allegiance. Comply," Somnus said, severity of command pouring into his tone.
Kaiza blinked at Somnus"s reply. A glimmer of confusion shone in Kaiza"s eyes. Confusion and hurt. "Am I not good enough, my love?" she asked.
Somnus looked back to Arcadia. "What is subject"s allegiance?" he asked, as he wrestled his hand away from Kaiza"s.
"My lord, she is the consort of a Hera—" Arcadia began to answer once more but was cut off by Kaiza again.
"Silence!" Kaiza screamed, her voice losing its softness. "Don"t you see? They poison your mind. They turn you against us. They cast a shadow on my eternal love for you. Don"t listen to them. We are not like Humanity. We are better."
"You are better?" Somnus asked.
Once more, she took Somnus"s hand and nodded. "Mmm," she hummed in affirmation. "We are so much better than those lowly creatures. If you so wish it, I will eradicate them all for you. I will do anything for you," she said, bringing his fingers to her lips. "Anything."
The expression on all of the humans around them changed to one of complete fear. They knew that Somnus did not care much for life, therefore the possibility of him letting Kaiza go through with this was high…
The sound of a slap rang out in the field before the entrance of the Arrod Dungeon, and ash flew into the air. Kaiza stumbled several steps to the side and held her cheek, a black tear rolling down the other one. "W-why?" she asked, her voice broken. Then she glared at the human females behind Somnus. "They did this, didn"t they? I will crush those abominable humans that turned you against m—"
Another slap rang out. This time, Kaiza was silenced.
Somnus chuckled as he watched the reddening palm of his hand, before it slowly turned black. It was an odd chuckle. It sounded more like something was dying rather than laughing. The chuckle turned into an awkward laugh that carried on for several seconds before being cut off abruptly and Somnus"s expression turned into the neutral disdain that it was before.
"Why are you laughing…?" Kaiza asked, narrowing a single eye.
"You have made me feel anger for the first time," Somnus said, coldly. "It was funny."
"Funny?" Kaiza asked, anger burning in her eyes.
"Humanity has been my greatest enemy for hundreds of years," Somnus said. "I have killed so many of them that the number became meaningless, and they killed so many of my kind that I was, eventually, the only one left."
"Then… why do you resist me?" Kaiza asked, tone just above a whine.
"Humanity has also been my only companion through an uncaring cosmos. We killed each other, but that was the principle of our function. We could not coexist, but still we existed next to each other. We gave each other meaning, no matter how pointless that meaning was," Somnus said, and then narrowed his eyes at Kaiza. "But never once did I look down on Humanity like you do. I got angry… for their sake. Funny, isn"t it?"
Kaiza was confused. She did not understand what Somnus was saying. It didn"t make any sense to her.
Arcadia and Emily were also confused. They never heard Somnus speak so… normally.
Somnus took a step forward, advancing towards Kaiza. "Kaiza, you are lower than Humanity. You are not even that different—just a peculiar arrangement of stardust and full of contradictions. Pitiful thing. What makes you think you stand above them?" Somnus asked, as he closed his hand around Kaiza"s throat and squeezed; flakes of skin fell off his hand. "Don"t you dare look down on my worthiest enemy… and only companion."
With those words, Somnus tossed Kaiza away, sending her flying backwards several meters, and impacting the ground in a shower of ash.
"You will regret this…" Kaiza growled, as she was standing up.
"Negative." Somnus said, and then looked towards one of the spiders. "Baryon."
The spider made a mechanical whirr and put its weight on its hind legs. The blue glowing lines on its body became brighter, and then the mechspider left a glowing blue trail as it lunged towards Kaiza at incredible speeds.
The spider"s leg was sheathed in a blue light—manfire—as it stabbed through Kaiza"s stomach and pinned her to the ground. Ash poured out of the wound, as if it was an erupting volcano. Kaiza"s screams filled the air as she struggled against the spider"s leg.
Somnus walked towards Kaiza, casually wading through the piles of ash that Kaiza left in her wake. "Define allegiance. Comply,"
"I… I am with s.h.i.+non. The Herald of Ash. He will kill you for this!" Kaiza said, speaking without trouble, despite the spider-leg in her gut.
"s.h.i.+non is enemy?" Somnus asked. "Bring Herald here."
Kaiza blinked. "I… I will!"
"Comply," Somnus said.
"W-what? Are you not afraid?" Kaiza asked.
"Afraid?" Somnus asked, looking down at Kaiza. "Afraid of what?"
"s.h.i.+non is a Herald!" Kaiza exclaimed.
Somnus put his foot down on Kaiza"s head, pressing her cheek into the gra.s.s below. "s.h.i.+non is Herald. Herald is nothing," Somnus said, applying his illegal persuasion techniques by grinding his heel into Kaiza"s face. "Call s.h.i.+non. Comply,"
"Wait, I was wrong! I am sorry!" Kaiza said, pleading now. "I got angry. s.h.i.+non is not your enemy. We are on your side! Please forgive me!"
"Too late," Somnus said. "Call s.h.i.+non." Somnus said, nodding to Baryon.
Baryon responded with another mechanical whine, and twisted his leg that was inside Kaiza"s stomach. Kaiza screamed.
"My lord… perhaps… we shouldn"t antagonize Heralds…" Arcadia murmured. This was strange for her as well. She couldn"t help but feel bad for Kaiza, even though the Heralds were her sworn enemy. Just now, she saw the very human side of two ultimately inhumane ent.i.ties. Kaiza with her betrayed love, and Somnus with his respect for Humanity. Usually, in a situation when something unexpected like this happens, people would say "A Herald might appear", but that is literally the case in this situation.
"Herald is enemy. No mercy. No peace," Somnus said.
Only now did Kaiza understand the kind of creature she was dealing with. Somnus was unreasonable. She had to fight… but she did not want to. Even though she was vastly more powerful than Somnus, she just could not bring herself to resist.
"Why do you do this to me… my love?" Kaiza asked, sorrow dominating her voice. "What have I done to you to deserve this?"
Arcadia"s heart may have been moved by Kaiza"s words, but what about Somnus"s? If he felt anger, perhaps he could feel pity too?
"Hadron," Somnus said. "Devour."
Of course he couldn"t feel pity. His heart could only be moved by the only thing that was in it: The desire to annihilate Humanity. Not because he hated them, but because he respected them as a worthy enemy, despite all their flaws.
In the end, the potential to see what would happen if Hadron ate Kaiza"s heart would outweigh any other consideration. It was to further the war against Humanity after all. G.o.ds, Heralds, Fragments, they were only pests that stood in the way of the showdown that Somnus desired.
"Kaiza, you foolish woman," a voice spoke from the heavens. "You were sent to welcome him, and instead you only drew his wrath."
A man fell from the sky—or rather, floated down. He was wreathed in a storm of ash as he landed on the ground, took several steps towards Somnus and then fell to his knees.
"Your Excellency, I am your loyal subject, s.h.i.+non," the man spoke. He had black hair and black eyes. Somnus could see a hint of black armor but most of it was covered by the storm of ash surrounding the man. "I apologize for the rudeness of my consort, and I beg for your forgiveness. Please show leniency in her punishment."
"That… that is a Herald…" Arcadia whispered. "He really came…"
Emily looked to Arcadia. Her eyes were wild; why was a Herald kneeling in front of Somnus?
"No record of subject s.h.i.+non," Somnus said, casting a glance towards Hadron. Hadron stopped advancing towards Kaiza.
"You are our King, Your Majesty. Even if you do not know us, we are still your subjects," s.h.i.+non said and pressed a fist to his heart. He never once raised his head to look at Somnus.
Somnus tilted his head slightly backwards and glared at s.h.i.+non. Then he looked to Kaiza from the corner of his eye.
"You obey goblin," Somnus said. "Failure to provide adequate service is grounds for termination."
"G-goblin, master?" s.h.i.+non asked.
"Dissatisfaction is grounds for termination," Somnus said.
"As you wish. Your wisdom is profound, my King."
s.h.i.+non remained as he was as Somnus walked past him. Finally, they were heading towards Insomnia, Somnus"s Capital.