[Oliver's POV]
Why did this have to happen to me? Where did everything go so wrong?
All I wanted was to make my family proud. I studied my hardest, found a way to use my Gift to help others, and was accepted into the prestigious IMA.
The military valued enchanters greatly, so even if I plateaued and faded away into mediocrity, I would still be living a comfortable life. I could pay back my parents, see my siblings through their own ventures, and benefit society all at once.
I never intended to see battle. That was why I wanted to be in the support class! Who cares if I have some “hidden potential”? That doesn't give them the right to force me into a bad position!
Unfair. It's all so unfair.
For a while, I thought maybe I could make the best of it thanks to my classmates. Back in the first test, I was treated like a crucial part of the team after all.
But then I saw the mask slip from the one who heaped so much praise onto me. I saw the true face of the type of person who wanted to monopolise my skill.
Murderers. Monsters who lust for blood. Rex, Vogel, Axel... Hell, practically the entire Imperial military.
They just wanted to turn my magic into a tool for slaughter. Even when my own countrymen came to Borderton, there were soldiers trying to make me enchant their weapons. They wanted me to be an accessory in the slaughter of my own people.
When I witnessed my classmates slaughter so many in such a brutal way, I tried to call for help. I tried to find some small light of rationality in the midst of chaos. But all I was met with was madness.
I escaped to Farrowgate, where I tried to make myself useful. I tried my best to expose the conventional imperial tactics and offer counter-strategies. I tried to clue my allies in on my former peers' abilities. I put myself in a war zone, even when I just wanted to run away.
But instead of a return to normality, I was plunged deeper into the empire's evil.
Our protectors, the blood knights, kill us without remorse and dump the bodies in the streets. My friend, Guy, refuses to face the facts and tries to fight evil with optimism.
But I know what others don't. I know how the empire operates. I know it is a beast of cold steel with a mind of cruelty. I know that it was their scare tactics that forced the people against each other.
Everything is their fault. All of the torment I have suffered can be pinned on them. That was why my faith in Soleo remained strong despite it all. Leonidas must have realised this evil and taken action to protect us all, even if it meant betraying his ideals. The vampires aren't to blame for killing their own, they are just pawns of the empire. I am not to blame for helping Soleans kill Imperials, the empire made me do it.
I was certain of it. Even as the terrifying beast crashed through the window of my room and loomed over me, I knew this was all the empire’s fault.
The monster, resembling death given flight, lifted me by the collar and stared into my eyes with feral curiosity.
Why me? Why do I have to be eaten by such a monster? It wasn't fair. I didn't deserve it. I didn't do anything wrong. It was the empire. The empire should bleed, not me!
Thud.
The monster dropped me and silently strode towards the barricaded door.
It had lost interest and was trying to leave. It didn't make sense. If this were a feral vampire, it should be killing indiscriminately.
Ah, I understand. It was the empire. They sent this monster. They loved their evil beasts, that was why Rex thrived under them. That was why Axel betrayed his family. Because those two belonged with them.
“Heh... Hehehe…”
Somebody's laughter echoed in the room, although I knew I was alone.
“Hehehe… This is their fault… We need to stop them…”
The familiar voice spoke my thoughts aloud.
“I'll stay here. It's safe. I'm safe here. Nobody will find me. I'm safe.”
That's right, I was safe. I would wait. When the sun rose, help would come. If the monsters were busy, I could run away and help at Lion's Maw. I was helpful, and Soleo was good, they would not turn me away. Soleo was good.
“Heh. Heh. Heh…”
***
[Kenneth Faelora's POV]
The oracle and I made our move. The chapel wasn't too far, so even if we moved carefully, we should be able to make it in time.
It would have been helpful if the oracle and I could converse as we moved, but the risk was too great. I saw the ears on that skeletal monster, it would no doubt be relying on its hearing to locate any stragglers.
My heart was beating so rapidly that I thought I might very well give away our position. And yet, it seemed that Faelora still favoured me, as we arrived without incident.
I moved to the pulpit and lay flat on the ground to run my fingers along the underside.
Click!
As promised, the switch was there.
Unfortunately, the noise and vibration of the hidden door opening were felt by everyone on the floor, such was the unruly racket.
Or perhaps I was just overly sensitive to the grinding of stone, given my situation.
Reflexively, I grabbed the oracle and ran for the wall that was slowly sliding into the ground.
“SCREEE!”
Something terrible released a high-pitched scream, and the scraping of claws on the hard floor rapidly approached.
I ran with all my heart, not daring to turn and face the beast. But I was sure that it was right behind me. I could feel the air stagnate, and the putrid stench of death permeated the room.
We wouldn't make it. There was no chance. None.
At least, not for both of us.
“Go. Stay safe.”
I shoved the oracle into the newly revealed opening and spun with my club at the ready. Old training kicked in for my aching body, and I swung my club before so much as confirming my foe's form.
Crack.
But the wood splintered as a feathery hand gripped and crushed my weapon.
A force unlike any I had ever felt before gripped my throat. I feared that my sacrifice would be wasted, and the beast would simply toss me aside to pursue the oracle.
Boom.
But a low noise resounded as the wall closed itself behind me. Whether it was on a timer or the oracle flipped another switch, I didn't care.
“Why do you smile, priest? Do you look forward to seeing your entrails decorating this holy house?”
The bird-like creature cocked its head curiously. It wanted to toy with me, but that worked out just fine for me.
The more time I could buy, the better the chances were for everyone else.
“I do not fear death, for I know where I am bound. Can you say the same, blood sucker?”
I taunted it openly. I was sweating and shaking, but I would do whatever it took to keep their attention from the suspicious wall.
“I will never die, priest. So long as man has blood to offer, my hunt will be unending.”
To my surprise, the creature let go, then strolled to the pews and took a seat.
“I have often wondered what wisdom the gods offer for you to obey them so willingly. Share a discourse with me, won't you, priest?”
It pointed to the pulpit, and I obediently moved into the position I had taken so many times before.
But never had I done so with such a feeling of dread.
“...What is the point of this?”
I scowled at them.
“What a strange attitude. Does this level of disdain work on the younger generation? I merely wish to be educated.”
“Your vile kind has always had access to the church, much to my anger. If you ignored so many open doors until now, why do you now barge into my home?”
“What a temper!”
The monster cackled, its laughter raspy, and its beak clicking loudly. But at no point did its bloodthirsty eyes leave me.
“Shall I go find another morsel to motivate you? Maybe once I fashion a new robe from the flesh of the young, you will remember your godly duties.”
I gritted my teeth.
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“There is no need for that… What do you want to know?”
The beast's smile suddenly vanished, and it leaned forward.
“If your gods exist, why do I still breathe? Surely my actions should have caught their attention by now. Surely I deserve a smiting?”
So it wanted to debate the existence of the gods? No, there was no way. Vampires all knew Nekrotica sought to reclaim their tainted souls, how could this one doubt this?
Whatever the case, keeping it in the chapel could only be a good thing.
“It is a faulty assumption to think that the gods made everything.”
I started my rebuke.
“They gifted us life, opportunity, and magic. But the world is its own creation, one that is left to develop on its own. That is how abominations come to exist. You are a mistake of nature. Made from the meddling of demons and other unholy scourges. The gods, regrettably, cannot clear your ilk out themselves, thus we faithful are used in their stead.”
“Oh?”
The beast smirked again.
“So they are not vacant, they are merely incompetent? They send old men in cloth and young boys with swords to do what they cannot. Perhaps I should thank them the next time these convenient meals wander into my arms.”
“If you think this sacrilege will anger me, you are as foolish as you are corrupt.”
I looked down at the beast with indifference, which seemed to upset her. I admit, it was a validating feeling of superiority.
“Tch, why did it have to be me…”
It muttered that to itself in agitation and eyed the door they had come through.
“Waiting for your friend?”
Seeing them lose interest, I tried to keep the conversation going. If only to preserve my life a second longer.
“It's my turn to ask a question now. Why have you chosen now to attack? Are you planning to turn to the empire?”
The creature seemed at a loss and simply said nothing.
“I suppose it is foolish of me to assume such human emotions would drive you. It's more likely you simply succumbed to your hunger.”
“That’s right.”
The creature perked up suddenly.
“Empires, kings, swords, and lords. Why should I care about that? There is only the prey and the predator. The hunt is all that matters, and only those who offer me a truly bloody feast are worth my time.”
It suddenly stood and kicked the pew across the room, causing me to flinch involuntarily. A moment later, the creature was leaning over from the other side of the pulpit, its wide eyes only an inch from my own.
“A hunt without these stupid rules. Why must I spare so many? Why must I speak with you? I should kill you all, then feast on that arrogant little prick's innards for daring to lord himself over me!"
Rancid saliva flew out from her mouth as she hurled foreboding words at me.
"The gods are real. But yours are worthless. They are born as flesh and blood, and mould their weak bodies into something to aspire towards. My god was reborn today. I felt his blood activate in this very town. The progenitor of my kind, and all 'blood-sucking' life.”
She tossed aside the pulpit and snatched me by the face, digging her talons into my flesh.
“This game was fun. But I need no human master, I shall present your skull to the progenitor, and enter into the greatest of hunts!”
My vision turned red. Searing pain radiated from the wounds she dug into my head, and soon everything went dark. Talons pierced my eyes, causing tears of blood to flow. The monster scooped its talons into my skull, its excitement so great that I could feel the trembling fingers rattling inside of me.
Air still entered my lungs, though it was poisoned by the monster's filthy presence. I was alive, but she had robbed me of my vision.
All the while, the creature rambled like a madman, but nothing they said registered. Whether it was because my own screams drowned them out, or the pain had addled my mind, I could not say.
A calm, steady voice could be heard, followed by the repeated crunch and snap of bones.
But I remained motionless. Whatever was happening, it no longer involved me.
My own terror slowly subsided as I realised all else had been silent for some time. But I could still feel the presence of something else right in front of me.
“H-hello?”
I called out, fighting to suppress the pain in my face.
No response came, but I was certain that I could feel them there. And so, I reached out.
And felt something warm.
It was a strange sensation, and not entirely pleasant, as the warmth slithered under my closed lids and writhed inside my head.
I moved to resist, but something caught my hands. A familiar voice spoke to me.
“Your struggles are over, Father.”
“Oracle? Wh-what is happening? Have I passed on?”
“No, Father. You fought valiantly, and now you will be rewarded. The saviour is here! Your efforts have paved the way for them beautifully.”
“The saviour? The one to herald a new god?”
“Yes, Father. A new god is born, and they offer salvation.”
“Do you mean… You were chosen? You are the saviour?”
“No, Father. It is you. Your new god did not send a messenger, they have found one in you. If not for your valiant heroism here, I would surely have perished. Your faith was such that our new lord was able to send a piece of herself down. That shard now rests within me.”
“Oracle!”
It was fantastic news, but for a mortal to carry a shard of the divine could mean only one thing.
“It is as you surmise, Father. I have been called to join the heavens. My time grows short, so listen closely. I am the goddess of foresight. Spread my name as my chosen apostle. Serve me as faithfully as you have Faelora.”
Tears poured forth uncontrollably, but not due to the wounds.
“M-my lady… What of the mayor? What of the vampires? How do we recover? There is so much—”
“Yes, there is much that needs doing. But these are worries for the future. For now, trust that you are safe.”
“Oracle. No… What should I call you?”
“My name, as given by the heavens, is… Nyxara. Do you swear your soul to me, O loyal servant of the gods? So that we may light the way for a better future?”
“Yes, my lady. I shall spread your name far and wide. I will let all know of your divine mercy!”
The tendrils of warmth left my eyes, and I realised that all the pain had vanished.
“My time has come, I must leave you now.”
As silently as she arrived, I felt her presence disappear. I was once again alone. Alone, and crippled
And yet, I was able to stand tall. Even blinded, I could see my worth and the duty that had been offered to me.
I used the walls of the chapel to find my way back out, and from there, I put my faith in the gods to find my way through the world.
***
[Rex’s POV]
I quietly waited for Kenneth to leave, and closed the door only when I was certain that he was out of earshot.
“Haha… Hahahaha!”
The girl who remained in the shadows doubled over, unable to contain her laughter any longer.
“I can't believe it! It worked! It worked so perfectly! That idiot gave me his soul just like that, and he doesn't even know it!”
I ignored the veiled girl and looked down at the crumpled corpse of Skrake at my feet. She never even saw me coming, allowing me to pierce through the back of her skull and break her down until her damned heart finally stopped beating.
It took a great deal of self-control not to devour her. Maybe it was because I had a witness that I was able to suppress those dark desires.
Skrake nearly messed everything up in the final stretch, but why? She followed my instructions in keeping Kenneth busy without killing him, but then she just went nuts for no clear reason.
From the conversation, I assumed it had something to do with this “progenitor”, but who or what was that meant to be?
Why did its existence compel her to betray me and attempt to kill Kenneth? Had she known I was watching, would she have still been so bold? She knew that my current form was too powerful for her, yet she still respected some vague entity over me.
It was a worry, but not one I could look into right away. Hell, for all I knew, she was just insane, and none of it meant anything.
“Oracle, shut up already.”
Annoyed by the ongoing laughter, I finally focused on the girl.
She threw back her veil, revealing a cute, round face and a ribbon that bobbed along with her laughter.
“Sorry, sorry. I just really didn't think it would work.”
“It nearly didn't…”
I nodded to Skrake.
“I have to admit, I thought we were screwed when she gouged out his eyes. You really salvaged that one, so… Good work, Emily. Or should I call you Oracle?”
She laughed again, and her features suddenly became a hazy blur. The illusion magic was dismissed, and a blue-skinned devil stood in her place.
“What do you think? I think white suits me.”
Lily twirled around, her “oracle” outfit fluttering gracefully.
“Yes, yes, very nice… By the way, where did the name Nyxara come from?”
She suddenly halted and looked at me with an impish grin.
“If we want more souls, the faith needs to be directed at me in some way, right? Well, there is only one Nyxara, and only I identify with the name.”
“That's a very convoluted way of saying it's your real name.”
I sighed.
“But I thought you didn’t want to tell me that?”
She skipped towards me, kicking off her shoes and letting her feet feel the blood that was pooling on the ground.
“That was only because you wouldn't tell me first.”
“That hasn't changed, though?”
“Nyahaha! Rex, you're so dumb!”
She jumped and grabbed my large bat-like ears, pulling them over my eyes playfully.
“I can see it now, you know? I know how you feel, even if you don't.”
She released me, a bright smile gracing her adorable face.
I still couldn't piece her meaning together, but maybe this explained the increased possessiveness she had been showing recently. For some reason, she now felt some kind of understanding towards me.
Though the reverse was not true at all.
“So… should I call you Nyxara from now on?”
She smiled even brighter.
“Hmm. No. Not in public at least.”
Her tail swayed behind her, and a slight purple blush formed in her cheeks.
“Anyway!”
She suddenly snapped back to attention.
“I killed the mayor, just like you told me to.”
She called out a tendril of shadow, showing that it had two sharp prongs at the end, just like my tail.
“Two marks on the neck, no other wounds. It will be easy to pin this all on Guy’s buddies.”
“Good work.”
The plan, as I had relayed to Lily, was to remove Farrowgate's leadership after stirring the pot from within. With the mayor’s death, full authority would be passed on to Alexandru Radu as the military commander.
But the public wouldn’t accept that. And with Kenneth having already riled them up so much, resistance was inevitable. With no steady hand in power to assuage the masses, the conflict would only escalate further.
Lily had been taking bodies from outside the wall and staging them as victims of a vampire attack all this time, allowing fear to fester in the human populace. And once news of what happened tonight spreads, a full-scale divide was sure to follow. Kenneth now held divine validation and was unlikely to look too closely at these events to question them.
Alexandru Radu and his blood knights would surely figure out this was all staged, but so what? Their voices would soon lose all power in the eyes of the Soleans.
Still, it was odd that three of them had run out on their own. I was prepared for a battle, but instead I merely played the role of the monster. Cutting down the weak and instilling terror in the survivors was an easy job when there was nobody capable of fighting back.
But what of the other two? They weren’t with the mayor, so who were they defending? Or had things become so bad already that they had abandoned their duties?
Whatever the case, it worked out in my favour. How suspicious would they look, returning only the massacre had ended?
All of this was in service of one simple goal: Crippling Farrowgate.
Our forces were already falling back and would be taken into the tunnel to Lion's Maw for a surprise attack. Once we held that position, the people of Farrowgate would have no way to return to Soleo. They would be isolated and left to rot until they have no choice but to surrender the town. With all the infighting that was sure to follow, we didn't need to fear retaliation. Even if they tried, they would be wasting precious resources feeding an army that could no longer be reinforced.
This was what I had been working towards. This was how we would divide and conquer.
Still, there were some loose ends to tie up.
“With Kenneth blinded, we need someone else to see the ‘blood moon’, or my prophecy will be scrutinised, and Nyxara's name won't spread. Let me use that body for a second.”
Lily seemed to have the same thought. She called forth her shadows and began tearing apart Skrake’s body and flinging the limbs around to cover the windows with blood.
When she finished, she dropped the remains into her shadow, which swallowed them up as though it were a bottomless pool of ink.
“There. They'll figure out the interpretation, right? I mean, I worded those prophecies vaguely for just this kind of thing, yeah?”
I admired her work. Sure enough, the outside world looked to be painted red through this morbid lens. Once the moon rose, it would certainly invoke the thought of a “blood moon.”
“Yeah, that should do. Maybe stick around as ‘Emily’ and push them towards the conclusion we want if you can.”
“Huh? I thought I was coming back with you after this?”
“You know the way to Lion's Maw. Just wait two or three days and catch up.”
She pouted, clearly unhappy with this change of plans.
“Look, I need you here anyway. I came across Olly on the way down here, and he's a total wreck. See if you can figure out his mental state for me. And ask around about this ‘progenitor’ too while you're at it.”
“Tch. Fine! I don't know why you don't just kill him and be done with it!”
“Just do it, Nyx.”
She swayed slightly.
“Hmph. You owe me, Red.”
She moved over to one of the windows and unlatched the lock.
“See you soon.”
She waved back, spread out her wings, and shot off into the sky.
“...Red?”
I was slightly curious as to why she used that nickname, but something else she brought up was already occupying my thoughts.
Oliver. His skills definitely were a threat, so it made sense to kill him and be done with it before things could escalate. But I couldn’t do it.
The fact was, he was just a kid. A child who was breaking down beneath the weight of the world. I heard the sanity slipping from him as I left him in that room, laughing and muttering to himself.
I had no intention of overlooking it if he became too much of a problem, but I felt he deserved a chance to bounce back. Besides, if all went as I planned, Lion’s Maw would fall soon, and this war would end. He would never have another chance to attack the empire, and maybe the return to peace would allow him to correct his course.
At the end of the day, though, he was low on my list of problems. I needed to get back out the way I came and rejoin Alma.
Soon, I would be joining the front lines in assailing the unassailable fortress.
