(Jahi PoV)
Looking at the Ritual Circle, I watched as so... thing walked out.
It looked vaguely humanoid. Standing on two legs, it was a tall creature, with deep crimson skin. Its torso was riddled with scars and markings. Instead of two arms it had six, each one rippling with muscle and covered in runic tattoos. However, its head was that of a a reptile, and its black eyes were empty and cold.
As soon as it stepped out of the ritual circle, it stretched, reaching the sa height as mom. Cracking its neck, it looked around, its tongue flicking out of its mouth.
"Ssssoooo... Thissss isss the land of the living? Disssappointing..."
The voice was snakelike, low and cold. Rolling its arms, it looked behind it, towards the man covered with scars.
"Sssspeak, human. Why have you sssummoned thissss Lord?"
A fanatical grin on his face, the man dropped to his knees.
"It was true! Haha~ Lord Tes, I fulfilled the prophecy of the River Nila!"
Tilting it's head, 'Lord Tes' looked at the man in confusion, staying silent for a few monts.
"River Nila? Prophecy?"
Looking down, Lord Tes continued to stay silent, before raising its head.
"Ah, that thing from millennia ago? I could care lesssss. All I crave now..."
Raising its head, Lord Tes looked towards us, its tongue flicking out.
"Ssssoulsss..."
Saying so, it flickered forwards, faster than I could comprehend.
Appearing before Julie, it tried to grab her with one set of arms, only to be t by mom, the Empress, and the Sultana standing in front of it.
"So you summon a fiend... in front of ?"
Hearing the Empress' low voice, I shivered slightly.
"Haha~ I actually thought we would have a challenge today~"
Mom just chuckled, however I could tell there was no mirth in her voice.
"...Indeed."
Jumping back, the fiend, Lord Tes, looked between the three won, its eyes narrowing.
Looking between the Empress and mom, I saw it's eyes widen, and for the first ti emotion was visible in its eyes.
Fear.
Complete, utter fear.
Turning, it hissed at the man.
"Fool! Do you not know who they are!?"
The man looked confused, saying "I do. Marquess Asmodia and the Empress of Ash."
"You..."
It snarled, looking at the two won. Raising its hands, six identical runes appeared, glowing a deep orange.
Six blades of fire appeared in its hands, and the fiend dropped into a stance, looking warily at the two won.
"Chordeva, do you wish to try this first?"
Mom chuckled, before stepping forwards. She created the sa runes the fiend did, grasping two blades of fire.
"Been awhile since I fought a fiend. This'll be fun~"
As soon as she finished speaking, she walked towards the fiend, spinning her blades.
"Only one of you? Are you insssulting ?"
It hissed again, before moving forwards, swinging all six blades at mom.
Blocking them, she chuckled.
"No, not really. I do believe I am more on your level than she is..."
Saying so, she flicked her blades down, before sending a kick at the fiend.
Skidding back a few feet, it hissed again, before rushing at her again.
Feeling soone grab my shoulder, I looked up to see mother looking down at .
"Well, you have a choice. You can watch Chordeva fight a fiend..."
As she said that, I saw her gaze heat up as she looked at mom, before taking a deep breath and looking back down at .
"...Or you can fight your first real opponent. The only one that's a problem, only a small problem, but a problem none the less, is the man with the scars. Everyone else..."
She scoffed, before narrowing her eyes down at .
"So, do you wish to have your first fight? Or will you stand here and watch?"
I growled up at her, annoyed with how her tone slowly beca disdainful.
"I'll fight. I didn't co here just to watch."
Mother continued to look down at , before nodding.
"Stay here, I'll go get partner number one."
Flickering away, she reappeared a mont later with a confused man in her hands.
Pushing him forwards, she looked at , saying "Well, unless you face a lethal strike, I won't be interfering."
I nodded, looking at the man. He was looking at mother with fear, before looking towards , so confidence and contempt making its way back into his eyes.
"I'll kill you, brat!"
With that, he charged forwards.
Seeing him draw a short sword, I watched him, confused.
Why is he so... slow?
Anput is easily faster than him, and she is what, twenty years his junior?
Shaking my head, I moved to the side, allowing his clumsy swing to strike the floor. Hearing the clang of tal on stone, I raised a brow.
Punching towards his side, I felt a satisfying crunch as I broke a rib.
Shrieking in pain, he collapsed, tears forming in his eyes.
I scooped up his sword, twirling it as I felt its weight and balance.
Shoddy.
"Are you just going to stand there?"
Hearing the bored tone of mother, I grit my teeth slightly, before taking a deep breath.
She really was good at making mom and I do what she wanted. She knew exactly what buttons to press.
Raising the sword, I hesitated, looking down at the man as he shivered in pain and fear, sobbing.
Feeling soone behind , I turned to see mother looming over , looking down at .
"Do it. Kill him."
Hearing her glacial tone, I shivered slightly, looking back down at the man.
Clenching my jaw, I continued to look at him.
Was he not attempting to kill monts before?
Is he not part of the group who dared...
Thinking of that, I felt my blood boil.
I swung down.
I could feel the blade sever flesh and hit bone.
I could hear the sounds of flesh tearing, hear his screams.
I could sll the iron tang of blood, the stench of urine.
Panting, I raised the blade, watching as blood slowly dripped off.
My vision swam, and I felt like I was going to collapse.
Before I could, I felt soone hold , gently.
Turning, I saw mother looking down at , a mixture of emotions raging in her eyes.
I saw regret, pride, sadness...
Sighing, she stroked my hair, before saying "I really wish I could have handed you a world without bloodshed... Yet, as long as people exist, the ugly side of everyone will rear its head eventually. I... I would rather you understand... the weight of a persons life. The feeling of ending one..."
Continuing to stroke my hair, she gave a weak smile, before looking back up.
"Chordeva and I often discussed this. Should we wait for you to grow, both physically and ntally, before your first kill? Or should we make you accustod to it now? After all, you are to inherit March Asmodia, a territory where outlaws and thugs live on our border with the Labyrinthian. Chordeva wanted you to experience it now. She said it would help shape you into who you need to be."
Sighing, she grit her teeth before looking back down at .
"I wanted to wait. Maybe we could have helped create a more peaceful world before you entered the Academy. Maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't have to bathe in blood like we did..."
My vision slowly stabilized, and I took a shaky breath.
After only a few monts, I was...
Fine.
I felt very little about what I just did.
Maybe it was my natural reaction to killing sothing that could think and feel.
However, I just... couldn't care anymore.
Why should I worry about him? About any of them? They touched what's mine.
They deserved to die.
Taking another breath, I said "Mother, I'm fine. Really."
She looked down at in surprise, before chuckling dryly.
"I guess I should have expected this, huh? Chordeva and I aren't really the most... caring people..."
I chuckled at that, saying "I watched mom give a man over to a fiend, turning him into a suit of armor, barely a month ago. I think I can stomach a little blood."
She shook her head, laughing.
"We really didn't give you much of a chance huh?"
I shook my head, and she sighed.
"Well, do you want to try again? Before Julie kills everyone..."
I looked up, watching Julie wade through the bandits? as she used her mana coated fists to kill everyone.
"I guess one more wouldn't hurt?"
She smiled down at , flickering again.
~~~
I looked towards Mom, watching as she laughed while she toyed with Lord Tes.
She weaved through its attacks, much to its frustration.
Its body was littered with cuts, blue blood dripping from the wounds.
Mom, on the other hand, looked like she was dancing, her clothes still intact and her mood jovial.
"Is mom always like this?"
Looking up at mother, I saw her heated gaze again, and I sighed.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Chordeva enjoys toying with fiends. Sothing about knocking them down a peg..."
"They tend to be quite prideful, yes. Tza'Yul took quite a few beatings before bending the knee. From what I heard, your ancestor had quite the fight with Ka'Hondi as well. However, that pride is well earned. Against a majority of the world, fiends are just that strong. Its just..."
Looking back at mom dancing around Lord Tes, the Empress chuckled.
"Well, we are a little to strong for fiends..."
The Sultana nodded, before looking at us.
"Shouldn't we be looking for the little one?"
Hearing that, I felt like an idiot. The slight high I had from my second kill made forget that we still hadn't truly located Kat.
Feeling my chest tighten, both in worry and guilt, I looked back towards mom.
"Finish up! We need to find Kat!"
Hearing my shout, mom looked over her shoulder, whining "Co on~ Just five more minutes, kay~?"
Glaring at her, she sighed.
"Fine, fine... Listen Scalie, my brat wants to finish this up..."
Sighing, she jumped back, before a large ritual circle appeared in front of her.
The fiend's eyes widened, however before it could act a large wave of flas washed over it, and for a few monts the room was almost purely orange.
Dimming, we all looked towards where the fiend was previously, only to see a small pile of ash.
Taking a deep breath, mom looked towards , an annoyed look on her face.
"Really, why didn't you all just go on without ... Finally get to have so fun..."
Pouting and muttering to herself, she rejoined us, before looking over at Julie.
"Co on Jules. We're going down."
Stalking over to us, I looked at Julie in fright.
Covered in blood from head to toe, her eyes were still a deep blue. With her lips drawn in a tight frown, I shivered slightly when she looked at .
"Let's go..."
---
So, the last few days have been ntally draining for , and I have no idea why. I would get ho from work, take a nap, then wake up exhausted (Shift is 3am - 7am).
The ungodly hours are probably why, but the money is good...
Anyways, boom, cliffhanger over. Little power reveal, little moral dilemma, and character developnt! Sounds like a good chapter to !
That all aside, I do just wanna say this:
I have really been enjoying these books on web novel, so if you need sothing to read because you're like and crave entertainnt, consider checking these out of you haven't already.
Ti Stops When I'm With Her (MHA): Just a really wholeso, OPMC Yuri novel. Like, really sugary sweet wholesoness.
Naruto: The Strongest Senju: Tsunade but better. That's the whole idea, and it works really well. Characters and all that is good, and I have enjoyed binging it.
Naruto: Tango with Death: Isekai novel, pretty good. MC is believable, characters are great, plot is interesting (its an alternate tiline) and overall I really like it.
Also... Goddess of Ice: Corrupting Bleach! Maerry's new novel! I thought I would have to wait a long ti to read her Bleach fanfic, but she dropped it only 10 days after her Naruto one finished! I really can't wait to read more of it!
For the people who don't care for fanfics... lol I have nothing, sorry. Not on web novel, anyways...
Alright, little discussion thingy over, I hoped you enjoyed~
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