The night was silent. Haine walked through the alley humming a tune only she knew. Her new contractor was sleeping peacefully behind her. After such a wonderful meal, it was only fair to thank her.

“You finally stopped running.” The woman who called herself an Apostle appeared before her. She stifled another yawn as she swiped with her hand. Metal wires, as if razor sharp claws, swiped along with it.

They were sliced in half before they could even touch Haine.

“Now you’re starting to show your true colors.” The Apostle smiled. “The others said you were something to be worshiped. That we were summoning an entity beyond the limits of human imagination. So imagine my surprise when you popped out! Not really what springs to mind when you think ‘demon’.”

Haine continued to sing. It was a gentle melody of hatred and madness. A rotting refrain left festering for a thousand years.

“This is a test, you see! If you survive, then I’ll recognize you as a worthy master. If not, then…” Countless webs of razor thin wires sprung forth from the Apostle’s fingertips. A kaleidoscope of invisible death, whipping through the air as a concerto of blood. “At least give me a good show.”

The song stopped abruptly. Haine raised a finger to her lips. “Shh. Can’t you see someone’s trying to sleep?”

She took a step forward. Light shied away from her view. “It doesn’t matter which world I’m in. You humans are all the same. Always selfishly forcing your ideals onto others. I never asked to be worshiped.”

She took another step, and the shadows behind her danced and laughed in the moonlight. “All I ever dreamed about was to lead a normal life. It’s been forever since someone agreed to be my maiden, you know. I don’t know when I’ll get another chance like this.”

The Apostle was shaking. Was it fear? No, it couldn’t be. That was impossible for her. She had given everything for their cause, and sacrificed her very soul all for the promise of a new world. There could be no hesitation.

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“Do you think I care? All we need is your power. The power to purify this world in fire and blood. And though the others may revere you as a god, I don’t mind making you see our way through force.” She raised her arms and began conducting her orchestra. Innumerable wires converged on a single location, each with the strength to slice through steel.

“What I’m saying is, all I want to do is to live peacefully. And I won’t let anyone get in the way of that.”

The creature who called herself Haine opened her mouth, and the world went dark.

She bit down, chewed slowly, and savored her meal.

The Apostle’s wire’s all snapped in a discordant hum, though could no longer maneuver them as she no longer had her hands. She tried to scream, but no air flowed through her windpipe any longer. The whole world was bathed in silence, as no one dared to make a sound in her presence. The Apostle turned to run, but she had nowhere to escape to and no more legs to stand on.

Then, in that blissful oblivion, the creature swallowed everything whole until not a single crumb remained.

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Atop the city walls overlooking Astraea, a woman took off her mask and coughed up one of her hearts. It had been crushed whole, akin to someone biting down into a grape. Rotting blood gushed from its exposed pumps, staining the floor a crimson hue.

“...There goes one of my puppets.” The Apostle cursed, and shivered in the cold night.

That was no god. It couldn’t have been considered a demon, either. She had only caught a glimpse of that… that thing lurking in that darkness. That writhing, indescribable mass masquerading as a human. Yet every bone in her body was screaming at her to run, to warn her fellow Apostles of the danger they had conjured into this world, and to beg for repentance to whoever would listen.

Yet a part of her still thought she could use that thing. All they had to do was to give it the proper guidance, and it would lead the world to the ruin they desired. After all, there was no length too far, no sacrifice too great. Even if it meant having to deal with that terror once more.

All to fulfill the creed of the White Veil. All to bring about their new paradise.