Storing the dark gem into her dimensional space, Winter pulls her sword free from the frozen ground, turning her attention back to the Adventurers; meeting their horrified gazes, Alex is the first to speak up, his voice tense, drawing Winter’s full attention, her gaze heavy and oppressive. “With your condition met, are we free to leave?” Winter responds with a contemptuous smile, her voice cold and vicious. “No, each of you will pay a price for your actions if you wish to leave here alive, but I can assure you it will not be as costly as what that vermin had to pay.” Sparks interrupts Winter, his voice tense and angry. “No! No more deals; we are not making any more deals with a vile demon like you.” This sudden declaration surprises and confuses the other members of the group.
The other Adventurers turn their attention to Sparks in confusion at his sudden declaration; Jax is the first to speak up, questioning him. “What are you talking about, old man? Even you said this thing is a dragonkin, and besides, its appearance and energy are not demonic.” Winter waits quietly, curious about what the Mage has to say. Sparks glares at Winter, furious at her seeming indifference, hate burning in his eyes. “We have a temporary truce with the demons, but I fought on the front lines; that gem is a soul stone. Its use is similar to that of monster and demon cores, but they are more powerful, and the creation of one requires the consumption of a human soul. They are rare, but I have seen weapons made with them before.” The other members look at Sparks, at a loss for words, unsure what to say. Everyone learns about demons and demonic energy during their years at the academy, but except for Sparks, they are too young to have served during the last war with the demon race and know nothing about soul stones.
Winter laughs at the absurdity of the Mage’s reasoning. “Foolish little Hero, just because I know a particular spell does not make me a demon.” Winter smiles with a sadistic grin, her voice taking on a mocking tone. “For all you know, I could be the one supplying the demons with the soul stones all along; after all, you are not the first group of humans to go missing in my lands, and you will not be the last. However, your group has the simple privilege of being the largest.” Winter spins her sword, baring her teeth in a snarl, her voice cold and threatening. “If you no longer wish to bargain for your lives, then I will just kill you all now.” “Hold on, everyone calm down.” Alex steps forward, interposing between Sparks and Winter, interrupting the imminent fight and drawing Winter’s attention. “Can you prove you are not a demon?” Winter chuckles, releasing her aura, enveloping herself in brilliant ice-blue energy, shattering the ground under her feet, and causing the Adventurers to stagger under the pressure of her presence.
Winter holds the crushing pressure of her presence on the Adventurers longer than necessary out of spite, but after an uneasy moment, she restrains her aura with a devilish laugh. “Is that good enough, or do you need more evidence?” With an air of superiority, Winter questions the Adventurers, glaring at them with disdain, continuing without waiting for a response. “Demons use demonic energy that corrupts their aura with dark energy; if I were a demon, I would have demonic characteristics.” She points to her eyes with her free hand. “At the very least, the whites of my eyes would turn black, and the corrupting influence of demonic energy would cause my aura to darken, likely becoming midnight blue.” Winter’s ice-blue aura flairs momentarily, not enough to affect the surroundings but enough for an implicit display of her words.
Glaring at the Adventurers with disdain, Winter spins her sword aimlessly, continuing her explanation. “There is no hard and fast test to see if someone has fallen into the demonic path, but the general rule is that the nature of their aura changes, becoming darker and more demonic, and their physical appearance changes. However, this varies between individuals, but the key feature is the use of demonic energy; some individuals may be able to hide or obfuscate one or two of these characteristics but not all three, especially when under scrutiny.” Winter gestures to Sparks with her sword. “He should know this all too well, especially if he has fought with demons before, but he seems to be blinded by my creation of a soul stone.” Sparks replies, gritting his teeth, barely containing his rage. “Fine, if you are not a demon, how do you know that spell?!”
Winter cocks her head to the side in genuine confusion. “What do you mean? It is simply a more powerful variation of what you humans do.” Sparks glares at Winter expectantly, causing her to sigh, shaking her head in annoyance, her voice taking on a bored tone like speaking to an insufferable child. “I do not know why you are asking me how I know this spell; all of you humans use a weaker variant of this principle, drawing small amounts of energy from the beings you kill to strengthen yourselves. The spell I use merely allows me to draw all the different energies from a creature and contain them inside a crystalline construct, but they need to be alive for the process to work; it is the most advanced variation of the same principle humans use. However, consuming a soul stone will corrupt the individual and drive them mad, limiting their use unless you are a demon, but that does not mean I do not have other uses for them.” The Adventurers stare at Winter in complete confusion, looking to Sparks for confirmation.
Winter burst into rumbling laughter at the Adventurers’ noticeable confusion, realizing they have no idea what she is talking about. “You did not know; how did you not know something so basic?” Winter chuckles, a sinister grin returning to her face. “Someone is hiding things from you humans; that is very interesting. However, I do not care about such things; I am bored of this meaningless conversation.” Winter levels her sword at Sparks, a sinister grin on her face, cutting off all protests to the abrupt end of her explanation with her cold, oppressive gaze. “Sparks, you will not leave this place alive; if you surrender, I will take your life as painlessly as possible, but regardless of your choice, to ensure no one can revive you, I will annihilate your soul. You can blame your soul anchor for this unfortunate fate.” Winter lowers her sword with a spin. “As for the rest of you, Alex, Jax, Nina, and Ashley, you may leave this place with your lives, but I will shatter your minds, destroying your memories; I will also cripple your energy channels and abolish your cultivation, to ensure you will never be a threat to my people again.”
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Jax is the first to respond, exploding in a rage, screaming at Winter. “That’s the same thing as killing us, you blasted monster! We would be nothing but wastes, living corpses; that’s a fate far worse than death, and on top of that, you want us to stand there and let you kill Sparks! You call that a deal?! We will die on the streets like dogs within a week, if not sooner!” Jax steps forward, grabbing the hilt of his sword, but Alex grabs him by the arm before he can charge Winter. “That’s enough, Jax.” Jax spins around, pulling his arm free from Alex’s grip. “This ain’t a deal; it’s a death sentence. You can’t be considering this.” Alex glares at Winter, not breaking eye contact for a moment. “No, I’m not, but if you go running in there half-cocked in a rage, you will only get yourself killed. Take a breath.” Jax turns back to Winter in an angry huff and crosses his arms, his eyes burning with rage, not saying anything else.
To everyone’s surprise, the young Priest speaks up, her voice soft and timid. “Umm… well, maybe we could consider it; the church can take us in and care for us while we heal.” She looks down at the ground, all the attention on her, making her more self-conscious. “Umm… you see, most of the wounds, other than the memory loss, can be healed over time. We, umm…, and well, maybe, we can find a compromise so Sr. Ignus can live as well? Maybe-” Jax shouts at the girl, causing her to flinch, shrinking into herself on the snowy ground. “Have you lost your blasted mind, girl?” Alex grabs Jax’s arm, stopping the large man. “Enough, Jax, no need to scream at the girl; she’s only afraid and looking for a way out.” The Priest fidgets awkwardly under the gaze of her companions.
Alex glances back at the Priest, addressing her. “Listen, kid; the church might take you in and help you recover because you are part of the clergy, but that will depend on your position in the church and who you know; however, the same does not apply to the rest of us. Jax is right; this is a cruel death sentence, and we can’t even guarantee this creature will keep its word.” “But if we fight-” Nina protests, but Alex cuts her off. “Enough, stay in the back and do your job; that’s all I’m asking you to do.” Nina looks at Winter, gazing into her oppressive ice-blue eyes; that same uneasy feeling pressing on her, screaming at the back of her mind that this creature is only playing with them like a cat toying with a mouse, compelling her to call out to Winter in a weak voice. “I’ll take the deal.”
Alex spins around, glaring daggers down at Nina, and screams at her. “What the heck, are you crazy?! You can’t trust this thing, and even if it keeps its word, how will you get back to town alone, without any memories, and completely defenseless? You will die before you can even get back to town.” “But… but we can’t-” “Enough!” Nina tries to protest again, but Alex refuses to hear her out and cuts her off again in a rage. Alex glances over to Sparks, giving him a knowing look before turning his attention back to Winter, who smiles in amusement at the unfolding scene. Nina sinks into herself, sobbing, tears streaming down her face. “Sparks, deal with her.” Alex issues his command with an air of authority, causing Sparks to look down at the girl, his face conveying a sense of sadness and regret as he speaks. “Sorry, kid, cannot risk you turning on us.” Lifting his hand, Sparks releases a surge of magical energy, and with a gesture, he invokes a spell. “Nina, I suggest you forget about making a deal with this monster and focus on doing your job as a healer, tending to our wounds to the best of your ability until we escape from this creature.”
Nina’s eyes glaze over under the spell’s influence, putting her into a stupor, causing her body to sway and her head to slump as she tries to fight off the spell; after a moment of silence, she razes her head, her eyes hollow and unfocused, failing to resist Sparks’s spell. Rising to her feet, she speaks, addressing Sparks, her voice monotone, cold and lifeless. “I’m sorry, Sr. Ignus, I don’t know what came over me; I’ll do my job properly, as you command.” He waves off the girl, ignoring her, not wanting to look at her out of guilt. Winter narrows her eyes at Sparks in anger, her voice sharp like the edge of a blade pointing at his throat. “That is a rather vile approach; the idea that you would force the girl to fight even though she wishes to surrender is laughably cruel. You humans are truly vicious, even to each other.” Sparks laughs, glaring at Winter. “That’s rich coming from a monster like you that devours human souls for fun to create soul stones.”
Alex’s gaze, still fixed on Winter, addresses her before the precarious situation escalates. “Regardless of the morality of our methods, what Jax said earlier is correct; your terms are entirely unacceptable. You have killed most of the army, the Lord responsible for this entire situation, and now you want us to hand over Sparks and let you cripple the rest of us. No, that will not happen; letting us go with the promise never to return is the best option for all involved. If you continue to press this issue, we will fight back with everything we have, and you will not come out unscathed; we may not be able to kill you, but we have fought Rank S monsters before, and I can promise you, we will do everything in our power to maim or cripple you if it comes to a fight.” Alex holds his cold gaze on Winter, his eyes burning with determination and conviction.
Winter burst into thunderous laughter, baring her teeth in a vicious snarl, her aura exploding in rage, further cracking the ground around her, exerting heavy, suffocating pressure on the Adventurers, causing them to stagger under the weight of her presence. “You came into my territory to attack and kill my people, treating them like cattle to the slaughter, stealing the resources of my land, and now you want to walk away as though nothing happened? You humans are nothing but greedy vermin unwilling to even pay for the consequences of your actions.” Winter’s eyes glow like two burning blue suns, her irises and pupils lost in the brilliant ice-blue light, energy flowing from them like thick smoke. Her eyes narrow, her voice little more than a deep growl. “No!” Winter slams her palm into the ground. “[Garden Of Thorns]”