“Echo? You Demons seem to always love your theatrics, huh? Very well, Echo will be the name on your gravestone since you’ve had the audacity to interrupt our grand awakening!”
“Dimitri, you’re really doing this right now…” Aymn mumbled to himself with a sigh from atop his Dragon.
This Dimitri fellow knew what words to say to make Aella interested.
“Yeah, genuine question, by the way. What’s all this about us being Demons? And that grand awakening thing? I’ve heard whispers of a prophecy, but I’ve not had the chance to probe any of you guys about it. Would you be so kind as to tell me about it? Since you’re so confident in eliminating me and all that?”
Dimitri chuckled arrogantly while looking at Aella. “Oh, I like you. How about joining us? Such a powerful individual, once it’s proven that you’re not one of the [Demon Lords], we’d gladly accept you with open arms.”
‘Judging by the fact that his buddy isn’t doing anything, this is a normal occurrence for them. Father did say that S ranks and above tend to be on the eccentric side.’
“Prove to me you’re not weird Psychopaths, and I might. You should be plenty aware of my stance considering the circumstances.”
During this time, Aella began to create Flames inside the building behind her where the two cultists wouldn’t see. Usually, this was a difficult task, but for Aella, it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Pulling off the ritual this way would be far more complex, but theoretically, it should be possible.
“Ahaha! Aymn! Get a load of this brat! Alright, I’ll bite. Exactly seven months from now, the 13 [Demon Lords] will join hands, and the world will fall to ruin in their pursuit of World Domination. If we let this happen, it won’t just be us or them. Everyone will die! If you join us, we can prove it to you!”
Aella’s eyes widened. “Seven? That’s quite a small time frame. Why didn’t you come out sooner?
Genuine surprise filled Aella’s mind. Prophecies had stringent rules. They can never tell the future of under one year or over 200. If you’re looking into the future in a timeframe of less than one year, that falls under the category of Clairvoyance, not Prophecies.
But a Clairvoyant wouldn’t be able to get such detailed information like the number of Demon Lords. This was puzzling. They could be lying, sure, but Aella didn’t think that was the case. At least, not intentionally lying.
‘Whoever runs the cult withheld the Prohopcy then. But why?’
She’d ask, but probing for too much information here would give her less time as they’d grow suspicious faster. “And as for the Grand Awakening?”
A soft chuckle quickly turned into some manic laughter, something Aella could get behind. Dimitri spun around with his hands out wide.
“Look around you, Echo! Despite us sitting idly, the law enforcement don’t dare to get near! We have quietly sat in the shadows for so many years, growing our power! Now, we’re finally capable of protecting this world! Even if history will remember us as the bad guys!”
Aella nodded in agreement. From their perspective, that was indeed how this would go down. She couldn’t be sure if they’d win or lose without her interference, but regardless, they’d go down as the Villains. Nowadays, it’s far too difficult to cover up history like you could hundreds of years ago.
Further, Aella still didn’t see their outlook as wrong. Although she liked her plan of manipulating the Demon Lords more, the cult’s plan was safer, all things considered… If they were dealing with anyone aside from Demon Lords…
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That… Was when something clicked…
“They’re trying to accelerate the birth of the Demon Lords.” She mumbled, her eyes somehow widening further.
‘Damn it! How did I not notice that sooner? I’m so fucking stupid!’
“Now then, Little brat! Are you willing to join us? Are you going to die here!” Dimitri asked, continuing to laugh like a lunatic, to which Aella gladly joined in on the manic laughter.
Confused and a little taken aback, Dimitri’s laughter ended first, the expression he saw on Aella’s face frankly terrifying him.
“Ohh… You’re too funny… “She said, her laughter ending, “Hey! Freak, who’s been watching this entire time? Are you sure you’re okay with them yapping on and on like this?” She questioned, her words somehow finding their way to one specific individual.
Noticing their Aura shift, she smiled before turning her attention back to the cultists. Now that both of her insurances were just about ready, she could finally proceed.
“I do agree. These Demon Lords need to be neutralized.” She continued to speak to the cultists, Dimitri in particular looking ecstatic. “Unfortunately, your method is utter dogshit!”
“You! You still think you’re in a spot to deny this gracious offer! I’m offering you salvation! This is your one chance to be freed from the sins you were unfairly gi-”
Before he could finish his words, a blade of wind shot straight at his neck, only for his Vemonous dragon to fire off a glob of some magical acidic liquid to nullify it.
“DO NOT EVER OFFER ME SALVATION, PEASENT!” Aella screamed, her aura spiking, crushing the rubble near her into even smaller pieces than what they were already in.
A sense of danger made even their fully grown dragons step back as Aella’s Aura revealed itself to be strong enough to interfere with the physical world.
Such a reaction was obvious in a world that didn’t know of the concept of Aetherstreams prior to her arrival. Up until now, the manifestation of [Killing Intent] must also be a foreign concept. While it can appear naturally in lands known for the death of many, for it to be as condensed as what Aella was exuding, trillions, no, an unbelievably higher number than even that would have to die.
A unique feature of nearly every Aetherstream. After reaching the Ursa Minor level, your Aura can take on unique properties. Unlike magical affinities, this manifests based on their personality and actions in life. They’re forced to live with it invading their mind, regardless if it’s good or not. Aella’s manifestation…
Is the cries of all those she had doomed to death. Be it from killing the God who blessed them or slaughtering entire civilizations with her own hand to get to their leader, the number of screams that could be heard was hundreds of thousands, and Aella couldn’t display even a fraction of it.
Perhaps one out of one septillion percent.
Even just a few hundred thousand would be enough to terrify an ordinary person to death. The fact that it ended with Aymn falling off his Dragon and Dimitri falling to the floor was already a miracle.
“Since you seem like a religious group, let me tell you something,” Aella stated with a dreadful coldness in her voice, “A sinner like you can gain salvation through death and reincarnation. A sinner like me, however, will never gain salvation of any form. Whatever atrocities you commit will never compare to what I have committed or what I will commit. And it all starts with eviscerating your tiny little group of child murderers.”
Revealing her flames, the cultist named Aymn commanded his Dragon, “KILL HER! NOW!” before Aella could make a move. He knew something was amiss.
The Pyroclast Wyvern raised its head as it prepared a small explosive ball of energy.
“O’ world, forgive me for that which I steal from you. Just this once, I beg of you to look the other way.” Aella began chanting. For the first time ever since reincarnating, genuine uncontrollable rage surfaced. [Wrath] tripled her power as her flames began to circle her at an uncanny speed.
The world itself began letting out ghostly cries as Aella prepared to warp the laws of it to her whims, potentially killing everyone nearby. Even if the number of innocent people she killed had to increase once again, it was do or die. These Cultitsts needed to understand what it meant to mess with the [Bane of God.]
“Dimitri, what have you done?” Aymn yelled. Even he, who could not sense Mana, could feel the power Aella had rising. It became so abundant that it was palpable.
Then, the Dragon was ready to fire at her, launching its explosive attack while half of Aella’s flames began to combine into a shield, and the rest started to form into extra tails.