It was almost intuitive the way the blade danced as Silas weaved through the five, his mind calculating the impromptu footwork that carried him between attacks with barely a scratch. He never knew how to fight and he still didn’t, but his instincts guided him through the basics easily enough.
Positioning. Leveraging force. Parrying. Silas found his blade intercepting another, causing it to bounce off to the side and leave the man wide open. Blood energy pulsed through his mangled fist as he punched the man in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground with a grunt.
Disregarding the pain, he leapt back, dodged two more strikes and pivoted in place. Silas swung the blade to the side, blocking a knife and sending a kick towards the man's head. Beneath a sickening crunch, the mobsters nose broke and he stumbled back a few steps. Fist after fist and strike after strike, he disarmed them.
He frowned as the man he just knocked down slowly stood and picked up the machete again, running back into the fight without a care. Did they not realise he could have long killed them? In fact, the amount of fear energy he siphoned from them during the fight only continued to decrease.
Silas heaved a sigh of relief as the gunfire ended in the buildings around him, knowing Lilith would be wrapping up shortly to come help him. His elbow slammed into the side of a woman’s head just before her mace made contact with his waist. Silas turned and struck her with the flat of the blade and she too fell stumbling.
His eyes narrowed and before he knew it, Silas drew Noble Eye and fired. As the instinct overtook him and fire blossomed from his gun, his gaze locked onto one of the Empyreans who was still in the process of drawing his revolver.
Red like roses poured from the man’s chest as Silas watched him slowly look down towards the wound and then fall from his feet. Silas didn’t hear his companions’ screams as his arm moved and fired every bullet left in the Noble Eye. He didn’t even sense the last spike in fear energy as the mobsters were suddenly fired upon.
Blood from the lady with the mace stained his tan skin as he stepped over her body towards the lucky two survivors. One bled from their stomach and breathed weakly while the other seemed unharmed. Both wielding knives. Their fear tainted by rage.
Did they believe him weak? Easy? Five against one and he still spared their lives, aiming only to disarm. Their fight lasted minutes and he had only ever moved to maim, yet they thought him prey. Why? Why did they make him do it? Why was killing so easy? Lives so cheap in their eyes?
They both ran forward together. Silas flipped the Noble Eye in his hand. He used it as a club to knock the first mace away as he stared the other mobster down. “Stop.”
As the fear energy drained from his reserves, the man froze in place behind his companion and Silas brought the dull blade across, using sheer force to cut through the injured man’s neck. Just as the other man regained his freedom, Silas sealed his fate with another command. “Freeze.”
With another slash, another head was freed from its body. The Five were dead. While he could somehow convince himself he didn’t kill the two in the hospital, he was keenly aware of killing these five. His bullets. His blade. His hands.
Silas hunched over and threw up on the street, nothing but bile coming out. When that ran dry, he just heaved as much as he could. He wasn’t even shaking, the sheer control over his body allowed to him by fear energy not allowing him. Five lives for his, was it worth it at all? And their families? Friends?
Lilith smacked her hand over his mouth with a tight grip and practically pulled him back up to his feet with one quick move. His tears poured onto her hand even as Silas looked at her in a daze. When did she come out? Did she kill her opponents, too?
“Are you giving up?”
Silas let out a muffled ‘what’ and her blank gaze turned sharp, throwing him to the ground in what was almost disdain or contempt. Lilith shook her hands and a quick blaze burned off whatever tears stained her skin. “They tried to kill you and you’re crying for them? Really? If you care so much, you should have given up.”
“They’re still people-”
“Who treated you like prey. Get over it.”
“But-”
“Get. The fuck. Over it.” Lilith grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him in front of her. “Whatever future you’re mourning the loss of, their futures? They would have taken yours. Now I need you to keep leading the way.”
Silas didn’t really realise he started walking. He had taken the Bloodstone back out absent-mindedly to recover his blood energy, listlessly leading the way forth. Every time he turned his head back to look at her and say something, Lilith’s sharp gaze shut him up real quick. He wasn’t even sure he knew what he was going to say.
She wasn’t wrong, but he just couldn’t put it so rationally. He understood the idea. Kill or be killed. Survive. If he let them win, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish any of the things he wanted to do. But to snuff out a life..
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And was it really the first? The mutants in the hospital or the countless others he had now killed. They were alive, if mindless. Was it not then the value of the life that bothered him but just the idea it was another person? If so, what made them so different?
Nothing. Everything had its life and death. All he could do was just ensure he didn’t make any death meaningless. Not even these seven lives he’s ended so far. His blood energy suddenly sped up as if some hindrance disappeared and his mind felt just a little clearer. His gaze turned bright once more.
This time, when he turned to look at Lilith, she didn’t shut him up or insult him, but rather remained silent as she did before the encounter. He even saw a slight tilt of her head, as if thinking. “Why did they attack us?”
“Likely the belief that you are a representative of an unknown party here to form an alliance to help us destroy them.”
“That’s what they died for?”
“Yes.”
Silas remained quiet for a few moments. If they had just made a few different choices, their deaths wouldn’t be so meaningless. Silas turned back to properly be aware of the street as he walked but that didn’t stop him from talking. “You’ve killed before, I’m guessing?”
“Mh.”
“Why?”
“Several reasons.”
“Your first kill?”
“I blew a Rook’s head off after he tried to kill me in my sleep.”
With a huff, the Nightweaver cursed inwardly. These people engaged in such acts long before Ironside went to shit. As if reading his thoughts, Lilith explained. “The assassin believed my life was worth more than his. I agreed. I have killed no innocent, only those who have already given their life away.”
“You’re sure?”
“No.”
Stunned, Silas kept walking and returned to silence. This lady was very blunt and rather wrathful, but also very forthcoming. It was weird interacting with her, but it didn’t make him uncomfortable either. She just showed things as they were in her mind.
She didn’t seem to feel the same guilt he did, or maybe she simply got much better at ignoring it. Nevertheless, she didn’t feel any regret and it was obvious. And why should he? They gave their lives away. She was right. He won’t feel regret for what they made him do.
In summary; no meaningless death, no regrets.
It was like something clicked in his mind and the guilt was pushed deep, deep down somewhere he’d never find it. A weight lifted from his shoulders and his pace sped up lightly. Silas could make it sound a little better, sure, but he liked that little creed. No meaningless death, no regrets.
A few hours had passed by when Silas finally led them back to the Refinery, met at the gate by a myriad of people. Amus, Cassandra, and Lady Brightshade both stood there with pensive looks, their gazes locking onto his left palm holding the Bloodstone the moment they saw him. Immediately there was a shift in the air, and a shift in the way they looked at him.
Then their gazes turned onto Lilith and the changes weren’t nearly as drastic. Amus looked a little confused whereas Brightshade just looked wary. After a few moments of idle suspicion, Silas and Lilith made it to the gate where tensions quickly died off. Especially as he handed back the list of medicinal ingredients and the very full medicine bag. The moment the medicinal bag ended up in their hands, a flash of blue light lit up his vision.
[You have received 200 points from Wayfinder Cassandra]
Silas ultimately decided against letting them know about the Blood Cleansing Pills but he wasn’t shy in telling them about the wolfdog mutant. He didn’t go into detail, but they should be aware of what mutant beasts could mean.
It only took another hour after that for one of the guardsmen, a doctor, to take a look at his injuries. Apparently his right hand had already healed too much, requiring another careful break of the bones to properly set them. If he wanted proper healing, he’d have to stick to keeping it in a sling for at least a week.
The ribs were less of an issue, instead requiring only a couple days and a few doses of medicine. He’d be in tip top physical shape in relatively no time at all. The question then was what Silas would do with all his time.
He dropped by the makeshift armoury for a few moments, long enough for Hector to wrap him in a big bear hug and recount the series of events. Silas left the Black Iron Blade there for sharpening, as he’d be allowed to just rest for a few days without fighting.
No one mentioned the Bloodstone either. The combination of it and the potential Blood Cleansing Pills and other elixirs left behind, Silas felt progress would be fast from here on out. With a total of 220 points, he could buy three more Catalysts. It wouldn’t bring him to the peak, but his survivability would improve rapidly.
As Silas sat down in his makeshift cot, he reloaded Noble Eye and cleaned his glasses. After taking a few moments to calm and collect himself, he made a rough plan. His thoughts moved and Silas found himself in the vast expanse of the Lotus Space and in front of the vaguely familiar Nine Story Pagoda.
The sign seemed slightly less lacklustre than before, its letters shining in the omnipresent light. Still a shimmering grey with black tones, the building hardly changed since last he was here.
It was still empty.
Silas still remained on the first floor of the Pagoda and summoned the shop panel again. The number of items more than doubled in the time he’d been gone and the average price increased. Most catalysts now cost 40 points, while many more 200 point legacies appeared.
[Choose this one]
Just as Silas began to scroll through the shop and apply filters, a single item caught his eye. One of the only items for 140 points, the label for [Runic Inscription Art] began to flash. Looking at the message the Lotus left for him, Silas hesitantly pressed on the flashing label to read the description.