Inu's heart froze as his eyes met Liv's. Those eyes of hers were nothing like he had seen before. They were not just cold or desensitized anymore. They were utterly detached like she was a god watching the foolery of men who thought they could touch her.

Still, they betrayed a hint of emotion as she peered at him. He had hurt her somewhere deep. That slight vulnerability made her all the more terrifying, however. Inu wasn't afraid she would kill him, though. He feared that she would let him live.

He wanted to ask her to do it. Just get it over with. End him. But that was too much. Too much to ask.

So he kept his mouth in a tight line as he enclosed the children behind his back while he moved to stand beside the king. There was clearly no running from Liv. The wall was shut off once again for protective measures, though if Liv had made it in, so would likely the Shadow as well.

Under the rows and rows of yellow-white flames that illuminated the room by some matter manipulator trick, the head-to-head of two of the most powerful people in all of the world ensued. The King's Guard stood on the sides, staring right ahead, waiting absent-mindedly for any command from their king that would've brought purpose to their existence. None came and Inu as well as Jakaan had to wait on the side without any knowledge.

The king simply sat there, his forearms resting on the throne with even his fingers loose. Liv stood opposite him without the slightest hint of basic human emotion on her blood-stained face.

It was a stare-off. A simple meeting of two gazes as intense as any the world had ever seen. The king's chin was tilted down so that he did not look down on Liv. Liv's chin was ever-so-slightly tilted up, but she did not look down on him either. As abhorrent as the situation was, there was still mutual respect in the air.

It wasn't as Inu would've expected. A thought of having Liv changed. That there was yet a chance the day would not be a complete tragedy. Then he realized it was a kind of power struggle.

Seeing who would fold under the pressure. Whose constitution would betray the first hint of emotion. Who would speak the first word.

It was all a test the king was pulling. He comprehended the meaning of the assault and meant to expose Liv's resolve. Physical threats had proved a non-effect, so he was intent to crumble her from the inside. Let her show emotion. That hatred of hers that would tilt the act of her point-proving assault from an amoral act to one of profound immorality on the basis of misguided revenge.

However, Liv stayed in the battle and didn't flinch. As if to say she had ascended past revenge, she tilted her head at the king as if wondering the purpose of his test. The king's eyes widened by just the slightest amount noticeable to the human eye, but for Liv, it was enough. She knew his purpose was to stall as well, so she would speak first.

"It is said that power corrupts," Liv said, sweeping her gaze through the room, the flames of the ceiling reflected in her eyes as she raised a hand to gesture to the king. "Do you feel corrupt?" She let the words hang and echo through the empty bunker.

"I do not believe our powers are comparable," the king answered without a single movement in his body, keeping an eerily close grip on any nonverbal cues. "My power is filtered and kept a close eye on; Your power is one unchecked by anyone." The king blinked for the first time since Inu entered the room. It was the single most firm blink Inu had ever seen. It was like there was the effort of a hundred men there to pull down those eyelids and give moisture to his eyes in which the tiny blood vessels became more visible by the second. "Even yourself."

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Inu realized to lick his lips when his bottom one split and a narrow line of blood flowed down to his chin and splatted on the ground. It was almost inaudible even to him, but Liv seemed to notice and gave him a cold glance. Suddenly the inside of his skull was burning up while a cold tear of sweat ran along the side of his head. He felt the urge to itch the wet hairs on his head but conformed to the nonmovement in the bunker where the one who moved the most was Claude. And even the girl trembled just slightly, squeezed tightly in the arms of Jakaan who looked on from behind Inu with big eyes and his mouth hanging open.

Liv inhaled. And exhaled. They were the only sounds in the entire room. "Answer the question. Do. You. Feel. Corrupt?"

The king's eyelids lowered slightly. "I do not," he answered with a regal slowness to his words. "Do you?" he reflected the question with a tiny nod of his head.

Liv relaxed her arms and wrapped her hands behind her back before puffing her chest out slightly. "Whatever, I have done has been as much for the people of this world as you believe your actions have."

The king betrayed no sign of amusement, his face the picture of graveness. "I seriously doubt that," he replied, his low voice humming throughout. "Your duty is first to your people as is mine. Only, my people is the people. While I recognize the hint of nobility in your actions and some—such as my son here—have a sense of understanding towards your actions and maybe even praise, I do feel the need to make something clear." Jakaan shuddered slightly. Inu figured it may have been that the boy had always done his best to hide that particular thought from his father, however, he had grasped it, nevertheless. "The lives you may save by showing the danger posed by the Shadow and have him exterminated—of which I am not sure Stratum would be capable of—those same lives or their offspring would be subject to the next inheritor of the King's Eyes. In a situation such as this, there is no right course of action, so it is only proper to choose the lesser evil. The one that saves more lives," the king let the words linger. But he wasn't done. He may have won an argument with just that. But he wasn't trying to appeal to a judge. His goal was for the opposition to commit suicide.

Liv remained quiet without anything on her face. If she was going through something, she didn't show it. Then the king's voice came again and Inu let himself shiver for the first time, if only to shake some of the tension from himself.

"Yours is a way of the heart. The world has done wrong to you. To the ones you hold and have held dear. You see that and you know you can, with the power you have been blessed with, right that wrong. That is something I am sure no human could resist. However, in righting that wrong, you doom so many more to suffer the wrong you have."

"Possibly," Liv punctuated. "One who inherits the King's Eyes is born, and the Shadow kills it as well as annihilating anything that exists within its range. But if the Shadow was exterminated—as I am sure it can, even if not by the power of my eyes—then the future generations may behold many heroes and champions."

"Your premonitions are unrealistic," the king stated.

"Yours are pessimistic to the point of self-servitude," Liv countered.

"Self-serving? Is that how you would describe Inu?" the king asked, turning his head smoothly. Suddenly all eyes were boring down on him.

Liv looked at him with a gaze slightly puzzled but so cold it could've made one's breath fog. "By that you mean him betraying and sacrificing me?"

"You haven't told her?" The king's eyes narrowed as he looked at Inu who was busy taking in every gaze from Jakaan's pleading one to the surprised ones of the soldiers. "Now is the time then. Tell her. What really happened in Eruchmia so many years ago? Come now, Aomon. Tell us about the Eastern Purge."