“Of course, I will handle it, Isolf. Don’t worry. I will unify our people… And we will have prosperity and unity, unlike anything you can imagine. I will go with you to your home… And work out the details with your people… But first… I think we should take care of the criminal that has caused this mess… We will give your father a proper funeral. I promise.” Kazius assured with a small comforting smile. It was a genuine one, a bit of pity filling his eyes.

Isolf was naïve… Kazius wished he did not have to do this… But he supposed what was done was done. He would make things up to him through his actions.

‘There are no good guys in this situation… What I did was necessary…’ Kazius assured himself. He had already confirmed his resolve with his friends… They would become awful men to do good things. There was no other choice.

‘Don’t you find all this justification exhausting? It felt good… Watching your little plot work out, didn’t it?’ The distinct voice questioned in amusement. This was followed by snickers from The Shadows.

‘You’re wrong. I take no pleasure in this.’ Kazius insisted.

‘Lying to yourself, is that what we are doing now?’ The distinct voice mocked. It was almost like he could hear the voice roll its eyes at him. If a voice could even have eyes.

It felt like The Shadows and the distinct voice only got more and more vocal as of late… But ignoring them was not an option… So Kazius felt at a loss.

It also felt like the distinct voice used to be less snarky with him, but as of late… It was more willing to outright mock him. All Kazius could do was focus on what was in front of him

Kazius frowned, looking briefly at Isolf. The Frost Giant looked heartbroken, holding his father’s hand despite the Frost Giant King being long dead.

Isolf's father paid for his actions, that much he knew. All Isolf did was nod quietly, relieved at Kazius’ response.

Alice and Damon would come over, coming with others to come and help with taking care of Reimdir’s body to prepare a proper funeral for him. Then there was the matter of transporting Egil, who was now a prisoner until his death sentence was carried out.

“Isolf, Damon is the strongest person we have here physically. He will help you get your father somewhere more appropriate. I will make sure our traitor is properly restrained and then we can discuss how to go about unifying our people… Our council building is… Rather inadequate for what we need… So, we will have to figure out something else.” Kazius assured.

Once again, Kazius simply got another nod.

“Alright, Damon. Help him get him somewhere to get the body cleaned up. He can’t be sent off properly in such a state… Also, have someone build a raft big enough for him. There is no way to get him home... At least not in a dignified way... So he will have to be sent off here.” Kazius stated. He had not made any plans for anything considering how suspicious it would look if they had been prepared for a Frost Giant funeral.

Egil’s action had to look as out of nowhere and unprovoked as possible. Sure, due to the death of the scouts, the people of Vargstam were not fond of Frost Giants… But Reimdir’s blood would wash away any of that sentiment… And Egil’s blood would help clean up things once they headed back to Isolf’s home...

So as bad as their actions were, Kazius still believed they were necessary and without waste. What he told himself and reality though were two different things.

Before Damon and Isolf could head out, Azanor approached Isolf. His expression was one meant to comfort… But something darker lurked underneath.

“I know it is hard, Isolf, but you are doing the correct thing in your situation.” Azanor admitted, that much was not a lie. His words were something Kazius also believed.

Isolf simply nodded again in response, his expression saying it all. He seemed almost limp. He was just going through the motions. It was almost like talking to a golem.

Azanor frowned a little, swallowing a bit before taking a deep breath. There was a shakiness to him, like someone had a leash on him that prevented him from going forward… Though with every second that leash was ripping. His expression turned from pity to a glint of hunger. As this occurred, there was a change in his eyes.

For someone who did not know Azanor, it was not noticeable… But for Kazius, he could tell that the gaze in Azanor’s eyes was the gaze of Azanor The Demon, not Azanor The Loving Husband. He was reaching his limit, temptation was becoming too much for him.

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“Azanor, why don’t you go check on Eve?” Kazius suggested, placing his hand on his shoulder to snap him out of the trance. At the mention of Eve, the predatory glint in Azanor’s eyes seemed to shift to a more Humane light in them.

Azanor took another deep breath, returning to reality.

“Yes…” Azanor trailed off, looking at his cane. He gripped it more firmly, the object combined with the thought of Eve was enough to ground him.

“I think I should go.” Azanor agreed, realizing it was probably best he kept his distance for a while.

After all, this plan was his handiwork. It all added wood to the fire that was his darker inclinations. He may be willing to connive, but the most important promise that he had made to himself would not be broken…

He refused to eat even one more soul. That was a line he would not cross… No matter how many more terrible things he would do.

Still, it was hard.

By Demon standards… All that had happened today was the equivalent of preparing a dish… And now it was right in front of him… But he had to restrain himself from eating it, despite starving himself for so long.

Kazius made a note to not let Azanor think of too many things like this anytime soon…

For one he hoped he would not have to, but it was also not good for his friend.

“It will be okay, Isolf. Go. I will join you in a second once I figure out how to go about dealing with this prisoner.” Kazius stated once he made sure Azanor had gone far enough ahead. After all, it would do little good to have him bump into Isolf on the way back.

“As for you, I have an important task for you, Caleb. You know what happened here... I’d like you to assemble everyone in town. I am sure they will want answers for what is going to happen.” Kazius stated to the shaken Half-Elf.

Caleb was a good Wizard and had done well taking charge during the Frost Giant attack… But he still needed to get better at handling his nerves during tough situations. This was not easy, but it could have been much worse.

“Y-Yes… I will go do that.” Caleb stated hesitantly. He looked uncomfortable, but that was why Kazius wanted him to be the one to do this. Still, he did as told, leaving as well.

With everyone else gone, Kazius looked at Alice and then at Egil. Kazius sighed, looking at Egil coldly.

“Egil… Egil… Egil… I am very disappointed in you.” Kazius finally admitted with a sigh.

“I told you, Kazius. He is a lose end. He proved it. He could have shown restraint…” Alice stated firmly with a scowl. She looked at Egil with pure disdain.

“First, he allows Luna to run the show until things get so bad that she is able to control everyone in town… Then the moment he comes to his senses he apologizes, but the minute things go South… He throws his apology that he did not mean to the wind… And attacks Damon.” Alice continued, indignation in her voice.

“And today, he acted like he was The Chief… And killed the leader of another place without my agreement.” Kazius continued, his red eyes were full of disappointment and disdain. Of course, half of what they were saying was gaslighting, but there was a bit of truth there. A small part of Kazius had hoped that he would prove himself to be trustworthy.

After Kazius was done speaking, he removed any coverings of Egil’s mouth, but The Shadows held him firmly.

“You… You dare accuse me of being a traitor when Vind was killed by them!? I defended her honor!” Egil snapped out with a growl.

“Exactly, you defended HER, you do not give a shit about The people of Vargstam.” Kazius snapped back.

“It is always Vind this, Vind that… And now you killed someone that leads a whole Kingdom of GIANTS that are capable enough of killing due to their size alone. Yet you demanded to have someone translate for you as if you were The Chief and then acted on your own without any sort of agreement from me… And for this reason, you are going to die, Egil.” Kazius admitted, a hint of remorse in his voice.

“But don’t worry… We intend to start peace with The Frost Giants… Vargstam will know prosperity unlike anywhere else. I promise you that much… And for your service, I am telling you this much.” Kazius continued.

“But… They admitted to killing Vind! They don’t want peace!” Egil exclaimed, outraged.

“Oh… About that… I will be honest, that was a lie… We wanted to test you and your willingness to show restraint… To not let words blind you into doing something without making sure it is for the best of Vargstam and to see whether you respected me as Chief… It was Alice’s idea to do this test… And then Azanor decided how we should go about this… Considering how you have behaved. I am sorry to say you failed.” Kazius simply.

“It is a shame… I was hoping to be proven wrong. It doesn’t matter anymore though. Your death will be a good thing… You either would have proved yourself loyal… Or done what you did now, which is to our benefit. It was a win-win anyway.” Alice admitted with a sigh.

“On that note… Since you are going to die… I want you to know the truth… Vind is not dead and she did not abandon Vargstam… Maybe you will go into her arms when you die? Who knows? But I did strangle her power out of her… In a way, anyway… But that doesn’t change what we did. It was the way we protected Vargstam. I don’t regret it. During the funeral, she tried to tell everyone, but I chased her away… I don’t regret that either.” Kazius stated, feeling a little relieved to speak about something like that so openly. It made him feel better since even if he did not regret it, it didn’t make what he did any nicer… But it was necessary.

“You… You awful manipulative Fiends! You are… You are…” Egil managed out, trembling in rage, but unable to do anything. The Shadows seemed to laugh in delight at his despair, the noise closer to a shrill shriek that would normally hurt someone’s ears… If they could hear it.

Egil searched for the right word, but he seemed to be unable to find it. He did seem to settle on several.

“Monsters... Both of you… All of you… Terrible traitorous Monsters…” Egil snarled out, baring his canines. There was only rage in his olive eyes.

“Monsters? Is that really what you are calling us? According to many, we all are. This includes you. We are not people… But it doesn’t matter… Just know Vargstam will be safe… Rest in peace knowing that… Next time I see you… It will be in your execution… In the meantime, I think I know how to transport you…” Kazius stated with a small smile.

How could he not be happy? Vargstam was safe… And now he could make sure he would have better means to save the world.

With that, Kazius flicked his finger, The Shadows grabbed Egil… They made him sink deeper and deeper… Until he was surrounded by darkness.