The girls had been waking up early the last two days and today was not an exception. As soon as we woke up we ate breakfast before leaving the house. As soon as we left the house itself started disappearing from the top down.

Making our way to the north gate most of the soldiers were just minding their own business. The only exceptions were the twenty soldiers that Leon would be bringing along on the journey. Not that he’ll need them. He’s under my protection after all.

I greeted Leon who seemed to have a nervous smile on his face. He must have been worried about the Council thing still. Maybe he was more worried about the actual diplomacy than the protection. Or maybe he was taking a gamble by leaving to me and was feeling nervous about whether it would pay off.

In any case we didn’t stay around too long and left. The journey itself was smooth. We didn’t encounter many monsters since we were going further away from the mountains and the soldiers took care of most of the hunting. The monsters we DID encounter were absolutely destroyed easily by me alone and the soldiers got little time to shine. I still did my own though since I just had little to do. Sometimes I entered the inner void and just relaxed there during the night. Of course I left a hug pillow for Cel and Lily to relax on… I really need to get them to quit that though.

On the sixth day we finally exited the forest and after a while climbing over a hill we could see the united city of the beastkin. The city of Tunik. I have to say it was more impressive than the human cities I had seen. The whole city was made of wood from what I could see. The most notable thing about it was the giant tree it was built around. As we got closer I could ascertain that as true. The wood was durable and the craftsmanship masterful. I had nothing but admiration for the men who built this city by hand.

As we entered the city me and the girls all wore our hoods. We didn’t want anyone finding out that we weren’t beastkin after all. Leon seemed to approve of the notion as he nodded approvingly and the soldiers just followed him without even caring about us. I guess it’s an improvement that they aren’t looking at us with scorn?

In any case we still had a day before the Council gathered. We had arrived early as the journey had gone way too well with me and the girls there. Lily was quickly getting better at swordmanship. If it’s her she might be able to slay the slime I had trouble with. Maybe not though. That illusion core trick was pretty nasty. If it was one on one maybe. But not while she’s surrounded. She was getting good at countering but she wasn’t perfect… and this style was created for people who can be perfect… maybe I should have thought her something simpler. This style is just way too ridiculous to be learned by normal people. I’ll consider teaching her something better later.

Cel on the other hand could probably take that entire room of slimes without any of them even getting close. She was becoming a stronger and stronger magician and now that she was learning mana manipulation she would soon have no need for spells. Something that only an Archmage can achieve. Archmages are the ones who turn magic into their tool. They control it and mold it as they please. Just like me. Cel wasn’t perfect at it yet but she was getting better. She could now form low-level spells without incantations and from what that staff did to her low-level spells I’d say she’s good.

Both of them had become strong. Much stronger than the beginning of our journey. Then again Cel was strong the whole time. The only reason she couldn’t escape was because that collar she was wearing back then was keeping her from using magic.

I looked at the city. The buildings were as mentioned earlier made only of wood and the roads were left natural but still felt like they’re not a hassle to walk on. Guess it’s the blessing of choosing the perfect location. I asked Leon what he would be doing until tomorrow and he told me he would just be going around the town. I would of course follow him. He told me that I didn’t have to follow him around but I refused to listen. If someone killed him while I wasn’t looking who would get me information on Kate? I could always force it out of someone but it was just easier to make and exchange and there was no easier exchange than one that has already been decided.

I followed him around town all day. The girls followed after me. We visited a few stores. Some for weapons. Some for alchemy. Some for other stuff. They had some interesting stuff which I took note of. Some interesting weapons were on display. Some interesting potions were being shown. It was a new culture. They thought differently from humans so there was a lot of new stuff and I was basking in the radiance of all of it. I loved new stuff after all. Just as much as I love knowledge. There wasn’t a book store or library though. It seems like beastkin really aren’t much on books. I was a bit sad about that.

While we were walking I saw a small girl near one of the alley ways which was begging for coin but everybody was passing her by. I put my hand into my pocket and created a coin like I’d seen Leon give to a few shopkeepers to pay for the things he bought and then took my hand out. I knocked the coin up with my thumb and it fell straight into the girl’s open palm. She looked around but she didn’t seem to notice who it was that gave her the coin. I just smiled and followed Leon.

He seemed to have noticed but when he looked at me with a bewildered expression I just smiled shrugging my shoulders. Maybe he didn’t think I had any coins from the Beastlands. Well he would be correct. The coin itself was made 100% of gold and not even a hint of void anywhere. Rather than making something out of void I treated it as making the void into something when creating it. Just like I did with my body before the slimes dungeon. Hell if it’s like this I could even make burnable wood. The great advances we make huh?

After we were done with the shopping we went to one of the larger buildings in the city which was apparently Leon’s clan’s property. We would rest here and tomorrow we would attend the Council meeting. Of course the whole night I watched over Leon as he slept from the shadows. If he was worried enough about assassination that he made a serious face when requesting my help then the threat must be real right?

The night still ended uneventfully. So uneventfully I questioned whether my presence here was even needed. Maybe the others weren’t taking any risky moves yet? Maybe they were waiting for after the Council when they thought that we would have our guards down? I don’t know. I could only hope that nothing at all would happen anymore. I was tired of the constant disasters that occurred wherever I went. Seriously if this was an RPG what would be my LCK stat? Like minus a million? Less? I shook my head to free myself of the ridiculous things I was imagining.

As Leon woke up I also woke up the girls and we left our rooms at the same time. Leon seemed to still be nervous about this. No… he seemed even more nervous than before. I asked him what was bothering him but he just brushed off the question and said everything was fine when it obviously wasn’t. Well whatever. We would only have to attend the Council today and then we were home free… well we would be free to go back to camp at least I guess.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

As we walked towards the building the Council would be held in I was surprised to find it was the giant tree from earlier. There were stairs built on the side of it and as we climbed them we reached a huge door which opened up to the interior of the tree. The inside contained a table which seemed to be carved out of the tree itself as it was still connected to it and twenty seats around it which seemed to be the same.

The chairs were already almost filled. There were only two spaces remaining one of which was quickly taken by Leon. The rest of the beastkin gave me and the two girls behind me a brief glance or two but didn’t look in our general direction too much. All of them had a guard or two with them and though some like the bear seemed to prefer not having them it was something like a formality.

We waited for the last seat to be filled. Waitng took half an hour. But… that half an hour would be my last before the disaster I had dreaded struck. As the last man came in behind him was following someone who I could only describe as an angel. But what surprised me wasn’t that. It was something much different. Something much more essential. That face. That face. That face. THAT FACE! WHY IS IT HERE? WHY DOES IT BELONG TO WHOEVER THAT IS?

I saw the angel moving it’s lips as if screaming something and the light beneath my feet lit up but I didn’t care. I was way too busy with something else. I walked slowly in the direction of the angel and I felt something wet and warm go down my cheek. That was weird. I didn’t think I could cry like this. Maybe… Maybe I wanted to…. Why? Why was she here? Of all people why? WHY IS MY SISTER IN THIS WORLD?

“S-“ (Kenos)

Before I could even finish the name the circle on the ground lit up even brighter. I could see the men in the Council yelling something but I couldn’t hear them. Leon though… Leon was standing still and watching me with a calm and sort of cold face. Before I could reach the angel with my sister’s face the light reached its peak and swallowed me inciting a familiar sensation of changing scenery. When I came back to I was standing in the middle of a room with approximately twelve different people of all ages and sizes looking down on me from above.

Among them there were two people I could recognize. Zahrah… Eirene…Based on those two being here I could guess who the others were. I snapped out of my shock. It was a bit too late for it though. I tried to go into the void to escape but for some reason I could not. Maybe it was because this was the domain of the gods? You can’t go from one spiritual place directly to another maybe? Or do you need help? Who cares? Not me.

“Well hi there.” (Zahrah)

I looked towards her and wiped the remaining wet sensation from my face. The only thing remaining was an otherworldly coldness. Zahrah was smirking still. Just like the last time we had met. Heh… reminds me of Leon… I finally understood what had happened. So he betrayed me… Heh… Heheh…. I… I was… again? Again? AGAIN?

“Oh don’t look at me like that. It’s your own fault. Look at yourself! You’re nothing but an evil monster now!” (Zahrah)

“Evil? Me?” (Kenos)

I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Me? Evil? A little bit weird in the head maybe but evil? That’s… Not something I viewed myself as before. Heh… Would be so nice to be evil. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with this bullshit.

I looked towards Eirene. She was biting her lip as she looked towards me with disdain. Why are you? I… I trusted you… even when Zahrah betrayed me I always thought “Eirene probably wasn’t in on it.” “Eirene isn’t the type of person to do that.”! Don’t… don’t look at me like that… I had just wiped the tears from my cheeks but they streamed again.

*Crack*

“Yup. You. You killed a lord and a king just because you felt like it and did nothing to atone for it. We can’t let you misuse your power like that so sorry buddy. We’re gonna have to get rid of ya.” (Zahrah)

Just because I felt like it? Because the lord was a slaver who tortured women and children alike until they were broken at which point he left them for dead and because the king was a moron who couldn’t lead a country and thought slavery to be a natural thing and that human’s lives naturally belonged to him was because I felt like it?

“I don’t get it… How am I evil?” (Kenos)

The other gods looked at me with bewilderment, some of them resentment… one of them pity… I couldn’t understand what was happening once more. Why was Eirene looking at me like I’m someone to be pitied? Like I’m someone who didn’t even know what he was doing? I don’t understand. From Zahrah’s wording until now it seemed like she was faking not knowing me even though she was representing the other gods through speaking... maybe that was just because she was a chatterbox.

“Enough of this. Why are you speaking to it? Just terminate it already. I don’t have all day.” (God)

Sorry can’t let you do that. I raised my hand intending to make a spike run through all the gods but one… but it didn’t work. No matter how hard I tried nothing came out of nowhere. Void was useless in this domain. Well… That’s a bitch. I looked towards Eirene once more as the circle beneath my feet started to glow. She was stretching her arm forward just like the other gods and feeding some sort of energy into the formation underneath my feet with a pained expression on her face. This was different from light magic. As soon as the formation began to glow I as assaulted by intense pain.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH” (Kenos)

I couldn’t help screaming since I wasn’t used to experiencing pain in this form. Eirene seemed pained as well. She seemed like she didn’t want to see me in pain. Why was she still going along with this then? No… she wasn’t looking at me… at this point what she saw was a monster in my form… my form? Was this my form again? No can’t be. I mean… Eirene was looking at me as if it wasn’t… so… it can’t be right? It was the form of the dragon called Vedqothur… but… I was him right? Was I? If I was why would Eirene look like it wasn’t? I am… Who was I again? A tyrant who took over the world? A dragon who died while failing to protect a little girl only two days into his birth? The void? I don’t know. I should be all three. I should be. I remember taking over the world. I remember dying and failing to save Kate. I remember… I… I remember… W…h…a…t…again? As the circle of light grew brighter and brighter, amplifying my pain and with it my screams I was left with only one question as I was banished from this world by the light of origin.

“Who am I then?” (Unknown)