It was a bit ironic that by eating the bodies of two of the most depraved souls from the two races that could symbolize soul and body, Burn could fix his broken soul.

It just came full circle.

“Merfolks were born in the deepest abyss of the ocean. It could also be seen as the womb of a mother, creating the body. While unicorns were born amongst the clouds and the light from the sky, like the soul, and the seed from a father,” Morgan muttered, as Aidyl hummed in understanding.

“Yes, also, merfolks usually lure men, while unicorns can only touch virgin women…” Burn shrugged, and Eos snorted.

“Kallank actually forced our daughters to lure more sailors underwater and steal their treasures. He used threats to make humans and other creatures pay hefty sums to cross the ocean; he's worse than pirates,” Aidyl said.

The Merfolk sighed a bubble, “Those I mentioned were just the tip of the iceberg.”

"And Moslast, because we unicorns can only touch virgin women, decided to become a serial rapist targeting only virgins. If you didn’t kill him, he might become a bicorn and lose all his reasons, becoming a complete monster,” Eos said.

“The only reason he can still maintain his unicorn form was that he still gave these virgin victims some measly magic like long-lasting youth or love potion ingredients.”

Burn's grin widened. "Certainly, the effect of my recovery could still be achieved by consuming the two of you, creatures free of sins unlike those two. However, selecting them is undeniably more efficacious. They are easier to track and target, given their multitude of existing enemies."

"Or perhaps you're just..." Morgan sighed, "trying to maintain order, as you said."

Burn neither denied nor confirmed it.

Eos muttered, "But abandoning one's humanity to survive..."

"Or just to maintain order is..." Aidyl frowned.

"I agree," Burn nodded. "Some people might rather just die. But I am someone who'd rather eat two sentient creatures than die full of spite."

Morgan immediately yelled as she tried to contain her tears, "You were ten years old, Caliburn! You were a child!"

"My dear Madam..." Burn embraced her head as he stood beside her seat. "It doesn't matter whether I was a child or not; I still killed and consumed two sentient creatures."

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The feeling of detachment he had experienced since birth might have been the reason he was able to do something so depraved.

Burn smiled as he looked down at her. "You did say you'd cry a lot again, but I didn't think you'd cry this much."

"I'm sorry, Caliburn..." Morgan whispered.

"No," he sighed. "I'm sorry, and thank you."

Tension hung heavy in the air, as the weight of the full truth settled upon them like a heavy shroud of guilt.

Consuming other sentient beings, even when those beings were criminals themselves, felt inherently wrong and irredeemable. The moral conundrum of survival clashing with the horrors of his actions gnawed at their consciences.

While they could all find common ground in condemning the act, the circumstances that had led to such extreme measures added layers of complexity to their judgment.

The victims had also been criminals, a detail that blurred the line between justice and barbarity. How could they reconcile the necessity of survival with the deeply disturbing nature of his choices?

And as a child at that.

The realization that they now bore the burden of this dark knowledge like a stain on their souls weighed heavily upon them.

It wasn't just a matter of physical sustenance anymore; it was a question of his very humanity. How could he ever look at himself in the same light after crossing such a moral boundary, even in the name of survival?

“Art thou…not of human kind?”

Isaiah asked suddenly.

Burn turned to the long black-haired dragon.

"I am a human," Burn replied.

Isaiah shrugged. “If thou wert born a dragon, thou mightest need not ponder such a conundrum. In sooth, in certain circumstances, none would question it at all.”

Onulph straightened up. "Yes. If you were born a lycan, you might never need to think like this either. Our culture can sometimes be questionable to humans, too."

"And just like vampires, where we must kill other creatures to survive, sentient or not," Vlad added.

Tashr sighed. "Actually, ancient elves, humans and dwarves also consumed parts of their deceased relatives to mourn and pay respect. Of course, such a tradition was born out of ignorance and confusion, but that era did exist."

Wekkoun nodded. "I'm sure all of us, or at least our ancestors, have a history of consuming food that could talk at some point in our pasts."

“Don’t need to ask me,” Selen, the female weretiger, snorted.

“Okay, sorry, we’re half vegetarian. I mean, half herbivore,” Adroros pointed at his horse body. “We can rarely eat meat too, but I understand. I... we... we eat horses sometimes.”

“You eat horses?!” Eos neighed in shock.

“And we eat fishes too…” Aidyl closed his eyes tightly, trying to clear his mind of the existential crisis. “...fuck… this is such a pandora box…”

Morgan laughed and cried, wiping her tears. “We should stop…”

Burn didn’t know how they had reached this point, but the bond between different races and species felt unexpectedly wholesome and warm. Being in this moment, the raw truth unfolded with ease, revealing itself in the gentlest manner.

The thing was, this wasn't the only terrible sin he had committed in the past, nor would it be the last. Despite the comforting connection he felt now, he knew that walking this path required him to possibly abandon his humanity once more. Again, and again.

CLICK—SLAM!

The grand double doors to the assembly hall swung open. The entrance of the second Elf Princess Nahwu pierced the comforting ambiance like a drawn sword, her presence commanding attention and disrupting the peace that had settled in the room.

“Mother, don’t be tricked! This man—! This tyrant, he killed his father to seize the throne and also killed his rebelling brother!”