“He broke our formation, Iris.” A voluptuous female called out from beneath the cover of a red hood, speaking to another similarly dressed woman.
“Oh? He must be more capable than the rumors suggest, if he did so already.” The second woman spoke in a pleased tone. “Still, we have more tricks up our sleeves. Sister Nyx, this one will be in your hands.”
“Of course.” A third voice spoke up from the nearby shadows, another form concealed within. “He’s as good as ours.”
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I stood with my eyes closed as a thin mist spread out around me. The sky seemed dark, yet I was somehow able to see clearly. I looked around, trying to find some landmarks I could use to identify my present location. As I did so, I heard a voice from behind me.
“Come on, bro!” Turning, I saw Aurivy standing within the hallway. Hallway? Another glance around showed me to be in the Admin Room. “You’re going to miss the show.”
“What show?” I asked curiously, almost in a daze as I turned to follow her. Out in the living room, I could see Terra, Accalia, and Leowynn all waiting for me on the couch.
“The fireworks! You set it up yourself, remember?” There was a happy smile on Aurivy’s face as she ran over to sit in Terra’s lap, turning to watch the screen. On it, I could see a zoomed out image of Earth. However, there was something else in the image as well… a giant meteor, aimed straight towards the planet.
My eyes went wide in alarm as I saw that. “Where’s Ryone? Tubrock? Shouldn’t they be stopping this?”
“Why would we?” Ryone asked curiously, walking out from behind me to lean against the back of the couch. “This is what you wanted, right? To destroy everything with a bang, and start fresh. Oh, but it looks like Tsubaki’s not going to accept that.” The image zoomed in, and I could see the Sky Citadel leaving the planet’s atmosphere, moving towards the meteor. “She’s definitely not strong enough to stop this… but should we kill her too, just to be sure?”
Hearing Ryone talking like this made me furrow my brow. I turned around, scanning the room. Pieces began falling into place now. Funny thing, it’s always hardest to recognize a dream when you’re inside of one. But once you do, you’re able to see things from a new perspective.
“Y-you… what are you.” There was a red-robed figure cowering in one corner of the room. Someone I knew shouldn’t be in the Admin Room.
“Are you Sister Iris?” I asked and as I walked closer, the room seemed to tremble with every step. After a moment, I paused, speaking in the runic language. “Stabilize the dream, contain all entities within.” We weren’t done here, not by a long shot.
“T-that’s not Kione’s magic! You’re from Fyor?!” The woman cried out in alarm, her form growing blurry before snapping back to place. “No… no, this kind of thing can’t come from Fyor. You consort with gods, and hold the fate of the world within your palm… How could you be--”
“That’s not for you to worry about right now. Are you Sister Iris?” I repeated my question, now standing directly before the woman.
“N-no. I am Sister Nyx. Iris sent me here to invade your dreams. I’m sorry, sir, please let me go.” Her eyes began to water, and I felt something familiar in her tone. I waved my hand, and her cloak shattered into dust. What remained beneath… it was the female teacher that had approached me when I dropped Lydia off at the school.
Seeing that her appearance had been discovered, she didn’t fly into a rage. No, she curled in on herself like a scared puppy. I felt the room grow cold around me at the realization that she had taken advantage of her position as a teacher to leave children orphaned.
“I’m s-sorry sir, please… I’ll do whatever you want.” She was cowering in front of me, begging for mercy.
“Yes, you will.” I reached forward, placing a hand on her head. Meeting someone who found joy in endangering the children she was supposed to watch over, there was no mercy in my eyes.
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Within a dark room, Nyx Sturgeon sat across from her familiar, a demonic woman in a seductive robe. Both of their eyes were closed, sweat beading down their brows. Nyx let out a pained gasp, and opened her eyes. “I-It’s done.” She muttered in a weak voice as her succubus slowly opened her eyes as well.
Nearby, Iris was watching over them, offering a pleased nod. “As planned?”
“He’ll take the girl to school in the morning, and then walk out to join us in the forest.” Nyx’s voice slowly grew calm, earning a nod from her familiar. “He had a strong mind, but we’ve been through worse.”
“Any secrets we should be aware of?” Iris asked, the succubus seeming to fall into thought while Nyx shook her head.
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“Nothing more than you’d expect. He’s more skilled than his known level would suggest, and has fought disaster level monsters. However, his mastery over ki can’t protect his mind from me.”
Iris gave another nod. “Very good. As usual, your familiar will be taking your place for work tomorrow. Once we lead him back to base, you can get back to work.”
“Understood, Sister Iris.” Nyx nodded obediently, slowly rising from her position on the ground.
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So that’s their plan. I thought to myself as I awoke in the morning. Scanning through Nyx’s mind had shown me not only the wicked deeds she had committed, or how she took pleasure in preying on the stronger members of society while watching the weak struggle. I was also able to see what she had in store for me.
If her magic had worked, I would be left as a puppet under her control. Her dream was designed to weaken my mind by showing me the scene of me personally destroying that which I cared for. Once my mind was at its weakest, she would use another spell to take it over.
The thought of simply killing her for what she had done naturally crossed my mind. But, if I did so, the others would be alerted and I would no longer be able to hunt the demonic sect. According to Nyx’s memories, they were close to completion of their ritual. Close enough, in fact, that many of the sect were worried that the leader would simply fill the rest of the sacrifices from their own numbers.
If I gave them reason to panic, he might do just that. So no, I did not kill Nyx. Not physically, at least. Her body was still perfectly fine. But I had invested some of myself into her, possessing her mind along with that of her familiar.
In essence, she was still dead, and I had no intention of sparing her when I was done. I had seen too much from her memories that made me wish her a swift end.
Leowynn, you’ll be staying inside of me today. I communicated mentally towards her. Nyx wasn’t able to possess familiars like I was. When she took over a mind, the inhabiting spirit was destroyed, as was the familiar connected to it. So if I walked around with my familiar, they would know that everything was a lie.
Understood, father. Nobody made any attempts to enter the house last night. Leowynn reported, before rushing through the walls as a golden mist that poured into my body.
No, they did… just not physically. I took care of it. After saying that, I got up and began getting dressed for the day. I wasn’t sure how much of my power the World Host would retain, now that I had experienced that dream. Would it become a true copy of a Keeper, or maintain the persona that I had created for it?
When I went downstairs, I found Lydia already in the kitchen, working on making the two of us an omelette. “Morning, Mister Kyr!” Lydia called out in a happy tone.
“Morning, Lydia.” I smiled back at her, sitting down at the table. “I’m going out for a hunt today. Think you’ll be alright heading to the shop after school on your own?”
Lydia looked back at me almost warily, before puffing her cheeks out in a pout. “Promise you’ll come back?” It hadn’t even been a week since her father left, so she was clearly worried that I would leave her alone as well.
“Promise.” I told her with a confident nod. “I’ll even bring some meat for the shop, free of charge.” I might need Accalia to hunt that meat, though…
“Okay!” Lydia nodded as well, seeming satisfied with my answer. She finished making breakfast, and the two of us ate together. It didn’t appear as if she noticed ‘Val’s’ absence, or if she did she didn’t say anything about it.
After breakfast, the two of us began walking towards her school. Like yesterday, she brought Elijah along with her, holding his hand as we all walked together. And, like yesterday, I met ‘Nyx’ at the gate as Lydia ran inside.
Once Lydia was in the school, I adopted a more relaxed posture. I began walking almost mechanically out into the forest, towards the meeting location that I had acquired from Nyx’s mind. Along the way, I made sure to explain mentally what had happened to Leowynn, and let her know what my plan was.
It didn’t take too long for the two of us to arrive at the heart of the nearby forest, where we were greeted by a sweet voice. “My, that was quite fast. It seems you performed exceptionally this time, Nyx.” The voice belonged to a woman in a crimson robe that stepped out from behind a tree.
“Of course, Sister Carmine.” I controlled Nyx to answer as she stepped out from her own tree. There was not a trace of fear in her gaze, as Nyx’s original mind and soul had already been completely suppressed.
Following their exchange, three other women stepped out from behind nearby trees, though I did not give any visible reactions. I already knew who these women were. One was the therapist for Lydia’s school, another a worker at the local town hall. Iris and the remaining woman were both from another village, working for the Mage Tower.
“Well, let’s bring him along.” Iris said, moving to walk past me defenselessly. I must admit, the urge to do to all of them what I did to Nyx was… hard to resist. None of these Sisters were innocent, all taking pleasure in their actions.
But, if I acted on those urges, there was always the chance that one of them would be able to send out a warning before I finished. More importantly, I couldn’t easily control so many people at once, each operating as an avatar of myself. Two was currently my limit without slowing myself down.
‘Nyx’ walked up next to me, and the two of us began walking together, our paces matching one another. This seemed like a familiar sight to the other Sisters, who all nodded acceptingly. Now that they had ‘captured’ me, it was time to take me to their base.
I just want to point this out, Dale… but I really don’t like these girls. Terra spoke into my mind, seeming to growl at the words. Given her past actions, I already knew what Terra would do if she had descended here with me.
I know, Terra. Neither do I. Trust me, they won’t have a happy ending. I just need them to take me where I need to be, first. There was no way that I’d leave them alive after everything they’ve done. However, I wouldn’t be as cruel as Terra and destroy their souls. No, I’d ensure that they made it to the afterlife. If their sins were bad enough to face karmic justice, then it would be even worse for them than having their souls destroyed.