On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

The door opened to reveal a dimly lit room, with banks of monitors above a set of consoles along the back wall. One was flickering, displaying the image from the camera outside, and several others were dimly glowing a dark grey. The rest of the room was cluttered with old furniture, some clothes, what looked like makeshift weapons, and other detritus.

“Don’t just stand there.” The girl hissed, and I could hear her clearly now the door was open. “There might be others lurking about. And don’t forget, I have a knife!” she reminded me, and with a slight smile, I nodded again, pulling shut the door behind me, which slid shut with an audible thump, and I blinked my eyes a few times, as if to get used to the limited light. For the first time I saw the speaking girl, and had to admit to myself I was impressed. I’ve long been used to knowing pretty girls. Eri, my sis. Shiro, Aimi-chan and Hina-chan… to say nothing of my life now. Bur she’s still a match for many, even now…

The girl hiding, a knife clutched in her trembling hand, was a bit younger than my sis, maybe, and her hair was long, black with dark brown highlights, down below her shoulders, though it was a little dirty and greasy, as if not properly washed with shampoo in a while. Her face was youthful, dark brown eyes crackling with emotion, and she was easily as pretty as Eri. She was wearing a blazer and trousers-style of school uniform, though the blazer and shirt beneath were missing several buttons and were somewhat stained with dirt, but overall she had a beautiful yet slightly boyish look. On seeing me watching, she looked down, before pointing the knife at me warily. “Don’t just stand there looking!” she continued in English. “It’s not safe to mess around. Besides… you promised you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Yes, I can take you away from here.” I repeated. “But do you really think that knife would do anything to me?”

She laughed bitterly, before putting it down beside her, though I noticed she kept it within reach. “I suppose not. Not if you are anything like the two tyrants.” She sighed, seemingly exhausted.

“Besides, as far as I know, most of the Chosen here and those slaves are dealt with.” I pointed out, and she looked at me, a little surprised.

“Really? Then… then I can get out of here?” She paused, looking down again, biting her lip. “That’s great, but… where are my manners? I’m sorry, being a good girl isn’t a priority in the Academy… just surviving and retaining any human decency is miracle enough.” She shuddered theatrically. “I should offer you a drink, you look tired.” She rummaged around in the trash next to her, her back to me, and I glanced at her long legs as she produced a pair of plastic cups and a half-full bottle of water. She poured out two cups, looking a little regretful. “I don’t have much, but…”

“No thanks.” I said dryly. “I think I’ll pass.”

“You will?” she said, before nodding. “Oh. Yes. You probably don’t trust me. I understand. The water, of course. I’ve been down here too long, I’ve forgotten how to deal with a normal person, one who isn’t crazy.” She paused. “You are a good person, nameless oppa, right?” she asked.

Sitting down on a pipe-chair something was on my mind now, and I didn’t want to rush matters, though obviously time was of the essence when it came to survivors. “I’ve made my fair share of tough decisions, but I always try to be as good a person as the times allow me.” I said honestly. “So, first up, who are you, and what happened here in this Academy?”

“You don’t know?” the girl said, surprised. She picked up one cup, but before it reached her mouth she frowned, setting it down. “That doesn’t make sense…”

“Oh I know plenty, like what the military told me.” I replied. “But that’s no substitute for knowledge on the ground. I want to be sure I don’t overlook anything. After all, there’s still someone at large, right?”

The girl nodded. “Oh yes, I see now. Let… let me be of help to you! I’m so grateful you came to rescue us from this living hell!” she declared fervently. “My name is Kim Eui, but you should simply call me Eui, since you’ve come all this way. I’m a second year at the Highschool here at Choe-Museon. As to what happened…” She looked upwards, thinking. “All hell broke loose one day. The Chae siblings suddenly took over the school, and nobody knew what to do. Jun-Seo-oppa was not exactly well liked, compared to his sister, but Cho-Hee-unni was very popular. She was almost as pretty as me…” the girl laughed, a touch nervously, toying with her hair with one hand, crossing her slender legs as she sat. “…anyway, we didn’t understand it, but that didn’t stop it. Choe-Museon has always been an institution that prided itself on discipline, rigour and solitude. There’s no internet signals, civilisation is many miles away through dangerous mountains, and supplies are only delivered every few weeks by a specialised firm. Sure, there was one emergency line to the outside, but that must have been destroyed, as the adults failed. Useless.” Her gaze hardened.

“I see, but it must have been hard to survive.” I prompted, and she looked at me gratefully.

“It was, it most definitely was, oppa!” she agreed. “Choe-Museon is special. The warehouses and kitchens had plenty of food and supplies stored, and since it’s a boarding school, everyone had smuggled sweets and other treats into their dorms, and each side, both the girls’ and the boys’ dorms, had their own kitchen and dining hall, though food was brought in from the warehouses so they weren’t well stocked. But… without people to manage it… waste and spoilage set in. The strong hoarded, and when they realised they could get away with that…”

“…they realised they could get away with doing other things too, taking whatever else they wanted, settling old scores, or simply lost hope, right?”

“Yes. You understand humans all too well, oppa.” She agreed. “While the Chae twins were fighting their little proxy war, groups hiding in their dorms or in various parts of the Academy were relatively safe, but then other groups started… rampaging.” Tears formed, glimmering in the corner of her dark brown eyes. “Me… I… I saw terrible things. I saw the boys dragging off girls they liked, even ones they didn’t, and doing terrible things. Some girls preyed on the foolish boys, luring them in and then selling them out… people did anything to survive. Hey, you speak English right, oppa?”

I nodded, and she explained. “I saw you in some of the cameras. Most of them don’t work anymore, the power went down when the government finally acted, though it just made things worse. But this is one of the primary rooms that takes energy from the backup generator, though even that’s almost done.” She looked sad. “The cameras aren’t great. But I read your lips a bit, and I saw some English words. Our Academy has a lot of influence from the great Boarding Schools of Europe, including Britain. In fact, everyone here learns English to fluent level, and we do several books in literature class.” I wondered why she was telling me this, but I wanted to be sure of something, so I continued to listen. “Shakespeare, of course, the Bronte sisters, some American turn of the twentieth century classics. And… a book called Lord of the Flies. Do you know it, oppa?”

As it happened, I did. I’d read it back in the day, apparently it was one of grandfather Jack’s books mom took with her to Japan. “Yes, where kids trapped alone devolve into tribal, insane behaviour without any rules but what they make up.”

“Imagine how much worse it would have been were it a mixed school.” She shuddered. “Oppa… wait, I still don’t know your name.”

“You can call me Akio…” I said, and she nodded.

“Akio-oppa. Japanese? No matter, you’re a hero if you came to save us. Even if it’s too late for most.” She titled her head, letting out a sob. She stood, tottering towards me. “There were so many boys, like animals. The screams, the cries…” She reached out for me, and seeing me hesitating, scrubbed at her tears. “Please, I need human contact. I’ve been lonely and scared for so long, but it ends today. You’ll take me away from here.” As I still looked disinclined to let her touch me, she paused again, her expression so heartbreakingly downcast even I was moved for a moment. Seeing Eri or my sis like that would be dreadful, but…

“I see. You think I’m dirty. That I’m defiled.” She shrank back, and punched over the glasses from earlier, water scattering over the makeshift table. “I get it, I do.” She let out a heartrending wail, tugging at her hair, seemingly mad. “I saw terrible things, but… I kept my purity, I swear it. And I made them pay!” She grinned lopsidedly through her tears. “They had rounded us all up in a room, but… I had been to the Chemistry lab. I was a member of the Chemistry club.” She confided. “So I poisoned them all. And then I rigged some traps to catch those that would come back to their favourite lair. Let the pigs die!” she snarled, before looking at me, eyes lowered. “Wait, sorry, Akio-oppa. Don’t hate me, don’t leave me! If you were in my position…”

“If I saw boys attacking girls, I’d have been less merciful.” I assured her. “Nothing disgusts me more. I have a sister, a lover.” Well, lovers, but that would spoil the mood. Ugh, even with my Split Thoughts, battling the Wyrm while working a complicated task with light element is challenging. “So if I was in that position, I’d have acted.” I paused. “Even if a girl was forced against her will, so what? I’m not a girl, so I could never understand the pain, but I know from my perspective I could still cherish them.” Haru is not dirty, no matter what she thinks. And I’ll be supporting her until the day she finally fully reclaims what happiness was taken from her.

“I see.” She looked at me for a long moment. “You’re a good man, Akio-oppa. And strong too, yes? You made it here, and you said that everyone else is defeated, barring the last?”

“Yes, Chae Cho-Hee, as you called her. Didn’t you see some of the battles over the cameras?” I asked, and she nodded.

“A little, but many are broken and the power is almost gone. So I can’t waste it, but I heard some explosions, and I wondered…”

“Oh, so was the trap in the room with all the discarded clothes yours?” I asked. “That was clever, using diesel from the generators to create a flammable oil to douse the room.”

“Oh yes.” She said after a moment. “I do have access to the generator room, and some stuff from the Lab still. It wasn’t hard for me!” She puffed out her chest proudly, coming closer again. “But I’m still scared. I’ve been trapped here so long, seen so many terrible things… I need to feel safe. You can keep me safe. You promised.”

I didn’t say anything as she closed in. “If… if you need it, I can be yours. You said you had a lover, so… I don’t need to be your girlfriend, but…” Hands went to her blazer, slipping it free, revealing glimpses of skin through her shirt, many buttons missing, and she wasn’t wearing a bra, it seemed. She licked her lips. “I thought I was going to die in here. But what girl wouldn’t offer herself to the hero that saved her? Especially when… I feel so broken by what I’ve seen, what I’ve done. Help me, Akio-oppa!”

She closed in, and I stepped backwards, and she made a most heart wrenching expression of pain on her face. “I’m inexperienced. I’ll do whatever you want, even if it’s painful and cruel like those brutes, just so long as you need me, save me…” This time I let her put her arms around me, and she paused, confused for a second, eyes on mine.

“I thought I saw… no, it doesn’t matter.” Her barely clad body wasn’t something I could feel, as I was in my Brigandine, but she licked her lips again with clumsy seductiveness, opening them a little, reaching for my mouth, but I tilted my head away.

“Don’t you like me? Don’t you want to help me, and be rewarded? Aren’t I still pretty?” she asked hypnotically. Tears were falling from her face, but they were merely hitting my armour. She stood on tiptoes, as she was a good six or seven inches shorter than me in height, and made to kiss me, but I dodged again, moving my head, and I caught a glimpse of annoyance in her eyes. With a smile she licked out suddenly, tongue tracing my cheek, leaving a wet, slimy trail. I paused, frozen, and she grabbed my armoured collar, pulling me down, and as my lips opened, she opened her own mouth, and a tide of saliva spilled out, entering my mouth, and I shuddered.

Releasing me, the girl stepped back, wiping her lips. “Yes, I noticed when the others like us came, that the stronger ones wouldn’t succumb to just a little mist they breathed in. Frustrating.” She kicked over my chair. “Ugh, I suppose you’re fairly handsome and strong, but kissing you would be a bit…” she rattled off some Korean curses. “…well, done is done. I’ve kissed a few frogs to turn them into slaves….”

 

********

 

Wiping at her mouth again, Cho-Hee retrieved a bottle from her pile of goods, eyeing the motionless Akio, as he was obviously still struggling with the water she poured into him. The strong always resist, but he won’t win. Ugh, only that one ever gave in on seeing me. I though he was the one, my true knight, as he was strong, with incredible speed. But he didn’t come back. He must be dead. Useless. “Water that controls the mind, makes people willing to obey my orders and sacrifice for my goals. Sounds good, right?” She kicked another chair in anger. “Everyone is a damn fool.” She forced the bottle into his mouth, and couldn’t help but blush as he swallowed reflexively, some of her water… her literal water… pouring out of his mouth and down his chin. “Tears or sweat are best, I don’t feel creepy about those. And they saved me the first time, when I was getting choked out. You boys are all the same. No, I suppose not all the same.” She looked at Akio, giggling madly. “You’re a real good-looking guy now that I look at you. And strong too. Better than that useless knight who never came back, despite promising to love me as his Queen. The rest… ugh, sometimes the minds break, and they are just zombies. At that point they are no better than cannon fodder. So, I tell you what. It’s time to go. And I’ll let you be mine, so long as you prove strong enough for your mind not to break down to nothing. I’m not interested in love with dolls.”

She tossed aside the empty bottle. “No matter how strong you are, that much of my urine is enough to break anyone. Damn, I drank and drank and drank water. I spent so long urinating in jars and bottles I thought I would die. I did other things too. But…” she narrowed her eyes. “It was necessity, and I didn’t lie. I never let them touch more than my lips and tongue. So…” she narrowed her eyes, watching Akio, who after a moment more, knelt before her, and she felt a thrill. “Hey, that’s pretty. Your eye is glowing. I thought I saw that before.” she said, curious. “Tell me true, is that your ability?”

“Yes, my Queen. It’s the Mystic Eye. I can defeat any foe with it. I have already defeated the Chosen we came in with. Oh, I’m sorry, beautiful Queen, they were yours, weren’t they? But I should get rid of such useless trash, you deserve only the best.”

Cho-Hee was thrilled at his words, and the lucid way he spoke them. “You really are strong. I’ve not heard such a normal response from anyone but my useless brother. Tell me true, where is he?”

“Dead.” Akio admitted. “So too are…” he listed off the other puppets she had, and now she had a firm view of the situation.

“Shit, my idiot twin, useless to the end. He whined and wailed that it wasn’t fair, but he didn’t see the benefits. Not like I did. Our abilities are siblings, just like we are. Dokkaebi. What nonsense. Those who brought these cursed gifts to us just wanted us to dance, but I’m not a puppet, not for anyone. Though I am as much a slave to reality as everyone else.” She rubbed her lips again, eyeing Akio. “Perhaps it would be good, kissing you to wipe away the stain on my lips. I hate that I had to kiss some men early on, before I understood, before I met it. Oh well, losing my brother’s blood and the ability to strengthen my abilities is a loss, but… tell me, Akio-oppa…” she grinned predatorially. “You understand the other world, right?”

“The Boundary? Where one keeps their Territory? Yes, I am very aware of it.” Akio agreed. “I believe you are under attack there.”

“Yes, exactly!” she agreed. “Now answer me honestly, Akio-oppa. Can you drive off the enemies there? It’s time to go, and I was warned losing my Territory, as you call it would be a problem. My Anchor should be safe, it’s there, and I have a guardian and hid my Anchor well. Oh, how many nights I spent drawing in water element and urinating into the lake to make the perfect trap.” She flushed, before shaking her head. “Even having a puppet like you listen to that makes me feel bad. No, you’re far too lucid to be a mere puppet. An adoring servant, maybe. My new knight. Now answer me!” she ordered, and Akio spoke.

“I can say without any doubt I can halt the attack on your Territory in mere moments, should I exert my strength.” He promised. “Would you like me to?” he asked.

“In a little while.” She agreed. “It’d be helpful if you could catch anyone attacking it for me, assuming they don’t end up captured by my lake and traps.” She paused, smiling. “You know, I’m even feeling a little bad. You did promise to save me, so earnestly. And you’re still yourself, just unable to do anything but sacrifice your all for me. So…” she reached out and touched his cheek. “…don’t feel jealous, Akio-oppa. Those we catch will just be my pawns, but you’ll be the one who stands beside me.” She placed her chin in her hands, thinking. “I can’t trust anyone, but I don’t enjoy being alone. So you’ll be with me.” Assuming I don’t find someone better one day. For now though, this is the last day at Choe-Museon Academy. Sooner or later this day would have come. Next they’ll simply bomb this place to bits and claim we blew up in a freak gas explosion or some such…

“I have a question, my Queen…” Akio said, surprising her, and she narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, are you rebelling? Tricking me? If you are truly mine, prove it.” She retrieved her knife and strode forwards. “Let me…” she unstrapped his armour, momentarily impressed by its construction. “…question your body.” She thrust the blade, and for a moment it slid off his skin, before digging in, blood flowing. She stabbed again and again, looking at his eyes, and after a while moved the blade towards his non-glowing eye. “You don’t need this one, right?”

He nodded, nearly catching his eye on the close knife, and spoke impassively. “If my eye displeases you, by all means, my Queen, it should be destroyed.”

“Good.” She thrust, though the knife halted touching his open eye. She left it there for a while, before withdrawing her hand. “It’d be a shame to ruin your good looks. After all, we can be together for a long time.” Her smile was slight, but inside she was rejoicing. I didn’t know it could work this well! Is it because he’s very powerful that he’s retained his full wisdom, yet still can’t go against me? Or is he captured by my charms like my last knight? Either way, I need to experiment. But for now… “Ask your question, I am impressed by your devotion to me.”

“I appreciate it, my Queen.” Akio said, not moving, even as blood congealed on his bare chest. “You spoke of it earlier. I’ve been in contact with the team attacking your Territory, after we destroyed the one of your brother. There was a strange being there, it was powerful. I received reports… I wondered what it was?”

“Oh, you met the so-called Daeva, did you?” she laughed, remembering. “My brother always thought everyone liked me best. Our parents, our teachers, our classmates. Of course they did. He’s… he was an arrogant little worm, who despite having the same sort of looks and brains as me, wasted his talents in laziness and jealousy. I mean, unlike him, I played sports…” she stretched, a little self-conscious of her breasts pushing against her thin, worn uniform shirt. I guess even I am a little sentimental. Because he can talk back unlike the others, I see him as more human. That’s good. I want to rule, but playing with dolls… I grew out of that when I was a child. But having some fun until it is time to leave this doomed world…

“Anyway, at first my servants were useless, compared to his mad berserkers. Yes, they died quickly, they were… for want of a better term, consumable… but as I learned more and more how to exploit others, sacrificed my lips and my dignity… my poor bladder…” She sighed, remembering the bitterness of the early days, crying, sweating, spitting and pissing for her victory, one of the reasons she doubted the sanity and intentions of the so-called Gods, that her stupid brother merely saw as some Dokkaebi, like in that stupid manhwa he liked to read. “…the advantages were plain, and I started to overcome him. After all, mere might never trumps careful planning and cunning.” she declared. “But what truly changed things was when I met the Daeva. It took a liking to my ruthlessness, my desperation, and explained to me what was truly going on.”

“And you believed it?” Akio asked, and for a moment she was taken aback, before she laughed.

“Hardly. If you’d have seen it, you’d know it’s fairly vile a being. But it told me the truth, that this world is doomed. And knowing what gift I had, and how my stupid brother was likewise blessed, and how he squandered everything out of spite, desperate to ruin me and those he thought didn’t give him his due… when I saw the idiots that were sent to stop us later, useless, inept weaklings, as you found in your efforts to rescue me…” she smiled, glad to have someone to actually talk to for the first time in a while, other than her previous knight, who she stayed away from as much as she could, as he looked at her with lustful eyes, and was fairly gross a person. “… I had no doubts. After all, it is possible to grow stronger.” She gestured, amber light flickering, and water scattered, splashing over Akio’s bare torso, becoming pink with his blood. “It’s not as strong, but at least it doesn’t require shame…” she sniffed.

“The final proof was…” she leaned forwards, words tumbling from her. “…that it gave me a gift too. Proving that the Gods, Dokkaebi, spirits or whatever was pitting us against ourselves here were not the sole purveyors of truth. And it explained to me how to use this sealed place as a way to gather strength, what my gift of self-sacrifice could really do.”

“And what’s that?” Akio asked, and she opened her mouth to answer, before narrowing her eyes, noticing he was wearing an earpiece.

“Is that on?” she asked, and he took it out, shaking his head. She took it from him and dropped it in a ball of water shining with orange sparks, before feeling paranoid and soaking him with a further bottle of liquid. It’d be a shame if he breaks down, but… I didn’t get this far without being careful.

“Never mind that. I think it’s time. We should be going. But first, go and stop that attack on my Territory, so that I can withdraw gracefully. Then take me out of here as a victim of this mess. Then we can go and start again elsewhere. I’ve done all I can here now.” I can hardly wait to get out of this dingy hell. I won’t miss anyone here, they all served their purposes. I’ll be pitied as a victim, and I can turn the wealthy into my puppets, and use them to find others like us to exploit. Grow strong, and save myself, live like the Queen I am. “While you solve my problems, let the Daeva know we are leaving. No, I suppose  I’ll see it when I remove any traces of myself here. It’s probably having fun toying with the invaders since it knows losing much of this Territory of mine won’t be critical.”

There was a long pause, and Cho-Hee narrowed her eyes. “Why aren’t you moving?”

“Sorry, my Queen, but it’s impossible.” Akio said. “I’ll take you out of here, but… I’ve already slain that piece of detritus that you call a Daeva.”

She paused, mouth hanging open. “What did you say? Impossible… but if you are that strong…” her mind whirled. This changes things. If the world is doomed and I don’t have it to take me away… no, I won’t be beaten. She chewed on her thumb, thinking. Worst case, I can live any life I choose, ruling over handsome men, every material desire fulfilled, until then, or maybe even grow to challenge the Gods who mocked us all… “In that case, stop the attacks, you said you could, right? If you slew it, it should be easy for you…”

“I certainly could, but… it’s also too late. Because…”

At that moment Cho-Hee screamed, a horrible tearing pain within her, and for a moment she nearly blacked out, losing consciousness, until a surge of dark warmth spread from her, the well of her power fighting back. “You… you…” she managed, enraged and confused, only for Akio to shake his head.

“…sorry, but I also just destroyed your Anchor. But it’s as I suspected…”

 

********

 

“…but it’s as I suspected…” I said sadly. I immediately knew it was her, while I had used light element to mask the glow from my Eye, I easily observed her, and could see Morana’s Divine Favour shining brightly within her. As well as something very interesting that I wanted to analyse. “…you don’t have just one Favour, but two. And the second is abnormal.”

Amber letters burned in my vision, as in the Boundary the disintegrating blood and flesh of the Wyrm drifted down in the dark waters beside me, and below me, at the base of the lake, the Anchor shattered, my attacks overcoming it rapidly.

Your Class, Conqueror, has increased from Level 21 to Level 22. You have destroyed the Anchor of a hostile Territory. Your class, Conqueror is sufficient to claim and extract the Divine Favour within this Territory and its owner. Your Adherence is sufficient to utilise Morana’s Drowning Lake Of Self-Sacrifice, and you have enough compatibility to possess this Divine Favour and make it your own. This Divine Favour has suffered degradation and encroachment. You may possess or consume it but this will entail some risk of harm, and in its current state the Favour is imperfect.

You have gained in strength. Your Level has increased…

As I surged up out of the lake in the Boundary, the battle over, my body was steaming with black mist, Spirit Water counteracting the tainted lake. Likewise in the Material I was similarly exuding expelled curses, though weaving enough light to mask it in the dimly-lit room was a hassle. Worth it though.

The girl Cho-Hee coughed up dark blood, and her eyes were murderous. “How… how did you resist me? And why? My cunning is perfect, and it assured me none could easily find out about my abilities or what I did here. This was the sealed bottle where I would grow my power until it was… time to… leave.” She was radiating hatred, and she reached for her knife again. Ordinarily I would have thought she was done now, but the second Favour, the one that was swirling with the remaining adherence I had lost after my earlier victories, was still fortifying her. And it’s missing something. I can see the areas in other Favours where the mysterious ??????? that my Eye can’t identify should be, but now I have a number of them to compare, I can see it’s almost entirely absent from this knockoff.

“Sadly, my Eye is actually an eye to see through things, and it pegged you straight away. But even without it, you have tells. You look too clean, and far too well-fed. And come on, trying to make me drink, when you knew I knew the water was tainted? You also swallowed my lie about the nature of the trap. It existed, but not like I told you. It was flammable cooking oils, likely scavenged from a kitchen. And I know you’ve been watching on more cameras than just this one by the broadcasting room, since you read my lips speaking English. So a lot doesn’t add up. If you were this Kim Eui, you’d never have such a prime hiding spot in this school without being hunted down.”

“So… all lies, huh?” she laughed. “I was actually in drama club, as well as arts and crafts, and the athletics team. I was the… model pupil. You lied, even to the point of letting me take an eye…”

“I’d just have regrown it.” I laughed. “You’re right, we can grow stronger, smarter. And you’re pretty much a genius, Cho-Hee. You worked out mastering an element by yourself, and your Territory was very cleverly set up. I might learn from that. But… you’re right. You were dealing with people who didn’t know their own strengths, and trapped them all one by one. Even your brother. Don’t you regret his loss?” She’s got a lot of power rising, adherence twisted into her Favour. But I want to see how it works a few moments more.

“Regret him? I only started looking down on him when he grew lazy and arrogant. When we were young, I liked him just fine. But in the end he was a berserk brute. Seeing him cry, wail and beg, then when he realised I’d enslave him anyway, switch to rage and hatred, spitting bile at me… it was so very satisfying. Just as…” she suddenly roared. “…it’ll be when I kill you! I’m not done yet!”

She raced forwards, and her body was wreathed in the same sort of dark aether and adherence as the hand had, and her bodily strength was magnified many times over. Her knife flew at me, but I was still faster, especially since her Chakra network was damaged severely by the forceful Conquering of her Favour. Closing in, she looked at me with malicious eyes, then spat her final weapon, a mouthful of dark, oily blood.

“Too bad.” Spirit Water met it, and they detonated, droplets falling like acid, hissing. “I’ve got a very high tolerance to curses.”

“Fuck you, fuck you!” she cried. “You’re just like all the rest, just like me! You’ve fought, killed, oppressed, taken…” She wasn’t giving up, dark finger-like tentacles shifting from behind her, five of them, reminiscent of the Daeva, Akoman. “…I’m not going to be taken from! I saw enough those first few days, and from the stories I heard!”

The fingers closed in on me, but I merely shook my head, recklessly blasting them with Spirit Water bullets, and as they disintegrated away to dust and mist, she gaped, stunned, before gritting her teeth and attempting to stab my throat. Sorry but your knife before only cut me because I let you. “Maybe so. But… I keep my promises. I’ll take you out of here.” I said, ground erupting to grab at her legs. As she was held in place, I seized her arms, wrestling the knife free, and aether surged, forming a number of delicate shimmering blades that she couldn’t perceive. “But not carrying any of this inside you. You proved unworthy of it.”

She screamed, convulsing again, as I slashed through the makeshift Favour, having bought enough time to study it while I pretended to be her self-sacrificing servant. As it popped free, my Eye identified it as Akoman’s Well Of Blood, Water And Despair, though the description was a mess. I can handle it later. For now… I’m exhausted. The girl fell limp in my arms, and I had to stabilise her Chakra network, despite my exhaustion, with Chirurgery and Ether Healing, else she would have died from the terrible shock of losing not one, but two Favours in rapid succession. With it came a decent amount of muddy adherence, that which she had absorbed before, and that was welcome, as I was beyond exhausted, and now had numerous Favours greedily sucking me dry. I’ll look at them all and make some decisions later. But for now…

My work done, I hoisted the girl up on my shoulder, retrieved my shed armour, and let out a weary sigh. Whether she wakes up or not, when she does… she’ll be an ordinary girl again, though maybe able to use a little water element, perhaps. No guarantees. In any case, she’ll have to face justice, but it’s not for me to punish her for her crimes. Unlike Nie Ling, though… I don’t feel any sympathy at all. Maybe it was as cruel here as she said, and she saw terrible things, like Lord of the Flies, this Kodoku in miniature wicked and full of pain, but… she added to it, dragged in others and stirred the pot, and all for her own power…

“It’s over.” I said, with feeling, leaving behind the broadcast room, burdens in hand, without a backwards glance…