Chapter 199 - Betrayal, Punishment
With a graceful landing YuJu once more stood next to the armored Ellis, forgoing the earlier conversation and walking toward the settlement under the shocked eyes of every single creature, dead or alive, that witnessed the spectacle
Shocked as they may be the wraiths were the first to snap out of it, for the closer this masked white haired human came the more oppressive was the pressure bearing down on them, forcing these fearless beings to flee frantically, leaving their backs open to humans
"Give chase!"
Sid took command, waking his fellow comrades from their daze to take a stab at the fleeing enemy, whittling down as many of the runaways as they could
By the time they mowed down everything that fell behind YuJu and his group was nowhere in sight, with Sofia being thrown to one of her attendants in the midst of their departure
"What the hell was that"
"I've no idea, whatever it was though it certainly did not feel human anymore"
Gabe answered his fellow guild leaders, recalling that moment the man, no, the devil spoke made his skin crawl
Meanwhile, Nameless was hiding among the shadows eyes glued to the direction YuJu had left in....
Some time later everyone but Saa was present in the meeting hall of their new place, with YuJu seated on his throne while his servants kneeled before him
Why were they all kneeling? Honestly none of them exactly knew the answer to that, something just told them they should even when it wasn't the normal way they acted around YuJu
"Bring me a mirror"
Spoke he from the throne, and soon a mirror was brought, giving him view of the golden tinged irises and the white hair
".....Sigh"
Regretful was the sigh, stowing away the mirror and gazing forward with a blank stare
'Just how careless could I be'
To have fallen this far gave to show how corrupted his heart has been, far surpassing anything he could ever imagine
Recalling his attitude as of late he could see how conceited he'd become, even his behavior changed drastically, all slipping past his radar until the last moment where realizing it was too late
'Pride has taken home in my body just as it did in my heart, this is dangerous'
If he did not allow himself to fall into evil then he could resist the sin without even needing to find it a new vessel, otherwise, he could try to resist it until it moved from his heart, but when it took root inside his body as well…things get dicy
'It doesn't matter if I find it a new vessel now, first it must be purified from my body, only then can I get rid of it'
Not to say that was an easy task, in fact he, with all the pride and confidence he now had, was not certain if it could be pulled off given the absurd level of difficulty purifying a sin proved to be
A tired breath sounded across the room as YuJu moved his gaze toward the quiet servants of his
Feeling bored from just looking at them kneeling there he thought a change of scenery was needed as he mulled over things, thus with slow steps he made way from the meeting hall toward somewhere with a little bit of noise, with the others following behind
The closer they got the noisier it got, until they arrived at the arena's balcony where he took his seat, watching the gruesome sight below with his mind drawing up and discarding many thoughts, most revolving around the same question, why had he fallen so fast?
Meanwhile, the others wore varying expressions as they gazed upon the arena for perhaps the first time, Ellis having a shocked and confused expression as she watched monsters she knew not their race battle tooth and nail for survival, Ika had a horrified expression since she knew exactly what they were, Mia had a nonchalant expression, only gazing at her Master every now and then while Nee kept her eyes glued to him all the time
'This power that has taken root inside my Lord is so pure, so malicious, it is like a gateway for my skills to take even more effect'
It seemed like the constant whispers sent through her skills have helped something wake up inside of him, giving rise to a new him altogether, one that would be even more so under her control
'Let's test it out shall we'
Unable to contain her excitement she used her skill to give birth to her own thoughts within his heart
'Huh? Something is strange'
She felt the skill work, but at the same time a response came back from it, as if tracing it back to the source….
'Wait! NO!!'
"....."
Too late, her lord, the one who is supposed to be the unknowing puppet, turned his head, staring at her with those green and golden eyes, a murderous rage boiling within them
"I thought something was off with the speed of corruption"
His words reached her ears as the man stood slowly, turning to walk toward her
"Never considered the possibility of it being the result of my own servant's folly"
"M-kehk! Gah!"
Before any excuse came out he gripped her neck, and with one swift motion smashed her onto the ground, chocking down still
"Didn't think I'd notice? Well you can't be blamed, the sin was only using you as a means to take root in me, now that it's done how could Pride, of all of those seven, bear anyone controlling it?"
At this point YuJu was just murmuring to himself, not really interested in talking as he seemingly figured everything out
"Before I smash your head open, would you like to share anything interesting other than your betrayal"
Easing his vice like grip around her neck he allowed air into her lungs, allowing her some words
"My Lord! I was bewitched into using the skills! I-kuk"
"Blaming others won't help"
Lifting her by the neck he threw the vampire onto a wall, smashing it in the process yet causing minor damage to her
"Haah, my Lord…"
Seeing him approach once more Nee finally recalled how dreadful of an existence he was, just how crazy was she to cross him when she already knew how scary he can be! Now that she betrayed him and was of no use she could be disposed of instantly
"I can be of use to my Lord, please spare me, without me the thralls would go on a rampage and, and….werewolves!! That's right the werewolves I have been deceiving will ambush the humans and end them!"
Finally, the dreadful sound of his steps stopped, but he seemed grabbed by her words, no longer as murderous looking as he was moments ago
"Hmmm, tell me more"
"There are werewolves who plotted striking at the human race when they were at their weakest when the battle with the wraiths is done, these werewolves have come to me for cooperation as the humans grew stronger and seeing as we had attacked them once, so I have been using it to trick them into believing we are on the same side"
"Is that so? What for I wonder"
This put her in a bind since her plans would be ruined, but they could be damned! Whether she lived or died depending on convincing him that her life was worth keeping
"I wanted to help them attack the humans only to stop them with a separate team I built myself, pretending that I was hiding in the shadows and not helping humans to stop the werewolves attack"
"Heh, haha hahaha, I see, I get it now, werewolves were the ones abducting humans? Or should I say humans who turned to werewolves were doing so? If that is the case then everything makes sense, And I guess you were the one helping them keep off Mia's radar"
This caused her to flinch but nod nonetheless, lying here might just cost her life
"Hmm, that's actually interesting, if we could blame all our actions on the werewolves….It's decided"
Bending down he met Nee eye to eye, a smirk donning his face
"You will convince the human race that vampires did what they did to protect them from werewolves, succeed and I just might allow you to keep this pitiful life of yours"
From gazing her down his eyes turned toward the thrall eating the heart of its enemy whom it just killed
"Fail and you shall be giving us a great show in this arena you have built yourself, until the very last breath"
Having made up his mind YuJu did not kill the treacherous servant, leaving her to accomplish the task even he found bothersome, as to whether or not she could escape punishment even after keeping her life….that would depend on her own hard work
'....What disaster have I brought upon myself'