Death: Genesis

“You didn’t need as much healing this time,” said Eveline. “That’s progress, isn’t it? You should be happy.”

Busy drying his hair, Zeke didn’t respond. Instead, he settled on the most recent battle. He hated losing control like that, and he knew that if he kept allowing it to happen, he would end up killing a lot more people. He dreaded the day when he would descend into a rage-filled madness and only come out of it after he’d slaughtered his own allies. And he knew it was going to eventually happen unless he did something to prevent it.

“I need to go back to Hell, don’t I?” he asked aloud, glancing at Eveline. She was pretending to lean against the doorframe of his bathroom, where she’d been ogling him for quite some time.

“I’m not really ogling you, you know. I just know how uncomfortable this makes you.”

“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable,” Zeke lied.

“See, you pretend that it doesn’t, but we both know what’s going on in that prudish head of yours,” she responded. “It’s fine. Almost adorable, even. If you weren’t such an unstoppable monster. Though that does add to the charm, if I’m honest.”

“Just what I wanted.”

“You are absolutely no fun. You realize that, don’t you?” she said with a dramatic sigh accompanied by a exaggerated roll of her eyes. “But since you fully intend to continue being a stick in the mud, I’ll answer your question. Yes. I think you are going to have to go back to Hell. You need to be inoculated against the power of demonic corruption, same as your body needs to get used to channeling your Will.”

“I could withstand the corruption just fine before.”

“Enduring ambient demonic mana is far different than channeling it,” she stated. “Most demons master that before they descend from the first circle. You never had that chance. On top of that, you’re half human, which puts you at a disadvantage.”

“I thought being a cambion was a good thing.”

“Oh, it is. Your twin attunements are evidence of that. But it also means you’re not quite as resistant to the effects of demonic mana as a full demon. Of course, that’s probably as much to do with the fact that we’re bathed in the stuff from the moment we’re reborn, while you’ve only dabbled a bit. I’m not completely certain because cambions are a bit on the rare side.”

“Rare?”

“Well, close enough to unique that it doesn’t matter,” she stated. “The closest anyone else gets are demonkin, and they’re wholly different.”

“Yeah. We went over this before,” Zeke said. “Is there any other way for me to get used to using the demonic mana? I don’t want my friends to get caught in the crossfire next time I use it.”

“Not that I know of, unless you can find a demonic natural treasure, which is unlikely in Heaven.”

“You’ve been here for quite a while now,” Zeke said. “Do you really still think of it as Heaven?”

“Yes. If you had spent any significant time in Hell, you would too.”

“Fair enough,” Zeke said. “So, any ideas as to how I might get into Hell?”

“Quite a few, but don’t you have something else to worry about? You still have a war that needs winning,” Eveline reminded him. “And an undead girl to rescue, right? That is still your goal, isn’t it?”

“You’re right. I need to focus on what’s important.”

With that, Zeke continued dressing, then headed out of the manor. However, before he’d gotten ten feet from the house, he saw two people approaching. The first was Kianma, which wasn’t so strange. The spiritweaver was the de facto leader of the kobold population, and she was the tower’s chief administrator. Without her, nothing would ever get done, and as such, she had an open invitation to visit the manor whenever she thought it necessary.

The person with her was a surprise, though.

Vaguely, Zeke recognized her as the commander of one of the labyrinth’s forts. She’d chosen to surrender rather than defend the stronghold, and as such, she’d saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.

Physically, she was a big woman – nearly the same height as Zeke himself – and had the muscular and athletic body of a warrior. Her face was best described as striking, and though she wasn’t conventionally beautiful, there was definitely something there that Zeke found undeniably attractive.

“It’s the eyes,” Eveline said in appreciation. “The girl has killer eyes.”

Zeke couldn’t disagree with that assessment, which Eveline found amusing.

Otherwise, the woman was wearing the plain clothes they’d given to all the prisoners, and she looked ill-at-ease because of it. Idly, Zeke wondered if that was because she was so accustomed to wearing the Knights’ heavy armor. And in his opinion, she probably would have looked much better.

“You have issues,” said Eveline.

“What?”

“You just thought that a beautiful woman would look better in armor. You really are a battle maniac,” she said.

“I just like the way a good set of armor looks,” he argued as Kianma and the Knight approached. “Did I ever tell you about the set of armor I had made back in the Radiant Isles? There was this blacksmith in a city called Jariq, and we worked together for months building this amazing suit of armor out of blood mithril. I think it was the best armor in the entire realm, but I ended up using it to upgrade a skill and –”

“And you screwed it up. I’m literally inside your mind. I know everything you know. I don’t need you to tell me how magnificent your armor is.”

“But it was.”

“Anyway. The point is that most men don’t look at a beautiful woman and imagine her in armor. That’s weird.”

“I’m not imagining. I’m remembering. It looked good on her,” Zeke stated.

“You’re hopeless.”

Before he could reply, Kianma and the newcomer arrived. The kobold spiritweaver bowed, saying, “Ak-Toh.”

Zeke said, “You don’t have to call me that. We’re friends.”

“Of course, Ak-Toh.”

He sighed, realizing that he didn’t have any hope of stopping her from using the honorific. All the kobolds used it, and it didn’t seem like they were in any hurry to stop. So, he decided to leave it at that and aske, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Why are you talking like that?” asked Eveline.

“Shut up.”

“I’m just saying – usually, you’d have gone far less formal. Are you trying to impress the girl?”

Kianma said, “Adara has come to plead for mercy.”

“Oh?” Zeke asked, glancing at the woman. “Adara? I’m Zeke.”

“I have come to ask for better treatment for the captured Knights,” she said stiffly. “No more time…dilation. And please feed them.”

Zeke cocked his head to the side. “Feed them? Why? The Jail takes care of that.”

“It is inhumane!” she growled. “No food? No water? People need those things!”

“I disagree.”

“You refuse?”

“I see no reason to waste food and water on human trash,” he said. “They were complicit in slavery and torture. They protected it and enabled it. As far as I’m concerned, they’ve gotten off easy.”

Indeed, Zeke didn’t feel bad for his prisoners at all. Even if there being tortured every single day, he wouldn’t have pitied them. In fact, he often wondered why he was keeping them alive at all. Which made Adara’s next request a little awkward.

“Then kill us,” she pleaded. “This is no way to live.”

“You would rather die than live without food?”

She sighed. “It’s not that. No food. No water. No time. Just sitting in a dark cell, with nothing to differentiate one moment to the next. It isn’t simply unnerving. It is…it’s torturous,” she answered.

“She’s not human,” Eveline said.

“What?”

“I don’t know what she is, but she is not human. Ask Kianma.”

“I’ll think about it,” Zeke said. “Is there anything else?”

There wasn’t, and the pair made to leave. However, Zeke asked Kianma to stay back, and they sent Adara away with a pair of hulking centurions. Once they were alone, Zeke asked Kianma, “What is her story?”

“She is a child of two worlds, much like you, Ak-Toh,” the kobold spiritweaver stated. “She is lost, and she has spent most of her life hiding who she is. I believe she would make a great addition to our forces and a viable companion for you.”

“A child of two worlds? That’s…wait, did you just say companion?”

“Of course. You would make strong hatchlings,” Kianma stated.

“That’s…uh…”

“Are you blushing?” asked Eveline. “It feels like you’re blushing.”

Zeke ignored her, even when Kianma narrowed her eyes and asked, “Are you changing color?”

That elicited a ringing laugh from Eveline, and Zeke quickly changed the subject, asking, “How is the training going? What about the crafting? Are we making any progress on enchanting?”

“Ah. Yes. The beastkin we have incorporated into the city have proven to be a great boon. There are no accomplished crafters among them, but they know more than enough to usher us into a new era. We will need to find experts if we are going to keep progressing, though.”

That was nothing new for Zeke. He’d always known that learning a trade was an extremely daunting prospect, but the progress Kianma had reported was definitely encouraging. “The books are helping, though, right?” he asked, referring to the tomes they’d taken from the various fortresses and cities they had sacked over the past few months.

Kianma confirmed that they were, indeed, helpful. After that, she reported on the state of the tower as a whole. The Residential District had continued to expand alongside the population, and some of the architecture had changed to reflect the new residents as well. No longer were the buildings all the same design, but now, they had incorporated a host of different structural and cosmetic differences, making it look more like a proper city. In addition, the Pillar had continued to grow as well.

The other big difference to the tower had come from the Artisan’s Terrace, which had seen significant expansion. The new land had been used for farms and orchards, augmenting the tower’s food production capacity by a significant margin. Of course, with the increased population – there were a lot of beastkin, after all – that surplus had quickly been used. However, it showed that the tower would continue to respond to the needs of the population. Sure, they still had to farm the land themselves, but the one thing they didn’t lack was farming experts.

“You’re putting it off,” Eveline finally said.

“What?”

“The rest of the war,” she pointed out. “You’ve spent the whole time trying to distract yourself from what you’re going to have to do.”

“And what’s that?”

“Burn it all to the ground,” Eveline stated. “Those Knights aren’t going to give in. You know that. The ones that surrendered are the exception, not the rule. They were left in charge while the real villains fled to higher ground. Right now, they’re preparing for you. When you leave this labyrinth, you’re going to get hit with everything they have.”

“You think there’s going to be one big battle to decide the war?”

“No.”

“Then what are you saying?” Zeke asked.

“I’m saying that you’re going to take their best hit,” she answered. “Then, you’re going to hit back. It’ll go back and forth until you push their backs against a wall. That’s when the big battle’s coming. It’ll be brutal, too. Thousands are going to die on both sides. And that’s the best case scenario.”

“And the worst?”

“You lose.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Zeke stated. Indeed, what truly kept him from moving forward was the notion that he might end up with more prisoners on his hands. By all reasonable measurements, the Knights were evil. They’d enslaved and oppressed everywhere they’d ever been.

They deserved execution.

Yet, Zeke struggled to pull that trigger, especially when dealing with a bunch of people who’d surrendered under the guise of protection.

“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted.

“I would be a little worried if you did,” Eveline stated. “But if you want my advice, you should use them for fuel.”

“Fuel? For what?”

“For your progression. Some of those Knights are pretty high-leveled. Now, the Framework won’t award you full kill energy for slaughtering prisoners, but it will give you some. I bet you could get two or three levels out of it,” she explained. “And you know how big of a deal that is at your level.”

“I’m not doing that.”

“Then let the kobolds do it.”

“We’re not slaughtering unarmed prisoners.”

“Arm them. Make a show of it. Who knows? The tower might grow a coliseum for you,” she said.

“No.”

“So, you’re just going to leave them there?” she asked. “You heard your crush, right? She called it torture. Inhumane. To me, that just sounds like they’re soft, but humans are like that, from what I can tell. The point is that you have no good options here, Ezekiel. You need to make a choice, one way or another. If you don’t, something is going to end up forcing your hand.”

“I need to think about it.”

“You mean ignore it.”

Zeke sighed. “I’m not like you, Eveline. I can’t just kill people in cold blood,” he insisted.

“You kill people all the time. You killed hundreds just yesterday. And you’re going to kill thousands more before this war is finished,” she pointed out.

“Slaughtering unarmed prisoners is different,” was his response. And it was. He was certain of it, even if he couldn’t articulate why he felt that way.

“Misplaced honor,” Eveline answered the question for him. “Dead is dead. It doesn’t matter how you get there. But fine. Ignore the issue. When it comes back to bite you, I’ll be right here in your head saying I told you so.”

“Maybe not,” Zeke said. Then, he flared [Bulwark of the Triumvirate], blocking her voice. It was akin to slamming the door in her face.

With a sigh, he ran his hand through his hair. Kianma had long since returned to the Pillar, which meant he was all alone. That wouldn’t last. Soon enough, he’d need to make a bunch of decisions that would have life-altering effects on hundreds of people. But for now, he needed nothing more than to relax.

So, he returned to the manor, forgetting what task he’d been about when he’d stepped outside. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn’t that important. For now, he wanted to focus on something that didn’t have life-or-death connotations. With that in mind, he headed to the kitchen and readied himself to attempt to bake an apple pie.