Chapter 395: Village Massacre
Aether leaned against the rail, watching from above. The village’s center was filled with people. It was supposed to be a special day, a tradition, so some people dressed in black and started to dance around. It was pretty to see, but he didn’t know the meaning of it, so he wasn’t that touched.
"Pretty," Aether said, resting his face in his hand.
Sena rolled her eyes, flicking the back of his head. "I’ve seen better in the Blue Rose; this is nothing."
’Of course, the Blue Rose- she had to ruin it with that place.’ Aether sighed, getting up.
"Let them be happy for a little while, before they find out the truth. They won’t take the fact that their guardian is dead well." He said, crossing his arms.
...
"Actually... I have an idea." He said, glancing towards the center.
Sena tilted her head. "What have you made up this time..."
...
"At the moment, we’re in quite the risky position; we either have to take the exact path the original characters had, or the opposite of it. It’s hard to know... so I plan on doing something I know they would have never done..."
Aether summoned Voidpiercer and looked at the crowd.
Sena lifted her hand to her mouth, but smiled behind it. "How terrible, you’re thinking of killing them all..." She let her hand fall and walked to his side. "You’re such a bad influence, you know?"
Aether turned his head towards her, his jaw to the floor. But then he just shook his head and turned his head away. "I won’t even say anything about that comment."
...
Aether walked through the crowd, stealing glances at the people around them, their happy faces, their smiles; this day must be very important to them, just like the guardian was, and humans had been important to it too.
Funny, since it had lost its life to one.
Many waved at him as he passed, which made him smile and wave back; after all, that was the nice thing to do before... you killed them.
He walked until he found the mayor.
Seeing Aether, his smile brightened. "You’re the new guy... right? What do you think, quite the beautiful tradition, huh?"
Aether smiled weakly.
"Yes." The man chuckled. "We put a lot of effort-"
...
But he was never able to finish.
[You have killed a Reader Fragment-]
...
In a crowd of cheer, now everyone stood quiet; no one dared speak, as the head of their mayor hit the ground.
Aether wiped the blood off before turning to the others.
Before dashing forward.
Many tried to run, but they weren’t fast enough, nowhere near, and even those far away; the moment they started running, purple string started to wrap around their neck, and they slowly... turned against the others, helping in the killing.
Sena chuckled from above as she finally managed to get herself some underlings.
It was a good thing the humans were weak; it meant he could use Voidpiercer to cut, even if that was nowhere near its purpose. If they had been on his level, he would have never been able to use it in that way, and he would have had to pierce over and over again.
He didn’t smile; in the whole fight, he didn’t smile once. He cut and cut, blood smearing him and everything around, as countless screams were heard.
[You have killed a Reader Fragment-]
[You have killed a Reader Fragment-]
[You have killed a Reader Fragment-]
...
You could never tell that not long ago, everyone around was laughing and smiling.
’Their fault for doing this at night... maybe they would have had a chance.’
As the night went on, things only got even more dire. Some managed to escape, but most had been either killed or turned into helpers by Sena... ’A scary Affinity Fate is...’
To think there was an ability that made it so you lost every bit of your freedom and had to do whatever another person ordered was scary. It was good to know for when he was going to fight Sena.
...
Aether sighed, letting Voidpiercer back in his arm, as he stood in a pool of blood and bodies. If his Reader self ever saw what he had done, he would never accept his decision; after all, in the time as a Reader, he had never done something like this; he had never wanted to be a villain. He valued the lives of those inside.
He still did, but his mattered more.
Sena jumped from above, clapping her hands as she walked up to him. "Very good. I guess the Abyss is really as heartless as they say."
Aether tilted his head, a bit annoyed. "I’m not heartless; my heart has just beaten more for me... and my goal."
For him, at the moment, the lives of the people from the Withered matter more than any story... he needed to get stronger; he was doing this for them. No matter what he had to do, it would all lead to the Freedom of the Withered.
He sighed, wiping the blood from his face. "Can you command your underlings to take care of those that managed to get away?"
Sena rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine."
Aether walked past her. "Good, then I will leave it to you... I’m going to sleep."
...
Tonight had been a statement, but not to Sena, but to himself. He wasn’t the same person; he had changed... and he was going to do whatever he could and whatever he needed for his goal... after all, he finally had one now... one that he wasn’t going to fail this time. And he wasn’t going to half-ass it. Change it for another... because this wasn’t about him. But for a whole district.
After reaching their room... he suddenly had a thought, so he rushed back out, sticking his head out of the wooden doorway.
"Hey Sena..."
The girl turned towards him, her eyes wide.
...
"Do you know anything about the Fallen?"