"Are you okay?" Back within Mane's tent Hildegarde flew around Mane whilst asking worriedly. Mane was seated on the floor in a cross-legged position. His expression was forlorn, and he looked like a man burdened with the many affairs of the world.
"Do you think she will treat me the same way?" Mane didn't answer Hildegarde's question but asked one of his own. There was a complicated expression on the face of the Young Supreme as he asked this question. His eyes were filled with loneliness and didn't contain their usual brilliance.
"Sigh" Hildegarde sighed when she saw his expression. Mane had spent his life fighting. He battled pretty much everything, and she had seen this when she was given the privilege to rummage through his memories during their transfer to this world. She had seen the boy fight against all sort of men and creatures. Battle Beasts, Magical Beasts, Powerful Wielders, and even Celestials had fallen to his sword. Not one of them survived whenever Mane decided that they would die. There were no exceptions.
Every battle he fought was remarkable, and although the stakes weren't high, he took them all seriously. And in all his battles he had never shown any weakness. He was never repulsed by the fact that he had just ended a life, neither was he tormented by the aftermaths of his actions. To him everything was for the purpose of training. And because of that he did everything with a completely pure heart. Gradually his heart had grown cold to killing, and he didn't regard the lives of others highly. This had made him arrogant and filled with a killing heart. As long as he continued down this path, he may lose himself and become someone whose sole purpose was to kill. A heartless murderer who had no regard for the safety of others as long as it had nothing to do with him. Hildegarde didn't really worry about this because most gods were this heartless and uncaring, but she still felt slightly uncomfortable after seeing Mane's past. And although she knew it wasn't her responsibility to guide him down the right path, she hoped that he wouldn't become the monster he was trying to become.
And that was why she was so elated when she noticed that Mane was falling for Lily. Lily's pure and graceful demeanor that remained untainted by the filth of the world was highly attractive to someone like Mane who was covered with the blood of countless innocents. And for some reason unbeknown to her, Lily was attracted to Mane. She knew Mane was good looking and charming, but Mane wasn't a kind person, so she wondered why Lily was attracted to him in the first place. But she hoped that the two would get together. For she felt that it was only Lily who could lead Mane onto the path of salvation. If not, the boy would undoubtedly become a Death God capable of causing the gods to shake in fear!
One may wonder who these innocents were. Well, the innocents were the unfortunate beasts and other races that had fallen to Mane's sword all in the name of training. And although Mane couldn't really be blamed because he assumed that his training in the ring was a simulation, that was only a half-truth. With Mane's intelligence, he surely realised that things weren't as they seemed. In fact Mane realised that the ring was teleporting him to other realms, instead of trapping him in simulations. Although he wasn't sure how it saved him from his first 'death', he suspected that the realms he visited weren't mere illusions. Yet he still killed and slaughtered many because he wanted to grow stronger. Whether it was because he wanted to be strong enough to control his own fate, or for whatever reason, it was still true that he killed several who hadn't harmed him for the purpose of growing stronger. So over the years he had gradually become one covered with the blood of many innocent souls, and this was especially scary since he was only 11 or 12 at most!
Looking at Mane's saddened expression, Hildegarde landed gracefully on his shoulder. She didn't want to keep looking at his sorrowful expression.
"I don't know if she would see you differently," Hildegarde finally replied and a bitter smile etched itself across Mane's lips.
He had never felt bad after killing anyone, and he had become numb to the loss of life, but it was different with Lily. When the assassins attacked him that night, Lily didn't see him personally kill them, and she was worried about his injuries so she may have accepted what happened as self-defense. That was what Mane thought. But things were different this time. Not only had the bandits begged for their lives, they actually tried to escape, yet he killed them all. And Lily had been there to witness everything. With his superior senses he picked up the scene of her puking her guts out and the fear that filled her face when she gazed at him. The tenderness in her eyes weren't there when she gazed at him, there was only fear. And Mane could feel some repulsion from her.
"I lost it because of what they said," Mane laid down onto the floor and gazed at the roof of the tent as he spoke.
"I know," Hildegarde landed on his chest and lay down comfortably on it as well. The two, fairy and man, just lay there silently as they gazed at nothing in particular.
"I definitely can't go about killing everyone I see," Mane muttered after a few minutes of silence, and Hildegarde's eyes widened in surprise. She hoped that Lily would change Mane, but this came far too quickly. Yet a smile quickly found its way to her lips as she said,
"That is a welcome change"
Mane smiled slightly at her words. There was still some bitterness hidden within that smile, but at least he knew what he could do.
"Yeah. I can't keep doing this or I would lose my friend forever"
Listening to Mane's words, a small smile graced Hildegarde's lips. Even at this point, Mane didn't know that what he was feeling for Lily wasn't the kind of love between friends. After all, if she was only a friend, why was he not concerned about Lam as well since he was also Mane's friend? After all, the boy had also been badly frightened by the 'blood fest' Mane championed. Yet Mane's thoughts didn't even give a small section to Lam. His attention was wholly on Lily.
"But that wouldn't really help either," Hildegarde suddenly stated.
"Why not?" Mane asked, slightly puzzled. Hildegarde was clearly happy about his decision to avoid slaughtering others indiscriminately. So what did she mean by her words?
"There are some that you would have to kill," Hildegarde explained. Seeing Mane's expression that encouraged her to continue, she nodded and added, "Like those bandits. They would have caused so much more pain if they were left alone. So it is better for the innocent people who travel through these lands that they are gone. There would definitely be those that must go."
Hildegarde sighed slightly. Mane was a smart kid, and he would have realised this if his heart wasn't in so much turmoil that it impeded the processing ability of his brain. So she had to explain this to him.
"So what do you suggest?" Mane wondered.
"You need to become more discerning. And that is much more difficult than choosing to never kill or just kill."
Mane nodded a Hildegarde's words. It was indeed going to be more difficult to identify who was worthy of a second chance, and who had to be killed for the betterment of the rest of the world.
"I think that would allow you to accomplish your mission. After all, Chaos is very picky" Hildegarde stated, and Mane was enlightened. All this while he had assumed that he had to bring this world into ruin if he wanted to complete his mission and leave. But listening to Hildegarde opened his eyes to the truth.
Chaos was a very picky energy. It only chose a select few and gave them the right to wield its power. These people were Spiritualists. If he was meant to introduce Chaos, then he could act like Chaos itself and choose who would be thrown into the Chaotic Storm he was bound to command. Mane's eyes sparkled as he came to this conclusion, and he involuntarily entered into a trance.
"This is enlightenment!"
Hildegarde exclaimed in shock. She quickly covered her mouth to keep from screaming since she didn't want to disturb Mane. Feeling the Edict within the atmosphere rushing towards Mane, she was filled with a sense of wonderment as she stated,
"All my life I have never experienced enlightenment. Yet a few nonsensical words from me and he's already experiencing one? Truly a talent worthy of envying"
***********************
Within Ivor's tent, three figures were seated with varying expressions. The pale faces of the twins were filled with fear and trepidation, but Ivor's was calm without a hint of emotion.
"He killed all of them. Even though they begged for mercy he still killed them" The figure of Lily was huddled into a ball. She kept mumbling this over and over again, and Ivor had lost count of how many times he had heard her say this.
Lam was silent, but the turbulence within his eyes couldn't be hidden from the experienced Ivor.
"This is the chance I have been waiting for. If I could get them to stay away from that boy through this incident, it would be worth it," Ivor thought silently to himself.
"So now you understand how the world works? It was true that those people were despicable, but there was no need to kill them, especially when they were begging for their lives. It's a pity your friend turned out to be someone like this. But people who murder indiscriminately are common in this world." Ivor sighed pretentiously. His expression was truly convincing, and his words seemed to have done some damage since Lily's clear eyes misted. Looking at the weeping beauty before him, Ivor's heart was filled with remorse, yet he did this for her sake. That boy was too dangerous, and he didn't feel at ease with him so close to the twins.
"You're wrong." Ivor turned his head in surprise to look at the one speaking.
"Pardon?" he asked.
"I said you're wrong. Mane isn't a person who murders indiscriminately." Lam's face was pale, but his expression was resolute. Hearing his words, Lily looked at her brother in hope. Her eyes seemed to beg him to give her a reason. And he did.
"The people who murder indiscriminately are people like the bandits. Before Lily came out you said it yourself. They force themselves on women and kill everyone who opposes them. And worst of all, after they are done having their fill of carnal pleasures, they sell survivors as slaves and destroy the lives of many. Even I was filled with anger when I heard their deeds. But I didn't have the strength to carry out the justice that should have been served." As Lam spoke his expression slowly became more resolute, and his eyes regained their fervor.
Ivor cursed silently. He didn't imagine that the words he had spoken concerning the dark history of the bandits would come back to bite him.
"The anger I felt when they tried to lay their hands on my sister was greater than any I have ever felt in my life, yet I had no strength to save her. But Mane did. His expression when he heard them insult Lily was similar to my own, and I knew then that he truly loves us. Mane is the strong one for having swung his sword against such scum. They deserved what they got, and I would never blame Mane for saving my life, and protecting my sister!"
Lam's pale face regained its color once he was done speaking. He looked at his sister with a smile. She was no longer weeping, and there was a look of realization on her face. Her eyes glittered as she hurriedly wiped away her tears. Then she stood up and tried to rush out of the tent.
"We shouldn't disturb him now," Lam hurriedly stopped her.
"Why? I need to tell him that I'm sorry!" Lily bit her lips as her eyes misted over. When she recalled how she had gazed at Mane earlier she was filled with pain. She looked at him like some monster. And although he had his back to her, she could fell his countenance turn lonely at her change. She knew she had hurt him.
"He may be asleep," Lam stated his reason. "You can talk to him tomorrow. It wouldn't be too late then." Lam persuaded, and Lily nodded her head reluctantly.
"I'd walk you to your tent," Lam offered and exited the tent after bidding Ivor a goodnight.
"Well that didn't go as planned," Ivor smiled bitterly as he slumped onto the floor. However he didn't realise that he wasn't alone. A small flying figure darted out of his place after hearing his words and entered Mane's tent!