'For the sake of my people.... so that we do not end up like this.... I must obey the orders of her eminence.'
Evelyn held no desire to harm the innocent people of this village, but even so, she came to terms with herself.
Looking up, she saw the charred bodies of the mother and child before her.
It was enough to make her vomit, yet she did not.
She could not allow herself to bow down in weakness.
'Sister.... to think that you endured suffering to the point where even this would not phase you....'
Envidia walked off casually without a care in the world, heading immediately towards the next building.
[I would say that you should learn from her.... but perhaps that is a bit too much. Just do what is necessary for now.]
Standing up with heavy heart, Evelyn stood forward.
However it was in the next moment that her sister stopped walking in front of her.
"Sister?"
"Shh. Hide."
"Eh? Hide? For what-"
"Heh..... just do it."
Envidia shot backwards, grabbing hold of Evelyn as the two entered a closet and closed the door.
"Why are we hiding? What on earth could we be hiding from!? Are we not more powerful than anyone in this-"
"We're not hiding because they're more powerful than us. We're hiding because you should watch this. Take a look."
Burning a set of peekholes into the wooden door using her finger, Envidia and Evelyn both watched from their hiding spot as they heard the sounds of someone walking.
"Someone's coming. Likely the owner of the house. Now let me ask you, sister. Do you understand what it means for everything to be taken from you?"
"For everything..... to be taken from me?"
Evelyn looked to Envidia with sadness, then averted her eyes from her sister.
"I have lost much in my life, but I have also gained much. Even when I lost things.... our parents..... Misticia.... Melissa.... and even you.... there were always people nearby to assist me. So I do not understand in the same way you would."
"Then take a good look. This is what we've done. Don't look away. This is the result of serving her eminence. This is the result of serving an existence of chaos."
Evelyn choked up as Envidia said this, unable to take her eyes off the room before her.
In walked a man, his eyes devoid of energy and his expression one of despair.
The man slowly walked through the room, as if he was scared to even take another step forward. Evelyn merely watched with pained expression, knowing well that this man was about to find something horrible.
'I.... should I kill him?'
This thought entered the mind of Evelyn for just a moment, and immediately after she thought it she opened her eyes wide in surprise.
'Wha- how could I think such a thing? Should I kill him? Did I really just.... think that?'
Evelyn looked over to her sister, who was smiling as she calmly watched the man.
'But.... it is my job to kill him either way.... and it is my responsibility to her eminence.... and.....'
[See? You finally are getting it.]
'Y-your eminence.... are you saying.... THIS is the reason for all this?'
[More or less.]
Evelyn took her head back from the peekhole, her mouth slightly agape as she came to a realization.
She herself had considered killing this man before he was to find out about the horrible condition of his family.
'If killing them can take away their suffering.... then it is what should be done? Is that.... the statement you are trying to make?'
This thought was not met with an answer, only silence.
Sitting forward once more, Evelyn watched again as the man approached the door.
'He will open it.'
'He will find them.'
'He will suffer.'
'This man is a class 1.... though he was almost a class 2. He has been deemed worthy of an instant death. Therefore..... I should carry it out myself.'
The man opened the door, heading into the bedroom.
'Forgive me. I was indecisive, and because of this you had to go through more suffering than necessary.'
"This..... is this my fault? This..... is my fault..."
The man begun crying on the ground, berating himself for the horrid scene.
Stepping out of the closet quietly, Envidia looked over to her sister with a smile.
"Ah.... it would seem you've finally realized, haven't you.... dear sister."
With this smirk, the two stepped forward together, and Envidia spoke with commanding tone.
"I suppose in one way you could say it was your fault, human. For your kind has disturbed her eminence, and unsettled her to the point where your mere existence..... is a sin."
----
Standing before Lester were two monstrosities.
Demons.
Beings of ice and fire who stood in the midst of such destruction.
One of them carried a serious and confident demeanor, gripping the blade by her side as if she were some form of warrior.
The other walked forth chaotically, her words reaching the mind of Lester as he turned around to see the condescending woman of flame.
"Monsters....."
"Yep. I suppose we can all be classified like that. In case you haven't realized, I was the one who killed your family there. And now..... hahaha..... you're next."
The man looked down with a pitiful expression, giving into his fate.
"Why....."
As he did this, he glanced over to the two for a moment.
"Why did you kill them before me? Are.... are you working for the market? Did they hire even monsters like you?"
"Market? Ah..... you mean those guys. Actually, you could say we were hired to take care of them as well. And our client isn't one who can be negotiated with."
Envidia responded while lighting a flame on her fingertip, beaming over the man as she stepped forward.
However, Envidia felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Allow me to take care of this one, sister."
Evelyn stood ahead of her sister, drawing her icy blade on the man and thrusting it to his throat.
"I have been tasked to kill you.... and every human in this town. I apologize greatly for the death of your family.... but it is something which must be done for the sake of her eminence and her goals. Therefore.... I will ask you before you die. Do you have any final request?"
The man looked up, the blade close enough to his neck to the point where he could feel the chill of the ice.
His breathing halted for a moment, and he was unsure what to say.
His heart wrenched with the overwhelming anguish at witnessing his wife and child having been killed in such a manner, and he looked up to the woman with tearful expression.
"Final request?"
His lips quivering, he looked up to the knight with a tormented expression.
"Did..... did you make them suffer?"
Looking over to the woman of flame, his eyes pleaded the two as he hoped.
He hoped with everything that they had not suffered.
He forgot about himself as he asked this, focusing only on the two who had already passed.
"They were class 1. Suffering is not permitted for class 1 specimens.", Envidia stated. "The rules of her eminence are unbreakable. And that is the rule she has set forth."
Relieved of the tension, the man dropped his head with a smile.
"I see..... so at least.... despite their horrible state.... at least it was instant....."
The man looked up to Evelyn with a smile, prepared for death.
"Then kill me. I have nothing left to live for."
"Very well."
Swinging her sword, the head of the man was cleanly sliced from his head.
Blood splattered only to freeze in midair, as if it were a sculpture.
The head dropped to the ground, the base of the neck having been completely frozen over.
With this, the two sisters walked off.
"Sister.... I understand now. Why her eminence has made this decision."
"Ah? Good for you, I guess? I'm just here to kill everyone, so doesn't particularly matter to me."
"If I were still a knight of Iciclaris, I would rebuke you for such a statement.... but I suppose I have no right to do that. After all.... we are both here to kill everyone."
----
"Heh.... looks like todays shipment is good. Too bad we don't have any slaves here today. Those always get the most profit...."
A group of shady men sat in a circle in a darkened building, looking to one another as they counted their coins.
"Guards have been extra light recently due to the whole war with the Kingdom. Lots of people died including a couple of heroes.... and so it's been extra profitable to be in the market, eh?"
"Heh heh...."
These men looked to one another with sinister grins, consuming high quality appetizers as they sipped on wine.
"Well, you know how it goes. The more chaos there is in the world, the easier it is to slip through the cracks. For people like us, the arrival of the heroes was a threat... however the fact that they've been caught up fighting one another has proven to be more profitable than anything else."
"You're damn right about that! Haha!!"
"Too bad Larios and Fera hit the slab. They were good suppliers... and now we've lost a couple of reliable business partners. It's never been a riper time to find slaves, but for one reason or another almost all those in the industry have been interrupted."
"That's another effect of the chaos. Even if it's easier to slip through the cracks, ya never know what's gonna happen. We'd better be covering our asses too."
"If we don't, we might end up just like them. Be sure that you're background checking your associates."
The men all nodded to themselves, looking to one another with suspicion.
"Hm..... do you smell something?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Hm.... I think you're right.... something does smell off..... is that..... is something burning?"
It was then that a young man rushed into the room.
"Boss!!! The building is on fire!!! We gotto get out of here!!!"
"EH!?!? On fire!?!? We've got a load of gunpowder in the basement!!! What do you mean it's on fire!?!?"
The men all stood up immediately, rushing to get out of the building.
"Move!!!"
"Out of my way!!!"
"I'm out of here!!!"
In moments the building had been cleared, and the inhabitants stormed out of the hideout with all haste.
As they reached the exit, the sunlight shone in their eyes, causing them to cover them due to the brightness.
"Ugh...."
"Agh...."
"Shit...."
The men squinted to see, however upon regaining their sight they looked around them to see a sea of flames.
The entire city was burning.
It was then that a female voice entered the ears of the men.
"Ah.... welcome, dear guests. It would seem that you are late to the party. No..... rather than that, I suppose you all are the VIP's. We have special plans for people of your status."
Looking up, there were two women.
One was raging and made from flames, the other with resolved expression and made from ice.
Both were smiling in the face of the destruction.
"But before we do anything..... I suppose we should provide you VIP's with some entertainment. No?"
----
"All the class 1's have been eliminated. Now..... it's time to flush out the rest of these rats."
With a demented smile, Envidia sputtered her flames, shooting them off in all directions and lighting a number of buildings on fire.
"Heh.... heh....."
"Sister.... be sure not to kill anyone. Her eminence ordered that we were to ensure they lived long enough to suffer significantly."
"Of course, sister. Heh...."
Like beams of energy, rays of flame honed in on each and every building, starting small scale yet rampid fires all over the town.
It was then that the people rushed out of the buildings like bees who were being smoked out of their hives.
"Agh!!!"
"What the hell!? Did someone leave a lighter somewhere around!?"
"A fire!? The whole facility.... no.... the whole town...."
"What the hell is going on!?!?!"
----
"For you men..... I have nothing to say. It is your kind who have been marked particularly by her eminence for.... excessive punishment. Now scream."
As the woman of ice held her hand forth, the men standing in the city became surrounded by ice.
Their limbs became purple with frostbite before their entire bodies aside from their heads were completely frozen from head to toe.
"AGH!!!!"
"What are you.... what are you doing to us!?!?!?"
"My body.... I can't move!!! It.... agh!!!! It burns!!!! It's so cold it burns!!!!"
The men screamed and shouted as their bodies were frozen over, at which Envidia merely laughed.
"Hahaha..... how pathetic. Perhaps I should show you what it really means to burn?"
It was then that the men were lifted into the air like statues of ice, floating along with the two monsters.
"Come now. We're saving you for later. It's not your turn to be punished yet."
"Let.... let us down!!! Ah!!!! It hurts!!! It hurts so much!!!"
"Please!!! Ugh!!! Agh!!!! Unfreeze us!!!"
The men begun to beg Evelyn for mercy, however they were met with an unfriendly glare.
"I have gone as far as to kill innocent men and women today. Do you think I would show mercy to a person like you?"
Her icy cold statement silenced the men, however this was not the only thing that silenced them.
In that moment, the tongues of the men became frozen.
Their mouths were dried of all moisture, and even speaking was now impossible.
"Gurnumu!!!! Ungh!!!!!"
The men managed to make some strange screams, likely in an appeal to be given back the ability to speak, however the icy woman before them held no regard for them.
"Enough of your mumbling. Let us move, sister."
"With pleasure."
It was then that many people who had been frozen in similar manner converged into the same plaza.
With the wave of her hands, the men and women were separated into two groups, all of the black market dealers and scum of all types having been placed into the smaller one.
Most of the people here had rough appearances, like those of criminals. Those who did not appear to be criminals held the appearances of people who were highly ranked politicians or guards.
"Ahem..... welcome, everyone. The fact that you are still alive can only mean one thing."
Envidia spread her arms, speaking to the people with a sinister grin as she looked around her at the terrified and angry group of frozen people.
"That you are scum who deserve to be punished before death. Now....."
It was then that a sea of flames spread across the larger group of people.
"Burn."
----
The horrible screams of the people lasted minutes, causing those who were put into the smaller group to merely watch in horror as so many were burned to death.
It was a slow and painful burn. This was because Evelyn had frozen the people before they were burned to death, and Envidia had lowered her own flame output solely in order to draw out the suffering.
"AGH!!!"
"UGH!!!"
"HELP!!!!"
The ice was slowly melted as the limbs of the people were charred and the pain spread through their bodies. The men in the smaller group who were not involved in this could only widen their eyes in horror.
'Monsters....'
'Demons...'
'They truly have invaded these lands....'
'How could this happen?'
Frantically searching for a method of escape, many of these men racked their brains however came up with nothing.
Their limbs were frozen stiff.
Even if they could run, they would not be able to escape the overwhelming power of the two monsters who were tormenting so many people at once.
They were evil beyond measure.
They were similar in appearance, and polar in demeanor and element.
However they both looked down on the people before them with disdain.
One, sadistically enjoying as she increased the heat, thus increasing the screams of the people as they suffered.
The other, looking down on the people before her with disgust.
They were truly monsters who held no regard for life or humanity.
Minutes passed, and eventually the screams died down.
"What..... what are you going to do to us? Are you going to burn us like them?", one man asked, his voice quivering.
"Ah? Burn you like them? No no. They got it easy. They were the petty criminals who have done some slightly bad things like murder, assault, robbery, those sorts of things. The people here are the higher ups. The ones who hold all the real power in the matters. Dear sister. Should we give them the same punishment?", Envidia asked.
"Absolutely not, sister.", Evelyn replied curtly.
"Why not?"
"For two reasons sister. The first..... is that scum like them do not deserve something as simple as a painful death."
"Ah, I see. There you have it fools. You're coming with us..... back to the Dictatorship."
In that moment, the men were raised up into the air, their icy bodies held stiffly.
"Wait!!! I have.... I have money!!! Do you want money!? Can monsters like you value money?! If not, then something else!!! I can obtain for you whatever you want!!! Do you want people!?!? Slaves!?!? I.... we can work for you!!! We can lead people to you!!! We can do your bidding, deceiving other humans into your clutches! Is that not.... what you monsters would desire?"
"Hah?"
The man shouted out, frantically trying to make an offer which these monsters would accept, however he was only met with the horrified glares of the two.
"Yeah, this one is a class 3 alright.", Envidia stated.
"Good riddance.", Evelyn muttered, approaching the man with a serious expression.
"There is a second reason as well, you know. Even if I were some flippant knight who would give into bribes and the sorts..... even if I did not care whether you were the lowest of the low..... there is one more reason which you will be punished more than the others."
Smiling, Evelyn placed her hand on the shoulder of the man, freezing it even more.
"AGH!!!!"
The man cried out in pain as all moisture was removed from his body, which wrinkled into an icy form.
"It is because these were the orders of her eminence. And I cannot disobey those orders, no matter what."
----
[Time log]
[10:00 AM- The Calamities of Fire and Ice dawn upon the city of Junith]
[10:01 AM- Many people who were initially outside are killed, either by having been sliced in two by an icy weapon or by having been burned to a crisp beyond the point of recognition.]
[10:05 AM: Many people inside buildings are killed.]
[10:12 AM: All remaining people are captured and brought to the center of the city, where many are slowly roasted to death.]
[10:15 AM: Those who were not burned to death are frozen and taken away]