{[ April 30, 102 A.A. ]}
Lady Karire felt horrible. Her bubbling rage was leaking out of her as if she had suddenly practised Tangible Will and brought it up to Rank 1. The people around her could feel her sullen mood.
"...Mother, is everything alright?" Orien, who currently had the face of her daughter, Aria, asked with a concerned expression.
Lady Karire forced a small smile and caressed Orien's head. She was still amazed at how well that young boy she had picked up at the slave trade could mimic her daughter. At times, she would forget that she was actually holding a different child's hand.
"I'm fine," She said after a deep breath, "I'm just worried."
And indeed she was worried. Every morning was darker than the last. The city she defended lost its territories and the lives it sheltered with every laborious our that passed. Homes were lost in the west, and human life was flowing into a drain in the east.
'Is the price of a city truly what I have to pay? Treacherous nobles, beasts, and the undead...' Lady Karire inwardly sighed.
It felt like everything was orchestrated by the devil whispering in her ears.
She had kept fighting and fighting... But the beasts turned out to be the machinations of her own fellow defenders. They wanted a city to rule for themselves, away from all ideas of royalty.
They had been hypnotised by Atlantis' idea of a sanctuary.
And they had ultimately failed to stay hidden, for they were now bound in thorned chains before her.
A large crowd had gathered to witness three noble families be burned together in one holy bonfire. The other nobles of Avina had also come to witness the traitors burn, and they all sat near the hilltops that surrounded the execution ground. They all had a clear view of the crowds and the traitors from where they watched.
Six Banishers stood around the stakes where every member of the three families, whether it was a man, woman, child, or elder, was gagged and bound.
Lady Karire wanted to be angry at those nobles for trampling on their oaths to protect the city. She wanted to resent them for all the lives that had been lost because of their actions.
But she could not.
All her anger was being directed towards the devil that kept whispering in her ears and was giving her the status of [Blessed].
'I just need to endure. Endure, Karire. Endure.' Lady Karire tried her best to calm herself, but her anger wasn't subsiding.
Stress had already built up in her mind.
Her husband had nearly been wounded during his few battles against the undead. Thankfully, Xiu's Mystic Pattern circle worked as a decent buffer against the monsters. Her daughter had been attacked by Nightwalkers once already, and the second attack may come at any time.
Karire did not wish to see her only family get hurt. And thus, her anger kept bubbling.
GONG!
The blast of a sound-attributed Mystic Pattern sequence shook the execution grounds. The waves of sound swept across the chattering crowds and delivered silence.
"Before your eyes are the nobles who had sworn to protect the great seaside city of Avina." A cold voice of a woman reverberated all throughout the execution grounds for every onlooker to hear.
"They were nobles who took an oath. They were humans who had once served the balance just like all of us."
There was a heavy pause before a waterfall of words followed after,
"But now... Now, they have fallen.
They relinquished their vows and brought about a beast tide all for the sake of their selfish goals!
They housed murderers who had slain our devout priests and priestesses!
They kept the Exiled in their homes, plotting and scheming!
They are blasphemers!"
"Blasphemers!" The huge crowd shouted as one as they recalled the homes they had lost to the beast tide.
"And so!" The woman's voice boomed across the wide range of hills, shaking the loose soil and riling the emotions of the crowd.
"Let this be a warning for all those who dare betray their friends and families!
Let this be a warning for those who side with evil alone!"
Two Mystic Pattern circles suddenly appeared in the sky. A huge pressure descended among those who had yet to breach the realm of Rank 2. Mystic Energy hummed in the air.
The [Elemental Maelstrom] had manifested in all its fiery glory, and from it, came two huge balls of fire.
The cloud-filled grey sky was suddenly illuminated by a blazing red and orange.
"You shall all be cleansed!"
"CLEANSED!" The crowd roared in reply as the two sun-like fireballs descended in slow motion.
VWHOOOOM!
The entire execution grounds were suddenly alight with flames, and the crowd could all watch as members of the noble families all writhed in agony.
Their tears could not flow for the flames instantly consumed it.
Their screams were wretched as they tore their throats in agony.
Their skin was turned into crusty ash, their muscles were set ablaze, and their blood evaporated.
Their eyeballs melted from the sheer amount of heat they were subjected to.
Their entire bodies dried up to turn into charcoal.
The holy bonfire reflected in Karire's black irises as she stood up. Her hair fluttered in the warm winds as she opened her dry lips to speak,
"Let's go. There's nothing left to see."
The roaring sadistic crowd did not interest her in the slightest. The repressed emotions of those who had lost their homes would take a while to settle down after an eruption such as that.
As for her, she still had to fight. She could not do so by screaming at the masterminds. There were no monsters to be killed by sitting in front of a bonfire.
For her daughter and husband, she had to fight.
The devil in her ears who everyone thinks a God will not have their way.
Not for as long as she lived.
.
.
.
Lotus Weizhe had also attended the public execution. In his arms, despite his missing left hand, he held his children who had been born just a few months ago. They were twins, one male, one female. And he loved them very much.
Under the grey skies, Weizhe looked west and saw the flooded city. He was in awe at how high the tides had become. Only the tall viewing towers that littered the city could be seen sticking out from the waves. Now he truly knew what Sir Xiu meant about a twofold calamity.
He then looked to his east, and there, the skies were darker. What should have been a sprawling sight of verdant green grass were ashen hills that looked lifeless. With the sun hiding behind thick clouds of grey, a few of the Undead Remnants had appeared. Red spots danced in the distance, creating a stark contrast with the blackened backdrop.
A part of Avina had also been dyed in those dull colours. Humanoid Undead Remnants were now roaming within the city walls, drifting towards the living.
Lotus Weizhe felt the weight of the marble egg in his pocket.
He had passed out from exhaustion after receiving the marble egg. When he awoke, he was able to function a bit better than just a few hours prior. It made it easier for him to think about the note attached to the gift.
'The Seed of Atlantis,' Weizhe thought wryly to himself as he glanced at the burning nobles. He was hesitating on what that winged Nightwalker had suggested to him.
'At this point, this egg might be the only way to save Avina if everything that thing said is true... How ironic.'
Weizhe snuck another peek at the black wastelands left behind by the undead. He then compared it to the vibrant waters just opposite of him.
Two halves, one filled with life, and the other, death.
Weizhe now stood in the middle of both.
A question kept drumming at his mind,
'Do I flee into the sea or fight to the death?'
Weizhe then glanced down and the sight of his two slumbering children made his resolution to fight suddenly waver.
When he watched them cutely sneeze at the same time, he felt like he had an answer to his question.