When I finished my food, I headed back to my room. I had decided that I needed to gain information about the current state of the war. I was painfully unaware of things like the nobility, their power, and their authority. To excel within aristocratic society, one must be 'in the know' so to speak, if you don't know what was going on, then you wouldn't know how to react to anything, to know who to respect, and who to show animosity towards.
"Come."
My shadow extended and contorted, and the Hassan reappeared.
When Irene left, I wouldn't need to worry about controlling her, and I'd be able to focus on expanding my influence. I planned on dominating this world's underworld. That was because if I needed something, then I could always use the Pendragon name, even if we had lost some authority, we were not weak. But I couldn't use the name of the Pendragons in the underworld because, if it were to be found that we were dabbling with the underworld, then we'd lose face.
I couldn't micromanage every person in the household, however, I have my Hassan.
"Death, that is what you people- Well, calling you people isn't apt, but whatever you are, killing for money and political gain is what you specialize in. But I'll give you a new purpose in life besides that."
I turned around to face them, with an almost manic look on my face, as I spoke to them.
"To fight, not for honor, not for glory, and not for money. But for me, not for the sake of anyone else. Not even for yourselves, fight only for my sake, kill only for my sake, look out for my sake."
They all kneeled down on the floor, their inhuman bodies flickering in and out of existence, their shadowy bodies shook and trembled out of excitement.
"Live for my sake."
They didn't respond, but the atmosphere clearly expressed their acceptance. My body trembled when I saw their numbers, hundreds of them were here. Many of them had inhuman and bestial features, disfigured bodies, hunched over bodies, arms shaped into canons of shadowy flesh, teeth shaped into shadowy knives.
"Now, I want twelve of you to go out and roam this Empire, find some general information on the Nobles, the commoners and whatever other major events I should be aware of. The rest of you, I want you to form a sort of guild. Call it something fitting and build up a presence, make money and trample upon those who bare their fangs toward us and show them our animosity."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
They all spoke in unison, as if I was their Sovereign or King.
'Your Majesty? Interesting... well I suppose it's fine?'
Once the Hassan left, I walked over to the nearest wall and leaned against it, blood spewed from my mouth.
'My body..? It's...?'
In a flash, Godsbane came out and looked at me.
"Your body just isn't adapted to your current self, give yourself around half a year and you'll be fine. And also, your eyes are constantly getting stronger, soon you'll probably be able to identify people by looking at their Mana rather than their face."
Godsbane POV:
I looked at Valier, due to the knowledge my ancestors had accumulated I had a rough idea of what was happening. His Eye, his Body, and his Heart weren't working in tandem just yet, he'd recover soon enough though. It wasn't anything to worry about.
But what was something to be concerned of was his state of existence. He wasn't a living being at this very moment. In fact, he was closer to a corpse exhibiting signs of life. He should be dead, but he had defied the causality of the world. I didn't even know what the fuck he actually was, and that was why Irene found his presence inhuman. Soon, I doubt he'd even have a presence, and to others, he'd look closer to a mass of pure power and energy.
But by 'surviving death' he created a 'Miracle.'
What's truly worrying is where that Miracle came from. God's don't grant Miracles, they use 'Authorities', it's an extension of their existence which grants them strength.
Miracles are caused by the Antithesis of the Gods. Some people who gain Runes accidentally use their Runic abilities by accident and chance, in reaction to them wanting to survive. I fear that his survival of death is a sign of 'his' power.
I don't know what a Rune, what an existence of that caliber would do to the human psyche. But it's fine, I doubt Valier is compatible with him. And even if they were, I sort of doubt he'd be able to pull off a complete takeover considering how egotistical and willful Valier is.
On occasions, Rune's are able to take over their hosts, like parasites. They spread throughout the host's body, mind, and imprint their being into the host's soul. And then they incarnate, fusing the strength of their host with that of their living self.
I sighed, and then disappeared back into Valier's body. This kind of stress wasn't good for newborns.
Edited By: WorthyAdversary