I stepped out of the Tangent. Into a still world and silent expanse of black oceans. I didn't let the jarring shift from elven jungles to dark solitude slow my stride….. slow my mission. I passed her home and entered The "Elder's" domain.
Or at least what was left of it.
Silent steaming embers of crumbled walls and artifacts stood out on the island landscape like fallen stars.
Within the fallen cosmos sustained by espionage and the shadows of deceit, the conspirator lay broken.
His robe was torn away in the blast, leaving the old warrior of The Sunlands naked and scarred. He coughed at the sight of me. A dry panicked chortle that almost hid the sound of his only functioning arm as it rummaged through the rubble in a rush.
I reached down with an Aura shrouded knife hand and removed his arm.
He screamed. Not in pain, but frustration.
"RONIN— it's over! This was never meant to last! Only to evolve into the next step! Killing me ends nothing! The Cog may be no more but the wheel keeps spinning…."
"Do you want to die as a poet or a warrior? Speak like you're out of time."
He laughed. "You really are something Ronin. But not anything free. Every visit you've made is documented. Copies….. files…..witness accounts through SpyRunes… letters run up the chain of command in ways you didn't know possible."
The vein in my forehead bulged.
"Ten years ago you ingested an inhuman cocktail known as the Dark-Cell Serum. It drove you mad. You kill—"
"YOU ALL BETRA—"
"YOU took it…. You god damned fool! It drove you mad. You killed the remaining members of The Cog. A Treaty was passed between GME Members. You're now classified as a Being of …..M-Mass Destruction. For over a decade you lived at Sea as OceanLord, led towards slaughter by your inhuman impulses. You only return to land after you've been cleared and deemed controllable. From there you can build your own Guild and take the Quests fed to you."
I stared. It's all I could manage aside from skinning him.
"Ronin I'm telling you how the strongest worldly powers already perceive you. The ones with the decision power. The ones who can take you out. The Sunlands, The Levant, Arthuria. It is…. written in stone. You've procreated with MONSTERS! It's in your blood now. And dare I consider you a good man— we have BloodHound Detectives already trained on your little shark-Child's biological signature. If you don't kill her, the Cyrene Family will."
I continued to stare.
The man raged.
"You're still thinking! DAMN YOU! It's over, Ronin! You are tied down. Captured. You're one man. One outlier….. an omega! You can't cut your way through us. Our flesh is too thick. Our connections run too deep. Now be a good little soldier, and kill your family. And when the time comes, I suggest you look for the Saints of the Shinning Su—"
[+250 EXP]
My hand was through his face before he finished speaking.
I kept it in. I shoved it down deep, somewhere to handle later as I stood and faced Kaia's home.
My legs wouldn't move.
I stabbed myself. I cut into my legs and balled my fists so hard my nails ripped open my burnt palms.
[Your current Mental State is approaching severe levels of maladjustment. If this trend continues you risk a Class Change and physical alteration of Skills.]
I bloodily— slowly, made my way to her hut.
The infant monster within was crying.
Its mother was deathly silent.
I opened the door and only saw humans.
I shook my head. I was hallucinating as I watched Kaia sit at the foot of her bed, watching over the infant.
They were Sharks. Angorian Salt Biters. The strongest breed of beast I've ever faced. So much so that even their children could dent my Aura.
"Where is your fight?" I was so quiet the babies cries almost completely silenced me.
"It is with her." Kaia placed a finger against the babies chest. Against her heart.
The infant's cries stopped and it laughed.
Bile rose up in my throat.
"No."
Kaia nodded casually, "My kind are no more. You are not ready for us. The true fight is what mattered, and you don't have the weapons— the tools, to participate. None of you do. So…. My fight. Our history. Our legacy. It rests here….. In her. ...Boop."
The infant laughed again. The sound wasn't as unpleasant as the silence.
"Do what you must Ronin."
"I... I always do."
I removed her head.
The infants cries filled the room as its dead mother's finger left its chest.
[+10,000 EXP]
Alone.
It didn't matter.
I approached the bed. My ears rang from the cries as they grew more intense. As its soft throat began to tear.
I raised an aura shrouded hand to the infant creature. The last alive. The means to make me a weapon for a world I didn't accept. A living conspiratory tool. A trap.
I lunged in for the k—
I froze. God dammit I froze.
My bladed hand rested mere inches from the infant monsters face.
It swatted at the flashing colors of my aura and laughed.
A shiver ran up my spine.
I tried again.
I froze.
It had my skin… my hair. It had no name. Like an Orphan….
"Come on…. COME ON!"
For an eternity I tried.
Im Ronin. I slaughtered my master. I lived as a Monster Slayer of the highest order. I've completed Tangents worse than your nightmares. I've mastered martial arts forged in the pits of hell.
But I lacked the conviction required of me.
"FUCK!"
I turned away from the infant and aimed my knife hand at my own throat. If I couldn't do this, I'm worthless. I'm compromised.
The rest was history…..