Maxim stared at the frail figure of the young man that hid himself from his presence. His magic only killed those who willed to die, like a systematized attack that brought a painless death.
And this young man, who introduced himself as Altair, did not wish to die, and so he was unaffected by the attack that he just performed. Maxim was caught off-guard and could not help but paint a confused expression on his face.
"I am sorry, you do not wish to die? Even after seeing that dwarven slave whom you guys see as a beacon of light kill himself?" Maxim asked with a monotonous tone clear in his voice.
Altair who was barely breathing and standing, still stood firmly with clear determination in his eyes.
"I do not concern myself with Mothom, he was indeed a person to look up to in this hellish place, but I could not care less about him or anyone else dying in this place, even if all of them willed to die, I am not a sheep to get along with a mindless herd following a shepherd to his death. Mothom did not save me from this hellhole, I was the one that pulled myself through everything, and I am not obligated to follow a foolish man to his death." Altair said with a cold tone in his voice, even if weakly.
Maxim, bewildered by such an attitude from a slave was quite fascinated.
"I am sorry child, Mothom isn't your savior? Didn't he save most of the slaves under his wing? Also weaker slaves like children from being killed? I am quite confused, so elaborate it further."
Altair then let out a weak smile, as if mocking the thought of Mothom being a savior.
"I see, I am sorry to come out as rude but I did not think that you weren't omniscient to not know the truth to its fullest."
"I am not omniscient that is true, I only grasped the situation based on what I have seen and heard even before actually meeting Mothom. I was after all dormant for millions of years, and it takes a lot of energy just to peer into the outside world with my abilities. Only did I now use this ability of mine that I have sensed a presence of life within my vicinity." Maxim explained
"I understand. However Mothom isn't someone that should be hailed as a hero, I find it ridiculous to hear someone say that. No, that guy is a maniac hidden in a valiant facade." Altair proclaimed.
"A maniac? Elaborate child."
"That guy is a straight up maniac who saves kids just to allow them to grow fully and healthier for later consumption, or worse, to make them a direct source of pleasure. That filthy piece of shit have cannibalized so many people that he saved that I have lost count, and raped a lot of them too before being eaten— both men and women, young children and the elderly, no one was safe. That group of his weren't aware of the dark nature of the man, as he was separated from the slaves that he does these things with, they concealed it so well that they never even once questioned why Mothom was so eager to save mostly children, it's that he likes them young and healthy. Those people that have retaliated have no idea that they were doing the right thing even if they were unaware of the atrocities of that piece of trash." Altair revealed with not even a single stutter coming out from his mouth, his eyes changed from being filled with determination to just pure hatred towards the man he was mentioning.
Maxim was abhorred after hearing Altair explain everything, and understood the idea of why Altair maintained that build of his.
"You intentionally gave yourself a malnourished physique and sustained all of that nasty scars of yours to become less appealing to Mothom and his group, am I correct?"
Altair closed his eyes and nodded weakly.
"Even if I was burning with hatred towards them, I am just human, I could not do anything other than to detriment myself into becoming someone that is much less enticing compared to everyone else. I belong to the race with nothing special going on with it after all, so in this place where I am one of the weakest all I could really do is adapt a prey tactic to avoid the gaze of a predator that is superiorly stronger than me in every aspect, and hope that the chance to kill him at his weakest, presents itself to me."
Maxim stared at Altair's frail body that is littered with numerous ugly scars that refused to heal fully.
"You are a fascinating boy... I never sensed any lie in your words, so Mothom is actually scum of a mortal? A maniac that is covered up with the facade of a heroic figure? I am revolted just at the mere thought of it, but then why would he kill himself like that then? Surely if he was that horrible he wouldn't have second thoughts killing all of you just for his survival." with a bit of confusion clear in the tone of his voice Maxim asked.
"Pride, it was pride, he did not want to give you the satisfaction of having your desires fulfilled, those last words that he uttered were not out of genuineness or the will to not kill all of us, he knew that you will still kill all of them regardless, and believed that your words were a clear deception of how you actually intended to kill all of us, he believed that by killing himself he will not have to go through your assumed painful massacre."
Maxim would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit stunned by this person's revelations, he probably understands Mothom better than everyone else, Maxim himself included.
"You're saying that as if you knew him from the inside out Altair." Maxim spoke with a little suspicion in his voice.
"That's because I do know him from the inside out, I know everyone's characteristics here because I do not shy away on observing them daily, most of them filled with fear and hopelessness, and some like Mothom are very deceptive in nature, if you get to observe these people daily, it would not be surprising to have a firm grasp of their inner nature and how they would function in any given circumstance. I just understood Mothom the best because he was the one that I had to look out for the most." Altair replied.
"I see, so you are very keen like you said."
Maxim then turned around, and walked towards Altair, his stature towered over the frail slave's entirety as he stopped by him.
"So what did you think I was from the very first instance that you have saw or even just felt my presence. Not even once in our conversation did you refer to me as Lord... are you not afraid of me?" Maxim asked, all of the playfulness in his face erased, replaced with a cold and serious demeanor.
"Well, I am simply a slave that do not wish to die, however I knew from the moment that I have felt your presence that you are not an evil entity, and when I saw you all the doubts I had in my mind towards that thought were all dissipated. That is why I had no fear inside my heart at the very least, and by no means am I disrespecting you by not calling you Lord, it is simply not something I am accustomed to doing." Altair replied respectfully.
Maxim who was hunched to level that of Altair's height, had a very concerned look in his face, however there was also fascination very clearly displayed in it. There were questions inside his mind.
How can he distinguish evil from not evil when he's just human? I am pretty sure my presence brought fear in the hearts of everyone I encountered, both weak and strong, and that they can feel a certain type of emanation that made them assume I was evil. This kid does not feel that way, is he perhaps putting up a front? No he isn't actually scared. I do not quite understand how this young man is able to do that.
Maxim pondered to himself while maintaining a stable eye contact with the unfazed slave.
"Young man, I do not know how you came to the conclusion of me not being an evil existence, but I assure you that you are wrong, I have no qualms with erasing this entire nation, in fact it will be erased after I wake up that bastardly god's disciple. Do you think that a being that has no problems with causing mass genocide is not evil? Think again." Maxim with clear infuriation in his voice spoke to Altair, clearly anticipating the reply of the slave.
"Well, from how I understood the situation in the grand scheme of things, you will be doing everyone, except the royals a huge favor. This nation being built is a mistake, and I have lived for 10 years in this godforsaken place to be able to say that with full confidence."