Immediately, as though struck in the back of the head, his expression took a turn. Sweat poured out of his face, and his mouth opened out of instinct yet no words exited for several seconds.
"D— Dead!? How!? Why!? How was the general up there speaking to me then!? Does everything you touch just die!?"
"Hey! That's not true! … Even though it kinda was my fault." She soughed.
"Your fault? How so? I never expected you to say that…" He questioned.
"Well… I'm just trying to be honest and completely transparent with you…"
"..."
She took a small pause and looked away before closing her eyes and continuing.
"Anyways, let me just explain what happened. I managed to get him to speak, yet I was blindsided on why he was so adamant not to speak. At first, I thought it was his pride, so I tried to break him into submission… That did work, but…"
"But what?" Moby leaned in closer and asked.
"The nightmare I placed him in left him in a time loop, and the only way it would be broken would be for him to speak the truth. I thought it would be a good way of making him see you as some sort of almighty being once we controlled him, but the plan backfired… From what I assume, he must have endured several lifetimes of torture with the hope of escape, but in the end, death seemed to be his only option. He was that stubborn, or maybe even frightened…"
"..."
"But now you ask, 'How did you let him die?'... As soon as he told me the truth, he began to fade away into the white light of immeasurable pain. As soon as I realized it, I tried to stop it, but even I was powerless, especially in my current state of being. That was most certainly the work of a celestial being. They must have placed a seal on his tongue to never share the truth, and if he did, he would suffer the worst pain imaginable and die. That should have been something I foresaw and tried to bypass, but by the time it happened it was far too late."
"Ah— I see…" Moby began to ponder deeply. "But… Doesn't that mean that the angels know that he spoke the truth? A signal must have been sent to them. Shit, those fuckers might be on their way now to—"
"I wouldn't worry about that…" She took a deep breath and calmed him down. "Once I realized I couldn't stop his death, I focused on intercepting whatever signal would go to the gods and angels. The message should be completely nullified."
"Oh, that's a relief…" Moby smiled, sighing his fears away and settling his nerves.
"At least I think…" She continued.
"You think!?"
"Well, had I been full power, intercepting such a message would have been child's play. But now I'm not that sure. At the least, it should be delayed by one year, and at most, it should have been completely intercepted, take that as you will." She shrugged.
"One year? One year isn't too bad… I just have to deal with the fact that I won't have the military under my grasp… I suppose it won't be that big of a deal. I had an inkling that everything going completely as planned would have been too good to be true. So be it, I guess I'm lucky that I still have so much going." Moby's voice softened as he shook his head and peered up to the ceiling.
"Sorry about that…" He heard a voice from his side, and he immediately turned to see Avilia looking to her left towards an empty wall.
"Sorry for what? You did your best, I really don't blame you. If anything, I'm glad and impressed you kept things so under control. I'd have been much worse if I were you."
"Heh… I suppose so…" She gave a distant chuckle. "I guess you may have figured this out, but that supreme general there was a fake. That was actually Rupert transformed into the supreme general. He left a clone in his hospital bed, I think he did very well. Luckily enough, the supreme general's body has yet to be found, if there even was a body and his physical one hadn't faded to dust. He probably has his own special VR room where no one is able to enter but him, so his body shouldn't be discovered until after the tournament."
"Ahhh! That explains why the supreme general was so nice to me and Regrit!" He burst out laughing. "That's some nice thinking! Maybe having the military in shambles is a good thing! You may kill everything you touch, but it may be a blessing instead of a curse!"
"You may wanna check your demon vocabulary; those blessings sting! But, I appreciate the sentiment, thanks. I look forward to seeing how you deal with this new dilemma." She gradually twisted her head away from the wall and smiled brightly towards him.
Out of all things that happened in their discussion, Moby was most taken back at that moment. It took him a few seconds to process, yet he reciprocated that sentiment soon after with a warm feeling in his heart.
Little did he know that was only the beginning of the surprises that were to come.
An unknown sound abruptly entered, creaking within the room of white, and Moby's head immediately snapped trying to find its source.
Ever so slowly, the door to the room began to open, and out of it emerged a single figure bearing an odd expression.
Beyond her bangs, her eyes of brilliant sapphires shined with what seemed like shyness or brimming excitement as she stepped within the white space with footsteps echoing from her black summer heals. Her dazzling blue hair was left free to wave untied behind her back. Her black sundress fit snug around her waist, and her gray flannel had their sleeves rolled, not masking much of her stunning figure.
"I'm backkkk!" She joyfully announced. "Did you miss me?"
Comments