18 Separating Paths

The thunderstorm became even more erratic as lightning rained at their surroundings.

A particular lightning struck Iroko and Ikal, as it dispersed, the Lady and the Lord also vanished at the same time as the lightning.

Volt and Elle were also struck by lightning disappearing in the same manner.

When the lightning hit Volt and Elle, the thunder clouds started to became less hostile. Its lightning which erupted one moment were now gone. Leaving behind dense dark clouds. Afterwards, small drops of rain fell, as if everything that happened just now was but a dream.

Egon was still dazed at what happened within the span of five minutes. The light raindrops that hit him reminded him of Prime. He immediately ran towards the direction that the fireball fell at.

It was situated near the river. A deep dent on the earth was created by the fireball. For some unknown reason, the creatures of the Botanischer Garten seemed to have disappeared. Egon already noticed this at the bird's nest, but now he was able to confirm that the creatures mysteriously vanished.

When Egon arrived at the scene, Micah and Lucien were already there. He saw Micah kneeling near the middle of the dent while smoke was still wafting from it. Lucien on the other hand stood ramrod. There was this tension that he hadn't felt in a while as he stared at his two friends. He was reminded of that person. That person made them this way.

When Micah saw Egon, there was this defeated look in her eyes as she whispered, "What...happened?"

Lucien also looked at him, waiting patiently for an answer. Yet, his fists were already white from overclenching.

The way they looked made Egon stagger towards them. For some unknown reason, each step felt like the heaviest steps he had ever taken. As he got closer, the weight he felt... felt more heavy and suffocating. His eyes started to have tears as he finally saw what they saw...

In the middle of the dent, Prime layed in fetus position. There were deep cuts, burnt up open wounds, and a mixture of burnt blood that also had fresh blood flowing out. Her whole body looked like it almost burnt to death. Egon's heart beated so loudly at that moment, he was unconsciously shivering as he saw the little girl that they took care of with great ardor, which they sheltered from the wind and rain... and yet... who would have thought that she would be its immediate recipient. He faltered in his steps and he stumbled knee first. He felt no pain.

Lucien and Micah looked absentmindedly at Egon. They were just as lost as he was. Lucien was still somewhat in a better condition than the two for he had just met Prime, their reactions made a deep impression on Lucien. Micah could not stand up, Egon had already stumbled. He was the only one, it seemed, to have the strength to check on her condition.

He walked towards her and noticed a small dragon in the middle of her arms and knees. It had emerald colored scales. It looked unharmed compared to Prime's sorry state. The hatchling noticed Lucien. Slowly, it crawled confidently as it stood on Prime's waist. It cocked its head to the left before speaking, "You... you are..."

Lucien's eyes constricted and his breathing became heavy when he became aware of what the hatchling wanted to say. He grabbed the hatchling at its neck, strangling it. The hatchling glared at him and struggled as it said, "Kill me, and... I won't... tell you... how to... save her!"

The animosity he felt was lessened when he heard what it said. He opted to let go of the hatchling as he went to check on Prime. He tried to get her pulse as he placed his index finger and middle finger on the right side of her neck, looking for the carotid artery. Peculiarly, there was a very strong pulse. His eyes widened as he shouted, "She's alive!" The next moment, he retracted his hands quickly as a wisp of lightning came out from Prime's neck and struck Lucien.

Egon, in post haste, fearing that he misheard, scampered to her side. Disregarding the probability of being electrocuted, he kneeled and also checked her pulse with his shaking hand. 'There really is a pulse, it is so strong that it is unbelievable.' He looked at Micah and nodded at her while the surge of electricity made him feel alive rather than feeling pain. Micah's distraught demeanor slowly relaxed as she breathed in so deep that she felt all life come back to her. There was worry, since both Egon and Lucien still received forces of lightning from her sister, but the urgency of the situation made her overlook this.

The three, without further ado, started to prepare for Prime's treatment. Egon checked all her internal and external injury, making prescriptions for them to find and refine. Micah and Lucien waited patiently for Egon.

The hatchling, being ignored, became irked. It shouted at them, "Fools!"

Engrossed with intent and hope, they were baffled with such crude words coming out of nowhere. They looked at the hatchling that stood mighty even though there wasn't even any semblance of visage on it.

Lucien said arcticly, "Ignore it."

The hatchling became infuriated, it flew clumsily towards Prime, landing on her hips, its nostrils threw a weak fireball at Egon.

Egon also got caught on the irritation that Lucien and the hatchling were in that he wanted to slap away the hatchling. But his hand that was raised was held by a strong and firm arm. He looked back to see that Micaheil was holding him with a grip so fierce, it seemed like she wanted to break his arm.

"Stop it!" She shouted so loud that it echoed. "I don't know why, but there is an evil air about. It's making all of you irritated." She looked at the hatchling, letting go of Egon's hand, she went forward and sat beside Prime's body. She looked at the little thing in the eye and said, "Speak."

The hatchling was happy to know that somebody else felt that evil air. It blinked before saying, "We have to take her away from here."

Egon and Lucien looked at one another while Micah asked, "Why?"

As if lost in thought, the hatchling fired out her idea, totally disregarding Micah's question. "One of you, take her out of here with me. The two that will be left behind will get the medicine she needs. I'll give her some of my blood so we can move her now."

Lucien also noticed the evil air but he retorted, for the hatchling did not asnwer their question, "Why?"

The hatchling breathed in, he tried to not be carried away by the evil air surrounding them. "There is a soul near here, it was travelling with the mortals. This soul seems to be looking for a body to possess and I think you are familiar with this soul."

When the three of them heard that, that they were somewhat acquainted with this soul, their hearts pounded.

The hatchling continued, "And that soul, that evil spirit..." it stopped for a while as it looked at Prime with a hint of worry. "They have a connection. Saving her can be done later, losing her body to that evil sprit will kill her forever."

When the last words were said, Micah's heart constricted. Her eyes steeled as she said, "We will listen to you." The three disregarded their doubt filled thoughts..., if it is him... they have to take Prime away. Wandering souls have greatest compatibility with their reincarnated body. In this weak state, Prime would not have the strength to fight his soul.

Micah, being steadfast, immediately ordered the dragon, "Give her your blood. I will carry her far from here."

The hatchling nodded, it bit its own arm with its small fangs, blood started to trickle out. It placed its blood into Prime's lips. Micah cautiously opened Prime's tightly shut mouth to not waste any drop of its blood. After drinking blood, Prime's life force became stronger.

Prime was instantly carried by Micah, she walked, did not tarry as she said, "The soul piercers have been dealt with. That thunder just now knocked them out. I will pass them and..." there was a hint of delay in her voice, a tendril of fear was very evident as her words went to an abrupt halt.

They were at a stand still. Just now, it was already agreed upon that she would be brought out. It's just that she is a young deity, not only that, she was also heavily injured. Those soul piercers would surely catch on to this feast of young, tender meat. Once they catch her scent... they stopped their thoughts. For the first time, hesitation and fear started to sprout.

Egon understood their plight. He said, "The Lady, as ordered, made us bring her along with us..." he stopped..., gazing at Lucien before he continued, "...to the mortal world."

Micah's shoulders trembled and Lucien's jaws tightened.

She calmed herself as she walked towards the edge, "Mmmm, let's meet at Kisaragi Village. The soul piercers have eradicated the people there. They unfortunately saw the mermaids head..."

Egon and Lucien had a grim look as they both said in unison, "Understood."

Egon looked at Micah's back, it was as if they were walking a path they could no longer go back from. He pulled himself together and told Lucien all the ingredients he had to find. Time was of the essence.

~Kisaragi Village~

There was an evident scent of blood and an aura of unrest in Kisaragi Village.

Micah looked for a somewhat clean and acceptable bed for Prime. The dragon helped with her search so they were able to quickly find her a room in the midst of thi eerie settlement.

Micaheil placed Prime on the bed, worry etched on her face. Carrying Prime was not an easy task. Her body was filled with so much electric current that there were faint steams emitting from her body. Micah would even get electrocuted frequently since Prime's body would release the current outwards. Micah's body directly touching Prime's made the electric current immediately surge to her body which physiologically has conductor potential. She wasn't immune to the pain of electricity, it's just that she would just disregard those unexpected zaps of charge. In her mind, the condition her sister was in, was more precarious than her bit of pain, this little girl of hers could start having internal injury if the electricity inside her was left rampaging not finding an outlet.

Actually, Prime had a special constitution, her body was a natural conducter. Not only that, she was able to tolerate large surge of volts. Her potential even grew exponentially when she absorbed electricity. In normal occasions, this wouldn't be a problem. It's just that electricity from nature and electricity made by deities are of different qualities. In addition, those heavenly lightnings which ribboned carried volts beyond what Prime had ever experimented on based on ignorant curiosity.

She sighed, left the hatchling to watch over her sister, even though she was afraid that the bed she was on would catch fire when she unconsciously released electricity. Biting her lip, she went out and started to look for clean cloths and clothing for her sister to change into. She also looked for a new bed cover.

When she returned with all those cloths, the dragon looked at her with wonder as she placed a sack containing cloths and covers at the side of the bed. There was even a piece of cloth which she carried on her shoulder. Within it was a clean white blanket, some towels, a shirt, a trouser, and a gown which was similar to a patient's gown.

"Mark this house." she ordered as she whisked her sister and walked out in a flurry. If one observed Micah's body, one could see the almost imperceptible twitching of her muscles due to the electric charge that Prime's body consistently threw out.

The hatchling was taken aback by this order. Flying hastily, catching up to her, and asking, "Aren't we going to stay?"

"We have to clean her first." She said mechanically, as if no electricity has been tormenting her.

She carried Prime to a near by river. The dragon inspected the river if it was clean and clear. After checking the water, she intended to place the cloth she carried near the edge of the river. As she was putting it down, her arm spasmed. She disregarded this accumulating current inside her.

Her following action was beyond the hatchling's thoughts. Micah, carrying Prime's body, treaded the waters and went to a shallow part of the river, about waist deep and submerged Prime's body.

Shockingly, the water near them started to boil as the electric charge in Prime started to break free in this rich environment of a conductor. Luckily, the river's water continuously flowed so the heated water traversed the river's path and did not stay long with Micah and Prime. But steam could be seen from where the two were at. There was even this whiteness on Micah's hand as she gripped hard unto Prime's body. Her shaking hands were unnoticeable for it looked like she was just resisting the rapid torrent.

The hatchling asked, "Isn't this bad? Won't the injury...?"

She cut the dragon off without even hearing the complete question, "Her body is currently a favorite breeding ground of bacterias with this rich amount of burned up and open wounds." There was this weary look in her eyes as she added, "These first degree and second degree burns haven't even dried up. The electric current inside her is keeping the injury and burns from healing. We need to wash her up..."

"But submerging..." its question trailed.

There was an imperceptible light in Micah's eyes as she patiently explained, "I am more worried about the fact that the water doesn't even wash over her. Look, her body has been emitting more steam because the water that's come into contact with her body has consistently been vaporized."

The hatchling couldn't help but silently agree. But it had this aura of doubt permeating as he stared at the two.

Micah feeling this doubt finally snapped, at the same time, she felt her leg muscles spasm because of being submerged in the electrically charged water. She glared at the hatchling as she irritatedly spoke, "Look at her, she seems like an electric eel! I've been enduring the charges her body has been releasing into the waters which is a dozen more volts higher compared to when I was carrying her dry body. The point of placing her here was to clean off bacteria and to cool of her hyper charged body. But it's more like the water is a boiling pot meant to cook me alive! And I am fully aware that this charge hurts me because it came from those heavenly lightnings!"

The dragon was flabbergasted at her sudden burst of anger. The hatchling chose to keep quiet, feeling guilty. Some of those lightnings currently flowing in Prime was also part of its trials. The hatchling kept its head down in shame.

After an hour in the water, Prime's body started to stop emitting electricity. One can even see some burnt up skin cascading in the river. When she saw that the wounds and injuries were finally being cleansed by the river water, she ordered, "Open up that cloth. There's a blanket there. Place it over there and spread it."

The hatchling obeyed.

Micah then took off carefully the clothes that Prime wore, for there were some parts which stuck itself unto her skin. After five minutes of real soaking, she emerged with Prime from the river and placed her little sister's bear body on the blanket. She then wiped her gently with clean towels. Carefully, she clothed her sister.

She let her lay down the blanket for a while as she took off her clothes and changed into the shirt and trouser. Her initially domineering aura toned down greatly as she wore such simple clothings. She kneeled in front of Prime as her lips quivered with a very quiet whisper, "Prime... you have to wake up..."

The hatchling blinked, from the information they gathered at the upper heavens, this woman was anything but nice. She was renowned as a fearsome general that had never lost in any expedition that she was assigned to. Always focused on the task she was set out to do. An ice general. It's just that... looking at her now... yes, she remained rational and a competent leader at that... but there was this vulnerability about her that couldn't be explained.

Micah gently carried her sister again, they went back to the house that the hatchling marked. The hatchling changed the bed's cover with fresh cotton covers. Micah then placed her there. She also layed beside her as exhaustion finally hit her and she fell asleep besides her sister.

The hatchling observed the sisters. It silently watched over them.

At dusk, Egon and Lucien arrived. Without delay, they searched for the two. They were quite surprised when they saw the two sleeping peacefully as if they weren't on the run. Had Prime's injury been non-existent, they would've thought everything was just an illusion.

They went to the kitchen and started to prepare her medicine and ointments.

The hatchling followed them into the kitchen and observed as these two men diligently did their tasks. It noticed how they placed their chi generously into the medicine and ointment making it a high grade refinement. After finishing the ointment and medicine, Egon woke Micah up. There was this tired look on Micah that was an entirely new scene to Egon, he coughed as he took her place in watching over Prime. After diligently placing medicine on Prime's body, Egon closed his eyes a bit, feeling the very exhaustion that she felt. Micah left Prime and Egon. She then told Lucien to hunt with him, he agreed. They left in middle of the night.

The hatchling flew out of the house and observed this village. Kisaragi village was a peaceful village. Had it not been pillaged, it probably would've like its stay here. The little dragon was aware of the soul piercers that killed and destroyed the tranquil peace here.

Suddenly, a blue light enveloped the hatchling. But it seemed to be a light that was sealed. There was a small circle enveloping the light from spreading. Then, the light became dim and one could see a little girl of about three to four years old emerging. The little girl looked like Elle, but there was this sweet adorableness about her. Her golden brown her was above shoulder length, and her pupils had a brownish red hue. Her stature was of a plump little girl. She blinked for a bit before entering their house. She took a quick peek at Egon and Prime. Egon sat at his chair as his upper body leaned on the bed, he was asleep.

The little girl observed this master doctor. She pouted as she heard sounds from outside. The little girl disappeared from the house, the moment she did, Egon woke up. He stretched himself, afterwards he closed all the windows and created an incantation surrounding the house.

Inside the incantation, the house was sealed off from the real world. Whatever was passing this village, Egon had no energy to observe or to plot. All his energy was placed into those ointments and medicine that had specific times to be administered.

~In the forest ~

"Why does it feel like the animals are disturbed?" Lucien remarked as there was not a single game to catch after prowling in the dark for an hour.

Micaheil thought the same, she nodded at Lucien and opted to go back. When they reached the outskirts of Kisaragi Village, they caught the scent of soul piercers.

"You can't go back." a child whispered behind them. Both Lucien and Micah were on high alert as they jumped and distanced themselves from the voice. They turned back from their point of origin and saw a little girl standing there.

The little girl blinked innocently as she said, "We should leave for a while..., they'll catch your scent. Besides, your friend sealed off the house, no one can enter unless he undoes the seal. "

Lucien and Micah looked at one another at the same time, they said in unison, "The hatchling!"

"It's good to know you guys aren't stupid!~" the hatchling said cheekily.

Lucien squinted his eyes when he heard what she said. "Let me kill her..." he spoke in a collected manner, as if killing was just like talking about mundane ideals.

Micah immediately placed her right hand on Lucien's chest, "You can't."

Hearing this remark, Lucien remembered this condition. He looked at the hatchling and kept quiet.

A smirk appeared on the hatchling's face. Her previously innocent demeanor changed into that of a naughty fox. "Tsk, no fun at all." She walked dandily towards Micah, she even fearlessly jumped forward and pulled the hand Micah placed on Lucien's chest. She didn't budge at all so the little hatchling, now in a child's form, dangled as she kept her grip tight on Micah's hand.

Micah looked at the hatchling with peculiarity.

"Hey, big sis~"

Micah cocked her head to the right.

"I can smell your bloodlust, both of your bloodlust!~" she spoke in a cheerful manner as she looked at Micah and then at Lucien.

They both kept quiet. In their minds, had the hatchling not appeared, they would've massacred everyone on sight. These soul piercers... and that... woman...

An arctic gaze landed on the hatchling, but she was not fazed and instead smiled frantically as she leered at Micah. "I like you~"

Micah closed her eyes, not wanting to talk with a psychotically deranged dragon. Besides, she never argued with children. She started swinging her right hand and the girl was being flung to and fro. She giggled in delight as she swung in the air. Micah then lifted her right hand in front of Lucien and ordered, "Pull her..."

The hatchling blinked as if surprised, then she added unto Micah's words, "Yeah, pull me... and pull me hard~ 'kay?"

Both Lucien and Micah's eyes twitched. This little thing is fearless.

The hatchling noticed their bewildered expression. Being the epitome of wickedness, she broke the silence and asked, "Want me to eat the moon?"

Out of the blue, the two blinked in unison as they did not understand what she meant. It took them two seconds to absorb those words.

Again, the hatchling repeated, "Want me to eat the moon?"

Lucien languidly asked, "Eat the moon... You're basking in its light... Pray... tell, how does this little imp intend to so?" There was this passive-aggressiveness in his tone as he spoke but... he looked like he was not talking to anyone in particular.

The hatchling wasn't offended at all. She let go of Micah as she landed gently on the ground, as if her wings were still behind her, making her land so peaceful it looked like there was no gravity.

Mind you, Micah's height was 6'3, falling from that height in the form of a three years old would've still inflicted pain if the child didn't have good preconditioned reflex.

"Hey, sis~ don't you want me to eat the moon?"

Micah just looked at her, but it was evident that her left eye kept twitching.

The hatchling pouted, "Such a measly moon, you choose to believe in that thing that can only reflect rays. How improvident."

Micah tested the waters as she said, "If I really am improvident, tell me, how do you plan to eat the moon?"

The look of scrutiny filled the little hatchling, she closed her eyes tight. When she opened her eyes, a gust of air was released around her. Looking at her bloody eyes, they both noticed that it had a darker hue to it. She then reached out her hand as she faced the moon. Their surroundings suddenly got darker and darker until it became pitch black.

They both looked at the dragon wearily. The next thing they knew was that a rich dense milky-white chi was above them. It flowed into the outstretched hand of the hatchling forming a small white orange. The white orange seemed to emit light. "See, it gave me face," she giggled, "it's so fearful of me that it would even let me eat it~" She swung the white orange up before adding, "I'm going to eat the moon now~♡"

The hatchling sniggered, she then placed her hand up, her hand directly facing her mouth. Then that tender looking hand squeezed the white orange until a unique white liquid oozed out which directly fell into the little hatchling's mouth.

The moment the last drop of liquid fell into the girl's mouth. The world became desolate of light. An extreme fear they've never felt before entered into their hearts. The next thing they knew...

"Aaaaaaah!!"

"Raaarrgh"

*chomp, chomp**

Both Lucien and Micah felt goosebumps at the ghastly sound[2]. They looked towards the source of the decrepit[3] screams.

The sound of carnivorous teeth biting into flesh became a dreadful acoustic that was amplified by the obscure darkness. There was even this tingling sensation felt by their eardrums. The nape of their necks felt vulnerable.

Amidst the eerie new world, Micah's voice echoed, "What did you do to the moon?" There was this very small hint of hesitation as she asked. If one did not listen carefully, one would think it was just another question amongst the sea of questions.

The hatchling 'tsk' as it broke its playful revelry, "I showed you how I would eat the moon. Now, you're asking me what I did to it... Are you cuckoo in the brain?"

There was goosebumps all over Micah's body, her body shivered in this foreign pitch black world. She could even hear her heavy breathing. She closed her eyes as she calmed herself. "You ate the moon?" she said with such indifference that it didn't sound like a question at all. Like it was just a remark.

The hatchling could see Micah, for even in her human form, her retina still had at the back of it her tapetum lucidum. There was nothing reflecting light onto her eyes, supposedly, she shouldn't see anything... it was the white orange that made this possible.

The essence of the white orange was the reflection of light. The light inside her acted as a retroflector to her pupils. Thereby making the outside world as visible as day. It's just that, it's like a world with a black background.

She saw Micah's unmoved face, and she was reminded of her earlier demeanor, reminded her of her mother that was always rational in the midst of pandemic situations. She saw how quick she stabled her emotions within the sudden shifts of sight. 'This woman deserves her title as general ' she thought. She blinked and blinked until she felt sleepy. She nimbly walked towards her and answered, "Mmmmm..., now *yawn, you don't have to kill *yawn them."

Micah, had a gentle smile when she registered the hatchling's words. From the distance of the sound of her voice, she could infer that the little girl was in front of her. She kneeled and carried her which shocked the hatchling. Instead of the lingering fear that humans felt when in blinding darkness, the darkness reminded her of the darkness of birth, where one can only hear and feel. This darkness made her drowsy and vulnerable, slowly she was letting her guard down. Micah heard the hatchling whisper, "Mmamma... I don wanna stttay he..." The hatchling rubbed her face unto Micah's chest and adjusted herself to sleep.

Lucien eyed the hatchling, he closed his eyes and whispered to Micah, "Let's go."

Micah nodded, they retraced their steps.

The hatchling was in a state of light sleep. Her muscles were still tense, however as time passed, and with the loving embrace of the darkness, she slowly relaxed. When she opened her eyes, she would stare at Micah's face. For her, this woman had a remarkably beautiful and heroic face just like her mom's. It felt so warm that she could just cuddle in this embrace.

Micah was surprised when she felt the hatchling's little hand grab hold of her hair. She looked down at little girl in her arms. She felt that as she looked down, there was shock coming from the hatchling and the next thing was the little girl's whisper, "Your...eyes." Micah raised her left eyebrow, instead of speaking, she looked ahead.

The hatchling was dazed, Micah's pupils just now had vertical slits and it had a rich yellow brown color. It looked like the Allwissender Basiliskenauge that Xen used, but not quite the same. She didn't notice it earlier on for she was far from her, but when she looked at her and was just a few inches from her face, those eyes perplexed her for the bearer of such eyes had gone extinct in the upper heavens.

It was the Allwissender Basiliskenauge, but this darkness had made the all seeing eye adjust to a thermal photoreceptor. Which was new to Micah, never has the unsealed eye adjusted to this photoreceptor before. Though she acted like this was nothing new, her heartbeated fast. Everything that happened was so fast, what happened at the Botanischer Garten still kept bothering her... and now... this little girl in her arms... had the capability to do just as she pleased on impulse. She frowned at this thought, she then spoke in a grave manner, "Has he talked?"

Lucien was aware of what she meant, "Not yet."

"Well, he better when we return." There was this emphasis on the word better as she looked ahead.

"We need the light of the moon back before we could even return..." Lucien reminded.

They both breathed in deeply, as the both of them had their brows scrunched up.

Micah's features turned grim. Earlier on, when the hatchling drank the last drop of the white orange, everything was hidden in the midst of the dark... but Micah instinctively activated her Allwissender Basiliskenauge. What she saw was those screams... they came from the soul piercers, to be quite exact, they were eating and attacking one another. As if they were possessed.

As they walked, the animals of the forest seamed to have returned for different sounds started to come from all sorts of direction. These animals were quite tense for this darkness was a novel experience for everyone.

Lucien stopped at his tracks and quirked his brow, he then stood besides Micah, "Mics[4], that isn't what I think it is right?"

Micah looked at his line of sight and saw a woman standing before them, she made a snide remark, "It is."

Hearing the two deities refer to it as an 'it' rather than a who, a she, or a her. The woman couldn't help but ask, "I never thought I was an 'it' before."

"You, technically... aren't mortal anymore," Micah quirked her brows in thought as if contemplating deeply, "and technically... you aren't deity either..." Lucien continued, "So, we didn't even come to the conclusion to call you an 'it,' it just seemed appropriate."

"Really, you have a morbid line of thought." the woman said after a pause.

"Says the woman who has been killing innocent deities with the hands of other mortals." Micah said as a matter of fact.

"Innocent?"

Micah spoke with a hint of nonchalance, "Why? Us deities never attacked you before... Before you aggressively hunted us."

"It was his words that indicated the unfairness of life, we only had to balance the pods." calmly she spoke with a zeal of righteousness. "I didn't want him to die in vain."

Both Micah and Lucien's eyes constricted, the Allwissender Basiliskenauge looked otherworldly as if its eyes locking on its prey.

"Don't mention that fool in front of me!" Lucien growled.

The woman stared at the two of them and at the child in Micah's arms. Lucien and Micah became alarmed with that stare. Right now, they contemplated all the pros and cons.

An eerie smile bloomed on the woman's face. "Is that your sister, general?"

Micah kept quiet, right now, the house Egon and Prime were staying at was surrounded by soul piercers. Now wasn't the time to be carried away by her tumultuous emotions.

Surprisingly, Lucien said apathetically, "Take her away."

This was not one of the options she thought of but it was most definitely an acceptable option.

She looked at Lucien's side profile, his eyes were like piercing poisonous daggers. There was something amiss, like a seal in the verge of breaking, creating ripples before its surroundings.

As Micah was near a tree, she made a rhythmic knock and tap on the tree.

- •

- - -

• - •

-

• • • •

After those rhythmic knocks, Micah saw Lucien nod his head. She then disappeared.

Lucien then, in just a millisecond, appeared before the woman as his right hand held her fair neck.

The woman, who was initially smiling, had a terrified look. She was also using the all seeing eye.

What she saw...

was the last thing...

she had seen...

Out of nowhere, her eyes started to feel like they were on fire...

she felt an alien object entering her eyelids...

It was so big that she felt her eyes were being...

Like her face was being forced to move in an unnatural way...

then,

a warm liquid started to cascade her cheeks...

Afterwards,

she felt her optic nerve being grated...

grated on to...

something sharp...

her eyes felt like...

like a million needles...

punctured it...

punctured it...

and punctured it...

mercilessly....

her whole body shivered...

she tried to escape this grip and this darkness...

but...

it didn't end there...

Suddenly,

an intense sensation erupted...

as if...

something was being pulled out forcibly...

The hand that gripped her neck like a vice, suddenly released her. She fell on her knees.

when she blinked...

more warm liquid passed by her cheeks...

there was even a hollowness...

a hollowness that...

occupied a space...

a space that... shouldn't be empty...

looking out...

She straightened her body to see...

but...

there was only this dubious darkness...

that was unlike...

the initial darkness of the world...

She blinked again,

peering intently...

she even placed her hand in front of her as she opened and closed her fingers

but there was nothing...

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

Lucien looked at the woman with such iciness that it was frightening. He then squatted in front of her. He then said in a queer way,

"I accepted his choice of letting you live. It's just that... I don't accept you... killing my kin... just because we have a longer life... I want to kill you right now. So, he could see the result of this stupid, selfish, and blind choice. Don't worry, I know that his soul is still somewhere here."

After hearing what he said, her face directly peered at him, disbelief written all over.

"That's right, I know about his soul, that it's still here. I'll make sure he pays a million fold for the evil he sowed..." He patted her cheeks as he whispered, "This is just the interest..."

He stood up and flicked his hand. The birds in the forest immediately flew up in disarray. The animals woke with this frenzied haze towards a direction far from Kisaragi Village.

~At the same time

At a volcano~

The hatchling that was in Micah's arms woke up in her dazed sleep. Her eyes constricted when she felt that... that order. She saw the bird's flying away from Kisaragi village.

The hatchling scooched her face closer to Micah's chest as she whispered weakly like a newborn cat, "no..." She shivered and shriveled up in insecurity as she returned to her hatchling form. Feeling the movements of the hatchling in her arms, there was this restlessness welling up inside her. She also gazed at the birds of the air.

After travelling for an hour, a dim shadow started to envelop the dark world.

Micah's eyes immediately returned to normal. She was now standing at the foot of an inactive volcano. As she gazed at the landscape that remained unchanged, there was this deep foreboding...

~[5]~

[1] 08/12/19 Author's note

I posted the three chaps today but I may add some more plots to them in the following days.

In other words, not new chapters but extended current chapters, If I can, but I will not promise.

Actually, there are already future chapters.

What I am having difficulty with is that the chapters related to the current events aren't done yet. So, my updates may again be unstable.

Can someone recommend me some inspirations, I have no muse ??

[2] Deities don't do cannibalism, they've seen beasts do it but realistically speaking, their physical bodies are similar to mortals. Seeing them eat one another with fervour wasn't really a sight to behold.

[3] Usually, decrepit isn't used in this manner, but I couldn't find a word that would otherwise fit the description I wanted. Since it is the nearest possible word, pardon me but I'll be using this word differently for this novel's purpose.

[4] pronounced as Mike's

[5] 08/14/19 Author's Note

Evil Spirit, Kisaragi Village and What did you do to the moon is really one chapter. I've just merged them.

I was intending to entitle it Separating paths from the very beginning, but I realized when making it, well the only paths that separated were the gods and deities. So, I re-titled the work as Evil Spirit. As I wrote I still saw no light on Separating paths. Being uninspired, hence the title, "Kisaragi Village" But when I wrote, "What did you do to the moon," that was when everybody had to go their seperate ways.

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