Trill [3]

"Did you know this would happen when you created the [Mare] Manual?!"

"Hmm? Oh! Do you mean that I would have known that all of this would happen since several hundred years ago? To that, I would have to say no, I didn't know."

The white fabric of Theia's dress was still fluttering because of the divine pressure she let out, unable to believe that Loki truly didn't see this coming. "You have to have known! The only reason for James's execution was because of my children's apprehension towards that damn Manual! If they weren't so scared, this would have never happened!"

Even with the golden pressure coming from the goddess, Loki didn't seem to mind at all. "So you say? Well, how convenient for you. To be able to blame their fears that I supposedly was the reason for, just to cover up their crimes."

"It's the truth! And you know it!"

Taking a stand, the sockets of Loki's mask started to glow in that familiar purple, him not amused by the exasperated goddess. "Theia, please stop this. I have done nothing that I have not been allowed to do. I do not care whether you accept my actions or not, you cannot judge me as I have committed no wrongs.

Now, let's say I truly was the reason for their fear. Does that make things right? Do their fear somehow justify their actions, now making it a natural thing to sentence another mortal to their death without proof?"

Theia had not been ready for this. The usually playful and irritating Loki had suddenly shifted, now speaking words that felt more than reasonable in his defense. What was even worse was that he wasn't done yet.

Taking a couple of slow steps around his desk, it didn't take long until he was standing right in front of his ruling god, showing no signs of wanting to pay her any respect.

"You are still too young, Theia. I have seen all the faces that the mortals carry, and the crime of killing an innocent brother is not unusual. There is no doubt about it that a lot of mortals die every day just to satisfy others' greed, curiosity, lust and so much more. Tell me, you also know what your precious King of Mensch is doing right now, right?"

She could only grit her teeth, fully aware of what had been happening behind the political scene amongst the humans. How the king had already begun to step on the path of committing a purge, removing everyone who didn't join him.

"You... You are a bastard!"

"Hohoho! I sure am! You should have seen the look on my father's face when he found out that I knew all along! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

With that, he expelled the goddess from his domain, finally getting the peace and quiet he so desperately needed. Returning to his seat, he closed the eyes hidden by the mask, trying to calm down the massive headache he was feeling right now.

'Shit... I might have overdone it with my performance at the square... Hopefully, my little act successfully deterred her from coming over again any time soon...'

It couldn't be helped. I needed to protect my apostle for as long as possible, and making a huge theatrical scene, where he would be regarded as extremely dangerous, would make it more likely that he might be left alone for a while. After all, it would take more preparations to go after a lion than a dog.

"Also, how could she expect me to know the future when even the threads aren't completely sure? Though, it did help to know the possible futures that could occur! Hohoho!"

****

[James's Pov]

"So this is the dungeon, huh? Doesn't look all too appealing, if you ask me."

"True. Maybe if they got rid of some of the skulls, put down a nice carpet, and installed some lights, it could be pretty cozy."

The dungeon outside of Trill was, as one could expect, a cave, supposedly filled with the same yetis as the ones outside, with one major difference. These yetis could use different Skills and spells, meaning they were on another level than their brethren outside.

Walking through the cave, I was surprised at how spacious it was. With a width of at least ten meters and a ceiling height of four, it was more than enough for one to have a large-scale battle. With me and sub-me walking side by side, our gifted scythe in both of our hands, I felt excited to battle some monsters.

Although the yetis outside hadn't been too difficult to get rid of, I imagined that the monsters inside of the dungeon would be a lot more fun to fight. Now, both I and my clone had equipped our masks, as it somehow felt like it made a lot of sense to wear them during combat.

'I wonder what someone would think if they saw me...'

Two James, both wearing sleek, gray suits and big scythes, walking around in a cave looking for a fight, their long, white hair up, making it almost look like two fox tails falling from our heads.

*Gru?*

It was finally time, having now set my sights on three unsuspecting yetis, two with big clubs in their hands, and one with a staff, adorned with some hanging tribal symbols. *Gru! Gru!*

The warriors started to run towards us, but I had already learned my lesson from the Orc Village, about taking it easy and testing my limits. '[Dome of Mist], [Dome of Mist]!'

Conjuring two clouds, one coming from each of my bodies, I managed to cover almost the entire area we were in. Confused by their vision suddenly getting covered, the yetis at least had the intelligence to fall back, to protect their shaman.

Unfortunately for them, I was a lot faster. Rushing past them with both of my bodies, I quickly arrived on the other side of the mist, letting the shaman see the two scythes flying toward him.

*Gu?! GUU!*

Our scythes grew in size, and a purple glow enveloped them, making the black eyes of the yeti act as a mirror to his own death.

*Sching! Sching!*

With both blades slicing towards his neck at the same time, the monster had no chance of survival, as his bulky head fell from his body. *GU!* At the same time, the two warriors had finally managed to exit the mist as well, now seeing the dead body of their comrade on the ground.

'Now it's time for some experiments...'

As sub-me engaged in combat with one of them, I took on the other by myself, excited to see the prospects of my theories. *Gu!* The wooden club came flying towards my shoulder, at a speed where I could very well have dodged it if I wanted, but I chose not to.

Focusing my mind, I tried my best to imagine my shoulder turning into mist as soon as the club make contact. *Wosh!* Instead of pain, I was met with an incredibly weird sensation, as the blunt weapon went straight through my shoulder.

*Gu?!*

'It actually worked!'

As the yeti stumbled, completely thrown off by the fact that his weapon didn't meet any resistance, I took a second to rejoice over my success.

I hadn't thought of this until earlier today, that if my body was now mist, couldn't I time a transformation in order to dodge attacks? And it worked! Sadly, I quickly found a huge problem with my thinking.

For some reason, a huge chunk of my mana disappeared in an instant, making me feel a tinge of weakness and fatigue. *Gu!* The yeti didn't care about my pondering at all, as he swung his club as soon as he regained his footing. 'This isn't fun anymore...'

"Shut up."

*BOM!*

Having counterattacked his careless swing with an [Orb of Mist], the monster fell to the ground with all of his orifices bleeding heavily. Simultaneously, I did the same with the other yeti, no longer feeling like playing around.

Letting the staff part of my scythes on my shoulders, I couldn't help but feel a weird sort of anger rise up in me, just because my plan didn't work out as I wanted.

Although it could be incredibly useful to convert my body into mist in critical moments, I wasn't even sure if the mana expenditure would be lower than just taking the hit and instantly regenerating after.

Still, I didn't think I would be this pissed off because of it. 'Something is off with my mind...'

It wasn't hard to recognize that there had been some sort of change in the way my brain worked, as the previous me would never feel this way just because something stopped being amusing. Sadly, I wasn't in a position to sit down for a session of mindfulness.

"Come on. Let's get going."

It was a bit unfair to the poor monsters inside the dungeon, but I needed someone to let out my frustrations on. So, with our black and purple scythes, I took the role of a reaper as I swept through the dungeon, leaving nothing but blood and guts in my wake.