Chapter 9

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"It's about time." The ashen-black creature emerged next to the stopwatch, its eyes scanning the desolation of the ruined city below it. It was a sorrowful sight, but nothing new.

 As he raised his hands in front of him, a mesmerizing display of thousands of blue streaks shot up into the sky.

"Oh, humans of this world, your suffering has ended. For you have survived through this arduous trail, making you eligible to paradise." He grinned as he preached to a crowd that didn't exist. 

"Your stories will be told for generations. How you hid away waiting while everyone else around you died, how you ran from the slightest of danger, and how you stepped over your own species just to survive. Such heroic tales for the history books."

He raises his head and looks at the massive blue circle hanging in the sky. "You will be brought to a place where you can live in peace. Somewhere that these creatures can never get you. A place where you could live as naively as before." He spoke with such passion that his body would instinctively move in sync with his words, emphasizing the emotions behind every sentence.

He takes a deep breath as he turns back to the nightmarish landscape below. "At least that's the lie you'll be told, or is it?"

He derives pleasure from this senseless rambling to alleviate his boredom, but he stops this foolishness when he hears a woman's voice in his ear. With a now stone-cold face that showed not the slightest emotion, he stares into the horizon. "Eastern invading army has been retracted."

The hall was filled with the rhythmic clanking of a woman's heels as she walked. When she pushed open a double door, a soft creak echoed through the room. Inside, there was a woman dressed in tidy attire, hunched over a table, engrossed in examining sheets of paper. "Commander, our forces have all been retracted."

Lifting her head, the commander looks at the screen floating before her. On it, she could see a solar system that was enclosed by a whitish transparent bubble. "Start the extraction of the remaining survivors."

"Yes, mam." An energy moved over the secretary's body and towards her right ear. "Start the transfer of the planet's inhabitants." After she spoke, multiple people responded to her.

"When will they be ready?"

"We can fire any minute now, commander."

The commander glances at the hourglass on the table. She observed the sands slowly trickling down. "We have little time left."

The secretary gulped but remembered another reason she came here. "Lord Physis wanted to thank you for the specimens you have brought him."

"Tell him it was my pleasure." The commander's words told one story, but the mere mention of his name evoked a heavy sigh from her. 

"That was enough small talk. Connect me to all of them. the extraction should have finished by now." Getting straight, the commander takes a moment to close her eyes and exhale, feeling the tension slowly dissipate. "Status."

"South, clear."

"South-West, clear."

"West, clear." in order voices confirmed that all remaining life in their district had disappeared.

"East, clear." As the ashen black figure spoke, he slowed down when he noticed something strange.

"What's the issue? We have no time for this."

The ashen-black creature, with its piercing blue eyes, fixated its gaze on a glowing silhouette further in the distance. To an average person, they would see him staring at a wall, but for him, there was a faint figure visible in the distance through it. "Someone wasn't extracted." 

The commander frowned upon hearing him. "Check on the anomaly and do it fast. Before the ten minutes are up, you'll have to depart from this world."

"Yes, mam."

"Next."

"South-East, clear."

"You all may leave then." 

With every location's status known, the secretary cuts off the connection. "An anomaly, huh?" The commander turns around. Her blood-red eyes stare at her secretary.

"I wonder what could have caused this, mam."

"Me too." The commander leans on the table behind her. "In ten minutes or when Ra'mes contacts us, we fire."

"Yes, mam."

Ra'mes wastes no time in reaching the human."Why are you still here?"

When the extract order was given, the mechanisms should have picked up any remaining life forces on the planet's surface and taken them in. Yet he was still here. From what he could tell, the man's heart was still beating, but his outward appearance made him seem lifeless. The smell of death hung heavy in the air around him, causing Ra'mes to grasp the true extent of what had transpired.

"You must have had it hard, fighting with your life on the line. To protect those around you, just to end up alone in the end. Oh, well, you can't blame me, right? I'm just doing my job." With his fingers tightly clenched, Ra'mes thrusts his hand forward, the sharp tips aiming for the man's heart. But before piercing the man's body, he noticed a swirling gray energy enveloping him. Coming to a halt, he takes a moment to study the strange energy, but his observation is cut short when a surge of blue light from the portal surrounds the man, turning him into a beam and shooting skywards.

Ra'mes raises his head and fixates his gaze on the light, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. He was certain he had stumbled upon something interesting, a possible antidote to the monotony of his empty existence. 

As he diverted his gaze from the man, he scanned the surroundings and discovered what he had been standing on. His eyes gleamed with pure delight as he curled his toes, causing the grin on his face to expand. "We might have one for the history books. Luckily, it seems to be a story still to be written."

The secretary feels a buzzing in her ear, prompting her to let her energy flow towards it. "The anomaly. It's coming."A surprised expression appeared on the commander's face when she as well heard Ra'mes's words.

"Leave the world. We'll be firing any moment now." The commander gives Ra'mes his orders before the secretary cuts off the connection. As they locked eyes, a silent understanding passed between the two women. 

Ra'mes stepped through a portal and found himself in a lavishly decorated room, filled with elegant furniture and sparkling chandeliers.

"Look who's here, mister, there's a problem."

"What are you trying to say? That I lied?"

"What else do you think I'm trying to say, demon." The man who spoke heavily emphasized the last word before continuing. "You were probably doing what your kin is best at. Scheming bastards." 

With a wide grin, Ra'mes locked eyes with the man seated at the table. "You wanna talk about races, huh? Well, I can play that game too. Half-bred lizard."

The lizard's body lit up with orange energy as he spoke. Ra'mes couldn't currently see this vibrant burst of color before him, but he could sense its presence intensely. 

After Ra'mes let energy flow to his eyes, he could see colors seeping of everyone in this room, but the most obvious was the whirlwind of orange coming from the damn lizard.

"Stop it. The both of you." At the same table as the lizard, sat a young-looking man with black hair and pale white skin that contrasted against the vibrant surroundings. Opening his eyes, the pure blackness inside glared at both of them. "If he were to scheme against us, he would have already done it."

"Are you really going to take a demon's side?" a glance from the pale-skinned man caused the lizard to shut his mouth. 

"He had numerous opportunities to do something behind our backs. When we were transferring energy onto the planet's surface, he could have simply taken his device. It would have been a simple yet effective sabotage, but let me ask you Lamros, has he done anything to wrong us?"

Lamros clenched a fist while he glared at Ra'mes. He knew well enough speaking out would just make that demon look good, so in the end, all he did was sigh. Ra'mes scoffed at Lamros's weak will, causing a rage-filled expression to appear on his face.

"You're lucky the captain is here or I wouldn't let this blow over so easily." Instead of hearing these words through his ears, Ra'mes could hear Lamros's voice in his head. 

The pale-skinned man who could hear the telepathy as well glanced at the Lamros with a disappointed gaze.

"It seems you fail to realize, you snot-nosed reptile." Contrary to Lamros, Ra'mes didn't try to hide his words through magical means he spoke them for everyone to hear.

"I'm willing to adhere to these hierarchies you follow when it's under the pretense of a mission, but the moment it ends, your standing is as prevalent as your pitiful existence." As they all stared at Ra'mes, the warm atmosphere in the room vanished.

"I respect the commander, despite being insignificant in our eyes, for she possesses the bravery to assume control. The reason I filled in was simply because I was bored and had nothing else to do. Once we set foot back on Morgeura, our paths will never cross again. So be afraid of going against your captain's orders, stare at me with that look in your eyes, bare your teeth towards me. No matter what you do it means nothing to me."

When he finished, Ra'mes looked around the room. As he noticed something familiar, a sense of comfort washed over him. He could feel their glares on him, with all the preconceptions.

"I will take my leave then." With his back turned towards them, he could feel their eyes drilling into him, but Ra'mes remained unfazed. Thoughts raced through his head, he was consumed by anticipation for what lay ahead, but some vague notion of what might be happening brought a mischievous grin back to his face. 

When he left the room, everyone could hear a glass shatter to pieces. They all turned their gazes towards a man. His eyes glowed a bright gold and out from his back grew two large white wings. "Fucking demon."

In his chair, the pale-skinned man laughed while the rest looked at the golden-eyed man. "I didn't expect anything else from him."

In a dimly lit stone room, the soft flickering of candlelights danced across the nine-robed men as they diligently prepared something. They created a pattern with white chalk, carefully drawing intricate shapes on the ground. The result was an outer layer resembling an octagon, with lines and circles intertwining and intersecting within. In the center, numerous straight lines converged into a single point. 

A robed man, clutching a book in his right hand and a chain in his left with a sideways eight made of precious material, walked towards that center. "We shall begin."

Amidst the infinite darkness, white dots offer a subtle reminder that there are countless other worlds. A large beam of light suddenly flashes through this expanse, illuminating everything in its path. It zooms through space at incredible speed, heading towards a distant world with a solar system inside. When this beam collided with the barrier of this world, it dissolved within an instant.

"Oh lord, that is infinite." With a trembling left hand, he chants words out of the book. "Your faithful servant calls upon thee."

Charging towards the solar system, it streaks through space towards the blazing sun at its core. 

"May your inextinguishable power wash over me."

With the beam vanishing within, the burning star began to rapidly expand.

"So your faithful retainers may protect the blessed land, you ever so generous let us reside in." A golden light descended from above, enveloping the robed man's body and transforming his eyes into a glistening gold color. A golden energy seeps from his body and illuminates their drawing upon contact. It spreads, making its way up the bodies of the other robed men who are positioned at the edges of the octagon.

Intense flames rapidly spread across all the planets, consuming them in a fiery blaze. As it expanded, a barrier appeared that was around the size of the original bubble that encompassed the solar system, and it halted any further growth. The burning was vicious and destructive, but not everlasting. By the time the star faded out, the solar system had become far from its former self. 

As soon as the prayer ended, exhaustion swept over the men in robes, causing them to collapse onto the ground. 

Abruptly coming to my senses, I wake up in a rustic room. As I surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings, my eyes landed on a luxurious leather chair, a cozy fireplace, and a charming tea table. Lanterns were hung from the ceiling beams, with glowing orbs of light inside instead of traditional candles. Towards the end of the room, there was also a window, through it I could see a large grassland. 

I was reluctant to leave my bed, as I saw no reason to do so. Why should I? Was the thought going through my head. I was all alone, and it would stay like that. Life would remain the same even if I moved on. I had an overwhelming feeling of emptiness, which greatly affected my mood.

"Now that you are all awake. Why don't you come out of your rooms? I don't want to do it by force. You all went through a lot after all." 

I remained in bed upon hearing someone call out to me. He did sound friendly, but I wasn't in the mood for a talk. I wanted to be left alone. Eventually, I felt a sensation traveling down my spine. I saw nothing while searching for what it might be, but I continued to sense its presence.

"Well, then you left me no choice." The sound of a finger-snapping echoed in my ears, and around the same time, I felt something get ahold of me. With a force pulling me, I swiftly glided through the room and towards the door, that swung open, revealing what lay beyond. 

I saw a long hall with multiple floors. The whole place was filled with hundreds of doors, each one correlating to a different person.

"Hello there everyone, you all will be in my care for the next few days. Hope we get along."

As I was dropped at the railing, I peered down towards the ground floor. A man with a kind smile stood on a long dining table, his blue eyes sparkling with warmth and his black hair neatly styled. His skin was a pale gray, adorned with delicate blue veins that traced across his entire body.