THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS

"You vile, despicable liar!" Isaac yelled; his breathing ragged, causing the floor to crystalise before him. "TAKE THAT BACK!"

How dare she insinuate the most benevolent Goddess, by whose grace the living continued to exist, was responsible for the plague of undeath? It was ridiculous, only a fool would believe such nonsense! 

The abhorrent witch wants to weaken my faith in the Goddess!

That had to be the reason why she spouted her groundless accusation. She sought to turn him from the Goddess, to make him abandon his convictions and make him more susceptible to her influence. After all, even though she could control his actions, his mind still belonged to himself. The phantom bitch desired to completely control him and would use any means to accomplish it. What else could be expected of a vile undead?

"You're in denial; what a surprise," the witch said. "It is typical of fanatics to live inside their own bubble in which only the things they can accept are allowed." 

"Take back your words and eat them you lying whore!" he demanded. Whether she controlled him or not, he was not going to listen to her lies. He would not allow her to drag the Goddess name through the mud! "Vatran wished to bring death to all living beings and the Goddess stopped him!"

"You can't seriously believe that," Sage replied, her tone oozing amusement. "If that was truly the case, then there would be no reason for the Shean Church to go so far as try and erase Vatran's name from ancient texts."

"The Goddess slew Vatran to prevent him from killing us," he responded adamantly. He would not accept another reason. There was no other reason!

"Wow, the bastard is in complete denial," Nyx- who had been enjoying being stroked on top of the head- turned and leered at him. "Is your tiny brain unable to process the truth you've been told, Isen?"

A single glare in the annoying pet's direction caused it to squeak and quickly look away before slowly turning back to stare at him with a defiant pout. As for the obnoxious cat's owner, she maintained her forced smile.

"You know what I think?" she began. "The reason why Sheans tried to strike Vatran's name from history was not because She killed Him and attempted to embody His Aspect, but that She failed to do so. 

"The gods can fuck up too, and it's in their interest to make us believe otherwise."

"I will not stand here listen to you continue to slander the Most Radiant Goddess any longer!" Isaac said through clenched teeth, his eyes strained to their limit.

"Like you have a choice!" the vile witch leaned forward, eyes blazing. Seeing the wild gaze in her eyes, Isaac believed she was not far from jumping out of the throne and pouncing him. However, what actually happened was the opposite. She leaned into the throne while simultaneously inhaling deeply and then exhaled. The process served to dispel her anger, leaving only a cold void in her eyes. "But we're done with this topic. Now, we'll return to your blatant disregard for my wishes to play hero." Her black eyes, now reminiscent of the abyss, drilled into him; her lips now wearing a smile more false than the previous one. "Congratulations Isaac. I've decided to grant your wish. You will be a hero to the people of Tima."

Despite having become an undead that leveraged cold as a weapon, the phantom's cool gaze impacted him more than her fiery one had. Her tone, more than her words, froze his back rigid. In his time with the Paladin Order, he had witnessed this kind of shift in demeanour several times. An individual who suddenly stopped raging was similar to a dog that suddenly quit barking; more silent, more controlled… more dangerous.

"Your antics have lured much of the town's population to the castle gate. However, they are unable to enter. Neither are the people inside able to leave. I have erected a [Storm Barrier] to ensure that."

[Storm Barrier] was a 7th Order spell used to box people in a certain area. For those within the barrier, it was like being in the eye of a storm. They were not safe as long as they did run to the edge and or try to escape. If they did so they would be ripped apart by the barrier walls.

Hearing that she had isolated them from the outside only served to increase Isaac's unease. No one who employed such tactics ever did so with good intentions.

"[Storm Barrier] has a finite timespan," the witch continued, getting up from her seat. "So we better get busy. Follow me."

Without waiting for his response, she stepped away from the throne and walked past him. As he was unable to resister her orders, the only thing he could do was turn around and follow. Their destination was the room opposite the throne, the entrance hall. The guards he had knocked out when he broke into the castle were still laid out on the floor. Not much time had passed since he had fought them, less than ten minutes if he had to guess.

The lying witch walked over to the comatose knight and stood over him, looking down at him before looking at Isaac. Her gaze constantly shifted between the two, as if expecting him to figure out what she wanted him to do. She was not patient enough to wait for him to interpret her intentions though. After seconds passed without a response from him, she let up.

"Well, go on."

"What?" he asked, his voice conveying puzzlement. 

If his heart could still beat, it would be thumping uncontrollably in that moment. He might have conveyed a confused façade, but deep down he had guessed what she wanted. Silently, he prayed to the Goddess that she did not expect him to do what he thought.

"We need to get rid of all witnesses if we're going to sell the story of your heroics," the phantom witch's cold tone killed this hope.

"No!" he vehemently rejected. "I will not do it! I will not become a murderer."

The atrocious bitch showed almost no reaction, having obviously anticipated his reaction. However, her gaze was unrelenting.

"You should have thought of that before you decided prance out on your own to play hero," she said, her nonchalant tone oozing chilling venom. "Your abilities aren't something a normal warrior has access to. We already have a horse whose breath can freeze the air. If the townspeople learn about more of our oddities, their suspicion would grow to the point where it will draw unwanted attention."

"That's your excuse to massacre the people in the castle," Isaac sounded as incredulous as he sounded. "Can't you just [Teleport] us away? They would never know it was me who stormed the castle."

The phantom remained unyielding. "If we could ensure your antics remained secret, that would be for the best. Unfortunately we are past that point. There are countless townspeople who saw you racing up the mountain minutes before the castle alarm was sounded. Also, the horse is outside the castle walls with the people. Do you expect me to appear in front of them and [Teleport] it away before their eyes?"

"Why not?" he argued. "You've used magic in front of them before."

"In Tima the spells I used were basically parlour tricks to sow their curiosity," Sage retorted. "Although Lethians have a distrust for sorcery, due to the simpleness of my displays, they did not perceive the spells as threatening. However, do you think it will continue to be the case if I showed them what my magic is actually capable of?"

"I refuse!" Isaac shouted. Even if she used her power over him, he would resist as much as he could to prevent himself from committing such an atrocity!

"Oh Isaac," she shook her head in disproval before returning her cold eyes to him. "You don't have to worry about me forcing you because I won't. Whether you kill the witnesses or not will be entirely up to you."

If it was possible for him to feel a greater chill from the undead witch's words, that statement had achieved the effect.

"What will happen if I refuse?" he asked, unable to stop the quivering in his voice. There was no way a heartless monster like her would just let the people go on their way without doing anything.

"I will destroy the castle and the town," she responded emotionlessly before her voice took on a casual tone. "There are several spells I've always wanted to try out; like [Tornado] and [Blizzard]. By the way, do you think a combination of [Quake] and [Conflagration] would be effective in levelling Tima?"

When she started talking, Isaac had been hyperventilating like when she defamed the Goddess earlier, causing the air around him to freeze. He clenched his hand tightly while gritting his teeth; his eyes strained as he glared into her empty eyes.

"You're a fucking monster!" he hissed.

If only he did not have to follow her orders. If only he had not become an undead. If only he had not been careless during their first encounter and gotten her blood on himself. If only… so many if onlys, all yearnings for the same thing. If only he could kill the undead bitch!

"I don't deny that," she replied. "But I was willing to leave this town without making mess. You, on the other hand, just had to get involved in matters that had nothing to do with you despite knowing I'm opposed to it. Now you're reaping what you sowed. You made this mess Isaac, now you have to clean it up. Learn from this and hopefully make better decisions next time."

"I won't do it!" he repeated. However, his voice lacked its original strength. "I won't do it."

"Then I'll just get to it," she said, raising her hand and channelling her mana.

However, before she could finish, the previously unconscious knight kicked at her feet before jumping up. After that, he went into momentary crouch to pick up a spear lying on the floor with the intention of using it as a weapon against Isaac. However, unfortunately the sweep had failed, instead phasing through the phantom's body. The knight had just gotten his hand on the spear before he was forced to relinquish it as his hands flew to his throat. The knight tried to claw away the invisible force that suddenly took hold of him and was lifting him off the ground; to no avail. He could only struggle and choke in vain.

The witch's left hand pointed to the knight in a strangling motion while her right continued to carry the cat. Turning to Isaac, her empty eyes expectant. 

"Will you do it, or do I have to?" she asked quietly. "Make you decision quickly, I haven't got all day. Also, take into account that once I start, I will not stop until everything around me is rubble. Late decisions won't dissuade me either."

Isaac winced strongly to muffle the rising squirm. Often when she spoke, the witch spouted lies. However, this time he could see it in her abyss-like eyes; she was dead serious. If he did nothing, she would kill everyone in the vicinity. She doesn't want them to see the extent of her magic? Utter bullshit! Where was that concern in the village whose inhabitants had locked themselves in to avoid them. What the despicable witch was doing now was solely to get back at him, to teach him a lesson.

With no other choice, he raised his sword and aimed for the knight's chest. His thrust penetrated the man's armour without difficulty, piercing him straight through the heart. The telekinetic force lifting the man faded, causing his corpse to clatter to the floor. In the process, his helm came loose, revealing a middle-aged face bleeding from the corner of the mouth; bearing hazel eyes wide from terror.

"Good," the monstrous bitch said, her voice as dead as he felt. "Continue."

Every time he sunk his broadsword in a castle guard's chest, his own constricted. Seeing their innocent blood pool under his feet, there was nothing he wanted more than to throw his weapon away and lament his actions. Unfortunately, he had to force himself to continue. No matter how agonising it was to carry out these actions, it was all he could do to prevent a greater tragedy. The only saving grace was that none of them were awake when he killed them.

When it was done and all the guards were dead, their blood covered more than three quarters of the entrance hall. By this point Isaac's chest felt so tight it was no longer possible to breath. Had he still been human, this would have been an excruciating endeavour. Unfortunately, his lack of needing air caused him to survive through his horrendous acts. The strain on his eyes had gotten so intense the world was presented in blurry doubles. Even so, it was no struggle to pick out the instigator, the undead witch responsible for the current tragedy. 

I will never forget this! he swore.

The undead in action seemed unaffected by his glare. Her cool voice reached his ears, empty like her dead heart. 

"We haven't got all day. Raise them and send them to take care of every living person in the castle."