Smoke curled gently from the grill stationed just outside the gates of Solvish Keep, the scent of roasted blood and spice curling through the night air with a familiar warmth.
Charishe’s fingers twirled a skewer absently, her tall fox-like ears twitching with idle rhythm, while Voille lood nearby—silent, gargoyle, composed.
The Blood Cakes hissed on the iron grating, and Charishe leaned in with satisfaction.
"See?" she muttered smugly, flipping one of the cubes. "Works every ti. Nobody resists the scent."
Voille inclined their skull-shaped head faintly, the internal blue fla flickering beneath bone. "The wind changed. You relied on instinct, and it was correct."
Charishe nudged their ribs with an elbow. "Just admit it was genius."
The next mont, the air thickened with an unnatural weight.
An imnsely unnatural weight, yet divine and gentle.
Soil flickered, air breezed with warmth, all sorts of plants erged into existence like an unrolled carpet.
A rather striking individual erged into view.
She walked with theatrical poise, each step sounded louder than it was supposed to be, as if the weight of her presence warped the soil.
A halo shimred above her head, spinning like an eternal sigil. Her expression bore a mixture of contemptuous calm and bored royalty, her eyes half-lidded, scanning the surroundings as if she owned them. Her neck glittered with the massive ember-crafted accessory, shaped like a deity’s heraldry.
Behind her, a horned draconic figure and black and red followed two paces back, expression passive, gaze quiet yet filled with imnse pull.
These was Kivas and Samael, who had just enacted the powerful entrance that they had practiced for hours, down to the skills used and collaboration
Five Limbo Tier Divine Constructs glided through the air, silent as thought, hovering in symtrical formation—two flanking Kivas, three drifting slightly behind Samael. Each one pulsed faintly with divine script and restrained nace.
The two constructs near Kivas were there to ensure that the miraculous performance matched with her presence, in case that the Karasu Association noticed sothing.
All of these were done with the expectation that the Karasu possessed the ans to record events and information, so deliberation must be done with great effort.
Charishe’s playful mood froze into wary silence.
Voille’s stance subtly shifted, foot digging lightly into the earth, muscles bracing beneath the bone armor. Her sockets glowed slightly brighter.
They did not recognize the figures who had once stood here as vagabonds.
Charishe cleared her throat. "State your—"
"I see," Kivas said, cutting through the air like a blade of velvet. Slyly, her lips curved a smile. "This must be the so-called Blood Cake plan, isn’t that right, Charishe? Hmm, you ca from quite an interesting world. Should I give your humble restaurant a visit, I wonder~?"
Charishe’s eyes widened slightly, ears stiffened, cold sweat already bursting from her pores.
A stranger that she barely knew spitting information as if her mind had been prodded, Charishe sensed that there was sothing wrong, but couldn’t even get her hands on it.
Kivas’ gaze eerily latched on Charishe as she moved around, languid and sharp. "What is this bastion called, I wonder? What are those symbols etched into the gates?"
Charishe stumbled half a step back.
"Ah~! Solvish Keep is the na!" Kivas continued, "a neutral outpost, a haven for Void Hunters, tradesn, and fractured relics of humanity and not-quite-humans. Approximately one hundred souls within. No formal ruler. A guild system." Kivas flashed a grin before she stopped and her playful expression imdiately dropped into that of a cold statue. "And a bastion that should, by all logical observations, not exist within the territory of Vaingall."
Kivas plucked a skewer from the grill with a graceful flick of her fingers.
The Blood Cake still sizzled faintly.
She took a bite, her expression thoughtful, but mockingly enjoying it in a way.
Voille stepped forward, the fla inside his skull intensifying. "State your business."
"My business? How about you state yours?" Kivas chewed slowly, then smiled as she tilted her head toward them, pointing the skewered Blood Cake at them. "You know where you stand, correct? This is Vaingall." Kivas swallowed before exhaling gleefully and licking her lips. "The fact that you’re here ans soone permitted this movent. The real question is... who gave you permission?"
Before Voille could speak, space fractured like mirror glass.
From between them, a figure ford of black authority.
A woman nearly three ters tall, dressed in sleek layers of black and velvet fur. Her long hair fell like a curtain of ink, her eyes sharp—white irises set against black sclera, glowing like sanctified frost.
Her presence was both severe and composed, a raven carved into a human shape, eldritch and human all at once.
Kivas glanced at Samael for a second.
Samael didn’t gesture anything.
That was a signal for "I can take down this bitch if things got heated, just go all out."
Almost blocking the majority of Kivas’ view, the nacing raven figure spoke with poise, "They have nothing to do with this."
Black flas could be seen gathering around the ground that this figure stood on, but all of those were soon to be overwheld by the miraculous growth of unknown flora that erged from the soil
Kivas didn’t flinch throughout the whole thing either. She stared directly into the glowing eyes of the newcor, gleefully grinning with arrogant vice, "Oh? And who are you, then?"
The tall woman barely said anything. She seed to be trying to prod sothing, digging for any information pertaining to the entity in front of her.
Many things might have happened at this very mont. There might be a stream of telepathic communication happening in the mind of this black figure, or she might be trying to appraise Kivas’ soul directly.
Regardless of any of it, Kivas knew that Samael and Yoiglah would prevent that from happening.
Not to ntion, this performance had gathered quite the large crowd already.
The Karasu Association couldn’t do anything drastic in front of so many people, unless they are authoritative enough to disperse them easily.
"Ah. One of the Karasu Association, yes?" Kivas continued with her antic A curious term. Karasu, mhmm. Ah, a Crow! I see, you crave and haunt for information. What a bunch of nerds filled with self-declared guardians, wielding the banner of humanity and poking their heads into every shadow. Don’t you know that you must ask for the shadow’s consent too~?"
Kivas twirled the Blood Cake skewer like a scepter.
"Humanity really does have such strange habits. Always naming themselves after sothing other than themselves, always proclaiming dominion. Tell , do your roots co from curiosity? Or is it made out of hubris and outright foolishness."
The raven woman narrowed her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, "I’m Jovial, the director of the Solvish Chapter. Is the being in front of civilized enough to introduce themselves?"
Samael and Kivas had already anticipated any representative figure to appear when they arrived like a hostile group that wanted to make trouble, but they definitely didn’t expect the direct confrontation of the director herself.
This was confird then. The Karasu Association, or in this case, the Solvish Chapter, had already been inford of the Endless Dragon inevitable encounter.
They expected the new form of the Endless Dragon to be sighted, but they definitely did not expect an entirely different domineering and chaotic figure to appear alongside the Endless Dragon, as the dominant lead of the group.
They might had also expected a Fateling to be sighted soon, but they shouldn’t be able to confirm that it was Kivas in this tiline with all of the degradation of the divine signature.
"I suppose introduction is deed a requirent to be civil," Kivas shrunk her gaze as if from amusent, sharpening the corner of her smile. "The na’s Kivas Chariot," she said with theatric. "The New ruler of Vaingall~"
There was a soft sound from behind Kivas.
It was Samael. Her shoulders shook once, holding her laughter from bellowing.
The original plan was to have Kivas acting like a representative of the new order that will be ruling Vaingall, not claiming as the direct ruler herself.
This scenario was so hilarious in Samael’s eyes, that even one of the Divine Constructs twitched, as they shared the feeling of amusent from this absurd theater.
Deep inside, Kivas realized she had overplayed her arrogance.
’Dammit, I got too deep into the acting that I accidentally claid myself as the rule I should be shilling in front of this audience,’ what was running through Kivas’ mind.
The line had crossed into delusion, but she couldn’t pull back now.
The Karasu representative raised a brow. "I was inford that Vaingall was—"
"—once ruled by the Endless Dragon?" Kivas interrupted, grinning. "Yes, she was quite powerful. Fearso. Unyielding~"
She reached back, grabbed Samael by the collar, and dragged her forward.
Samael allowed it without resistance, her head tilting back, neck arched.
Kivas leaned close, one hand caressing the edge of her cheek like a possessive collector displaying her most precious relic. "Now she’s mine. A little toy. One of my prize for conquering this place~"
To anyone watching, it was a scene of unnatural domination.
anwhile once again, Samael was holding herself so bad from bursting out laughing with the improvent that Kivas was doing.
This was definitely not within the original script.
And as of right now, seeing that the director’s face filled with emotions, it was confird that they had already tracked Samael.
It should be very confusing right now from the Karasu Association’s point of view. An unknown figure and potential threat appeared out of nowhere with the proof that she had conquered the Endless Dragon, and might be the very reason why the signature of the Endless Dragon was gone or weakened, and was now acting docile while being fondled before everyone.
"Hmm~?"
From the treeline, a silhouette raised a bow.
The arrow powerfully flew straight, followed by massive concave of shockwave that could obliterate any boulder in an instant.
But in a blink, one of the Constructs reached out and plucked it from the air without looking.
The shaft cracked slightly under the force of the catch. Poison and curses dripped from the tip like a disgusting goo.
Kivas didn’t react with anger. She simply laughed.
She waved the skewer in the air like a peace flag.
"A warning shot, perhaps?" Kivas was trying her best to act like she was in control, like it was nothing too serious, even though she almost pissed herself from the fright. " I’m generous. I’ll let this one go~
Then her expression turned.
All warmth evaporated.
Her eyes beca void-pits of spiritual gravity, her lips curled into a line carved from obsidian, and her voice dropped several octaves in tone.
"But I do hope," she said, staring directly into the Karasu representative’s eyes, "you’ll extend the sa courtesy."
The woman’s composure cracked—barely.
But it cracked.
Kivas had successfully, sohow, through sheer power of acting and bullshitting, made the nacing-looking director flinch.
She dipped her head a fraction lower.
"My apologies. Clearly... it was a mistake to doubt the rightful claim of Vaingall’s new ruler."
Kivas smiled again, returning to that light, almost flirtatious tone. "Mistakes are natural. As long as you don’t purposely repeat it. My kindness is not everlasting, after all~"
The raven woman turned to Charishe, whose ears had been stiff as a rock this whole ti.
"Charishe. Escort our important guests to the bastion." Jovial paused for a mont. "You’ll be rewarded greatly."
Charishe kept her mouth open for a second or two, unsure of this developnt. "Uh. Yes. Absolutely. Of course!"
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