Nox listened to Andre in silence, realising that the feud the Imperians had with beast tars was far more complex than he had initially thought.
It was a divine assignnt that had been given to them by soone they once respected and looked up to.
Nox ca to realise that it was not truly the fault of the present generation, but rather that they had simply been brainwashed into hating the beast tar class.
’It’s quite hard to convince them,’ he thought to himself. Stripping the Imperians of these beliefs was just as difficult as trying to erase faith itself.
Andre turned his attention to Gabriel at that mont and said, "So you now understand why I need to get rid of your kind. It is our divine assignnt."
Nox did not reply imdiately, seemingly lost in thought. Andre continued to stare into the distance, as though he was looking at sothing visible only to him.
"I have one more question," Nox said.
"Shoot," Andre replied nonchalantly.
Nox took a deep breath, contemplating whether he should ask it or not. It was not related to his goal of spreading the beast tar class. This was a personal question.
’Who knows when I will get a chance like this again,’ he thought, forcing the last trace of hesitation from his mind as he spoke.
"Do you perhaps know anyone with the na Authou Aegis Cromwell?"
Nox did not see it because Andre had his back turned, but his eyes widened in visible fear when he heard the na, a reaction so brief that even if he had been facing Nox, the latter might have missed it.
Andre’s prolonged silence told Nox everything he needed to know. The lord of this island actually knew his father. Who knew if they had even clashed in the past. Andre’s next words confird it all.
"Yes, I know him," he said. Unpleasant mories flashed through his mind, and a cold chill ran down his spine as he recalled them.
Clearly, he had a lot to say, but for reasons best known to him, he held back. Nox noticed this, and seeing that the topic was sensitive not only for himself but for Andre as well, he decided not to push it further. There was nothing more for him to do now. He could not take the statue, not now and not anyti soon.
Now that Andre was aware he was currently on the island, the difficulty of the situation had sharply increased. Unless he found a way to get rid of him, which was far easier said than done, things would only grow worse.
’I don’t have much ti,’ he thought. ’I need a permanent or long term solution to fix all this.’
With that in mind, he cancelled astral control and returned to his body in the inn, where Eve had been watching over him the entire ti.
"How did it go?" she asked the mont his eyes snapped open.
anwhile, on the other side, Serene finally regained control of her body. Her head spun lightly as her senses slowly returned.
"Father," she said as she opened her mouth to speak.
"You are a disgrace to this family," Andre said coldly.
Serene froze for a mont, confused by what he ant.
Andre slowly turned to face her, and the expression she saw was not that of a man looking at his daughter, but of soone deeply disappointed. His eyes blazed red with fury.
"F father," Serene gasped, her expression darkening as she took a step back.
"Tell ," Andre said, his voice sharp, "how did you, a direct descendant of our bloodline, allow that disgusting beast tar to possess you?"
Serene’s eyes widened in shock upon hearing this. Although she was now a tad companion, she could still think and act properly like any normal human. The only ti she was forced to act against her will was when she was directly under Nox’s orders.
For now, the default instruction he had given her was to act normally, and that was what she was trying to do. However, now that her father had discovered she had beco nothing more than a pawn for the enemy, it beca extrely difficult to control her emotions, especially in front of soone like Andre.
Serene swallowed hard, her fingers trembling at her sides as she tried to steady her breathing.
"Father, listen to ," she said, her voice shaking as she tried to remain composed. "I was not forced. I was not broken. I can still think. I can still choose. He did not treat like a slave or a tool. He"
"Enough," Andre cut in.
He took a step forward, and the pressure rolling off him made Serene’s legs feel unbearably heavy. His gaze burned with violent intensity as he looked at her, not as his daughter, not as his blood, but as sothing impure that should not exist.
"You defend him so easily," he said coldly. "That alone tells everything. The mont you allowed that connection to exist, you stopped being my daughter."
Serene’s breath hitched.
"Father, please. If you would just listen, you would understand. Beast tars are not what you think. He did not corrupt . He did not erase . I am still ."
What she did not realise was that she was unconsciously acting under Nox’s influence. Once tad, a forced bond was created, and with it, an attachnt and affection toward the master. That was exactly what was happening to Serene.
If this had been her from just a few days ago, she would never have defended Nox or spoken well of him. The hatred for beast tars was deeply ingrained among them.
Andre’s lips twisted, not in sorrow, but in disgust.
"No," he said. "You are no different from them now. A beast that follows a master. A stain that mocks our divine assignnt."
A dagger appeared in his grasp.
Serene’s eyes widened in horror at the sight. "Father?"
"There is no father left for you," Andre replied.
Seeing the conviction in his eyes, her legs failed to respond in ti. In that instant, fear finally shattered her composure.
"I don’t want to die," she cried. "I never betrayed you. I never betrayed our family."
"That is sothing you can explain to your mother in hell," Andre said coldly. "She fell in love with a beast tar and paid for it with her life. You are no different."
The dagger shot out of Andre’s grasp and pierced straight through Serene’s heart, bursting out from the other side. She remained standing for a brief mont, staring at her father with eyes filled with hatred, before her body finally collapsed forward.
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