The Perspective Of Adamanthea (2)
This feeling was so epic!!!
Woohoo! I feel so fucking alive! Screw all you Beastkin! Big daddy got ass-whooping for you~!
Ah… Being an entity born from coexistence wasn't so bad. It gave me the feeling of not being alone.
Even when my existence apparently WAS alone…
Without them, I didn't and couldn't exist.
Just like how the day and night cycle couldn't exist without the sun and moon, so was my identity.
Which for simplicity's sake, I decided NOT to go by Eclipsus. That wasn't a name I was worthy of…
A zero like me couldn't possibly compare to ones like Solaris, Lumina, and the original like Adam.
It felt like shit…
I was only allowed the to use the identity of the man who would one day be reborn as 'Eclipsus'.
Wasn't that totally unfair?
Fine. I'm gonna name myself! And it's going to be epic! Way more awesome than you two imagine.
How about… umm… Let's see…
Hmmm.. Adam… Like the first man…
Adamas… Meaning to be 'untameable'…
My existence possible thanks to two egos…
A god and goddess created this pitiful extension of themselves… Goddess… Greek word for it: 'Rhea'.
Reminds me of a certain figure of myths…
From Adam's original memories, there was a tale of a woman who had hid and brought up a 'God'.
A goat-nymph that raised the King of the Gods…
The name of that woman… was Adamanthea.
That's going to be my full name now!
Adam… A name short for Adamanthea!
Hah! Take that! I like how pretty it sounds. The way it rolls of the tongue and makes me feel majestic.
Huh? Is this naming sense taken from Lumina…?
How strange… Looks like I'm going to find it hard to define myself by strict terms like male and female.
Hallelujah~ I'm special as fuck!
…I wonder if I can alternate between private parts?
"You're thinking of something weird again." As we walked into the big house, Velma took a step away.
"Trust me. Do these eyes look criminal?" I spoke while demonstrating my cutest sad kitten eyes!
Mwahahaha! Fall before my handsomeness~!
"…Are you doing drugs?" She seemed even more awkward. Was it something I said to her?
I wonder… I'm just trying to be more expressive.
"No… Why?" Did you want some? Sorry, I don't have any on me… Wait, maybe that wasn't wrong.
Lumina DID eat a bunch of Black Cigars…
"…Why are you so different? Your clothes look the same, but there's something off about them." Did she figure me out? Quick, gotta straighten out my clothes and look as 'normal' as I possible could!
I tucked my shirt in properly and straightened my tie, then made a nice smile while straightening my hair somewhat. Maybe it wasn't as idealistic as a look like Solaris, but it got the job done well.
"Don't they look better now?" I spoke with a smile.
She made an odd look at me. Seeing how my white collar suit was worn well, she narrowed her eyes.
"You're not the person I met a while back." It was at that point she looked certain. What gave me away?
"Come on~ I'm 'Adam'! So please put that away. I'm getting real scared." My hands raised high.
It was hard not to get scared at her ferociousness.
But even though she unsheathed the chokutō on her waist and threatened me with violence, my heart couldn't accept making a scratch of her. At least, both Solaris and Lumina was in agreement.
Admiration had been etched deep into the 'real' Adam even before splitting into them, and turning into me. It wasn't the three treasure of Taoism, this was the bias we all had towards this brunette girl.
Oh how mesmerising she was…
Beauty and strength was so goddamn attractive!
A wise man with deep taste from a movie once spoke thusly: "I like a girl who can kick my ass."
Which was a statement I completely agreed with.
Dayum! She looked so fine~~
Maybe the original Adam might have held back due to insecurities, but both Lumina and Solaris agreed.
We have to get her on our side~
No, even more than that…
There was a fire they both felt deep within, which was amplified after resonating with each other.
This woman, Velma, was a reflection in my heart that I never wanted to leave. I wanted her to stay.
Did that mean I had to act 'normal'?
Act like Adam would…?
No, that guy had no grit or courage. We're only in this situation because he couldn't handle emotions.
So why not go for broke already?
A smile formed on my face, as I decided hiding anything would be a waste of time in those eyes.
They weren't 'normal' at all…
The 'Inspection' Skill I borrowed from Solaris allowed me to see that her pupils saw too much.
She could tell I wasn't exactly a 'Human'…
When our eyes locked, there seemed to be a disharmony that made her even more against me.
Thus, I decided to speak my thoughts properly:
"Even if I'm not the Adam you knew, is that a problem? You didn't what 'him' anyway. What you and your Queen need is a new King Esparda to replace Shane Goldsmith." I hit where it hurt.
She couldn't refute my words…
In the first place, she never had any interest in me.
Admitting that kinda sucked, but I had to start off from somewhere. Best not to have murky waters.
"You're right… As long as you can replace him and keep your role as 'King', everything else would be useless." With those words spoken, the brunette put away her Divinity Striker. Then she guided me.
The big house wasn't like the mansion Adam owned, but it was something that was decorated.
Everything was made well…
From the sofas to the wallpaper, etc etc… All of it was made to show a majesty that you'd never see.
Red drapes, gold, and paintings from their realm made by Besstkin. There was a sense of culture here. A sense that they were trying to revive an old society, and reform themselves as a community.
Maybe that's why they became a 'Familia'…
The only thing that seemed in bad taste was the overly grandiose way of presenting these artworks.
As if to say that nothing was better than customs.
The paintings contained people I wouldn't have known of, and also illustrations of their desires.
A Beastkin ruling over man…
Man becoming the prey…
Concepts that made them seem more like animals than people. Even some real dirty illustrations.
A woman being surrounded by a pack of wolves…
"Is this a normal custom?" I stopped to ask, Lumina inside of me was feeling disgust for this portrait.
"…I'm not the decorator."
"Then who chose to put this up? That lion?"
"Think of him as the vice leader of this place. His name of Ardo Brigsy, but you don't have to worry."
"Why not?"
"His past is a little hard to speak of, and we both can tell why he is the way he is. Even if he's the vice leader, his influence is only surface level. The people of the Familia are strict about their roles."
"I meant the gangbanging sex thing that bastard was talking about." My statement made her gasp.
"…What?" She didn't seem to believe her ears.
So I made sure to drive it into her head…
"He said I'd need to have a child with them to become part of the Familia." The way I continued made her mouth consistently twitch, as if she was trying hard to keep on an expressionless face.
I mean, I wasn't exactly lying here.
Since I'm both an extension of Solaris and Lumina, I also felt disturbed by being offered such a thing.
"I didn't expect for him to have become a pimp. Did the girls agree?" She had such misunderstandings.
So I corrected her teasingly:
"They offered so watch as those 'filthy men' tried to do 'unspeakable things' to me…!" My words filled with trauma nearly made her burst out in a rage… then leave to ask them what happened.
It was was written all over her face that she wanted to know exactly bullshit these guys were thinking.
What kind of image did they have in her head now?
"That's… I'll punish him heavily- No, we'll kick him out of the Ace Esparda position. S-stop! Don't cry on me!" I used this position to let out some fake tears and bury my head into her bountiful chest.
Ooh~ Soft~
Because my height was the same as Adam's, we were around the same side. Her being a bit taller.
It let me make this look less purposeful…
"I-I'm sorry... I couldn't hold back what I felt." My voice trembled while speaking of the past clearly.
Painting an image she would be puzzled by…
Ah~ She feels so nice~! What's with this feeling? Is this what it truly felt like to hug a beautiful woman?
I wonder what shampoo and conditioner she uses on her hair. She smelt so nice… I'd only one gripe.
The zips and hardness of her clothes was in the way of me enjoying this. If only we were naked…
Seeing how I was embracing her like I was trying to crush her with a bear hug, she pushed me away.
I felt a sense of loss after losing her touch…
Still, it wasn't that she was stronger than me. I just respected the fact that the opportunity was lost.
Truly… What a great pity…
Any more than that, and she would figure out my lustful intentions. Gotta keep myself under control!
Both Solaris and Lumina agreed within me on this.
I wiped the tears from my eyes, as if trying to regain composure from the 'tragedy' from earlier.
"Then… what were those 'things'?" She tried to make sense of what she'd heard had happened.
Some things weren't adding up.
With her Photographic Eyes, she could detect lies to a certain extent by sending past experiences.
The only problem was… my 'experiences' were odd. Even now, my mind remembered things weird.
It was because of the coexistent nature of my existence. How two individuals 'remembered' this.
Even if they split, they would remember being me.
But the experiences I knew of was split between what Solaris and Lumina were both remembering.
My thoughts were their own… except aligned.
This made sussing me out for whether my words were lies or truth a lot harder than on an 'individual'.
Never before had I been more thankful for this.
Borrowing the 'Inspection' eyes of Solaris, I used what little data I could gather to act with boldness.
Deciding to show information she could believe…
"Don't call them 'things'. They are my children."
"Your… children?" Velma squinted her eyes, which prompted me to introduce her to them personally.
Come out, my spawns!
*Woosh*
In the large and connected rooms of the massive estate, a total of 47 frigid shadows manifested.
All of them wearing icy black masks with the same but younger face as Lumina as 'Empty Darkness'.
"Kids, can you take them off for me?" I sent my will to them, and all of them complied to my wishes.
Without one sign of refusal…
When they took off their circular masks, their bodies changed to look a lot like Lumina herself.
Right down to the way she dressed…
They had the exact same faces, with only little differences making them look similar to Eclipsus.
"Mama?" One of them spoke, which caused Velma to gasp in horror due to what she saw in her eyes.
I could guess what was on her mind.
She could sense it clearly. They weren't even a day old. Maybe they weren't humans, but my kids were indeed sub-independent personalities born from Lumina. Their existence similar to my own…
Except if I was a 0 without Solaris and Lumina, at least they were a 0.5 even without their 'Mama'.
The experiences they would gain from today forth would be what would let them grow into their own.
Becoming true individuals over time…
I knew that Velma would be able to see through these 'girls' easily. Their faces got her attention.
"They're… young. Are they your daughters? Why do they look so old?" Her mind was in chaos.
There was no way she could swallow this easily.
No one from her land could probably understand the 'Earthland Domain' and 'Semblances' like her.
Which was why she was thrown off-guard…
What kind of Semblance did you need to create life like this? And why did they look like teenage girls?
"Come here, my babies…" I spoke to them, and their many mannequin-like bodies bolted at me.
They seemed at ease once they got closer to me like the children they were. Having a deep bond.
My heart felt warm from feeling their emotions.
The pure feelings of being happy to be with me.
It was like familial love, except on the level of this being an instinctual component of their tiny egos.
I then turned to look at her. Thinking of stuff on the fly while putting together what I already knew.
"As you can see, they also aren't 'human'. None of them have the ability to reproduce or grow old and die. This… is their innate deformity." I said it like Lumina hadn't intended for them to be this way.
The only difference between then and now was that she was feeding the Sea of Consciousness of Solaris to them consistently. This was why they were slowly 'detaching' as part of her own limbs.
"You… gave birth to them?" Veins was still talking.
Of course, it was hard to believe I'd given birth to more than a dozen spawns in such a short time.
Or was it something else?
"You could say that." Ignoring how she was glancing at my lower half, I spoke to her pridefully.
"H-how? Aren't you a guy?"
"Don't define my gender by human norms. I'm not a guy OR girl." These words were spoken sincerely.
Gender was an option like a hairstyle to me.
Switching between genderless, male, female, and in-between… was no problem for me personally.
Transgender and Cisgender meant nothing to me.
This proclamation made her feel like the Beastkin under her had lost their mind to threaten me.
We're they attracted to male faces now…?
It was because even if I could become female, the current me still looked like a man like Eclipsus was.
Which only worsened her opinion of that lion…
Ha! Serves that bastard right~
She looked like she could skin him alive for misguiding her people to become such deviants.
Which I kinda found hypocritical in retrospect…
"Don't blame him for everything. You and 'her are also at fault for letting things come to this stage."
"Who are you to accuse us of that?!" Likely due to Velma taking so long guiding me, Nyaura arrived.
She came down the stairs to what I believed would be the throne room; where she'd show her attitude.
Trying to feign the majesty of royalty…
However, I knew this was just window dressing. It was merely the way they controlled this Familia.
That's why I had no interest in seeing their act.
They wouldn't be able to rope me on with sweet words that offered money and position. It was all mine to begin with. They were staying on my land as refugees. What they had was originally mine.
How could they pay me with my own money…?
The spawns of Lumina vanished. They hid away the moment 'she' came with a chain whip in her hand.
"You too… Miss 'Queen'. You're also at fault for them. Why stick up for these perverts anyway? I'm sure you two could abandon them and live better on your own." Velma didn't answer my question.
But Nyaura didn't hold back:
"They are used to being abandoned by people, and so are we… It's easy to let these people go, but… it would hurt too deep. We can't… They are still our fellow native people. Our family…" It was at that moment I understood the meaning of their 'Familia'.
Which only made me angered…
"You're saying this is fine with you? Is this farce of community really worth it?" I asked them deeply.
Why not just abandon it?
Velma responded by drawing her weapon first, it was then she spoke with her eyes looking dark:
"Everything you say is useless to us. All things starts with the 'King', and the only person who can become that is the strongest among us." There was a hint I took from what she nearly whispered to me.
Shane Goldsmith… He was the reason they had no choice but to take care of these devious bastards?
…Seems legit.
Regardless, it looked like the two of them were about to test me. Ready to destroy their home.
Maybe they expected a long and drawn out fight.
Which wasn't impossible to do. After all, Velma had Simon's techniques, and Nyaura her Ice DUST.
I was sure if I summoned my spawns, her first act would be to freeze then all in place to distract me.
In which will be when her friend would defeat me.
After seeing her 'Devilsbane Gambit' with my own eyes, I had a healthy amount of fear towards it.
There was no way I'd beat her in a straight fight.
But did I even have to do that…?
Unlike Adam, there was no way I'd let my Legendary Skills be wasted in such a way.
The same way Solaris and Lumina was incapable of due to having inflexible minds just like Eclipsus did.
My arms crossed as my palms pointed towards both Velma and Nyuara. A sharpness in my eyes.
Perhaps I couldn't use two Breath Circulation techniques at the same time, but I could use 'this'.
The ultimate skill composition…
My mind reached deep into the two separate powers that existed in harmony within this body.
'World Unity: Yinyang Connection'…
…add 'Dark Aeon Shadow Physiology'…
…add 'Forty Seven Marionette Spawns'…
…add 'Dawn Sapient Divine Physique'…
…and bring them all together to create a new fusion that was stronger than anything earlier.
Without any sign of change, the duo suddenly found themselves unable to move even an inch.
This was my 'Stringless Puppetry' Fusion Skill!
They seemed surprised by how there wasn't a single indication before they became paralysed.
My skill was uninterruptible under certain conditions, and they just happened to meet all of them. Regardless, a feeling of overflowing confidence overcame me while knocking them out.
My hands clenched their fingers…
With it, their consciousness was shut down.
After they fell over powerlessly, I straightened my back and felt proud of my overwhelming power.
This was the truth of my own existence…
I might not be the true Adam, but I'll say this despite how Solaris and Lumina would outwardly disagree. This was a thought they knew wasn't nonsense, but still didn't want to admit this FACT!
And that was actually… that I was better!!
I was better than Adam!!!
Yeah, I just went ahead and said it. How could someone who couldn't control his Skills compare?
A scaredy cat who feared death despite being immortal… What kind of idiot does that nonsense!?
Fuck 'Eclipsus', does he think he's hard?
Well, I'm more difficult here…
I'm not gonna leave. Not even if there's a tiny hint of resistance between both Solaris and Lumina.
They can go suck on eggs… for all I care….
Fuck…
ADAMANTHEA IS HERE TO STAY, FUCKERS!!!
Whelp, now I feel tired…
I hope no one bullshits with me now, better wake Velma up now and ask if she will go out with me.
Just as I was thinking that, my eyes noticed a pixelated blue screen manifesting into reality.
…But why?
Could it be Gaia remembered little old me?
Maybe because I'm the real Adam now, it felt like I was on top of the world after seeing the pop up.
Only to be disappointed by what it wrote…
['Whispering Devil' invites you for a chat. Yes/No]
Motherfucker!!!
I grabbed the blue screen and threw it down.
Damn… Can't believe it made me get my hopes up for no reasons. Why not be someone else?
I was hoping Adamanthea would call me. Why else would I name myself after her? This piece of shit…
The cracked blue screen seemed to have thought that tiny nudge from when I grabbed it was 'Yes'.
Damn…
Hah… Fine, it's better to get back to my usual self.
I straightened my suit and used my nails to comb my hair. Then regained composure while I read it:
[Whispering Devil: "Join me."]