A terrible Shape of Art

"Why did you kill Priest Manyak..." Ruby exclaimed, her voice trembling but fierce.

"Hm? You're quite brave, aren't you, Priestess..." Xiandre replied as he slowly approached her. "I can see why you'd be enraged at me for killing him. But... isn't forgiveness your job?"

Behind them, the adventurers clashed with one another—controlled and free—blood splattering the cold, snow-covered ground as the girls silently watched the carnage unfold.

Ruby trembled but stood her ground. "Even if I run now, there's no way I could escape you. The fact that you have the goddess and the princess with you... you're hiding something."

"You're quick to catch on," Xiandre said, halting just in front of her. Steam billowed from under his helmet with each breath in the bitter cold.

"Winter... of catastrophe. Wouldn't the king see this as art?" he mused aloud.

"The king..." Ruby muttered. "He's an evil person. Everyone praises him as divine, but he's not good. Some say he's a judge of fate, acting however he pleases because of the Seraphim blood inside him."

"I see..." Xiandre replied. "But don't you get it? Some truths can't be understood unless seen for yourself. Knowing the king is evil means you've seen his true nature. But to those who haven't... he's just like a god, protected by the heavens."

Ruby's hands clenched as she felt the weight of his gaze through the helmet. "W-What are you trying to say?"

Xiandre leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Believe it or not... but Priest Manyak was a rapist. He had access to resurrection magic. Every woman who died and was carried away by the Death Carriage... he raped them after reviving them. Everyone thought he was a saint by day—but at night, he was just filth."

He leaned back.

Ruby's lips parted, but no sound came out. Her eyes fell, lost in thought, shaken.

Fillia stepped forward.

"Master..." she said softly.

He turned toward her. "What is it?"

She glanced at Ruby. "That girl... Ruby... she's my adopted daughter."

"What?" Xiandre asked, surprised.

"As a goddess, I took care of her," Fillia continued. "But I left her at the church when she was fifteen. I had to go to the castle Millie ruled... and I didn't want to drag her into everything. She's a priestess who prays under me—my worshipper."

Ruby's eyes widened behind her tears. She hadn't heard her mother's voice in so long... yet now, it felt like it belonged to someone else.

"I kept quiet all this time..." Ruby thought bitterly. "I hate her for standing beside the Smiling Reaper. He's a murderer... countless lives taken. And she's a goddess—the very reason I became a priestess."

Fillia took a step closer. "Ruby..."

But before she could say more, Xiandre cut her off. "Fillia."

"Huh? What is it?" she asked.

Millie arrived beside them, followed by the rest of the girls.

"Fillia, do you want to be a goddess again?" Xiandre asked calmly.

Fillia fell silent. She opened her mouth but said nothing, struggling for an answer.

Xiandre turned to Millie. "Do you want to be a princess again?"

Millie hesitated, then lowered her head with a shy smile. "Well... um... no. I'm only for you, Master. Your slave."

Ruby gasped. Her heart shattered. As a priestess devoted to compassion and purity, hearing that tore something deep within her.

"Me too, Master," Fillia said. "Both of us are just your personal sex slaves."

"Mother!!! What are you saying?!" Ruby cried out.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at Fillia's masked face.

"I can't believe you... you're not my mother anymore! How could you say that?! YOU'RE A GODDESS!"

Fillia's eyes narrowed behind her mask. She wanted to reach out, to comfort her daughter. But she couldn't—Xiandre was her master now, and defying him... she feared it more than anything.

Ruby turned to Millie.

"And you, Princess... we were childhood friends! I thought you'd grow into a pure ruler—just like I tried to be a good priestess. Why... why did it all turn out like this?!"

Millie looked away. "You're an idiot, Ruby."

Ruby froze. Her voice caught in her throat. "What..."

"Can't you see it? Have you ever really seen it?" Millie replied, her voice cold but calm.

"What are you talking about?!"

"The lie that I was ever a 'good' princess. From the moment I was born... I was expected to die."

"Die?! Are you kidding me right now—"

"Father wanted me dead. You know that," Millie snapped, her tone biting. "Kin's lustful gaze turned to me, and Mother had no choice but to separate us. She saved me. You know how Kin is. He even tried to rape you once. The only reason you were saved was because Fillia was there."

Ruby fell silent, shaking.

"I summoned the Holy Knights, Ruby. Me and Fillia—we're the reason they're here."

"I know that..." she admitted.

"Then you know we did this to ourselves," Millie said, her voice bitter.

"You summoned them because Xiandre was supposed to die!" Ruby shouted, pointing at him. "He's the one who kidnapped you both—after you saved him!"

"And those words..." Fillia interrupted, "...are they really coming from a priestess?"

"I'm sorry... but I can't watch you throw your lives away like this," Ruby said, her voice cracking.

"Ruby, shut the fuck up and let me finish!" Millie snapped, losing her composure as she grabbed Ruby by the collar. "We summoned all of them. And then we sent six of them to hell. YOU KNOW THIS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Tsk," Ruby muttered, shoving Millie away.

Xiandre took a step back, watching quietly.

As Fillia and Millie moved closer to Ruby, the air thick with tension, Amelia let out a lazy yawn.

"So much drama... it's kind of exhausting. But I guess that's just how people with feelings are," Amelia thought.

Alice poked her cheek, causing Amelia to glance sideways.

"Uwaaah...? What is it?" she asked.

"What are you thinking about?" Alice asked, tilting her head.

"Nothing much... I'm just sleepy," Amelia replied with a shrug.

Velmora turned to Xiandre.

"Are you going to stop them?" she asked quietly.

"Let them be," Xiandre answered without looking away.

"Master here," Millie suddenly shouted at Ruby, her voice cracked with fury, "he took his revenge on us because we sent him to the worst place imaginable—the world of eternal suffering, Hell itself!"

"How can you still see us as 'all good'?" Fillia added. "You know what Black Hood became. This is our fate, Ruby... and you can't change it."

"You both..." Ruby whispered. "I can't live without you two. All the other priestesses are dead..."

"Then come with us," Xiandre said coldly.

"Uwaaa... looking for another girl already~?" Amelia teased with a flustered grin.

"Oh, does that mean Big Brother's gonna have many, many wives because of how he does things?" Alice chimed in playfully.

"Yeah~ fufu," Amelia giggled.

"Uwahhh, Big Brother's such a pervert," Alice added dramatically.

"Shut up, both of you," Xiandre muttered.

"Hihi~" the two girls giggled in unison as Velmora shook her head with a tired sigh.

"Come with you?" Ruby snapped, her voice sharp. "You think I'd be your sex slave too!? I'd rather die than become one of your wives. This shit makes me sick. I don't care how many kneel for you, Smiling Reaper. I'm not some jewel to add to your twisted little collection. I'm not yours—and I never will be."

Xiandre's voice remained calm. "I didn't say I'd make you part of my harem. I just told you to come with us."

"Then what else could you mean?!" she shouted.

"You've got a really inconvenient mouth for a priestess... You don't even let me finish," Xiandre replied, unmoved.

Ruby paused, then slapped her own cheeks with her palms, grounding herself. She turned back to him, her voice softer. "...I'm sorry."

"What the heck...?" Xiandre thought. "She's like a completely different person now..."

"Anyway," he said, turning away, "long story short—we're going to kill the king and take over the castle. But your presence… made me change plans. I'll still kill the king, but now, I want Millie to rule this country."

"You said what?!" Millie blurted, completely caught off guard.

"That's right, Millie," Xiandre said. "I want you to go back to being a princess. And I don't want any complaints. This is an order. My revenge against you is already over... and I'll never be sorry for it."

"Master..." Millie's voice trembled. "I-I enjoyed traveling with you guys in the carriage. I can't possibly leave you all now... not after everything. It was the happiest I've ever been..."

"You've been loyal," Xiandre replied. "Consider this part of my revenge. A twisted kindness."

He turned to Fillia. "You too. I want you to join her. Princess Millie needs you."

"Me? I can't, Master..." Fillia stammered. "You don't understand—I love your di— I mean, I love traveling with you! I don't want to leave!"

"Do you really want Millie to be left alone after everything is destroyed?" Xiandre asked, calmly.

Fillia hesitated, then sighed, shoulders slumping. "...Fine. Thank you, Master. I'll never forget this mercy... not after what we did, sending you to Hell."

Xiandre gave a slight nod.

Ruby, tears still fresh in her eyes, took a breath and bowed her head.

"...Thank you. I'm sorry for my lousy mouth... I'm very sorry. I'm a priestess, and the things I said... the way I reacted... I'm ashamed. Please forgive me."

Xiandre turned away, sensing a shift in the air. The others around them were no longer moving freely—they were standing eerily still, eyes glazed over.

Kaden stepped out from among the crowd of controlled bodies, his twisted grin stretched across his face.

"Well, well, well..." he said mockingly. "Look what we have here. Long time no see, Kian... or should I say—the Smiling Reaper?"