So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit,
and the power of our Lord Ascea is present,
hand this man over to Terminus for the destruction of the flesh,
so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord....
Hours passed and the institution had finally grown quiet with peace and inactivity. I sat in the Main Department office with Scarlet in my lap, reading over the reports for the day while rubbing Scarlet's hair.
〘Report Card〙
〘Notoriety Earned: +8〙
〘Prisoners Claimed: 0〙
〘Confessions Claimed: 0〙
〘Deaths: 1〙
"Wait, Nox..! Someone died! I thought you said no one would die here..!" Luciel gasped, looking at me with concern and worry.
"I said I wouldn't kill anyone here. What the others do to each other is outside of my control. Besides, none of my monsters have killed anyone otherwise there will be a Soul at the Altar...meaning someone died by the hands of one of a human," I said, setting the report down and sighed softly.
"No one took a Blessing today either, seems everyone else is also testing the waters. I just wonder who could've died and why..." Fleur said, running her fingers through her hair.
I hummed thoughtfully and sat back in my seat, looking down at Scarlet, watching her rest in my arms. I looked over at the camera, noticing the last few students return to their dorms for the night and a alarm going off for the first day to come to an end.
"Alright, we should go to the dorms ourselves for the night. Tomorrow, we should prepare for more activity from Squad IV and keep an eye out for Squad XII. Also, I heard from Chester that Tang and West are making moves as well," I said, shifting my gaze between the three girls.
"Ugh...those guys as well? It's already bad enough the entire institution is after us, and now we gotta worry about some jokers who are misogynistic," Fleur sighed, standing up from her seat and stretched her arms.
"Let's just hope tomorrow isn't carrying too many surprises," Effie hummed, standing up from her seat and allowing Looni to shift into an oversized fluffy jacket for her to wear.
The rest of us nodded in agreement, leaving the office for the day and making our retreat to the Main Dormitories to rest for the night. The night calmly went by, everyone resting up for the series of events to be had for the next day.
The second day of judgement soon arrived, the girls and I already awake for the string of activities today. While the girls went on their morning investigation to find out who was killed yesterday, I hang out on the Main Department rooftop with Scarlet to take her to see Floria's Rebirth Rose.
"Floria, I want you to meet someone up close and in person... My daughter, Scarlet Eyica, named after the second half of my lineage. Do you like her?" I asked, showing Floria my vampiric daughter with a proud smile.
She's beautiful...
She reminds me of Elizabeth...
Y'know, the Dark Lord of Blood.
"Elizabeth..." I repeated quietly to myself, looking down at Scarlet with a soft smile. "Your power does come from her, the Mother of Vampirism. I wonder how she's doing..."
Nox...
A death happened in the gym yesterday...
I covered the evidence so no one could find him...
But you should know the cost of human death in a Zone...
I looked at Floria's Rebirth Rose, raising an eyebrow with slight intrigue. "What is it?"
Anyone who dies in a Dark Lord Zone and is unrepentant...
Is turned into a Monster as Judgement...
It is the cost of those who refuse Yuvah and Ragnarok's punishment...
I exhaled softly at the revelation of death within a Dark Lord Zone, looking down at Scarlet and watched her reach up to catch my butterfly. Knowing that fact, it was more of a reason to save everyone and get them to repent if possible, but I knew there were a few who needed to be prayed into the hand of the Devil to be saved in the hands of Yuvah.
〘Day 2 - Begin!〙
〘Event: Wandering Constructor〙
〘Event Description: A Dark Lord Room Constructor has arrived at the Dark Lord Zone! Dark Lords, him for a chance to upgrade or rebuild any room.〙
〘Event Location: Workshop - Sagittarius Department〙
I exhaled softly as I looked down at my phone and heard the alarm sounding across the entire campus, looking out into the distance with a determined gaze. "Alright... Let's get this day started."
Scarlet hummed happily as my butterfly fluttered around her playfully as she tried to catch it, reaching out toward it and making a soft sound as it began flying back toward Floria as I made my way back inside the building. She looked back at Floria's Rose, waving goodbye to it.
I glanced down at Scarlet with a soft chuckle, gently rubbing her hair. "We'll be back here soon. We just have to make a few stops.."
Scarlet giggled softly at my affectionate touch, holding onto me and looking forward for the adventure to come. The two of us began to set our sights upon the Sagittarius Department, and I began bracing myself for the dangers to soon arrive.
At the main dormitory, Effie, Fleur, and Luciel continued to ask around for answers about the sudden death upon the first day, but no leads from anyone. The three continued to wander around until hearing slow RnB music playing loudly from Moon-li and Eun-Song's dorm.
Fleur walked toward the door, knocking on it gently and clearing her throat gently. "Uh, Moon-li, Eun-Song, are you two awake?"
The door opened slowly, Moon-li's exhausted expression showing from behind the door, the pink half of her hair messily blending with her black half. She looked at the three girls, groaning softly and stepping aside for the three of them to enter.
Effie glanced at Moon-li as she walked inside, Looni taking a sniff of her and letting out a surprised squeak. "Are you okay? Looni says you smell like booze...have you been drinking?"
"Yeah...what? A girl can't party on a random Tuesday night..?" Moon-li asked sarcastically, closing the door after Luciel entered and sighed softly.
Luciel glanced around the room, noticing it was slightly messy with snack wrappers and cans of drinks left about. She looked over at Eun-Song, noticing she was still wrapped under her blankets. "I sense regret in this room..."
"Geez, Number 3... laying it out flat huh? Chester already texted me about the news, you're asking about that death..." Moon-li said, walking over to her bed and sitting down with a light groan, grabbing her phone to turn down the music.
"Hey...turn it back on..." Eun-Song groaned lightly, turning around on her bed then screamed, sitting up quickly at the sight of my trio in the room with her. "W-What are the Top 3 doing in here..?!"
Moon-li changed the song on the speaker and looked up at Eun-Song with a light smile. "It's alright, Myong...I let them in..."
"Why..?" Eun-Song asked through her clenched teeth, gripping her blanket tightly.
Fleur glanced at Eun-Song with her hands in her skirt pockets, scanning her body and looking down at her ankles, noticing a slight bruise on them. She blew a bubble with her gum, her gaze shifting over to Moon-li calmly and noticed bruises upon her neck.
She popped her bubble, calmly gesturing for Effie and Luciel to follow her, the white lens of her sunglasses shifting to black. "It was them, but it was self defense...less it is still murder by the Commandments of God. However, I know exactly who did this."
"Fleur? Hey, hold on," Effie called out, quickly following behind her sistren.
Luciel glanced between Moon-li and Eun-Song, a sympathetic expression playing on her face as her gaze softened. "You two should go to the Altar and confess...place your burdens on Nox, and forgive him...whoever you killed for his sins, so that my God of Exzodia, God of Eyica, my fair and just God of Love and Mercy can forgive you of yours..."
Moon-li watched as Luciel hurried off behind Fleur and Effie, her gaze shifting back down to the ground with a light smile. "Yeah...I think we should..."
Eun-Song sighed softly, looking at Moon-li and noticing the guilt eating away at her and feeling the survivor's guilt hitting her as well. She couldn't speak in the moment, only hanging her head low as unshed tears began to well up.
-----------------------------
Fleur stormed through the Virgo Department halls, searching specifically for Tang and West, the reticles upon her sunglasses scanning each sign upon the classroom doors. Effie hurried to Fleur and grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks and getting her to look at her.
"Fleur, wait... This isn't the way. You're looking for Tang, but he wasn't the one who did it," Effie said, trying to reason with an angry Fleur.
"He gave the order to hunt for them. He's just as responsible for this as anyone else!" Fleur retorted, snatching her arm away from Effie and continued down the halls.
Luciel exhaled softly through her nose as she watched Fleur walk off then took a step forward, finding the strength to speak up. "Don't you think they suffered enough yesterday? They were terrorized by Harpy and one of their members died yesterday. They've been judged for the day."
"It's a new day, everyone's minds are renewed...and ours should be as well. Beating up Tang won't solve anything except continue the cycle, this is what Nox is revealing. Please, Fleur. There's no need for senseless violence," Luciel pled, her somber tone finally reaching Fleur's ears.
Fleur sighed softly and stopped walking, turning around to look at Effie and Luciel. "What? Those delinquents can just walk free and target the next group of girls whenever they please? What happens when it's one of you next? What if it's me? What then?"
"Y'know, I've never truly liked men until Nox came around because he showed me not all of them are monsters wearing human skin. What they did to Moon-li and Eun-Song is unforgivable!" Fleur yelled, balling her hands into fists and looked down with a pissed stare.
"Fleur..." Effie began, stepping forward but stopping as Luciel placed her hand on her shoulder.
"But... I'll submit. It's a new day, same Judgement... Don't let this come back to bite us," Fleur said, walking back toward the entrance with her head held low.
Effie and Luciel watched as Fleur walked past them, the two of them allowing her to go to give her some space. Looni let out a soft whine as Fleur walked away, feeling a slight shift in the trio's attunement.
"Sometimes...doing what's right hurts more than doing what's not. This this is what Nox is trying to show us. Had we let Fleur fall into her wrath, we would be no better than the others," Luciel sighed, looking over at Effie with a softened expression.
"I guess...it just sucks because Fleur is 100% right! They were going to do something bad to them...so why does letting them go feel so wrong?" Effie replied, looking down at Looni in her arms.
Luciel looked down at Looni as well and let out a thoughtful hum, placing her hand on Effie's back. "How about we go to class and get our minds off this. Maybe go for some tea later..?"
Effie looked up at Luciel with a soft smile, nodding at her suggestion. "Yeah...let's go.."
The two of them began to trail forward together, hoping a class with Abylon would help them get their minds of yesterday's revelations. For the first time, the trio had been split between two paths.
Fleur walked through the courtyard with her hand running through her hair, letting out a stressed groan and kicked a rock across the courtyard before sitting down on a bench. She couldn't get the bruises upon Moon-li and Eun-Song's body out of her mind, flashes of her own experiences playing in her head.
"You did the right thing," A voice said to her, causing her to look up with tear streaked eyes.
Fleur gasped as she noticed me, wiping her eyes and clearing her throat. "N-Nox...you—"
"I heard it all...I was at the library with Scarlet getting her a few books to read. And I happened to hear your conversation. You did the right thing..." I said, giving Fleur a gentle smile, Scarlet looking down at Fleur with a smile as well.
Fleur took a soft breath then lowered her head, her heart becoming heavy at the sight of my smile. "Nox...how can you keep looking at me like that..? No matter what I do? You heard it all and you still smile at me..."
"Because...I love you, Fleur and that will never change. I don't care about your baggage, I don't care about the scars you bring, the stress, the pains... All I care about is your Heart and your Spirit. I know you produce good fruits...I can see it," I said, crouching down slowly in front of Fleur to lower myself below her to meet her gaze.
"Fleur, look at me..." I said gently, waiting for her to meet my gaze.
Fleur sniffled lightly, slowly raising her head to meet my eyes, her tears continuing to fall. I reached toward Fleur to dry her eyes, getting closer to her to gently kiss her lips, catching her off guard for a moment. Soon, she began to kiss back, her body completely relaxing within my affection.
I pulled away from the kiss and let out a soft hum, caressing her cheek lightly. "You are in this Zone, this World, living inside it...but don't let it transform you for the worse. Don't become of this world...don't become of this Zone. Like Naju...I don't want to see you here..."
"I want to see you above, in Heaven... serving under Genesis as one of her Angels. Being an Angel for Ragnarok brings endless pain, pain that you can't escape from. Go back to Luciel and Effie... Capiche?" I said with a light grin, chuckling lightly and ruffling her hair.
"Yeah, yeah... okay, I got it.." Fleur giggled, pushing my hand away and fixed her hair then scooted over on the bench to stand up straight. "Could you...also talk to Moon-li and Eun-Song for me as well? Check on them?"
I nodded at her, taking a deep breath and exhaling softly and looking up at the sky. "I was planning to...bring the Altar to them y'know.."
Fleur glanced at me with a flicker of light in her eye, a conversation about Luciel telling Moon-li and Eun-Song about the Altar playing back in her mind. A knowing smile formed on her lips before turning around to make her way toward the Virgo Department.
I looked over at Fleur with a smile then began to make my way toward the Main Dormitories, making a final stop before heading to the Sagittarius Department for the Event. Scarlet reached out for the various other Butterflies that began to flutter around, the different array of butterflies coming from the Nymph Girl nearby.
Entering inside the main dormitory, I used the elevator to ride up to Moon-li and Eun-Song's floor then began treading toward their room. Walking down the halls, I noticed a few female delinquents outside of their room, one of them banging on the door.
"Hey, you two dumb bitches! Come out of the room right now and answer for your crimes! You killed Hideo you asshole!" One of the girls yelled, continuing to bang on the door and draw attention toward them.
"That's enough," I said, approaching the girls and shifting Scarlet to my back.
The girls grit their teeth as they looked my way, watching as I approached them. They immediately readied their blunt weapons, not giving me any room to even explain why I was here. I let out a soft sigh, crouching down to let Scarlet off my back.
I stepped backwards, slipping my hands into my pockets. "You should know something, girls. Ye who is without sin shall cast the first stone. So, whoever is without sin step forward."
"Not even you are without sin, murderer! You've killed before like you killed the priest at the Exzodian Church!" The leading girl shouted, pointing her bat toward me.
"Vince? The same man who killed over 50 Nuns, turning them into Zombie Laments? The same priest who hid a Devil Stone within my church? The same Vince who captured my Warden and attempted to defile her?" I asked, lowering my head and letting out a soft chuckle.
"No, I didn't kill a person. I killed a Daemon disguising himself as Human, I exorcized a demon, casted them out of my home. Less, by God's Law, I am still without sin..." I finished, snapping my fingers and Scarlet charged forward into her battle stance.
"What..? You're putting a child against us? She's no older than five years old! Are you crazy?" Another girl asked, looking up at me and noticed my golden eyed smirk.
"Meet my daughter, Scarlet Eyica. Though she is human, she is also half monster and you all are inside the Boss Room. All allies within this room share my power, all of it from my Affinities to my Warping. Dare to risk your life here and die to the hands of a child?" I asked, tilting my head with a dark chuckle.
Each of the girls stared at me, watching as my Rebirth Energy began to fill the halls and choke out the air. Knowing they stood no chance against me, they began to retreated in a hurry, each of their feet quickly marching down the halls.
"Ugh... finally, they're gone..." Ava sighed, looking down the hall at me with a smile.
"Sorry about that, I don't even know how they slipped so far into the Boss Room without being detected. Strange..." I said, walking over to Scarlet to pick her up and placed her on my back again.
"Beats me as well, but I'm gonna go back to sleep...I've had a long day yesterday," Ava yawned, slipping back inside her dorm and closing the door.
I chuckled softly at her then began making my way toward Moon-li and Eun-Song's door, gently knocking upon it and hearing slow hip-hop music playing inside. "Hey, girls. It's me, Nox. Can I come in?"
Soon, the door unlocked and cracked open, Moon-li peeking through the cracks of the door and looking up at me with a tired expression. "Nox..? Why are you here?"
I met Moon-li's tired gaze, scanning her body and noticing the bruises upon her neck and locked eyes with her again. "I know about what happened yesterday...and I want to talk to you about it."
Moon-li opened the door fully for me to walk inside, turning down the music with her phone and led me over to her bed and sat down with me. Eun-Song looked up from her snack, noticing me and averted her gaze with guilt.
"I just want to say, I didn't come here to condemn either of you. And that death was not your fault. I don't want you to feel like you have to blame yourself for defending yourself, but don't hold on to that burden alone," I began, looking over at Moon-li and gently patting her leg.
"Pok Moon-li wouldn't have to kill him...had I just been paying attention and not distracted. I'm so stupid...I fell down the stairs and slowed us down so much...and..." Eun-Song started, hugging her knees and lowering her head with defeat.
Moon-li sighed softly as she looked at Eun-Song, nudging me to go over to her side. "She needs you more than I do. Go to her..."
I looked at Moon-li with a smile and stood up then walked over to Eun-Song's side, sitting over on her bed then gently pulled her over to me, wrapping my arm around her with comfort as she softly cried. Summoning each of my butterflies to me, all 13 of them began to land upon her body absorbing all of her pain, grief, and laments.
Moon-li watched as my butterflies began to shimmer into a light blue light, a divine glow forming over Eun-Song as she laid everything down upon me with her tears. Her own heart began to feel heavy at the sight of her friend lamenting, a few tears falling down her cheeks.
'He is...He...no one else comforts like that...he is Son of God...' Moon-li thought to herself, watching me carry all of Eun-Song's burdens with a warm, Shepard's smile on my face.