CHAPTER 38: | HOW COULD YOU BE SO BROKEN?
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Days passed.
What Astria meant by her words was nothing more than my flesh and blood, which I gladly gave her.
Astria consumed them, she was a progenitor-type monster with the ability to create new races.
She was not a crabman but their matron, for she had created them from the flesh of the crabmen she consumed and gave birth to.
Astria was not normal.
No, she was an abnormal lifeform, the word anomaly seemed to be just the right word to describe her.
Now, Astria was incubating a life, a creation of us both, modifying it within her stomach to forge an entity that was a mix of her and me.
Her sky-blue eyes had now completely lost their light, perhaps allowing Liora to kill her children in front of her had been the most optimal solution.
Her smile was bone-chilling, filled with a cruelty that let me glimpse what she was imagining right now.
She would use the child, no, not my child, but the creation forged between us, to cultivate an army.
My lips curved into a smile, that's precisely what I expected, for her to become an emotionless pawn that could build an army for me.
Even if she ended up betraying me, she was useful.
More useful than Liora, for she could create a loyal army under my command!
My lips stretched, as a lustrous light gleamed in my eyes, as a chuckle tore from my throat.
"Hahaha!"
Liora gazed at me, reading my intent, then clenched her hands.
She shook her head, but continued her practice.
Pity flickered in her eyes.
Her master, no, her descendant, was truly...
"Broken."
Liora blurted it out, swinging her sword in a left arc, a right arc, then unleashing a flurry of stabs.
She shifted, then let loose a barrage of slashes that cut through the currents.
Sweat beaded on her forehead, but before it could coagulate, it infused into the water as she sighed.
"How broken are you, Master?"
Liora couldn't hold her curiosity, she asked her master what was on her mind, of what truly bothered her.
Yes.
"How broken am I?"
was a good question, and Liora knew how dark and broken I was inside.
For she knew how to read the world's intent, and mine, even though it was faint.
Liora figured out my current state, for I didn't block her attempt to gaze at my intent.
I didn't see the need for it.
The marbled floor reflected Liora's face as she stood, waiting for her answer.
Her golden irises glowed with resolve.
A smile broke on my lips as I gazed at her.
"You're asking how broken I am, right?"
Liora nodded, clenching her sword harder, then released a downward slash.
"That's a good question, Liora... but why would I answer that?"
Liora bit her lip, then closed her eyes.
"We are master and disciple, closer than a couple. So why hide yourself from your other half?"
A chuckle broke from my lips, tears of joy welling in my eyes.
"Hahaha!"
Liora sighed, then shook her head as she turned her back to me.
"If you don't want to answer me, just say so..."
Slam!
Liora slammed the door as she exited the room in a fit.
My gaze lingered on the intricately made door, etched with the history of this castle, as I sighed.
"There's no need for you to know, Liora."
Astria, right at my side, clutched her belly.
Her smile was extremely creepy as she caressed my face.
"Yea... how broken are you, Master? Are you as broken as me?"
Insanity laced Astria's voice as she asked me the same question as Liora.
Her sky-blue eyes were no longer as lustrous or lively as they were when we first met, they were now broken and eroded.
Her hands, smooth as jade and white as a sheet of canvas, caressed my face.
It was comforting, nice to the touch, and I enjoyed her company.
Clutching her hands, a smile broke from my face as I lifted her chin and met her eyes.
"More broken than you are, my lovely Astria."
Astria giggled, then rested her head on my chest as her gaze lingered at my crotch for but a moment.
"I would love it if we could mate and procreate a child from the union of our love."
Her voice seemed tired and broken as she continued.
"But sadly, such functions are not within me..."
Her voice was low, a whisper, a cry, a plea for something she longed for.
"Those children were my everything... so why did you cruelly take them away from me? I... I just wanted to be loved..."
I caressed her silently.
Yes... why?
Why did I let Liora kill her children in front of me when she begged, swallowed her pride, her dignity, just for them to live?
I gazed at her, then, with a smile, I ran my fingers through her silvery-white hair as I hugged her tightly.
"Because it is necessary, my lovely Astria..."
Her voice hitched.
She gulped down her saliva, then clenched her teeth in anger.
Every hair on her body stood erect from the man's words.
But she felt more anger than fear.
Because he killed her children in front of her!
Because he deemed it necessary!
This person, no, this monster, was nothing more than a hollowed-out thing with no emotions.
She felt disgusted, repulsed by his touch, as she clenched her teeth harder.
Astria knew that without power, she couldn't refute this man.
So she remained silent, swearing to herself that someday in the future, she would make this man experience the sorrow of the despair she felt.
Astria's intent was clear before my eyes, and I smiled.
Yes, that's it, Astria!
Hate me to the point that you're going insane!
To the point that I will be the only subject of your vengeance.
Hahaha.
Hate me Astria for I killed your child!
Despise me until you become nothing but a husk of your former self, and only then...
Would my plan succeed.