Chapter 81: Meeting with a God
The grand, ornate door creaked open with a slow, reverberating groan, its hinges protesting against the sudden disturbance. From the dimly lit corridor beyond, a young man stepped into the room—a figure clad entirely in obsidian black, his attire outlined with faint crimson streaks that pulsed like veins of molten magma.
His raven-black hair fell in slight disarray over a face too sharp to be youthful, too composed to be ordinary. Twin scarlet eyes glowed faintly beneath the chandelier’s flickering light—Einar Sanguis had arrived.
He smirked, calm and casual, like he had just strolled into a friend’s room rather than into the den of a corrupted god. Without waiting for an invitation, he crossed the chamber and settled into the chair opposite Ness, the God of Darkness—now known as Lord Skin.
Einar reached out and plucked the teacup from the silver tray, his movements deliberate, even leisurely. He took a sip, savoring the warmth, letting silence stretch thin between them.
Ness’s eyes, voidlike and unblinking, followed his every movement with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. After a long pause, he finally broke the quiet with a soft chuckle. "So... you’re just going to sit there and pretend this is normal? Nothing to say at all?"
Einar finished his tea in a few slow, deliberate gulps before setting the empty cup back onto the tray with a soft clink.
He leaned forward, eyes half-lidded, his voice groggy with a tinge of mockery. "Honestly? I just came to torment you a little. Thought I’d enjoy watching you squirm." He yawned dramatically. "But... it seems you’ve grown. Not the shadowy blob I remember."
Ness leaned back in his chair, a grin tugging at the edges of his lips. His irises blackened further, twin abysses in his face. "You’re not wrong."
Einar waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. That much was obvious. You’re not hiding in corners anymore, or twitching from sunlight."
A flicker of confusion flashed across Ness’s eyes. "You don’t look the least bit scared," he said slowly. "You did eavesdrop on our conversation, didn’t you?"
"I did," Einar said, his voice lowering to a whisper. "And I saw how you sent that girl—Leiruat—to her doom. Even if she was just a remnant, that was still cold."