Re: Timeless Apocalypse

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

Her voice was even and neutral as she spoke, but Uriel could still feel a tinge of tension within it.

He wasn’t sure if that tension was aimed at him, though.

"That man wasn’t very polite, as I heard. Is the order usually this commanding, hm?"

Korynth’s eyes widened slightly. "You...sensed him? You eavesdropped on our conversation?!" She seemed agitated.

Uriel didn’t react much to the thick killing intent wafting from her. It was the first time he could feel killing intent so clearly, and it fascinated him more than it frightened him.

’Killing intent...that could be a good mental attack. I’ll add that to the list,’ he thought briefly before refocusing.

"You didn’t really try to hide. You both spoke aloud. Worse still, not only was that man’s Veiling method shoddy at best, he also lost control."

Uriel propped an elbow on the desk and rested his chin against his fist. "I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire neighbourhood sensed him."

Korynth calmed down; not because of his words, but because she realised how ridiculous her reaction had been.

Who cared if he heard? It wasn’t like he could do anything about it.

Now that her mind cleared, she focused on the biggest oddity.

"Shoddy?" she asked. "You called a Lord Guardian’s Veil shoddy?" She smiled and shook her head. "Sure."

Uriel didn’t really understand what was funny about what he’d said. To him, the guardian’s method had truly been shoddy.

While he managed to hide himself from the primordial fabric, the man hadn’t been able to hide himself from the runic fabric.

That was a truth Uriel had recently learned. The same way cores applied pressure and curved the fabric of the world’s energy, an ascendant’s will also curved the runic fabric.

And, as expected for a man that powerful, his Will was ridiculously heavy and thus bent the surroundings to a ridiculous extent.

Even now, gazing upon Korynth, he could see how ridiculously heavy her Will was. The runic fabric practically formed a sphere around her, where the laws of the world nearly entirely collapsed.

She was ridiculously powerful.

’Is that thing she did with her domain the next step of mastery? Of both aether manipulation and spark comprehension?’

To reshape the world with your Will. That sounded complex beyond words. But it also, for some reason, made him think about his situation.

It made him think about his ’nill’ moniker.

"Hello?" Korynth called out, waking Uriel from his daze.

"Ah, yes, sorry. Anyway, I apologise if I wasn’t meant to hear any of that. Let’s just act as if I didn’t. I don’t mind either way."

Seeing that she remained silent, he took it as a sign of agreement.

"I came here to ask for something else, though. We want to go out and eat, any recommendations?" he asked.

Then, his gaze turned to the saloon doors in the distance, where he’d once heard people feasting and clamouring.

"Or is there some sort of in-house restaurant? We’re really hungry."

"Hungry? Do you have any idea how late it is?" she asked.

It was already way past midnight.

Uriel waved a hand dismissively. "Details, details. Time waits for no one, and neither do we."

"We just want to eat. A lot. Is there really nothing open?"

She shook her head. "Near the fourth center alley, there are a bunch of nocturnal food stands. They’re quite expensive, and it for sure isn’t gourmet, but that’s the only thing open at this time."

Uriel nodded. "Good. I don’t know where that is, though. Do you have a map or something?"

Ignoring Uriel, Korynth threw Samael a glance, who, for some reason, had really been avoiding her gaze, almost as if he was afraid of it.

Only the two of them knew why that would be. And though Uriel noticed the strange dynamic, he didn’t comment on it nor act as if he knew.

He played the part perfectly.

"You do, no?"

It was as if a jolt had run down Samael’s spine. He jerked, an anxious smile blooming on his face. "Yes! Yes!"

Samael pulled Uriel away with a noticeable amount of urgency as he spoke. "Thank you for the recommendation! We’ll be going now!"

Uriel was a bit dumbfounded. He’d wanted to talk to her some more before leaving.

"Hey! Wait—"

"We’re leaving! Bye!" Samael insisted, pulling him away even harder.

Uriel looked at Korynth with a helpless gaze, but then, he smiled. "I’ll see you later. We’ll have time to talk."

His voice came out in a near whisper that sent chills down her spine.

...

The two boys were gone.

And finally, Korynth could breathe.

’Ridiculous...’

Part of her was infuriated that interacting with children so weak somehow made her lose her composure so much, while the rest of her found it amusing.

’His existence is so loved by laws...’

If her presence curved the runic fabric, then Uriel was the opposite, as it practically wrapped around him like armour, desperately trying to become one with him.

She’d never seen anyone with such deep law affinity.

’I wonder what his Law Chassis-Frame will be like...that’ll be a sight to see, especially if he decides to take the path of divinity.’ She chuckled.

Then, her thoughts drifted toward Samael, and her expression darkened.

The boy had tried to hide it, but she could feel it. She could sense it.

’He awakened his spark...that’ll be an issue.’ She hummed in deep thought. ’Should I kill him or not... and can I survive the wrath of that lunatic if I do...’

Memories of ’him’ fighting against hordes of guardians made her spine shudder.

’No.’ She sighed. ’I already burnt the bridge I had with the Order. When I devour the boy, I’ll most likely have an Esteemed chasing after me.’

She paused. ’And considering the depth of his soul, his blood most likely has a couple of safe measures, so I’ll have to deal with that backlash.’

’But if I also kill Samael...that’ll be too much,’ she concluded. ’Unless I...’

She froze.

Suddenly, she had an idea. Her golden eyes sharpened with malice as a dangerous smile surfaced on her face.

’It’s worth a try.’