Chapter 14: [Titan]
"How long will they stab him?" whispered Aura.
"I don't know."
They stood there, watching as they kept stabbing the lifeless corpse with desperation in every movement.
Aura glanced at Mori's expression, but couldn't figure out what he was thinking.
He was eerily staring at the scene without displaying any emotion.
A voice grabbed their attention. "Thank you."
They turned around, two demonfolks were standing next to each other.
The first one, a woman, had two short but pointy horns. Her hair was jet-black, and while her slender figure was beautiful, the one thing that stood out was a scar going all around her neck.
The man next to her looked similar, with equally black hair and similar horns but no scars.
Brother and sister?
"I'm Maya, this is my brother Torryn."
"Why were they attacking you?" asked Mori.
They both confusedly looked at each other.
"We left our assigned town," she answered.
"Assigned town?"
"You... don't know? I guess you're not demons, but still, a vampire and ... whatever you are should know. What are you, actually?" said Maya.
"We're not from around here," answered Mori.
"Alright, keep your secrets. Can't complain after you saved us," she softly smiled. "Every non-human is assigned a city. We didn't have the money to leave our assigned city, and there was no work there for us, besides the mines. Both of us have no mining affinity, and just renting the mining equipment ate what we made."
Mori looked up in thought, confusion on his face.
"I doubt Asmodael would do such a thing. The demon king? Did he come back already?" he asked.
"No... Humans did. You're really not from around here... Been 3 years now that they've taken control of half the continent. They keep expanding to the north, which is the only hope we have."
"Why are you heading toward Dustriver, then?" he asked.
"The border is tightly guarded and in constant battles, but there's a rumored demon in Dustriver who can help us cross it. That's what we've heard."
The atmosphere around Mori was heavy. His chains were rattling, he closed his eyes but his face still betrayed his emotions.
The two demonfolks took a step back, while Aura stood there.
"What is it?" whispered Aura.
"It's my fault," he said between his teeth.
He turned around, looking at the ogre Aura had killed.
He took his cloak off, letting it fall to the ground, his chains undid themselves and started flailing around as if a heavy wind were moving them.
"This is all my fault."
His voice was dark, deep, and coarse.
As he spoke, his throat twisted and his body contorted in unnatural ways.
Something big was coming out.
Nothing like the small hexes he had summoned earlier.
Maya and and Torryn ran back to the carriage, hiding behind it with its driver, while Aura took a few steps back.
His head was thrown backward and his mouth opened as something huge was getting out of it.
It was not humanely possible, yet something meters wide and tall was getting out.
Its eldritch features were as grotesque as all the other ones, but its dreaded aura was heavy.
The air was thicker and heavier; the sky felt darker; happiness was as good as gone.
All that remained, was fear.
It slowly got out, its limbs reaching out on all sides. It towered above everyone, it had no eyes and not even a face.
The black mass made its way to the Ogre, slowly entering it and deforming its body.
The Ogre was already tall, but its body was breaking up.
The joints broke, and the arms and legs extended.
It was getting taller by the second, its skin burning up revealing a skeletal figure behind it.
The whole body had a red glow in-between bones and inside the eye sockets.
Its clothes were now rags barely covering it, the tips of those rags lighting up, glowing red from the heat generated and creating thin smoke lines.
Even Aura who was used to Mori's cursed energy was frozen in fear.
This thing was easily 15 meters tall, the tree branches were burning up as they came in contact with it.
"I've waited too long. 4 years is all it took them to bring their dystopian ideals into this world," said Mori coldly.
"DiveCore?" asked Aura.
"Yeah."
The raised titan kneeled down, setting his open hand on the ground.
As he was going toward it, a voice stopped him.
"What are you doing?"
It was Maya who spoke up; she had come out of her hiding spot, slowly walking toward Mori while still staring at the monster.
He turned around, "I'm going to Dustriver."
"And what will you do, once you're there?" she asked.
Mori's cold stare was worth a thousand words.
"Take me with you," said Maya.
"Are you crazy?!" her brother spoke up.
"Someone as strong as him can do it! Look at this thing!"
"That's not enough! He'll do some damage, but once they dispatch heroes he won't last long. Even Asmodael lost."
Maya turned to Mori. "You can do it? Can't you? Free Dustriver?"
"Free Dustriver? I'll kill as many humans as I can. Whether Dustriver is freed is up to them."
"But, aren't you human?" asked Aura.
Mori's glare was cold and intense, causing her to quickly break eye contact.
"Take me with you!" said Maya again.
"Stop it! Maya!" said her brother.
She ignored him. "I know the way and the city. We were born there before being displaced. I can tell you where the humans live."
"Hop on." He pointed toward the titan's open palm.
"Maya! What are you doing?! This is too dangerous, you don't even know this guy."
"We would already be dead if that's what they wanted. You've seen what they did to the ogre. This person might be able to do it. They just might..."
She hopped on the hand, and turned around looking at her brother.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."
"You're crazy if you think I'll let you go with this person alone..." he said between his teeth as he stomped his way toward the titan's hand.
As Torryn hopped on the hand, Mori looked at the carriage. The driver was hiding behind it, peeking out once in a while.
Aura approached Mori, concerned.
"We can't possibly attack a whole city..." she said.
"Stay here, if you're scared."
She slapped him; the sound echoed to the siblings. They both raised their eyebrows, in shock.
"How about you stop treating me like I'm unimportant?" said Aura in a dry tone.
Mori took a step closer, grabbing her dress and violently yanking her toward him.
She held his gaze, as he stared her down, their foreheads practically touching.
She was meeting his eyes, until he pushed her back, and slapped her as well.
She stumbled a few steps back, palming her cheek but still holding his gaze.
"Fine," he said. "You want me to use you so bad, then I will. Step on the hand. Now."