Just a reminder: the story is tagged as Dark. This chapter is one of the reasons why.

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Fumi felt some degree of guilt. She knew that Rose was manipulating Echo. They could just use some spells, sink the ships, save the survivors, and put them on some island. But Rose enticed him with the idea that there was this righteous justification to his actions. But, Fumi didn't have the same level of care towards others that Echo had. She saw the necessity of what Rose was doing.

You need to get stronger.

She had convinced him that they didn’t have to kill all the marauders and rebels on those ships. And those they did kill, well, there wouldn’t be any guilt in eating those who were going to kill innocents.

I need you to survive.

She pulled her katana out of the sheath and activated Alacrity – speeding out over the water as she skimmed the surface, Echo right beside her as he pulled his sword out of his pocket dimension. He had mentioned something about holding off until he tried a spell, and she complied. Rose floated further back and behind.

 

They flew next to the ships and Echo touched the water, “Alter Substance.”

 

The air cracked as his silver and crimson Quintessence flowed down and spread through the ocean. The water heaved upwards as it changed from liquid to solid, becoming a massive jut of stone and dirt that the entire flotilla was stuck upon. He sagged visibly from the effort and flew backward towards Rose, Fumi just a scant second behind as she deactivated Alacrity.

 

That’s one way to deal with it.

---

Echo grinned even as he heaved with exertion. “There we go,” he said as he arrived at Rose’s height, looking down at his handiwork. A several hundred-meter chunk of rock was going to be very difficult to move boats off of. Not impossible, but it would be a monumental effort.

Rose was unreadable as usual. She turned her head for a few moments before turning back to Echo. “How long will that stop them?”

“Long enough for us to go tell someone.”

Rose shook her head, “We should end the threat.” She raised her scepter and her icy-blue Quintessence flowed down the staff into the tip. Her eyes flashed blue as Echo’s gaze was drawn back to the flotilla.

A singularity appeared above the ships. Screams and the sounds of cracking and splintering wood intertwined as flesh, timber, the rock, and the ocean were all sucked upwards, spaghettifying as they compressed. Scant seconds later, only a small sphere rolled gently in a crater on the rock.

Echo wheeled on her, “What was that for? We had stopped them!” He yelled incredulously.

“No. You didn’t.” Rose’s voice was stern, like that of a disappointed mother.

It struck Echo like a slap to the face, bringing back memories of his mom back on Earth in his past life. His controlling mother that brought him back from overseas to care for her because of her poor financial decisions. The woman that he felt indebted to. Rose’s words reminded him of that, and he quieted his protestations.

She continued, gesturing. “They would have been back to sailing within a day or two. And would they have gone slowly? No. They would have known someone was interfering with them. They would just escalate.” Rose frowned and gestured with her staff to Echo, “You’re thinking like a hero, not like a strategist.”

He looked back to the crushed mass, looked back to Rose, and then to Fumi. His love just solemnly nodded in agreement with Rose. “It is better to slay your enemy than simply inconvenience them.”

“Use your transmutation spell, separate out the corpses, and feed.” Rose’s voice was firm and commanding. The voice of a monarch. The voice of a parent. The voice of someone that you listened to, unquestioningly, due to being raised in a very strict household.

Echo nodded and tapped Fumi’s shoulder as the two went down to the earthen crater. He held up his hands towards the meter-diameter sphere, “Transmute Substance.”

It took quite a bit of time, but he was able to extricate all the flesh from the ship pieces and rocks. He used Bulwark to cover Fumi as she knelt and picked up the meaty mass. He gulped as Fumi sliced the flesh in half and handed him the slightly sweet-smelling meat. Primal Consumption pushed him onward.

DEVOUR.

“It’s okay,” Fumi muttered as she looked down at the meat and then at Echo. “You don’t have to feel bad about it. They were going to do bad things. You still get to be the person you want.” She bit into the meat, and a moment later, lost herself in the experience as she devoured it, licking her lips.

Echo felt the hunger aching in his stomach and hesitantly bit into his own meaty chunk. To his surprise, it was sweet like candy. It tasted exactly like a subtle strawberry taffy. The intoxicating, savory flavor popped in his mouth like a delight that danced along the tongue, satisfying every flavor profile at once.

DEVOUR!

He scarfed the entire chunk down, licking his fingers as he finished. A slight disgust at his own behavior hit him a moment later, but he knew that Fumi was right. They were bad people. And he’s just making sure that their bodies don’t go to waste.

He crumpled to the ground, grunting, and cursing as his stomach roiled.

---

Rose chuckled. She had easily been able to manipulate the two of them. Echo hadn’t even suspected a thing. The Essence Isles would have a slightly weaker navy for a few years, but that was none of her concern. She needed these two to be as strong as possible to kill Tiberius, so she could capture his soul and torment him for eternity.

Not only that, of course, but to help her kill Lux. Maybe even all the other Artificial gods as well.

She had seen what happened when they ate flesh made from divinity – those angels provided them with a massive stat increase and flight – a coveted Ability. But they had not yet eaten the common folk.

Let’s see what happens when you eat regular people. Not as impressive of a Stat increase, I'm sure, but perhaps your ferocity will become more apparent.

---

“About time,” Tiberius muttered as he watched through his sensor. He had been keeping close tabs on his monsters and White Rose. Every other project was waiting in the wings. He had several dozen monsters lined up, ready to be unleashed once he lured them close enough.

But he needed these two to feed on humanoids. Not angels, or demons, or elementals even if they got their hands on them – though that would be good evolution fuel.

He cackled as he saw the change being wrought. “Excellent.”

---

Echo wanted more. He needed more meat. More flesh. Evolution Instinct drove him to the nearest monster.

KILL.

CONSUME.

EVOLVE.

He looked over at Fumi and saw the same killer instinct cross her eyes as well. A glint of golden light flashed across his eyes – and did nothing to stop him.

He activated Achronerate and dashed to her, plunged his fist into her chest – breaking through the barrier from the physical protection greave - ripped her heart out, and ate it whole.

Her look of shock was quickly replaced with a dull appearance as her eyes glazed over and she went limp.

---

Vythin knew something was wrong. Someone with his Blessing just died.

He manifested his Heat and performed a miracle, opening a window to observe the place where his Blessing had faded.

Damn.

He looked on, disappointed, as Echo writhed in pain and his soul mate’s corpse lay on the ground.

There’s a contingency gone.

He would have Kalinor hold her soul at Last Light Temple until he died and could rejoin her. He’d make sure that he had some type of happy ending. But it wouldn’t be in his current life.

---

Rose was aghast. Her mouth dropped open as she saw Echo rip out Fumi’s heart and the companion go limp.

Gods…what did I do?

For the first time in several millennia, she felt regret. An icy grip surrounded what remained of her heart and squeezed tight as she felt the despair wash over her.

Fumi…

They had become friends over the past seasons of travel and living together. Those two were the closest she had to family. And she let her cold, calculating, undead nature take over. She floated down to the edge of the earthen surface – the closest she could get – as the torrent escaped Echo.

She fumbled around in her hip pouch and grabbed one of the two vials, focusing her Quintessence as she scanned near Fumi’s body for her soul.

Got you!

She spotted it. A small, light green dot slowly ascended, as if trying to fight against a pull from above that sought to drag it away. Fumi’s soul was struggling to stay – and losing.

“Become captive to my call, Soul Cage!” Her icy-blue spell cascaded out.

It pulled Fumi’s soul, and it came willingly, dashing in a golden-green arc to the vial before Rose sealed it tight. “It’s okay,” she whispered, holding the vial up. “I have you.” Rose felt a tear drip down her face, “I’m so sorry. I’ll fix this. I promise.”

Somehow, she would fix her mistake. Looking up at Echo she felt intense regret.

I’m sorry I forced you to be something you’re not. This is my fault.

---

Lux raised her head. She felt the enormous surge of light. It wasn’t from her, or her followers – no priest or cleric of hers was that powerful. It couldn’t be Vythin, either. She had angels keeping watch for his presence on Heimfold. Perhaps her archangel had escaped whatever confinement she found herself in?

She went to her window and gazed out upon Heimfold, her piercing eyes narrowing down to the silver pillar of light flickering with a shadow that shot up from a spit of land in the Essence Isles. She focused her sight and saw a sight that sickened her.

“It’s that damned monster.”

She felt satisfaction that the female companion accompanying him was dead.

“Good riddance.”

A tingle went down her spine, seeing the massive, raw display of power.

I need to deal with you.

She returned to her throne and summoned her archangel over the Administratum, Azurianth. “Prepare all of the heavenly legions.”

The archangel bowed, “It will take time, my lady.”

“That is fine. We will send them to possess our faithful. Let the masses serve as the fuel.”

“Your will be done.”

---

“Gyah!”

Echo screamed in pain. His silver and crimson sparking Quintessence exploded in a fury from his body as he underwent horrifically painful evolution.

He felt every bone shattering, every single capillary exploding. His eyes melted in his skull and his muscles ripped themselves to shreds. His Regeneration repaired it as quickly as it tore him apart. The forced evolution was the most painful experience of his whole existence. It lasted an eternity. He felt every sensation across the whole spectrum of pain.

But worse, far worse, was the knowledge that struck him right after he ate her heart. His instinct faded and he knew…he had just killed his love. He knew. He knew. In his soul, that her Deathless Ability wouldn’t bring her back from this. He knew he had gained it.

He had just killed his soul mate.

“Fumi!”

His Quintessence roared out of him in a tempest, crackling through every single Affinity now at his disposal. The torrential rage at himself, the overwhelming sorrow and despair, all of it shaped the power that ran through him unchecked as he evolved further.

The air around him turned into a hurricane, tearing across the landscape. The earth under him cracked and formed spikes that continually rose and crumbled in an endless cycle. Bolts of lightning cascaded from him and crashed into the surrounding earthen pillars. Flames exploded within the tempestuous winds as lava slowly seeped up from the ground, becoming miniature volcanoes all their own. An enormous beam of silver light cascaded upwards from him as a miasmic cloud of silver was whipped into a whirlwind by the rotating winds. Shadows flickered outwards and intermingled with the pillar of radiance. The air vibrated and the sound barriers around him shattered in an endless evocation of resonance. The nearby ocean rose up and where it met the earth trees began to sprout – only to be completely torn up and ripped to shreds.

And, finally, reality itself shattered. The space around him in a ten-meter sphere crystalized and fragmented as space was torn asunder.

Fumi…

Life wasn’t worth living.

She’s gone…

His soul mate was dead, and tears poured down his face.

Please…someone…

Reality slowly settled around him as he collapsed in a heap.

Anyone…