World Isekai

"So you're the one behind this!" yelled Jeff.

Mori's expression was a blank slate, nothing could read on it.

Anger, sadness, none of those things appeared on the surface, yet he clearly felt those.

He didn't feel them against Jeff, no. It was against himself.

He had forgotten what he was dealing with. A small moment of bliss, where he only cared about the present, made him forget.

Humans.

All of them, even those that look decent on the outside.

"You fooled me," said Mori.

"What are you talking about?! You're the one slaughtering innocents!" said Jeff.

Jeff and his guards were meters away, requiring him to yell his words.

They kept what looked like a safe distance, Jeff taking a few steps to get closer.

As they spoke, whenever a human ran on the side of the road, Mori's chains would chase them as if they had a mind of their own.

The chains pierced their bodies, sometimes repeatedly. Once dead, they would stay inside them as hexes slid down the chains to the bodies.

Anyone died, anyone... As long as they were human.

People quickly stopped taking that path as bodies decorated the ground. They tried finding other ways to exit the city, but the titan that was getting closer limited the possibilities.

Not only that, but more commotion could be heard throughout the city.

Aura had walked next to Mori, joining him in his face-to-face with Jeff.

"Slaughtering innocents, you say? Maya and Torryn were innocent too," said Mori, his tone neutral.

"Who?"

"The siblings. The half-demons."

Jeff's eyebrows shot up. "These guys? I thought you knew what the deal with the 'Ferryman' was."

"You said you would make Dustrive better."

"And I am. We're almost rid of them. I told you already, we have limited resources here, and there's a lot of them to delete."

Mori breathed deeply, closing his eyes for an instant. He felt Aura's reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You mean kill, Jeff."

"Are you one of those who fell for those 'NPCs'? Listen, I understand they look real but DiveCore has a course on how to recognize an NPC, I can refer you-"

"They're real."

"That's what they want you to think. They're just lines of code. DiveCore has a whole course on that, can't believe you fell for this..."

Mori looked at Aura, his palm facing up. "The ring."

She quickly took it off, giving it to Mori who then put it on his finger.

He paused a moment, touching the enchanted rock sitting in the middle of it with his index finger.

He poured a little bit of energy into it, the activation happening through his mind.

Setting the ring up for activation wasn't as hard as it seemed. Once the settings were locked, he could use his cursed energy to turn it on with no need to sustain it.

"Is this..." asked Jeff.

"Asmodael's ring."

"So you're the one who had it. We've been searching for it all around and for so long. But what use is it to you now? You know I'm taking you in, keeping people out won't help you."

"I'm not keeping anyone out. I'm keeping those of your kind in."

"Your kind? You're one of us, Mori."

Jeff's expression hardened, as he saw a family exiting a restaurant, their kid in their hands.

They must've waited for a better timing, but realized there wouldn't be one, thought Mori.

"Go back inside!" Yelled Jeff.

But it was too late.

The chains had already moved, and one of the guards who wielded a bow quickly released an arrow.

He used a spell, as the arrow had a light-blue outline and the speed at which it was released was too fast.

It pushed the chain out of its trajectory, hitting the wall in front of the family.

They quickly turned around, running the other way.

Three other chains went toward them, and while the guard fired more arrows two of the chains protected the last one, deflecting each arrow.

Before their eyes happened a slaughter nobody could've imagined.

"You're one of those villains, is that it? That sword in the sky, it'll kill everyone. If you make it fall, demons and humans will both perish."

"Demons can exit the dome created by the ring."

"There will be some remaining. I can guarantee it."

"A necessary evil, for the greater good."

"You're twisted," said Jeff. "With a spell like this, you would easily be one of our greatest heroes, yet you're siding with them."

Jeff looked to his right, as the titan had finally reached them. Surprise flashed on his face, and quickly left for steeled resolve.

"How long until the sword falls?" asked Jeff.

"You'll see," said Mori.

"I'll find a way out, Mori. We have all kinds of magic, we'll find ways to get out of this, and this city will be rebuilt."

The titan had reached Mori, putting its open palm on the ground.

Stepping on it with Aura, he was quickly raised to its shoulder. They towered above everyone.

The wind was heavier as the buildings around didn't shield them from it anymore.

The visibility wasn't great, but Mori could see shades of red and orange through the town, breaking through the rain.

Fires were breaking out, while around him the corpses he had created started rising to their feet.

"This sword isn't tied to the town, Jeff. You are the ruler, here, after all. [Sword Of Damocles] is a curse I cast on you. I didn't think I'd need to curse you, but I'm glad you've been negligent around me. I doubt any artifact you have will protect you against it once it falls, and when it does, even if you survive, anyone around you dies."

"Then I'll kill you right here, right now. That'll undo it," he said, his sword glowing brightly.

The titan turned around, walking the opposite way as the raised corpses faced Jeff and his guards.

"You called me a villain, did you think I'd fight the 'hero' head-on? You're a dead man walking, Jeff."

The titan was walking away, and Jeff's voice could be heard yelling through the whistling wind.

"You're a coward! A coward! You hear me?! Come back and face me like a man!"

Jeff turned around and signaled to his guards to follow his lead, as they faced the corpses raised by the hexes Mori put in them.