"Damn girl, your man sure can aura farm. Don't forget, we live romantasy now," Queen Nandi whispered into Sister Adah's ears. Queen Nandi, the first to break the silence, clapped her hands together, her gaze sparkling between Sheut and Adah. "Well! Now that we're all properly attired and everyone has had a chance to... express themselves," she said, a playful lilt in her voice. "Perhaps we can get down to a few details, like the difference between shadow and darkness aspects. And then, Sheut Khensu, you can enlighten us on how exactly you plan on taking responsibility for my dear friend Adah." She winked at Adah, who groaned dramatically.
Stretching his hand out toward the shadows. Sheut pulled, gesturing at the shadows to come to him. Instead of coming to him, they flickered and resisted. Seeing this, he abandoned the idea of controlling them. He then produced four of his shadows. Placing three shadows to the side and one two tables away. Then he pointed to the one in the middle of the three. Swirling his finger, a large, masterful throne, fit for a queen, appeared. Made entirely of shadows. Pointing to the other two shadows beside it, two smaller chairs. These, however, were less extravagant. Finally, he pointed to the single shadow and created another throne. This one was slightly different. Being no smaller than the first throne, yet bigger than the other two chairs, it also had a different design.
Sheut Khensu, now fully composed, inclined his head slightly towards the Queen, his earlier demeanor replaced by a respectful acknowledgment. "My apologies, Queen Nandi," he began, his voice smooth and deep. "I intended to use shadows that you were familiar with. However, they seem far too ancient for the likes of me to control." Placing his hand on his heart. He gave the queen a 45-degree bow. "Please put your trust in me, my queen." Unlike his earlier bow, this was truly sincere.
Queen Nandi, with eyes full of glee, raised her left hand to Big John, beckoning him to lead her to the throne. A quick glance was exchanged between the two. One gaze expressed caution, the other seemed to say, Don't argue with my decision. Following the queen's seat on the throne, and everyone standing in front of their seats, she gave the signal to take their seats.
General Kar noticed that Sister Adah was the only one left standing. Just as if Sheut could hear his thoughts. Sheut made a come here motion with his hands towards Sister Adah. Shadows, separate from her own, swirled, lifting her off her feet, placing her onto Sheut's lap. Her cheeks were once again cherry red. She was staring at a spot on the floor before she patted her face and looked at her friend and Queen. From the corner of his eyes, he could swear he saw the Queen wink at Sister Adah. Were his eyes deceiving him?
Clearing her throat, Queen Nandi addressed the seating arrangement. "Sheut, would you please give Nandi a separate seat? I would like to see you both. Seat her to your preference as well."
Nodding his head in compliance, a shadow escaped him to his left, and a throne of equal proportions and similar design to his own was constructed. Sister Adah was once again lifted via shadow and placed on it. She felt as if she were placed on a cloud. Taking a deep breath, she straightened up and looked forward.
Noticing the difference between the way he constructed their chairs compared to Adah's chair. Queen Nandi concluded that he had only pointed to the shadows earlier to make his intention known. "So, the shadows he produces follow his mental commands. Not only that, he can control other shadows, but not all shadows, it seems." She thought to herself before saying. "Now, back to business. Sheut, what race are you exactly? She asked
"My Queen, I am a demihuman just like your feline subordinate over there." After a brief pause, he continued. "My race would be called hanyou, half-demon, or just demons."
"A demon!? Do you take the Queen and all of us for fools? No demons look at you! Not on this planet or whatever dimensions dungeons take you! Before General Kar could continue his furious tirade, he was interrupted by the Queen.
"I will remind you, General, to hold your tongue," she said, full of authority.
"I'm sorry, Queen, please excuse my interruption."
Turning back to Sheut, Queen Nandi, too, had the same questions. "Sheut, if you wouldn't mind addressing the discrepancy brought up by General Kar, please."
Nodding his head, Sheut explained. "While I understand your apprehension, we are not exactly the same. You see, the demons you are referring to are corrupted by chaos. Making them no different from wild predatory beasts. The intelligent ones are either hundreds of years old or have retained part of their humanity. We share a common ancestor, but that's it. My people are uncorrupted by chaos. Like Beast-kin, it depends on genetics on how we look. However, most of us have mostly human features and one noticeable demon trait. Those like me are not physically different from humans. The only way to tell is to be sensitive to the aura or be able to read it."
Big John exchanged a look with Kar. This was it. The missing demon lineage that was erased from history. Now the only question was why anyone would do such a thing. Big John finally asked, "My Queen, may I ask a question about the information Sheut just provided?" With a nod from the Queen, confirming that it was permitted. Big John turned to Sheut. "Based on what you mentioned, you just confirmed the existence of the highly theorized missing demon lineage. Do you know why anyone would want to erase your people from history?
Furrowing his brows, Sheut pondered the question for a moment. "I can only think of two or three reasons for their erasure. The first reason is the safety of demi-demons from folks such as yourselves mistaking them for the corrupted... The second reason was that a faction war took place between the two lineages. The losers were removed from history... The third reason is closely related to the second." The aura emanating from his armor became chaotic, and his killing intent spiked to levels even higher than he had displayed earlier. Shadows stirred as if coming to life. A gentle hand, unaffected by the pressure released by the killing intent, was placed on top of his. Sheut took a deep breath, dropping his killing intent. "My apologies, Queen, I lost myself for a moment. Take another deep breath, he continued. "There was a lineage war, but it was a three-on-one. Elves, demons, and devils teamed up to capture and eliminate the demi-demons."
A stunned silence fell over the chamber, heavier than the very shadows Sheut commanded. Queen Nandi's playful lilt vanished, replaced by a gaze that sharpened with a mixture of disbelief and dawning, terrifying comprehension. Her lips, usually quick to curve into a smile or a quip, pressed into a thin, grim line. It wasn't just the fact of a forgotten war that struck her, but the sheer, unthinkable alliance between elves, demons, and devils. Three factions, so often at odds, uniting with a singular, genocidal purpose against a shared ancestry.
Big John, who moments before had been ready to erupt with questions, now looked utterly deflated, his usual bluster replaced by a pale, hollow expression. The name "Hanyou" echoed in the new, awful context. He exchanged another look with General Kar, but this time, it was a look of shared horror, not speculation. The "missing demon lineage" wasn't just missing, but it had been systematically hunted and erased. The history books, the grand narratives of their world, were built on a lie, a vast, engineered silence.
General Kar, ever the strategist, narrowed his eyes, not in anger at Sheut, but in cold, calculated assessment. His mind raced, re-evaluating every historical conflict, every ancient animosity, in light of this new, destabilizing truth. If such an alliance were possible, then what implications did it hold for the present? The mere suggestion of such a widespread, coordinated purge was staggering, painting a picture of a world far more complex and dangerous than they had ever imagined. The "revelation" wasn't just about Sheut's people, but it was about the very foundation of their understanding of the known dimensions and the creatures within them.
The question hung heavy in the silence, unasked but palpable in the stunned expressions of the Queen and her advisors. Finally, Queen Nandi, her voice now devoid of any playfulness, broke the stillness. "Why, Sheut?" she asked, her gaze piercing. "Why would elves, demons, and devils—races so often at war with each other—unite for such an atrocity against your people? What could drive such an unnatural alliance?"
Big John, surprisingly subdued, echoed her sentiment. "Aye, Sheut. It makes no sense. What could your people have done to provoke such widespread hatred, to be entirely erased from history like that?" He gestured around the silent chamber, as if emphasizing the very air that no longer held any memory of the demi-demon lineage.
Sheut's gaze flickered between the Queen and her shocked advisors before settling, with an unsettling intensity, on the silent shadows around them. "The reason," he began, his voice dropping to a low, resonant tone that seemed to cut through the heavy air, "was simple, yet absolute. My people, the demi-demons, possessed a power that the others coveted and, more acutely, feared. A power that threatened their very existence, their established order, and their immortality."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle before delivering the crushing truth. "The threat was True Death."
A collective intake of breath rippled through the chamber. Queen Nandi's eyes widened, her playful spark replaced by a profound horror. Big John and General Kar exchanged another glance, this one filled not with mere shock, but with a dawning. The statement was stomach-dropping. The concept of True Death was anathema, a fundamental violation of the natural order for many powerful beings.
"Unlike the cycles of rebirth for elves, the chaotic dissipation of demons, or the contractual eternal servitude of devils," Sheut continued, his voice now edged with a cold, ancient pain, "Our lineage carries the potential to inflict an end beyond all magic, all resurrection, all contracts. We could erase a soul, utterly and completely, from existence. Not merely kill, but unmake."
He clenched a fist, and for a moment, the red and purple energies emanating from his armor flared with renewed intensity. "That power, when wielded by a demi-demon, was deemed an unacceptable threat. They didn't just want to defeat us; they wanted to ensure that the very concept of True Death, as controlled by us, ceased to exist. The demi demons' annihilation wasn't about conquest but about the elimination of a fundamental truth they couldn't control."
The concept of True Death hung in the air, like a chilling new reality that dwarfed even the shock of a forgotten war. Queen Nandi was the first to voice the unspoken terror. "Unmake?" Her voice was barely a whisper, robbed of its usual authority. "Sheut, explain. What does 'unmake' truly mean? Is it… is it a complete cessation? No spirit, no afterlife, no reincarnation? Nothing?" Her gaze, wide with dawning shock and maybe horror, searched his face for any hint of a lie, any sliver of hope that it wasn't as absolute as it sounded.
Big John, usually so grounded in the tangible, felt a cold dread seep into his bones. "That's… that's against all natural law, isn't it?" he stammered, his eyes darting to General Kar, who now stood as rigid as a statue. "Even the most vile sorcery, the deepest curses, they merely bind or torment a soul. They don't… erase it."
General Kar, ever the pragmatist, cut straight to the core of the tactical nightmare. "And this power," he stated, his voice tight, "it rests within your lineage? Within you? How is it wielded? Is it a spell, a physical strike, a… a touch?" His mind was already grappling with the implications of facing an enemy capable of such ultimate destruction. The very idea undermined every known defense, every strategy of survival.
Sheut nodded gravely, his expression somber as he prepared to reveal the chilling specifics. "True Death," he confirmed, "was not a spell learned or a power bestowed by an artifact. It is a racial trait inherent to demi-demons who remained free from corruption. A fundamental part of our very being."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over their horrified faces. "However, it was not boundless. Our ability to unmake was inherently linked to the opposing forces that sought our annihilation. It was a weapon, yes, but a very specific one, limited in its scope. True Death could only be wielded against elves, demons, and devils."
A new wave of murmuring rippled through the group. The specificity was both a relief and a wonder. It was a power that existed because of those races, a counter to their forms of immortality or resilience.
"And how was it wielded?" General Kar pressed, his voice taut.
Sheut raised a hand, and for a fleeting moment, the matte black of his gauntlet seemed to pulse, the crimson lines beneath it flaring. "It wasn't a grand, destructive blast, nor a ritual. It was an absolute sever. A demi-demon of pure lineage could, through focused will and direct proximity, sever the ties that bound an elf's spirit to reincarnation, preventing their return. For demons, it dismantled their chaotic essence, preventing their eventual reformation from the ether. And for devils, it shattered their infernal contracts, nullifying their very existence as they knew it, preventing their reclamation by the Hells."
He lowered his hand, the energy on his armor settling back to a low thrum. "The act itself was… quiet. Final. There was no explosion, no lingering echo. Just an absence."
"So, it truly is unique to your kind," Queen Nandi murmured, her mind racing.
"Unique in its absolute finality, yes," Sheut clarified. "However," he added, his eyes briefly flicking to Adah, though he didn't explicitly name her, "those with aspects or affinities that allow them to manipulate the soul, even if not directly wielding True Death, could potentially achieve something… similar in effect, if not in absolute finality. They could rend, bind, or alter a soul in ways that might approximate an end to their existence, though never with the same inherent, total erasure that my people possessed against those three races."