(Riven POV – Dungeon, 6th Floor)
"And who decided that?"
The words are barely out of my mouth before my body moves.
My sword leaves my hand in a flash, with no hesitation in my movements.
It slices through the air like an arrow, and finds its mark with a wet crack, cleaving through the man's skull like paper. The blade keeps going, embedding itself halfway into the dungeon wall with a shrill metallic ring that echoes down the corridor.
For a moment, no one dares to breathe, fearful they'll be next.
The man's body crumples. His head, rather than split, had burst open, spraying red and grey matter across the stone. Lili falls with him, gasping for air as the hand around her throat goes limp.
I blink, momentarily distracted.
'Huh. It actually cut into the dungeon wall?' I tilt my head slightly. 'I thought the dungeon would be sturdier.'
Not at the fact that I killed someone for the first… well, second time. My last life doesn't really count.
But that my sword lodged deeper into a wall than I thought it ought to.
Blood pools in the floor, as the thick, metallic smell permeates the corridor.
'So… this is what killing someone feels like.'
Nothing. Just… nothing. There's no rush of adrenaline, or crushing guilt.
Unexpected to feel… something. Disgust, thrill,maybe even regret. Yet…
I only feel a faint disappointment.
Disappointment that the kill didn't feel earned or significant. My opponent too weak to make me feel like I achieved something.
"Pfft—Hahahaha!" A loud, manic laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it.
Everyone jerks back, eyes wide, like they're staring at something inhuman… and maybe they are.
The two remaining adventurers draw their weapons, hands trembling so hard I wonder how they're maintaining their grip.
"Y-you killed him!" One stammers, his voice cracking. "K-killing's a crime! It's—it's against the law!"
I stop laughing, and calmly meet his eyes.
A heavy silence stretches between us until I see panic rising behind his pupils.
"Pot calling the kettle black." I murmur, then grin.
"Besides…" I shrug casually. "It's only a crime if you get caught. And who'd report it if there are no witnesses." My grin widens. "People die in the dungeon all the time."
The words hang in the air, weighing down on everyone present.
Inside, my mind ticks forward with machine-like detachment.
'I guess I'm so calm because of IronHeart?' I ask GS.
[Answer: Correct. Current emotional desensitization is predominantly due to the Unique Skill: IronHeart.]
'So I'm not a crazy psychopath then?' I ask, half-jokingly, and half-genuine.
[Answer: No major indicators of psychopathy or mental instability detected.]
'Thanks, GS. Nice to have an objective perspective.'
I choose to ignore the word major, and take what I can get. Afterall, everyone's a little crazy, so minor instability is to be expected.
'Maybe I'd feel guilty if they were innocent… and maybe someday I'll find out. But right now?'
'Trash is trash. And there's no need to feel guilty for cleaning up.'
A faint smile touches my lips. The entire exchange, from inner turmoil to resolution, lasts maybe half a second as Thought Acceleration speeds it all up.
"Now…" I exhale softly, rolling my shoulders. "Where were we?"
Before they can blink, I'm gone.
The first man's chest caves in with a single strike. The sound is sickening. A wet crunch echoes as air escapes lungs that can no longer hold their shape anymore. He drops to his knees, coughing blood, as his ribs, shattered glass beneath his skin, puncture his lungs.
'That was too much. I should've held back a lot more.' I note absently. 'He'll drown in his own blood soon enough.'
The other one's already backpedaling, blade shaking. His eyes flick to his dead friend, to me, to the exit, as his survival instincts lose to terror.
His heart was in the right place. He probably thought to run away, but alas… I was faster.
He doesn't even scream when I hit him.
Just as my boot connects to his gut 'gently,' he's sent hurtling into the dungeon wall with bone cracking force.
He smashes into it with a heavy thud, instantly bouncing off of it and landing on the floor completely unconscious, as the smell of urine spreads through the blood-soaked air.
'That'll do. A bit annoying he went himself though.' I groan.
Lili hasn't moved. She's trembling, her wide eyes fixed on me, her face streaked with blood and tears, most of which aren't even hers.
I ignore her for now and step toward the man still gasping on the floor. He tries to crawl, but I plant my foot on his back, pressing him down until I feel his spine strain beneath my heel.
"Still alive, huh?" I muse. "Wondrful."
'Predator.'
Black smoke seeps from his skin as his body convulses violently, and a strangled scream tearing from his throat.
"AAAAAHHHHH—!"
"Don't be dramatic." I sigh, pressing down harder. The scream breaks into a wet gargle. Blood bubbles from his lips as air vacated his punctured lungs. His bleed as he claws uselessly at the floor.
The smoke thickens, and I can feel it… his Exelia, his life's essence—being siphoned. A shiver runs through me at the sensation. It's not exactly pleasure, just… awareness and satisfaction as my body is re-energized.
When the last wisp fades, his body stills. He's still not dead, but it'd be hard to call him living.
I crouch, tilt his head, and lift his shirt. His Falna is faintly imprinted on his back, but it's now fractured like glass. Gone is the divine script, numbers, or any other information.
'GS, how much did I just take?'
[Answer: Estimated absorption: 10% of total Exelia. Target's Falna vessel has sustained significant damage, and severe soul damage detected.]
'Soul damage? Is it fatal?'
[Answer: No. The resulting state causes a vegetative state, and the target cannot receive Falna or gain Exelia again.]
'So basically… a breathing corpse. Lovely.'
I straighten, dusting off my hands. The silence feels heavier now. I can even hear the steady rhythm of my heart, and somewhere behind me… Lili, shivering like a leaf.
'Too bad he didn't have any Skills. I would've liked to test if I could steal them with this method.'
I sigh, kicking the man's limp arm aside.
Then, finally, I turn to her.
Lili's still on her knees, petrified, stares at me like I'm a monster. I find it offensive, since I'm sure I look good, but… maybe she's right.
"You didn't try to sneak away this time?" I ask lightly, giving her an innocent smile.
There's no response.
She begins trembling even more as tears start leaking from her eyes.
She's drenched in blood, injured all over, but she makes no sound. Even her breathing seems shallow.
I blink. "…Not even a 'thank you?'" I ask in amusement.
(Lili POV – Dungeon, 6th Floor)
'Lili's going to die. Lili's going to die. Lili's going to die.'
My thoughts race in time with my beating heart. Fast, loud, and suffocating. Every instinct screams at me to run, but my body knows better. Moving will just draw more attention… and drawing attention means dying.
So I stay still. Kneeling in blood that isn't mine, and trembling so hard it feels like my bones will shatter.
'Lili's going to die…'
Each thought echoes like the tick of a clock counting down my remaining life.
When he finally speaks, my entire body jerks like a puppet pulled along by invisible strings.
"L-Lili is th-thankful!" I blurt out, my voice shaking so badly it comes out more as a squeak than actual speech. I bow low, and lower, until my forehead presses onto the wet floor. The blood clings to my skin, still warm and sticky, its metallic scent filling my nose as I resist the urge to vomit.
I stay down, not daring to look up. Every soft footstep draws closer, echoing down the empty corridor with quiet finality.
Each step sounds like a hammer striking a nail into a coffin I likely won't be buried in.
When he stops in front of me, I feel it… his presence pressing down on me with tangible weight. The shrill ring of sliding metal follows as he pulls his sword free of the wall.
My breathing stops. 'This is it.'
"L-Lili was wrong!" I cry, my voice breaking. "L-Lili shouldn't have run away last time! Lili's sorry! Please—please forgive Lili!"
My forehead scrapes against the stone as I bow deeper, as if pressing my head down hard enough might somehow save my life.
I wait for the bite of steel, and the embrace of death…
Instead, there's silence. Then…
A faint shimmer dances against my closed eyelids, as the air feels less chilling.
"Huh?"
I cracks one eye open, and the world is dotted with faint blue light. Motes of dust swirling like tiny stars before settling gently onto my skin. Wherever they touch, the pain fades. The gash on my arm closes, and the burning in my ribs dulls to nothing.
I blink, stunned. "I-Is this… magic?" I asks in a small, breathless voice. "Lili doesn't… understand."
He hums thoughtfully from above me, his tone maddeningly casual. "Hmm? What don't you understand?" There's a hint of amusement in his voice. A cruel, lazy sort of playfulness.
I swallow hard. "A-Aren't you going to kill Lili?" I whisper, the words tumbling out before I can stop them.
He smiles faintly. "I've saved you twice. It'd be wasteful to kill you if I didn't have to."
My stomach twists. Wasteful. His words implying conditional survival.
'So you'll kill Lili… if you have to.' The thought burns in my mind, but I don't say it aloud.
He finishes healing me a few seconds later, and dusts off his hands. "There you go. You're covered in blood, but no longer hurt."
He smiles down at me, looking cheerful, and almost friendly. The sight makes my skin crawl.
That same mouth had burst into laughter after bursting open someone's head, and smiles while crushing another's chest and torturing them to death. A smile like that could mean I'm next.
I drop my head again so fast I slam it into the ground with force. "Th-thank you for healing Lili!" I squeak. "Lili will do anything to repay you! Anything!"
"You're welcome." He says calmly. "But… you know I can't just let you go after you've seen me kill a bunch of people, right?"
My heart stops.
His earlier words replay in my mind.
'It's only a crime if you get caught.'
'Who'd report it if there are no witnesses.'
'People die in the dungeon all the time.'
And now, I'm a witness.
'It's hopeless.' The word hangs heavy in my chest.
But then, his footsteps move away from me. Metal scrapes against stone, followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged. When he returns, there's a dull thud in front of me.
"Go on." He says. "Take a look."
I lift my head slowly, and what I see makes my blood run cold.
The last surviving adventurer, beaten and unconscious, lies in front of me. And beside him… my knife.
"Lili's… knife?" I ask.
"Yeah." He crouches, gesturing casually between the two. "Right now, if you told the Guild or the gods about this, it'd be a headache for me. But…" He shrugs as his smile widens. "If you kill him, we'd be in the same boat. You'd be an accomplice, rather than a witness."
He says it so casually, like he's asking what to have for dinner, rather than ending someone's life.
The words don't fully register at first. "You… you want Lili to kill him?" I repeat numbly.
"Mm-hm. But I'm not forcing you." He says with an 'innocent' smile. "You can always refuse."
His warm and friendly tone make it worse than any threat. It sounds honest. Like he means it.
My breath hitches as my eyes dart between the knife and his smile.
'If I refuse, he'll kill me. If I accepts, I'll become a killer.'
'It's the illusion of choice.' I think bitterly.
My hands move before I even realize it. My fingers curling around the knife's hilt. It's small, light, and familiar… but it suddenly carries an unseen weight.
My heart pounds harder. The world feels like it's shrinking, like every breath I take is being measured and judged. One move, and he'll kill me.
"Go ahead." He says softly. "I'll wait."
His tone is gentle… patient… and that terrifies me more.
I stare down at the unconscious man, then at my bloody hands.
My throat tightens.
'Lili's never killed anyone directly before…'
The thought echoes inside my mind, like the knife sensation of the knife in my hand.
My tears blur the world, as my breaths comes in short gasps.
'Can Lili really do it?'
The answer comes like a whisper from the deep abyss of hell.
'Lili doesn't have a choice.'
I close my eyes, and plunge the knife down.
************
A/N: Hello Everyone! If you've enjoyed the chapter and book thus far, please consider leaving me some comments, reviews, or power stones. It really helps the book out.
Ngl, I feel like I cooked! So many indepth character things happening, that I'll probably forget most of them in my note🤣. But, I guess, the most important part... Riven is probably narcissistically saying to himself that he's so kind this entire time, knowing he isn't🤣.
On a more serious note, this chapter shows Riven's real character. Not the fluff and gags he has with Hestia. I mean, it's all real, but this guys dangerous. And here we see why. In essence, while he loves fighting and all that, he performed a sneak attavk, not cause he was scared of losing, but simply cause it wasn't enough to enjoy. So he went serious kill mode, and didn't play around. He was quite clinical and cruel, or rather, pragmatic. No mercy type stuff. Which is how he really is as a person.
And then Lili's POV... To be fair, there's a reason they're POVs. It's how Lili's viewing things. She views Riven with dear and distrust, which makes him seem evil, and he's not exactly evil, or as malicious as she believes, but isn't as nice as we'd hope. I slowed it down for 2 reasons.
1) These chapters are emotion and atmosphere dependent, so speeding up would ruin a lot of what I want to convey (I felt there was a lot of coverage).
And 2) I couldn't decide. Lili, in canon, never killed anyone. All those people she lured monsters to, survived (according to the sources, even if she herself didn't know. Finn did an investigation). So, she's not a murderer. And, I was wondering if I want to taint her like that. And was wondering what you guys think. I'm not making it a vote, cause... Y'know, I wouldn't be following the results, but just seeing in general how I feel about them.
You can also read 10 chapters ahead and support me at [email protected]/AMV_WEAKLY
Anyway, that's all from me. Hope you all have a good day/night 💝