Vanguard
Confusing, that was the only thing he could note on their trivial exchange. She was ancient, perhaps the closest thing to his own magnitude when it came to age, he could tell from the look of her soul. Powerful, that much he could no longer deny.
In this case why couldn’t she see it? She should know, just as he had come to know, there was no place in this world for sentimentality. Could she truly be such a fool that she’d forsake victory for such a petty reason? For a mongrel?!
His weapon cried to annihilate both, but he had no reason to close the distance. It simply waited for them to make their move, not bearing any blood-lust and yet desiring to bring down the final curtain upon his enemies. The realization made his smile crawl back into place, like a crescent moon befitting a foolish jester mocking them both, and most of all, himself.
“Nothing. His battle is over. The end of the line. You don’t need to trouble yourself, worries and anxieties are reserved for those who have a future. Please remain at ease, I intend you both no harm.”
His foot shifted to the side. There was a rolling sound, that of bones cracking and snapping, and the edge of his weapon prickled her skin before pulling something out.
"----!"
The opaque shape produced a beautiful blue hue as it collected around his weapon's blade, ripped from her body and forming shape that resembled the beast’s lover so much. Were her last thoughts of home? Or her father? Or perhaps victory. Perhaps she did not think at all. Perhaps she could only think of him.
But even as she cried, even as the tears rolled down her cheeks and reached out for him, her spirit began to crumble as it was gradually digested. She struggled to reach them so desperately, with a body as thin as air. This was by no means something that devalued her, a common soul would have failed to remain conscious. And yet, even if her body was as light as air, she was crushed by an invisible force, unable to close the distance and escape.
They cannot even see you. A voice whispered in her ear, but there was no sound. It was as if she had been split from the world. After all, to the living belong the living, a world they could see was no place for someone like her.
Her mouth twisted into a pained cry, and after a second that stretched into eons, she crumbled away and ceased thinking. As a valorous warrior fallen in combat, she was allowed her eternal heaven as fuel to the infernal machine inside his soul. The final trace of her existence was a single tear that shattered as soon as it touched the ground.
Her death had already been set in stone, this was a fate that did not allowed for any divergence. He was simply the executioner that swung his deathly guillotine in the name of destiny.
Thus, he was her fate, as she was his. There was no wrong in what had just been committed, he did not even think upon it. It was better to allow a spirit to rest forever as part of his cells, to aid his fight against the tyranny of the divines that removed all possibility from the hands of his fellow men. But in the end, his action was no different than that of the gods who fuel themselves on the souls claimed into paradise.
In this case, he would become his own paradise. He needed no forgiveness, nor did he ask for salvation. He was fine with being damned for all eternity as an echo of failure. But with this power, with these souls, he would definitely save everyone! He wouldn't lose anything ever again.
“Poor thing. Dragged into a battle she had no business fighting.” He said, his expression nonchalant, impassive and devoid of any feeling or emotion. He had stopped smiling, and yet it didn't look like he was looking any higher on the two.
"To think you two would push me this far. If this isn't a loss, I don't know what is. Still, the bitterness of defeat is nothing in compare to the shame, wouldn't you both agree?"
