It was not Ul who first expressed shock. Nor was it Eli, or Lynus and Jeci who felt a subtle compulsion to pay obeisance to the supposed supremacy of their world.
It was Thalen who turned to Raven first, jaw dropping. Then Jeci stifled her surprise. Lynus frowned, followed by Eli, before Ul lifted her chin slightly.
"What vile words you speak. I understand them not, yet I sense the venom they drip with."
She lowered her head and smiled somberly, gesturing toward herself.
"This vessel brims with warmth for you. Is that why you tremble with such fury?"
She shook her head.
"You are wrong, child. Everything that pulses with soul essence serves a purpose. I am the guide of that purpose—the light that illuminates your path. To rebel against me is to choose darkness."
She paused. The silence stretched, heavy.
"Ah, I recall an awful memory of one who once rebelled—the beginning of my mistakes. Unfortunately, he met the worst fate at my hands. Child, do not embrace the darkness, do not surrender to it. Accept the light I offer you. I sense discord, evil in your heart."
She paused again, tilting her head as she studied Raven.
"What a strange creature you are... are you even human?"
She regarded Raven with delight slowly blooming across her face.
"It is incredibly rare for a phenomenon like you to manifest. You are a defect—but a fascinating one."
She smiled pleasantly.
"Your core is malnourished. You have been tampered with since you dwelt in your mother’s womb. Or was it an attempt to destroy you perhaps? By your mother herself? Whatever was done to make you defective indeed succeeded."
Her smile widened.
"The mistake is thinking defects must be weaker. It is an error that perfect beings often make—a mistake even I made recently..."
Her expression darkened with displeasure as she spoke those final words.
Raven absorbed what Ul said. The words almost mattered, because she had simply laid bare the story of her childhood in a single breath. But something else mattered more.
Northern was out there fighting for the fate of their continent, possibly the world. Everyone had to contribute by any means necessary, just as Thalen had said.
Raven was not confident she could defeat Ul. For a long time, she had suspected Ul herself might be an Origin.
Of course, it was a baseless assumption—especially since no one knew if Origins were presently alive or merely legends from another realm. However, after the Dark Continent event, her suspicions had crystallized.
Right now, as she stood here, she was more certain than ever that Ul was an Origin. This made things perilous for her.
Could she defeat an Origin?
Northern was currently struggling against one. She wasn’t even sure she could last a second.
But she would not back down.
Raven clenched her teeth and opened her hands, materializing a sword she gripped forward in a two-handed stance.
"Get out of my friend."
Ul raised her chin and chuckled pitifully, looking down at Raven. She slowly extended her hand.
"What will you do with that trash? Cut me? You forget—any hurt you inflict on this body will remain with it."
Thalen frowned, observing both Raven and Ul from the sidelines.
Raven gritted her teeth, silently wrestling with that barrier. She couldn’t bring herself to attack Ul, because that was truly Terence’s body.
She also knew she had to decide, or a far greater loss would occur.
Her eyes sharpened dangerously, and a cold, murderous aura erupted from her with such intensity that Ul herself flinched.
She had flinched before catching herself, slightly stunned.
’What... did I nearly fear her... that child?’
The very notion made Ul’s body crawl with disgust and hatred. Her expression shattered into one of utter revulsion—ugly to behold from a supposed being of higher existence.
"Ahh! Now I am enraged."
She glared at those kneeling before her.
"Slay yourselves in service to me this instant—if you care for your loved ones!"
At those words, Eli’s eyes widened. He trembled, his face draining of color. Then he looked at his hand.
Thalen watched first, curious.
’Is he really—’
Eli’s hand whipped toward his chest with razor speed, but Thalen had moved, catching his wrist just before the hand could plunge deeper—the man’s fingertips, now shaped like talons, had already pierced the first layer of skin but hadn’t penetrated further.
In the same breath, Raven had moved with blurred speed and used her sword to deflect Lynus’s silver wings as he drove their sharp edges toward his chest.
She spun frantically toward Jeci but stopped mid-stride as she saw the young woman wearing a wide, demented grin, trembling as she held her hand—the one that itched madly to drive the spear into her chest.
Jeci drooled as she began clawing at her right hand with her fingers, trying to wound herself while mumbling like a crazed soul.
"Only he can command me, only he can command me, only he can command me."
For a moment, Raven shuddered as if something cold had bitten her. Her lips parted slightly.
"What the..."
But immediately she turned to Ul, who blazed with even greater fury.
"You reckless humans! Do you have any idea what your transgressions mean? This is treachery! You dare oppose me when I harbor nothing but pure intentions toward you all!"
She lunged forward, hands extended as she reached for Lynus. Raven surged forward as well, hurling her sword upward from behind with both hands.
However, Ul suddenly halted mid-movement. The pause gave Raven the time she needed—her gaze sharpened and she swung the sword upward toward Terence’s neck, resolved to cleanly sever her head.
But her blade froze mere inches from the neck, and her eyes widened. One of Terence’s eyes was strained, streaming with tears, and her hand trembled.
Raven trembled slightly as she realized her friend was also fighting from within.
She instantly felt a searing ache pierce her heart—she had resolved earlier that she must do what needed to be done. It was the only thing she knew how to do: help people execute what they deemed most difficult.
But today it was especially torturous and contradictory, because even though her mind, sharp as a blade, knew what to cut, her heart felt leaden and reluctant.
She had suppressed her heart. But just now, she realized she had never even granted her friend the benefit of doubt—trust. That maybe she too would be able to fight.
At that moment, Ul grinned and fixed her glare on Raven.
"Kill yourself this instant."
Raven’s widened eyes trembled as she turned the edge of her sword, bringing it to her throat.