Replicus' feeling of something being terribly wrong somehow intensified when he heard the contents of the conversation between Eaniss and the Ardent Curses.
He assumed Eaniss felt the same way, but of course, she didn't show it. She wouldn't.
Other Factions had harsher reactions to what they had just heard, but the hiss of their whispers could not affect the ongoing conversation between the Head Faction leader and a potential enemy.
"I see," Eaniss said, her face unreadable. "I don't much care for your histories or their contents. Trust me, I've killed relatives too over trivial squabbles. But, I do have a qualm."
"Do tell," said Thrill who had just expressed a subtle quiver at Dander boldly telling the other party the reason their race was nearly extinct.
He stroked his wand again.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we're not to the types to do charity work. Besides that, why should we be the ones to help you when you dug your own graves? If you still had allies among your own race, you would have had an easier time navigating this place, right? You likely wouldn't have bothered being diplomatic either if you had the numbers, would you?" Eaniss testily before taking a step towards Thrill. "Why should we play along?"
Thrill seemed to smile.
"You certainly do seem like the kind to ignore good folk," he said. "We didn't kill our own because we wanted to. It was because we had to. Our genetics makes it so that twins are very common. Similar Curses embodying the same idea becomes very common as well. But you see, we are emotions. Volatile and prone. Wars broke out over who was the true representative of a specific emotion with some banding together to kill those they called naive and irrelevant. We lost the Jollies. The Weepers. Believe me, we are the better of those that had risen. Better than the Jaundice society, certainly. Because of that, I assure you, you are dealing with better Curses than you would have otherwise, and we mean no harm. We will trade with you for precious artefacts if you wish."
Eaniss remained unmoved. The summary, rather the justification, given as to why she should consider helping, was barely complementary to the question she had posed, and seemed to be constructed in order to draw on her sympathy and understanding.
Hmm.
Sympathy?
Eaniss felt uneasy. More than she had been.
She looked at the rod Thrill was stroking.
"What is that?" she asked.
"Oh, this? It is my wand. It's a conduit for every Ardent Curses' power," Thrill said freely. "We could make one for each of you in exchange for your service. In fact, we welcome you into our home. It's a bit bright, but it is quite pleasant.
Eaniss remained silent for a while.
Aurolio behind her, gave her a sceptic look.
The daring woman didn't normally act so... cautious.
Eaniss frowned and looked to all three Ardent Curses. Then she took a step back with her eyes flaring dangerously with mana.
"You killed them, huh?" she suddenly said, her face turning fierce. She then shook her head and let out a snort. "Hahaha, you almost got me."
"What?" Thrill said with surprise. "What do you mean?"
"It's always about technicality, isn't it?" Eaniss snorted and took three more steps back, which immediately made all the Faction leaders all the more anxious. "What are you? Earnest? For someone who lies so much, you sure do tell a lot of truths."
"What are you talking about?" Thrill said, seeming genuinely unsure and confused.
Eaniss turned behind her and barked to everyone.
"Don't let these bastards get close to you! They'll toy with your emotions!"
...!
The Ardent Curses looked bamboozled, but only for moment.
"How sharp," Musing said with a chuckle. "You stroked your wand a little too openly," he added to Thrill who sighed doubly before looking to Eaniss.
"Are all humans this hard to deal with?" he asked as he raised his crystalline gold wand.
"Just me," the Head Faction leader replied before pointing at the crooked gap behind the three with a jarring smile. "How long are you going to stall before summoning all your other Danders, Musings and Thrills?"
The three scowled simultaneously. Thrill immediately shot his wand at Eaniss, but before he could do what he intended, she was gone.
"Kill them!" Thrill cried to his fellow Curses who bolted ahead.
Aurolio zipped back as Dander charged at him, raised his wand – which was a shade of harsh reddish gold – but instead of attacking, the Ardent Curse pointed it to the sky and called, "To me!" in another tongue.
At once, dozens of shadows stretched from the mouth of the cluster, their masters being figures that looked like Dander, but with relatively less impressive cloaks and body proportions!
They cried incomprehensibly and rushed towards the Factions, all wielding golden wands.
As they emerged, Musing and Thrill also pointed their wands into the sky and called to dozens more that looked much like them!
As it were, Dander hadn't lied when he said he, Thrill and Musing had killed everyone.
They had, and only three emotions remained.
Thrills who enjoyed toying with others, Danders who were always furious and Musings who saw the humour in odd things.
THEY were all that remained.
Thrill, with an army behind him, pointed forward with his wand, and a great bellow mixed in with unknown words came from his mouths.
A jet of silvery fire, thick and branching like a lightning bolt, shot from it and smote the enormous golden platform.
At once, just like when the Scorching Tear had fallen on it, it melted, but attained a luminous glow as steam and thick smoke rose from it. The gold turned to a pulpy liquid and began to boil, splashing about every chance it got.
The ships began to sink the gold, which prompted the Factions to rush towards them in the wake of the assault while attempting to make sure they wouldn't sink themselves.
But that was hardly the end of their perils.
The steam and smoke that spewed from the hot gold was so hot that it melted several Masters who hadn't been able to guard against it in time. They screamed bitterly as they died, and as valuation would have it, most of them were seen to be unworthy of revival.
Replicus frowned.
'Is it as I thought...?'
Somehow.
Somehow the Ardent Curses knew about the outside world.
They knew that it if they immobilised the ships, the Factions would be vulnerable because of the Reverse Clusters which caused spatial means of travel as well as flight to be rendered useless. They also mimicked the reaction between Scorching Tears and the ocean to produce severe heat that was fatal on contact.
Replicus had theorised that the steam was so potent because of the ocean water's poisonous properties. That property... seemed to be contained within the gold as well.
Had the waters been transfigured while leaving them with the poisonous quality? Most likely.
This wasn't a coincidence.
Replicus had suspected the Cluster to be unusual ever since it had begun to break as it before – as though someone was banging against it from within.
Maybe...
The Penetrator looked at Thrill who grinned as he called for his Ardent Curses to charge at the enemy.
'What is going in here?' Replicus thought.
"Boss. What's the next move?" Grim asked. While using his mana, he managed to keep himself atop of the melting lava, as did the others including Baddan. The Unlimited had donned their helmets for extra protection as well.
The Penetrator looked at Araeyn whom he was carrying under his arm, afraid that he would be so dazed he would sink, and then spoke:
"Might as well add to the chaos."
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