Point-of-View: Sylvar Miirphys

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  "My lord, perhaps we ought to have more guards here?" Suggested Maie, a little nervously.

  It was the next day, and we were currently waiting for Kuro to show up, the three of us Elemental Sages and Sant.

  "There is no need for that," He replied firmly.

  I've always known that Sant isn't a fan of violence and prefers to avoid combat if at all possible, to the point where he used a massive portion of his divine power to create a floating, hidden island……but come on, this is just ridiculous.

  And I think Bell feels the same way……she's been extra grouchy for the past twenty-four hours or so, way more so than usual.

  "But, my lord, it is too dangerous to-," Bell began to speak up with a frown.

  "That is enough. This meeting is to discuss peaceful matters, therefore, we will treat it as such," He responded.

  It's no use……we're never going to convince him to let us attack the humans, not even the ones that attacked and killed so many of us……taking that into consideration, he'd never refuse a proposal like this.

  "Awfully tense here, huh? Well, not that I can blame any of you, it's a pretty tense situation, after all," Suddenly came a voice from behind us.

  I quickly spun around, to see Kuro standing there……how did he do that? I've seen him summon monsters and make them vanish, so I'd assume he used a monster to get here, but……I don't see any monsters.

  There aren't any monsters so small that I wouldn't be able to see them, and his outfit wasn't baggy or anything, so he definitely wasn't hiding one on his body. How did he get here……?

  "You again……," Growled Bell threateningly, her eyes glowing as a couple of sparks crackled from her.

  "Calm yourself, Bell. I would like to apologize for the less than hospitable display, welcome to the Laus Domain, Kuro," Greeted Sant, standing up and approaching him.

  "Oh, uh……thanks, I guess. But let's dispense with the pleasantries and get straight down to business, shall we? Do you agree to an alliance? If not, do you agree to a non-aggression pact, which will dictate that both our sides stay away from each other entirely?" He proposed, wasting no time.

  "Yes, I do. But as you said yesterday, my word alone will not be enough for you……you require the consent of the Elemental Sages as well, correct?" Responded Sant.

  "Yeah, that's right. As I understand it, your races are naturally inclined to be honest and deceit is something that doesn't come naturally to you. If two out of the three of you give me your word that you will abide by whatever agreement Sant and I come to, that'll be enough to seal the deal," He stated, looking around at us, "So, what do you say?"

  "I implore all three of you to voice your support and approval of this agreement," Remarked Sant, looking at the three of us with narrowed eyes.

  He's serious……that's about as close as he'll ever get to saying 'I command you to……', but……I just can't agree to this. Fat good that'll do me though……if I didn't have my past human memories, I probably wouldn't even consider disobeying him right now……which means that the other two are sure to agree to it, so even if I do disagree, it won't matter.

  "First, if I may, my lord, I would like to ask him a question," Spoke up Maie with a frown.

  "Yeah, what is it?" Responded Kuro, as Sant nodded in reply.

  "The Water Spirit is a being that belongs with the Fairies, therefore, we would like to have it returned to us."

  "Hey, it's not like we asked the Water Spirit to possess one of us, that was their own choice," Countered Kuro.

  "Yes, I acknowledge that……but the only reason that the Water Spirit would do such a thing is to ensure their continued survival, to avoid ceasing to exist!" Exclaimed Maie with a frown.

  "Let me just clarify one thing……by asking me to return the Water Spirit, you're asking me to kill the current host, aren't you?" Inquired Kuro, narrowing his eyes.

  "That is correct, there is no other way to extract an Elemental Spirit. I do not know how the current host of the Water Spirit convinced the spirit to share their power, but."

  "Heh, oh, you don't want to know."

  "What do you mean by that?" She asked warily.

  "Hm, I wonder……who knows?" He responded with a shrug and a slight smirk, before his expression turned serious, "To answer your question, no, I'm not going to kill one of my closest friends just because you asked. That said, human life spans are much shorter than any of your races, you've been waiting for like a thousand years, so you can wait a few more decades. Now, then, back to the main top I at hand……tell me, Fairy, do you approve of my proposal or not?"

  "I……very well, I give my approval," Said Maie reluctantly, a grimace on her face.

  "Alright, that's one, just need one of the remaining two of you to give the green light, and we can make it official," Remarked Kuro, shifting his gaze to Bell and me.

  It's over……if this really is part of a scheme, then Abyss is going to destroy us very soon.

  "I do not approve! Forgive me for my disobedience, my lord……but I……I just cannot agree to negotiate with humans!" Exclaimed Bell, slamming her fist onto the ground.

  Huh? Bell, you……alright, in that case, this is my only chance!

  "I disapprove too! This proposal may be legitimate, but I'm not willing to run the risk of it being a trap, the cost is too high!" I declared, backing Bell up, as Maie and Sant looked at the two of us with stunned expressions.

  "I see……well, that's too bad, how disappointing. But I knew this possibility was a likely one, so I'm not exactly surprised," Sighed Kuro with a shrug.

  "Wait, I will convince them-," Began Sant in dismay.

  "If we can kill you now, Abyss will be less of a threat!" Snapped Bell, as she unleashed her full power and shot towards Kuro at a rapid speed with a massive lightning blast charged up in her hand.

  "On your knees and shut up," He remarked icily, right as she closed in on him.

  The moment he spoke, she halted and collapsed onto her knees, frozen in place, unable to speak and struggling to move.

  "Why, you……!" I yelled as I began to transform, before trailing off as he suddenly teleported behind me and ensnared me in his webs, firing out a large, sticky net from his hands and trapping me before I could react.

  "You really think you can take me? Don't make me laugh," He scoffed, before adding, "The two of you shouldn't get cocky just because you put up a fight against me back then, I was holding back on a lot. Know your place," He remarked in a cold, threatening voice, filling me with terror.

  "What will you do?" Inquired Sant warily.

  "Hm, good question……but don't worry, I'm not going to do anything just because this didn't work out," He replied with a slight smile, "That said, I'll be taking defensive measures to counter any potential attacks from your side against mine. But so long as you stay away from my nation, I'll do the same with the Laus Domain."

  "Oh, yeah? If you're really okay with that, then why not just stay away without all this?" I inquired with a frown, struggling to break out of his web, but to no avail.

  "Because I wanted assurances that your side wouldn't attack my side, of course. Also, I'm going to have to insist that you don't build any of those fortresses near Abyss, I'll destroy any that get too close without a second thought," He stated coldly.

  "And how close is too close?" I responded with narrowed eyes.

  "Hm, let's see……how about we call it an even hundred kilometer radius? Yeah, that should be enough. Get within a hundred kilometers of Abyss and I'll consider you trespassing," He stated after mulling it over, "Well, I think I'm done here. Later……or not, hopefully."

  "Wait! Do we truly have your word that you will not attack us so long as we do not bother your nation!?" Exclaimed Maie.

  "Yeah, I can assure you of that much, though as I understand it, a human's word probably won't matter much to you, huh?" He responded, before adding, "Having spoken to Sant, I can definitely see that he won't make any preemptive strikes against us, and for the most part, the members of the races under him won't be disobedient. Therefore, I'm fairly assured that I don't have to worry about an attack from the Laus Domain, so I'll leave well alone. After all, if we attack you, there'll be casualties on both sides, and as the ruler of Abyss, I won't let my people die if it can be avoided. But again, if one of you does provoke me, I won't show you any mercy whatsoever, I'll crush you with all the power at my disposal."

  As he issued that warning, the rest of us, Sant included, were silent……the way he said that, it was almost like he was daring us to try it.

  "Well, anyway! I should get going already-," He began.

  "Wait, what about Bell!? Are you just going to leave her like this!?" I exclaimed, as I continued to try and wriggle out of his web.

  "Huh, she still haven't broken free of it? Either she's got extremely weak mental resilience, or this particular power of mine has gotten stronger……come to think of it, it has been a while since I last used this. Well, tell her keep trying hard and she's sure to break free! I'd let her go myself, but she'd probably attack me, so no. As for you, you got out of my webs last time, right? So I'm sure you don't need any help."

  Okay, so……he's kind of a dick.

  "Well, I'm off now. It's unfortunate that you made the wrong choice today," He remarked ominously, before vanishing……and then suddenly reappearing immediately afterwards and adding sheepishly, "Okay, that kinda came off as threatening, totally unintentional on my part, so just take what I said at face value. Also, you……Sylvar……"

  "Yeah, what is it?" I replied warily.

  "You're way too overly suspicious of humans, man. I mean, I get it, humans can be dicks, believe me, I know, I was a tortured lab rat of a test subject in my past life! But just because you used to be human in your previous life and know their flaws, and maybe you yourself weren't exactly a model citizen, that doesn't mean every single human is untrustworthy……try being a bit more open-minded."

  And with that, he vanished……having dropped the massive bombshell of what I used to be……Sant looked a bit alarmed, probably because he takes the whole taboo thing so seriously.

  But alarmed isn't so bad……Maie looked absolutely horrified and bewildered. Well, at least Bell is paralyzed right n……

  "What did he mean by that? Sylvar……why did he say you used to be human!?"……

  and she broke free of the paralysis. I think I'm fucked……

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