Eik couldn't find words.

That was supposed to be Travis Lockwood? One of the strongest — if not the strongest — Awakened in Forest. That beaten and bloody mess? It felt totally wrong. He always won. He was supposed to always win.

Logically, it was obvious that Travis wasn't anything near the strongest in the Unified Mass. In fact, given the fact that they had yet to make contact with any other Earth settlement, it could not even be said with certainty that Travis was the strongest person on Earth. Perhaps there was an Earthling out there who had already made it to A-rank since the power ceiling was raised.

"Are you… sure?" he asked the other Olivia dumbly.

A man who had his arm affectionately around her back answered in her stead. "Yeah, we saw the whole thing. They've been killing or at least brutally beating all of the leadership for a long time now. I don't know what they want us to d-do," he said, his otherwise impressively steady voice breaking at the end. "He just keeps saying, over and over and over again, how we're forcing him to keep demonstrating how little power we have. How defenseless we are. I think he's enjoying it. It's driving me insane."

"What the hell are we supposed to do here?" Eik asked, leaning back to Mikla and Olivia. "There are so many people here who can get caught up in a potential fight and, frankly, if that guy and his minions took out someone like Travis Lockwood as easily as it looks like they have, then do we even stand a chance?"

Olivia just frowned, lips pursed as she stared up at the podium. Mikla did show much confidence either. "I had honestly thought the whole thing would be a bit more chaotic and scattered, rather than a performance like this. We can hardly intervene as things stand."

"But we have to do something!" Eik hissed, frustration creeping into his voice. "They're killing people. The only reason they haven't killed you," he said to Olivia. "is because you have been at headquarters with us until now."

Most people in Forest weren't used to something like this. The dread and the horror wasn't a part of their lives in the way it had become a part of his. Yes, monster would occasionally make it into the city and take some lives, but it wasn't a daily occurrence. This was something else entirely.

This was deliberate and cruel. Not instinctual and inevitable. It was a part of someone's purposeful plan. Eik couldn't stand it. He was afraid, but anger and indignity warred for the top spot in the array of emotions swirling inside his heart.

"Fuck this!" he snarled and began to push his way through the crowd before anyone could say a word to stop him.

"Eik, Eik! Eik, come back right this instant!" Olivia hissed from the back, loathe to raise her voice lest their position and intent was revealed to the cultists.

"I'm just going to get a closer look is all."

"N— Wait, you little shit!" Olivia followed her brother through the crowd, many people turning to send them puzzled looks. Who the hell would want to get closer to that horror circus?

As he got closer to the stage, he noticed that the fourth person from the right was also a person he knew. Chairwoman Huntley.

At this point Eik was pretty sure he was seeing tiny, almost imperceptible movements from Travis, like a twitch of his finger or the rising and falling of his chest. Chairwoman Huntley, on the other hand, had a definite atmosphere of death around her. The way she hung limply from a robe tied around one wrist left no doubt in his mind. The side of her head also appeared to be caved in. Her brain couldn't possibly be intact in there.

If the armored cultist was as strong as he seemed likely to be, then he had held back exceptionally when he punched that civilian leader before. But if an Awakened around A-rank were to punch a low F-rank with even five percent of their full power, it could probably still easily kill the F-ranker.

Seeing her hanging there, Eik could barely muster up even a faint feeling of sadness for the loss of Chairwoman Huntley's life. She had terrorized him for as long as she had been able to and blatantly disregarded the severity of the assault on Heath — a matter Eik would not soon forget, even if most of the remaining people involved would likely be breathing their last today.

An argument could be made for the general sanctity of life but even that was growing less significant in Eik's mind each time he took a person's life. He still tried his best to hold on to the mindset that one should never kill but… the world wasn't making it easy. And Profound Toxin wasn't helping either.

Eik kept pushing further forward until he was standing only four rows behind the front. Seconds later, Olivia and Mikla joined him at either side. With someone that powerful standing only a few dozen paces away, it was too risky to talk to each other but Olivia's flaming eyes left no doubt about her feelings on his little stunt.

"And there goes another one," the armored cultist said with a shake of his head. "Unfortunate, isn't it? Such incompetence in leadership is rarely seen but alas, here we are, witnessing it first hand."

Only now did Eik notice that the cultist wore a gray cape that reached all the way to the top of his ankles. Theatrically, he whirled it around his body as he turned to regard the final vacant stake behind him. "And here we have it. The last chance you have to do what your leaders have proven incapable of — the chance to save yourselves."

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"Wh-What…" a trembling, hesitant voice piped up. Everybody turned to look but the speaker was invisible in the throng. It sounded like a girl.

"Yes?" the armor said.

"What is it that you want us to do?" she asked.

"Why, isn't it obvious, young one? We want you to say yes! Say yes to a better and more stable life. Say yes to happiness and safety. Say yes to mutual loyalty. Yes to Moon Shall Swallow! All you have to do is come with us and take the first step to greatness." An enormous fracture, a few times wider again than those conjured by Mikla, sprung to life next to him on the raised platform.

"Moon Shall Swallow?" another voice asked, likely finding the courage to speak following the girl's sudden utterance. "What's that?"

"That is simply what we call ourselves. It's what keeps us together. What keeps us on the right path. For all those interested in our community, fret not. There will be more than enough time to learn of our history and philosophy. You will come to appreciate and love it as we do."

"We have al—… We have already…" a hoarse, quiet voice rasped. It was Travis who had managed to lift his head just enough to glare at the armored cultist through swollen eye lids. "We have already… already made fr-friends with… the Nidafjeld Alliance."

"Oh," the cultist said with genuine surprise. "You're still alive, are you?"

"You're not gonna kill me that eas—"

In the blink of an eye, the armored cultist landed on the side of the stake, the claw-like fingers of his gloves piercing the wood to the second knuckle as easily as if it had been made to whipped cream. The entire hand of his other arm protruded from Travis' back, covered in red blood as he flexed his fingers.

Travis gurgled for a moment as his eyes bulged and the veins on his forehead and neck strained against his skin. Then his head lulled forward and he was silent.

On the inside Eik raged. Did these fucking bastards think that this murder show was the way to get people to go with them? People sobbed and gasped at the sight of the pillar of strength they had all attached themselves to throughout the years dying a helpless death right in front of them. Not in brave battle. Not in direct defense of the people. He just hung there and died.

"The Nidafjeld Alliance?" the armored cultist spat. "Those filthy vermin aren't worth the soil under their boots. Tell me, what have they done to help you thus far? Don't just give me a mindless answer. Really mull it over." For the first time true annoyance made an appearance in his demeanor. He was pacing back and forth, blood dripping from his fingers onto the wood beneath his feet. He stopped and spoke, emoting with his entire body like a trained stage actor. Earth was not this man's first rodeo.

"You've been facing a constant monster horde since the day your world went through its first transition. The alliance came along and touted kinship and mutual benefit, but if you really think about it, what have they ever done for you? Have they come to help you cull the monsters? Have they done much of anything to help you make heads or tails of this new world you have been thrown into? In fact… where are they now, hmm?"

This got people talking. Seeing that the two people who had just asked questions hadn't been executed on the spot had loosened quite a few tongues. Eik overheard a minor but nonetheless concerning number of people echoing the sentiment.

"Expecting help from them in your time of need is a futile hope at best. It will not be a matter of if you can survive but rather for how long you can survive. This is the unfortunate reality of your situation. Moon Shall Swallow can change that — offer you true safety. Do you see what I have done?" he bellowed and gestured to each of his victims with a sweep of his arm. "Are any of your fellow citizens stepping in to save you? No! Now is the time to make a choice for yourself. Take control of your own life and safety!"

Eik scoffed at the blatant tactic. It was pathetic. The people of Forest would never relent to something so—

From the same place where someone had first asked about their intentions, a young woman, appearing to be no older than her late teens, stepped free of the crowd. She was trembling like a leaf but a hint of determination shone in her eyes regardless. Approaching the podium she was barely able to look up into the dark eye slits in the cultist's helmet.

"I see the first has made her decision. I applaud your bravery to take the first step toward freedom and joy. You've lived a stressful life here, but no longer. Here," he said knelt to grip her about the wrist and lifted her onto the podium. With a flourish he bowed slightly at the hip and gestured to the gigantic fracture. "You will be greeted warmly on the other side. I shall soon see you again once matters here are at an end."

Swallowing, she nodded and glanced back at the other humans. A man who looked slightly older than her desperately pleaded with her to change her mind. Begged her to reconsider. To stay here with him.

She looked torn and for a few seconds it almost looked like she was going to change her mind, a foot pointing back toward her friend in a subconscious expression. The man, too, looked hopeful, but then she abruptly turned and walked through the fracture as he cried for her to stay.

"See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" the armored cultist said sweetly. "Now's the time to choose. My patience is hardly infinite."

Slowly, people began to shuffle through the crowd. Some seemed almost eager but most were hesitant and frightened. How could this many be willing to believe such obvious nonsense? They were being tricked. They were being tricked!

Olivia grabbed him by the shirt sleeve to hold him back before he could rush up there. His jaw worked frantically as he watched one person after the other step through that fracture, sealing their own fate. It wasn't right!

Fuck, fuck, fuck! A sense of helplessness overwhelmed him to the point where he wanted to scream. He felt almost nauseous.

Hundreds of people went. Then the number rose to more than five hundred. It was far from a majority, but even a single person willingly joining that insane cult was one too many.

Travis hung on the stake, now unable to utter even a word of protest. He had spoken against the cultist and he had died for it. Yet Eik, his life still intact, stood silent and watched. It was torturous. Forest was falling apart.

When finally the last volunteer passed through, the screams and cries of family and friends of the departed echoing all around, the armored cultist ordered the fracture closed before turning to regard the crowd.

"Well, there we are. I suppose that was a good haul. I had hoped for more new initiates, but I've seen worse. In any case, you have all made your choices." From one sentence to the other, the casual tone was dropped completely in favor of one that was hard and malicious. "Seize them all. They're coming with us."

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