Workshop (27)
So... it had transformed?
In the blink of an eye, that utterly ordinary face and body seemed to become a gathering place for the darkest dregs. Even its features had grown indistinct.
Watching the change, feeling a depth that seemed capable of swallowing her whole if she let her guard down for even a moment, Ess found it difficult to describe how she felt.
"When did you get that?"
It even sounded as though, rather than truly hoping he had come with ill intent, she instinctively wanted him to be answering the call of fate.
"Of course, before I gave myself the title of Lord of the Rings."
Unfortunately, Fu Qian paid her little heed. The next instant, a dark, concentrated claw flashed past the dying Sophia.
Its ferocious momentum was enough to make Ess go pale.
But, somewhat unexpectedly, the blow—one that seemed capable of tearing through steel—didn't tear Sophia to pieces.
Instead, the dark dregs that had enveloped the Lord of the Rings spread over her at an unimaginable speed.
And in the space of a single breath, that indescribable being turned into a pile of ashes without so much as a groan.
"Quite a show... but I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish."
As though she could sense the deathly silence of something utterly reduced to nothing, Ess forced herself to look away from the ashes and chose to fight her fear with questions.
"You still killed her in the end. That doesn't sound much like the 'waking up from a nightmare' you mentioned."
"Are you going to tell me Sophia will wake up from that pile of ashes?"
"You're still worried about that at a time like this?"
Unfortunately, even when it came to changing the subject, she was no match for him.