Annan's heart skipped a beat. "You gave them your family..."
Albeck shook his head. "No. I just got innocent blood on my hands."
Annan could guess why Albeck had disappeared a few days ago. He had probably been sent to "prove" he had betrayed the Empire. What he had done went without saying.
All Annan could say was, "I'm sure the Empire won't let its people get hurt."
"Are you?" Albeck asked.
Something seemed off about Albeck, but Annan suddenly remembered what Baron Kinkelly had once told him: After we leave Greenfield Town, no one there will be left alive.
The Empire had known it would bring a nightmare down on an entire town. It had done it anyway, without a thought for the consequences.
That was the Empire... merciless to its own and to its enemies alike.
Annan wanted to talk about something lighter. Then he noticed he was glowing pink.
"Why am I glowing?!"
"The Magic Circle has two layers. The first lets us enter Subspace. The second gives us a mental membrane that lets us survive here. That's the color you see."
Albeck knew the Magic Circle all too well. If Blackwatch had possessed one back then, none of this would have happened...
"But we're all different colors." Annan looked around. The Ratfolk transformed from Blackwatch soldiers were mostly red, while the other Chaos Cult believers glowed yellow or brown.
"That's because souls appear as colors in Subspace. You're pinkish purple, which means your desires are strong."
"Impossible. I'm the purest Succubus there is!"
Second only to Evelyn, Annan added silently.
"Desire doesn't just mean lust," Albeck explained. "It includes emotions. It only means your feelings are intense."
That made Annan feel much better. "Your light is blue. Does that mean Wisdom?"
"Wisdom, cunning, strategy, composure..."
"How