Divergent Outlooks

The Daemon overlooked Peace Village, standing atop one of the buildings. She knew that the Magic Council was at it again, rallying the mages of Fiore to deal with their problems-- the ones the Rune Knights could not handle. Lucie spied the circles dotted all over the landscape. How had they been drawn and scattered with no one able to figure out who drew them made the girl skeptical. The magic circles had been reported everywhere, so how was it that there were no witnesses? Nothing could just appear out of nowhere.

Running her finger along the edge of one of the circles, the Daemon recognized it was made out of a different material than the last, and the last before that. The circles had been drawn out of many various substances. Why not be consistent? Was this the work of a massive group all using different materials?

It mattered little. Whatever it was, this spelled bad for the innocent villagers of Peace Village, which was a slightly more upscale village than the others. There were rich and poor folks alike, and all of them unsuspecting about what was to come. Hearing sudden soft footsteps behind her, along with a rush of air, Lucie turned to see the fluffy blue and orange mammalian dragon. He had taken a flying leap from the ground and landed like a soft-pawed cat on the roof. Despite not having wings, he was agile and fast. “Did you find anything, Blue?” the Daemon asked the telepathic dragon, whose mouth was unable to form human words. However, his kind spoke with their minds, and despite not knowing the language of Earthland well, the fluffy dragon did his best. He respected the fact that Lucie was unable to pronounce his real name, and thus settled on the nickname she had come up with in her own tongue.

The dragon nodded and lifted a paw, which contained some powdery material he had wiped off from a magic circle. Some of it was similar to the nearby circle Lucie had just investigated. The rest was new to the Daemon. “I see,” Lucie continued, stroking the dragon’s blue mane with one hand while she continued to gaze down at the circle.

However, without any warning, the circle nearby began to glow, as did some of the remaining material on the dragon’s fur. Turning her head to look out over the rest of the village, all of the magic circles were suddenly glowing. Backing away from the circle with Blue, the Daemon narrowed her crimson eyes at the magical summoning drawing. So that was what this was.

Within seconds, monsters began to pour out of the circle, breaking the laws of science and physics as expected of most magic. Out of the summoning area came a flood of insect-like creatures. Flying out into the skies, the swarm of wasps missed the girl and her dragon as they came rushing out of the glowing circle. Out of other circles, other groups of different monsters appeared-- goblins, rat swarms, flaming minions, and more hellwasp swarms began to manifest within the city.

The blue-furred dragon let out a whimper, not fond of the hordes of monsters claiming the area. “Don’t be afraid. They’re here to send a message to the village and to that council I was telling you about. If they attack you, well, kiyo vadaci, nreeh rifsrut,” Lucie explained, grinning as she slipped into the language she knew the firedrake would understand. Even if he understood nothing else of what she said, he would understand the last four words. She herself would keep alert, ready to fend off monsters that chose to attack her, and to put down anyone who would get in the way of the raging monsters.

Oh how lovely-- the nice little Peace Village was gaining another onslaught of destruction. Lucie fondly recalled the latest of the disastrous series of events the village had already gone through. It certainly had received the attention of the populace, seeing as one of the Wizard Saints had gone out of her way to destroy a guildhall and the surrounding areas of the street upon hearing the news.

It felt good to finally be seeing some results from their actions. Lucie remembered her commission well, and was happy to oblige when the fluffy nekomata had given her the task to use her abilities to take down a portion of this place. Along with some help, some other dark mages and she managed to complete their mission, and see to it that one legal guild in particular would take the fall.

The monsters appearing were icing on the cake. If only it were easier to frame some specific entity, guild, or person for their appearance. Naturally, the Magic Council would assume evil, but what if it was evil right under their noses?

Unfortunately, Lucie did not know who was behind the monster summoning circles, but she certainly could try to make the best out of the ongoing situation. However, before the Daemon could continue to enjoy the chaos in the air and on the ground, she noticed multiple shapes fighting off the monsters. So it seemed the heroes had arrived. Something was odd about these individuals, though-- they all looked the same, and she could only identify one real soul presence in the area, with an ever-changing aura. In a way, it reminded her of what Ren mentioned of her own kind, but what this being had was far from a Daemon’s soul.

She could now recognize the figures as illusions, something she was familiar with, due to her very nature. Summoning a few diamond shards in the air next to her, Lucie shot them at great speeds towards the illusions. Upon making contact, they would freeze the illusions in place. It did not matter if they were not physical-- her touch on reality was not on the mortal realm itself, but on the worlds of the emotional, mental, and spiritual as well, even if some of her reach was more limited than with others.

The Daemon then changed her shape before the location of origin of the diamond shards could be noticed. She took on the form of the red-haired masked man, and generated a projection, an illusion, of the essence of his own illusory clones. Upon doing so, Lucie sprang towards the man at full speed, approaching as if she were to help fight off the goblins he was trapping, a blade in her hand made of diamond, but disguised as one of his own. However, right as she went for the monsters, she would whip around and aim to stab the ‘hero’. No heroes were allowed here. The Magic Council would pay for what they did, and anyone helping them was to be put down.

Her attack was quite unsuccessful, with her own illusion so easily seen through. That confirmed at least some of her suspicions though, and gave her some much needed answers to her silent questions. One of the clones of himself made through illusory powers was destroyed, but this man had an army when it came to his opponent’s perception.
Some of the nearby monsters took on the appearance of the shady, mask-wearing man, leading her to believe it was yet another illusion of the mage, and no madness of her own mind. It was clear which one was really him, however. She did not require the use of her physical senses to detect her enemy. Rather, she only needed the solid perception of his soul, in ever constant flux. She was unable to find a solid grasp on just what he was, after all.

Demon, god, angel, holy, unholy, human, mortal, rinse, wash repeat.
Even her own mixed and muddied soul did no such thing. It was not shifting its very nature and essence at inconsistent speed rates. Sometimes, his flux was slow, only to speed up, slow down, slow down, speed up, slow down, and speed up again…

He was no Daemon, like she was. That was not the soul of one who consumed the souls of others to further their own nature. However, his striking soul made him easy to pick out in the crowd of mind illusions. “Look at who the Magic Council dropped in-- another one of their cats,” Lucie commented, her diamond blade shattering in her hands and disappearing. When it came to the magical politics of Fiore, the Rune Knights were the dogs of the magic council, loyal and almost always chained to a collar and a leash, and a muzzle if needed. Guilds were cats, free for the most part, but still pets reliant on their owners. Lucie took a wild guess that this man was a member of a guild, and assumed he had been deployed by the Magic Council, or at the very least was acting out of some sense of righteousness.

“Playing the hero, I see,” the raven-haired girl continued, staring with stern red eyes at the true masked man. Her face held little to no emotion, other than a stoic look, with a mild hint of curiosity. “Peace Village is doomed with or without your help. Why waste your time here fighting monsters when the world is already overrun with them?”

Given the framing of the Black Rose guild master, as according to the plans of the Savage Skull guild master, there was little left for anyone here to have a normal life. The name of the village was quite the oxymoron now, as it was anything but peaceful. Perhaps ‘Chaos Village’ would be a much more suitable name. Lucie fondly remembered the panic she had stirred the night they framed the legal guild of roses. Now that the monsters were spreading around the world, and were no longer contained to just Fat Monster Land, there were few places that could still be considered safe. Why did anyone waste energy trying to fight against a force that could not be stopped?

Lucie rarely spoke much, and the words she had just uttered were far more than she was used to using in her statements. However, in this case there was no reason to be that normal girl of few words. The floodgates had been opened, and the monsters were still pouring from various circles. While not all of them were still active, the beasts in Peace Village were far from complete extermination. Granted, the beasts here were of a smaller scale than the monsters she had seen in the past, when the Magic Council had called mages to their aid.

A Peace Village guard, seemingly controlled from the inside by one of the hell wasps, rushed towards the Daemon, sword flailing wildly in hand. He staggered as he walked, but still moved at a fairly quick pace. Before Lucie could make a movement against the attacker, a blazing bolt of fire was launched from the sky towards the possessed man. Within seconds, he was consumed by the flames, incinerated into nothing but ash. Following the brief snap of heat, a blue creature with a wild pelt of fluff landed from a long leap next to the raven-haired Daemon. The fluffy dragon gazed with curious and somewhat frightened orange eyes at the small army of masked men, being unable to notice the difference between every illusion. Despite his apprehension, the lion-sized dragon’s thick coat of fur stood on end as it stood in a battle stance, ready to defend his friend if any of the masked men made a move against them.

Rifcha, the Lowland Behemoth Drake, slowly would light his bright primary blue pelt on fire, until the azure hue of his fur could no longer be seen-- covered by brilliant blazing flames. Fortunately, his partner seemed immune to the immense heat he produced. Not only that, but he had discovered that the fire he produced could even aid Lucie, should she consume the flames. If she needed them, he was alight and ready to aid or give action. All he needed was movement before him or a verbal or telepathic order from the Daemon.