Seven men stood before us, arranged in a loose semicircle. The sight of them sent liquid ice through my veins—not fear, but a primal recognition of danger far beyond my ability to combat....
The one at the center stood slightly ahead of the others, his presence commanding attention without any effort. He was tall—taller than any human I'd encountered—with a face that seemed sculpted from marble by a master artist. Each feature was perfect, almost inhumanly so. A coat of midnight blue draped over his shoulders, its edges moving slightly though there was no wind. But it was his eyes that truly captured attention—red as freshly spilled blood.
To his right stood a familiar face the old man from the market who had sold me the Blood Wraith Flowers, clothes, and pendant. Gone was the hunched posture and trembling hands that had so convinced me of his harmlessness. Now he stood straight-backed and confident, power radiating from him in waves that I could almost see distorting the air around him.
The five others were equally striking, each in their own distinct way. One wore black armor and at his back was a large circle-like weapon. Another carried a staff twisted like a living tree branch, with small flames dancing along its length that cast no light yet somehow remained visible. The third's skin was covered in intricate tattoos and had narrow eyes. The fourth wore simple white robes, but over his eyes he wore a white cloth bandage. And the last wore no armor at all—just simple clothing—but to my surprise, he seemed just a little kid, must be around 6 or 7, lazily lying on a floating stone.
"Well, well," said the central figure, his voice smooth as silk yet carrying an undertone that made my skin crawl. "Slaughtered five thousand knights with poisonous flowers i must say, I'm impressed by your... efficiency."
Jaipa moved closer to me, his body tense and ready despite his exhaustion. I remained perfectly still, measuring each of the seven men with my gaze. They radiated power beyond anything I'd encountered before far beyond the knight. The air around them I could not only feel, I could see it, like the moment before lightning
"Who are you?" I asked, keeping my voice level despite the weight pressing down on my chest
The man with blood-red eyes smiled, revealing teeth
"We," he said, gesturing lazily to his companions, "are the Seven Stones the kingdom's final arbiters of judgment."
The old man from the market stepped forward. "I didn't think you would use those flowers like this. What a cruel fate. Now, young Rudra, pay the price for your... education."
I tightened my grip on my blade, already calculating distances and angles, plotting potential moves and countermoves even as I acknowledged the futility of resistance. Against beings of this caliber, my chances were virtually nonexistent. Yet something in me refused to accept defeat without struggle a stubbornness that had kept me alive through circumstances that should have ended me many times
The child floating on the stone suddenly yawned dramatically, stretching his small arms wide. "Are we going to fight him now or just talk him to death? I'm getting bored." He flipped upside down on his floating perch, dangling his head toward me. "Hey, murder-flower boy! Do something interesting!"
The tattooed man clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Kohl, have some dignity."
"Dignity is boring," Kohl replied, now spinning slowly on his floating stone. "And we've been standing in this dramatic formation for ages."
The man with the bandaged eyes tilted his head slightly. "I sense... something unusual about this one." Despite his covered eyes, I felt his perception cutting through me like a knife. "He carries the stench of death his own death many times over."
The air of resolution around you is admirable," the man in black armor said, his voice echoed strangely as if coming from everywhere going nowhere. "But it is entirely misplaced."
"Did you think," the central figure continued, taking a single step forward that somehow covered more distance than should have been possible, "that your actions would go unnoticed? That slaughtering thousands would draw no attention beyond a grieving king and queen?"
I remained silent, conserving my energy, watching for any opening that might present itself. My mind was racing from all thoughts and calculations and even through scenarios, each ending in my defeat or death. Countless times I achieved the same results.
Just then, a palace messenger stumbled onto the scene, panting heavily from exertion. He skidded to a halt, eyes widening in horror as he realized what company he'd found himself in.
"I..I have an urgent message for " The messenger froze mid-sentence as he fully registered the seven figures before him. The color drained from his face.
Kohl clapped his hands delightedly. "Look! A delivery!"
The messenger dropped to his knees, trembling violently. "F-forgive the interruption, honorable ones," he stammered low
The central figure clearly he was their leader he sighed with elegant and annoyance. "Your message?"
"The Royal Treasurer requests confirmation of expense claims for your recent... activities," the messenger blurted, holding out a stack of parchments with shaking hands
A moment of profound silence followed.
"Expense... claims?" the old man repeated incredulously.
"For the... um... the judgment of Baron Kelthis last month," the messenger continued, voice was like a whisper. "The treasury requires receipts for the dimensional banishment supplies and... the cleaning fee for removing scorch marks from the marble floor of the east wing."
Kohl brusted into peals of laughter, rolling on his stone. "They want receipts! For judgment! Oh, this is priceless!"
The tattooed man massaged his temples. "This bureaucracy grows more tedious by the century."
"We are in the middle of something," the leader said coldly to the messenger, whose trembling intensified
"Yes, of course, honorable ones," the messenger babbled. "But the Treasurer was most insistent that without proper documentation, future expense claims might be... delayed."
Jaipa shifted uncomfortably beside me, clearly struggling to process this bizarre interruption to our apparent execution.
The staff-wielder sighed deeply. "I told you we should have incinerated that accountant last spring."
"Budget constraints," the bandaged man reminded him. "Remember the last time we exceeded our quarterly judgment allowance?"
I watched this exchange taking every habits of there in consideration filing away every detail while maintaining my expressionless facade. Even facing beings of immeasurable power, bureaucracy apparently remained eternal
The leader turned back to the messenger. "Leave the papers we will address them... after." The threat in his voice was unmistakable
The messenger placed the stack on the ground with trembling hands, then began backing away slowly.
"Wait," the leader commanded the messenger froze with pale face"You've seen this boy?" He gestured toward me
The messenger glanced at me, then quickly averted his eyes "N-no, my lord."
"Good you never saw him you never saw us. You delivered nothing today ! "
"Delivered what, my lord?" the messenger replied automatically, then realized his mistake. "I mean...yes..I mean no..I mean"
"Go," the leader commanded
The messenger turned and fled, tripping twice in his haste to escape
Kohl laughed " humans are so amusing. Like little mice scurrying about." He floated his stone closer to me, studying my face with unnerving intensity. "This one doesn't scurry though. Doesn't even blink. What's wrong with you, boy?"
I met his gaze without expression "Nothing is wrong with me."
" Ahhha don't be like that you just killed five thousand men and you feel nothing?" Kohl pressed, floating upside down to peer at me from another angle.
"They were soldiers who chose their path," I replied flatly "As I chose mine."
The old man from the market chuckled darkly. "The emptiness in your eyes... I've seen it before the eyes of self "
The leader's smile widened slightly, an expression that contained no warmth whatsoever. "You are quite an interesting kid. How many times did you die fighting us?"
I glared at him and gave silent permission to my other self to take my place for a while, then I said:
"Ah... A FEW THOUSAND."