CHAPTER 44: THE TRUTH

"You listen to that guy?" Matilda said, turning to Silas wide eyed. Almost instantly after he stepped in, Ether grew docile, so much that Matilda’s face paled, "Who put them away?"

"That’s none of your business. We’re going to destroy everything anyway." Ether said in a casual tone, and Silas shifted uncomfortably behind her. Ether scoffed, "Tell where she is."

"Trust me. She’ll kill you." Matilda spoke without hesitation, scowling as Ether stepped back. She shifted her glance to Silas, eyeing him, "Why are you with such a bad creature?"

"You know her well, don’t you?" Silas clicked his tongue. He was lost in their chat, but he understood that they must’ve known each other from a long time ago. Until they split?

"That’s not an answer, Silas. Ether, she still calls you ’devil’ for what you did." Matilda said in a disdainful tone, shaking her head dramatically, "You should never go finding her."

Ether lowered her head, then clenched her fists. Silas felt her aura collapse, feeling the choking grasp on his heart vanish, then his expression shifted, "What did she do, Matilda?"

"Oh, you don’t know? She mauled her father and mother." Matilda said without a shred of hesitation, a cruel gleam finally appeared in her eyes, "Your sister still hates you, Ether."

Ether stood with her head bowed. Silas paused, giving Matilda a deadpan expression as he processed the news. Just as he opened his mouth, he heard a liquid dripped on the road.

"Ether can cry?" Silas wondered as he turned to look at her, lowering his gaze to glare at the road. He noticed the blood, then nodded, lifting his gaze to Matilda, "I got shocked."

He guessed that even if she looked human, she was stills monster in an out. Silas lifted her chin, staring at Ether’s twisted face, melancholy appearing in his eyes, "I’ve forgotten."

Her eyes were watered up, and bloodshot, but not a single drop rolled down her cheeks as Silas locked eyes with her. Ether scoffed, sniffling, "Even if I’m unstable, I will find her."

"You said you were going to destroy their base, right?" Matilda didn’t feed into Ether’s stubbornness, quickly shifting the topic to something more serious, "I have to warn you—"

Silas raised a hand, causing Matilda to pause then look in his direction. She blinked in confusion, circled the area with her gaze then her expression twisted, "They’re here, run!"

Just as the words escaped her lips, the ground in a five metre radius around the three cracked up, and they sunk. The people on the road remained stationary, floating in the air.

"Fuck." Silas cursed after verifying it. The three of them had been transported into one of those "pocket dimensions". It looked so much like the real world he barely noticed it all.

If it wasn’t for the missing uniformed men, which he guessed the fool that did this had failed to locate, they could have been trapped here for a long time. It was a dangerous skill.

"There’s no one in here but us, which means the manipulator is outside the dimension." Matilda deduced as she shook her head, then she turned her glance to the right, "This way."

"What way?" Ether asked, not moving an inch as she watched Matilda jog off. Silas took her hand, pulling her forward. Silas forced her to chase after Matilda as she growled softly.

"Every pocket dimension has an end. I should be able to break this one if we reach that in time." Matilda explained, shifting her gaze from side to side. All she saw were buildings.

The deeper they went in the "pocket dimension" the more buildings she saw. Countless people stood on the streets, frozen in time. Silas frowned as he observed the area carefully.

"Wait. There’s no way it’d be that easy." He warned, snapping his fingers and placing a hand in front of Ether, motioning her to stand back. Matilda also paused with a sharp gaze.

"These building structures— do you recognise them?" Silas added, pointing to the three houses with concrete fences, then to the two grey houses opposite them, "They look weird."

"Huh?" Ether and Matilda turned in the direction of the buildings, glancing at them one by one. After they’d taken their time to observe, Matilda opened her mouth to say her mind.

An ear piercing roar sounded at that moment, forcing Matilda to cut her speech. Ether’s pupils gleamed as she sniffed the air, scanning the area with her eyes, "We need to kill this."

’Kill what?’ Silas wanted to ask her, but he shut up an instant later. A creature— not like anything he’d seen —crawled out from behind one of the buildings, locking its gaze on them.

The creature stood on its scythe-like hind limbs, sweeping its massive plated tail across the ground. Glistening plates ran all over its back, forming from its forehead to its tail’s tip.

It had four eyes, two at the side of its head and two at the front, the former bigger than the latter. It’s fangs were huge, crooked and sharp, each looking like they could shred metal.

After observing them for a while, it opened its mouth, stretching it frightening wide then uttering a guttural shriek. Ether frowned at this, backing away with quick trembling steps.

"They made this thing from Ether’s blood and some random animals." Matilda narrated as she circled around the wild monster, watching calmly as it dragged it mass into the light.

"It’s just as unstable as I am." Ether added, watching as the creature turned to lock her in its sights. Ether heaved, her claws extending and lips cracking open, "Its name is Azene."

Azene, leapt into the air, bringing its claws down in a vicious arc. Ether hissed as steam pumped out of her mouth, her trembling slowly to a halt. She timed it, then she lashed out.

Ether’s claws slapped into the creatures’ jaw as she leapt forth to dodge its claws. The creature roared out in pain and shocked as it was sent tumbling across the road in a shock.

"I... thought... I... killed... it." Ether panted, cracking her lips all the way and wearing a cold grin on her face. It looked more terrifying than friendly as Ether added, "I’ll... kill... it... again."