"Dame, the subject's identity remains unclear," she said, her professional tone not quite hiding something that might have been concern. "observation suggests he may not be from the Kingdom or Empire."
How the hell did she figure that out from one conversation and a ride? I thought, feeling my confidence in my deception skills take another hit.
Aldric pressed a hand to the bridge of her nose, processing the information with the kind of careful consideration that suggested she was used to making decisions that got people killed. I caught something in Thane's tone, a subtle inflection that suggested she wanted me treated well, and apparently Aldric heard it too.
She was about to speak when a playful voice cut through the tension like a blade through silk.
"Oh, Aldie~ You're being too serious again for such a beautiful commander!"
I blinked, and suddenly there was a woman seated on Aldric's shoulders like she'd been there the entire time. My brain, already struggling with the impossibility of the movement, nearly short-circuited trying to process what I was looking at.
Thane immediately dropped into a bow that would have made a ballet dancer jealous, while Aldric let out a sigh that contained entire encyclopedias of resignation.
"High Councilor Virelia," she said, her voice carrying the tone of someone who'd had this conversation before and knew exactly how it was going to end.
Virelia was... there weren't adequate words in any language I knew. She radiated dangerous playfulness the way a nuclear reactor radiated heat—beautiful, mesmerizing, and absolutely lethal if you got too close. Her silver-white hair caught the light like spun moonbeams, contrasted by a vibrant red flower that somehow made the whole ensemble more threatening rather than less.
But it was her eyes that made my survival instincts start screaming. Crimson orbs that held mischievous intelligence and the kind of sharp awareness that suggested she was thinking several moves ahead of everyone else in the conversation. This wasn't the gaze of someone who solved problems through force, this was someone who unraveled your entire existence while you thanked her for the privilege.
Her outfit was a study in controlled chaos that probably violated several dress codes and possibly a few laws of physics. A metallic ice-blue top that looked more like art than clothing, adorned with silver ornamental designs that swept along her form like serpentine armor. A torn white coat with crimson lining hung off her shoulders, its claw-like sleeve edges speaking of both style and barely contained violence.
High-gloss black leggings painted onto her legs were decorated with intricate silver patterns, gothic chains, and what I was pretty sure was a stylized skull-and-chain motif that suggested her hobbies included things that made normal people call the authorities. Red platform heels with gold undersides completed the look, adding height that she definitely didn't need to be intimidating.
The whole ensemble screamed asymmetrical rebellion, someone who looked at normal conventions and decided to set them on fire while laughing.
And then her eyes met mine, and the system exploded.
[SYSTEM ALERT – POTENTIAL ESSENCE SOURCE DETECTED]
Subject Identified: Virelia (Full designation unknown)
Title: High Councilor – Chief Arcanobiologist, Imperial Synthesis Division
Race: Synthetic Humanoid Construct – [CENSORED] Bloodline
Lineage Core: "Crownborne" (Genetic scaffold traced to ^%^$&**^)
Primary Weapon: [Soulrend Codex] - Rank SS Tome
⚠ ERROR: Partial Data Corruption Detected ⚠
Level: ???
Affinity: [REDACTED] — Arcano-Neural Splicing / Fractal Core Dissection / Bloodborne Synthesis
Divine Trait: Constructed Blood of the Crown (Divinity Type: Engineered – Prototype Class)
Essence Compatibility Rating: ★★★★☆ (98.99%)
Crucible Integration:FULL ACCESS POSSIBLE
⚠ Subject capable of manually activating Crucible from external manipulation. ⚠
⚠ Mental intrusion risk: HIGH. Recommend maintaining defensive inner wards. ⚠
System Note: Subject is NOT BOUND by mortal laws or divine hierarchy. Interaction may result in unexpected Crucible evolution or corruption.
— Observation: Subject is amused
The red screen flickered and warped as if something was actively interfering with it, and I had the distinct impression that Virelia was reading over my shoulder in ways that shouldn't have been possible.
"Now what do we have here?" Virelia said, and I blinked again to find her suddenly standing directly in front of me, moving faster than my enhanced perception could track.
Before I could react, she reached out and cupped my chin with fingers that felt like silk over steel, tilting my head up to examine me like a particularly interesting specimen. Her touch was warm, almost gentle, which somehow made it infinitely more terrifying than any threat could have been.
My face went bright red, a combination of terror at her speed, flustered confusion at her outfit and proximity, and a desperate attempt to maintain some shred of dignity while being manhandled by what was apparently a cosmic-level entity in a very revealing top, i could litrally feel my trousers forming an emabrassing tent.
"My sergeant found him," Aldric said, her voice carefully neutral. "I'll handle the interrogation personally."
Virelia's smile could have powered a small city. "Oh, no need to waste assets in such a wistful way, Aldie!" she said, her tone as cheerful as if she were discussing the weather. "Just execute him on the spot."
The silence that followed was so complete I could hear my own heartbeat. Every soldier within earshot had gone perfectly still, and I was pretty sure at least one of them had stopped breathing entirely.
Did she just casually order my execution like she was asking someone to pass the salt? I thought, my brain struggling to process the casual nature of my apparent death sentence.
Everyone was staring at Virelia, then at Aldric, then back at Virelia, waiting to see whether I was about to become a very short-lived addition to the camp's body count.
And all I could think was that I'd somehow managed to attract the attention of something that could corrupt divine systems and treat execution orders like friendly suggestions.
This was definitely not going according to plan.