Chương 67: My Compromise

"Hadd… where do they take the children?"

"What…?" Hadd looked up at Enel, and when he saw his eyes glowing red and staring back at him, he quickly looked away again.

"I… what do you mean, brother—" Enel slowly crouched down, lightly placing his fingers on Hadd's chin and turning his head toward him.

"I am not your brother," he said, the red glow in his eyes finally dissipating, leaving only a trail of smoke hissing from his eyelids.

"Answer my question. Where are they taking the children?"

"I… I do not know what you—" Lamb tightened her grip on Hadd's neck.

"Just answer him."

"Valir takes them into his embrace!" Hadd raised his voice, clasping his hands together.

"They… they are in paradise and—""No, they are not." Enel shook his head, then turned toward the Black Masks tied up behind the lizard vemon.

"Those men take them somewhere. Where?"

"W-what…?" Hadd's eyes widened, his lips quivering as he looked back and forth between Enel and the Black Masks.

"What… do you mean take them? Valir's Shadow takes the children to his paradise. The acolytes are only here to guide us." Enel stared at him for a moment longer, then tugged on the chains in his hand. The Black Masks were violently dragged across the floor, rolling on each other before sliding right beside Hadd.

"Tell him what you told me," Enel said. The Black Masks were silent at first, but their mouths quickly opened as they saw Enel's eyes flicker red again. They whimpered at first, their entire body trembling as they remembered what happened inside.

"W-we… we bring them to… we bring them to the Bishop," one of them said.

"We only move them! I swear, we only move them!"

"Move them where?" Enel asked.

"To… to a church somewhere north. We… we do not know what they do to the children! We are as clueless as these villagers. M'lord, please! You have to believe—" Enel raised his finger, and the Black Mask once again whimpered and shut his mouth. Hadd's face paled as he stared at the Black Masks.

"What… what does he mean? Move them? The… the children are received by Valir's Shadow, and then taken to Him and his paradise. Why would… why would they need to move them?"

"Because that is not Valir's Shadow." Enel stood up and pointed at the unconscious vemon.

"It is just a vemon they have chained inside." Hadd tried to stand, but Lamb pushed him back down. But when Enel looked at her and shook his head, Lamb quickly let him go. Still, when the fat man decided to stand, he found that he could not and he fell back to his knees.

"No…" he whispered.

"Brother Enel, I swear… I swear before Valir, I did not know any of this. The children are—""Gone," Enel cut him off.

"It does not matter that you did not know what happened to them after. You still willingly let children walk into the fog alone, knowing they would not return."

"They were with Valir!" Hadd screamed.

"They were… they were blessed and chosen! If I was as blessed as them, I would have also gladly walked into Valir's embrace! They were happy. We know that Valir welcomed them into his—""Paradise?" Enel's fingers curled as he looked at the vemon again.

"Does that look like paradise to you, fat man?" Enel looked at Hadd from head to toe, any gentleness he once had on his face completely gone. Hadd remembered how Enel always used to smile at everyone in Valir's Crescent, and the contrast caused him to lower his head.

"If Valir—""No!" Someone from the crowd suddenly shouted.

"No, this is a trick! It has to be a trick!" A woman stood from the kneeling crowd, removing the flower crown from her head and holding it so tightly the petals crumbled in her palm.

"This… this is a test!" she shouted.

"The acolytes are testing us! Valir is testing us through them! To see… to see if our faith wavers!"

"Y-yes!" Another person rose.

"It has to be! They brought a beast out and called it our god's shadow!"

"That… that is right. And these… these intruders ruined it!" Another stood up, and started pointing at Enel and the party. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"They are probably the ones who want to take our children! Brother Hadd. Do not be fooled!"

"Yes! These people ruined our rite! Look at what they did! They were sent here by the most unholy!" More and more people shouted, creating a loud storm to the point that the children had to cover their ears. Some of the adults cried that they had been deceived, but others screamed back that Valir would punish them for doubting and believing Enel. There were others, however, who started looking around. They narrowed their eyes at the sleeping beast, and then at the Black Masks.

Still, the villagers who were screaming completely outnumbered them. Lamb stared at them, and as they saw them opening their mouths and screaming at Enel, she moved in front of him and glared at them.

"You sent your children into a fucking monster's den, and you have the gall to blame anyone else?!" she shouted.

"These people probably sold your children into slavery! Did you truly think they were playing with this puny god of yours?!"

"H-how dare you blaspheme!"

"Our children were chosen by the one and true god!"

"Valir embraces our children!"

"You people think so?!" Lamb stepped forward and pointed at Hadd.

"The only thing that embraces your children is probably arms fatter and slimier than his! You sold your children for food!" Tiny rushed toward Lamb, grabbing her wrist.

"Lamb—" But she quickly pulled away from him, teeth chattering as smoke started to trail from her fingers as she released her Breath.

"No. Oh, no… I want to hear it. I want to hear every single fucking excuse they have."

"L-look! She will kill us! These people are evil!"

"E-everyone, please…" Hadd tried to speak, but no one listened to him. He looked to the elders, but all of them were kneeling on the ground and crying.

"Fuck you!" Lamb pointed at a man who raised his voice, and the children began to sob as the adults around them screamed over their heads. But then… Enel spoke.

"Silence." And Lamb completely shut her lips and turned to him, kneeling and bowing her head immediately without another word. Enel did not shout at all, but his words rippled across the entirety of Valir's Crescent anyway, causing the ribbons and flowers hanging from the doorways and roofs to sway, and the shutters to rattle. And as if following his orders, even the mountain went still.

Enel stepped forward, letting go of the chains in his hand as he looked at each one of the adults, his eyes once again flickering red.

"Except for the children…" he said, "all of you deserve to be executed immediately." No one could say anything. No one could even look at him anymore, with some even forgetting to breathe as Enel's words whispered loudly in their ears.

"M'lord…" Tiny's eyes widened at his words, and he quickly glanced down at Lamb.

"Lamb, stop him." But Lamb did not even look at him. Her head was fully bowed, one fist pressed to the ground.

"You gave children to the Veil," Enel continued.

"I have seen a mother run into a forest of vemons because she thought her child was being held by them, not fearing monsters, and not even fearing death. But you people?" Some of them wanted to open their mouths, but one single step from Enel made them lower their heads.

"You people called it a blessing. A hundred years, you have sent your children into a cave you knew they would not come back from." Enel's lips twitched, his eyes narrowing as he remembered Duncan's words to him.

"You chose not to think because it was convenient to believe nothing was wrong," he said as he looked at the elders.

"I am certain that deep down, some of you knew. But none of you cared that the children vanished as long as none of you starved… but even more heinously, you celebrated." Hadd gritted his teeth, and this time, he knelt on his own.

"I… I did not know."

"But you did." Enel tilted his head to the side as he stared down at Hadd.

"You smiled as you sent Alma into the cave. Who knows how many you sent inside with that same smile on your face."

"I… I truly did not…" Hadd choked on his own breath, his voice cracking as his emotions broke through his throat.

"M'lord," Lamb said, her shoulders slowly rising.

"Give the order."

"Lamb…" Tiny's face turned pale. Enel's eyes moved toward her, but Tiny quickly moved between them.

"M'lord. You… you said it yourself earlier, the children are watching. If… if you kill their parents in front of them. They will… they will see it. They will see all of it. You will be the monsters they will see in their nightmares. Like… like how I dreamt of you that night." Guinevere also approached, her eyes trailing to the villagers before landing on Enel.

"Tiny is right, my lord. If you execute the adults, the children would also be left alone with no way to fend for themselves—you will inherit them, but I do not see how they would go with you." Enel only looked at the two of them. He closed his eyes, letting the silence stretch. But soon, the vemon moved. Its chains dragged against the stone as its long body twitched. Several villagers gasped and backed away, but others immediately turned toward it, their faces twisting with desperate hope.

They watched as the vemon's milky eyes rolled in their sockets. Its muzzled snout lifted from the ground, and the fog around its mouth fumed… carrying voices.

"Children… beloved children." Alma quickly covered her eyes when she heard that, and Mira hugged her. Their parents, however, did not know what to do.

"Come… closer."

"It… Valir… Valir is speaking through the vemon!" someone shouted.

"Ah! Forgive us! Forgive us, Valir!" And once more, some of the people knelt and clasped their hands over their heads. The others, however, only stared.

"Blessed children… do not be afra—" And before the kneeling villagers could even begin to pray, Enel vanished, and what followed was thunder. He appeared on top of the vemon's head, and his fist slammed down. The ground beneath the vemon's head shattered. A large crack tore through the stone, crawling and branching to the nearest houses. Some of the doors and shutters fell completely, and some parts of their roofs also collapsed. And then, the voices stopped along with the vemon. The villagers stopped, too.

Enel stood over the vemon, dust drifting around him. His eyes flickered red again, then disappeared as he blinked. He looked down at the corpse, sighing as he stepped down from it. He looked back at the villagers, causing them all to flinch.

"I… am trying to be calm. I truly am." Enel took a deep breath.

"So… this is my compromise." Enel stared at them.

"None of you will be executed today, but no child will remain in this place. Not tonight, not on the morrow, not ever." The villagers looked at each other, their eyes wide. But no one dared raise their voice.

"All of you will make an Oath before the Sovereign of the Seven Laws," Enel demanded as he stood in front of the crowd.

"You will never offer a child to Valir, the Veil, any god, any spirit, any man, or any crown. Anyone with a child will leave this place and never come back."

"That… that is preposterous!" One of the elders finally spoke.

"Who do you think you are to demand that of us?! You are no god!"

"No," Enel only whispered.

"But I am the one here."

"No… no one will come with you. The people of—""People?" Enel's head snapped toward the elder.

"You have forfeited your right to be called as such when you fed yours to a cave… …You have no voice here."