Threads of the Soul

Blood, Gore, Turmoil, Destruction and Death. What did all these things have in common? Well it's that they made for fantastic content of course!

I mean why else did people always rant and rave about the new R rated film that was coming out or watch all those various over the top torture movies with the little puppet guy? People love watching carnage, mayhem and death. Especially when it made themselves feel better about their own situation.

So really, when Tiff was simply recording the ongoing slaughter instead of helping fight them off, what she was really doing was giving the people exactly what they wanted. Well... Not these people, what these people wanted was to not die. No, she was giving it to the other people. Her loyal viewers, the audience she had so recently gathered up and had desired for so long.

Tiff had gained that audience from her video on their amazing Lord fighting off the army, and she had no doubt he would appear to save the day once again. She just had to make sure to record every second of it. She would make this man into a star, and follow alongside him every step of the way. And if he happened to be hot under that mask... well there was already some fanfic of the two of them emerging on the new and improved system based internet, although most of them were also written by her. Even still, she would be more than happy to fulfil that ship and give her fans what they so clearly wanted. For the fans, of course. No other reason.

Anyways, her ability was perfect for this sort of thing. The power of perception, it had been called. With it she could fade away, literally blend into the background. She would become like that pile of dirty clothes on your floor, which had been sitting there for days. You simply ignored it, not actively or purposely. You just had no reason to think about it or notice it, so you simply didn't.

So long as she didn't do anything dramatic to draw attention to herself, such as running or screaming, she could fade away and get the perfect camera angles. And getting those angles was exactly what she was doing.

Tiff had no thoughts at all of trying to stop these vicious beasts, not out of a lack of empathy or cowardice. She just knew it would be pointless, so didn't try. Still, even if these people were being slaughtered by the shadow pumas... or were they panthers? She had never learned the difference, if there even was one. Whatever it was that was killing them, if she could document these people's last moments and display it to the world, surely that was still a good thing, right?

Giving family closure and all that sappy stuff. Sure she got views from it and increased her popularity along with it, but that was just a happy coincidence.

Gasp! There he is! Just as she was zooming in, getting ready to capture a perfect shot of one of the big cats tearing into someone as they had them pinned on the ground, her shot was ruined as the Panther Puma thing was yanked off of its feet by the scruff of its neck. But she wasn't annoyed that someone had ruined her shot, how could she be? Because that someone in question was her Lord! Her very own Black winged Angel, The Lord of the Crows that had fallen from grace just for her. He had finally arrived to give her a glorious show!

***

Unfortunately, Seth was completely oblivious to the presence of his overtly fanatical and... ahem, peculiar fan that was diligently watching every single move that he made, or to the fact that he was being recorded for many others to see.

Holding the shadow cat in the air by the scruff of its neck Seth, in the body of Corvus, casually batted away its flailing claws and gripped the metallic collar tight. The alloy groaned and creaked as he twisted it before tearing it in half like it was nothing more than wet cardboard. The difference between himself before the transcendence and himself after was beyond night and day, it was like a dung beetle comparing itself to a tiger. There was just no contest.

Just by injecting some energy into his body, even when possessing one of his puppets, he could perform these inhuman feats. Although that meant this sort of strength was limited, since he didn't have endless energy even if it was something as mystical as mana, his natural manaless strength was still nothing to scoff at.

Even if he didn't use a single drop of mana, Seth knew that he could make even the best Olympic athletes break down into tears at the sheer favouritism of fate as he could easily best them without effort.

Tossing the mangled collar to the side, the once bright runes rapidly losing their lustre as they spurted and flickered out, Seth let the Puma go. Stepping back, he watched it warily and gave it a few moments to come to terms with its new freedom. This might have been a stupid move, but he wanted to know if the beast had some sort of intelligence.

Perhaps it would be grateful that it's life would be spared and fight with them against their common enemy, or perhaps it would simply lead them to where their enemy was hiding. Humans had domesticated plenty of wild animals before, he had done so with Omelette and the frosty puppy. Surely there was a chance that the same could happen here.

Alas, it seemed as if he over estimated this beast, or perhaps it was just the natural defiance of a cat. Regardless, it hadn't even had its freedom for a full 10 seconds before it returned to being a slave to its instincts, instead of its sadistic master.

It pretended to cower in fear as it dissolved into the shadows, yet Seth could clearly see the bloodthirsty glint in its eyes. It didn't even try to hide it, clearly thinking that the stupid prey was simply too scared of it, or something moronic along those lines. Whatever it was thinking, its intent was clear as day and so easy to read it was as if an author was describing it in a book. Okay, maybe that's a bit melodramatic.

Nevertheless, It was so painfully obvious what was running through its tiny mind, that even before it had leapt from the shadows being cast behind Corvus, he was already stepping to the side and summoning his weapon mid-swing.

By the time the Shadow Panther emerged from his shadow, in a totally and utterly unexpected sneak attack that definitely took him by surprise, Seth already had [Requiem of Blood] in his hand, with the crimson blade clawing its way into existence from the blood stored within the orb.

It's fearsome roar, the one it let out to strike fear into its helpless prey, quickly became a pathetic whimper as the blood forged blade carved through its extended paws before cleaving into its neck.

When the Panther landed from its fearsome pounce, its body landed in a crumbled and uncoordinated heap as it tumbled to a stop, a torrent of viscous and oily, black blood spraying from the stump on its neck as well as at the end of its front legs.

With wet thumps, those missing body parts quickly joined the rest on the ground. The paws, with the claws still extended and ready to kill, bounced like stones across a lake. The head, bounced like a deflated basketball before rolling across the floor and eventually coming to a stop at Corvus' feet. The face, still twisted in a rage filled snarl, stared up at him with lifeless eyes.

Droplets of the thick, black blood formed at the very tip of his blade, wanting to obey gravity and fall to the floor, but the [Requiem of Blood] wasn't having that. It drew the oily blood into itself, greedily slurping up not just what was clinging to itself but also every drop that had spilled from the body.

With each drop it absorbed, the blade seemed to shiver in delight not just at its current meal, but at all the meals soon to come. The more it absorbed, the more the blade glistened with murderous purpose, its edge becoming sharper and its body tougher, becoming all the more deadly. Even if it was only a slight difference.

The hairs stood up on the back of Seth's neck, his actual neck since Corvus had no body hair, causing him to whip his head around to look behind him. Yet... there was nothing there. His eyes scanned the area, only able to see the scared civilian that he had saved, still laying on the ground staring at him in shock.

He had been suddenly overwhelmed by a primal instinct, not quite fear but something very close to it, that had activated his flight or fight response for the briefest of moments. It was like the feeling you had when being followed down a dark alleyway in the worst part of town, or being stranded alone on a boat with no where to run whilst some unknown horror watched from beneath the waves.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Seth gave the civilian a cursory nod before darting off once again, the wooden floor splintering under his feet from the sheer force of his push off.

Yet even as he ran, he couldn't shake that feeling. That small hint that he was being constantly watched by a predator. It wasn't the Panthers, he knew that. They wanted to eat him, that was obvious. He could feel their bloodlust as it clung to their bodies and poured from their starved gazes. Yet this wasn't blood lust. It felt... worse. But what could be worse than something that wanted to eat and kill you?

***

Tiff bit her lip so hard that blood trickled from the edge of her lips, yet she didn't care. Her eyes, and her camera, were locked on the fading back of her Lord. Her legs trembled in delight, her heart thumped against her chest.

She had just wanted a taste, a quick sniff of his divine scent, however she must have slipped in her disguise when she got close to him, overwhelmed by his wondrous presence.

Or perhaps... Perhaps her lord could simply sense her love! Yes, that had to be it!

Not only had he sensed her love through her perception disguise, but he had turned and looked directly into her eyes. Ugh, she had to stop herself from swooning when those swirling black abyss' landed on her. She had no doubt that hidden behind that mask was the most handsome face in the world.

Quickly wiping her mouth of the blood, and drool that had mixed with it, Tiff hurried after her Lord with hearts in her eyes. Ready to document more of his greatness and share it with those who understood how wonderful he was.