Two days later…

Halo and Iris received disturbing news upon waking. The Chaos Eaters had struck, and not in any way they could have anticipated.

Nearly fifty bodies littered the street, skulls split open and brains extracted. Blood pooled and flowed between the stones. It wasn't very pleasant. Halo had witnessed worse carnage, yet even he struggled to keep his composure.

The Chaos Eaters seemed to have evolved. They had fangs now and actual guts. When Halo had seen them before, they'd had no stomachs at all. They ripped into brains like beasts feeding on a kill. Worse still, they were hunting in the afternoon.

The carnage hit Iris hard. They'd barely looked before suggesting they leave immediately. Halo, though, was more focused on the crowd's reactions than the bodies themselves. Iris's sudden urge to flee felt inconvenient.

He had expected an outburst, people panicking or attempting to flee the land. But by the time he and Iris caught wind of the attack and came outside to see for themselves, everyone was simply going about their day.

Only a few workers gathered the corpses, which they carried out of the land and dumped into the boiling river beneath the citadel.

Something was wrong with them. He couldn't say what exactly, but the people here were fundamentally broken.

As soon as they returned home, Iris suggested they speak and consider their next move, which Halo was inclined to agree with.

"This is bad, very bad. I'm sorry for not considering this possibility."

Halo gave Iris a firm nod. He was used to her constant apologies.

"Do you think this can make us fail this Purpose?"

Iris gave a negative response.

"We can't stop it. Dealing with the Chaos Eaters will inevitably claim lives, and the gods are aware of that. Still… there has to be a boundary to the carnage."

She said, her eyes darting to the floor before snapping toward Halo.

"We can't wait for the mastermind to slip up. Aeliana needs to give us something. Whether it's a confession or a clue, it doesn't matter."

His eyes narrowed.

The conclusion was obvious, whoever controlled all this was rushing their timeline after five years of careful buildup.

His actions might have forced their hand, made them realize they'd been discovered. Or maybe this was always when the Chaos Eaters would be ready. But neither theory explained why the locals were so unnaturally calm.

Whether they cared or not, he was going to see this through. But he couldn't shake the feeling that understanding their reasons would give him a better grasp of why the gods had assigned him this Purpose to begin with.

Why did the gods care so much about the lives of people who didn't even value their own?

Each Purpose carried a deeper meaning. So what was he meant to learn from this? What did the God of Death want him to understand? Or maybe Death really had perished, and the Purposes now came without reason or design.

Amidst his thoughts, Iris spoke:

"What do you think, Halo?"

Halo thought about it for a moment. He couldn't show his face out there right now, not after the Chaos Eater slaughter.

They'd make him the scapegoat. With Silas being so well-liked, anyone who killed him would be branded a monster.

"How about we send one of my clones?"

Iris's eyes widened for a moment.

"I thought of that, but are your clones capable of speech?"

Halo met her with silence before summoning Light.

The instant Light appeared, its pale eyes drifted around lazily for a moment, then it hopped up beside Halo.

Halo sensed the irritation radiating from its gaze, but now that he understood what his clones represented, he didn't dwell on it. Light had something to say. He was just waiting for it to find the nerve.

"As you can see, it can think for itself."

Iris's eyes followed Light for a moment.

"So this is a clone of yourself?"

Halo gave her a subtle nod.

She smiled and locked eyes with Light.

"There's no doubt a hierarchy exists among those involved, and Aeliana is probably at the bottom. This is just a theory, so I want you to shadow her for a while and see if it holds."

Light and Halo exchanged glances.

Iris bowed her head.

"Can you please do that for us?"

Halo began to feel the subtle cockiness within Light as it stared at him. Halo sneered.

"You don't have to act so formal. It's nothing but a clone."

The moment Halo spoke, Light struck at Halo, but he effortlessly caught it without looking.

"Are you sure? It seems like he didn't like what you said."

Light gestured positively toward Iris.

Halo sighed.

"Okay. Call it whatever you want."

Iris's expression darkened.

"It? He's your clone, isn't he? You should let him feel like he has a place here."

Confused, Halo glanced at Iris before shifting his gaze to Light. Even with those featureless white eyes, he was sure the clone was observing him peripherally.

The hostility made sense now. Light hated being dismissed as just a clone. Yet that explanation created more problems than it solved.

"This was what you wanted? You should've said so, you moron."

As soon as Halo spoke, Light turned into a spherical shadow on the ground and exited the room.

"I believe he wanted you to acknowledge him as part of you. Asking wouldn't have added anything to the understanding that his master doesn't regard him as just a clone."

Halo raised a startled eyebrow. He'd never considered himself particularly emotional. He wouldn't even mind if everyone referred to him as "it," so he couldn't fathom why a mere clone would be so invested in pronouns.

But still, Light was a part of him, and if that was what it truly wanted, he wouldn't mind using the right pronouns. It wasn't his intention to mistreat it. Right now, though, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

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