The Horned Heron was situated in the middle-cla.s.s part of the city, outside the Inner Sanctum of the Citadel, but inside the inner walls. Silversh.o.r.e, as a city, was divided in such strata based on the multi-tiered defenses of the city. The very poor lived outside the outer walls, while the less poor and workers lived within them. The middle cla.s.s to higher cla.s.s citizens lived within the inner walls, while the outrageously wealthy and n.o.bility lived within the Inner Sanctum—the final line of defense. To be specific, the Inner Sanctum was merely the name of the area within the final ring of walls, which protected the Citadel itself.

Unlike the capital of Gram, there was nothing especially noteworthy or strange about Silversh.o.r.e. Where Insomnia possessed those silver pillars that were made of an unknown material, Silversh.o.r.e only possessed traces of the architecture of the ancient civilization that built the Citadel, and even that was now faded away and barely recognizable.

While Somnus meditated in his room, pondering his next action and the meaning of that magical event, there was a knock on his door.

"Enter," he said coolly. He was not afraid of a.s.sa.s.sins. Of course, he understood the advantage and tactics of precision strikes—of which he has been a target many times while he was still a Machine—but he, even now, could not comprehend the idea of "a.s.sa.s.sination". Even though he was now made of flesh and blood, he was still an existence that a mere a.s.sa.s.sin could not extinguish.

The door opened, and as expected, it was not an a.s.sa.s.sin. It was Gemma. Mia, the blonde elf that was always at Gemma's side, was not with her on this occasion. Somnus found this strange. Why would Gemma meet Somnus alone?

Gemma wore an evening gown made of Theorian black-silk, and her black hair was let loose. She still wore her mask, which Somnus ordered her to do when they were using the "adventurer" ident.i.ty.

Quietly, she strode across the room and, after a moment of hesitation, took a seat on the couch, across from Somnus who was seated behind a desk.

"State your objective," Somnus said.

Gemma remained quiet for a long moment, a flash of anger igniting in her eyes for a brief moment before she composed herself again. "That thing you said about Seraph… is it really true?" the human asked, eyes fixed on the floor.

Somnus was not sure what Gemma was referring to specifically, but he was not a liar. He confidently answered, without hesitation. "Affirmative."

"He will really destroy the world?" Gemma asked, looking up at Somnus.

Somnus shook his head. "Designation Seraph has no active partic.i.p.ation in the end of the world."

Gemma tilted her head, confusion lingering in her eyes. "But you said…"

"This unit must kill designation Seraph, to prevent the end of the world."

"So… it is trying to destroy the world?" Gemma asked.

"Designation Seraph is an anomalous existence. As long as it exists, the integrity of the world is compromised. This unit must remove this destructive element," Somnus replied. He did not think he could simplify the problem further.

"How do you know this?" Gemma's tone was harsh and br.i.m.m.i.n.g with anger.

Somnus did not understand why Gemma was angry. Somnus instantly realized that this was a defensive reaction—denial.

"Why is designation Gemma so invested in this matter?" Somnus asked. "Whether I destroy Seraph or not should be of no consequence to you."

Gemma clenched her delicate hands into fists and glared at Somnus for a long moment. She ignored his question. "I will ask you one more time: Are you a force of good?"

Somnus pondered Gemma. Whether it was his own curiosity, or his human mind, he did not feel like choosing the easy answer. Somnus was a weapon—a tool. He was never the one who was burdened by the moral question, but rather, those who wielded him were. He never defined morality as anything more than an inconvenience that shaped the superficial appearance of war, introducing laws and logic into something that operated on no such principles.

"Are you a force of good, Gemma?" Somnus asked, as he rose from his seat and walked towards the couch. "What is this "good" you speak of?"

"Of course I am! I am a defender of the people!" Gemma replied with that same harsh tone.

Somnus took a seat on the sofa, opposite of Gemma, with nothing but the low table between them.

"You have performed your daily activities amongst monsters for a while now, and have come to realize that they were, defined within a margin of error, "people" as well. Correct?"

Gemma remained silent.

"Because they have different values, you proclaim them to be "evil", while you are "good"," Somnus said. "Therefore, in the dungeon, when we first met, you casually killed them by the dozens. That is not righteousness. That is genocide."

Gemma's anger flashed over. "They kill us too!"

"The primary function of every organism is to ensure the prosperity of its kind, whether through peaceful coexistence, or aggressive extermination," Somnus said. "There is no good and evil, when the world itself is twisted."

Gemma swallowed. She was not ready to concede a point in a philosophical debate with a human that befriends monsters. "What about morality? We ourselves may not be perfect, but monsters see no difference between armed adventurers and unarmed children!"

"Right and wrong, too, is to the preference of the individual's tastes," Somnus explained. "To begin with, who decided what is right and what is wrong?"

"We did!" Gemma retorted.

"We? Define "we". Did all of "you" come together, and have a meeting, deciding what to do and what not to do?" Somnus asked.

"No, but our ancestors did." Gemma said. "After thousands of years of experience, they devised the moral system so as to help guide us in the right direction."

"So, you merely "inherited" the values?" Somnus questioned.

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"And improved them!"

"You mean, you allowed someone to twist them to their whim?" Somnus asked.

"No, it is not like that at all!" Gemma said. "Would you yourself not agree that murdering innocents is wrong?"

"I would not," Somnus replied coolly.

"What?" Gemma was caught by surprise.

"To begin with, that which you define as "innocent" is according to this moral compa.s.s that you inherited and "improved"," Somnus said. "It means nothing to me. I do not follow your moral system nor am I bound by it. There are no innocents in this world. Every living being contributes to its own "sin" merely by existing."

"What are you saying…?" Gemma asked, voice hushed.

"All that which lives is guilty, because there is no such thing as degrees of guilt or innocence," Somnus explained. "Consider your own race, human: You tread into the domain of that which you wors.h.i.+p as Divine when you begin attributing intrinsic value to things, not to mention guilt. What gives you the right to be the judge of anything? You, who pollute and annihilate while wearing a smile and hiding behind words such as "Justice" and "Morality"? You are immature as a race, yet you are masters at destruction."

"Living comes at a cost!" Gemma replied. "When our survival is at stake, we have to do whatever it takes to protect ourselves."

"I see," Somnus said. "Because your very survival is at stake, you have to go into dungeons and slay everything that moves. It is not because you are greedy for this plate of Starmetal, or the Fame of a Hero… but because your very life is at stake?"

"No, that is—"

"Because your existence is at stake, you have to conquer your neighbor. You have to subvert your own destiny, by inventing new technologies and discovering new magics."

"No, I am no—"

"It is all right, because you are justified. Some "ancestor" once said so. As an individual, your race is so resistant to change, but as a group you blindly follow the word—whatever the word may be."

"Let me speak!" Gemma shouted.

"There is nothing to speak about, designation Gemma," Somnus said. "You will never accept the viewpoint of something that does not conform to your own. To answer your query: I am not "good" by your standards. I am "evil". I am the greatest "evil" you have ever known."

Gemma's eyes reflected her desire to try and change Somnus' mind. She thought that if she could win him over, perhaps, it would be a good thing. This was obvious by her expression alone. However, she must've realized the futility of such an attempt, because she sighed and leaned back into her couch.

"What about Seraph? Is Seraph "evil"?" Gemma asked.

"No. Seraph, no doubt, protects Humanity. I am sure you would consider it to be "good"," Somnus said.

"Then… why?"

"The world also does not care about good and evil. To the world, one of us has to disappear. It doesn't have to be Seraph. I will do."

Gemma remained quiet. She did not even seem to realize that Somnus was testing her, as she seriously considered which one of the two disappearing would be the better outcome. This pleased Somnus, somewhat.

"No matter what you say, or how you act," Gemma finally whispered, after a very long pause, "I know that you are on our side. I know that you are doing this—whatever "this" is—for our sake."

Somnus regarded Gemma coldly. "What makes you think that?"

"I don't know!"

"Hope, then?"

"No!"

Somnus considered Gemma carefully.

Perhaps this was one of those "intuition" things. Of course, Somnus did not believe in the magical properties that some might give to it. Intuition was easy to explain. It was merely the ability of an individual to subconsciously process unrelated data to achieve an accurate deduction. But then again, even Somnus was sometimes not capable of determining how an individual acquired some of this "unrelated data" that is vital to the process of intuition.

"Seraph is not the protector of Humanity that you claim it is," Gemma said. "Seraph is a monster the likes of which you have never seen…"

Somnus narrowed his eyes at those words. "You seem very familiar with designation Seraph."

Gemma nodded. "If you claim that Seraph is your enemy, then you cannot be "evil"." Gemma focused her gaze on Somnus's eyes. "Heralds follow you, but you are not the Destroyer, right?"

Somnus pondered Gemma's words. "I am Somnus," Somnus replied in a cold manner. "Provide information on Seraph. Comply."