Chapter 1166 - Nine And Iris' Background
"Lets speak elsewhere. Not exactly the best place to talk about this stuff." Shiro said as she gestured towards the machines used for their training.
Nodding his head, Sabbath led the way out and had some of the people make a table for them to sit around.
Taking a seat, Shiro crossed her legs and tapped her finger on the table.
"You know about gods right?" Shiro asked as Sabbath nodded his head.
"Yes. While we may only read about them in mythologies and folklore, they are very much real. Though they haven't been very 'active'. However, there have been some changes and apparently the gods cannot stay passive for long. That's the last thing I remember my Queen telling me. Perhaps it's as I feared, did the gods interfere and take her life?" Sabbath asked as he glanced down and clenched his hands.
"Mn, you're correct. When I arrived at the city, I sensed the presence of gods. As for your Queen… she was nothing but a puppet when I arrived. Her soul has been crushed and her body was used to housed three gods Your situation was a little better but still not great." Shiro shook her head.
Explaining to them slowly about their situation and what the gods used them for, Shiro could sense sadness wash over everyone that was listening but they controlled themselves to the best of their abilities.
Hearing about how his Queen was used as nothing but a container, killing intent exploded out of Sabbath but it was soon replaced with sorrow as he nodded his head.
Leaning back, Sabbath glanced up at the sky and sighed. Closing his eyes, he gave his prayers to his Queen in silence before opening his eyes.
"Thank you for telling me everything. Is there anything you need help with? If not then I wish to go make a grave for my Queen and repair the buildings here." Sabbath said as Shiro shook his head.
"If you need a place to stay then I can offer you a place. It won't be free, but the rent will be paid through labour. It'll be safe for the ones that don't want to fight as there are civilian jobs for them. While the gods won't come back, there's no guarantee that another one won't come so you might want to change locations just in case." Shiro offered as Sabbath glanced at her and thought about it for a moment.
After staying silent, Sabbath looked at the city and let out a resigned sigh.
"I suppose you are right. Though if you wish for us to treat you as our new Queen, I'm afraid that's a little…" Trailing off, Sabbath didn't want to say what he was thinking but Shiro knew that he and everyone else under Yisale would feel awkward about it.
"It's fine, you don't have to. When you go to the city, you can be your own company of people. If it is difficult, I'll even- actually, I don't think I can make a new island for you right now but I can clear a district so that you and your people can stay with one another. There is already an assassin guild in the city so you can either join them or work as an independent faction. Whichever is easiest for you. I know this sounds too good to be true but I do wish that I can help more people. What use is it to win the new age only for there to be no one left? I'll save as many people as I can." Shiro smiled as Sabbath nodded his head with gratitude in his eyes.
"Then I thank you. We wish to stay as an independent company for now. I hope that you don't take offence to this but while we are not your subordinates and will not serve as we would to Yisale, we will still offer our all if it means to secure a home for this family." Sabbath bowed as Shiro chuckled.
"That's all I ask. I never did ask you to serve me, only for you to do your part." Shiro chuckled as Sabbath paused and realised that this was indeed the case.
"In that case then I would have to trouble you to lead the way once we finish making her grave. What we need are already in our inventories as for everything else, we'll leave them here. If anyone was to find something useful to them when they pass this city, let them have it." Sabbath said as Shiro nodded her head.
Letting them make a grave for Yisale, Shiro relaxed on the side and started to read a book that she had kept in her inventory. Now that she no longer had her database, she found it rather fun to just sit down and read a book under the sun.
Glancing at Nine and Iris, who were looking towards the city, Shiro chuckled.
"You two seem like you want to say something. Why not take a seat and talk about it? It'll feel better to let it out than to keep it bottled inside." Shiro said as Nine nodded his head and sat down while Iris did the same.
"It's nothing much. Just that seeing the training facilities reminded me a little of where we're from." Nine chuckled while glancing at his swords.
"You never did tell me about that. Care to share your history? If not it's fine too, I'm not one to privy on your background if you don't want to share it. Though that's only if you're friendly. If you're an enemy of mine I would have directly searched your soul for the knowledge I want." Shiro joked as Nine understood that she was serious.
Ignoring that for now, he thought about how to explain it.
"Should I explain?" Iris asked with a smile.
"No it's fine." Nine shook his head.
"Me and Iris are… experimental people I suppose. Neither of us have proper parents, we were created in a lab and brought up through a carefully tailored environment. The reason why I'm called Nine is because I'm from bath number Nine and Iris is called well… Iris is because she's part of the batch that had their eyes experimented on." Nine explained as Shiro paused. Her smile disappeared and her aura became frosty.
"My actual name or rather 'tag' is Nine-015. Subject 15 in batch nine while Iris is Iris-001. Subject 1 in the Iris Experiment." Nine explained while glancing at Iris who had no reaction.
"The goal was to see if there was a way for people to surpass level 500 to reach tier 6 and well, they've certainly come close. Before the experiment could fully succeed, the new age began and a portal opened up in the facility. We managed to take advantage of the situation to escape with a few weapons but the people who run the labs also managed to escape. We don't have tracking chips on us but they have their ways to find us. For my batch, the goal was to use part of Chinese mythology regarding the environment and connection to the spirt. I have a unique attunement to the land and my swords are unable to be stored away due to this connection. Once I enchant the swords, they act as formation markers and allows me to set up powerful arrays. As for Iris, they wanted to see if they could harness the power of stars and eyes that see through the fabrics of reality. Unfortunately, it was a failure and it transformed into a mutation that refines her senses to mana instead. Though this help with her sensing the star chart for more spells." Nine spoke slowly while rubbing his finger against the back of his hand.
"I can go into detail from within the labs but I doubt you'll want to hear that so I'll keep it short. My current goal is to get stronger and kill whoever created us and want to make more. Iris is just helping me on my journey." Nine chuckled as Iris shrugged.
"Well I can't deny that I also want revenge though it may not be high on that list." Iris admitted as Shiro nodded her head.
"Well the same offer goes to you. You can go to the city and develop yourselves to become stronger. If you find a lead to whoever did this to you, you can just tell me and I'll lend you all the firepower you need. If you want to end things with your own hands then I can help you clear a path instead." Shiro said as the two smiled.
"Thank you but we've put that on hold for now." Iris said as Shiro raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"It's mainly because I did a small divination. Our fates are now linked to yours, had it not been for your help, our journey would have ended with that Dragon. Following the path of my fate, I know that if I follow you I'll eventually come across the people that did this to us and end them in the future so we're not in a rush." Iris reassured as Shiro nodded her head after a short pause.
"Well if you ever want to start your revenge just tell me, I'll give you a hand if you need.." Shiro reminded before glancing towards Sabbath who was making his way over to them.