Devil in Shepherd's Robes

Ch 27: Infectious Ideal

It was finally time; the moment Ephram had been waiting for. The final act in the play of his life, enacted upon the stage of the Stellarh Inc. rooftop. The night sky seemed colder than usual as he stood face to face with the Rootlord. The willpower coming from within his reddened soul burst forth with immense strength. His boiling hot passion for a better future bubbled and raged within his mind, furious at Aberlain for having the audacity to take his bright future from him. The future he was supposed to share with Silvia and the others had been snatched from his hands in the blink of an eye. Aberlain had seen to it that everything he held dear would be taken from him, and he simply could not allow that to happen.

"Yikes, you look rough! You look a bit different from last I've seen you... new hairdo?" Aberlain joked, the voice of the sneering Rootlord cursing the tongue of his human pawn.

As the two demons stared each other down for what felt like an eternity of silence, Ephram thought to himself what could possibly be motivating Aberlain. He had nothing to fight for beside his own arrogance, the need to prove everyone wrong. From Ephram's perspective, the Rootlord was simply shoving his own ideals upon the rest of the world as if they weren't capable of thinking for themselves.

"Aberlain... I can't let you do this any longer! May, your daughter, you've nearly killed your own flesh and blood for the sake of your own ego! You've hurt the people I care about! The future I've dreamt of has been crushed once again... thanks to someone like you!" He yelled, his eyes beginning to harbor a small fiery rage within. The soul Ephram commanded had begun to toil about in his body as if clawing to escape the binds of his flesh to rip through Aberlain.

"You don't seem to understand the severity of our situation, E! A few lives here and there is a very small price to pay for any future! Seeing as how we all don't have one to begin with! You'd truly mock the only one capable of driving this rotten existence into longevity!?" Aberlain exclaimed, his golden eyes peering into the soul of Ephram as if trying to understand just why this demon couldn't see eye to eye with him.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're doing this for the future!? What future could this possibly hold!?" Ephram screamed as he asked Aberlain, holding out his arms to gesture towards the towering smoke billowing above from the destruction of the city below.

As if something inside the Rootlord's mind had snapped, the face of Ryan Bailey went limp from the lack of emotion. The sneering smile plastered upon his face had been wiped away, and all playfulness had ceased to emanate from his mouth as he spoke quietly without missing a beat.

"The future of Yggdrasil is doomed if we continue on the path before us. I know you won't understand now but once I have total control over this thing we call life, you'll see. The laws that govern this world are no mere coincidence, and those laws seek to destroy us all. We can no longer sit back and enjoy the chaos; we must redirect it. Whether you believe me or not, it pays me no concern. I do what I do because I must, not because I want to." He said, the commanding power in his voice suddenly going out like a dying flame as he stared towards Ephram.

His yellow eyes seemed devoid of any emotion whatsoever, as if the Rootlord had seemingly gone numb from his raging ambition. It was only for a few moments, but something about what he had said peaked Ephram's interest. His own goals were to seek a better future for Silvia and the others, but Aberlain had gotten Silo killed in the process. He had tried to kill him by using Pestarrem as a pawn, even wanting his own daughter dead for these same reasons he seemed so keen on keeping secret. Whatever lay behind Aberlain's motivations were something Ephram knew he may never be able to understand, but nevertheless, what the Rootlord was doing would bring only torment and pain to those who couldn't fight back.