Laughter exploded.
Not a single laugh…
But thousands of laughs at the same moment.
Broken, overlapping laughter, as if every soul imprisoned inside the giant monster's body had suddenly found a reason to release its madness. The laughter rose like a storm, slammed into the walls of ruin, stirred the dried blood, and awakened in the land the memory of ancient massacres.
"Hahahahahaha…!"
The monster bent slightly, placing its four hands on its chest, as if the laughter itself was heavy.
"Funny…
Truly funny."
It raised its head, the vertical eye shrinking and expanding, as if it were swallowing the world.
"Do you know what the voices are saying now?"
Ashen did not respond.
"They say… this is fate.
They say our meeting was not a coincidence."
The laughter faded, turning into distorted whispers.
"A boy without memory…
And a monster without a soul…
Meeting above a dead city."
It stepped closer, its voice growing deeper.
"The voices like the word 'fate'.
It makes them feel their pain has meaning."
Ashen raised his eyes slowly.
"There is no fate."
He said it calmly.
As if the word itself had no weight.
The monster stopped.
"No?"
"No."
Ashen continued:
"What happened… happened.
Because we were here.
And because they were weaker."
Then he added, without philosophy:
"If we had not met… I would have met something else.
And if you were not here… something else would have devoured you."
Silence.
"Fate… is a word for the weak."
The voices inside the monster conflicted.
Blasphemy!
Truth!
No difference!
Then the monster said with a short laugh:
"I like that answer."
It extended its arm, and the air around it distorted, as if space itself remembered something.
"But whatever you call it…
The deal has a price."
The atmosphere grew heavy again.
"Clarity.
Awareness.
Binding your aura inside me…"
It paused briefly.
"All of these hate emptiness.
They need a medium."
Ashen did not ask.
The monster continued:
"Blood."
The word was clear.
"Not as a symbol.
Not as a sacrifice."
It smiled crookedly.
"As material."
It raised its claws, as if holding something invisible.
"Blood carries memory.
Carries screams.
Carries the final intent before death."
The voices inside it whispered:
"More…
We need more…"
"The greater the bloodshed…
The deeper the imprint."
It looked at Ashen.
"A massive amount."
Not a request.
Not negotiation.
A fact.
"Not the blood of dozens.
Not hundreds."
Then it said it without hesitation:
"Thousands."
The ruins fell silent.
Ashen did not move.
The monster continued, as if presenting options:
"The first method:
Creatures.
Beasts.
Rogue entities."
Then it tilted its head.
"But they are slow.
Contaminated.
Their blood is impure."
The voices objected, but it silenced them.
"The second method…"
It smiled.
"Cities.
Villages."
It said it as one would say a place.
"Human blood.
Concentrated.
Saturated with fear and the desire to survive."
A low laugh.
"Perfect."
Ashen remained silent.
No rejection.
No acceptance.
No question.
The monster watched him.
"Does this not disturb you?"
Ashen replied:
"Why?"
"The annihilation of cities."
"We did that moments ago."
The sentence came out like a mathematical fact.
"And I did not ask you."
The monster's vertical eye widened.
"No guilt?"
"No."
"No judgment?"
"Judgment is survival."
The monster fell silent.
The voices inside it softened.
"Then…
We understand each other."
Ashen neither confirmed
Nor denied.
The monster stepped closer, until its shadow covered Ashen.
"I will not ask for a promise.
And I will not force a decision."
It lowered its voice.
"One day, when you need me, I will repay my debts.
Without chains.
Without conditions."
Then it said:
"Let us go and kill.
Let us leave rivers of blood."
And then:
"When we see that the blood is enough…
We begin."
Ashen looked at it.
"And if I lose interest and stop?"
The monster smiled.
"I will go mad.
I will devour.
I will turn into a walking catastrophe."
Then it added, without threat:
"And that… will not bother you."
Ashen remained silent.
The wind passed over the ruins.
No decision was spoken.
No agreement was signed.
But both of them knew:
That blood would be spilled.
That clarity has a price.
And that this price… is not paid all at once.
The monster stepped back.
"When the time comes…
I will know."
Ashen did not bid farewell.
He did not look back.
He stood there, amid the ruin, like an empty shell waiting for the next station.
And here…
The dialogue ended.
Without decision.
Without promise.
Without mercy.