#graphic design is NOT my passion and i'm not comfy with my art rn so iconless it is

[musesofthemoon]

@shiroi---kumo sent in: ☠️ (and they know what for)

Chaos' orders were clear, they usually were. Usually, the vessel didn't have to do much of anything. All it did was delegate to others, whether it be its fanatical subjects, or its loyal guard. But sometimes, Chaos tried to test its loyalty. Despite how docile it was, the vessel still had a will separate from Chaos. Memories and emotions could transfer, surely, but giving it so many years to develop outside the usual parameters had its downsides.

It didn't expect much from those tests though. With enough deaths of innocents, it could harden its heart. But when the beast whispers in its ear this time, constricting in its head as its tail rattles with delight, the demand itself feels insurmountable, impossible. But its will was given, and so it must be done.

"The Demon Swordsman will be brought here, and you will kill him."

Chaos doesn't even ask if it was clear, it already knew that it was so, if only by the distress that coursed through the vessel's veins. It slips away as soon as it came, and the vessel hesitates. It hasn't hesitated since the first murder by its own hand. But Kumo's my friend! No he isn't, not anymore. Makenshi was the enemy, he is supposed to destroy the vessel. It wished the Unlimited would just get it over with and figure it out, sometimes.

You can't kill him! Yes it can. It's killed some more directly innocent than Makenshi could ever be.

This was a first step toward the inevitable. Taking one more life from the Undying meant nothing at all, even if the weight in its chest tried to scream otherwise. If anything, it would only speed the process further. It would be a kick in the ass, possibly to force the Unlimited to work through things in order to end Chaos once and for all.

It calls the guard to the throne chamber. It knows she will argue, but there is nothing either of them can do to change this.

---

Ai waits quietly in the brush, having enough leads to guide her to where the Swordsman was spotted last. It was around a quaint little town, somewhere that felt so unassuming. The townsfolk don't even seem to notice how closely they're being monitored right now, and she would prefer to keep it that way until her quarry was in sight. She truly wishes it didn't have to be this way. She wished she could keep things as quaint as they appeared, but she has a job to do.

In some time, he comes into view from the edge she lay waiting in. Good, this could be easy. She wonders if he knows that she was watching him. She wonders if he would even recognize her here. She hoped not, it would make things all the easier if he thought she was a normal solider.

Two scimitars rest in her hands, as she grips them although they were a lifeline. She takes a breath, as quiet as she can, and moves for the attack, her steps silent and quick as she goes for a takedown, moving the scimitars to use their blunt end, aiming to hit him on the temple with them, hopefully being something which could knock him out without too much of a fight.

The swordsman was likely tougher than that. She'd seen him fight before, how quickly he could move and how strong he was. She needed to be careful. Entropy might have the excuses of his death being the end of a calmer era in Wonderland, but she did not. Allies in the past or not, they were adversaries now.

This was a fight for her life, if anything.