Crownless Reincarnation: New World? Nah I'd win
Chapter 167: Esperanza Of Fox-Kin [2]

Chapter 167: Esperanza Of Fox-Kin [2]

Akamir looked into her sky blue eyes. "Who are they?"

Nayomi looked into his eyes. "The servants of Skinless," she replied. "The one who always lose in the end."

Akamir frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You know, there wasn’t much that was told about them in the game," Nayomi said, looking at the sky. "I got to know them when I came to this place."

Akamir didn’t say anything, though he got even more curious.

"The Skinless was a god whose name is unknown," she continued, looking at him. "He was once a well-known god, but his everything was taken away later on."

Akamir frowned as he asked, "Taken away by whom?"

"The first elf, Iriel of the Dawn," Nayomi said, looking at him.

"Six thousand years ago, she was the one who began massacring all believers of other religions."

Akamir’s eyes narrowed. "The first elf... she started a religious purge?"

"She wanted only the Golden Sun to be the one religion," she replied, nodding her head. "She wanted to erase any existence that didn’t believe in him. So, she began with the weakest."

"The Skinless," Akamir murmured.

"His true name was erased," Nayomi said, her voice calm.

"His temples were burned. His followers slaughtered. His image removed from every scripture. But before he was destroyed, he did something no god had dared before."

Akamir looked at her, waiting.

"He tore off his divine form."

"...What?"

"His flesh. His bones. Everything that made him recognizable as a god—he stripped it away."

Akamir frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He left everything behind and became a raw energy," Nayomi said softly. "Iriel couldn’t kill what had no body. So instead, she locked it away somewhere unknown."

Akamir rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about it. "Let me guess, the servants of Skinless are trying to bring him back?"

Nayomi nodded without explaining anything else.

There wasn’t any need for her to do so.

Akamir fell into deep thought as he began to think about those two he met before.

The more he thought, the grimmer his expression became.

"They were playing with us, weren’t they?" Akamir said, glancing at Nayomi. "They could have killed me anytime, but they didn’t."

Nayomi nodded her head. "They see no point in killing you," she replied. "I bet they want to skin you alive and make you one of them."

"..."

Akamir rubbed his face as he let out a tired sigh.

Nayomi leaned against the wooden railing of the porch, arms crossed, her eyes distant.

"They’re patient, Akamir," she said quietly. "Too patient. That’s what makes them dangerous."

Akamir didn’t reply. He just sat down on the steps, staring at the dirt road ahead.

"They weren’t trying to kill me," he repeated, voice low. "They were testing me."

Nayomi looked down at him. "Probably."

Akamir rubbed his hands together. "What if I spoil their plans because they left me alive?"

"Have I not been clear enough?" Nayomi said, floating beside him. "Nothing you do now will change anything... The elves are already doomed."

"..."

Akamir didn’t reply as he kept on staring at his hands.

"Why are they trying to curse elves anyway?" Akamir asked, looking back at her.

"They are generational haters," she replied, her voice filled with disgust.

"They were attacking the elves on the other side of the world, but they couldn’t do much damage, so they came here."

"To kill the less threatening and peace-loving elves, huh?" Akamir said, and Nayomi nodded her head.

"That’s how things are here, my boy," she said, smiling. "The weak always lose."

Akamir stared at her, blinking slowly. "That does make sense."

"It always does," Nayomi said, sitting down next to him, her legs crossed mid-air like she was resting on an invisible bench. "This world runs on twisted rules."

Akamir leaned back against the porch post, letting the silence settle between them again.

"What’s up with those creepy ladies?" he asked at last, eyes fixed on the stars. "Why do they sing and dance?"

"Oh, them?" Nayomi asked. "You see, back in the days, Iriel used to make the widows and children of Skinless servants dance over their dead family."

Akamir winced at her words.

"She was cruel, wasn’t she?" he whispered. "And they are doing the same as a way to mock her?"

"Precisely why," Nayomi replied. "They are doing the same as the elves move to their inevitable doom."

"That’s twisted," he said eventually, his voice low. "Dancing on their own grief. Mocking the pain they were forced to endure."

"That’s what life was for them," she whispered softly. "That’s how they are living."

Akamir didn’t say anything for a long while.

---

---

"Urgh!"

When the first light of the sun bathed the place, a low groan echoed in the room.

Luca coughed violently as he sat back on the bed.

His eyes blinked as he noticed all three of the others already up.

Akamir smiled as he sat inside the cottage’s main sofa.

"Yo, boy!" Viros said, smiling at him. "He already knows our identity."

Luca frowned. "Why did you tell him, you idiot!"

Viros held up both hands defensively, still grinning. "Relax. It’s not like we could’ve hidden it forever. He saw your ears, remember?"

Luca groaned again and leaned back into the pillows. "Damn it..."

Reagan, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a warm cup in his tiny hands, looked up. "If you can move, then join us."

Luca grumbled beneath his breath as he moved and sat with them.

"So, what are we going to do next?" Viros asked, looking at Akamir. "Are we going back to Krivos—"

"Not yet," Akamir said. "We are still not done yet."

"What else is there to do?" Reagan said, his voice soft. "The elves are the ones who are doing all this to themselves."

Luca nodded in agreement. "Didn’t you hear that old man?" he asked. "He said the empress was the one who sent the soldiers."

"We can’t be so sure about that," Akamir said, his voice soft. "Remember it was the royal advisor who got the news first."

Reagan looked at him. "Are you saying she isn’t aware of it?"

Akamir shrugged. "I am not too sure, but I hope so."

"So," Viros mumbled. "What now?"

Akamir waited for a while before saying, "I am going to meet the empress myself."