Warning! This chapter mentions cruelty, detailed descriptions of murder, and violent reprisal.
THE CENTRAL TEMPLE
What exactly is a temple? It is a place intended for performing divine services and religious rites. The Central Temple was famous for its majestic appearance—after all, the planet's most grandiose events took place here. Today's event in honor of the victory day in the war against the Links is a prime example.
Bots and Links had been at war almost since the planet's inception, for about three million years. Residents of both races were glad to see the end of the protracted war. The final battle thundered approximately forty years ago and ended in a victory for the bots, but to ensure no further disagreements arose between the parties, a mutually beneficial peace treaty was signed.
In the central hall, all the aristocrats, the planet's royal families, the bishop, and the cardinals had gathered. After a joint prayer, the cardinals and the bishop blessed the aristocrats and members of the royal family. Then the bishop knelt at the altar and immersed himself in prayer to the Blue Circle—the central and main source of energy for the planet. Those gathered in the central hall had no idea what was happening in the sanctuary...
Meanwhile, in the Sanctuary of the Central Temple
Cadence had always envied the girl opposite her. That very stranger who captivated with unearthly beauty.
A girl was here. She was indescribably beautiful—her entire appearance radiated immense power and might, like a goddess descended from the heavens. The stranger turned out to be very tall and large, with silver hair and pale skin that stood out vividly against her black clothing. Black eyebrows and eyelashes contrasted perfectly with her pale skin, large round blue eyes the color of a clear sky, and delicate facial features. Her hair was gathered in a voluminous bun, crowned with a tiara of blue sapphires. She was dressed in a long, expensive black dress.
This beautiful lady was most often called by the name Esmeray, though her full name was Esmerayhan Ernalin Helga. However, because of the slaughter she was currently committing, the top of her dress was already stained with blood, the skirt was torn in places, and the hem stood in a pool of blood. Her light lace black gloves were already torn in spots and stained with the blood of her victim. The victim was the daughter of Marquis Eden—Cadence.
It all began when Cadence decided to blackmail the beauty:
"Princess, take a look at this! These are photos of your beloved. And they are quite... provocative," the brown-haired girl—Marquis Eden's daughter, Cadence—said with a malicious and cunning smirk.
For her, this was an extra lever of pressure on the princess, who was hated in high society.
"What would happen if I accidentally passed these photos to a few acquaintances? But so be it. I'll make a concession for you. You may be a failed omega-princess, but you are still an imperial princess. If you generously gift me your diamond mines and two million gold coins, I will hand these photos personally into your hands," Cadence smirked, looking at Esmeray's expression.
She enjoyed every second of the princess's inner struggle. She was consumed by excitement, arrogance, and cunning.
She knew that the silver-haired girl was madly in love with this guy—to such an extent that she had burned the Holy One's hair just for dancing with him. Cadence was certain: werewolf princess would do absolutely anything to protect her beloved.
Esmeray looked at the photographs. At first, surprise appeared on her face, but then she was overcome by incredible anger and aggression. She tried with her last bit of strength to restrain this impulse.
"How did you get these photographs?" Esmeray's soft and melodic voice drifted out.
However, for some reason, that voice made Cadence tremble slightly.
"Your beloved is known across the entire planet for his lecherous life during his time at the academy. Who knows, maybe someone else has photos like these?" Cadence continued to taunt Esmeray, holding the photos in her hands.
With a grim expression, Esmeray snatched the photos from her and tore them into small pieces.
"Ha-ha-ha! I still have these photos saved on my computer. I'll just print them again," Cadence laughed loudly. "Well, so? When should I expect your generous gifts?"
"After death." Esmeray's facial expression changed.
Something inside werewolf snapped like a thread. All thoughts and emotions in head turned into a dull, which was consuming all rationality leaving only insanity. Now she smiled tenderly at Cadence and then spoke in a quiet voice.
"What?" The sudden change in Esmeray's expression left Cadence in a stupor.
All the suppressed emotions burst out at once. Her blue eyes began to glow even brighter. Esmeray approached Cadence, grabbed her by her brown hair, and began to pull with all her might, dragging her across the entire hall. Esmeray was a purebred wolf—she was much stronger physically and twice as tall as Cadence. To ensure no one heard Cadence's screams, Esmeray covered her mouth with her hand.
"Hush. I've only just begun. Did you think you could just blackmail me?" Esmeray whispered.
Cadence tried to break free, but all her attempts were useless. Esmeray possessed incredible physical strength. The brown-haired girl bit Esmeray's palm so she would let go, hoping someone would hear her screams, come, and save her. Realizing all attempts were in vain, Cadence began to cry. Her tears amused the wolf. A mortal dared to blackmail a wolf and even said nasty things about her beloved—in Esmeray's opinion, at that moment, the girl deserved the worst death.
Princess began to pull her hair even harder, eventually ripping out part of the hair along with the scalp. The mortal fell to the floor and shrieked in pain. Esmeray looked at her hands. One glove was now covered in Cadence's blood, and the other was already torn from the bites. The wolf's loud laughter completely drowned out the screams of pain and pleas for help.
"I told you to be quieter. What a disobedient girl," she said, holding the girl by the chin.
"I was wrong, I'm sorry. It hurts, I'll give you everything I have, just let me go. I..." The girl didn't have time to finish her sentence before Esmeray's fingers were in her mouth. The wolf caught her tongue and ripped it out.
Cadence could only stare at her tongue in Esmeray's hands. She wept and wished to die quickly so the pain and torment would end. However, unfortunately, everything was still ahead.
"Noisy girls get punished. My name is Esmerayhan, and I never forgive!" Her glowing eyes terrified Cadence even more.
Looking into Esmerayhan's insane eyes, she realized: no one would save her now. Everything inside her tightened in despair. She prayed to the Blue Circle for this hell to end quickly. She cried harder, loud sobs now audible. She had no strength left to resist. The young marchioness collapsed onto the floor.
"So, you decided to call my beloved a pervert?" After these words, the wolf struck her in the stomach with her hand, and with claws peeking through her gloves, she ripped open the marchioness's abdominal cavity. Tears rolled continuously down Cadence's cheeks.
"Then who are you, if not a true lady of easy virtue? Even I have heard of your affairs with men three times your age. How should I punish you? Hmm..." she looked at the slashed stomach. "I've got it. Let's rip out your uterus."
Thanks to her knowledge, the wolf knew all of anatomy. She easily ripped out Cadence's uterus. Blood poured out like a fountain. The hem of Esmerayhan's dress was now soaked in her blood. However, it wasn't enough for the wolf; she couldn't stop. Now she ripped out the intestines. Blood simply flowed like a river. After such extensive bleeding, Cadence was already slowly losing consciousness. She was glad she would soon die.
"I'm not finished yet!" Esmerayhan shouted and gave Cadence a slap hard enough to wake her up. And it worked. Cadence, with eyes swollen from tears, looked at her tormentor and shook her head.
"That's it. You must stay conscious. Now, in which hand were you holding those photos?" With eyes full of horror, the young marchioness looked at her right hand.
That look was enough for Esmerayhan. The wolf grabbed the mortal by the shoulder and tore off her entire upper right limb. The victim's blood splattered onto the tormentor's pale face.
"Now the other arm." With these words, the silver-haired girl tore off Cadence's left upper limb in the same manner. The girl had already lost consciousness. Esmerayhan placed a hand on her neck to feel for a pulse. The pulse was weak at first, then disappeared entirely. The wolf laid her head on the girl's chest to listen for a heartbeat, but that too had stopped.
"How quickly you all die! It's not fair." Esmerayhan now tore off Cadence's legs one by one. Then the wolf stepped back and looked at the full picture.
The scene looked horrifying. The entire hall was flooded with the victim's blood. The body of the young marchioness was dismembered; her expensive, bright evening dress was torn and looked like a bloody mess. The hem of Esmerayhan's dress was soaked with the victim's crimson blood. Hands, also stained with blood, could be seen through her torn gloves.
Esmerayhan began to softly sing a sad melody. She dipped her hands into the victim's blood, ran them over the body, then stood up. She looked at the statue embodying the Blue Circle, to which everyone in the temple had prayed so hard today.
"You know, many who came to this temple today are perverts and monsters just like you. Maybe I should leave a message for them too? That would be nice." After these words, she began to write all over the statue, walls, and columns. Now not just the floor—the entire hall was covered in the victim's blood.
After the girl had written on absolutely everything, the door to the hall opened. Two tall guys appeared in the doorway. The first stood in front, the second behind.
"Wow, so this is what our madness looks like from the outside," spoke the second guy in glasses, who looked almost exactly like the first. They were undoubtedly twins.
The first to enter was a tall and muscular guy with the same hair and eye color as Esmerayhan, but with sterner facial features. He approached Esmerayhan and asked:
"Are you hurt?"
However, Esmerayhan seemed not to hear him. It was as if she didn't see the other one either; she continued to softly sing a sad melody and for some reason stumbled while taking small steps through the temple.
"Okay, it's clear. Take her in your arms and get out of here quickly," the first guy said. Despite his stern features, his voice was tender and soft.
"Ah? And what will you do?" replied the guy with almost the same appearance, only with softer features and wearing glasses, but with a very low and velvety voice. Then he picked the wolf up in his arms—she seemed sleepy; as soon as she was picked up, she immediately fell asleep.
"I'll get rid of the evidence, of course. It would be bad if they saw and found out our sister did this," the brother replied.
"But why? We are members of the imperial family—they won't execute us; they might only place a ban on entering the South, meaning the capital," the other replied, arching an eyebrow.
"Yes, but because of the ban, Esmerayhan might never see that fool again."
"Ah, well, there's that," the brother in glasses agreed.
"Then stop talking, leave with her quietly and unnoticed, and I'll burn everything here. Later I'll say I got angry and accidentally burned the sanctuary. And what was her name?" He looked at his brother, but he just shrugged. "Whatever, a girl was here and accidentally got caught in the fire. I'll burn it so thoroughly that not even ash will remain. Go already!" He shooed away the guy who had Esmerayhan in his arms.
The guy in glasses with the wolf princess in his arms left the sanctuary. They were outside. The guy looked for a second at the bright full moon in the sky, then ran faster and left the temple through the back entrance. Behind them came the brother, but the sanctuary was now burning with a bright flame, erasing all traces of Esmerayhan's madness.
***
Wolf princess watched everything happening from the side.
"Is this a vision? Who is this guy from the photos that would make me commit something like this? I've had fits of madness before, but never to this extent. If this was one of the possible branches of the future, why did I feel everything so vividly? As if I had already lived through it."
With these thoughts, the girl opened her eyes, out of breath, and jumped out of bed. First of all, she looked at the calendar. The date there was December 7, 1285, by the royal calendar. The holiday in honor of the victory in the vision was December 7, 1288.
"So, I saw future events? This is what will happen in three years? It's the first time I've felt everything like this. I'll ask Selim and Suleiman—they were present in the vision too."
Such were the girl's thoughts. She went to the bathroom and brought herself to her usual appearance. She didn't have time to open the door, unfortunately—her brother had already opened it and was looking at her.
"You won't believe what I saw!" began the guy with the low voice and glasses. His name was Suleiman. From the other side of the corridor, a muscular guy with stern features came running, out of breath—Selim.
"I had a vision!" the guy who had just approached them shouted.
At that moment, all three looked at each other. Perhaps they had one vision for the three of them, and simultaneously. Such a thing was a rarity. The questions were only increasing…