Deviant: No Longer Human

"Who are they?"

Wang Xiao's voice echoed flatly across the cavern, his figure towering on the raised platform. Naomi had dropped him here without warning, and now hundreds of strange figures stared up at him in tense silence.

At first glance, they looked human, but not quite.

Their skin was bone-pale, untouched by sun for ages.

Their hair ran from white to ash-grey, a few strands glinting faint silver.

And their eyes, all of them, emerald green, glowing faintly in the dark like a hundred lanterns.

Thin bodies, fragile frames, they looked less like warriors, more like relics.

At last, one of them stepped forward.

A woman, slightly older than the rest, yet her body carried a ripened beauty, heavy breasts, wide hips, the kind of softness that bore both children and burdens.

Her light blue robes covered faintly to curves as she lowered her head.

"My name is Elara Nivelle," she said, voice quivering yet proud. "We are the Chrono-borns. Long ago, my tribe was bound outside of time itself. For centuries, no, for aeons, we slept in this hollow, waiting. Waiting for a hand strong enough to break the chains of Chronos."

Her voice cracked, eyes teary.

"And tonight… Lord, you changed the flow of time itself. You shattered the bindings. You" she dropped to her knees, trembling, "you freed us!"

The crowd erupted.

"He freed us?!"

"The curse is gone?"

"By the waves of time, we're whole again!"

A younger man rushed forward, no more than twenty in appearance, his hair almost silver-white. He thumped his chest. "I am Kaelen, son of the Sealed. I swear my life to you, Lord!"

Another, a woman with sharp cheekbones and a braid coiled tight, shouted hoarsely, "I'm Lyssia! I watched my children wither in frozen moments, Lord, if you command it, I will spill every drop of my blood for you!"

An old man hobbled up with a cane carved from bone, tears streaming down his wrinkled face. "We thought the gods had abandoned us… but you came. You came! Savior!"

The murmurs swelled into hysteria.

"Savior!"

"Our chains are broken!"

"Blessed be the one who commands time!"

"Free! We're finally free!"

The noise filled the cavern, emerald eyes all blazing with reverence and madness.

Wang Xiao frowned. He had asked who they were, but the crowd was too busy crying and celebrating, their voices deafening.

He glanced at Naomi.

She shrugged softly, her soft hair swaying. ""Th–they're… Chronomasters…"

Her voice was soft, uneven, like she had to push each word past her lips. "X… Xianthera… it, it came from their failed… experiment. The one that… swallowed them… into the flow of time."

She paused, blinking slowly, as if catching her breath. "…You… tampered with time. It… loosened the bindings. Th-that's… why… they're here."

"Chronomasters, huh?" Wang Xiao muttered. He had expected keepers of clocks, men with ticking hearts, at least some theatrics. Instead, they were a noisy flock of pale skeletons with green eyes. Knowledge, yes, but only Chronoaether, just another flavor of Aether bent toward time.

His gaze swept over Elara. She was celebrating, her arms around a girl to her side. Something about the younger one made him tilt his head.

"Elaria…" Elara whispered, patting the girl's hair, her voice heavy with emotion. "At last… you can see the sky again."

Elaria smiled faintly, tears trembling in her emerald eyes.

"Grandma," she whispered, clutching Elara's face between her hands, "please… take me to see the sun. Just once. Let me feel it."

Elara's lips curved. "I promis—"

SLASH!

The promise never finished.

Elara's body split apart, clean diagonal, blood spraying across Elaria's cheeks. Her breasts hit the stone with a wet slap before the rest of her collapsed into a gory heap.

For a heartbeat, silence.

Then...

"Grandma…? Grandma...wake up, please… you can't sleep now…" Elaria's voice cracked, shaking her head, trying to push the halves of Elara's body back together with trembling hands.

The crowd exploded.

"Godmother!"

"She's dead! Lady Elara is dead!"

"No… NO! She was supposed to guide us!"

"Why would he kill her?!"

"The savior... he's a butcher!"

"Run!"

Kaelen stumbled forward, eyes wide, voice shaking: "You! You freed us just to slaughter us?! Is this your game?!"

Lyssia dropped to her knees, scooping blood into her hands, smearing it across her face as she wailed: "No! No, bring her back! Take me instead! Take me instead!"

The old man shrieked, voice breaking, cane clattering on the stone: "Blasphemy! Monster! She was our Voice, our last Voice, why, why would you do this?!"

Hundreds joined in, children sobbing, men cursing, women howling, voices layering until the chamber shook with their fury.

"Run!"

"He'll kill us all!"

"Monster!"

"Savior!"

"Devil!"

Pale bodies stampeded. Robes tore, people tripped and were trampled, eyes staring lifeless as their own kin crushed them in blind panic.

Blood smeared underfoot, painting the white stone red.

Above the hysteria, Wang Xiao stood still.

His lips curled faintly, amused, he hadn't even been angry. He hadn't planned cruelty. He just wanted an answer. Naomi gave him one. Why couldn't Elara? Why the endless reverent nonsense?

Now, hundreds of voices screamed his name, worship twisted into curses.

The savior had become the devil in the span of a single stroke.

"So noisy…" Wang Xiao murmured. His smile widened.

The more he smiled, the more Naomi stepped back, hair stuck to her cheek, her smooth bare feet splashing in the damp stone.

She had brought him here, yes. But she had never expected hell to break loose this fast.

What Naomi hadn't expected, was that these fools would actually hurl themselves at him.

"Kill the demon!"

"He murdered Lady Elara, tear him apart!"

"For the freedom!"

Dozens surged forward, bare hands, broken stones, nothing but rage to wield. Thin bodies flung themselves like waves against rock.

Naomi flinched, whispering, "D-Don't…" Her voice drowned in the roar. A storm like this, once unleashed, could only end in silence.

Slash!

A head rolled, mouth still screaming.

Crack!

A spine snapped, body folded backwards like paper.

Slice! Slice!

Blood sprayed across the pale walls as two more dropped, split clean through.

"Stop him! Hold him down!"

Splurt!

"Run...ru!"

Thud!

"No, no, please, I-"

Thud!

One by one, they collapsed. Their cries choked mid-word, their bodies cut apart before they ever reached him. Every step Wang Xiao took painted the stone red, crimson water splashing up his legs.

It didn't last long.

Two minutes at most.

They had been trapped for eternity. Freed for minutes. Never saw the outside world. They died with grievances carved into their faces.

Was this destiny?

When the silence settled, only one voice remained.

"Kill me… kill me too... "

A girl knelt in the gore, clutching Elara's half-severed head in her hands. Her white hair softer than the rest, her ears slightly elongated, her face delicate despite the blood streaking it. Emerald eyes wide, tear-swollen, staring at him like he was both executioner and god.

She didn't understand. Why leave her? She hadn't even resisted. Why kill everyone else and let her suffer?

Wang Xiao tilted his head, stepping closer.

"You look quite a lot like my daughter…"

"…huh?"

Elaria's head lifted in shock. For a heartbeat, hope flickered in her tears.

But then he smiled faintly.

"She could use you as a pet."

Her blood ran cold.

His hand shot out, iron-strong, gripping her thin wrist and yanking her up.

"No! No, leave me...let me go!" She clawed at his grip, kicking, her voice raw with panic. "You killed them all! I won't go with you! I'd rather—"

Slap!

The crack rang across the cave. Her cheek swelled red instantly, tears spilling anew. She froze, stunned, lips trembling.

Wang Xiao's voice was soft, cruel: "Keep quiet."

He dragged her forward through the river of blood. She staggered after him, glancing back one last time.

Corpses, hundreds, her kin trampled, butchered, left to rot. No graves, no rites, no prayers.

Only maggots would remember them.

And she... she was the prize taken by the butcher.