As she walked over to where the battle was happening, Fay was unusually calm...
No, that's not the right word.
She was unusually silent, sneaky, and low-key.
Everything about her right now made it increasingly hard to keep my eyes on her, as if her very presence in the world was actively erased by some sort of force.
And then, as we reached the area where the first corpses were scattered on the ground with all sorts of ugly marks on the nearby trees... Fay's presence returned.
And it did so in a big way.
BOOM!
Turning herself into a flash of lightning, Fay surged ahead. And only when she landed down roughly a hundred paces away did I realize that she left several, fresh corpses in her way.
'What?'
Raising my eyes along the path Fay took, I saw one, two, three... eleven, twelve, thirteen humans fall down to the ground with fountains of blood squirting out from where various parts of their bodies were ripped away.
There was no class, no dignity or grace in those wounds. Just pure and unadulterated desire to harm, wound, and kill.
And once my eyes reached sufficiently far enough, I finally got to bear witness to Fay's new look. And with our control over our bond slipping at the moment, I could also feel the strange mix of emotions swirling in Fay's soul.
Fay's graceful purity and innocence are signified by the whiteness of her hair and the floral theme of her suit...
They were now nowhere to be found.
With red marks of human blood splattered all over her suit, Fay lost her mellow, gentle look, revealing the more wild, animalistic side she had. And as she threw her head to the side, her eyes frantically searching for her next opponent, I got to catch a glimpse of her current face.
'Dang,' I gulped my saliva down when I got a visual confirmation of what I could already feel through our bond.
The innocent, pure, and adorable Fay was now nowhere to be found, replaced by the vile, vicious, and bloodthirsty monster. Her mouth was pried open, revealing her sharp fangs as she deeply breathed in the air.
Her chest moved up... And as if she sensed her prey through her smell, Fay's head shot to the side before the girl disappeared from her spot, only to reemerge several paces ahead, leaving several more human corpses in her wake.
"H-hon?" Fay called out in a slightly shaky voice, her body trembling a little as if she was instinctively trying to shake my hold off.
"It's okay," I whispered before learning my lesson and stealing her own move, reaching out with my hand for Fay's chin to hold her face in place as I leaned in and pressed my mouth against her bloodied lips.
Not stopping at just a shallow kiss, I instantly invaded Fay's mouth with my tongue, now confirming that her fangs had, indeed, grown. Before, I couldn't really tell if it was an actual change to her physique or just an impression I've got due to her vibe changing. But now that I've Frenc- kissed her?
Even though we have yet to truly get ourselves used to the intimacy of the other, I've kissed Fay enough to be able to instantly tell the difference.
As our kiss continued along with the ongoing battle all around, Fay's hold over her bond relaxed even further.
'Haaa....'
With my lips preoccupied at the moment, I couldn't sigh when her feelings flooded my soul, leading to my own grasp over our bond slipping and flooding Fay's soul with my own thoughts and feelings in return.
And as I went through the endless, boundless, and limitless ocean of Fay's predatory sense shaken awake by the blood part of our bond's inherence, I discovered how my darkness had somehow rooted itself within her soul allowing for an easier merging of our powers...
As I grew more and more aware of all of the aspects of Fay's soul I didn't notice before, Fay had to absorb all of my worries, uncertainties, and fears.
The fear of becoming too bloody and warmongering for her liking. The fear of Fay misunderstanding the ultimate goal I had in bringing over a modern army. And most of all, the self-directed blame born from watching her get hit because of my distracting soul call.
For but a moment, we both witnessed the depth of our conflicting feelings... All centered around the fear we shared of having others think ill of parts of ourselves we were reluctant to show or admit to.
And as if the battle happening all around us didn't matter anymore, as we looked into each other eyes...
Fay's hair started to rise in the air.
"..."
Neither of us spoke a word. We simply continued to stare into the eyes of the other while our souls, our worries, and our fears filled the other.
As Fay's hair moved through the air, encompassed me, consumed me, and pulled me into the void of a separate dimension, I saw a new yet familiar notification flare up in the corner of my eyes.
The world around me disappeared, replaced by the comforting presence of Fay and Fay alone. Her worries soothed my soul while mine comforted hers.
And as our auras merged, as my darkness fed upon Fay's affection and her divine aura preyed upon my stone-like loyalty, as our bond's inherence messed up our minds and promoted both the lust for blood and our lust for the other, I saw the words of the system notification.
[Perfect Evolution Possible: Do you wish to undergo a rebirth?]