darkSpyro

"You should eat. We may not get another chance for awhile. It's already cooked, but I can heat it further if you need it.," Raclaw said to Shade pausing his own meal to drop some fish in front of Shade. He also thought how he might help with Shade's nightmares, although it might put himself at risk. And as if Latnok was reading his mind, it seemed as if the Guardian had the same concerns.

"I can't guarantee anything, but I could attempt to telepathically link with him and provide him with more control. As long as the corruption can't jump ship and travel along my connection, it.. it might work. There is always some risk involved, however, in such an endeavor.," he then said responding to Latnok and providing a possible solution. Even if his energy alone wasn't enough to keep the corruption at bay, there was still the untapped energy of the collar to help his cause.

Quote: A Guy

The sight of Star devouring fish was rather amusing to Latnok. "Well, then, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Nothing like a good meal to keep the spirits up. If you feel like eating some other animal here, I will have no problem hunting it - just let me know." Looking at the tooth in his hand for a moment, he then turned his gaze towards Shade.

Angora threw in a few knsults, only realizing now that Latnok did the same irritating spell from before. She then waited for him to have the tooth in hand to make her move.
"I EARNED THIS TOOTH YOU SELFISH MONSTER! YOU ALREADY HAVE MANY THINGS!" Angora yelled like a mad dog, firmly believing she had more right to the teeth and ignoring the rest of the things happening there. Even though Angora was more sentient and smarter than the normal sized trolls, she still had their nasty temperament. And if there was one thing that defined trolls was they affinity for sharp things, which Angora demonstrated with flying colors. As she yelled those words to Latnok, she spoke with her mind and slowly so he could read her lips. He wasn't going to let him ignore her that easily.

Latnok shook his head at Raclaw. "Absolutely not. I don't want to risk losing anyone we don't have to. He already manifests a lot of power when he's sleeping - way more than a dragon typically has, so much so that the collar he's wearing simply won't absorb it all. Unless..." He paused a moment to consider the possibilities. "Your collar. Do you remember the 'quicken' command? With the power it has, I dare say that we may have a contingency plan."

Latnok, not possessing mind-reading capabilities and not focusing his attention towards Angora, ignored her for the most part, only keeping a mental note of her fit. "We have more important things to discuss. Begone for now."

Star thought for a moment. Pulling out some of his tech, he started fiddling with it. "Well, I could make an insomnia inducer... Though the side effects once it wears off are rather... Unpleasant."

Raclaw gave a quick nod-- having memorized all the known commands although also remembering how the command required a Guardian to act upon it. And that meant possibly giving some degree of control of his collar to Latnok. Although something had to be done at this point.

"Well, then, we would preferably want a solution which would allow him to sleep," Latnok said, directed at Star, "although you should keep that thing handy if we can't find such a solution." "I'll have your back whenever you want to give it a try," he telepathed to Raclaw, more to affirm the statement and reinforce his presence than out of any necessity to use telepathy.

Star started fidgeting. "If magical solutions won't work, my science should!" He was saying it more to reassure himself than anything. Magic terrified him because it defied scientific explanation.

Quote: A Guy

Latnok, not possessing mind-reading capabilities and not focusing his attention towards Angora, ignored her for the most part, only keeping a mental note of her fit. "We have more important things to discuss. Begone for now."

Still ignoring the much bigger scenario, Angora still insisted on having the tooth for herself.
"You're not going to give it to me?" she asked slowly, with both her mouth and her mind. She was a bit calmer now, wanting to be rational about the matter, but there was no doubt she was still very angry, and sick and tired of Latnok always having his way and not respecting her.

Raclaw gave it a quick thought and looked towards Shade, wanting the Dragonoid to have some say in their decision. "It's your choice-- do you want to attempt an telepathic bond or would you rather try the inducer?," he gently asked knowing that Shade wasn't too happy about already having a collar forced upon him. He wasn't 100% certain ether about potentially compromising his collar or even himself, but was willing to try it for the sake of Shade.

Latnok, noting Angora's change in demeanor, took a glance at her - enough to read her lips, or at least he thought he could. "This may be useful later. I intend to analyze its properties and see if they may give us a better understanding of Shade, or at least, see if it can be used in medicine or magic."

Using the same lip and mind pattern, Angora, still struggling to remain rational about the matter, spoke once more to Latnok.
"It's always you you you! You think I believe you when you say it's to use it for good, when you've proven you're anything but? You're doing this just to annoy me like you've always done ever since starting this stupid quest! It was accidental, but I was still the one who chipped that tooth off him! You have your armor, your precious magic and your irritating ego! What more do you want? What if I find an antique? Or gold, maybe a diamond? Will you take that away from me too?" Angora asked with a calm voice, but the visible vein in her temple made it quite obvious how incredibly furious she was.

Darkheart groaned at the troll's anger. Glaring at her, she whispered in a way no one else could hear. "Now is NOT the time. We have more pressing concerns." Glancing at Star, she added "I'm sure I could talk Star into making something for you if you want." The method she used would likely be familiar to Shade: Tapping into the darkness within every creature's heart. She wasn't sure it was possible to use with Orion, but that was fine.

Star growled back. "Look, I don't need to try to help you. I could just go back to wandering the world at anytime if I were so inclined. And you didn't answer the question. Telepathy or caffeine injector?"

Quote: darknessdawn

Darkheart groaned at the troll's anger. Glaring at her, she whispered in a way no one else could hear. "Now is NOT the time. We have more pressing concerns." Glancing at Star, she added "I'm sure I could talk Star into making something for you if you want." The method she used would likely be familiar to Shade: Tapping into the darkness within every creature's heart. She wasn't sure it was possible to use with Orion, but that was fine.

"Now you're taking HIS side? I have my rights too! But no, everybody! Take it against the ugly little troll, who is just too stupid and annoying, right?" Angora complained with a stomp... and the glared at Orion... taking a very outrageous decision. She took the lantern tied around her waist, placed it on the ground, and kicked it right towards him. The look on her face was enough to know she couldn't be any more serious.

"There, take it! Whatever that guardian saw in me, it doesn't exist anymore. Tell him to choose another creature to take this suicidal mission. The world can rot for al I care, but I don't want this responsibility. No more. I'm tired of everything, especially being in the presence of THIS human. Nobody will ever respect me, or even appreciate the few times I tried to be nice. I'll just resume to my old, boring life." Angora said with a scowl, renouncing everything, even herself. Whatever nobility both Orion and the guardian saw in her, it was impossible for her to show it with Latnok belittling her ever chance he got. She tolerated his demeanor for as much as she could, but taking the tooth from her, Darkheart taking his side and Shade continuing with his threatening growls only added more wood to the fire. Angora lost all hope in that moment. She initially took this mission to show Latnok that there was more to trolls than all his racist opinions, but he has demonstrated that no matter what she did, or even if she had succeeded in the mission, he was never going to change. Not himself, or his opinions, so what's the point? Why do anything if you weren't going to make a positive change? She refused to live in a world where people like Latnok existed.

Darkheart actually growled now. "I don't like Humans any more than you do, Angora! But the last thing we need is fighting. Honestly..." She lowered her voice again. "I'd personally just as soon leave the Human behind too, but I don't have much choice. It's either help or return to my previous life, probably going insane again. At least you get to have ANY choice in this matter." The dragoness shudders.
Star looks up at the two. Suddenly he grins. I'm not the only one with a grudge, then? Ehehehehe!

"And clearly, they're doing a very good job showing how grateful they are." Angora said sarcastically, giving a poisonous look to everyone, even the ones she hasn't even interacted with.
"Why should I save the world, when clearly it hasn't show it deserves it? Why should I save it, if humans like THAT one exist?" Angora expressed, giving him a long, pointy finger. The world itself was in her hands once more, but this time, she didn't even cared.

"I saved the world once, why should I do it again? Even if I do, all of these beasts are simply going to treat me the same or worse than before! I'm sorry, but NOBODY deserves to live! Call me selfish, unreasonable, anything you want, but I'm not doing this! Let the world fall apart! It doesn't even deserve pity! Let it start anew!" The little troll declared, rudely throwing the weapons in front of him and turning away so that nobody could see she started to cry. At first, she would've done anything to keep herself alive, even beg if she had to, but this time, not even life itself mattered. She knew that if she refused this mission, she would die, but at least she would drag everyone else along with her. This was her weakest moment. She thought nothing mattered anymore. She walked away, not even giving a brief goodbye to the group, hoping they would enjoy the time they had alive, cause she was no longer going to tolerate they bullying. She went to the water hole where Latnok found the fish, splashing her face so that the tears wouldn't be visible. She felt lousy for the decision she took, but reminding herself of Latnok made her not regret it.

Darkheart sent a death glare at the others but said nothing.
Star shook slightly, covering his face. A flashback of his suppressed memories returned, of him losing the only friend he had left. Shaking like a leaf, he crawled back into Latnok's bag, leaving the parts he had out laying on the ground.

Angora looked at her reflection below, and all she could think of was how pitiful it looked. She had hope. She tried to be nice. She defended Shade and even tried to be playful with Latnok by doing that joke on him, but nothing was making him change. He still belittled and disrespected her, to the point that she was willing to sacrifice the whole world, even herself, to make sure he died. What's more, he couldn't even give up something as little as a tooth, something she earned. She was certain he only took it only because she wanted it. As horrible as she felt, she didn't want to back up on her decision. If nobody respected her, then there was no chance of her to have a friend or even be loved, so she wanted to make sure the whole world payed for her lifetime of humiliation and bullying.

Latnok sighed, having started ignoring the troll again as soon as she had started to throw a fit. "Don't mind her, just the same old crap. She'll get back to her senses after a while. Now, we have to focus on the solution for Shade. Should we get it to work, it'll make everyone's life a lot easier." He had already begun his analysis on the tooth - feeling its latent magical patterns. Initial analysis indicated patterns similar to dark magic, at least from what he could identify - outside of his area of expertise. Further analysis was something he would have to have a bit more dedicated time for, though. "You know, at times like this, I'm really glad I can just stop hearing her whenever. Her picking fights over petty stuff gets old really quickly. Unfortunately, unless Neo smartens up, we're stuck dealing with her."

Even though Angora was at a distance, she could somewhat hear what he was saying. He sounded so callous, so neutral. It was as if he didn't even cared about anything.
"I hope you see your precious mentors in the underworld where you belong." she said cruelly with both her mind and her lips, Latnok just reinforcing her decision. As selfish as it was, she was going to let the entire world be destroyed if it meant killing him. She just hated him so much, more than she ever has any dragon. Just when she thought the fire breathing reptiles were the most abhorrent things in the world, a human comes along and proves her so wrong. She wasted time and energy hating the wrong creature.

After watching her reflection for a while, she couldn't take it anymore. She got up, and decided it was time for her to leave the group behind and resume the life she had, however long remained of it.
"Humans, a disgusting disease infecting this world. Maybe this supposed corruption isn't a corruption after all. Maybe it's the white cells it desperately needs to wipe out their irritating population." Angora monologues, with a voice so full of hatred, it made her look evil and bloodthirsty. She kept walking, not looking behind her. Whatever this corruption was, Orion made it sound like it would destroy everyone, not just humanity. How pitiful it was, but there was nothing Angora could do, or rather, she wanted to do nothing about it. She even regretted stopping Shade and saving Orion. A lot of good he did the supposed Galaxy Dragon, allowing a violent, racist, thieving scoundrel like Latnok join the group and worse still, letting her, his savior, be treated that way.

At this point, Latnok was too focused on coming up with a plan to even notice Angora trying to communicate with him. He only saw her leaving in the corner of his eye, figuring that she was just having another tantrum and would be back soon.
Dark magic... dark magic... Yes. That was it.
"Hey, Darkheart. So Godfather Sere knows a dark magic spell - Subdue Mind, I think it's called - whereby he can suppress the target's aggression, or their will to really do anything. It only works on creaturss he is somewhat familiar with, though. So... with this tooth, do you think you can build some sort of resonance and perform a similar spell? I have no idea, I'm just spitballing here."

Darkheart looked startled. "Subdue Mind... I've never actually known that spell, if I did I wouldn't have gone through HALF of the trouble I've been through."
Star was looking at an old locket, staring sadly at the picture of his friend and the words etched in by his own claw, blaming the Humans for losing him. He felt it was only fair, since it was a Human's blade that did it. Latnok's arrogant attitude was endangering everyone! Although, Star had to admit, this bag is very... "Comfey"... The puns helped him cope, the same way his apathetic attitude did. In the confines of the bag, he started trying to repair the ChronoModifier, as a contingency escape plan. He'd need scrap metal to replace what had rusted away, but that wasn't the top priority. As he worked, he relaxed again. This... THIS was something he understood!

OOC: I'm making Pokepuns. Help me.

"Well, then, it looks like the link with Raclaw is our best chance at allowing Shade to sleep," Latnok said. "Though there is a risk - should Raclaw go rogue, he will be able to tap into the power of his own fully activated collar, and I do not have the authority to disable it - only to hope he doesn't overpower the 'quicken' command." At this point, he noticed that Angora had apparently completely left the vicinity.
"...hey. Do you guys think I do what I need to do for the good of others? Or do you think I'm just doing this for my own pleasure? There is no wrong answer - but I need you to be honest." As Latnok said this, he began removing his armor in the opposite way he put it on.

Star poked his head out. "Whether or not you've got a good motive, your treatment of Angora wasn't exactly 'stellar'. Being on the side of good is somewhat pointless if everyone hates you for acting like a jerk, and in her case..." He pulled his head back in and finished taking his ChronoModifier V3 apart, storing the antimatter safely.
Darkheart muttered. "I wish I could disagree with Star's assessment, but he has a point. Whether or not you intended to be harsh with that poor troll s a moot point, since she's so sick of you she's willing to let the whole world die for it."
Star poked his head back out. "I need some scrap metal for materials. I can shape it myself, but I'll need several types. Most of which are rare 'skymetals', and you call them. You know, like adamantine. I only need trace amounts of the skymetals. The rest should preferably be stainless steel."

"So that's how it is," Latnok said. "This 'compassionate' troll is willing to murder everyone over one man. Very well." He turned away, facing the path he was to take. "Regardless, her temper tantrums are endangering everyone. I will fix this issue. I only need you to stay put and avoid following me." His armor completely off, he started to step off, getting ready to track Angora down, but quickly turned back.
"Unbind." As Latnok said this, the collar around Shade's neck snapped open and fell off. "You will see." And so, he stepped off, leaving behind his bag, his armor - everything but his phoenix steel qxe and dagger, and the dragon tooth. He wouldn't need them.

OOC: Apologies fir the edits. I'm doing this on mobile currently.

Raclaw had a similar expression-- having expected Latnok to keep Shade's collar in effect *in addition* to using his own to help overcome the corruption. Instead, it seemed as if all of the darkness/corruption would rest on his own shoulders with no additional protection other his own now buffed up collar. And for better/worse, it was now confirmed that the Guardians had little control over it now more than ever.

"It seems as though he no longer feels that your collar is nessary. We should get started soon-- it'll now be up to the telepathic link and my own self control to conquer the corruption that resides within you." he then said knowing that there was no going back now. 'At least now Shade will be able to defend himself at least,' he thought to himself.

"I would keep the collar on, but... it's for his own protection. You will see what I mean not too long from now." Latnok looked for the telltale signs of Angora's track - small troll footprints, vegetation shifted about three feet up but not much higher - and began his trailing. He would put an end to this farce once and for all, maybe knock some sense into Neo - all it would cost him was his life. And so, despite not in particular caring for Shade, he had to remove the collar to prevent the dead man's switch from taking him too.

Angora kept walking until she found a peaceful clearing, surrounded by thick trees and where the rays of the sun overpassed some of the openings. She was so very hungry, and sleepiness was winning her over. She wanted to sleep first, but she knew she needed food at once. As if luck was on her side, she found an injured bird fluttering around, which she easily captured.
"It's time to put you out of your misery my friend... as will everyone else. I'm so very sorry for doing this to you, but I need to eat." Angora said, apologizing to the bird before she gave it a quick, painless death, and then devouring it whole. She preferred this method over chewing since she didn't like to waste meat, but she didn't want the little animals to suffer either, so she always made sure they were dead before swallowing. She knew how it was to be small and defenseless, and she felt bad for having to kill sometimes to feed, but she knew it was how nature worked.

It wasn't much of a meal, but at least it mellowed the hunger. At last, Angora was alone, and in peace. She watched her beautiful surroundings, knowing too well that soon, this will be no more because of her decision. She still felt lousy for turning her back to the world, but what else there was to be done? As she watched this serene place, she couldn't help but to think that it won't last long in this state even if she had saved the world. Sooner or later, it was probably going to be torched by a dragon, or worse still, being destroyed by humans to make a camp or a village, or something of the sort, so why bother? She contemplated the trees, and saw one bearing fruit. Only a couple of them were rotten... but even so, was it worth to cut down the entire tree just because it had a few rotting fruits?

Some shifted vegetation here, some footprints there... easy enough. Either Angora didn't think she would be tracked, or she didn't care. Or she just didn't try hard enough. Latnok wouldn't put it past a troll. The thought of what must happen terrified him... but it was him or the world. Neo... I don't know how long you will live, but I will be waiting in hell for however long it takes to see you there. The whole world at the mercy of a child. But his primary mission was to protect humanity at all costs.
Hearing some rustling up ahead, and what sounded like a distressed bird,, Latnoka sound dampening spell on himself. Wasn't long until he found exactly what he was looking for - the monster herself. But he wasn't here to ambush her. Softly, he tossed Shade's tooth into some nearby gravel, waiting for it to grab Angora's attention.

Angora was closing her eyes when the noise got her attention. She thought it was a fallen nut, but when she saw how it was, she was irritated on how brief her moment of peace was.
"Why do you continue pestering me!? I was out of your life! What does it take for you to get lost!? Here I was having a peaceful moment and you just had to ruin it, didn't you? How I wish I was a mole right now so I can dig my way out of here and avoid see your ridiculous existence!" Angora said, though not as angry as her usual self. That place was peaceful enough to keep her calm, though Latnok following her was shattering the moment. Why did he insisted so much on bothering her? If he was trying to convince her to get along this mission, he was doing it all the wrong ways. She even ignored the tooth she once wanted so badly.

Latnok, having released the personal silence, grabbed his axe. "We duel. No armor needed. I win, you stop whining. You win, you get to kill me." Latnok spun his axe in his hand, in anticipation.

Angora twitched her eye, indication that she tried very hard to keep her temper in check.
"It's all violence to you, isn't it? It was the same when we met! You want to solve everything with a duel! And you call trolls the violent ones? How mixed up your beliefs are!?" Angora said in a very stern tone, but not yelling. She then kicked the tooth to him.
"There! Take your little offering! You think I want it after your meaty claws touched it? Get lost! And I hope this stains your conscience for whatever remains of your life." Angora then said cruelly, wanting Latnok to know it was his fault the decision she took. She wanted the fact to psychologically torture him in the little time he had left.

"I don't think you understand. This isn't optional," Latnok said. "You, having the nerve to judge others when you would be willing to murder millions upon millions of innocent people because of your hate for one man who meant you no ill will. But they're just numbers to you, right? When I do it, it's murder, by when you do it, it's perfectly fine. Creatures like you disgust me. I'm not going to wait for this whole mess to go down, though - I'll kill you myself. Neo, behold your 'compassionate' troll. I don't know what your definition of compassion is, but for us humans, it certainly doesn't involv killing hundreds of millions. You are ultimately responsible for this, for your obstinance and inability to see reason, or anything beyond your fairy tale. Leaving the world in the hands of a troll child! Hah! Guide her blade." With that, Latnok immediately launched a force bolt - a fast projectile of compressed air - with his off-hand - however, it was only the kind used for training, and would at most stint.

Angora simply smiled with his attack, noticing just how angry Latnok was. No doubt her words hurted him a lot.
"It's painful, isn't it? The world's fate is in the hands of a creature you despise so much. And because you couldn't be at least kind to that creature and let go of your violent, biased tendency, you doomed the whole world. All these years of you hunting down creatures like me, being racist and an unreasonable jerk, with nothing making you change your opinion, is finally eating you up. This is your punishment for being so blindly evil. You weren't chosen to save the world, and you hate that." Angora commented, with an eerie calmness.

"My life was hard enough being this size, and you just had to make it worse, disrespecting me and treating me like trash. You didn't even care that I was the one chosen for this mission. You saw me as nothing but a monster from the very beginning, when all I wanted was a little respect and acceptance. I tried to make the first move and bring the peace, and yet, you never accepted. You wanted a monster? Congratulations, you made the monster you wanted to see so badly." Angora lectured, wanting to make Latnok feel as lousy as she did. What she hated about Latnok the most was not only how he treated her, or the fact that he stole from her. It was how he has brought the worse of her personality with little effort.

"I do not respect children who throw temper tantrums, and I will not respect you," Latnok said simply. "I will show you the murderous human you have wanted to see so badly." At this point, he charged forward, axe in hand, in an unusually telegraphed attack. "Watch, Neo. I will make you reconsider." As he attacked, he telepathed Angora scenes of him killing trolls as they begged for mercy.

Meanwhile...
Quote: Spyroconvexity

"I feel free for the first time in a long time." Shade said.

"I'm glad for you. And I hope it can stay that way for a long time to come.," Raclaw said with a faint smile. "Although-- now we have little choice but to go through with the bond. I'll warn you... it might be disorienting at first and we may inadvertently share thoughts or emotions while we are linked. I'll do all I can to keep our thoughts separate and only intrude into yours when I absolutely have to. Are you ready for this?," he then asked preparing the dark Dragonoid while they waited for Latnok to return.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

Suddenly Neo appeared before Angora and just before his attack hit her Neo blocked it with his own Emerald sword. "I choose her because she is more worthy than you are. Attacking an unarmed creature without any warning? Disgraceful."

Angora was in the process of blocking her mind, but she knew she wouldn't have dodged in time.
"Wow, heh, are you really that intimidated by such a tiny troll? It wasn't enough for you to attack me unarmed, you had to be sadistic enough to show me these visions so I wouldn't have a chance to even react." Angora accused, never having seen a more dirty trick than that. Was he really such an idiot? Angora was the only one who can save the world according to Neo and Orion. He didn't even stop to think that Angora might reconsider and go along with it. Instead, he decided to strike her down out of pure frustration, knowing fully well that if she was killed, then he was simply assuring the world's demise.

"It was about time you showed up!" she then whispered to Neo, having expected him, though she didn't imagined he would take his time to save her from this despicable human. She couldn't help but to think that all of Latnok's bullying and violence was due to him being jealous of her. A troll of all creatures, was chosen to be the savior. And not just any troll either. One with a genetic condition. A creature such as herself was chosen instead of him, whose pride and ego was bigger than the planet Jupiter. That must have been a severe blow to him, which is why he has been treating her this way.

"Well, that's refreshing." Angora said in a sarcastic tone, now imagining she wouldn't get rid of Neo either. As Lanok recovered from the blow, there was something she needed to get off her chest, but this time, she communicated with him through the mind.

"Listen, I really don't want to doom the world. I'm not the monster he sees. But why should I live in a world where people like him exist? You've seen him, have you? He doesn't leave me alone. What if I do save the world? Will you leave me? If I save the world, I'll no longer be useful. He'll come after me! Heck, I haven't even finished the mission and he's already attacking me. You've heard him. He has no honor, and he'll never change his biased way. Even if I manage to escape, I will never have any peace of mind knowing he's in pursuit. I know he'll want me dead one way or another, cause that's what his disgusting kind does. And no matter what I do, no matter how many times I try to bring peace, he never changes." Angora expressed meekly, showing her much vulnerable side to Neo. She was so insecure about the matter.

"More worthy? Your troll is about to murder every man, woman, and child in the world and she is more worthy? Your troll is not unarmed - I knew of you - and I gave her plenty of warning, but if you believe what you said, then it's obvious you have gone mad. Now, you will pick someone else for this job, or you will have the blood of every single person in the world," Latnok said. "We will not have the world be at the mercy of a child. Tell me, Neo, what part of 'compassion' involves killing everyone? Can you answer me that? I don't even blame the troll - she's a child, she doesn't know any better. But you? A creature like you, who should know better? You need someone compassionate? Go to any village, any abbey, any hospital, and you will find thousands of them, who aren't willing to kill everyone! What about Star? He didn't even choose to be in this world. Should he die for a child's fit? Perhaps I need to show you how evil she truly is!" Latnok said as he swung his axe again - slowly and using the blunt part of the blade. He had no intention of actually hurting Angora - only forcing a response from her or Neo. "You obviously don't know the weight of your decision - before you kill millions upon millions, show that you have the courage to kill a man!"

"You... idiot! You think this is aboht me? You think I give a damn about being some goddamned hero?! How about I show you how few figs I give about me!" With that, Latnok tossed his axe to the ground, and drew his dagger. With just the slightest hesitation, he plunged the dagger into his chest, with a grunt, and fell on his knees. His relatively dense musculature and thicker skin just barely stopped the dagger from hitting a lung - for now.
"This is... what you want, right?! Unlike this piece of garbage here, I will not damn everyone because of my own hatred and pride. If it's my life to get you to see how far out of your goddamned mind you are... that's an easy trade." With that, he withdrew the dagger, before quickly thrusting it into his abdomen. "This thing is a danger to us all... you have to see that. Tell me... what does she have... that you can't find... in any monk? I can guarantee you that no monk would hold the world hostage..."
This is for you, Harux, Arulin. I will do what I have to. Now I, too, will die for someone else's mistake.