My Wives Are A Divine Hive Mind-Chapter 48: First Encounter With The Nightsilk Order

The moment the figure at the front of the gothic-armored group surged forward, the air bent under the sheer spiritual force of his acceleration.

Shadow peeled from his limbs in a slick wake, and even the fractured stone beneath his armored boots left fissures trailing in the wake of his charge.

Azulus stiffened immediately, one hand sliding to the hilt of her oversized katana, body tensing as if to move in an instant. Her eyes flared open out of pure instinctual survival calculation.

While the scene unfolding, Kivas noticed that her Soulcall Whisper Bell didn’t ring even once, meaning that around one minute from now on, her life was in no intrinsic danger.

Samael didn’t move.

The armored figure arrived within a blink of perception and came to a perfect stop in front of Samael, dropping to one knee with practiced grace, his chestplate shining beneath streaks of ornamental scripture and faded symbols of a thousand unknown prayers.

From his armored hands, he presented a bouquet of radiant, crystalline flowers—fragments of crystal spires reshaped into petal forms, glittering with inner light.

"My lady," the armored knight intoned, his voice deep, solemn, yet carrying a charming lilt of melodrama, "I have crossed lifetimes and devotions, but never before have I witnessed beauty so immutable and divinely sharp. Are you, by chance, open to light conversation and mutual ascension of spirit?"

The wind froze around him in reverence to his gall.

Azulus could nary say a word.

Meanwhile, Samael barely changed in expression. It was as if she had just seen an intriguing thing happening in front of her, but she barely cared enough to focus on it.

Before Samael could respond, a second armored figure, draped in ceremonial nun-like armor with flowing veil panels etched in faded black prayers, stepped forward and drove her plated fist into the back of armored knight’s helm with such force that his head sank into the ground like it was a child’s toy being punished.

The ground cracked. His legs flailed once and then stopped.

"I apologize," the nun said curtly, brushing ash off her gauntlet, before gracefully bowing, maintaining a powerful posture. "He might look like a higher ranking of ours, but it is no mean that he can’t be put under probation for inappropriate conduct during external encounters. Please disregard his behavior!"

Samael’s smile sharpened with a low twitch of amusement. "You punched him for calling me beautiful?"

"No," the nun clarified. "I punched him for doing that while we’re in mission."

"You seem to be taken aback, Azulus," Kivas said to the wary rodent-eared friend in a very casual manner.

Azulus answered with a whisper that appeared to be coated in a concealment skull. "Explaining it will be long and complicated, but to put it simply, we really don’t want to be in conflict with them, absolutely not."

Kivas immediately knew what was up, now that she saw Azulus being frightened firsthand.

And now, Kivas and Azulus could only hope that Azulus would peacefully diffuse this situation and get themselves detached from the gothic group as fast as possible.

"Hmm... As much as I wanted to let it go here." Samael placed her hand to her chin, eyes lazily flicking to Kivas. "There is something said by your side that I greatly disagreed with."

Azulus cringed and pleaded in her head that Samael would just drop this.

Kivas also recoiled in anxiety, knowing full well that when Samael insisted on something, it could be catastrophic depending on the topic of discussion.

And thus, with conviction and pride, Samael uttered a declaration, "I’m not the most beautiful woman here."

Azulus visibly flinched, wondering if she was high or poisoned at this moment.

Kivas choked in the background, and was trying her best to look normal. "Well, you don’t need to do this now—"

Samael then reached backward and grabbed Kivas by the back of her collar, yanking her forward.

With a slow and casual motion, she ripped Kivas’ skull-mask upward, revealing her entire face.

"Because this is the most beautiful woman in this vicinity!" Samael shouted as if it was a matter of life and death.

"Wuh...?"

Kivas was bewildered, and was extremely anxious now that she was the subject of an important interaction between two possibly volatile and dangerous factions.

Meanwhile, Azulus was already curling up and hiding her face out of embarrassment.

"Stop—stop this is not—!"

The gothic knight, still half-buried, twitched.

He struggled upright, chunks of dirt falling from his helm as he looked up at Kivas, who stood in full flustered confusion.

Then, as if divinely inspired, he presented the same bouquet to Kivas, lowering his head.

"My lady, I rescind my earlier error. It is you who holds the sun in her smile and the tempest in her glare. Would you consider courtship?"

The nun dropped her head slightly, muttered a prayer, and then punched him again.

His helm disappeared into another crater.

"Once again, I apologies," she said with the same curtly demeanor.

Azulus screamed, fully in disbelief of what she had witnessed through her fingers.

"Let me kill him, she had just proposed to one of my possessions!" Samael declared but in a rather playful and casually deadpan face.

Kivas tried her best to hold Samael back by grabbing her from behind. "You’re the one that led him to this, and what do you mean about killing!"

Despite the chaotic interaction, there was surprisingly no malice and killing intent involved. As such, things managed to eventually shimmered down.

The rest of the armored group shifted in place, relaxed postures returning, and they ell already began focusing on their next move, unrelated to Kivas and her little group.

"We shall take our leave," the nun said. "There’s no conflict between us. May your paths remain clear of entropy."

She bowed slightly, a formal nod, and the rest of the gothic-armored group followed her lead. In solemn unity, they turned and moved into the distance, their steps barely making sound against the cracked and dry soil.

Azulus exhaled deeply once they were gone, as if ten thousands years of problem had disappeared in an instant. "Thank whatever sleeps beneath that didn’t escalate..."

"You were so worried, more than I ever expected," Kivas noted, adjusting her scarf. "You recognized them?"

Azulus nodded, expression now somber. "The Nightsilk Order. That was one of their military detachments."

"And what’s wrong with that?" Kivas tilted her head.

"Their operations are so deeply encrypted that even high-rank Karasu operatives don’t know what they’re up to. Not to mention, their influence permeated so far and wide without anyone realizing if they were within their palms or not.

"They are extremely powerful, and anyone that got in their way or goal will be met with a decisive erasure." Azulus then gazed at Samael as if she held a grudge for the Endless Dragon for playing around with her heart. "They rarely patrol. If you ever see them, and they see you, it’s because you’re near their line operation. And that means whatever their goal is, it’s close to where you are.

"And worst, their goal might be you all along, and you have no idea why or what triggers it because of how highly encrypted their channel of information is."

Samael crossed her arms, staring in the direction they left. "They didn’t have malice, though. No killing intent. Their movements were empty of aggression, and I find it that they are in their downtime, barely attached to any duties and are probably returning back to their post without hurry."

Azulus nodded. "Sure, sure, they’re always polite. Friendly. Until they decide you’re an enemy. Then they stop smiling, and things get... surgical."

"Well, the group we encountered sure got some of the powerful individuals amongst their entire ranks."

Kivas tilted her head. "How strong?"

Samael gave her a glance. "Two, maybe five times stronger than the three of us combined. Depending on how much they’re holding back."

"Are you joking?" Kivas’ face paled. "Why did you play around in front of them like that!...?’

Samael didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, "Do you remember when I told you Vaingall was born from factions fighting each other in the dark?"

"Yeah...?" Kivas hesitated. "I barely forget anything I see and hear, unless someone directly tampers with my memory.

Samael nodded. "The Nightsilk Order is one of those factions."

Azulus gave Samael a long look, interested in the lore tidbit of the infamous Endless Dragon. "Have you ever fought with them before?"

Samael chuckled. "No. I collaborated with them. Some parts of them."

"What were they like?" Azulus pressed, eyes sparkled.

"Good allies," Samael said. "Cold and careful, but they never backstabbed. If you weren’t their target, they’d leave you be. If you were... you probably never knew you were until you were already removed from Fathomi entirely."

Kivas grimaced. "Why do I feel like we walked past a black hole wearing a clown wig?"

They resumed their journey across a descending incline of tilted concrete overgrowth and strangled highways. The next stretch was quieter, broken only by the occasional buzz of ambient anomalies and rusted air-things humming above the ruins.

Eventually, the wind shifted. Kivas had her Soulcall Whisper Bell rang, indicating that her life would be in danger in one minute from now on.

"There’s something up ahead..."

Samael narrowed her eyes. "Avoid."

Azulus nodded. "Agreed."

Below the jagged slope, a single Voidling stalked the remains of a collapsed fortress.

Towering. Possibly 20 meters tall or 65 feet. Its skin was translucent, shifting through shades of red and white, constantly changing shape like a sloshing membrane of pain.

It had no face, only a chest cavity of open mouths that whispered cursed verses backward. freēwēbnovel.com

Its arms were long, dripping with blades made of sinew. Each step made the bones around it crack and twist unnaturally, even when they weren’t touching the ground.

Samael didn’t hesitate as she observed the situation.

She gestured to them all to crouch low.

The three of them moved silently, each step layered with stealth addition from all sorts of Curio items and skills to avoid even making a spiritual sound.

Minutes passed like hours.

The massive Voidling never turned.

By the time they emerged two massive boulders later, sweat beaded Kivas’ brow despite the cool air.

They stopped only once they were certain they weren’t being followed.

Kivas looked back at the barely visible titans that they had successfully passed by.

"What was that thing...?"