[center][h1][color=6ecff6]Karina Frost[/color][/h1][/center]

The idea Karina had to use Xrylos' power against himself by making use of the other crazed was quickly dismissed by the Nashep-Najier. Her explanation about the bond most of the Crazed shared with the position Xrylos occupied was quite simple to understand. Especially when she compared it to the very same bond they had with the 'Being'.

Despite being able to understand them, said bonds were still... tricky to deal and even to plan around, since they were bonded to concepts and ideals and not people or other things. Xrylos, of course, wasn't immune to said bond... But as Nashep-Najier said herself... A same ideal could be interpreted of many different ways.

Karina already had her mind full trying to include these bonds into her plans, so she didn't even realized that Nashep-Najier herself had one of her own... At least until Tayla asking her about it. 

[color=6ecff6]"Balance, in a certain way, isn't it?"[/color] Karina said to herself as she heard the Nashep-Najier's reply to Tayla's question.

Should her words be true, it was a very comforting answer. Regardless of the personal reasons for her bond or the current predicament the Nashep-Najier's people encountered themselves in, her ideal was one they could trust.

[color=6ecff6]"Having this much power concentrated into a single artifact can only ever bring chaos to the world whenever said artifact is used."[/color] Karina asked, looking to Nashep-Najier.

[color=6ecff6]"I assume destroying said artifact was never an option. Otherwise it would likely be one of your goals... If we take your 'ideal' into consideration, am I correct?"[/color] Karina asked.

[hr]

With the arrival of Chres and the remaining of the group, Karina set her questions aside for a moment. Knowing the princess and Chres were safe were very good news... As it was the news that they had new allies... If they could trust them, that is.

[color=6ecff6]"Nia and Pyter... I somehow have the feeling there is more to your story than just this, but for now, we have a bigger problem to solve."[/color] Karina said, glancing to Chres with a firm expression. Whether she was silently admonishing him for being too naive and believing whatever story those two told him or if she was demanding to know the full truth behind her new 'allies' was uncertain though.

Before Karina could even entertain the idea that the new arrivals might not be trustworthy yet, a blood curdling screech echoed through the foyer, immediately making Karina unsheathe her rapier and prepare for combat.

The moment her eyes met the creatures that arrived followed by said screech though, even Karina, despite all her training, felt impacted by the sight. Horribly twisted and disfigured creatures. Creatures that simply should not exist but yet, there they were. 

Barely resembling a man, the creature with elongated hands and limbs, standing atop of a tangle of spider-like limbs approached the group. It's face, a grotesque mix of a human and an arachnid's face, complete with fangs and the ability to produce silk.

The second creature was a woman, or at least something resembling one. Sticking out of all her limbs, innumerable splinters of the most varied materials, ranging from wood to even stone and metal. Every step the creature took seemed to make her limbs fuse with the ground, taking part of it with them as it continued walking.

The last one was perhaps the most disturbing. A mass of fused limbs, bodies and people, crawling at their direction.

Despite how grotesque and disgusting the creatures were and even contradicting with the initial thoughts Karina herself felt, which caused her to step backwards, almost throwing up in disgust. Despite that, the thoughts that seemed to forcibly invade her mind somehow told them that those 'things' were normal.

[color=6ecff6]"I see... So [i]this[/i] is the power of the Cutlerware..."[/color] Karina said, trying to control her own thoughts and regain her composure. If it wasn't clear before, now she knew exactly how dangerous that artifact was.

Not only the sight of the creatures caught even Karina, a trained soldier by surprise, but the conflicting thoughts that were being forced upon her were hard to deal with. It took some time, but just as Nashep-Natjier said, the best course of action was to simply accept those thoughts. Even knowing that they clearly didn't belong to her.

[color=6ecff6]"Such thing... should not exist."[/color] Karina said, still feeling her stomach turning a bit as she looked at the creatures and prepared herself to join Jen and Nashep-Natjier against them.