"HAAAAAAAAA!" Liari roared, throwing her cupped hands forward, a ghastly grey and black dark beam exploding from her hands. Zamasu, with a smirk, chopped his ki-infused hand down through the beam as if it were the easiest thing in the world, severing the beam in half, causing it to fizzle uselessly, as it passed around the kai. 

    "For as much resistance as you mortals put up, your capacity for learning is rather limited." The god mused. "Again. Remember what I've taught you. After all, this technique was made by your kind. I would have figured you would have mastered it by now."

    "Its only been... two weeks..." Liari groused through heavy breaths, bringing her arms back into a cupped position behind her. "...Its not like... its easy..."

    "On the contrary. It is." Zamasu insisted, shaking his head. "The universe you've inhabited has just grown larger, majin. Techniques like this, while perhaps a struggle for you..." The kai slapped aside another psuedo-kamehameha with his hand, causing the majin to curse profanely. "...Is but a mere trinket in the grand scheme of things. Grit your teeth and bare it. I'm sure by now you can grasp what'll happen if you fail me."

    "But why ME!?" Liari rumbled, her aura FLARING in defiance of this 'god.' "WHAT DID I DO!?" Zamasu frowned, almost scowling actually.

    "Silence, mortal. If you used that mind you were so graciously gifted, you would see your training here is a blessing. ...As for what you have done..." His graceful smile returned, his eyes turning towards the ship's windows. "...You and that 'friend' of yours. ...You two have shown a certain... detachment to your kind, a sort of... wanton destruction that seems to weigh you down little. That serves my interests... and that of creation's."

    "What...?" Liari huffed, taking her position again. 

    "Mortal-kind have been a blight on the universe since it's conception." Zamasu elaborated. "I've lived some time, mortal. Even longer than you. I have seen civilizations rise and fall... Mortals be born and perish as species due to their own ignorance and failure. They have forgotten the lessons the gods have taught them the first time... and the second... and the third." the Kai's eyes narrowed. Liari could sense his quietly contained fury. "...From the very start, they've proven themselves to be ignorant, callow creatures, destroying, consuming and corrupting more in their short lives than you could possibly imagine. Over and over, again and again... And it... was our role merely to perpetuate this cycle until all of creation collapsed upon itself." Liari blinked, her mouth slightly agape. Was... was that really all it was...? Was that her fate, her daughter's fate... MOIRE'S fate...? To just live and die... and destroy everything mindlessly...? Zamasu looked back at Liari... and smiled.

    "Calm yourself, mortal. There is a reason why I chose you to be my instrument. Your species is unique among mortals. Although intelligence seems to be rare among your species and your parasitic lifestyle is quite... repugnant," the kai emphasized the last word, spitting it as if it were bitter on his tongue. "...It is your lifespan and your inherent impressionability that caught my interest. You will live for some time yet if you are not killed, mortal, and your species tends to absorb information rather eagerly, like a cell absorbing its prey. You grow stronger by consuming mortals, putting their... disgusting tendencies to work in the direction of the correct path. Repugnant though it is... there is a certain beauty in making mortal kind cast itself down in service of a greater good." 

    "I'm here... to kill everything..." Liari muttered, shaking her head. "I never... wanted for that to be..." 

    "What you want..." Zamasu asserted firmly, turning fully to face the majin. "...never mattered. Take a look back at your life. Think back to your very existence has been out of your control. Every single master you had contorted your way of thinking to best serve then and, while you have always denied your nature... in the end, you always find a new master to serve."

    "M-my nature...?" Liari stammered, stepping back from the kai. Her mind was swirling, memories of each twisted man, demon and wizard flashing before her eyes, memories... of how she always fell into their disgusting service.

    "...You are a slave. No matter how much you fight your nature, it will always come down to that." Zamasu stated... and Liari fell to her knees. Zamasu looked down upon the majin for a moment, staring at her as she looked vacantly ahead, seeming to struggle with processing this revelation! ...The kai then offered another smile... and rested his hand upon her shoulder. "A slave you may be, Liari..." Zamasu continued, his tone and timbre as soft and gentle as an angel's. "...but you have been chosen to serve a god. Your purpose will be righteous, directed by divinity. You will never again have to wonder if you are harming unjustly. The universe is plagued by mortals who would destroy it if not corrected and by gods who wish nothing more than to see the beauty of creation plagued by their infestation. You will serve to purify the universe of it all. This is your fate." Liari looked up and locked eyes with Zamasu, the majin... feeling his divinity wash through her from where his hand touched her shoulder. He was so... confident, sure of himself. There was no touch of insanity in his voice nor a waver in his convictions. It was as if all roads inevitably came to that conclusion... and it was so hard to disagree... Liari thought about Earth was now, pillars of concrete, metal and stone covering what once was a pure landscape, wars and battles between mortals that knew not of a grander picture or purpose, who were afraid of shadows and ghosts, things that did not exist and were willing to destroy it all just to be free of their own paranoia. Liari looked up into Zamasu's eyes... and was almost completely taken in by what stared back: A certain purity Liari herself had never known. 

    "Now rise, mortal... And display to me your conviction." Zamasu commanded... And Liari obediently followed his command. Cupping her hands behind her, Liari gathered her energy, coagulating it into her palms in a swirling grey-black mass! 

    "Ka.... me.... ha.... me...." She mumbled, focusing upon the kai... "HAAAAAAAAAAA!" Liari THREW her hands forward, a MASSIVE energy wave ERUPTING FROM HER PALMS! For the first time, Zamasu grinned with genuine approval as he SWUNG his arm down sharply, SLICING through the blast all the way up to Liari's hands! The majin froze, watching as her strongest blast disintegrated, the air nearly slicing at her fingertips... as she fell to her hands and knees, gasping for air.

    "Well done..." Zamasu would remark. Liari would raise her head... and grin back. "...Perhaps it is time you learn what comes next."

EXIT!
WC: 1155