Chapter 797: The Great Copse [11]


    ‘The hatred, the humiliation, the abandonment, I feel it, everything’s flooding back. The secret behind who I was is finally known – I now understand why I never had trouble taking or making another person suffer. I chalked it to part of my being Staxius Haggard, seems I was wrong from the start. The gods I killed, the powers I stole, the curses which inflicted on my person, I understand how I was and what I was to be. Thest memories, when death came for my life, we struck a deal, I would be reincarnated to exact my revenge on one condition... forget my memories, forget my powers and embrace the powers of the Death Reaper. I epted the contract and was reborn thousands of yearster. Before I knew it, I began asking for people’s souls and forging contracts, I thought it be fun to act like the devil,’ an ominous ck smoke enveloped his palms, ‘-I was wrong, I wasn’t acting, I’m the devil, the great Patriarch. Origin must have known about who I truly am. Eveline,dy Destiny herself broke the locks on my soul, the cursed powers. I feel ted, my mind’s calm, I sense the tranquility of the world pass through my legs and climb to my chest. The Aapith nation, a gathering of powerful demons is the spawn of my seed; my blood flows in the veins of the ancient demons. The name Alfred isn’t one to be proud of, I’ve always dreamed of stopping what I did, wanting to choose the light, envious of what the heavens had. Gardens of golden fruits, a cheerful atmosphere, eptance, and liberty, what I had was darkness, solitude, and hatred. Every time I created a friend, the gods would smite my efforts, the darkness I inhabited eventually grew into a wastnd for the despicable and tainted. They killed, assaulted, and performed whatever they wished – they called onto evil, the demented nature of the expanding universe brought to life the opposite heaven, the prison of those who rejected the heavenly doctrine, the ce I built single-handedly, my home, Aapith. In the end, my emotions culminated in a power of which the gods feared; the power of Damnation. It is said, if insults and ill-will are constantly thrown at a tree, thetter eventually falls from the manifested malice. I ripped angels from their heavenly clouds, tore their wings, and sown them onto myself, I ate their flesh to get a humanoid body, I took their eyes to grant myself sight, the spawn of a titan and the beast of Aneu created me, a tangled mess of my parent’s lust. I had nothing and stole everything, the cursed name of Alfred, I always had a single dream, to find beings with whom I could share and give my everything too. I tried to aplish so with the gathering of demons, in the end, the gods saw it as nothing more than a call to arms – the first war of Gods versus Demons was my doing – shortly after, I willingly surrendered to death, what I created wasn’t what I envisioned. I grew worse by the day, snapping the necks of any who crossed my sight, plundering settlements, invading the mortal realm – the only one able to defeat me was myself. I remember everything. What flows in my vein isn’t power, it’s the taint of my actions... I understand why I was infatuated by the curses and stride towards the darkness, my soul knew who and what I was, and so, my brazen attitude to kill. I feel better, I can finally ept myself for who I am – two lifespans has psed, Alfred the Cursed, and Staxius Haggard, the God of Death, what remains is the third life, Igna Haggard,’ he had his head against his arms on the table, the dream-like state of self-analysis shuddered, ‘-a premonition,’ the eyes widened at the balustrade, ‘-this feeling is too familiar,’ unknown to the rest, he threw himself at the rail and looked to the sky, ‘-the pain behind my eyes,’ it narrowed, ‘-what powers Alfred acquired is the ultimate variant of the Hand of God, the Hand of Lamentation, the fingers which stretch from hell andtches onto unsuspecting angels, the reach-in infinite, the area of effect is infinite, and where I wish it to be birthed, infinite,’ the reawakening of the persona of Alfred, brought alteration to his self. Transparently shaped horns protruded, in addition to his wings, of which was the wings Alfred forcefully ripped from the captured angels and grew a tail of the beast, one he inherited from the bonds of his parents.


    “Master, is something the matter?” éir approached the solemnly stood Igna, no answer turned, no emotions in the eyes or physical stimulus from his voice, ‘-the aura has changed,’ he thought, keeping a close eye.


    ‘Igna’s presence has changed,’ thought Julius, the chatter of marrieddies swarmed the personal space, he kept a smile andughed along, ‘-darker and more sinister...’


    “Brother, how did you like my performance.”


    “Celina,” he broke out the trance and watched the beautifully dresseddy, “-it was splendid. The notes were emotive, they ryed the hard work and passion thee had,” he said, “-I’m proud to say, Celina Haggard, you’re truly independent.”


    A sharp stabbing pain choked her words, her nose reddened, “-thank you,” she lowered her gaze to his chest.


    “Come now,” he held her chin, “-you worked hard, I can see it in your eyes,” took her fretting arm, “-your hands don’t lie, the culmination of the effort and dedication. I couldn’t have asked for a greater gift on this new year.”


    .....


    “Stop it,” she shuffled closer and rested her forehead on his chest, “-it’s embarrassing.”


    “I have to say it,” he patted her shoulder. Those watching the outside scene felt warm and joyful, the wholesome exchange brightened the atmosphere, smiles boarded, fake grins swapped for genuine joy.


    “Way to make me jealous,” said Julius in jest.


    “Brother Julius,” she leaped.


    “Don’t fret,” heughed, “-your friends are inside,” he threw his thumb backward, “-go on.” A reluctant gaze went from Julius and then Igna, “-go,” nodded Igna, “-don’t worry about us, your journey has yet to start. Look at them,” she turned to where he watched, a crowd of talented musicians waited with open arms, the maestro and pianist gave acknowledging nods to Igna, who returned the favor.


    “If ever things get rough, reach out,” said Julius, “-we’re family, and family helps one another.”


    “I will,” she grinned, her face glimmered in pure bliss, “-thank you so much for everything,” her heels clopped for the dancehall where waited a warm party of friends.


    “The satisfaction of hard work being rewarded,” added Igna, “-she’s grown into a strong woman. I forcibly took her father’s life and tormented her mother, in a way, I felt responsible to take her in as my own. There are those deserving of a chance, and others, unworthy of the thought, I’m d she falls in the former category.”


    The prince listened attentively, the balcony cleared to have only the duo under night lit sky, retainers of the royal family guided the guests to the dining hall. It’s rude to make good food wait, thus the seamless transfer from one ce to another, “-cousin,” interjected Julius, “-the aura around you feels calmer and peaceful. Are you well?”


    “Yes, I had the courage to ept who I am and what I stand for. It sounds childish and very obvious, epting who you are is a matter very close to one’s heart. To ept oneself means to ept the reality of one’s ws and embracing said imperfections.”


    “Igna...”


    “No need to add any further. Julius,” he faced the prince squarely, “-Apexi and the bad press with thepany, what have thee decided?”


    “I don’t know...”


    “How about joining hands with Amsey?”


    “The one from Lumian O’, wasn’t he ousted from the entertainment world on usations?”


    “Correct, technically, he stepped away from his position until matters blew over. In turn, the influence he held over the entertainment district in Alphia was conquered by opportunistic agencies. Our current predicament bears a lot of simrities to his situation.”


    “And?”


    “And he says. Sacrifices have to be made. If only my ns were heard from the start, the media wouldn’t have been on our trails like they’ve been.”


    “What did the n entail anyway?”


    “To go down and bring everyone with, a forceful restart of the entertainment industry. The nature of a problem urs when someone takes issue with a particr instance. Imagine every agency being med and used of simr if not, worse nder, they’d do everything to save face, and in doing so, crash and burn, Apexi would have had a chance to say, they treated their idols better than the other agencies, therefore, the under-table agreement would have been eptable. There you thought I’d have fired the employees and ruined their lives, no, I’d have ruined everyone’s life... in a way, the field would have been fair and equal. Nothing can be done, part of the workers under Apexi will shift to work under Amsey. Ask Yui to schedule a meeting, I’m sure the man impatiently waits for his time to strike back, the remainder will be moved to my newly acquired racing team, ‘twould be a great opportunity to flex Phantom’s intellectual staff’s imagination on the track,” a worried éir stormed outside, Yui followed close behind.


    “Master, Rotherham’s under attack.”


    “I know, missiles from the Empire.”


    “How?”


    “I had a vision.”


    “A vision?”


    “Yes,” he looked at the sky, “-there’s a nuke making its way to the capital.”


    “How can thee be so calm?”


    “Can Rotherham survive the attack?”


    “Depends on the AFR,” he nced at Yui, thess shook her head, “-there’s the answer,” shrugged éir.


    “Tell me, éir, what kind of person doth thee think I am?”


    “Pardon me?”


    “Forget it,” the shoulders slumped. A dark mist manifested at his feet, the hair hovered, outlines of wings, horns, and a tail spawned, “-when there are two options, the wises choice is the third option,” he held an open palm to the sky, *-the hand of the cursed king, manifest for thy monarch demands so.*


    *Warning: Iing Projectile,* cried the rm, “-cousin,” shuddered Julius, “-how did you know?”


    “I told you,” he smirked, “-I had a vision,” *Hand of the Lamented, I bring upon the earth the powers of the shunned child, watch me, the heavens and cower for I, Alfred, have reawakened,* an inverted pentagram burnt in white – a bodiless palm expanded over the entire castle, “-die,” he clenched, the giant mass buckled in a massive explosion.


    “The AFR can’t handle the iing waves,” cried Yui, “-Rotherham’s going to be destroyed.”


    “Not on my watch,” he faced the town, the same pentagram burnt inside the retina, ‘-I see it clearly,’ the palms thrust again, warning of projectiles disappeared.


    “Cousin?”


    “Ry this to her majesty, the Empire’sunched a direct attack on the capital. War is the only remedy,” the words cut heavy, “-I have to retire for the night,” the semi-material wings pped.


    “éir, the projectiles were wiped by an unseen force, some scouts say an unseen hand swatted the attack.”


    He remained still and without answers, “-give me a moment,” he breathed, ‘-what power has he used?’


    “The hand of themented,” said Julius, “-I heard of it in tales passed by my master,” the hands shook, “-there’s only a single entity able to utilized such a cursed power, Patriarch Alfred himself,” a chilling jolt went up the butler’s shoulder, “-are you saying?” they exchanged meaningful nces.


    “I had my doubts,” the prince fell a nearby chair, “-it exins everything, a soul of a human would never be able to contain the wills of gods and demons alike, the pressure alone would shatter the being into nothingness.”


    “The tale of Alfred the cursed is real?” fired éir.


    “You’re a demon, you should know the origin is based on truth.”


    “I know, but I-I-I...”


    “Hold on a moment, what’s the Alfred business about?”


    “Pardon us, Yui, this is beyond our station. I fear, our master finally reawakened his true self.”


    “Isn’t that a good thing?”


    “No, it can spell disaster if the anger is allowed to roam free...”