《Immortal's Lament [Dropped]》 Prologue: The End Really¡­ Even I, who believes long gone from this world, focusing his ¡®almighty gaze¡¯ elsewhere, cannot help but beg him for answers. What happened? Where did I go wrong? Why them? Why not me? I never waged war. I only protected, never ruled, those under me. Even when the other Rulers of Sin pleaded for me to help them in whatever struggle they were going through, I did nothing, steering clear of any and all trouble. All I wanted was an easy life, a happy family and happy subjects. So tell me God? Why? Why this? Why did everyone turn against me? Why did everyone attack me while I was not looking? Destroying my cities, slaughtering my people. Why did everyone I know, everyone I love, have to die?! Was I not good enough?! Was I not just?! Was I not fair?! I know I am not perfect, but I am still just a man, unlike You?! What did you expect from the People of Sloth and their Ruler? We only needed peace, was that too much? So tell me, God. Why? ¡­¡­¡­¡­ Of course, no answer came. I am not foolish enough to believe that there is something out This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.there that loves and protects us. There is only cold indifference¡­ I sigh, gazing coldly at the surrounding armies so desperately trying to kill me. Multi-coloured spells flickering in and out of existence as I shatter them without as much as a single glance. Horsemen and foot soldiers charging towards me, only to completely disintegrate as they come closer than ten meters away from me. ¡°I should just¡­ go to sleep¡­ I don¡¯t care anymore¡­¡± I said, as a slight yawn escaped my mouth. Yes. It is what I do best, after all. I should just follow God¡¯s example, adopt his indifference towards everything and just¡­ go to sleep. And let the whole world sleep with me, forever in a state of indifference. Just as God intended. Let the world freeze over and hibernate, until a new spring arrives. A new world. One without the self-proclaimed Rulers of Sin, without the self-proclaimed Supreme Beings, and without the self-proclaimed Heroes. Let everything die and embrace the eternal sleep. Together with me. Together, with my family. Chapter 1: Tortured Soul I added the "Mature" tag, for those that didn''t see it before. For reasons obvious during the second half of the story. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I love these high temperatures. As my favourite pastime is either doing nothing, vacantly staring into the distance or sleeping, hot weather helps a lot, making me feel drowsy and forcing me to think ¡°it¡¯s too hot to do anything¡±. Although I don¡¯t need the excuse for lazing around, the thought is still nice. Why this all of a sudden? Because for the last thirty or so years ¨C it¡¯s hard to count them when you¡¯re sleeping for the majority of it ¨C I¡¯ve been lying comfortably under the dessert sun. Though the cold nights are a bother, but I sleep through most of them, so I don¡¯t really have to mind them. The ice and freezing I caused is long gone, of course. I am not vain enough to think that I can freeze the earth indefinitely. I just froze it for a couple of millennia and then it thawed on its own, simple as that. I didn¡¯t bother refreezing it again, since only the then-living deserved to suffer, so I only had to freeze it for long enough to kill off the living. To be honest, I really hoped this time, I would die too. But this was to be expected, as this wasn¡¯t nearly as deathly as my previous tries. This wasn¡¯t the only time I¡¯ve tried to kill myself before. Counting this, I tried a couple dozen times, ranging from a simple beheading to extensively torturing myself to death, but I simply came back after some time. Before I met my lovely wife, I had already lived for far too long. Too long to even remember. Even before I became the Ruler of Sloth, I impassively saw time fly by through the many, many years of my live. I saw the trees rising up from the ground, the creatures crawling out of the sea, the monkeys trying to use tools, the early humans establishing small settlements, large cities and even sprawling empires, afterwards collapsing and separating, to continue evolving further into separate species. Some of which, began following my example, becoming the People of Sloth and even evolving further to become the different Sins with their own respective Rulers and even the Supreme Beings and the Heroes. A long time, as you could see. And I merely watched passively, studying them, understanding them, trying to figure out the question of life, only to arrive at one answer: It¡¯s a bother. For countless millennia, I saw them being born and dying in the blink of an eye, living without purpose and dying without reason. Even when life developed intelligence, there was no change. So naturally, I got tired and tried to experience death, but, as you can see, it failed. Luckily, the People of Sloth came, finding me buried in a cave somewhere and then, over time, beginning to live a similar lazy lifestyle, making them a quickly endangered species. So, I protected them and granted them powers to continue and extend their lifetime with ease and, in time, some split off from the rest, keeping their powers with them. And, most importantly, from them, my wife was born. She was extraordinarily powerful and as such, was pushed forward as the bride of their Ruler, namely me, though I only accepted her since it was a bother to refuse. She even took my name, Acedia, and, over time, was seen as my complementing half and was worshipped as such. Where I was passive and indifferent, she was active and caring, though still keeping in line with the lifestyle of the Sloths. I watched her for a couple thousand years, until I truly accepted her and even slowly began loving her, having children, though they weren¡¯t as long lived. Can you imagine? After millions of years, I finally started what mortals call ¡®have a life¡¯. Unfortunately, the betrayal happened and that was the end of my ¡®life¡¯. So there I was, lying in the boundless sea of sand, returning to my way of living before I met my wife and even before the People of Sloth came into existence. And this was the perfect place to do it, seeing as for the past thirty-something years not a single living creature was encountered. That is, until now. Naturally, I wasn¡¯t paying attention. Why should I? Nothing lived here anyway. So, as I lay sleeping comfortably underneath a sand-blanket soaking in the dessert sun, something suddenly shook me. I ignored it, thinking some vulture was pecking me, until I heard a voice. It being hoarse is an understatement. The voice sounded as dry as the dessert, longing for water and nearly forcing the longs out of the body with every sound. ¡°Mister? Are you awake?¡± the voice said as it shook me awake. I played possum, hoping whomever it was would go away. ¡°Mister?¡± the voice said, once again shaking me. Again, I did nothing. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Probably thinking I was dead, the person slowly closed in and took a large bite out of my neck, probably trying to both get some food and sucking out some of my remaining blood to finally get some fluid in the body. A very natural thing to do in a situation such as this, to be fair. And since I¡¯ve tried torturing myself to death a couple of times, I didn¡¯t show the slightest reaction when she took a bite of me. Unfortunately, my body is still a living thing. As she took a bite, she naturally opened up the artery, so, along with the beat of my heart, a powerful spurt of blood shot out right into her eye. The sudden sign of life made her stumble backwards, shrieking loudly and followed by an intense enough coughing fit to nearly kill her. In between the coughing fits I could hear the voice saying ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± over and over again. Unfortunately ¨C or perhaps fortunately, from another¡¯s perspective -, ever since the time with my wife and the People of Sloth, even the near-soulless I was forced to have at least some compassion for the poor thing. So, I slowly stood up, wiping the sand from my naked body sticking to me from the blood and forcing my neck wound to close, and looked at the person begging on her knees for forgiveness. What I saw there, surprised even the experienced me. A naked humanoid woman with two large horns sprouting from her forehead, slowly arching upwards, over her black-haired head, and descending at the back only to rise slightly upwards again, like the silhouette of a curving of a hill with the start of the next. On her beck, sprouting from her tail-bone, was a leathery black tail with at the end forming something like an arrows head. It looked like a classical demon, one told in thousands and thousands of stories and legends throughout the ages of intelligent life, though having never actually ¨C at least, to my knowledge ¨C existed. But this wasn¡¯t the most surprising thing about her. There was something else, something shocking even to me. Over her entire body, not a single spot skipped, were signs of torture no living thing ¨C not even the vilest among them ¨Cshould have experienced, nor survived. Every part of the face, except for the left eye, was cut off or poked out. Nose, ears, lips, everything was gone. But that wasn¡¯t even close to the worst thing visible on her body. Covering the entire right half of her face, was a strange, unnaturally charcoal-black skin formed only after a specific and unnatural burning process involving magic. It wasn¡¯t just scorched and then healed, forming a pink or red smooth skin over the burned area, as a normal burn would have. No, it was a burning so perverse that it left nothing to chance. Carefully using magic, it was burned over and over again and then healed over and over again, forcing the magic inside the victim¡¯s body to take over the healing process, after which a special seal was placed, forcing the skin to forever burn and forever heal. As such, it could never form scars or even skin, making the right half of her face look like a piece of meat having turned into charcoal, still with the glowing embers caused by the seal visible on her cheek. And that was just her face. Over her entire body was the signs of it having been carefully flayed until naught but flesh and muscle remained visible. Over this flesh, perpetrator had taken the skins of others and layered them over her, stitching them to gather and, along with healing magic, forcing it to attach to her muscles and flesh, making her look like a horrific living patchwork doll. In their cruelty, they had even cut off her breasts, her fingers, her toes and had closed the entirety of her vagina with a patch of molten skin, leaving only a minuscule hole for her to pee. And, with my power-enforced eyesight, this was not the end. The entirety of her innards were either misplaced, punctured or completely missing. Her brain had missing pieces being replaced by enchanted metal. Very precisely, every two centimetres of her intestines had a puncture in them. Her ribs were replaced with heavy metals, without any support magic to lighten the burden. Her womb, one kidney, part of her spleen, part of her pancreas, part of her lungs and a part of her stomach were cut off or entirely taken out. The only thing of which I can be for certain they did not mess with, are the tail and the horns. They look almost too healthy in comparison to the rest of her body. In all my life, the only matching cruelty I¡¯ve ever seen was the one I did to myself, and that was my most desperate and final attempt at killing myself. Outside of this, nothing even comes close to in comparison to this.... monstrosity. It¡¯s a wonder she¡¯s still alive. An even bigger wonder she¡¯s still sane, though the enchanted metal in the brain probably had something to do with it. Most likely, they didn¡¯t like torturing a doll. Cruel bastards. I hope for them they¡¯re dead, or else I will make them experience an even worse pain. I¡¯ll make them a hell just for them. Continuous torment. No death allowed. Whilst examining her, she stopped coughing and was now kneeling on the floor, begging to be spared while continuously apologizing in a wheezing voice. I slowly started walking towards her, enveloping her with my aura, trying to sooth her, make her feel warm and somehow at home in this vastly empty dessert. Slowly but surely, her shivering stopped, her heartbeat slowed, she stopped and her ragged breathing became steady. ¡°....Sleep.¡± I said lazily, forcefully cutting off her consciousness. Chapter 2: Giving Fate I''ve removed the tag ''original'' cause, as stated by others, the setting is clearly based of the web novel ''The Lazy King'' (hell, even the title is synonymous because I suck at making up titles), though I do not intend for it to become a fanfic, but something else entirely. I might change the title, if I find something better. Though I doubt it. P.S: Read ''The Lazy King'', highly recommended, extremely enjoyable. P.P.S: Thanks to those that like the story. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After I knocked her out, I decided to fix her. It wasn¡¯t hard, really. Just pump her full of magic, remove the various harmful seals and get those metal and enchanted pieces out of her. Then it¡¯ll fix itself. The body knows how to. Also, I forced her to drink and eat something I literally conjured up. She was thoroughly malnourished and dehydrated, so it was absolutely necessary. Even her skin fixed itself by shedding the patchwork skin so crudely attached. It looked disgusting, seeing a person shed its skin so unnaturally, yet it was necessary. But I fear it¡¯ll be for naught. I know what those enchanted metal pieces in her brain did. They not only enslaved her, but also forced her that she ¡®willingly¡¯ served, probably the only reason why she stayed ¡®sane¡¯. It forced her to live. Those pieces in her brain tempered with her idea of ¡®purpose¡¯, making her think that her life is good or will get better over time. And I removed those. So, once she wakes up, she¡¯ll be in perfect control of mind and body. And then probably break down. Nothing can experience something like this and still be able to proudly say ¡°I want to live!¡± I know I didn¡¯t. After I got tortured by my long life, I tried to give it up. After I failed to stop living, I instead gave up my soul, basically becoming a living shell. Luckily, I was saved by the people and my wife. But how long did that take? A million years? 10 million? A 100 million? All that time stuck in a cave, lifelessly staring at the sealing, unthinking and unfeeling. A horrible experience. So the possibility she gets saved like I was during the little sixty years of a mortals life, is basically non-existent, unless she is incredibly lucky. Which she clearly isn¡¯t. And I can¡¯t save her. Why? I who, despite being saved once, still think life is meaningless, could never save someone else. Not without saving myself. I could grant her immortality though. Although time destroys everything, it also heals all wounds. And with immortality, the odds of her getting saved like me, increases infinitely. But what is the price? A million years of suffering for a thousand years of happiness, like I had? If I could choose whether to die or live through such a cycle of large suffering and small happiness, my choice is easily death. But, I¡¯m me and she¡¯s she. So giving her a choice would be best. I¡¯ll need to wait until she wakes up though, so let¡¯s rest a little. For the first time perhaps, I believe I deserve it. ¡­¡­ A loud shrieking and wild flailing woke me up. It sounded horrifying, but at least she was now healthy, unlike before. I went to sleep right next to her, so I was immediately deafened and hit when she woke up. I did dress us both in some easy wear before going to sleep though, hoping in vain that it would, at least, spare me some harm. It was clearly in vain. What did I expect? For her to be reasonable when she woke? She¡¯s forced to view her memories through a new light. Not as something sensible or filled with purpose, as she did in her altered state of mind. No, she now relives it as a sane person would. A disgusting act so vile, so full of horrors she should have forgotten it in shock, but is forced to remember it. She¡¯s stomping around, frantically looking for something that wasn¡¯t there, and wildly flailing her arms around. Sometimes, she staggered and fell dawn, silently crying only to stand up and repeat the process again and again. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.This continued for three, from morning to noon. I could¡¯ve forced her to calm down, but she needed to know what truly happened to her before making her decision. Cruel, sure, but I believe it is necessary to understand what happened for her to make the best decision. When she stopped her insane ramblings and her wild flailing and shrieking, she lay flat on her back, exhausted and silently shedding tears. I approached her again. From the corner of her eye, I knew she fearfully watched me approach and desperately wanted to run, but she was too exhausted. Before I sat down next to her, I heard her silently say it, almost as if whispering a prayer: ¡°Please¡­¡± she said, begging for help with her pleading eyes. ¡°Please, what?¡± I said. This was it, what will she wish for? Death? Life? Amnesia? Or something different? ¡°Please¡­. Sir?¡± No, that wasn¡¯t what I meant. I should¡¯ve just said it directly. ¡°What do you wish?¡± Her eyes opened wide surprise, stopping her seemingly infinite stream of tears. It was probably the first time someone said something like this to her, the first time someone actually asked what she wanted. ¡°God?¡± she looked zealously and full of hope into my eyes, as if her prayers were answered in the form of me. I found it strange she could still look like that and believe in me, after experiencing such horrors. Sure, I still believe in God, but that¡¯s more because I have no idea what created me. I never had a mom or dad, as far as I know, and lived before everything else existed. So who created me? So I either just became, or it was God. I chose the latter, thinking it made more sense. So, let¡¯s just go with it. I¡¯m sure God won¡¯t care. He never did care for anything. ¡°¡­Sure. What do you wish?¡± Her fervent gaze retracted and she started to think more deeply, her face growing ever darker the longer she was in thought. She even began to shake, remembering what happened to her, although I don¡¯t know if it was in anger, or in fear. Truly, I¡¯m very surprised how this is going. Is she really still sane? How is she able to think so thoroughly, after experienced what she had? She was tortured, harmed beyond belief, damaged beyond what anything would be capable of withstanding, yet she didn¡¯t look like the lifeless doll I expected her to become. Unlike me, who gave up, she was clearly alive, visible by her reaction to my words. Why? Did shock make her forget? Is it revenge? Has she actually gone mad, hidden only behind a thin veil of humanity? Or is she just that strong? Or is it just that I was, no, am that weak? She makes me start doubting myself. Has she found something I could not? While deeply in thought myself, she suddenly spoke up. ¡°Power¡­¡± she said softly, as if trying not to upset me. Very understandable, when God grants you a wish out of sympathy and then ask for power, is rather shameless. But I don¡¯t care. She¡¯s still human after all, or, at least, something alike. After someone was so powerless for so long, anyone would wish for power for his or her own. Still, I am very surprised. Unlike others wishing for power, she went through much, much more than anyone had the right to live through. And I¡¯ll say it again and again until it starts to make sense, but she should have become lifeless, or at least suicidal. Where does she find the will to live? Perhaps she truly believed she found God, giving sympathy to the suffering and suffering to the sufferers. It was something I never found, except for my wife, but I still never idolized her, not the way she¡¯s doing. Or, she could really have found meaning in her own life, something I never could, no matter how long I lived. I choose to believe the latter. It makes me feel better about myself. ¡°Very well.¡± I said, seeing her visibly lighting up. But before she could say something, I teleported her away, out of the desert, in front of some city I found when I arrived her and scanned the region. When I teleported her, I attached something to her soul. You could almost say it was a small device, but it is not visible, nor accessible by anyone but me. It was something like a string, connecting me and her, giving her full access to my power. And giving me her location whenever I want to find her. I want to know what she¡¯ll do, and if she succeeds where I failed. I want her to find meaning of in her life. And then claim it for my own. Chapter 3: The Ungrateful Daughter Honestly, even I am getting kind of excited for this. Forty years is a long time for a demon, long enough for her to think deeply about many matters. And she was a very special case. Deciding to live after such¡­ evil, she must¡¯ve had some kind of reason for this. But¡­ I can¡¯t help but think I am putting too much hope in her. This isn¡¯t my first time doing something like this, and none of them resulted into anything useful so far. But, she is an exceptional case. And I never shared my power with someone before, not even my wife, so that should count for something. Someone with my power probably thinks differently than those with something like standard Magic or nothing at all. At least, I hope so. Or else saving her would¡¯ve been a waste. No, she deserved a second chance. But still, I probably can¡¯t help but feel disappointed if this doesn¡¯t yield results. I¡¯ll give her five more years, then¡­ I might pay her a visit. ¡­¡­¡­¡­.. Or, at least, that how it should have gone, but unfortunately ¨C or perhaps, fortunately ¨C , two years later, I was woken up by someone just like with her. No, it wasn¡¯t just like then. This was much more¡­. Rude, to say the least. I was sleeping (as per usual) when suddenly, a very familiar voice ¨C though I hadn¡¯t heard her voice a lot, I could somehow hear a similarity ¨C of a women nearing maturity sounded over this vast wasteland. Thinking it was her, I was rather pleased that she spared me a bothersome trip, but then I noticed she hadn¡¯t left her city through the Soulthread I linked us both with, and, when hearing what she said, I knew why. ¡°Hey, you. Are you the ¡®Lord¡¯ Mother send me to find?¡± Still lying on my back in the sand, soaking in the delightfully hot desert sun, I slightly tilted my head sideways to look at the new arrival. Indeed, she looks like her mother, except for two things. Instead of the hill-shaped horns arching over a black-haired head, like her mother, she had long brown hair, though she had the exact same hill-like horns of her mother. The other thing different was her tail. Instead of the mother¡¯s leaf-like end to the leathery thing, hers had a line perpendicular to the end of her tail, forming a cross-shaped tip. Everything else ¨C overall shape, height, eyes (brown), nose, voice ¨C was inherited from her mother. She was probably around nineteen years old, just like her mother probably was back then, and stood fully covered in leather armour, holding a spear in her right hand and aiming its tip towards me, waiting for me to respond. I stared silently at her, hoping she would explain further details of why she was ordered to fetch me. Instead, I was surprised. Rushing forward towards me at high-speed, she kicked the still-lying me into the air, sending me soaring through the clouds until finally landing about twenty kilometres further. But that wasn¡¯t what I was surprised about. Well, perhaps a little. No, it was what she used to kick me. And I don¡¯t mean her foot. It wasn¡¯t the Magic that so thoroughly permeated the world after me gifting it to the People of Sloth. It was what my wife used to call the ¡®Origin¡¯, as in ¡®the Origin of Magic¡¯, and what I simply call ¡®Energy¡¯. It¡¯s the power only I, and a couple of people who have ¡®seen the Truth behind Magic¡¯ can use. Though theirs is but a degrading form of mine, theirs being reached through Magic research and mine being ¡®natural¡¯ and allowing for ¡®true¡¯ immortality. Not just anti-aging or anti-disease, but rather a pure indestructibility of the soul and its power, Energy. And she used it to kick me. And it wasn¡¯t the derogatory form of Energy either, but rather the exact same as mine, albeit used incredibly unskillfully and crudely. A true Immortal, just like me. I can now safely say that saving her mother was the perhaps the best decision I¡¯ve made to date. Even if she won¡¯t supply me with the answers I search for, her daughter could be used instead. And even if that doesn¡¯t prove successful, at least I have someone to share this burden with. That, on its own, is much more than I could ask for after this long time. Perhaps my wife was right, ¡®kindness begets kindness, and good comes to those who do good¡¯. Unfortunately, as of now, she¡¯s still useless. She hasn¡¯t lived for a long time, making her closer to a mortal than a long lived Immortal like I am and I¡¯ll need to wait a long time before she becomes like me, but ¡®luckily¡¯ I have all the time in the world. Too bad she¡¯s also an annoying brat. After my landing, she ran towards me with frenzy in her eyes and started stabbing me all over my body. There was no reasoning behind her aim, no technique behind her Energy and not a single thought given to her enemy. She was merely a berserker, frantically punching a bloodbag that just so happened to be me, whilst grinning madly with every drop of blood leaving my body. I simply stood there, taking her attacks as I looked in distaste. She is the type I hate the most. Someone who had everything since birth. Power, love, wealth and overall happiness, yet she viewed it as her right to have these things. Having a power stronger than everything ¨C Energy ¨C she takes what she wants, extorts her own family and merely uses raw force to overwhelm whoever she dislikes. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A person talented since birth and then spoiled rotten. Having everything, but giving nothing. But even then, I normally wouldn¡¯t bother even sparing a single thought to it, thinking it¡¯s just a pain to deal with. But, to top it off, she is an Immortal, like me, yet she has everything I want, without suffering through what I had to. She was never despised whilst trying to fit in a society that doesn¡¯t want you, never hated for the power she wielded, nor ever worshipped out of an excessive feeling of fear, nor revered as a being higher than one¡¯s own, to never offend or even be spoken to. She was someone like I, but was raised with love and by people who respect her and treated her as an equal, but she twisted this happiness and ruined it by forever wanting more. Even I can¡¯t help but feel both hatred and envy towards her. Luckily, time will correct her, or rather, erode her. After a million or so years, she¡¯ll be just like me, longing either for death out of hope a better afterlife, or searching for a meaning behind a meaningless existence. That doesn¡¯t mean an early lesson would do any harm. Whilst still stabbing away at my body, perhaps wondering why I hadn¡¯t been pulverized yet by the sheer pressure of her Energy, I decided to shake her up a little. Seeing her pulling her spear backwards and preparing strike once more, I slightly moved my body to the right, dodging her strike as it slipped past me. I moved closer faster than she could notice and, with my right palm, struck her squarely across her left cheek. Feeling that her Energy had instinctively formed a barrier around her, I put in enough of my own Energy to cancel the barrier out, making the strike about as powerful as a regular slap. But the effect was of anything but a regular slap. In all her life, she had never been hurt once. She could leap from the highest mountain into the deepest canyon and still be without a scratch. Any mortal¡¯s weapon would simply deflect off of her instinctively placed Energy barrier. She could never have had any diseases, not even growth-pains during puberty, since her body would automatically heal her. Although I don¡¯t know about menstruation cramps or any other gender-related pains, I can take a safe guess she probably never had any problems with it. Having lived without pain throughout her entire life, even the slightest harm, much like a slap only leaving behind a faint hand-print, would be received as if she was mortally wounded. And now, she felt. Watching her expression turn into shock, as she dropped her spear and brought her left hand to her red-tinged cheek, I couldn¡¯t help but grin ever so slightly. But this wasn¡¯t over. Though I could not know for certain, having seen her frantically stabbing me like that, I made a well-educated guess she had harmed and almost definitely killed before, and probably not just one. So, I decided to make her feel something more¡­ horrifying. As she stood there, staring into my eyes with such a shocked expression as if she couldn¡¯t believe this was real, I formed my right hand into a fist and thrust my fist harshly into her abdomen. But instead of cancelling out the barrier and hitting her with pure muscle strength, I decided to add more. Much more. I forced my Energy through my fist in three highly-condensed waves, the first shaking and shattering every bone from her skull to her toes, the second rupturing every organ from windpipe to stomach and the third tearing every single thing, be it flesh or muscle or vein, apart. Only the outside and the brain were unharmed. The first to hold everything together and stop blood from spilling out, except through her orifices. The second in case she had somehow not linked her soul and her memory like I had. It was the single most cruel death available without a prolonged torture. In comparison, she suffered much less compared to her mother, but that was only because of the difference in the amount of time one had suffered. Aside from that, the suffering was comparable. But naturally, she would survive. As blood leaked out of her eyes, ear and nose, I saw her falling to her knees, throwing up a bloody mess of flesh, blood and bones and then falling face-first on the ground as she went in a state of shock, stopping after a few minutes as her body already automatically began to repair itself. Was it cruel? Yes. Perhaps even too much, but if I was right, she has already killed many, so this, though mixed with personal hatred, was merely a situation of crime and punishment. And, even though saving her mother was more of a whimsical kindness and half-assed experiment, I still think her mother deserves happiness, and can¡¯t help but conclude that such a rotten daughter didn¡¯t particularly help in that aspect. So yeah, I don¡¯t feel bad about it. While her body was busy fixing herself, I used my power to clean her of the bloody mess she was covered in and also clean and fix her armour of the blood and the hole left behind by my fist. After waiting until her body had fixed itself, I grabbed her by the tail and decided to pay her mother a visit, deliberately not teleporting out of personal pettiness so I could drag her across the desert sands. She¡¯s unconscious so she won¡¯t feel a thing anyway. Chapter 4: Reunion and Suspicion I only lasted ten minutes. Although she wasn¡¯t heavy ¨C in fact, I could already drag her along using only muscle strength rather easily ¨C it just got boring after the fifth minute, and tiring after the tenth. And so, I decided to wait until she wakes up on her own, which didn¡¯t nearly take as long as I thought it would. I expected something between a week and a month, yet after three days, she was awake and back to normal. Well, not really back to normal, since she started quivering in fear as soon as her terror-filled eyes noticed me, but besides that, she was completely healthy. I took her by the hand and, after a short and fruitless struggle on her side, focused my attention on the Soulthread linking me and the girl¡¯s mother, finding the mother many, many kilometres away from the initial city I dropped her off at. What a journey it must have been for her, after such an experience. I created some sort of ¡®bridge¡¯ out of Energy parallel to the Soulthread and stopped it just slightly in front of the target. Afterwards, I took one final look at the girl beside me and saw her meekly holding my hand, although she was still shivering while doing so. Creating a portal on both ends of the Energy Bridge, it took us but a single step to bypass the incredibly long distance and the numerous obstacles located between the desert and the destination. She looked at me with a newfound awe and a question started form in her mind, her mouth already open when she quickly remembered who it was she was dealing with. Even with her high-speed of travelling, of which I am sure she is proud of, it would have taken her at least a month or two to get to the desert, yet here I was, taking but a single step to cross the enormous distance without even the slightest look of exhaustion visible. Her pride most be hurt, but I have done much worse than just hurting her pride, so she stayed silent. Since I hadn¡¯t bothered setting the destination outside of the city, or even outside her residence for that matter, me and the girl were greeted with the surprised faces of the mother and the father, making themselves comfortable in nice-looking chairs with a cup of tea in hand. I heard the porcelain shatter as the father dropped the cup, but when I looked at him, it was my turn to be surprised, albeit not visibly so. For a second, clearly visible in the father¡¯s eyes, was a very brief moment of an absolute fear. Very unlike the mother, who held only surprise. Sure, a stranger just suddenly arrived in your living room out of nowhere, but the fear in his eyes seemed much too deeply engraved. But even then, I could just write it off as some form of xenophobia or whatever. If it wasn¡¯t for one thing. I remember him. I do not know from where or when, but I¡¯m sure this isn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve seen his face, although the horns ¨C protruding from the temples and arching upwards ¨C and the tail resting next to his leg ¨C the same cross-shaped tip as his daughter ¨C looked out of place to me, the face was definitely one known to me. Which should be impossible. After freezing the world, the only two people I encountered were these two beside and in front of me, the mother-daughter pair, and every other face I can remember should have either perished long ago or have been killed during my man-made ice age. Yet, here sat a man whose face I definitely know. Of course, there is the chance that the gene alignment has the exact same configuration of someone from long, long ago. But this already nearing the realm of impossibility and then factor in that I couldn¡¯t possibly have met every single person that ever lived, especially when you include my many times of self-imposed isolation. And then there is the fact that even of those faces I see, I barely remember those somewhat important, let alone the random faces on random people. I only remember those that I¡¯ve somehow needed to deal with, whether it be in a friendly or unfriendly manner. So, coincidences now ruled out, who is this man? Very suspicious. But, first things first. Her surprised face turning into a radiant smile, the mother stood up and rushed towards me, grabbing one of my hands with both and fixing her gaze upon my eyes. ¡°Lord, you have finally come!¡± Her voice resounding with glee. Time has been very kind to her, although I rather attribute this to my power I shared with her. In these forty-two years I haven¡¯t seen her ¨C making her age probably around sixty-something ¨C she still looked like a woman in her mid-twenties, looking not even close to entering her thirties. And most important of all, although I cannot be sure, she looked happy. ¡°Ahem.¡± I heard the now-standing father cough, all trace of fear in his eyes gone, or, at least, carefully hidden. She let go of my hand, looking down in embarrassment while taking a step back. ¡°A pleasure to meet Lillian¡¯s saviour. My name is Solon and I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t made suitable preparations for a guest of your¡­ importance. I expected Emily to take longer in guiding you here. She wasn¡¯t rude, I hope? Anyway, make yourself comfortable while I instruct the servants to prepare for a feast, but before I leave, might I ask your Lordship¡¯s name?¡± The father said, making this smooth and grateful-sounding self-introduction. Also, I just now noticed I didn¡¯t know the names of Emily and Lillian. But, although he might have tried to force my attention on him during his introduction, I still noticed it. The faces of Lillian and Emily. For but a slight moment, their faces, one still looking embarrassed and the other still fearful of me, both changed into a puzzled look, although they quickly returned to their initial expressions. But, even if it was but for a second, I still saw it. I don¡¯t know at what exact part of Solon¡¯s self-introduction they were puzzled by, but it strengthened my suspicions that I knew this man, and vice versa. I thought for a second, thinking what name I should give. Through the many, many eras I lived through, my name changed quite a number of times, so I was debating which one to pick. I decided on my most recent one, the one name I shared together with my wife and the name most important to me. ¡°¡­Acedia.¡± I said after a slight pause. And there it was. For a brief moment, Solon¡¯s eyes once again betrayed a deep fear of me. This moment was even shorter than the last, but this time I could also see it from much closer. Inside those eyes was not exactly fear, it was a deep-rooted form of terror, almost as if the name Acedia carried with it an unbelievable trauma. This was both good and bad. Not only made this absolutely certain that this man was, indeed, suspicious, it also limited the time-range from which I could know him from. The bad thing was, it was the era I had the most interaction, considering me having a race to protect, being dragged along by my wife to meet people and the many conferences I had to attend between numerous races. The options were much too many to instantly remember whose face Solon¡¯s was. Also bad, I personally killed ¨C or at least, thought I killed ¨C every single thing in that era. That he might have survived that, was definitely not good news. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Solon¡¯s face turned back into one of a gracious host. ¡°Acedia¡­ an interesting name, my Lord. Then, I¡¯ll be off. Please, make yourself at home and catch up with my wife. Emily, come with me.¡± When Emily meekly followed her father¡¯s orders, both Solon and Lillian were shocked to see her obey so meekly, but fortunately, didn¡¯t investigate further. ¡°Please, Acedia¡­ may I call you that?¡± Lillian asked with a voice mixed with a fearful embarrassment and one belonging to a hostess as soon as Solon and Emily left the room and shut the door. I nodded, not caring about how she called me, and her beamed happiness. ¡°Then please, Acedia, have a seat.¡± She ushered me towards previously Solon¡¯s chair, urging me to sit while she cleaned the nearly-forgotten broken cup, grabbed a new cup from one of the three glass-door cupboards and poured me a cup of tea from the porcelain teapot on the small wooden coffee table. After doing all this, she poured herself a cup of tea and, instead of sitting in the chair she previously sat ¨C opposite of the one I¡¯m sitting on ¨C, seated herself on the couch between the two chairs, picking the side closest to me. ¡°If there is anything you want to ask me, please do.¡± She asked, staring me with eyes showing a mixture of hope ¨C hoping I showed interest in her, knowing she forcefully dragged me hear ¨C and the delight of seeing me. After contemplating for sometime on what to exactly ask, I decided to ask her what I initially wanted to know ever since meeting her. ¡°Why are you alive?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, what do you mean?¡± She asked as if all hope in the world was crushed and I could see her eyes slowly water. Damn, my fault. Sometimes, I have issues wording my intentions, another reason why I rarely bother speaking, besides it being bothersome to interact with others. She must have thought I was somehow displeased with her survival. Which, for the record, I¡¯m definitely not. ¡°Sorry. I meant, why did you choose to live?¡± This was the question I wanted to know. How could someone with such a bleak life so far, still decide to continue living. Placing her hand on her heart, she sighed with relief before answering my question. ¡°It was because of you. Having you heal me, I decided I must survive, not for myself, but for the kindness you . And when you gave me power ¨C by the way, I¡¯m sorry for asking so shamelessly ¨C I wanted to proof myself worthy to receive such benevolence from¡­ my¡­ God.¡± The last words were barely audible, as she hung her head low, the embarrassment visible even in the red tips of her ears half-hidden behind her long black hair. Honestly, it was as I suspected. She deified me and made that her reason to live. It wasn¡¯t the answer I wanted, I wanted something more substantial, hoping it could imply to me, but alas. But, although an important question, it wasn¡¯t the most important one I had for her. ¡°What do you live for now?¡± Besides some half-assed kindness and wanting to know the reason why she choose for life, this too was one of the primary reasons I saved her. To see if she could figure out a reason behind life after such a horrifying introduction to it. Naturally, once again hoping I could use it for my own. Or at least get some inspiration or something. But, even before her answer, I knew she would disappoint me. ¡°I have a loving husband and, although she is troublesome, spoiled and ¨C I¡¯ll admit ¨C a bad character due to my failure in parenting, I still love my daughter. I cannot bear to leave them, and I cannot bear for them to leave me.¡± She said, both cheerfully and resolutely. As I thought, disappointing. I didn¡¯t show it on my face, but I was disappointed. Though it was but slightly, since I could understand her feelings, it definitely wasn¡¯t what I hoped for. I already had a family and lost them horribly and I do not want it to happen again. But, despite being somewhat disappointed, I¡¯m still incredibly grateful for giving birth to her Immortal daughter, even if I needed to wait a long time before I can question her. So I don¡¯t consider saving her a waste of my time and effort. Thankfully. If I did, I would have ignored everything my wife wanted me to learn. She wouldn¡¯t have wanted me to think saving someone was a waste of effort. After a long silence and a sip of the tea, I asked her for her story, even if I wasn¡¯t very interested. Apparently, she followed a routine many escaped slaves went through. At the city I dropped her off, she travelled with a merchant¡¯s caravan to protect it, honing her martial skills and understanding of Energy, until she arrived at a place she thought okay to settle in. Now it trails off from the standard slave-escape story, and turned somewhat fairytale-like, she admitted. She won a tournament using her skills and won a position as the bodyguard of the city¡¯s Lord, Solon. Although initially a professional relationship, when she saved him during an assassination attempt, they fell in love etcetera, etcetera. She rattled on and on and continued with stories about her present-day life and about her husband and daughter. I wish my life had a fairytale spin like that, but I won¡¯t hope for it anymore. I went through too much for that. While listening to her story, my mind was partially preoccupied trying to figure out where I know Solon¡¯s face from, scanning through the many faces, trying to fit the pieces together, when suddenly, the key was provided to me by Lillian. ¡°¡­but, honestly, I was surprised he¡¯d let you call him Solon so quickly.¡± This definitely deserved attention and I quickly asked: ¡°How so?¡± It must have been the reason why she and Emily were surprised during the introduction. ¡°Well, my husband has a rather long and strange name, but he still introduces himself with it and only allows his close friends and family to call him Solon.¡± Understanding what she said, I urged her. ¡°What is his full name?¡± She slightly giggled and said: ¡°Cirly Solomavon Andronevon, strange name, right?¡± She said, trying to pronounce the exotic name correctly. ... ¡­¡­¡­. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Ah¡­ Really¡­. Him¡­¡­ For my past to hunt me like this¡­¡­¡­ How cruel God is¡­¡­¡­¡­...... Chapter 5: A Tragedy, Once More First Arc = Complete I won''t take a break though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was the 362th council after the end of the Ninth Great War seven years ago. The Twelve Lords of the Supreme Beings, the Thirty-Seven Heroes of the United Races (Elves, Humans and Beastmen), and lastly, the four remaining Rulers of Sin, with my wife and I counted as one person. The Council had always had ¡®world peace¡¯ as goal, though always failed to maintain at, as seen by the eight Great Wars after the first meeting of the Council. This Council was the same as always. The Thirty-Seven Heroes complaining about their violated ¡®rights¡¯. The Twelve Lords as disdainful as ever with their emotionless faces. The Ruler of Greed saying the world belongs to him. The Ruler of Pride simply regarding everyone as unworthy of their attention and complaining about it. The Ruler of Wrath being held back before he could start a war at the seemingly insulting attitude of anyone. Me sitting there thoroughly disinterested whilst my wife tried to control the hectic situation. It looked the same as always, but, without my knowledge, all of them must have made some sort of backdoor deal. Because that day was when tragedy happened. As always after a Council, my wife tried to furtively explain everything that was said while preparing for sleep. I simply looked at her, smiling, until she stopped bothering me with it. And then, I was woken up by my wife screaming in pain. Beside me, lying in the bed, I saw her writhing in agony, her eyes frantically shifting at me and around me. On her skin were blue dots from which came a horrible smell and a black smoke. I had seen it before. It was developed during one of the Great Wars and designed to slowly burn the very soul to ashes along with the body. An immensely painful process even the worst physical torture couldn¡¯t compare to. And, even worse, the more powerful one was, the longer it burned. I too was targeted, but such a spell couldn¡¯t pass through my defences. But, even though the spell was child¡¯s play to me, it definitely wasn¡¯t so for her. And dispelling the fire is impossible, since it would just feed off of the Energy used to dispel it. So all I could do was watch her burn slowly right in front of me, with the culprits standing around the bed in the spacious room. The Twelve Lords, immaculate as ever while poring the Energy into the spell. The Thirty-Seven Heroes looking satisfied at the removed threat, also putting their Energy to work. The Rulers of Sin, grinning in a satisfying manor, one coveting my power, one fulfilled of an old grudge and one fulfilled as the only one stronger than him burned. All of them contributing their Energy to torment my only love. A conspiracy, a betrayal, but I spared them no thought. My mind fully occupied seeing my wife die in front of me while I frantically tried putting each of the fiery blue dots out, only to have them reappear in twice the number, paying no attention to the fire trying to consume me. Eventually, they figured out their power had no effect on me, and must have fled in fear. But I did not notice it, my attention completely occupied by the last moments of my wife, tears falling from my eyes that had been unshed for more than a billion years. It lasted for three days. Three days of unending torture. Three days filled with seeing her in agony, my tears endlessly spilling as I continued to hold her. The first day, her legs and lower body were consumed by the blue fire, leaving only half of her left to be cradled in my arms. The second day, I cradled only her upper body, containing her lungs and heart, and her head. The rest, consumed by fire. The third, only her head remained. Unable to scream without lungs, I only saw the tears silently leaving a trail across her cheeks and her eyes, darting madly in their sockets. The fourth day, I held nothing and was hollow. The fifth day, the whole world was as empty as I. _______________________________________________________________________________ Cirly Solomavon Andronevon. The name of the familiar face, given to me by Lillian, made me remember it vividly once more. But there were no more tears to shed, and the anger didn¡¯t come, suppressed by me. But the good mood I held over the last couple years, melted away like snow in the summer. I felt empty as Lillian fell silent, not knowing why but clearly feeling my depression. I felt empty as Emily entered the room, fearfully telling diner was ready. I felt empty as dinner was eaten in silence, Emily and Lillian throwing worrying glances at each other and threw questioning glances at Solomavon, Lillian knowing I became like this after the mention of his name. He knew what was going on. As soon as I entered the room, shifting my hollow gaze onto his eyes, he knew it was the end for him and hung his head low as the feast was served. After the last round of food was finished, the servants were ordered out and everyone remained seated in the grandiose, chandelier-lit dining room, Solomavon knowing what was coming, me preparing for what I had to do, Emily and Lillian unknowingly awaiting for what was going to happen. I sat across of him, both of us with looking each other in the eyes, his eyes as empty as I felt. ¡°Cirly Solomavon Andronevon, Third of the Twelve Lords.¡± I slowly said, my authoritative voice harshly echoing through the silent room, Emily and Lillian freezing up hearing its tone. ¡°You seem different from what I would expect from a Supreme Being.¡± The Supreme Beings I remembered never had a single shred of emotion in them, but, seeing his reactions from before and the attitude of his wife and daughter, it was clear he held emotions. ¡°I got married, had a child. I lived and loved.¡± He said, a small smile on his face, his life flashing before his eyes as one would experience nearing death. ¡°Then you understand your sin.¡± A statement. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You regret it.¡± Another statement. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t struggle?¡± A sincere question. If he truly loves his family, he would struggle as long and hard as necessary, unless one specific condition was fulfilled. ¡°Will you let my family live? Will you promise not to harm them?¡± He countered. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Even if they fight? Even if they harm you?¡± He looked into my eyes, filled with a determination to spring into action if the answer was unfavourable. ¡°They can¡¯t, even if they tried.¡± A partial lie. His daughter could harm me, with her powers, but she was still immature. There¡¯s no way she could harm me. Probably. A satisfied and sorrowful smile appeared on his face, as he gave quick, love-filled glances at his wife and daughter. ¡°Do whatever you want.¡± Resignation. But his family, having stayed silent during the conversation, now began to slightly panic, understanding something was wrong, but not what. ¡°Honey, what do you mean?¡± ¡°Father, what¡¯s going on?¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.Both asked simultaneously, rising from their chairs and looking at him, worrying. He looked at me, seeing if I was planning to say anything, but cold eyes stared back at him, not showing any reaction. I let him have these final words. Sorrowfully smiling, he stood up gesturing his family closer for a hug, walking with them underneath his arms towards the door, me following closely behind. After going through several of them, we arrived in a walled-in courtyard, completely empty and covered in grass. There, he stopped looking at the sky with slightly teary eyes. He said: ¡°Long, long ago, I made a mistake. A big one. The man that saved you, allowed me to meet you, made me feel alive for the first time¡­. I¡¯ve done something terrible to him, and he is here to punish me.¡± Their eyes grew wide as they heard him explain. ¡°P-punishment? What do you mean?¡± Lillian asked. ¡°What did you do?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Death.¡± I said. They turned around, leaving his embrace and looked at me in shock. ¡°His crime warrants death.¡± I said. ¡°Why does¡­¡± Lillian started, looking at me, terrified and shaking where she stood whilst her eyes were beginning to water. ¡°He murdered my wife.¡± As I said this, my anger slightly rose, replacing the emptiness with unwanted feelings. Both Emily and Lillian were shocked even more than before, their focus alternating between me, the still turned-around Solomavon and each other. ¡°Is there anyway¡­.¡± Lillian pleaded. ¡°No.¡± My anger rising once more. ¡°There¡¯s no way¡­.¡± ¡°No.¡± even more. ¡°Not even for¡­..¡± ¡°No.¡± even more. She fell to her knees. ¡°Please, I¡¯d do¡­.¡± ¡°No!¡± I said, my anger reaching its peak and my voice filled with rage. ¡°No! I won¡¯t forgive! I won¡¯t forget! Millions, no!, Billions of years of suffering and my only moment of happiness, the only one who loved me, respected me, treated me not as strange, not as something to be feared, revered or killed, was cut down after a short thousand years! CAN YOU IMAGINE?! AFTER LONGER THAN AN ETERNITY, MY HAPPINESS BECOMING SHORT-LIVED THANKS TO POWER-HUNGRY BEASTS, DISGUISED AS RESPECTED MEN! NO, YOU CAN¡¯T! HE MUST DIE!¡± With every word I became more and more furious, my voice becoming louder and louder and more powerful, making the earth shiver underneath my feet and the sky crackle with power. ¡°I WON¡¯T LET YOU!¡± Lillian, still on her knees, screamed and whipping her arm towards me. An incredible amount of lightning shot from out of her hand. Purple lightning as thick as an arm shot towards me, small branches reaching the ground, setting the grass on fire all around and ripping through the air, filling it with the thunderous roar of a terrifying beast. I let it hit me. It did nothing. Not even a scratch was visible on me. ¡°THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME FOR GIVING YOU LIFE?! FOR GIVING YOU POWER?! FOR GIVING YOU HAPPINESS?!¡± I shouted, the thunderous roar replaced with an even more terrifying roar, making the air sound as if it was being ripped apart. ¡°WHAT I GIVE, I. CAN. TAKE. BACK!¡± Forcefully cutting the Soulthread, the earth covering the courtyard cracked and broke, the ashes of the burned grass filling in the gaps. As I cut the Soulthread, she screamed in pain and her once-youthful head visibly aged at an extreme pace, changing from the mid-twenties to her real age, that of a sixty-your old. Wrinkling her face, greying her hair, sagging her eyes, everything happened at once and was accompanied by extreme headaches, making her clutch her head between her hands and throw herself to the ground in agony. ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!¡± Emily screamed, seeing her mother so tormented. Gathering an enormous amount of Energy, she flung it wildly at me, over and over again. I placed a shield in front of me, protecting me from the waves and sending them beyond me, impacting and destroying the mansion. ¡°FOOLISH GIRL! HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED!¡± Without even the slightest motion, I heavily condensed an amount of Energy hundreds of time larger than hers and shot it towards her in a tightly packed small ball. The ball having reached her, it expanded and covered her entirely, creating a bubble around her. With a flick of my wrist, hundreds of spikes shot through her, piercing both body and soul. An extremely horrifying scream of terror came out of her mouth, one of absolute torture not even her mother had experienced, her special status of Immortal ¨C I knew from experience ¨C forcing her to be unable to pass out. Seeing his wife having aged considerably and writhing on the ground in pain, clutching her head, and his daughter floating in the air, surrounded by a bubble and impaled from all sides, letting out a most terrifying scream, he had turned around and now stood listlessly between them. ¡°You¡­ promised¡­ You¡­.. promised¡­.¡± He said, over and over again, the look in his eyes revealing the same feelings I had as they burned my wife. Remembering the scene, I instantly regretted what I had done. But, it was too late. This is why. Why I shouldn¡¯t bother with emotions. Why I became lifeless in the first place. Why I hope for death, hope for the afterlife, hope for happiness. So I can end this cycle. Everything that happens to me and everything I do to others¡­. Everything is painful. My life only exists out of getting harmed or harming others. I want to end this. But the cycle is never ending. ¡°You¡­ promised¡­ You¡­.. promised¡­.¡± He was still repeating. He didn¡¯t do anything, didn¡¯t attack me, either because he was too shocked or knew he could never win against me. Without questioning him, asking him about how he survived, if others survived, if they were changed like him or if they were still the same, I send a blade of energy towards him, easily decapitating him and destroying his soul. I don¡¯t want to know. Let me believe he was the last. Let my wife¡¯s murder be ended with this tragedy. But¡­ I knew. Even if he was the last, the cycle will continue, though not with me, One day, I will have to face Emily again, in the hope she finds happiness and meaning, and that I too, find meaning . That would be ideal. The ideal ending for both me and her. But¡­ I doubt it. She¡¯ll become like me. I know it. It¡¯s just a matter of time. I condensed the bubble again into a small ball, and send it flying into Emily¡¯s head, forcing her unconscious. Then, I gathered some Energy and shot it towards Lillian, knocking her too unconscious, while also giving her power, returning her to her previous state. Not through Soulthread, but her own. The same power Magic was once derived from. They didn¡¯t deserve my anger. I never hated them and was still thankful for Emily This is the very least I could do. A splitting headache came. As always. It¡¯s just to bothersome. Life is a pain. I want to sleep. A sleep without dreams¡­. To carry me away from this tragedy¡­¡­¡­¡­ Chapter 6: Waking up from the Dream Time flies by when you¡¯re asleep, especially so for me. Whenever I fall to sleep ¨C true sleep, not simply resting for a couple of years ¨C time passes by in an incredible pace, by the hundreds of thousands of years. Luckily, I can easily figure out how long I¡¯ve slept, thanks to me and the universe sharing the same date of birth. A quick tap into the Energy in the world, and I can find out how old the Energy, and thus the world, is. It has been 10.982.103 years since the ordeal with Solomavon. Although I can sleep indefinitely, it has some painful side-effects if I do. After a certain amount of sleep, I cannot stop the dreams from coming. Perhaps for normal people this wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but for me, it definitely is. My dreams are never pretty. Every time I start dreaming, I remember the past. None of my past is happy, with one exception of course, but that one didn¡¯t come when I went for a long sleep the last time, and I don¡¯t expect it to come now. I was right, a dream came, and not a happy one. It was a time long, long ago, long before I granted Magic, around the third time intelligent beings ruled the world. Although they didn¡¯t have Magic, they were able, through technology, to harness Energy with the use of devices, allowing them bend space and transmute matter and whatnot. Naturally, they also had weapons powered by Energy, and a lot of them. They had observed me for hundreds of years. This wasn¡¯t particularly special. I was always observed by people, since they could sense the Energy overflowing from my soul. Also, this is the reason why everyone who meets me knows about my power, making me feared by all and my life a miserable, since everyone, no exceptions, can sense this power. I was simply sitting in an empty bar ¨C empty, because of me ¨C, drinking alcohol ¨C as I so often do in technologically advanced era¡¯s ¨C while the bartender tremblingly handed me drink after drink, when the government decided it was time. They disintegrated the wall with some strange weapon and fired another strange weapon, releasing a net made out of Energy, successfully entrapping me. Although now I could very easily destroy such a thing, back then I was much younger and nearly always pathetically wallowing in self-pity. Only later did I begun learning about my power and experimenting on myself, increasing my knowledge until I knew everything. I yelled and cursed as I struggled to get out of the net, Its threads scorching my skin and burning into my soul. Meanwhile, they piled more and more nets on me, until I couldn¡¯t even struggle anymore due to the overwhelming pain. That was when the real nightmare started. They dragged me off to some research facility, where they began experimenting on me to advance their knowledge. They began with simple experiments, cutting apart my body and peeling back the skin to reveal the muscles, vein and flesh my body was made out of, searching if there was something in my body that made my soul overflow with Energy. When they found out my body would simply heal itself if left alone, the second round started: physical endurance. During that time, as stated, I had not begun experimenting on myself and had thus not gained the pain resistance I have now, so this was a torturing experience. Burning me alive for days, impaling my eyes, ears, brain, heart, knees, everything they could find they stabbed or cut or ripped out. They forced me into a water tank. Since it was a time before I replaced every bodily necessity with Energy, I was forced to drown over and over and over again, a never ending cycle of swallowing water, coughing it out along with heaps and heaps of blood, only to repeat this over and over again. They electrocuted me, injected me with poison, crushed my body using immense pressure, infecting me with diseases, everything that could harm the body was done to me and then some. After these tests, the third round started. My first experience with the torture of a soul. Using special knives, scalpels and even flamethrower-like weapons made out of and shooting Energy, they directly harmed my soul. Cutting it apart, burning it, bludgeoning it with strange batons, injecting me with a strange form of altered Energy, they made me experience hell over and over again, testing recently invented weapons and other items on me to see what it could do and its side-effects. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. For hundreds and hundreds of years they continued these experiments, not allowing me escape, only allowing me to feel the most abhorrent pain imaginable. All for their own selfish gains. Only when the inevitable end of intelligent life arrived, in this case an all-consuming war, was I set free. This was what prompted me into researching everything that was to know about Energy, the soul and life. Even now, I¡¯m still researching the latter two. This is one of my worst memories, only falling behind a couple of other ones by a narrow margin, and also one of the memories I dreamt about the most. That is how I woke up, covered in sweat and tears, screaming in agony after remembering it all. Fortunately ¨C or rather, unfortunately ¨C this wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve woken up like this, so I steadied myself rather quickly, setting myself upright while hugging myself, trying to stop me from shivering. While stabilizing myself, I used Energy to do a quick sweep of the immediate surroundings. This time, instead of the desert, my body had reformed itself ¨C I always destroy it when going into a long sleep ¨C in a clearance in a large forest located at the foot of a mountain range. Large rocks were scattered here and there and in the middle of the clearance was a small yet rapid mountain creek , running through the clearance and into the forest once more. Behind one of the large rocks, right beside the small mountain creek I could sense two smaller beings, raggedly breathing and trembling in fear. They must¡¯ve heard me screaming. Before approaching them, I did the same thing I did to Lillian when I first encountered her. I slowly walked over there, gathering energy into my soul and emanating it into a soothing, warm and relaxing aura. The closer I came, the more they were influenced by my aura and slowly but surely, their trembling stopped and soon they relaxed, almost closing their eyes as they did so. When I arrived at the other side of the rock, I had both a familiar feeling as well as a bit of a surprise. I saw two children, leaning against each other while looking back at me in surprise, but luckily not in fear. One was a boy, looking around eight or nine years old with boyishly long black hair and violet eyes, having two horns growing from his forehead in a tusk-like manner. He was very reminiscent of the demons like Lillian and Emily, but instead of a slightly browner colour of horn, his were completely black. As black as the night. Another thing was, he was missing the tail that the previous demons wore. The other was a girl, also looking around eight or nine years old, with long white hair, though not looking like hair of elderly people, and glowing golden eyes. The surprising thing about her was, beside the rare eye and hair colour, was the small wings protruding out behind her, looking every bit like that of a child angel in stories and fairytales, though never actually having existed, as far as I know. Both of them were thoroughly malnourished and exhausted, as if they had been on the run for days without stopping to rest even for a moment. Although surprising to see a demonic little boy and an angelic little girl together, there was something more surprising about them. Their souls. The soul of the girl was pure white, as is normal for any soul, but it had an odd golden tinge to it, the same colour as her eyes. It made her whole soul look as if it is ¡®fake¡¯, or rather, altered by someone else. Oddly enough, inside her soul I could sense the presence of Energy. This is strange, because a normal soul completely lacks both Energy and Magic, with the notable exception of mine and Emily¡¯s. Ours were completely made out of Energy and intertwined with the Energy of the world. That of the girl looked as if someone forcefully tried to recreate a soul like mine, and failed. The boy was the same, albeit a white soul with a tinge of violet, also the same colour as his eyes. Right when I wanted to think about what this meant, I suddenly heard a shot from out of the surrounding forest and noticed people coming from all directions walking towards us. ¡°Give us the angel and the demon, and nobody will get hurt.¡± One of them said. He was clearly lying. Chapter 7: A Smile, at last Good news, for you at least. I couldn''t sleep so here is another chapter. Also, thanks to the user ShamelessLeech, I was reminded of my title and that I thought about changing it, since I don''t want people to not giving this a chance for the title implying a poor fanfic. So tomorrow, when I''ll (probably) release a new chapter, I''ll make a poll with some titles and you decide what''s best. Of course, the option to keep it will be present, and if you don''t care, option is included and I''ll do whatever. By the way, thank you ShamlessLeech for giving it a chance and enjoying my work. To others too, of course, thanks for the support. Enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A hundred men stepped out of the woods, completely surrounding us from all sides, with only our backs protected because of the rocks. Apart from one man, all were dressed in rather high-quality leather armour, carrying crossbows with an Energy enchanted metal tip, specially designed to penetrate through Energy barriers and pierce the soul. It could even potentially harm me. What¡¯s surprising is that none of them had a single shred of Magic in them, something very strange considering the previous time I was awake, everyone had at least some Magic. But they were completely without and, more surprisingly, their crossbows had Energy enchanted bolts, something only those who completed the road of Magic or by reaching the late stages of technological advancement. Considering they possessed neither Magic nor high-end technology, it was rather strange. ¡°Final warning. By order of the Lord, give us the children. What do you say?¡± The captain, the only one wearing metal armour, said, drawing his sword and pointing it at us. The ¡®Lord¡¯ huh? The way he said it, it sounded more like an order of ¡®God¡¯ than by a king. So some megalomaniac is behind this all? How dull. But really, what should I do? Protecting the children is a given, I¡¯m not a monster that won¡¯t help little children who are being threatened like this. Especially since I know the pain of being experimented on and having been reminded of it recently. Strange coincidence, now that I think of it. But anyway, should I kill them? If it were five or ten people without those enchanted bolts and quality armour, then it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. But a hundred, dressed like they were some special and professional regiment? It would definitely invite unwanted trouble. I can understand where they¡¯re coming from though. If ¨C I don¡¯t know for certain ¨C these children could truly manipulate the Energy in their souls, they could easily kill ill-equipped soldiers. And if they couldn¡¯t, then they present a huge possible threat in the future, thus requiring a quick and thorough extermination. I decided for the ¡®let¡¯s-see-what-happens¡¯ approach of problem-solving. Especially since, seeing the commander and the soldiers sweating bullets and looking anxiously, they must have sensed the Energy leaking out of me by now. Taking a last glance at the anxious look of the children, I looked the commander in the eye, making him flinch almost unnoticeable. ¡°¡­.Nah.¡± I said, sighing and feigning disinterest in them. I sat down, forcing myself between the boy and girl while looking at the commander struggling with his decision. After a while, resolution dawned on his face and shouted: ¡°Company, fire!¡± The soldiers, disciplined as they wore, fired without the slightest hesitation and with great accuracy. Since the bolts were enchanted with Energy meant to penetrate a barrier, I decided to take a more interesting approach. Although I might wanted to show off to the children. Since my soul and the Energy in the world were connected with each other, I need but a quick thought and I could sense through the free Energy in the world, and alter it as I wished. I activated my Soulsense, allowing me to sense every bolt, every rock, every blade of grass and every patch of dirt around me. For every single bolt, all 99 of them, since the commander didn¡¯t have a crossbow, I made a current of air, sending them through some sort of tunnel to whatever location I desired them to be. In this case, the heart of the 99 soldiers. Within a second after firing, the thumps of impact, the cracks of ribs and the grunts of dying mean filled the air, before everything became eerily quiet. All 99 men collapsed, having a hole in their heart with the bolts having flown away, since their flesh and armour were not strong enough to lodge them in their bodies. The commander stood frozen, seeing all his men dead in the blink of an eye. Since everyone was already dead, there was no reason to keep him alive. In fact, it would be less troublesome if he died. Focusing some Energy in a small ball on my thumb, I shot it away with my index finger, sending it cleanly through the still-frozen commander¡¯s left eye, instantly killing him. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Looking to my sides, I saw the children looking at me, eyes filled with awe in their amazement. I slightly smiled, looking at their faces. ¡­. Smiled? I, smiled? I moved my hand to the corner of my lips and indeed! They were ever so slightly upturned. How long has it been? How long ago was the last time I smiled? I don¡¯t remember smiling when I met Emily, although I had high hopes for the future. Though that might be because she was a rotten brat. Although I was kind of glad seeing Lillian healthy and happy, it was but a superficial and fleeting feeling, definitely not enough me to smile. Because I only smile when I¡¯m honestly feeling like I should smile. Never a smile out of politeness. Never a smile when superficially glad to see someone. Never a smile for the People of Sloth, even when I sort of cared about them. The last time I smiled, can only be then. The days with my wife, were the last times I smiled. That was the time I smiled the most, nearly every single day purely out of bliss. And now, albeit slightly, I smiled looking at the surprised faces of two children. Why? Is it because I like children? No, although I do not hate them, I never liked them either, thinking they were a bother. Is it because a similarity in fate? Sympathy does form a bond. Both of us being cruelly experimented on, a shared pain, could form a bond. But is that enough? But that is unimportant. The most important thing is that I am willing ¨C no, that I¡¯m able to smile with them. Although right now, the bond is small but shallow, I will see where it takes me. I will take the chance when offered, just like with Lillian and many others before her. And just like then, I can only hope it would lead to something, and even if it didn¡¯t, I might get surprised like with Lillian and Emily. Thinking about Emily, I thought to visit her when I woke up, to see what she has become. But this is more important. She has waited for ten, nearly eleven, million years, she can wait for ten million more. In fact, that might be better. For now, let¡¯s see where this leads. Still looking at their faces, I saw something I had almost forget. Their clothes were in poor state, to say the least, and their face showed sight of fatigue and malnourishment. A quick flick of the wrist and the Energy surrounding us poured into them, feeding them, revitalizing them and turning into somewhat more decent clothes, a simple tunic and pants for the boy ¨C similar to what I was wearing ¨C and a simple shirt and skirt for the girl. Of course, the shirt allowed for her wings to remain free. Feeling their exhaustion lifted, their stomachs filled and seeing their clothes prim and proper, their faces shone even more Although when they noticed they were starting to cling on to me, they blushed and stood up. ¡°Thank you mister for helping us. Anna, you too!¡± Bowing his head slightly in gratitude, he whispered the last words insistently and prodded the girl with his elbow. ¡°Thank you mister.¡± She said, even going so far as to clumsily curtsy, making me laugh lightly. I was not surprised that I laughed now, even if it has been so long that my laugh sounded odd. ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡­ Anna, is it?¡± She nodded vigorously and blushed slightly, looking. ¡°And what is your name, little man?¡± I asked the demonic boy. Feigning a mature face and trying to sound manly, the boy said: ¡°I¡¯m Damien, sir.¡± Anna the angel and Damien the demon. The laugh disappeared from my face and I looked into his eyes with a serious look. ¡°Do you have anywhere to go?¡± I asked. Although it is bad for me to think like this, I slightly hoped they didn¡¯t, since then I could ask them to came with me. If they had a place to go, though, I¡¯d bring them there and see what to do from then on. ¡°No¡­¡± Damien answered dejectedly, his improved mood now gone. Anna too, her face previously full of vigour and blush, looked down after my questions. Although feeling guilty about it, I felt relieved. ¡°It might sound strange, but I know what you¡¯ve been through and want to help you both. Will you come with me? I¡¯ll take care of you, I promise.¡± I rarely ever promise. Initially, both of their faces hardened and looked at me suspiciously, weary of me, which is natural. But then, I could see they remembered something and their faces softened. Me, screaming in agony after dreaming about my past. Me, soaked in sweat and tears as I relived my past. Both of them nodded, both of them having made a decision and determined to see it through. I smiled, stood up and walked over to them, petting their heads and ruffling their hair. They flinched at first, but got quickly used to it, smiling happily underneath my hands and my happily smiling along. All around us, the bodies of a hundred men lying in a pool of their own blood. Chapter 8: Carefree Beginnings Here''s the poll about the title. I''ll probably close it and make the most popular answer definitive on Wednesday night, when I post chapter 10 (I plan to at least). Enjoy the chapter! Edit: Never mind, just noticed you can decide when the poll ends. Edit 2: I re-read the chapter and found a LOT of mistakes, so from now on, I will more thoroughly examine my chapters before posting them. I won''t bother fixing the previous chapters though, out of pure laziness, but from now on I will strive for better grammar and a better choice of words. Edit 2.5: I haven''t changed the overall story, just some words and sentences, so people who have read it won''t have to read it again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although I decided to take care of them, I have no idea how to actually take care of children. I never had any, nor had I any interest in having one, thinking them loud, obnoxious and tiresome. And now I¡¯ve got two of them at once. Not only have I got two of them, one of them is a girl. Perhaps I could improvise raising a boy, but a girl? Even in my long life I¡¯ve rarely talked to little girls. Though the same counts for little boys, but still, is it alright to raise her without an adult woman as a role model? But first things first, although they seem to like me to some extent, distrust of strangers is not that easily overcome, even for normal children. And they are not normal. I don¡¯t know whether the horns and wings were added during an experiment or that they were natural. But it doesn''t really matter, after having heard the commander say ¡®angel¡¯ and ¡®demon¡¯ with a slight hint of disdain in his voice, I guess they are discriminated against either way. But for now, let¡¯s get away from this place. I¡¯m beginning to smell the blood. But therein lies another problem. Where to go? Normally, I stay in a rather relaxing place, isolated from the world and taking short naps to pass the time. But if I do that now, years will pass in the blink of an eye, which is bad for the children''s education. Do I need to go to a village, giving them some social experience? Or would that be bad, since they might be discriminated against. And, do they eat? I¡¯ve replaced or made obsolete all necessities a normal body would need, but is it the same for them? The longer I thought, the more I began doubting my decision. Must I really take care of them? No, wait. I decided I would. I promised to take care of them. For a better future, not just for them, but for me as well. Know what? Let¡¯s just ask them. Firstly, destination. ¡°Does one of you have a place they want to go?¡± I asked. Damien and Anna looked at each other for a moment and then turned to me. ¡° ¡°The sea.¡± ¡± They said in unison. Slightly surprised at the immediate answer, I looked at them inquisitively, silently asking for explanation. Damien picked up on it. ¡°I promised her that after we escaped, we would go to see the world, starting from the sea.¡± He said, embarrassingly scratching his cheek while her face, too, blushed slightly. I noticed she blushes a lot. Is she shy? And why is he blushing too? Since when have promises been embarrassing? Then again, I do not exactly know the relationship between the two, but, given some time spent together, I will. ¡°Hmm, I see.¡± I said, looking upwards and tapping my chin with my finger, as if thinking about what to do. Of course, my decision was already made. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the sea then.¡± Their faces noticeably lit up after saying so. Having just woken up, I had no idea where the sea was, but that¡¯s easily fixed. Using the Energy in the ground, I connected all of it together, forming a network of threads spanning the entirety of the continent and, as such, allowing me to sense our location and the geographical lay-out of it, albeit rather roughly. Apparently, we were somewhere around the middle and the sea was way, way off in the distance. It¡¯s something easily solved, of course, but that doesn''t mean it isn''t annoying. I dissolved the entire network, except for a single thread connecting our location to that of the nearest beach. Stretching out both hands beside me, I said: ¡°Okay, found it. Damien, Anna, grab my hand and we¡¯ll be off.¡± Offering them both a hand, I smiled kindly at them, hoping it would make them feel at ease. Honestly, it is absolutely unnecessary to hold hands, as proven with teleporting Emily and me towards Lillian. But if I can make them think it¡¯s somehow dangerous and that they¡¯ll have to rely on me, I might inspire some trust in them. A little manipulative, true, but I believe it is necessary. After all, trust is the most important thing of any relationship. Without trust, even if you love each other, it won''t go anywhere. Damien took my right hand, albeit very slowly and hesitantly, doubt written all over his face, but that is to be expected. Anna on the other hand continued to stare at my hand while keeping her own close to her body, as if hugging them. With a slightly pale face and her eyes darting around between my hand, the hand holding Damien''s, and her own hands, she was clearly torn at what to do and obviously didn¡¯t fully trust me yet, even if she wanted to believe in me. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. A wise decision, might I add. Although I saved them, I¡¯m clearly a stranger. Seeing her so torn at what to do, I decided to concede a little. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you can hold Damien¡¯s hand too, if you want to.¡± I said, doing my utmost to show a comforting and trust-inducing smile. Her face instantly lit up, smiling broadly and her eyes sparkling as her problem was solved, although just a second later, I could see a hint of guilt on her face. I felt both glad and slightly guilty seeing this. I believe I¡¯m not the type to trick a child into feeling guilty on purpose, but on the other hand, the hint of guilt on her face clearly showed she felt she had somehow betrayed my kindness, increasing her goodwill towards me. I hope. After she grabbed his hand, I closed my eyes and feigned a slightly troubled expression as I created a portal on both ends of the thread, the thread functioning as the Energy bridge. Unlike a Soulthread, I can use this one directly. Within a few seconds, delaying it on purpose, a portal was opened and through it, you could clearly see a rosy sky and the suns slowly setting into the sea. The distance was large so it naturally covered some time zones and, since the closest beach lay eastward, the time was several hours later, making our side of the portal still shining brightly underneath the midday sun, while on the other end, it was clearly dusk. Seeing the sight, Damien and Anna were clearly impressed, making me smile lightly with accomplishment. ¡°Now, hold on tight to each other¡¯s hands and step through the portal.¡± I could feel Damien¡¯s hands clearly tightening, showing he, be it unconsciously or not, started to somewhat trust me. The three of us stepped through the portal at the same time and felt the sandy beach underneath our bare feet. Come to think of it, haven¡¯t I been bare-footed even before Solomavon? I don¡¯t even remember the last time I wore socks and shoes. How uncivilized. Anyway, as soon as we stepped through the portal I closed it behind us and released Damien¡¯s hand. On the other end, Anna continued holding Damien¡¯s hands as both of them bolted straight for the sea as soon as I left Damien¡¯s hand, almost stumbling over the small bumps as they ran. Clearly, they deeply trusted and loved each other, though I don¡¯t know what kind of love. Were they friends? Did they view each other as siblings? Although I doubt whether they loved each other in the ¡®mature¡¯ meaning of the word ¨C implying love actually can reach maturity ¨C they might have some form of puppy love between them? Adorable. For the time being, while relaxing on the beach, I smilingly watched them play in the sea during sunset, splashing each other happily whilst squealing with glee as only children can. My face hardened. Thankfully, they are still children and can recover quickly, but having seen them so thoroughly malnourished and unhealthy and especially after seeing their souls, I couldn¡¯t help but think back on my past. If they experienced something equivalent to what I had, there is no way they would remain happy like this. The torture of having their souls altered so thoroughly it could change its colour, something I¡¯ve rarely seen. The latest case of seeing a soul change colour was during my wife¡¯s agonizing death, changing from a the standard pure white to blue as the fire slowly ate away at her. Her pain lasted ¡®only¡¯ three days, after which she was thankfully released, her soul disappearing to either the afterlife or oblivion. But these children, they might have had it harder. The pain caused by Blue Fire is indescribably painful, but at least that has an end. The way their souls had been altered, although definitely being less painful then the devouring feeling of Blue Fire, must have lasted for months, if not years. Years of painful torture, only wishing for release, being death or otherwise, is a life-changing experience. One I know all too well, unfortunately. It definitely isn¡¯t some trauma easily resolved by escaping. The sun now having fully set underneath the horizon, the both of them walked towards me, dripping wet and coldly shivering. Smiling at them, a flicked my wrist and immediately dried their clothes and warmed them up. Afterwards, I conjured up a fire and set it onto the sand, needing neither wood nor any other fuel to keep burning. I transmuted the energy into a couple of soft, warm blankets and gave them to them, after which they tiredly thanked me. For some time, I talked to them, telling funny stories of the time with my wife and discretely asking them a couple of questions. Naturally nothing too deep, asking about some stuff they liked, whether they needed to eat and stuff, and, rather sneakily how long they have escaped, revealing they escaped this a couple of days ago, but never slept until now. It was their first carefree night since they escaped. A night I know all too well. The night of nightmares. Chapter 9: Nightmares Took me much, much longer than expected, but here it is, given to you at 4 am and hopefully almost faultless. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They fell to sleep almost right away. After an hour or so, having made sure they had fallen into a deep slumber, I began to make preparations. Preparations, so that when they wake up, they¡¯ll never have to dream like that again. I gathered some Energy from the air and plugged their ears and disabled their vocal cords, making sure they wouldn¡¯t scream and wake the other up and that, during their sleep, they are unbothered by sounds from outside. I also set up a barrier around us to protect them from whatever may come, just to be sure. Also, I made sure to add some form of healing spell on it, since they¡¯ll strain a couple of muscles during their oncoming tumult. The first priority is to make sure absolutely nothing can wake them up from their sleep. Not from the outside, nor from within the barrier. They need to deal with their trauma right now and in one sitting. If they do not, the nightmare will come again and again, appearing every single time they go into a deep sleep and might even haunt them during the day. I speak from experience. That is why the first priority is to let them face their memories without being interrupted, and their physical and mental health comes second. Wounds can heal. Scars disappear. But memories may haunt you forever. Once again, I speak from experience. They slept closely to each, facing each other, as I sat myself down near them, watching their faces as they slept to make sure I can interfere when necessary. Everything now prepared, there was nothing left to do but wait. The first to react was Anna, her eyes moving restlessly behind their lids, whilst, very slowly, drops of sweat began to form on her head. Although it was dark out and the moon was missing, I could see very clear. Since my soul is always in contact with the Energy, I need but to think and I could see everything as if it were in broad daylight, and then some. She began to move restlessly in her sleep and immediately, I cast a small restraint on her. Not enough to stop the muscles from twitching, but enough to make sure she doesn¡¯t flail her arms around wildly and wake up Damien. After a while, Damien too began to squirm around and once again, I placed a restraint to make sure he doesn¡¯t wake Anna. Half an hour later, their mouths began to slightly open and close, as if they were murmuring in their asleep, although no sound came out. I had made sure of that. Time slowly passed and they opened their mouths wider and wider, silently screaming while every one of their muscles began to uncontrollably spasm, though still unable to move around, of course. The healing effect of the barrier activated and I could sense the Energy seeping into their muscles, healing the minuscule ruptures before they could become serious injuries. Sweat began to stream out of their every pore, soaking them completely and eventually, even tears, mucus and¡­ ¡®other¡¯ fluids began to freely flow as their faces became more and more twisted in anguish. Watching them silently reliving their terror, memories from the past came flooding in. Dreadful memories of being burned alive; of being impaled; of being removed from every vital organ in the body; of being shot again and again; of being skinned and then slowly eaten alive; of being injected with toxins, acids, diseases, liquid metals, molten rock and many more; of being fed spikes, nails, glass shards and even explosives; of my bones being scraped for marrow; of¡­of¡­ Every single memory came flooding in, one more painful than the other in an endless stream of torment, hurting my head as I began to slowly collapse under the pressure. Why? Why must people torment others so? Why do people seek to hurt others so much? Why must I live through these things? Why must I experience every hell imaginable? Why can¡¯t I have a normal life?! Tell me why God?! What is the meaning of all this?! What is ¡°your ¡®Grand Scheme¡¯, your ¡®unfathomable plan¡¯, huh?! Why do I have to feel so much pain, so much torture?!¡± ¡°Why must this life be endless?! Why must I be hated?!¡± ¡°For what purpose have you created this¡­ this¡­ cycle?! This never-ending, forever torturing cycle?!¡± ¡°WHY CAN¡¯T I DIE?!!!¡± ¡°DO YOU ENJOY THIS, GOD?! DO YOU ENJOY WATCHING OTHERS SUFFER SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU WISH FOR IT?!¡± ¡°TELL ME, GOD?!¡± ¡°DO YOU?!¡± At some points, I began voicing my thoughts out loud, seeking answers. Naturally, no answer came and I began to lose my mind even more as billions of years worth of pain began to overwhelm me. The memories became more and more painful and a splitting head-ache overwhelmed me, until I lost all control. All the Energy began converging together, forming a cyclone in the insanity that came over me. ¡°aHhahAHhAHHAhahahaHAHh! ThaT¡¯S iT isN¡¯t It! yOu just EnJoY thE sCenERY frOM Up tHerE, doN¡¯t YoU! LAugHinG aS thOSE FoOlIsh MOrTaLs SuFfeR wHilE yOu eNJoY YoURSelf AT their ExPENsE! AhahahahHAHAHhhahhAHHA!¡± The ground began to crack and the air seemed to shatter as the Energy began to run wild, controlled by nightmares of the past. Suddenly, a man dressed in a black bulletproof armor approached me, saying something incomprehensible. It was someone I knew from long, long ago. A shadow from an unpleasant past. ¡°AhhhAHhaHHahaHA! CAptAiN BREndOn, yoU¡¯RE bAcK! C¡¯MoN LAuGh wiTH Me! LaUgH WiTh me like YoU OncE laugHeD aT ME! ¡± A tendril of Energy came out of the ground, winding around his ankles and hoisting him up in the air while another tendril came out and stabbed him through the chest You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Suddenly, a woman in a white doctor¡¯s coat ran past me. ¡°AhahHAhhaHAha! LoOk BrEndOn, dOctOr NaTaSha haS DEcidED tO jOIn us!¡± Throwing the impaled Brendon to the ground I shifted my focus on doctor Natasha, sending a hook after her running figure and pulling her back. ¡°NoW, ThIs TimE, Let¡¯S SeE wHAt¡¯s InsIDE yOu! AHHhaHhahaAaAA!¡± I turned her around and thrust both my hands inside her, grabbing hold of her ribcage and ripping it open, letting the insides flow freely to the ground. ¡°BLooD And GuTS! BlOOd AnD guTS! SAMe as mE, sO WhAT dId YoU nEEd me For?! AhHAHhhahHAHHhahhahHAHa!¡± Suddenly the world seemed filled with the people I knew. ¡°GreAT HeRO AsRieL! HoW goOd tO seE yOu AgAin! ThE lasT tIme I SAW yoU WaS tOGetHer witH mY WiFe, wAsn¡¯t it! AhhahhaAHaAhhAHhhahaAaAhahaA!¡± I set her ablaze with Blue Fire, consuming her soul. ¡°MArshAL BenEDIctUs! HOW niCe of you TO jOIN US! AHahahahahaaAHHAHAHahahahHAH¡±i I hung him from his own intestines, slowly chocking the life out of him. ¡°ProFessOr EvE! WeLcomE!¡± I forced her to swallow a mixture of acids, burning her from the inside out. ¡°PreSidENt IvOor! LOnG tImE nO sEE!¡± I cut off an arm and forced it down his throat. ¡°BisHOP JoHN! WelCOme! AhhaAHAHa!¡± Burned at the stake. ¡°PatrIARcH nePoS! GlAD yoU¡¯rE hEre! AHhAhAHAHA!¡± Every bone broken. Hundreds, no, thousands began appearing from all sides, every single one of them familiar faces and every single one of them cut down in horrifying manners. ¡°AhhaaAHHAhaAHHAHhaa! WhAT a SurpRiSE, Is iT my BirtHdAy today?! ahAHhhahhAHHhhhahHHAAhahAaa!¡± The familiar faces seemed never ending, continuously pouring from ever side in droves, some faces even appearing multiple times without me noticing. It felt as if a party had been thrown in my honour with all my tormentors and nightmares present. From Beastmen to Elves, from Romans to Nevtonians, from the First Era to the last, everyone was present. For hours I slaughtered them, returning everything they had done to me with interest until the world seemed nothing more but a red smudge in my vision, and eventually, I lost consciousness. This isn¡¯t the first time this happens, and I suspect it won¡¯t be the last either. Behind the layer of control, the thin veil that is my being, lies a broken man, haunted by nightmares and forced to go through cycle after cycle of life to painful to live, and a nightmarish sleep filled with the horrifying past. And whenever the veil comes off and control is lost, the nightmares to horrifying to dream comes to hunt me not only in sleep, but also while awake. Then comes the slaughter. ¡­¡­¡­. When I came to, I saw the ruins of a city painted in blood and littered with corpses. The familiar faces of different races I once saw had now transformed into a homogeneity of unfamiliar human corpses, most of them not complete. Looking at myself, I saw my clothes drenched in blood, my hands covered with bits of flesh and bone dust. My body trembled and my stomach turned, throwing up three times nothing but bile and acid. I fell to my knees, witnessing this horror before me and knowing I, once again, had lost control and committed such¡­ atrocities. I¡¯m a hypocrite. I hate those who tortured me, despise those that harm others while I myself am no better than them. I¡¯m not even capable of controlling my own emotions and commit such senseless slaughter. What right do I have to blame those who torture me? At least they had a goal in mind, be it research or misguided beliefs. Even if it is unethical, it¡¯s much better than the senseless slaughter I commit all too often. What right do I have to search for happiness? The last question made me remember them and a horrifying sense of dread overwhelmed me. Forgetting the city, forgetting all those that died because of me, I turned my attention away from the city and towards the east. Luckily, I still remembered the location and quickly tried to make an Energy bridge and summon a portal, almost failing in my haste. The portal was created and I stepped through, afraid of the scene I was about to witness. The moment I arrived, relief overwhelmed me. The barrier was intact, the healing spell still worked and the enchantments performed on Damien and Anna were still in effect. And best of all, I saw them sleeping peacefully, their heartbeat steady and breathing regular. I couldn¡¯t help but cry in relief Chapter 10: The Good Life Seeing the children calmly sleeping, I refreshed myself, Damien and Anna, clearing away all the filth that clung to us. Seeing the sun had yet to rise, I decided I would rest for a while and closed my eyes while lying in the sand, the small ball of fire from yesterday burning between me and the children. Although I closed my eyes and shut off my mind, I naturally stayed awake or otherwise, I would sleep for weeks at the very least, years at most. Before long, the sun slowly began to rise from the west and Damien and Anna woke from their sleep, looking more tired than they were before they slept. My soul as always still connected to the surroundings, so I naturally sensed them waking up, but decided not to ¡®wake up¡¯ from the semi-conscious state I was in, instead focusing my attention on their Energy and that of their direct surroundings, making a very clear image of what they were doing. I wanted know what they¡¯ll decide. Forcing themselves to sit upright, slowly waking up and blinking as the morning sun lightly stung their eyes, they looked at each other with lacklustre eyes. Probably noticing they shared the same nightmares last night, they began to chat softly, making sure I would not wake up. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Damien asked in a worried manner. She nodded slightly, exhaustion clearly visible in the gesture, after which she looked at Damien with a worried look. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine, see?¡± Damien replied to the silent inquiry, forcing out a smile to show he was alright, although what appeared was an unconvincing, pained grimace. Although unconvincing, the smile put Anna slightly at ease, the worried glance in her eyes fading away, after which she focused her attention elsewhere. I sensed her gaze slowly aiming at me, past the small fireball. Damien¡¯s eyes followed. A troubled expression appeared on their faces, not knowing what to do. Should they run? Should they escape while they had a chance and live by themselves? Should they flee from me, who showed them an unfamiliar kindness, simply out of a fear of strangers? No matter what they choose, I would coerce them ¨C force them, even ¨C to stay. I will not let them run away. They needed someone to provide protection and, after last night, I found out I need them even more than they need me. After experiencing the loss of control last night, I was afraid I might have harmed them in any way during my madness, only to return and see them still safely sleeping underneath the barrier. If they had been harmed ¨C or, more likely, killed ¨C during my episode, I would have been horrified, cursed myself, cursed my fate, cursed the world and cursed God and afterwards, once again falling into the same cycle that has led my life until now. But they were left unscathed, with me having unconsciously spared during the nightmare. As far as I can remember, this has never happened before. Never had I spared anyone, nor differentiated between friend or foe, innocent or guilty, during these kinds of attacks. I never had an attack during the time spent with my wife so I couldn¡¯t compare them, but one thing was clear. They were important to me. Probably more important than I am to them. So I won¡¯t let them leave. I want to see. See what they can do. See what they can change. See if they can set me free from this cycle. See if they are the ones who could banish the nightmares and heal the broken me, hidden underneath a thin layer of self-control. See if they can become my reason to live. But naturally, I hope they choose to stay with me out of their own free will. It would leave a bad taste otherwise. ¡°Should we¡­ leave?¡± I heard Damien ask, his youthful voice filled with uncertainty while turning to look at Anna. Most likely he is her protector, meaning Damien would follow her if everywhere she went. ¡°I don¡¯t know...¡± Anna said quietly, her soft voice riddled with indecision while briefly looking at him before lowering her head. Thank God. There¡¯s hope. It has been a long time since a thanked Him. ¡°Do you like him?¡± ¡°I like mister. He¡¯s kind and saved us, but he¡¯s¡­.¡± Anna shifted her gaze towards me, as if looking for something. ¡°He¡¯s strange¡­¡± Damien finished, also looking at me. I can¡¯t deny it. Encountering a strange man in the woods, screaming in pain and covered in sweat and tears just moments after waking up. Then afterwards, helping them without knowing them and getting rid of a corps of a hundred professional, heavily-armed soldiers specifically tasked by the ¡®Great Lord¡¯, the mighty ruler of this land, to hunt them down and easily defeating the men without even breaking a sweat. If encountering someone like that, everyone would be wary. They sat there, silently staring at me and each other without continuing the conversation, not making any decisions while clearly not knowing what to do or where to go. Seeing as the conversation wasn¡¯t going anywhere, I deactivated my Soulsense and pulled my body out of its semi-conscious state, ¡®waking up¡¯ in the process. I stood up and stretched my body a little, afterwards looking at them and saw them, too, standing up. They looked panicky at each other for a second, but after they saw my face their expression turned into a light form of shock and surprise. I can imagine how horrible I looked. Yesterday night was exhausting. Perhaps not physically, but losing myself like that exhausts me mentally. Especially the splitting headache before and after are incredibly taxing. Luckily, the pain was gone but still, I was thoroughly spent. Energy can refresh myself physically, but mentally it does nothing. It is no surprise I looked terrible, but they didn¡¯t look any better. Bags under their eyes completely red from the tears and clearly lacking any form of vitality, they looked at least as bad as me. ¡°Rough night, huh?¡± I asked as I flicked my wrist, making the small fireball disappear. Both of them nodded absent mindedly. ¡°Well, let¡¯s hope that, at least for you, this will be the last nightmare.¡± Their looks turned even more surprised after hearing what I said, and slightly embarrassed, thinking that they bothered me with their nightmares. I sincerely hope their nightmares are gone now. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s take it easy for a while, okay?¡± They nodded. The rest of the day we thoroughly relaxed. In the morning, the conversation before last night ¨C when the mood was still good after their escape ¨C I heard Anna liked fish ¨C it was one of the rare delicacies she got during their imprisonment ¨C and so, I easily caught some sea-fish with my Energy and prepared it for them. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.I conjured up a ball of Energy and, showing off, put the fish through it and instantly, it was baked to perfection. They looked in amazement and Anna grabbed the fish enthusiastically out of my hands, afterwards going back to her usual shy state as she thanked me, her cheeks running red with embarrassment. She immediately began gobbling it up. Damien on the other hand, took the fish slowly while looking at it with a complicated expression. First, I thought it was because I made it and he had yet to trust me, but after seeing him eat it, I saw him cringe at every single bite. Every time he wanted to stop eating, he looked at Anna, whom I happily handed more and more fish, gobbling it up and forced himself to eat it. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t trust me, he just simply hated fish but forced himself to eat it, so Anna will be happy. They were incredibly amusing. After breakfast, we simply sat down and stared at the sea as the sun slowly rose from behind us. I showed them a couple of tricks, gathering Energy and turning it in all kinds of shapes, forms and substances, even some who made musical noises as you touched them, with which they happily played. This was also partially an experiment. Normally, people wouldn¡¯t be able to see Energy in such a loose form, only people who could use or have seen Energy before can see it. And so, seeing them play with it, meant they had the potential to use Energy. So, I decided to teach them a couple of small things. For the rest of the morning until lunch, I explained them the basics, teaching them to breath calmly to enter a meditating state of mind and feel the Energy in their souls. Since their souls were forcefully altered to contain Energy, they weren¡¯t automatically connected to the wide web of Energy like I was. They needed to use their Energy to forcefully form a link between the Energy in their souls and the Energy of the world. Rather vexingly, they learned it within a couple of hears and soon, they could form balls, cubes and even star-shapes out of Energy. Really, do they know how long it took me to even use Energy? In the beginning, there was no life to teach me, and when intelligent life did come, they didn¡¯t have the same connection with Energy like I had. And for the longest time, I didn¡¯t even know Energy existed. Only during the First Era, when they began their technological advancement towards the use of Energy, did I begin to feel my soul slightly resonating with it. But even then, how was I supposed to learn it? I wasn¡¯t born nor raised in a world with Magic, no one had any form of special powers except for me, and I only thought I had immortality. When I felt my soul resonate with it, I tried to do something with it, but naturally, didn¡¯t know how to. It was like giving a caveman a book about molecular science and telling them to completely understand it by himself. He wouldn¡¯t be able to even read the book, let alone understand it. And that was how I needed to learn it, by myself without even the slightest comprehension. It took me several billion years even AFTER the First Era reached Energy-level technology to form a half-assed ball of Energy, let alone cubes or stars. Let alone the torturous process of beginning to completely unravel the mysteries behind Energy. Damn kids, making me feel like a fool. So, I decided, after lunch ¨C another fish meal, although I conjured up some fruits for Damien to secretly eat behind her back, for which he was very thankful ¨C to pester them a little. I made a couple of balls filled with static electricity and continuously send them after them, giving them tiny shocks every time it touched them. Of course, the shocks were very light and in no way harmful, they only startled them whenever they touched it. For an hour or so, they happily ran away from the Energy balls, squealing and laughing with joy whenever one touched them or when they narrowly dodged it. After that, we simply sat down and rested a little, our complexion already a million times better than after we woke up. We began chatting about random things I asked them where they came from, with Damien describing a village and Anna a city, both rather vaguely. I asked whether their horns and wings were natural and they, surprisingly neutral, said they weren¡¯t. They said they weren¡¯t troubled by them, because they had them for the largest parts of their lives, having been captured so young. I touched the horns and wings a little, after embarrassingly asking permission and which they reluctantly granted, and found the horns hard and sharp and the wings warm and soft. I asked them some follow up questions, how they felt, if it was used some way and if she could fly ¨C she could not, but could cutely flap them a little ¨C etcetera, etcetera. Afterwards, I left them to play on their own in the sea and on the beach keeping themselves within my field of view. I slowly settled on the warm, sandy beach and began to feel very comfortable as I watched them happily play. The evening quickly arrived and, after a simply meal of vegetables and meat I made out of Energy, they began asking me questions. They asked my name. I only needed a moment before deciding on the name Acedia. It still is my favourite name. They asked me where my wife was, since I had mentioned her the during the conversation the night before. I sorrowfully said she passed away, of course not mentioning how and why and, fortunately, they didn¡¯t ask. Afterwards, they asked more common questions. Why I didn¡¯t eat, why I have these powers, why I know how they could use that power, why I helped them and other, more banal things. To the question why I helped them, I partially lied and said that it was both on a whim and because I saw what they had gone through, no mention of them being the possibility for my salvation. They never asked about what I had gone through and why I woke up screaming when we first met, for which I was thankful. I really did not want to remember and relive everything again. Especially after last night. After the interrogations, the sun had set in the sea and I let them summon a fireball, while I re-summoned the blankets and stuff, after which they quickly fell to sleep. The day had quickly ended and I felt incredibly satisfied. Although they were still wary of me in the morning, with every passing minute I began to feel them warming up and opening their hearts to me. The mood from last night, after I saved them, returned and much, much more. It was a great start. I hope it¡¯ll stay that way. Chapter 11: Lackeys The following days were similarly filled with eating, teaching, relaxing and bonding. Neither of us pried too deeply into each other¡¯s history, so there was rarely a gloomy atmosphere or deep emotions, making these days very easy-going. Surprisingly, at least for me, I found out that Anna was the talkative one of the two. She kept asking questions about where I¡¯ve been, what I¡¯ve done, what I¡¯ve seen and such. Naturally, I told her only the good things, like seeing beautiful mountain ranges towering high above the clouds, strange plants long extinct, exotic animals with strange methods to catch prey and stuff like that. I don¡¯t know if she noticed, but in my stories there are almost no other intelligent beings aside from me. For obvious reasons. Damien, on the other hand, rarely, if ever, talked to me, only listening in on our conversations. Whenever he did talk, it was almost exclusively to Anna while I was not around. I respect their privacy, so I kept myself from eavesdropping on their little talks. Aside from that though, he didn¡¯t seem to hate me. Sometimes, when Anna was off discovering on her own, he simply sat silently beside me. I don¡¯t really know if it means he likes me, but no one would sit beside someone they dislike, right? Really, these were blissful days and I was happy. Incredibly happy, in fact. For all my life, I was instinctively hated and feared, though sometimes this turned into a fanatic form of worship. Even the People of Sloth were one of these worshippers in the beginning, but since they decided to copy me during one of my darkest hours, they quickly became apathetic towards everyone, including me. That is why I granted them Magic. Simply because they didn¡¯t hate me. Only my wife ever said she liked me, even loved me. And the Magic I summoned into the world ended up killing her. That is why these past days were incredible for me. To feel those warm feelings for a second time, I love it. And I want it to stay that way. Unfortunately, there is always something. While we were in the grasslands close by the beach, teaching in the mysteries of Energy ¨C in which they advanced rapidly ¨C portals appeared in the sky. They came by the hundreds, man and women, all wearing the same red shirt and pants and all with their faces covered up by the same bland, golden masks, only having slits for eyes and nothing more. Naturally, I activated the Soulsense and got an immediate grip of our surroundings. There were 605 of them, forming up into groups of hundred with five commanders at the head of them. The children showed an anguished expression, so I hid them behind me, figuring that whomever they were, they most likely didn¡¯t have good intentions. I let them form up, not attacking them since I didn¡¯t want to cause any more trouble, not after massacring one of their cities. They were very disciplined and, within seconds, lined up each in five rows of ten, each with their different commander in front of the group. From the five commanders at the front, the one in the middle stepped forward, holding a scroll in her hand and slowly began reading out loud. ¡°By the order of our Lord, we request that you come with us to receive punishment for the crimes of¡­¡± Before she could name them, I shot forth a ball of Energy, blasting the document apart and throwing her to the ground. ¡°Do not utter a word!¡± I said viciously, almost hissing while releasing enough Energy to force all of their mouths shut, whether they were about to speak or not. I don¡¯t want them to hear it. About the massacre I committed. If they knew, it would definitely ruin the past few days, shattering the still fragile happiness I created. I don¡¯t want to ruin this second chance. ¡°Di, what did they mean?¡± I heard Anna¡¯s voice behind me, calling me by my nickname, ¡®Di¡¯, because Acedia was too long. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, they¡¯ll be gone soon.¡± I said, twisting my neck and smiling at her. I gathered enough Energy to surround all of them. Sensing it, their commanders shouted orders ¨C the commander I had blown away had recovered by now ¨C and they began forming a large circle with two layers, one in front kneeling down, and one behind them, standing upright. All of them forcefully tapped into the Energy around them and formed a large barrier, covering everyone underneath it. Seeing them perform this, I noticed something odd about them. Their souls. Theirs bore similarities with Damien¡¯s and Anna¡¯s, albeit slightly different. Although the souls of Damien and Anna were forcibly altered and infused with Energy, theirs at least still formed a cohesive whole. They were damaged once before, but ,whoever did this to them fixed the holes in their souls, albeit rather clumsily, which explains the colouration, it being similar to scars that form on the body. But the souls of the soldiers contained many holes, some even missing large chunks of it. This is what happens when you improperly force Energy into the soul. It will devour the soul until nothing remained, sometimes slowly, other times within the same day. The reason the same didn¡¯t happen to Damien and Anna was because, aside from the clumsy healing, they bore a poorly cast spell on their souls, continuously draining them of small amounts Energy to heal the minuscule tears that appear continuously. In time, this healing spell will turn Anna¡¯s soul completely golden and Damien¡¯s soul completely violet, like a body scarred all over. It won¡¯t harm them though and, unlike a body covered in scars, won¡¯t look instinctively nasty or unhealthy. Rather, it¡¯ll look more as if they had an unique trait than suffered grievous wounds. If it did, I would have replaced the Energy spell with one of my own. I raised my hand and slashed downward, a thin slice of Energy dashing forward, severing all their threads and making the barrier collapse. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.The motion was unnecessary. It¡¯s more a statement, if anything else, that I can control and crush them at will. Instead of scaring them off, they conjured an enormous amount of threads, each individual summoning at least twenty, together forming a huge web and forcefully sucking the Energy from the surroundings and forming a barrier once more. As if that would help them. Whether it was 605 larger threads or 20.000 smaller ones, a single slice would take care of it. But that is beside the point. Clearly, they aren¡¯t planning to leave without me, so there is nothing left to do but chase them away forcefully. Still having full control of the surrounding Energy, I turned the free Energy into a ceiling of pressure, making it slowly descend upon them. When it reached their barrier, a small resistance was met and the air seemed to groan because of the pressure, until a sound much like the shattering of glass was heard and their barrier was destroyed. ¡°Don¡¯t kill them!¡± I heard Anna shout behind me. Both she and Damien were tugging at my clothes from both sides and looking at me, pleading with their eyes filled with fear, worry and doubt. I halted the advance and briefly looked at inspected both of them, before resting my eyes on Anna. ¡°Why?¡± I asked them. ¡°Aren¡¯t they the slaves of the Lord, the one who experimented on you? Why would you want them to live?¡± There was a tinge of coldness in my voice, contradicting the feelings I held for them the past couple of days. I couldn¡¯t help it. I cannot understand why they would not want this evil to disappear. Hadn¡¯t they been harmed by them? Tortured by them? Did they forget their night of nightmares? ¡° No!... I mean yes, but it wasn¡¯t their choice!¡± Hearing the distress in her voice, I knew this wasn¡¯t some form of capture-bonding, where the victim ends up feeling sympathy towards their captor. ¡°Explain.¡± I said, this time suppressing the coldness in my voice. Of course, I kept the pressure on them, forcing them on the ground without killing them. ¡°They¡­ They are like us! They were experiments like us, but before they could escape, they brainwashed into slaves by the Lord! Please, I beg you, don¡¯t hurt them!¡± Brainwashed, huh? Why would she lie to me? If they were brainwashed I would have noticed it. Whether it is because of some strange metal inside their head, a seal placed on their brain or heart, a strange serum running through their veins, a spell on their souls or one of the many, many other methods of brainwashing, I would definitely notice it. It¡¯s impossible to hide it from me. But¡­ I can somewhat understand. These men and women went through the same horrors as them. In a way, they turned into slaves with a much older method. Old-fashioned torture until they obeyed without question. Both Anna and Damien probably feel some sympathy towards them, having shared the same experience. But they escaped, leaving themselves with a feeling of survivor¡¯s guilt. She lied because she thought I wouldn¡¯t let them live otherwise. Which is correct, might I add. They truly are to kind for their own good, but I like that about them. Unlike me, they weren¡¯t corrupt. I don¡¯t want to ruin them, even if it meant things will get troublesome in the future. I sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± I sensed the Energy around me and quickly found Energy bridge they used still sloppily lying around, all 605 of them. How weak they are. Even the weakest of the Thirty-Seven Heroes could at least clean up what they left behind. Sparing them a final glare, I said: ¡°Let this be a warning: Never appear in front of us again!¡± I opened portals underneath them and let them fall through it, forcing them back from where they came and destroyed the bridge. The grassy plain was now abandoned apart from us, only a crater half a meter deep proving they were ever here. I heard both of them sigh in relief beside me. Although I¡¯ve chased them away for now, I doubt this will be the last of them. ¡°I doubt this will be the last of them¡­¡± Anna softly said, voicing my exact thought. ¡°Indeed. I wish they¡¯d leave us alone, though.¡± I said, sighing afterwards. I sincerely do. ¡°Then¡­ why not meet the Lord and be done with it?¡± Damien asked me, something he rarely did. ¡°¡­It¡¯s annoying and after he¡¯s gone, I doubt it¡¯ll end.¡± Whenever a new power appeared, people are bound to want to challenge it. ¡°But, he¡¯s the strongest! If you defeat him, no one will bother us ever again!¡± I heard Anna shout, strangely pushing the matter. I looked at her in surprise. Although she was talkative, she rarely tried enforcing her will on others Although I might not know her for long enough to make statements about their character, I like to believe I have experience when it comes to judging others. Seeing my surprise, she lowered her head, not in embarrassment, but to hide her face. ¡°Please, stop him. Don¡¯t let him hurt people anymore¡­¡± Her voice trembled, her anger clearly heard. Although she might have worded it differently, or perhaps she really meant what she said, she wanted revenge. She wanted him dead. Although annoying to go out of my way to kill them, I don¡¯t mind if it¡¯s for them. I¡¯ve done the same to my nightmares, so it is in their right to want him dead and since I promised to take care of them, I will do it for them. ¡°¡­Fine.¡± I sighed again, the third time in a row. Luckily, I remembered the location the lackeys went to. A city located directly at the centre of the continent. Chapter 12: the Lord The end of Arc 2 I might not post a chapter tomorrow and the day after, since tomorrow, I''ll probably get the same disappointing results from the doctor as always, after which I''ll probably don''t feel like writing, and the day after that I have a family birthday and have lots of stuff to prepare for college. After that, though, I will just as regularly update as I do now. Also, since the poll ended, please note that the title has changed. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saying the city was large is an understatement. It was simply massive. The wall surrounding the city stretched hundreds of kilometres both east and west from the main gate and were almost twenty meters high. The gate, too, was immense, spanning a width of a hundred meters to allow massive amounts of traffic to go through at once. The city¡¯s size was reminiscent of a city I went to once, the capital of the Heroes, build to house millions of each of their respective races. The difference was, the city in front of me wasn¡¯t as high-tech as that of the Heroes in the past, it was still build with stone and looked straight out of the time of early civilizations. But, besides the massiveness of this place, there was one thing none could fail to notice about this city. The silence. For a city this large, with gates and roads this wide, would be bustling with activity, whether it be the sound of merchants trying to sell their wares, citizens simply walking and chatting with each other or travellers trying to enter the great city, it should definitely be heard. But there was no sound to be heard. Even the wind seemed to fall silent around this place. I looked to my left and right, seeing Damien and Anna standing beside me, staring at the gate with resolve in their eyes, ready to confront whatever they were to encounter. I gathered some Energy, transforming it into raw force and blasted the enormous gates apart, leaving only the dust flying around. We stepped forward through the dust and entered the city. As soon as we entered, it was clear why the city was silent. Whether it was left or right, in the alleyways or on the roofs, they were everywhere. Rows upon rows upon rows of men and women standing everywhere, wearing the red shirts, pants and golden masks and all with souls being slowly devoured by Energy. Everything was covered with them, as if they were paint. The roofs, the balconies, the windows, the gutters, the alleys, the roadside, everywhere you looked, there were rows upon rows of them. They were simply everywhere. Except the road itself. Stretching from the gate, the road was a straight line towards the splendid palace in the middle of the city, kilometres away from the entrance. It¡¯s disgusting. The work of a madmen. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands stood alongside the road, simply staring at us without saying anything. The Lord is insane, was my conclusion. Not looking at the masks, I started walking towards the palace, Damien and Anna following close behind, imitating my apathy towards our surroundings. With every step we took, the masks followed us and, every ten meters or so, they jumped down from the roofs and balconies to fill the road behind us. I activated my Soulsense, simply out of caution, but they didn¡¯t seem to plan anything hostile. They merely observed. We walked for hours, the morning soon changing to midday and then slowly began to set behind the palace, forming a beautiful scenery only seen in the works of master painters. Of course, the palace too was gated, but before I could do anything, it was automatically opened, revealing even more gold-masks behind it. Suddenly, from all around sounded an awe-inspiring declaration, if I hadn¡¯t known who made it. ¡°The Lord has been expecting you.¡± Left, right, in front, behind and above, the voices came from everywhere, perfectly simultaneous and in symphonies, sounding like the heralding of God by Angels. This person truly thinks too highly of himself. We walked through the gate and arrived at the courtyard. Left and right of us stood gigantic fountains looking like they were spewing water, while, in fact, the water had been frozen solid, making sure no sound was to be made. Even now, the only sound present was that of our footsteps. Not even the gold-masks following behind us made a single sound. The courtyard was as enormous and flagrant as the palace had looked, with gardens containing beautiful flowers, exotic trees and even giant hedge-mazes everywhere around us. But again, we barely paid attention to them, focusing on the road ahead. After a couple of minutes walking forward, we arrived at the front door, which was, just like the palace gate, immediately opened in front of us. The first room was, of course, immediately the throne room, looking just as shameless of as the rest of the palace. Underneath and in front of us lay a giant red carpet made out of the finest cloth. In front of the throne were seven steps, each getting smaller than the last, all of them made out of translucent materials: The first one was made of the reddest rubies. The second was made of the purest orange ambers. The third was made purely out of yellow lemon-quartz. The fourth was made out of perfectly cut green emerald. The fifth was made of the clearest blue sapphires. The sixth was made of extremely beautiful purple amethysts. The seventh was made of the finest pink tourmalines. On top of the seven steps stood the throne, made out of a combination of all the seven colours but somehow feeling as if it were a cohesive whole, rather than a bunch of gems thrown together. It was a throne fit for a God, or one who thought of himself as such. Behind the throne and on every wall of the palace hung purple banners, each of them with a seven pointed star, each point a different colour with in the middle, a pure white circle. As we stepped forth on the carpet, the gold-masks walked swiftly past us and formed up beside the walls into multiple rows. When we stood at the bottom of the steps, me in front , Anna on my left and Damien on my right, the entirety of the room, with the exception of the red carpet, was filled with the lackeys of the Lord. As soon as we stopped walking, the lackeys fell to one knee and Energy began to form on the throne. Slowly but surely the figure of a man was formed and sat himself on the throne. The man, when standing, probably around two meters tall, had golden hair and silver eyes and looked incredibly handsome. Wearing a red-robe with golden lining, on the right and left side of his chest was the same seven-pointed stars seen on the banners. Adorning his head was a layered crown fit for an emperor, each layer made out of the same material as the steps and the same colours as the seven-pointed stars. He looked at us, calmly inspecting all of our faces before beginning to speak. ¡°Welcome to my palace, and thank you for¡­¡± He began, speaking with a naturally authorities voice, before I rudely cut him off. ¡°What is this farce?¡± I asked, a hint of anger in my voice and clearly visible in my eyes. The man tilted his head, inspecting me with questioning eyes. ¡°What do you mean?¡± He asked. I simply snapped my fingers and a pillar of Energy formed underneath him, shooting upwards towards his head and instantly decapitating him. Did he really think I wouldn¡¯t notice? Although he didn¡¯t have his face covered, he was clearly the same as all the other lackeys with their damaged souls. His wasn¡¯t even on the same level of enhancement as that of Damien and Anna. There was simply no way he could be the Lord. I walked up the seven-colored steps, the children following closely behind, and waved my hand to make the body and blood disappear. I turned towards the servants, but just when I was about to ask them something, I noticed something¡­ familiar. Something very familiar. It was around the time of the Sixth Era ¨C the sixth time intelligent life ruled the world. Ever since the Third Era, I tried to increase my knowledge regarding life, the soul and, most importantly, Energy. Unfortunately, things had been going extremely slowly. The Fourth and Fifth Era collapsed before they could even reach the stage of Energy-based technology and since I was learning blindly, I progressed next to nothing in research. Fortunately, the Sixth Era did eventually reach that tier. Unfortunately, the society was a combination of religious fanaticism and scientific optimism. In other words, reaching God through the way of science. Why is this unfortunate? Simple, the way every religion has treated me so far: by proclaiming evil. In their case, I was the supposed antithesis to God, since I could wield Energy ¡®freely¡¯, which they believed only God would be able to do. So of course they captured me and decided to publicly execute me the same way their version of the Messiah died; impalement. They captured me and put devices on me that sucked away the Energy in my soul. At the time, I still didn¡¯t know that I could freely wield the Energy of the world around me, so my power was disabled because of their devices. Then, they grabbed me out of my cell and grabbed a strange spear. The ¡®Holy Spear¡¯ they proclaimed it, imbuing with the power of Energy and impaling me upon it, after which they paraded me for three days and nights through their enormous capital, until they put me on a public square for me to die. Naturally, to their surprise, I didn¡¯t die. They took it as a sign of me truly being the devil and left me there. For three thousand years. Three thousand years on a public square for executions, I was impaled and incapable. Do you know what this means? For three thousand years, every day I was bombarded with hundreds of rocks, shot with hundreds of guns, stabbed with hundreds of knifes and impaled with hundreds of spears, all weapons similar to the ¡®Holy Spear¡¯, imbued with Energy. That is 1.095.750 days of being stoned, shot, stabbed and impaled And all of the weapons were sold as ¡®souvenirs¡¯ in shops and stalls around the square, making me a disgusting tourist attraction. Luckily, societies that reach the final tier of technology almost always collapse very quickly, only very rarely do they last for ten thousand years after discovering Energy as a source. Theirs was no different. And now, thousands of Eras later, I felt the same feeling. Looking down at my chest in surprise, my eyes widened as I saw two spearheads piercing through my chest from the back, puncturing my longs and heart in the process. ¡°W..hat?¡± I said, coughing up blood afterwards and falling to my knees. Since the spears were imbued with Energy, they pierced through my very soul, a feeling so painful I still couldn¡¯t get used to it, even after experiencing much, much worse. On my hands and knees, I threw up litres of blood which then regenerated and was thrown up again, this process repeating several times. From the throne were I lay, the plateau was slowly drenched in blood, forming small rivers of blood flowing down the steps, covering up its majestic design. While heaving up bucket after bucket of blood, I was still staring at my chest in disbelief. How? When? I was sure I had covered everything in the castle, there¡¯s no way someone snuck up on me, let alone two of them. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.I was sure. I was so sure. Then, a sudden concern popped up in my head: Anna and Damien. I quickly stood up, but the first thing I saw was something I couldn¡¯t ignore. The thousands of lackeys gathered in the throne hall had stood up, forming a circle around the plateau and all of them carrying bows and arrows made out of Energy. How were they able to do this? Just today, they couldn¡¯t even clean up their bridge and couldn¡¯t even handle a bit of pressure? How is this possible? While staring at them, still completely stupefied by what was happening, they released their arrows. Pierced, pierced, pierced, pierced, pierced pierced pierced pierced pierced pierced pierced pierced pierced again and again, the arrows piercing my body and harming my very soul. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. They were continuously shooting arrows at me, again and again. Nothing was spared. The eyes, the ears, the head, the knees, the hands, the elbows, the feet, the thighs and everything in between was pierced by Energy arrows, tearing me apart. It burned! It burned like hell! Every single arrow aimed at me, went through my soul and send me deeper into agony, but there was one thing that kept me from writhing on the ground and crying out in pain. The children! Where were they! My body a bloody mess, not even resembling a human anymore, let alone a living being, was turning and twisting around, looking for my children. There were none. Not behind me. Nor besides me. Not in front. Nor to the sides. ¡°Anrgh¡­ Dmrgh!¡± I tried yelling their names but everything was a complete mess and with every shot came a bout of pain, forcing me to wince. Suddenly, they stopped firing my arrows and, within seconds, my body and soul were whole again, although not unaffected. Because of the pain, my body shivered, my face was pale and my stomach wanted to throw up its acids and bile, but I forced it in. There was something more important now. I frantically looked around, seeing only masks and no children, when suddenly, for the first time since entering here, I heard a sound that wasn¡¯t from me. Even the arrows they fired didn¡¯t make a sound, but now I could clearly hear it. Footsteps. Footsteps very slowly walking towards. The sea of masks parted and three figures were walking towards me. Three figures, but only one pair of footsteps. It was her. Of course it was her, who else could¡¯ve done this. Emily. She was the despicable one. She was the one that experimented on all these slaves. She was the one who experimented on my children. The rotten, spoiled and Immortal brat. I want to harm her. I want to destroy her. I want to make her feel like what it was like to be pierced by thousands of arrows and then I want to make her feel what it¡¯s like to have your soul being cut apart and altered for these disgusting experiments. I want to make her experience hell itself, so that she¡¯ll never do something like this again. But¡­ Something stayed my hand. Three figures. One pair of footsteps. Two without. Two wearing masks. Two being small as children. One with horns, one with wings. One with a violet soul, the other a golden soul. I slowly walked down the now blood covered stairs, slipping on it and falling down right in front of them. I forced myself up on my knees, at the same height as the small beings beside Emily, my body still shaking and trembling in pain and fear. I lifted up their masks and saw their faces, clearly uncertainty in their eyes but a calm demeanour outwards. ¡°This is but a taste of what¡¯s to come, you disgusting thing!¡± I heard Emily shout, her face twisted in anger and her eyes thirsting for revenge. She snapped her fingers and pointed towards me, two masks springing into action, grabbing my by the pits of my arms and forcing me upright. ¡°Any last words?¡± she spat out. ¡°W..why?¡± I asked softly. ¡°Why?! You ask why?! You tormented me and my mother! You killed my father! And you ask why?! Don¡¯t think a miserable ten million years is going to make me forget!¡± She said fuming with anger. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have expected understanding from a monster. But this time, it¡¯s your turn to suffer for all your crimes.¡± My crimes? What are my crimes? I saved her mother from despair, and spared her when she tried to kill me. Even her father was killed without pain, even though he deserved much, much more for what he did. No, that¡¯s not my crime. It¡¯s that. My life, that¡¯s my crime. I¡¯m simply made to be hated. Why did I think the children would be any different? Of course they hate me, who wouldn¡¯t? And Lillian? Kindness begets kindness, my wife said. I say, misery begets misery. I saved her miserable life and what did I get in return? Misery. ¡°Of course it¡¯s like that, isn¡¯t it God? It was your plan all along, am I right? When did it begin? Was it with Lillian? No, of course not. It was already with my wife, wasn¡¯t it? Wasn¡¯t it?! If I never met her, I wouldn¡¯t have saved her, right?! You only gave her to me so you could take her away again, right?!¡± I could see it now! It was so clear all along! There was no way someone could ever love me! Not even my wife! Not. Even. Her. She came to me at a time I had simply¡­ given up. She showered me with love and it took me years, no, decades to accept this. And once I did, she was quickly taken away from me. Of course it was all a scheme. It was all God¡¯s plan. To make me feel more misery, right? To torture me even more, he send these children and then let them betray me. To make me feel more misery, right? All around me, a thunderous laugh resounded, laughing continuously, laughing at my expense. I looked around me, and they had returned. All of them stood there, all of my nightmares, all of my torturers. Every king, every bishop, every pope, every general, every doctor, every scientist, every occult freak, every passer-by, every citizen. All of those that tortured me stood there, laughing proudly, saying ¡®so you finally figured it out¡¯. ¡°Hahaha¡­.¡± A smile crept up on my face. ¡°Why are you laughing?!¡± I heard Emily shout in front of me. ¡°HAHAHA! Can¡¯t you see?! Can¡¯t you see His Grand Scheme?! You can right? Of course you can, you¡¯re just like them! Working for God¡¯s unfathomable plans! One of the nightmare¡¯s right?! Ha-ha! HAHAHA! HAhhhaAHAhhAHAhaha! EvEryTHinG IS His GrEat PlaN, Isn¡¯T it! My TormEnT is HiS PleASUrE,rIgHT?!¡± She looked at me with a conflicted look, while all the others around me were laughing. ¡°Of CoURSe iT Is! HAHhhahAHAHhAHhAHhAHhAHA! CoME On, EveRYOnE, LaUGH! LaUGh, I tElL YOU, lEAgh! AHAHHAAHHAHAHA!¡± I gathered a huge amount of Energy and threw it all around me at the laughing spectators. They were burned, struck down, crushed, impaled, pierced, stabbed, shot, drowned, chocked and yet they continued laughing, their ranks swelling the more I killed. ¡°AHHhahahAHHhahAHHHAhha! LoOk EmILY! SO maNY FRienDs, So mANY allies, JusT For YoU! AlL of TheM LaUGHinG! WhY aRen¡¯T YoU?! AHHAHAHAHA¡± They came by the hundreds, storming into the castle only to be mercilessly slaughtered as soon as they entered, slowly but surely turning the palace in a sea of blood. ¡°AhhaAHHAHhahaAHhA! CoME ON emILY, WhY aRen¡¯T yoU lAUGHinG?! ThiS is wHat YoU wiSH for, RiGht! THiS is WhAT GOD wants! WhAt eVerY NigHTMaRE wants! AHAHhahhahAHAH!¡±u That¡¯s right! This is God¡¯s will. The reason the nightmares exist. To laugh at my expense. ¡°AHahhahAHHAHhahaA! LaUGh with yoUr FriENds, EmIly! LaUgh LikE the NIGHTmare you are! AHahahHahhhAHhAHHAAHhaha!¡± The flow inevitably stopped, leaving only the nightmares Emily, Damien and Anna. ¡°AhhahaHhAhaHhAaAHAAA! LaUgh wItH mE! LAUgh AT Me! Why ArEn¡¯t YoU LauGHiNg?! WhY ArE you SO ShoCked, EmIly! Isn¡¯T this whay YoU AiMED FoR?! DaMiEn, AnnA, WhY ArE yOU looking at ME wiTH pitTY?! Isn¡¯T This whaT YoU BeTRAyed mE For?! Isn¡¯T iT?!¡± Half way through the rant, the tone changed. Why aren¡¯t they laughing? Why are they looking at me like that? ¡°TeLL me!¡± I begged. ¡°WhY AreN¡¯t YoU lAughiNG! PlEasE LaUGH! PlEase¡­.¡± At this point, I was squirming on the floor in agony as the Energy began consuming me, breaking my bones, tearing my muscles, bursting my skin¡­ ¡°PlEAEAEAEeaeaEAsE, lAugh¡­¡± I sobbed, tears flowing down my cheeks in misery. Suddenly, a feeling I hadn¡¯t felt since long ago invaded my mind. Comfort, warmth. ¡°¡­sleep.¡± Emily said, uttering the same words I once said to her mother. The Energy invaded my mind and I was too miserable to put up a good resistance. I tried wildly flailing Energy around, but these waves were easily blocked by Damien and Emily. ¡°do..N¡¯t¡­ W¡­Hy¡­¡± I said. ¡°H¡­El¡­P¡­.Pl¡­.EasE.¡± My last words, before I lost consciousness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wanted to address something here, after you read the chapter, because a thought was going through my mind while re-reading this. You probably have already guessed I like tragedy (written ones, of course), which is absolutely true. But - to me, at least - tragedy is never without point, and NOT simply endlessly tormenting the MC. I''ve read them before, these ''tragedies'' who endlessly torture the MC without taking the story anywhere, and I call those stories the writings of an insane person. Now, I thoroughly hope I''m not insane, so don''t worry. I will not let this story grow stale. Then again, nobody might care about this, and this postscript is absolutely unnecessary, but I thought I would still make my point. You know, just in case =) I hope you enjoyed the Second Arc, get ready for the third. Have a nice weekend everybody! Long authors note addressing concerns Hello everyone, the writer here, trying to address your issues. I had hoped I made it clear enough for everyone to understand, but the fact that it didn''t, means I still have a lot of learn about writing, so that''s my fault and I''m sorry for that. Still, this is my first time writing a long-term story, so please bear with me. Firstly, the issue of the power of the character and his power during the flashback: I stated in chapter 10, when teaching the children, that to him, learning Energy was extremely hard because there wasn''t something similar. I tried to explain it by comparing it to a caveman figuring out a book about molecular science: he doesn''t even know how to read, so how could he begin to understand it? The same counts for Acedia: he doesn''t even know what Energy is, nor does he know how to grasp it, nor that his soul is linked with it, let alone how to truly use it. He had to teach this himself. Now, imagine you are trying to understand how a star works, but without teachers, without professors, without books to help you along the way, just you and your mind trying to understand what a star is. It''s impossible. He could only do it because of his long life. Now, about Emily. She did have teachers. Two of them, in fact: mother and father. She was raised in a society of Magic and trained in the use of Energy from a young age, which makes her understand it incredibly fast, much faster than Acedia. Of course she isn''t on his level, but she understands everything far quicker than Acedia ever could. The battle. He was mentally shaken, as seen by the flashback, so he didn''t have time to prepare defence and was thus ambushed. If you''ve read about battles involving ambushes, they never end well for the ambushed. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.And, he was still worried about the children, even frantically so and since he couldn''t die anyway, why not set priorities? And when he went insane, have you ever seen a mad person fight? It looks frightening, but all they do is flail around hoping to hurt others. Compared to a calm and collected person who is hell-bent on killing things, an insane person is much easier to handle than the calm person. Also, he didn''t kill or harm Emily, Damien and Anna, because he only harms nightmares. Nightmares laugh at him, they didn''t, making him confused about what to do. Now, I hope that explains most of your questions and reading my post again, I can definitely understand that it wasn''t all that clear, seeing I needed to write this long story just to make it clear, so let me state this: I, the writer, have this clear in my head, because I know the story in and out. The fact that this isn''t clearly visible in the writings I post, means that it is entirely the fault of the writer for not making it clear enough. I still have a lot to learn and I thank you in aiding me with this. I will try to correct my faults in the future, but for now, I can only say that I''m sorry. Thank you for reading, and thank you for posting feedback about what I write, it helps immensely in my writing-process and, if you have any questions, please comment and I will, hopefully, reply. Thank you all, and have a nice weekend! Chapter 13: Vengeance and Resignation A slightly delayed chapter since I''ve been and will be busy this week, so expect slower updates. Well anyway, enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Emily POV: 10 million years is a long time. Much, much longer than I realized at first. Really, if it wasn¡¯t for a clear goal, I would have gone insane a long time ago. At first, everything went well. Really, reaaallly well compared what came after. My mother recovered slowly ¨C although never fully ¨C but surely after that scumbag killed my father. During that time, I was always by her side to support her. Whether she needed my power or my brains, I willingly gave it my all, hoping to help her the most I could. Compared to the past, I actually listened to her orders, for which she was ¡®very grateful¡¯, she once said, although it sounded cold in my ears . Fort eighty years she ruled the city, this city I have rebuild, and made it into the capital of a large and prosperous empire. But, unlike me, she didn¡¯t live forever and eventually, she passed away. My half-brother, much younger than I was, succeeded her, but he had always been wary of me and convinced others to support my banishment, forcing me into exile. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t bothered by it. Even though mother renovated our place into a giant palace, I still felt the bitter memories of the past floating around there, so I was quite happy to leave. The time I left was the first time I noticed it. The gazes of the people, all of them filled with an inexplicable and unreasonable amount fear and hatred. I thought it was simply one of my brother¡¯s scheme, spreading some vile rumours to give more credit to my banishment. But the further I travelled, the worse it got. Every village, every city, every town, even every solitary farm in the middle of nowhere seemed to hate my guts, driving me off the moment they saw me. I hated it. Sometimes, I became so sick of it, I ended up slaughtering entire villages, even cities, in my anger. But it didn¡¯t stop them, no, it only seemed to add fuel to the fire. Before I knew it, everyone was out to actively get me, hunting me down the best they could.. Eventually, I lost my will to fight and started running away from them instead, until time slowly made people forget all about it. And then, everyone suddenly died. I was around three thousand years old and society invented things I could never have dreamt off. Metal planes flying high in the sky, high-rise tall enough to scrape the clouds and even strange things called ¡®satellites¡¯ people launched into space, a place beyond the world of men. Everything seemed to go perfect for them, although they still hated me whenever I was discovered. And then, taking about one week, both humans and demons died. It was a disease spread that could spread through the sky whilst also having an enormous radius, able to infect people miles apart.. If one man or woman in the city was infected, the disease would spread itself to everyone else within a day, and kill them within three. Combine that with all the international connectivity going on, it was a recipe for disaster. There wasn¡¯t any time for quarantining countries, nor for finding or inventing a cure. Even if I tried, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop it. It was simply too quick and too vast when everyone began noticing. There were no survivors. Since then, I was all alone. No humans nor demons ever came back to live or were evolved from other creatures, no matter how long I waited. I even rebuilt the city and, with Energy, tried to re-create the souls of the living to bring things back to the way they were, but all of it ended in failure Everything that happened, I simply blamed on him. If he hadn¡¯t killed father, tormented mother and tortured me, we could¡¯ve all been alive, happily ever after. If we were alive, we could have surely prevented the plague from happening. And even if we failed, we would still have each other. But he ruined it all. This¡­ wretched man! This devil! This beast! An evil monster in need of being put down for the good of all! And then, eleven years after I made two near-perfect souls, my greatest accomplishments Damien and Anna , he came back. I laid scheme after scheme, trap after trap, only to have him fall for the first and easiest. Damien and Anna did their part, gaining his trust at an incredible rate and luring him to the city filled with the 200.000 failed creations, a small part of the many, many souls I created. Everything went exactly as planned, although he easily saw through the fake ¡®Lord¡¯ I put up, but it was too late by then. I was filled with glee and burning for revenge as he was shot over and over again by a barrage of soul-piercing arrows, one of the most powerful and painful weapons I have seen and created. But¡­ I was surprised. There stood in front of me a man neglecting his defence in favour of searching for those he thought his children. Even when his soul was pierced and burning, he still didn¡¯t bother. Even when his body was but a large, bloody mess, he still tried calling out their names. He should¡¯ve been burning with pain and fury by their betrayal, but he hadn¡¯t even noticed it yet. Why? It¡¯s very clear right? There was no one sneaking up on you and only those two behind you, so why are you calling their names? You¡¯ve just spent a couple of days together, there¡¯s no way you can trust someone that quick. Although I didn¡¯t really care at first, I felt I needed to make him realize what happened, so I put masks on each of them and, with a snap of my finger, stopped the attack and parted the rows of attacking servants. I slowly walked up to him, visibly seeing his flesh melt together and his skin regenerating in the blink of an eye. Laying his eyes on us, he looked confused as he walked up to Damien and Anna. He slowly lifted up their masks to make sure of their identities and was shocked to see his fears come through. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t help but feel satisfied seeing his crestfallen look, satisfactory smiling inwardly. It wasn¡¯t in the original plan, but it worked better than expected! ¡°This is but a taste of what¡¯s to come, you disgusting thing!¡± I said. The memories of the day my father died came back to me, rekindling my mind with the anger and betrayal I experienced that day. It was all his fault! His fault father died and mother became depressed! His fault the world hated me and tried to hunt me down like an animal! His fault everyone disappeared and I was left alone for countless years! I was seething with rage and burning with vengeance as I snapped my fingers again, prompting two men to lift him up. ¡°Any last words?¡± I spat at him, revelling in my success. ¡°W..why?¡± he asked after a moment of silence, looking at me with eyes filled with surprise, betrayal, depression and confusion all at once. A sight pleasing to the eyes, but his question made me slightly lose control. ¡°Why?! You ask why?! You tormented me and my mother! You killed my father! And you ask why?! Don¡¯t think a miserable ten million years is going to make me forget!¡± I said, nearly losing my mind at the question. I barely controlled myself, steadying and calming myself before continuing. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have expected understanding from a monster. But this time, it¡¯s your turn to suffer for all your crimes.¡± Yes, I¡¯ve suffered enough. I admit, I was never a good person, nor ever had a good character. I killed many and harmed more, sometimes, when I couldn¡¯t control myself, I slaughtered entire cities who hated me. But, I¡¯ve suffered for ten million years now and paid double my dues, even trying to somewhat make amends by trying to bring human- and demon-kind back into the world, although unfortunately, doing a pretty poor job at it. But now, it¡¯s time for him to pay. At least, that was what I planned for, but¡­ ¡°Of course it¡¯s like that, isn¡¯t it God? It was your plan all along, am I right? When did it begin? Was it with Lillian? No, of course not. It was already with my wife, wasn¡¯t it? Wasn¡¯t it?! If I never met her, I wouldn¡¯t have saved her, right?! You only gave her to me so you could take her away again, right?!¡± Slowly but surely, he changed right in front of my eyes. The Energy all around us became turbulent, shifting around uneasily as he began spouting these weird lines. Underneath his skin, I could hear bones creaking and could see the muscles straining, trying to destroy themselves.. His eyes, ears, nose, cheek, fingers, hands, arms, legs; they appeared everywhere. Scars were continuously forming and disappearing by the second all over his entire body. Scars from being cut, blackened skin formed because of burns, the scar of a once-molten skin after being healed and all one could imagine was appearing and re-appearing all over him, forming a horrific sight. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. After saying his lines, he frantically looked around, carefully inspecting every face of the men and women assembled here and looking down afterwards. ¡°Hahaha¡­.¡± He laughed quietly, his mouth forming into a slight grimace. ¡°Why are you laughing?!¡± I shouted, trying to sound angry as an incredible feeling of unease spread through me. What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s happening to him? ¡°HAHAHA! Can¡¯t you see?! Can¡¯t you see His Grand Scheme?! You can right? Of course you can, you¡¯re just like them! Working for God¡¯s unfathomable plans! One of the nightmare¡¯s right?! Ha-ha! HAHAHA! HAhhhaAHAhhAHAhaha! EvEryTHinG IS His GrEat PlaN, Isn¡¯T it! My TormEnT is HiS PleASUrE,rIgHT?!¡± Every sentence more confusing than the last, he yelled these things about God and plans, spitting and flailing around as he said them. The Energy was becoming more and more turbulent, forming an invisible cyclone around him, seemingly trying to tear his body and soul apart. Insane. This man is thoroughly insane. ¡°Of CoURSe iT Is! HAHhhahAHAHhAHhAHhAHhAHA! CoME On, EveRYOnE, LaUGH! LaUGh, I tElL YOU, lEAgh! AHAHHAAHHAHAHA!¡± He said, laughing maniacally while frantically looking at all those present. Then, he began to attack. It wasn¡¯t graceful, there weren¡¯t great techniques nor was there a vast knowledge behind his every strike, but each and every one of them were incredibly power and savage beyond belief. All around me, my creations were burned, impaled, crushed, shot, stabbed and everything in between while he continued this onslaught. From everywhere both in and outside the palace they ran towards me and closed the ranks, protecting me from his madness. But, the faster they came the faster they were cut down. While hearing him spouting his insane lines, I could catch a glimpse of him every time a gap opened in the stream of bodies being thrown at them. Inside, I saw something even more horrifying. Aside from the scars constantly formed on his body, his soul too showed old ¡®scars¡¯. During my attempts, I found out that whenever the soul suffers insufferable damage, but is then forced to heal itself, it would leave a coloured ¡®scar¡¯ behind. The darker the colour is, the more harm the soul has sustained and the more visible the colour is, the longer the soul was harmed. For example, take Damien and Anna. Anna has a light-golden soul, which means she hasn¡¯t suffered that much ¨C relatively speaking, since harming the soul is the most painful thing one could experience ¨C but the colour is fairly visible, meaning she has endured longer. Damien¡¯s soul on the other hand has a nearly clear violet hue to it, meaning he suffered more but had to endure it less. But, compared to his¡­ His was all over the place, constantly forming and reforming just like the scars on his body. From the lightest yellow to the deepest black, everything was present, showing itself and disappearing everywhere on his soul, making it seem like a strange light show. I was stunned at how much he had suffered. I myself have suffered little in comparison. The worst I ever got was when shot by Energy weaponry, but the only thing it did was turn my soul purple for a second, before disappearing altogether, healed by the Immortality. But his was, at times, completely black and unable to see through at all, meaning he has suffered the worst amount of pain for the longest amount of time. I shuddered, unable to imagine what could cause something like this, changing my look from one of anger to one of pity and shock. Meanwhile, while I could only stand frozen as everything happened, the flow of bodies had stopped and the throne hall had turned crimson. His soul still flashing every colour and shade available, he locked his eyes on to us, continuing his mad ramblings. ¡°AhhahaHhAhaHhAaAHAAA! LaUgh wItH mE! LAUgh AT Me! Why ArEn¡¯t YoU LauGHiNg?! WhY ArE you SO ShoCked, EmIly! Isn¡¯T this whay YoU AiMED FoR?! DaMiEn, AnnA, WhY ArE yOU looking at ME wiTH pitTY?! Isn¡¯T This whaT YoU BeTRAyed mE For?! Isn¡¯T iT?!¡± Halfway through, I could hear his voice crack and tone change. ¡°TeLL me!¡± He fell to his knees and began to plead in a desperate voice for an explanation. I looked briefly to my sides and saw Damien and Anna just as confused and shocked as I. ¡°WhY AreN¡¯t YoU lAughiNG! PlEasE LaUGH! PlEase¡­.¡± He wasn¡¯t even on his knees anymore, squirming around on the floor as his soul was still ravaged by the memories of his torture. The Energy grew even more unstable as he stopped wildly using the Energy to consume the others. Instead, the Energy now turned on him. Instead of trying, as it previously did, it was now actively breaking his bones, tearing his muscles, burning and bursting his skin apart as it reopened and re-enacted how the scars were made. ¡°PlEAEAEAEeaeaEAsE, lAugh¡­¡± He said, his voice filled with agony, strangely enough provoking us, as if we needed to laugh for him to harm us. Instead of laughing as he wished, or continuing to stay in shock, I decided to do something. It was the first thing my mother taught me about Energy, while telling the story of how a God in the dessert rescued her from certain death and giving her the chance to live as she wanted. I tapped into the still-raging stream of Energy, formed it unto a ball and encased him in it, forcing an aura of comfort to invade his mind. ¡°¡­Sleep.¡± I said unconsciously, repeating the nostalgic words my mother said to me when she once used this trick on me, trying to calm down one of my many childish tantrums. ¡°do..N¡¯t¡­ W¡­Hy¡­¡± He said, making a last ditch effort to summon Energy unsuccessfully. ¡°H¡­El¡­P¡­.Pl¡­.EasE.¡± He pleaded. His body now laid still in front of Damien, Anna and me, the storming Energy now finally calmed down. By my sides they stood, their eyes clearly filled with regret from their actions, even though I didn¡¯t give them much choice in the matter. My desire for vengeance was all but gone after seeing this spectacle. There was no way I could harm a man that went through so much torture. Even if he destroyed the world, I wouldn¡¯t be able to blame him. I¡¯ve had similar thoughts many times, my vengeance the only thing keeping me from it, even though I experienced infinitely less than he has. But¡­ What do I do? ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ Acedia POV: The all too familiar post-madness headache woke me up and I was greeted by an unfamiliar room, lying in an unfamiliar, although comfortable, king-sized bed. Seeing the gaudiness of the room ¨C gilded mirrors, beautiful hand-crafted closets, high-quality sheets and so on ¨C I figured I was still in the palace. I still remember everything. The betrayal by the children, the bitch behind it all and the butchering of tens of thousands, everything was as clear as day in my mind. I should¡¯ve known better than to trust them. We had only met for a few days, how could I ever trust them so quickly? It took me years to even trust my own wife, let alone the decades it took before I loved her. And they were supposed to be children harmed beyond belief, there¡¯s no way they could¡¯ve trusted me, a stranger, within that short amount of time. I should never had pint my hopes on them. I shouldn¡¯t have pinned my hopes on Lillian, too, and just released her from her torment in a different way ¨C by killing her the moment I saw her. See what my decision brought me; another nightmare now exists to haunt me. I should¡¯ve known better. No, I did know better. Before I met my wife, when I was uncaring for everything and only did things on a whim. That was a time I didn¡¯t trust anyone, never allowing anything to get close to me. A time where I truly understood what I should be doing, just living my endless life waiting for the end to arrive. I should just go back to that time. Chapter 14: Difference Emily POV: I love watching the fire dancing around in the hearth, slowly consuming everything inside of it... "Mother, are you here?" Unfortunately, they always cut my time short. Sighing, I slowly stood up out of the chair and checked how much time has past since I sat down by connecting to the world. Three weeks. It''s even shorter than normal. Normally, whenever I start to look into the fire I sit still for at least three months. Most of the time, though, I sit down and watch the fire burn for years on end, sometimes even lasting for decades whenever I was feeling especially down. But lately, ever since nine years ago, I feel like I haven''t done this often enough. Sometimes, life can be so tiresome... I turned away from the fire and looked behind me towards the entrance. I had already guessed from her voice, but Anna stood there, Damien as close to her as always. Ever since I made them, they always kept close to each other. Even when I needed to treat them when the Energy was devouring their souls faster than it could regenerate, they never left the other''s side, as if sharing the pain they felt. They''ve always been quite mysterious, even when they were just born. But... something was wrong... They both looked rather nervous. Although that''s understandable, since Acedia was still in the house after all, but recently, they had more or less calmed down, seeing as he never left the room since. Maybe... "Has he decided to come out?" I said grimly. I''m definitely not looking forward to it. After what I''ve witnessed, I just don''t know how to treat him anymore. By all rights, I think I should hate him. He did kill my father after all. But, after seeing that... I don''t know if I can. I always thought I was pretty unfortunate, but seeing him... I feel sick just thinking about what he went through to give him such heavy trauma. And now, perhaps I''m included with them. Those things he called ''nightmares''. But, to my surprise, that wasn''t it. "No, he''s still sleeping, but..." "But?" What could it be. "There are visitors outside the city gate." My jaw nearly dropped after that statement. How long has it been since I ever saw intelligent life? Not counting those I created, of course. It has been more than 10 million years ever since. And now, they are at our doorsteps? It shouldn''t be possible. I check outside every so often, to see if species are slowly evolving towards intelligence, but as far as I know, there are still millions of years left before anything actually happens. "What do you mean ''visitors''?" I asked suspiciously. I would have accepted it if she said ''people are outside the gate'', thinking I must have missed something and a bunch of primitives or descendants of survivors had escaped my notice and reached the gates. But she said ''visitors''. I could''ve easily written it off as a misstatement, but both of them are smart enough not to make such mistakes. And she clearly put emphasis on the ''visitor'' part. "There are people outside requesting audience." Requesting, huh? Now that''s a surprise. There is no way anyone from here is smart enough to ask politely for an audience. From here, being the key words in this sentence. "Gather the remaining Gold-masks and have them assemble there. I''ll be there shortly." He never killed them all, there were still a mere thousand remaining. Both of them nodded, their doubts fading away as they received orders, and carried out my orders diligently. There is an easy way to figure things out without meeting them immediately. Obviously, it''s the one person here I can safely consider much, much smarter than me. The only person older than me. Much, much older. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acedia POV: For the past weeks, I''ve been lying inside my room simply passing time in a half-conscious state, careful to not fall asleep. I''m not one to particularly care about comfort - I usually don''t consider it at all - but this must be one of the most comfortable places I''ve ever slept. The bed was large enough to lie anyway you want, soft enough to feel as if you''re being warmly embraced, but firm enough to not actually drown and sweat in its embrace. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.This might be the most comfortable bed I''ve ever laid in. Of course, there''s something that could make it feel better, but I won''t find it ever again. I won''t try to find it again, returning to a time from long ago, when I decided to simply sit and wait for the world to end. Just let me lay here for eternity and not be bothered until everything collapses. It has too collapse eventually, right? if not... I might even lose the comfort of apathy I have now. But of course, whenever I try to do this, there''s bound to be something that bothers me. First, it were the People of Sloth, imitating me and sticking annoyingly close to me, though they eventually began to even stop caring about me. The second time was, of course, my wife, which turned into a good thing. And then a bad thing. A very, very bad thing.. The third time was Lillian trying to bite of my shoulder, which I let happen after noticing her state of mind. Which also was a good thing, until it turned very, very bad. Why does everything turn bad for me in the end? This time, though, I''m not going to get bothered. "...Leave." I said the same time she opened the door. She entered with a complicated expression, but she was quickly resolved to face her fears. She walked up to me until she stood at the foot of the bed, which was in a straight line from the door. "I have questions about..." she began. Her look wasn''t precisely angry or scowling, but she seemed determined to stay until her questions were answered. I didn''t care. "....Leave." I said, looking at her with cold, empty eyes. I don''t want to be bothered. "Not until..." This time, I didn''t say anything. I connected into the Energy and formed thousands of thin, invisible spear and fired them at her. These spears won''t even leave a wound on the body, only on the soul. She quickly summoned a barrier, But now that I''m fully in control of myself, such things were trivial. As if time slowed down, I could see the Energy collecting around her like a mist, until forming layer after layer of barriers. It was the strongest, sturdiest barrier I''ve ever seen, but she still had much to learn. She, just like Magicians do, controlled the Energy, though she with Energy itself and the Magicians by forcing Magic to ''grab'' it and take hold of it. But I... I own Energy. That is the deciding difference between me and her. I haven''t even discovered it that long ago, just a couple Era''s before the People of Sloth arrived, but it was a realization that made my powers seem shabby before. It was the absolute understanding of Energy, the end of a long, hard road. While she controlled the Energy around her, having a firm grip on it, I simply ordered it to scatter. And it did, transforming back into the free Energy it once was. No matter what she does, no matter what she throws at me, with a simple thought I can easily order it however I want, as if it was a part of my body. The only drawback - although I think ''insurance'' is a better word for it - is that I need to be absolutely calm to use it. No anger, no fear, no sorrow, no regret, no happiness... Nothing but a cold and calm mind can make me do this. It''s not hard to force myself into this state, but when I lose control, I am, of course, unable to do so. For a fraction of a second, there was surprise on her face as she saw the barrier depart from her, as if she never had a grip on it in the first place. A fraction of a second later, her soul was thoroughly maimed underneath the barrage of spears. A small payback from all the arrows, though much more fierce. Her body shook as her soul was attacked and she looked at me in fear without even the slightest trace of the sorrow, uneasiness or determination I have seen of her during these past weeks. There was only undiluted fear. Yes, this is how it should be. Being feared. This is what I''m used to, although normally they have anger in their eyes to. At least, until I decide to do the same thing as I did to her. "....Leave." I said for the third time. I ordered the Energy and fiercely shoved her out of the room, breaking a couple of ribs in the process. I closed the door behind her and resumed my peace. Chapter 15: Envoys and Deathrays The week is finally over and my god was it annoying. Everything that could''ve gone wrong, seemed to have gone wrong this past week. Anyway, updates will become (hopefully) more frequent from now one. By the way, I intended to make the chapter split into two POV¡¯s as I¡¯ve been doing recently ,but it seemed to somehow turn out as an Emily-only chapter. Chapter 16 will be Acedia, because I will try to divide their ¡®screentime¡¯ evenly (no promises though). Enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emily POV: As I flew across the room and into the hall, I felt the Energy quickly return to me. By instinct, I gathered it and right before I hit the wall, conjured something to cushion my collision. Although it worked as intended, as soon as I hit the wall I felt a stinging pain from my broken ribs and coughed up some blood as I slowly slid down the wall and unto the ground. Before I could even inspect the damage, I felt that all my bones were set once more and saw that the holes in my soul had already closed itself by using the re-found Energy. Despite this, I shivered uncontrollably, sweat pouring out of every pore and my skin paling to an abnormal degree, not so much out of pain, but out of fear. What the hell was that? For a moment, right before he shot me with those god-awful spears he simply cut me off from the world. The presence of Energy that has always been so clear and omnipresent and easy to control was suddenly, without even the slightest movement on his part, gone and my barrier, of which I¡¯m very proud, simply scattered into oblivion. And then the spears! They were more painful than anything I¡¯d experienced, even more painful than the arrows I designed to exact my revenge! Thank God he pulled them out before blasting me out of the room, making the pain only last for less than a second. But still¡­. Not once had I thought I was underestimating him, or else I wouldn¡¯t have been willing to sacrifice so many of my Gold-masks to attack him. When I lured him into the palace, I planned to occupy him and allow him to focus on me, defend against his attacks while my creations would try to penetrate his defences. Even when he went mad and started to slaughter everyone around me with his insane power, did I think the situation was hopeless. If it come to it, I was confident I could wrestle the Energy out of his crazed control. But now, defeating him seems like nothing but a pipedream. Before, he was frantically throwing around his weight while he himself was hurting the most. In his eyes, I could clearly see the pain, the horror and the immense sadness hidden within, explaining why he went out of control. Yet just now, when he simply threw me out of the room, I could see nothing. As soon as I entered, his eyes were hollow, his gaze indifferent and his posture filled with apathy as he lay still on the bed, seemingly sleeping with his eyes open. Even as I entered and he told me to leave, he was seemingly emotionless. He wasn¡¯t angry about what I did to him, he wasn¡¯t sad about the betrayal I orchestrated and he wasn¡¯t annoyed that I disturbed him. His eyes were simply lifeless, clear with apathy and looking through me as if I was nothing but air. Even the dead seem more alive compared to him. When I entered and saw him like that, an inexplicable fear came over me, but I strengthened my resolve and approached him. When I wanted to question him and he interrupted me, there was still no change to his demeanour and I simply pressed onward. And then, when I tried to insist on him, he simply waved my away like air, his eyes still unchanging. I wasn¡¯t even an annoyance to him, not even the distaste one could have when squashing a bug was present on him. It was as if I was a could gust of wind, and he simply closed the door to stop it. What a frightening man¡­. [Mother, we are ready.] Anna said through her Soullink, the first thing I taught the both of them. Her voice shook me awake from my stupor and I remembered what I needed to do. I stood up, steadied my shaking, wiped the sweat of my brow and cleansed my bloody clothes. Unfortunately, I could do nothing about the paleness of my face, but this¡¯ll have to do. Following the Soullink, I established a bridge connected by a portal and stepped through it. I arrived at the northwestern one of the eight gates surrounding the city, and saw the remainder of my Gold-masks lining up at the sides of the road, like royal guards during the homecoming of the king. To my right stood Anna, small and angelic as always and filled with determination, making it clear she was very anxious about the visitor. To my left stood Damien, slightly bigger as Anna with demonic horns sprouting from his forehead like the tusks of a boar, although his were completely black. Compared to Anna, he stood solid but not as intense as Anna, seemingly expecting little trouble. I gathered some Energy, grabbed the gate doors and slowly pulled them open. What entered my vision was a small envoy dressed in a strange military uniform. Comparing the armour to everything I had witnessed so far, it looked unlike I¡¯ve ever seen. The overall style of it reminded me of industrial-age high-ranking military uniforms, but the actual composition of it was vastly different. It seemed to be made out of an incredibly strong and Energy-infused steel, it looked reminiscent of feudal-era knights and their heavy plate armour, though one of the envoys was without helmet. Combining these two completely different uniforms they formed something that could only be described as a futuristic knight. The man without the helmet, seemingly the most important one out of the group, had a face that looked like a bald muscle head with a white-gold earring in his left ear. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. They took their time walking over here, curiously inspecting the Gold-masks standing to either side of the road and sometimes turning towards each other to exchange their impressions of this place. As he stood in front of me, he looked at my horns and tail, then locking his gaze onto my eyes. For but a single moment, I could see astonishment, fear, anger and hate flashing through his mind, but, skilled as he was, he composed himself incredibly fast. I looked at him, feigning disinterest, and silently urged him to begin. He scraped his throat and with a strange smile filled with self-satisfaction, began reciting what he came here for. ¡°Rejoice, Demon! The Apostles of God, the Eight Holy Princeps and saviours of all of Existence, have, in Their glorious quest to unify all of existence under God, decided that this planet is to be civilized and placed under Their holy guidance for all eternity! Submit and be enlightened, Demon, and join their struggle to save all of existence itself!¡± His voice filled with zeal and his arms waving around, seemingly praising the sky, was sent here to colonize by a couple of annoying despots, is what I got from this speech. Although I was interested in where they came from and how they could travel from, I suspect, lightyears away, I was definitely not keen on accepting their offer. Who would possible want to willingly submit to a couple of mortal men who thought much too highly of themselves? ¡°I don¡¯t care what you do with the planet, but I¡¯m not interested.¡± Seeing him smile, it was clearly evident he never expected me to accept. He grinned for a second before continuing his tiresome theatrics. ¡°Oh, woe is me! This foul Demon does not understand your infinite kindness, Lord! But, allow your humble servant to enlighten those foolish enough to not know all Your greatness!¡± Another envoy behind him uttered something while the preacher himself still praised the sky, waiting for something to happen with an expectant grin. A couple seconds passed as my patience was being tested, but just when I had about enough of this farce, I felt something coming from high, high up in the sky. I looked up and saw a small twinkle like a star becoming bigger and bigger. I decided to tap into the world¡¯s Energy and created a network towards the strange star visible in broad daylight. It crawled upwards into the sky and the beam of light it actually was became closer and closer, until it was entirely enveloped into my web. As soon as my Energy touched the ray of light, I almost went into a stupor. Turning around, I quickly retracted my net and, instead of one crawling endlessly into the sky placed one over the entire city. After the first one was done, I added another, and another, and another and repeated this process hundred, if not thousands, of times in the fraction of a second I had left. Before the beam would reach, I solidified the Energy and created the thickest, strongest barrier I had ever made over the entire city. I didn¡¯t know where the beam would rain down one, but I suspected the palace located kilometres away from me. This was bad. Very, very bad. The thing I wasn¡¯t worried about was the beam, although its power was beyond everything I had ever seen, but I was worried about the palace. Or rather, what¡¯s inside it. If he gets taken by surprise and hit by the immensely powerful deathray, I fear what would happen. Perhaps he would lose control of himself, potentially destroying the entire city, if not the world! But this is not what I fear most. If he manages to remain in control and gets annoyed while still in that terrifyingly cold state, a billion worlds is not enough space to keep me safe. ¡°Foolish witch! You think this¡­ unholy construct is enough to stop the cleansing radiance of the Lord! You are sorely mistaken, you vermin!¡± The bald muscle head man spat. God, is he annoying! Unfortunately I had something more important to do than shut him up. The previously small-star like thing in the sky had grown big and red. I know it was still hundreds thousands of kilometres away, since it travelled as fast as light itself, but that made it all the more terrifying. The world around us had seemingly turned crimson in awe by the incredibly power itself, even when they were hundreds of thousands of kilometres separated from each other. It took 2.5 seconds until it reached the target. Nothing was visible. The world had turned into a red piece of paper by the enormous amount of light the Energy beam radiated, although not heating up because of it. It was a strangely precise piece of weaponry for its capability. Just when I was prepared for the receive the impact, I felt an incredibly unpleasant feeling running through my entire shield. It was one I knew all too well and was thankful it happened. The entirety of my barrier scattered, leaving the city and the palace defenceless, but it was not necessary anymore. At the same time the defences disappeared, the world previously drowned out in the crimson light of the Energy beam was visible once more. The city and the palace was unharmed as the cloudless sky allowed to sun to radiate its colourless light upon it. I sighed in relief, but in the back of my mind I was anxious. ¡°You bitch, what have you done!¡± The bald man shouted, unclear about what happened. I smiled thinking about what would happen to the annoying preacher when he shows up. Chapter 16: Conspiracies and Destruction Acedia POV: Finally, I was left alone once more. This always happen when I try to not bother anymore, although this time it was surprisingly quick. Whenever I go or want to go into this vegetable-like state ¨C or stasis, I prefer to call it ¨C I always get bothered. If I fall asleep, I will get woken up by nightmares. If I don¡¯t fall asleep and simply allow time to pass, I will get bothered by others, for example, in this case, Emily, or Lillian before her, or my wife before that, or the People of Sloth even before that. This has repeated itself so many times, I¡¯ve lost track of it. It seems like the world doesn¡¯t want me to rest easy. This time, it was a surprisingly short amount of time. Barely three weeks had passed and I was already disturbed by an Emily determined to¡­. Whatever it was she came here for. It takes between 30 million years ¨C the absolute minimum I had before ¨C up to 500 million years ¨C the longest I had ever gone by unbothered. But most of the time, it takes about fifty to a hundred million years before I wake up. Now that I think about it, hasn¡¯t this sped up recently? Before I was bothered by those that eventually became the People of Sloth, some 70 million years had passed since I went into stasis. A rather normal amount of time. Then, the time between the People of Sloth and my wife was about 150.000 years, an incredibly short time in comparison, but since I always kept an eye out to watch over the Sloths, so I didn¡¯t really consider myself truly in stasis and thus wasn¡¯t bothered by the time. After this, I went in stasis for real, yet it only lasted about 20 million years now that I think about it. The forty-something years between Lillian and Emily was not spend in stasis, but simply relaxing and biding my time until it was time to visit her again. Then, I went into stasis and even immediately went to sleep, which I normally put off for a long time. This time it lasted for 10 million years, even shorter than before but, since I immediately went to sleep, which, once again, I never do, I wasn¡¯t bothered by it. And now it was a mere three weeks, which makes me doubt I actually truly entered stasis. All in all, aside from the time when I froze the world and went into stasis, I have a convenient excuse for waking up early. But honestly, even if I have an excuse for every one of these early awakenings since the People of Sloth, it is still strange that I consistently had these short breaks and also having an excuse for every single one of them. It could be coincidence, but I have lived far too long to believe in coincidence. Everything is a culmination of a variety of factors, whether they be intently manipulated to make something happen, or simply banded together unconsciously to bring forth an event that could be named as ¡®coincidence¡¯, but is actually not. To me, who has consistently seen patterns and cycles in every single thing that has happened so far, it seems like something is trying to make everything look like an ¡®exception¡¯ or ¡®coincidence¡¯, supported by logic, to hide this trend of early awakenings. It seems like the world or perhaps God is trying to keep me awake. Even I think I sound paranoid. But for now, this is simply speculation on my part and I am determined to not bother figuring it out. Because if I do, I simply get dragged into its pace and I definitely do not want that. For now, let me simply lie still and try to break the record of not caring for 500 million years. I simply laid back, stared at the ceiling and allowed my consciousness to simply drift into the void of apathy. But, within an hour, I was, astonishingly, bothered once again. Twice on one day and even within the same hour? I don¡¯t know whether to be impressed or annoyed. Of course, my brain, once awoken, conjured up a convenient excuse for this time as well: Emily came to bother me about something, I didn¡¯t want to know and now something is happening again. Again, another early awakening supported by logic to make the ongoing trend look like a ¡®coincidence¡¯, conveniently hiding whatever is going on behind the scenes. How annoying. How impressive. From high, high up in the sky, millions of kilometres away, a ship floated around in the vast, supposed ¡®emptiness¡¯ of space. From that ship, large enough to house a couple hundred thousand people, a laser I had never seen before was fired and with the speed of light, quickly descending onto this world. Despite its enormous power and usage of Energy, it seemed like a precision weapon, able to target a single thing and completely obliterate it. Although I had never seen one before, I knew this laser without going particularly deep inside its Energy. Many, many times in civilizations long past they had ideas concerning a weapon like this, a concentrated beam of Energy made by a device that gathers the Energy floating around freely in the vacuum of space. I¡¯ve seen schematics and read thousands of book about the processes involved to build such a device and how to control it, but never had I actually witnessed such a thing. Whenever a society reached such a height in technological knowledge to think of such a thing, it would always collapse many years, if not centuries, before being able to even construct a prototype, let alone build a fully functional one. Never had it been any different, until now. This meant that, whoever built this was the most advanced civilizations ever since the existence of the universe. At least, as far as I knew, since there is no way I could know every civilization that has ever existed. But still, even if it was not the first civilization to reach such a stage, it was certainly extremely rare, since I have known more civilizations than one could count in a lifetime. Who could¡¯ve done this? How could this civilization have succeeded where others have failed? Is there someone special behind this? Another Immortal? Perhaps even God? Or was this simply made possible by a very successful society? My head spun at all the questions begging to be answered, but just before it overwhelmed me and swept my away from my primary purpose, I caught myself. I steadied myself and my mind turned calm once more. Before I noticed, I was being swept in another plot or ¡®coincidence¡¯ that drew me away from my stasis. It¡¯s almost frightening how much I was tempted to simply give in to my curiosity. But, I do not want this to happen. No matter who was behind the construction of this device and no matter who was actually behind this plot to keep me out of stasis: I do not care and should not care. If I did, I would do exactly what they, whoever they were, want. I just want to wait; return to my stasis and wait for the end to come. Even though I know I will be forced to wake once more and suffer again and again, as is the cycle, I¡¯m still determined to try. Or, rather than determined to try, I simply do not care and do not want to care about everything, even if it is only temporarily. But, at least for now, let¡¯s wait a little before trying to enter my semi-conscious state. Since this place is comfortable ¨C perhaps even the most comfortable place amongst many I¡¯ve tried ¨C let¡¯s clear out the annoyances first before going back to bed. In the meantime, I felt that a barrier had been erected, but I immediately noticed it was not enough. Also, even within the palace, the world had turned into a powerful and bright shade of crimson. The beam was rapidly going down towards the palace, but it didn¡¯t matter. I placed myself in the network of Energy and easily tapped into the currently active Energy streams, both that of the barrier, as well as the deathray. Whenever I was in a state such as this, I do not need to activate the Energy in order to enter its network or to use the Energy. I simply willed it, and I was connected. I simply willed it, and the Energy, whether active or freely floating around unused, obeyed me. With a simple thought of my emotionally-vacant mind the active Energy dispersed and deactivated, returning to their inactive state. The world returned to its previous state and, through the window, the colourless light shone down once more. I gathered a bunch of Energy into a bridge, activated it and created a portal behind the entourage of Emily. I stepped through it and saw the backs of Emily, Damien and Anna with Damien and Anna looking around restlessly, not knowing what to do, and Emily breathing heavily. Apparently, she is not yet used to quick and immediate use of Energy, leaving her exhausted by the turn of events. To the sides of the road there stood rows of servants, impassively looking at what was going one without moving so much as a muscle and without betraying any emotion hidden behind their masks, as if they were dolls lining the road without purpose. In the centre of the stage stood eleven man wearing experimental body-armour, though they might not be experimental anymore, without a clue what was happening around them. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!The ten with the helmets on formed a rough circle, though keeping enough space between them, while readying their weapons ¨C five with Energized firearms and five with large sledgehammers made out of metal and equally infused with Energy ¨C while in the middle of them stood a bald man with a white-gold earring. The man was busy shouting something to Emily, but as soon as he spotted me standing behind her he stopped and looked at me in surprise. ¡°Oh, Lord! A demon disguising as he human, what has the world come to!¡± The zealot shouted while pointing at me, making everyone ¨C aside from the doll-like Gold-masks ¨C turn around and look at me. Anna and Damien were unsure of what to do. Emily had a small and tired smile as she saw me, but in her eyes I could see doubt and insecurity. The ten men looked at me, aiming and pointing their weapons towards me instead of the Gold-masks lining the road. The zealot¡¯s eyes were filled with fear and covered with fury as he spotted me. For a couple of seconds, nothing happened while everyone was eyeing me and I was eyeing everyone else, but I broke the silence with the only question I had. I walked past Emily, Damien and Anna and, as soon as I arrived at the circle, the fear of the envoys, including the bald man, seemed to increase exponentially, allowing me to pass unhindered. I stood in front of the zealot and asked: ¡°Does anyone know you¡¯re here?¡± My voice was casual, but it carried a weight and pressure unbecoming of the manner of speech, seemingly echoing off of the air and silencing the wind itself in awe. With every step I took, I had seen the bald man¡¯s fury being replaced with fear and now, with me standing in front of him and asking a question he broke out in cold sweat and a face twisted with anxiety. It didn¡¯t matter what he answered, he was dead either way. ¡°Y-you, a Demon, dare to inquire about our Lord¡¯s and His Apostles k-knowledge! Preposterous!¡± He tried his best to sound strong and determined, but compared to his earlier outbursts, it sounded pathetic. Clearly this man was not yet broken, but needed a small push into the right direction. But then, instead of pushing the man to confess, I decided something that would make all my problems obsolete. I expended the Energy-link with the world to encompass it in its entirety, reaching far, far outward into space until it covered the ship floating millions of kilometres away. I invaded the ships Energy engine, shield and weaponry and even the Energy locked inside all matter, be it solid, liquid or air, was now under my control. With a single thought, I deactivated shields, weapons and engines of the machine. ¡°Contact your ship.¡± I commanded. The bald man wanted to retort, but he was swept away by the tone of my voice and obeyed. His left earring turned blue as he spoke. ¡°Fleet-Commander Albarion speaking, what is the ships status!¡± He said, voice filled with fear and a hint of curiosity. ¡°Commander! All ship functions are down! I repeat, all¡­.¡± Before the ship¡¯s captain could finish speaking I activated all matter-locked Energy. All matter, be it neutron, proton, electron, photon, graviton or everything else for that matter is made possible by Energy. Over the hundreds of billions of years of the world¡¯s existence, the Energy had been slowly multiplying itself and the space ¨C also made out of Energy ¨C expanded because of this process. Unfortunately, existence, although so large it is basically infinite, is not actually infinite, there was a point it couldn¡¯t expand anymore and so another way needed to be found. Since then, every part of Energy that comes into existence, I shoved to onto the grid of Energy, which is called space, and forms into matter. So, everything in the universe, be it tangible matter or the space itself, is made out of Energy and is thus, if I so wish, owned by me. So, I simply activated the Energy locked inside the ship¡¯s matter and gave it one simple order: convert. By my orders, every single particle split apart and destroyed itself, allowing it to turn into the pure Energy it once was. It is comparable to a nuclear bomb, splitting atoms and converting matter into ¡®normal¡¯ energy, and by all accounts, converting a space-ship capable of housing hundreds of thousands into normal energy, it would create an enormous blast. But what I did was something slightly different. I converted everything into true Energy. Even the normal energy like warmth or electricity is converted. The effect is devastating. The reason why nobody ¨C once again, as far as I know ¨C has ever reached the Energy-beam stage of science, is because this discovery always come first. A bomb able to deconstruct all of existence itself into Energy, overburdening reality with an excessive amount of Energy. What happens when such a bomb is detonated was now visible for all to see. The captain of the ship had stopped talking and out of nowhere, a mortifying thunderous crack was heard. Everyone, even the doll-like Gold-masks, turned their face to the sky and was awed by the sight. The ship was quickly converting into Energy and was now a bright purple star, about half as large as the sun; purple being the true colour of Energy. As of now, this is simply an incredible amount of Energy at one place, allowing it to turn visible to the human eye. But that¡¯s it, it¡¯s still just Energy. Definitely not able to, in one blow, obliterate a galaxy-colonizing civilization. What happens next, is the part that could only be found out if one has experienced it before; it is not something the scientists of previous civilizations who invented these kinds of bombs could have ever known beforehand. The giant purple orb, casting its light upon the world, visibly began to vibrate more intensely by the second until it tore everything apart, including itself. It began as a small, black dot in the middle of it, but it expanded at an alarming rate. It was something akin to a black hole, swallowing light and making a dent into the fabric of space, but this one is much, much more extreme. Instead of denting the fabric of space and the grid of Energy spanning reality, this black hole was prove that the grid was punctured. Now, the grid of space was not able to keep all that existed upon it safe and allowed for everything to be destroyed. All things present in its vicinity was being swallowed into the puncture, destroying everything that went into it, including Energy itself. With every passing second, the hole expanded until it swallowed the sun, the stars and eventually entire galaxies. Absolute annihilation for all, that is what it does. Once, I even created one and threw myself in. A very, very bad decision in hindsight, but I hoped it would kill me and end my suffering. It tore everything apart and even destroyed my soul completely, not just once, but over and over again. Unfortunately, since my soul and Energy are connected, I was formed over and over again just slightly father away from the hole, until it ended. The hole only disappears when the excess Energy has been eliminated. Of course, I had no intention to dive into this madness once more, so I quickly created a bubble around the entire city, except for the envoys. Using these, I teleported us away before the hole could swallow us. Unlike the use of bridges and portals, this one was a lot less stable, meaning the destination was much less secure. But, travelling along the infinite grid of Energy, we reached another planet on which I placed the city. I looked up in the sky and could still see the hole swallowing the stars around it and pulling the stars from further and further away. Then, suddenly, the giant black hole disappeared and the stars still being dragged by the remaining pull of the hole, filled up the empty place left behind. Aside from the now different arrangement of constellations, it seemed as if nothing ever happened. Where we were now, it was midnight and the cold wind blew in my face. I took only last look at Emily, Damien and Anna and saw them looking at me with feelings too complicated to express. I said nothing and created a bridge towards my room, placing myself in the soft comfort of my bed. With this, nothing should happen anymore. Those who sent the envoys must surely be dead, or at the very least, be unable to bother me ever again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you liked this bit of world-building and fake-scientific explanation behind Energy. I also hope that it was understandable and, if not, please ask questions, since I (or the occasional passerby) will try to explain it. Also, asking these kinds of questions will help me understand what I need to do better next time, so please, do not hold back and rampage as much as you want =) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope to see you next time! Chapter 17: Food for thought Emily POV: A final glance with those cold, dead eyes and he disappeared through the portal, leaving the three of us staring blankly into space, too shocked to utter a word. What¡­ was that? I was wary of him before, especially after he so easily defeated me last time, but now¡­ I can¡¯t even begin to comprehend. One second, he was intimidating the envoys simply with his voice, and the next he summoned a strange purple sun-like thing out of thin air. That such a thing was under complete control and made by a single man was terrifying in and of itself, but it was just the beginning. It then began shaking violently then, suddenly and without warning, it simply imploded, collapsing inward into an extremely small black dot hole in the middle of the huge purple star and quickly absorbing the enormous amount of Energy as if it was nothing. Even when it was just a small black dot, I could feel its reach all the way on the ground, its pull tugging at my very soul trying to suck me in and rip me apart. By being able to summon that small thing alone, I found out that I still had heavily underestimated him. Then, as if to prove that I indeed did, the small black dot suddenly increased itself in size by dozens of times every second. Whatever it was, be it Energy or simple matter, the black hole didn¡¯t care It simply swallowed everything. I saw the moon coming out from behind the earth and getting sucked into that unholy place. After that, I could see a yellow string of fire coming from the sun and heading to the ever-growing black hole, making the sun smaller and smaller as the hole grew, until the entirety of the sun was dragged towards it and swallowed whole. Just when our planet was about to be swallowed as well, he teleported the entire city ¨C an amazing feat of which I wasn¡¯t even surprised he was able to do ¨C and settled it on a planet far, far away from the one I called home. As he teleported us away, I could see stars being swallowed by the dozen, taking their system of planets and moons and everything on them along. When everything was done and he turned around to look at us, the only thing visible in his eyes was the same lack of emotion he had shown me before, as if what he just did was something ordinary. For a single man to wield such power. There has to be something wrong with this world. Otherwise, I don¡¯t know how I can accept this. For the three thousand years people still lived on earth, I¡¯ve seen people dying because of famines, I¡¯ve seen families being torn apart by unnecessary wars, I¡¯ve seen cultures purposefully being wiped out because of prejudice and racism and, in the end, saw the entire world succumb to one of lowest life forms: viruses. And all of this time, even if I wanted to, I could do nothing about it. But he could. Without a doubt, a single wave of his hand he could¡¯ve ended all the famines, prevented every war, preserved species and cultures across the world and he could¡¯ve prevented the end of the world. And what was he doing when all these horrors were plaguing humans and demons alike? He was sleeping. What man could do such a thing? How can a living being, knowing that the world is suffering, simply allow himself to waste away? And what devil could, simply because he was being bothered by a small group of eleven men, eradicate dozens upon dozens of solar-systems with such apathy? Who knows how many lives, how many families, how many cultures, how many living worlds he has destroyed without even a single thought spared to them. Unfortunately, I know why. I clearly saw it right in front of me, during the time in the palace. The madness that swallowed him, the nightmares that haunted him and the pain he has experienced and still remembers to this day. I¡¯ve seen it all during that moment of horror inside the throne room. If anyone else had experienced even a single one of those experiences, they would¡¯ve undoubtedly went mad and killed themselves, but since he is Immortal, he was deprived of this escape, so he simply sought another one: indifference. Having seen all of what he went through, I know that he has done this many, many times before and can understand why he went into such a state. Because I know what he went through, I can understand the feeling of not wanting to bother with life anymore and so, I can¡¯t help but feel sympathetic towards him. It was also the reason I was hesitant to bother him inside his room. But even then¡­ Slaughtering billions? Destroying stars? Even God, cruel as He is, won¡¯t do something as¡­ sick as this! No matter how much shit he went through, that doesn¡¯t make it right to simply kill everyone that might annoy you! If you do not want to be bothered, be my guest, but going so far as to destroy entire solar systems is the work of a fucking madman! It should be the other way around: because you know all the pain people are able to grow through, you should be motivated to help them! Not kill them! He has to be stopped, and I¡¯m the only one who has a chance to do it. No matter how long it takes, no matter how many millions of years I will need to stop him, I will not give up. ¡°Mother¡­¡­¡­?¡± Damien¡¯s voice sounded far, far away. No matter what I need to do, I will make sure it won¡¯t happen again! ¡°Mother¡­?¡± Even if I have to suffer and even if I have to commit evil to do it, I will stop him! ¡°Mother?¡± This monster must be stopped and it is my duty to do this! ¡°Mother?!¡± Suddenly, a voice laced with Energy filled the air and knocked me down by surprise. ¡°Ah, Fuck! Damien!¡± I said, knowing who the voice belonged to, as I fell to the ground. Still on the ground, I turned towards where the voice came from, ready to give Damien a lesson he won¡¯t soon forget. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.But instead, I was greeted by my two kids throwing themselves on me and burying me underneath their bodies. The shock forced the air out of my longs and I began to cough. ¡°What are you two doing? Get off of me, now!¡± I said while still gasping for air. ¡° ¡°No!¡± ¡± I heard Damien and Anna at the same time. I focused my gaze on them, ready to give them a thrashing, but was surprised by what I saw. Their faces were twisted with worry and in their eyes, they looked at me as with pleading eyes on the edge of crying. The anger I felt slowly ebbed away and was replaced by a feeling that something was wrong. On closer inspection, I could see their faces contained numerous cuts, both big and small, and bruises. Had something happened while I was thinking? ¡°What happened?! Who attacked you?!¡± Immediately, I expanded my Soul-sense and activated a grid of Energy around us and was shocked to see what transpired. In the place I stood just moments before was now a crater several meters wide and a meter in depth. The buildings all around us had either been damaged or had entirely collapsed. Even some of the Gold-masks, immobile unless I gave them orders, had collapsed to the ground, some with large gashes on their bodies and others seemingly crushed to death. Seeing this, I immediately looked around to see who caused this, yet could find no-one. Had he attacked and quickly escaped while I was in deep thought? This wasn¡¯t the first time something escaped my attention while I was thinking, but never to such a degree¡­ ¡°Who did this?!¡± I stood up and controlled the Energy around me, ready to strike at whoever or whatever attacked us. I had put this off, but we were now on another planet. Who knows what life had transformed in on this planet? I should have been more careful, should¡¯ve checked the surroundings upon arriving on this world to see if there is anything dangerous around us. But, ever since the plague long ago, I had never had a need to be wary of my surroundings and my surveillance skills dulled thanks to it. I need to work on this later. But, the next words they uttered shocked me. ¡°Please, stop!¡± ¡°Come back! Please!¡± I heard them cry, half-desperate and half-pleading. ¡­¡­What? ---------------------------------- Acedia POV: While I was lying in bed again, my mind couldn¡¯t help but wonder back to what happened, even if I didn¡¯t want it to. Am I too paranoid? I hadn¡¯t really thought about it during the time itself, but I might have committed a slight overkill. But what was I supposed to do? I know from experience that, once I get caught by these kind of ploys, I will suffer again and again until force myself to go into stasis once more. I merely cut out the suffering and went straight to the solution. Although I didn¡¯t have any proof that they ¨C whoever they were ¨C were sent to prevent me from going into stasis, but I¡¯d rather take the chance that they were than hope that they weren¡¯t. Really, it¡¯s not like I wanted to do this. Quite the opposite, in fact: it was bothersome to do this. Sure, it isn¡¯t that hard to pull off, only converting some matter into Energy and that¡¯s it, but if it went wrong or was poorly timed, I would have definitely be harmed. And not just a little. It would have hurt so much that I would¡¯ve gone mad again, but for a much, much longer time. Believe me, if I could have avoided it, I would¡¯ve. But, I¡¯m definitely not willing to allow someone or something to drag me back into the cycle before I at the very least had some rest. Is that too much to ask? A little break before continuing this horrible life? Do, who or whatever you are, really need to torment me every single moment possible? I won¡¯t allow such a thing. I will get my peace. Even if it doesn¡¯t last forever, I still want it. Concoct your plans. Plan your schemes. Weave my destiny. Change my fate. I won¡¯t let You, life, destiny, fate or whatever else wants to control me have their way with me. I¡¯ll just sleep and won¡¯t bother with whatever you throw at me. And if it bothers me, whether it be planned or a ¡®coincidence¡¯, I¡¯ll just destroy your little plots, just like I have now. No matter what happens, it¡¯s not my concern. I¡¯ll just lay here and simply waste away until I have no choice anymore¡­ A wave of Energy rippled through the palace and activated some Energy, making it go wild in response, slamming into the wall, creating large holes and gashes in the process. Of course, before it could destroy anything thoroughly, I returned the Energy to its previous state and repaired the harm done. Another plot already? They really won¡¯t leave me alone, will they? At least, so I thought, but after I did a quick search through the grid of Energy I found that the source of whatever happened had already disappeared. Apparently, whatever caused it happened at one of the city gates ¨C the one where I was previously ¨C but had just as quickly disappeared as it had appeared. The strange occurrence had only reduced some buildings into rubble and a couple of Gold-masks into corpses. Is that it? Is this supposed to make me care? What a pathetic attempt. Sure, it came out of nowhere and tried to threaten me bit, but it wasn¡¯t even something on the scale of an annoyance. It even sorted itself out without me interfering. Well, whatever. If this is the best they can do, let them. In fact, just do this forever. That way, I can finally get some rest. So, please¡­ Whoever is doing these things... Stop bothering me¡­ Chapter 18: Shattered Shields and No Escapes End of the third Arc. I hope I made everything clear and, if not, please leave a comment. Also, added simple cover. A veeery simple one. Anyways, Enjoy! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emily POV: ¡°Please, stop!¡± ¡°Come back! Please!¡± What? ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?¡± Those pleading eyes of them were purely affixed to me, not anyone else. Why? While still firmly grabbing onto me, they became quiet and looked into my eyes. As soon as they saw me, they sighed with relief and hugged me more tightly, nearly squeezing the breath out of me. Normally, I would¡¯ve been annoyed since I never really liked this much contact, but I was still too worried to be bothered by it. ¡°Are you both alright? Do you need healing?¡± But as soon as I said it, I could visibly see their wounds healing, bruises fading and even the clothes were mending themselves. They have talent, being able to do this so quickly. Especially compared to me, who could for so long only use brute force. ¡°Mother, please... not again... please...¡± I heard Anna sobbingly utter in a hushed voice, her body shaking for reasons unknown to me. Since when does she cry so quickly? And could she please just tell me what is wrong, for crying out loud. Luckily, Damien had always had a much more steadfast character compared to Anna, although even he seemed to be slightly disturbed right now. At least, he should be able to tell what¡¯s going on, right? ¡°Damien...¡± Only these words were necessary for him to understand. ¡°You did this. ¡± He spoke in an adult-like manner, though with a slight tremor in his voice betraying his emotions. His words caught me off guard. I.. did this? I looked at the surroundings, the collapsed and half-torn buildings, the crater... Everything came from the place I had previously been standing. But that didn¡¯t matter. What did matter were the corpses. Littered alongside the streets, there were at least a dozen of the Gold-masks. Although I never really felt any deep connection with them, I still did not want them to die. Who wants to watch their creations be destroyed? No one wants that. Especially after I practiced and refined the way to create bodies over and over and over again. They were the culmination of millions of years of practice and research. And now, they lay dead aside the road without any reason. Unlike the time with Acedia in the palace, when they were trying to unnecessarily guard me from his madness, they now lay dead without purpose. And then there were Damien and Anna, cut and bruised and hugging me to stop me. Ever since I created them not long ago, I put more effort in them than I did to any before them, and I cared for them more than anything. I did something to harm them? My children? God, I feel sick... ¡°You were... the same as that time. No, even worse.¡± Damien said, this time a small sob separating his speech. His words caused a tremor to run through me. Again? That time? ¡°Please, never again mother. Don¡¯t fall into the same trap again...¡± The same? ¡°Don¡¯t hate him again... Please....¡± Memories from not long ago ran through my head. I had finally picked up something resembling a meaningful life, when I caught him near one of the outpost I established to keep a watch out for anything interesting. When they came to report the news, my newfound life crumbled and the anger that had held me for so long came rushing back again. I found the need for vengeance locked inside me coming back to life once more and nearly ruining the entire palace, if Anna and Damien hadn¡¯t been by my side back then. And when I wanted to take revenge once more, they only reluctantly helped me after seeing me unwilling to change my mind. Just like now... But, unfortunately, I cannot let go. Also just like then. I have to do what I believe is right, even if it makes me feel miserable in the end. I forced them off of me, which was surprisingly hard to do seeing as they clung to me with all their power. ¡°Please, mom! Don¡¯t do this!¡± Anna said as she saw the determined me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, honey, I feel like I have to do this or I won¡¯t get any rest.¡± I gave the both of them a sympathetic smile and turned around, preparing to leave through a portal heading straight inside the room of Acedia. Just as I was about to go through, I heard a low voice growling with anger, disappointment and sadness. ¡°You¡¯ll just feel miserable again. You were mistaken before and fell, and now won¡¯t be any different.¡± Damien said. It honestly shocked me, the way he spoke. He was normally a quiet, submissive boy, rarely one to speak out his mind. Especially after the last successful attempt at fixing his soul did he become silent, but even before... Never had he spoken to me like that. I glanced backwards at the angry face filled with tears streaming down his cheeks. I gave an apologetic smile and said: ¡°Not this time. I know what he is; a tormented monster is still a monster.¡± I turned my head once more and stepped through the portal, leaving them behind to confront the devil. Acedia POV: Of course, I never thought it would end by simply begging for it. If that was the way to end this blasted cycle of life, torment and stasis, then I would¡¯ve been able to end it long, long ago. So I wasn¡¯t surprised to sense Emily trying to disturb me once more. Rather, I expected it. Doesn¡¯t mean I wanted it though, but still, seeing as how things have gone so far these last few weeks, I knew a last-ditch effort was to be made as soon as I finished dealing with the envoys and whoever was behind them. Perhaps, this will be the something like the final confrontation before He or they allow me to sleep once more. If so, that would be great. If not, then fuck ¡®em. The bridge was quickly made and the portal opened, although it took a second for her to get through for some reason. As soon as she entered the room, I said the word that must be familiar to her. ¡°...Leave.¡± I said. If she just left on her own, that would be great since it would just end it right then and there. But if she doesn¡¯t, I need to persuade her. I can see it in her eyes. The same look she had when we had our reunion in the throne room. That look of hatred, as if I was everything that¡¯s wrong with the world, filled her eyes again. I knew I couldn¡¯t use my power like last time. Well, I could, but that would just make her come back again. And again. And again. Unfortunately, I need to destroy her mind, and the easiest way to do that is with words. It¡¯s tiresome, but it¡¯s the only way for me to get some rest and finally stop caring once again. She noticed I hadn¡¯t blocked her Energy yet, so she gathered a bunch and threw it at me in the form of a fast, slim spear. It was more powerful than the arrows she used previously, and seemed like the once I used to kick her out of this room before. But, naturally, it was of no use. I simply lay there, unmoving, as her pathetic attempt disintegrated into thin air. She took a stance as if she was preparing to dodge something. If she thought she could somehow dodge my means of cutting her out of the Energy, she was sorely mistaken. But before that... ¡°...Leave.¡± I said again, following the same pattern as then. I could see sweat forming on her brow and streaming down her face, but she remained here, determined and filled with disgust as she looked at me. It was not the first time someone had stared at me like that, and it definitely won¡¯t be the last time, but I¡¯ll probably never be able to be completely unfazed by it. It always reminded me of the nonsensical hatred everything had for me, just like her. Seeing as I wasn¡¯t doing anything, she once more formed the spear, but this time by the dozen. The whole room seemed to be filled with them, leaving no part of my body un-targeted. It was kind of surprising how she was able to do this, seeing it hasn¡¯t even been a day since I showed her that. Then again, once you figure it out, it is extremely easy to replicate it if you had unlimited access to Energy like we have. She was planning to shoot them towards me, but before she could even think it, I simply deactivated all the Energy present in the room and placed them under my control. She was locked out once more. She lunged herself at me, supposedly taking me off-guard, and tried claw at me. Of course, I wasn¡¯t off guard and immediately blasted her back, though not enough to blow her away. I wanted her to stay, after all, so I could finish it once and for all. Seeing as she didn¡¯t expect me to react that quickly, she stumbled backwards towards the door and would¡¯ve fallen if the wall hadn¡¯t been there. She tried to grasp the Energy, probably thinking she needed to quickly make a barrier, but she failed miserably. Her body shivered and sweat started to pour out as she quickly made a cross arm guard to protect herself, turning her face away from whatever would come flying at her. But... nothing came. ¡°...Leave, now. There is nothing you can do and you know it.¡± I said, hoping she would back off at this point. She should be fully aware that everything she tries is impossible. ¡°Arrogant piece of shit! I won¡¯t give up until...¡± ¡°Until what? What are you planning to do? Kill me? You know just as well as I that that¡¯s impossible. Torture me? Do you really believe yourself able to harm me more than I have ever felt? Than I have done to myself? Now, who is the one who is arrogant here.¡± As long as I keep my cool, there is no way I¡¯ll lose out. ¡°Until I fix you!¡± Huh? Fix me? Who does she think she is? ¡°Fix me, you say? To fix me, you need to fix this broken world first. Only when this hellhole called life is fixed will I be able to be fixed.¡± Preposterous. Sure, I know that something''s wrong with me, but that is only because this world is wrong. The only way to fix me is to become indifferent; to not care about the world so that the wrong of the world won¡¯t reach me. A fantasy, sure, but one I¡¯m determined to make through, even if it won¡¯t help me in the long run. Let apathy be my escape. She began walking towards my bed, gesturing angrily as she was shouting. ¡°This world is wrong?! This world is broken?! Just because you get hurt a little, you blame the world?! Blame yourself, you monster! The world isn¡¯t perfect, but unlike you, it isn¡¯t broken. If there¡¯s something broken about it, then it is only broken for you!¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.She said. I stood up from the bed and started walking around the room, getting slightly overexcited by all the nonsense she was spewing out of that vulgar mouth of hers. ¡°Ha! Only broken for me, you say? What about the billions of people that live their daily life and die pitifully in the end? What about the civilizations that rise and fall everywhere, but never stay? Everything dies, everything gets extinct and everyone suffers, only to resurface somewhere else and live through the same cycle over and over and over again, forever in eternity. The only constant in this reality is the suffering everyone endures! Now tell me this piece of shit of a world isn¡¯t broken!¡± Who does this brat thinks she is! I¡¯ve seen it happen over and over again, there is no happy ending, no good end. The only thing awaiting those who life is suffering. I¡¯ve bore witness to this for billions of years, and she thinks she knows better. ¡°I¡¯ve been here for billions upon billions of years and you think, you miserable little brat, that you know the world better than I do?! This... thing is either broken, or its entire purpose is for a nonsensical, unending suffering!¡± I began to get heated up, especially after standing there face to face with her, but it¡¯s still well within my limits. If this is what she needs to chase her off, I will happily oblige. ¡°So you¡¯ve seen this happen over and over again, you¡¯ve seen it happen again and again and not once did you ever think ¡®I can do something about this¡¯!¡± ¡°This world doesn¡¯t deserve saving! Life doesn¡¯t deserve to be kept! It isn¡¯t something valuable, something glorious or something wonderful! The sooner one gets done with it, the happier you should be! Look at me! I live forever yet apart from a miserable thousand years, all I¡¯ve seen, all I¡¯ve done and all I¡¯ve been done to is nothing but suffering! And even that small, tiny break of a thousand years ended in the worst possible suffering for everyone!¡± ¡°Then fix it! You have the power to do so! You can destroy stars, galaxies even with just a wave of the hand! Do you really expect me to believe you¡¯re so inept that you cannot even fix at least one planet?! No, of course you easily can, but all you do is watch and sleep, hiding behind your tormented past like a coward!¡± She nearly spat in my face as she said this. ¡°What fucking right do you have with your short existence to bring up my past! You don¡¯t know what I know, haven¡¯t seen the things I seen, felt the things I felt!¡± ¡°I have every fucking right to talk about your misery! Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like to be hated, to be tormented wherever you go, to be hunted down like an animal by everyone you meet! But you have experienced it again and again, you know already what is going to happen, yet all you do is sit and watch as misery unfolds around you, cowering behind your memories and faking indifference! Faking apathy to sleep away all your problems without trying to fix it!¡± Those last words stung me deeply, making me stagger backwards away from her. My indifference, the last salvation I have, ridiculed as fake. ¡°W-What do you know! My indifference, my apathy is the only thing in the world that doesn¡¯t harm me, the only thing that has ever healed me! It is the only escape from this horrible existence!¡± It¡¯s the only way out I¡¯ve found in all my life. There is no other way. Apathy cleanses everything there is. Seeing me back off, she advanced forward. ¡°Your apathy is a farce!¡± These worlds were filled with Energy, filling the room with echoes and cracking the walls. Since I lost my calm, my hold over the Energy slipped away and made her able, albeit unconsciously, to use it again. Your apathy is a farce, these words echoed in my head and heard. For so long I¡¯ve suffered, for so long I¡¯ve been hurt by the world around me and only found reprieve in the apathy that came over me when it was simply too much for me to bear and ever since it first came over me, it has been the thing I look forward to the most. And now, she was saying it was fake? It is not as if I didn¡¯t know.... ¡°Your indifference is but a mask, a coward¡¯s shield to hide behind when things get to hard for you to press on! When you get involved too much, you simply hide behind it and think that nothing ever happened or will ever happen! Even when you killed my father and tore my family apart, you returned into your coward¡¯s hole! Even when your own wife died, you simply abandoned everything and adapted your fake apathy, as if to say it doesn¡¯t bother you!¡± She was guessing wildly and both she and I knew it. Unfortunately she was all too right. When she died, I simply froze the world, adapting it to my indifference and even then did a half-assed job at it, seeing as Solomavon survived. And all I did was crawl back into the same state I had been in for millions of years. Even when I found Solomavon, I never delved deeper, never took the trouble to ask if any of the other assailants were alive. No, I simply returned once again into stasis, not bothering with the world as life tried to swallow me once again. I¡¯ve known it for a very long time, even before I met my wife. I know that this obsession with apathy is but an excuse to cower away from everything that harms me. Even my madness is simply just me trying to convince myself that apathy is the only way to go. But what am I supposed to do? How can I fix anything if I can¡¯t even fix this about myself. ¡°Before you even thinking the world is broken, you should first fix yourself!¡± Every word, every sentence, every truth she uttered hit me like a sledgehammer, tearing down the walls I thought would last at least until the next time I woke up. She ruined my only escape and dragged me back into this miserable life. I looked at her, seething in anger as she looked smugly at every time she was right. But, you know, even if she is right about me, doesn¡¯t mean that she is any better. ¡°And what about you?¡± I said, trembling with rage and my voice low. ¡°Hmm?¡± She was slightly surprised at me still being able to retort, but quickly took back her smug stance. ¡°What about you? What were you doing when you were treated like dirt? Did you try to help them? No. Did you try to fix what when society went to shit, huh? Did you try to stop people from hurting each other?¡± This time, it were my words that hit her hard. ¡°No, of course you didn¡¯t. You simply wallowed in your self-pity, just like me. No, wait, even worse, you killed. You killed and you slaughtered. You brought misery into life wherever you went and whenever things went wrong, you simply killed them all. You are even worse than me, who pretends to not see anything.¡± Just like I did, moments ago, she staggered backwards in shock. And just like she did, I advanced forward. ¡°You actively destroy the world!¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re wrong! Yes, I killed! But only to defend myself! Never was I the instigator!¡± I could see it in her eyes: She was lying. ¡°You filthy liar! Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you have done! Those Gold-masks aren¡¯t things you made yourself! Neither are Damien and Anna! You simply made them from the souls of your victims and forced Energy in them to bind them to the world! And in doing so, you harmed them, tortured them in the most painful way possible! And why was that?! Because you were fed up with the society you knew and the moment it died, you rejoiced! Revelled in its destruction, instead of ever trying to fix what was wrong with it!¡± With every word I said, her walls began to tear down as well. Just like me, she lied to herself, convincing herself she didn¡¯t do these acts of horror. Where I sought out indifference as an escape route, she sought amnesia. Purposefully forgetting the horrors you committed and blaming it on someone else. ¡°What was I supposed to do! I am not like you, with countless years of experience and immeasurable power! I am weak! I can¡¯t fix everything that went wrong!¡± With almost every word, a tear fell from her eyes, yet she still tried her final retort, still tried to shift at least part of the blame on me while making herself appear blameless. But, she this was her final mistake. With this, she will fall into the same abyss as I! ¡°YOU AND I ARE THE SAME! We¡¯re born different ways, but we are the exact same! Born Immortals with complete and utter control of the worlds Energy network! You can do exactly the same things I can do! We are not different, you are not weak, I am not strong, we are the same! What I can do you can! You could¡¯ve fixed the world just as much as I, if you had wanted to!¡± I won¡¯t tell her I needed an enormous amount of time to learn what I¡¯m now capable of, but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that she could have done something if she tried hard enough. She had a much, much larger head start than me in both knowledge and technique. If she had wanted to and dedicated herself, she could¡¯ve kept her Era alive whilst catching up to me and, eventually, reach the same level with society still intact. These final words hit her the hardest of all, making her crumple down on the floor. But it didn¡¯t make me feel better. I, too, had lost severely something. The only shield I had was now shattered by her. Really, I too simply want to fall down and start crying, if I wasn¡¯t already used to the misery life causes us Immortals. Her shield of forgetfulness and made-up lies lay shattered before her. My shield of apathy and coldness lay broken and irreparable. But, for the first time, I was not alone in my pain. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow. Much conversation. Again, any complaints or thank you''s are appreciated and if something needs explaining, don''t be afraid to ask. I''ll happily oblige. And if everything is understandable, please do mention it and stroke my ego =). Chapter 19: Saviours in the form of Children Acedia POV: While she still wept on her knees, the door was suddenly kicked open. From the gap came the two familiar children, Damien and Anna, covered in sweat and gasping for air. It seemed that, when she disappeared, they came running as fast as they could. Which was odd, seeing as the other Gold-masks were all able to use portals to teleport when necessary, but perhaps they didn¡¯t want to rush into a room with two fighting Immortals inside. For a second, they stood still just barely outside the doorway and inspected the room. Nothing was broken, it seemed. Then again, there are only a large bed, an empty dresser, a closet and a table with a chair and lamp present in the room. Then, they locked their eyes on us. Strangely enough, when they saw her kneeling on the floor, weeping into her hands, they weren¡¯t surprised. Only when they saw me feigning a disinterested expression, did a feint hint of surprise fill their eyes, before fading just as quickly. Was I that bad at acting? Damien rushed to Emily¡¯s side and lay his arm around her neck, though the barely able to considering height differences. Anna rushed in between me and Emily and stood there in a guarded stance, though with a clearly hesitating look in her eyes. It was laughable, really. A nine year old boy comforting a ten million year old Immortal and a nine year old girl protecting them from an Immortal as old as existence itself. Unfortunately, I was in no mood to laugh. ¡°You can take her away. We¡¯re done. For now, at least.¡± I said, urging them to leave. I want some alone time to think about what to do now, seeing as my escape from reality has been thoroughly destroyed. No, to be honest, I just want some rest. Although this wasn¡¯t the first time something like this happened, it still is unbearably painful. It feels like I¡¯m about to break down in tears, just like her, and weep like a little baby. I honestly feel god-awful and the only thing keeping me standing, is the presence of these three in my room. Damien urged Emily to stand up, which took a while, and then dragged her off by the hand, looking like a child dragging his mother with her. But, although Damien was gone, Anna remained. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to go with your creator?¡± I asked, discretely telling her to go with them. ¡°Mother is in good hands, unlike you.¡± Sharp eyes. Both of them. ¡°Ha-ha.¡± I let out a dry laugh. ¡°you don¡¯t have to worry about me. You don¡¯t have to act as if you care, just like before. Just go comfort your mother, I¡¯m doing fine.¡± My weak, hoarse voice sounded incredibly unconvincing, but it was simply an offer for her to go away. I know why she did what she did during our week together and I don¡¯t blame her. She doesn¡¯t need to feel sorry for me and act like she cares about me. But, clever as she is, she saw right through me. ¡°If you think I can leave a crying man alone, you don¡¯t really know me.¡± A comforting and radiant smile appeared on her face. It was nearly enough to make me collapse right then and there, but I still held on. ¡°You don¡¯t have to act like you care anymore and you don¡¯t have to feel sorry for what you did. I understand and forgive you. So please, leave.¡± I offered again, this time more directly ordering her to leave, although my voice lacked the authoritative tone to make her obey. But, she simply kept smiling, while walking towards the chair next to the window. She lifted it up and walked towards me, eventually placing it near the bed. She sat down on it, crossed her legs and then pointed me to sit on the bed to my right. Like a nine-year-old shrink. I didn¡¯t move an inch and remained silent. She put her hand on her lap and looked me in the eye as she spoke. ¡°You know, when the news came that you arrived, she broke down in incredible fashion. Before you arrived, although she couldn¡¯t be called kind, she was still a good person. She cared for us, smiled with us, laughed with us and, whenever we were in pain, felt with us. But when the news came, she went mad, almost in the same fashion as you.¡± She said, first smiling while remembering the ¡®good old times¡¯, and then a sorrowful smile as she looked down. ¡°When we saw the sudden change, we thought ¡®Whoever this guy is, he must be bad¡¯. I mean, who wouldn¡¯t think that after seeing their mother lose it like that? And when she spoke about what you did, how you killed her father, tormented her mother and tortured herself, we thought you evil incarnate.¡± Exactly. Even if it wasn¡¯t their mother who said these things, everyone treated me like this. It doesn¡¯t matter if I did anything or not, everyone hated me equally. That is why she doesn¡¯t need to bother. I¡¯m used to it, so I forgive the both of them. ¡°When she made her plans and send us off, we were convinced that we were on the right side, but as soon as we arrived, something was off. You came to save us, even though you were evil. Mother explained this to us already, but still. But when you so easily and carelessly slaughtered those pre-programmed Gold-masks, our doubt was cast aside once more.¡± Of course, seeing the people, even if they were like dolls, you grew up with being slaughtered, everyone would think that. She shifted her downwards gaze onto my eyes once more with a serious gaze. ¡°And when you left us when we purposefully remembered the painful times, we thought you would finally show your true colours. Imagine our surprise when, in one of the village-like outposts mother created all over the continent, you went insane, just like mother, but on a much more horrifying scale. We were scared, horrified, seeing you like that. But, above all, our doubts came back again.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.Her face twisted in horror as she remembered what I did. So the city I slaughtered was but an outpost? Honestly, I feel relieved. Slaughtering those half-living is much less painful than killing normal, emotional people. Still, it leaves a bad taste. ¡°And in the following weeks, you tried so hard. You talked to us, laughed with us, played with us, told us stories and even taught us how to use Energy, even though we already knew. It was as if you truly loved us, even though it had been days since we met. You were trying so hard to please us, we couldn¡¯t believe you were evil anymore. When Damien and I discussed this, we both came to the conclusion that it¡¯s impossible for you to be evil. In fact, you and mother were similar and so, we decided that we would appeal to mom. But, we were to slow, and events proceeded as it did, unfortunately.¡± The last line was said with a deep, guilty undertone. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± I said, emotion overwhelming and cracking my voice while I just barely prevented them from breaking out fully. Those days... Those days of happiness I thought was a lie, a plot to deceive the gullible me. I sat down on the bed, my body shivering and nearing its limits. She suddenly began smiling, as if she had expected it and hoped for this to happen. That, combined with her wings and the conveniently sudden burst of light coming through the window, made the scene complete. ¡°We don¡¯t hate you, you know?¡± It wasn¡¯t a great confession of adoration or love. It wasn¡¯t a promise for friendship or comradery. In fact, it the words weren¡¯t anything special if it were for anyone else but me. For a normal person, there are a lot of people who don¡¯t hate them. Billions of them who don¡¯t care about except as fellow living beings. And, for many of them, they have more people that like them than hate them. And even those who hate them, don¡¯t truly want to kill him or burn him or torture him or whatever. But for me, ¡®not hate¡¯ is so much more than what love is for other people. For me, where people who see me and want me to die is the norm, for someone to say they ¡®don¡¯t hate¡¯ me... It was the same as when I finally started to believe my wife truly cared for me. For god-knows how long, I wept like a newborn. Emily POV: Damien silently dragged me through many, many halls and past many, many doors, until we finally entered my favourite place: the dining room. In this room I had the latest happy family shared between me and both my parents. A simple dinner on a small table, unlike the feast we had on the day I went home with Acedia. I was but a child and we were happily talking with each other, laughing with each other and generally feeling full of bliss. The only times when I came here, is to remember these scenes more vividly than I could anywhere else. And now, I was in here being dragged by the child I made from a deceased soul still lingering inside the body and a couple of bones, along with a whole bunch of Energy. I am a horrible person. I tried to purposefully forget and lie to myself that I wasn¡¯t like this, that everything I did wasn¡¯t sacrilege to life itself. But Acedia brought down these walls I erected around me and now I could think clearly about everything I¡¯d done. All these horrors I committed came flooding into me, making my tears fall even faster and making me feel god-awful. What people must think of me if they knew. What the Gold-masks must think of me, if they had any feelings. What my children think of me... I brought them back from the dead and forced them to remain here by essentially torturing them every so often. The colouring of their souls was the absolute proof of them. But even though I tortured them like this, I could see that they loved me. And I loved them back, but this doesn¡¯t make it right. Damien sat me down on a chair, but even then his eyes could barely come up to my waste. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Damien! I¡¯m sorry for what I did, but please! Please don¡¯t leave me!¡± I¡¯m pathetic, begging him to leave while tears streamed down my cheeks. I¡¯m simply pathetic, but I can¡¯t bear it if they leave me. If they leave me, there is nothing left for me to life anymore and I¡¯ll become just like Acedia: a tortured being endlessly seeking for an escape out of this horrible reality. But as long as I have them, or even if it¡¯s just Damien alone, I can manage. The thought itself of depending on them while I¡¯ve done nothing but harm them fills me with self-loathing. As I was still crying in my hands, not daring to look at him, I suddenly felt his small hands prying them open. I was met by an incredibly determined face, unbecoming for such a small child. ¡°Without you, Anna and I wouldn¡¯t exist. You brought us to life, loved us and even when you harmed us, you did it to save us. You are our mother. We won¡¯t leave you.¡± At those last words, his mouth turned into a bright smile and his eyes looked at me filled with love, when, by all rights, he should hate me. It is a love I didn¡¯t deserve. But I will earn it. Whatever the cost, I will earn it.... chapter 20: A Strange World and a Black Star I planned to upload this earlier, but due to an unforeseen death in the family, I had to delay. Sorry for the inconvenience and I hope you understand. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Acedia POV: ¡°So, how have you been?¡± I opened my eyes and saw a both familiar yet unfamiliar face staring back at me. Who is this? Since when did I fall asleep? ¡°So far, so good. Got nothing to complain really.¡± I heard myself answer. Who is speaking for me? What is happening? ¡°Really? You don¡¯t seem very well to me. Your eyes lack sharpness and vigour. It is very unlike you.¡± I saw the woman in front of smiling brightly while in her eyes was a small tinge of worry. It¡¯s strange. No matter how long I look at that face, I don¡¯t seem to remember it. No, rather than not remembering it, it seems as if I don¡¯t register the face I¡¯m looking at. The longer I look, the more blurry the face becomes It feels very odd. What is going on? ¡°It is nothing to worry about, it¡¯s just that... watching them is not easy.¡± I felt my lips turn upwards into a grimace and a light, hollow laugh escape my mouth. Shivers ran down my spine. It feels incredibly disturbing for one¡¯s own body to act without your own input. ¡°I know what you mean. Seeing them suffer for so long is not a comfortable thing to watch.¡± The smile of the blurry face disappeared and turned serious. ¡°Well, at least yours is not that old. I¡¯ve been watching for seemingly an eternity.¡± Again, the odd feeling of having your body taken over by someone sent shivers down my spine. ¡°It¡¯s your own fault for letting him slip out of your grasp like that.¡± The woman said accusingly. ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t want to talk about it. How are the others doing?¡± I said. ¡°As far as I know, they¡¯re doing alright, but you know how hard it is to keep up a stable connection in this place.¡± Although my eyes weren¡¯t under my control, I focused my mind on looking around and saw something I did not expect. There was absolutely nothing. Only a plain white scenery was to be seen. Even though it felt like I was lying on some sort of bed, I couldn¡¯t see it. I tried to establish a Soullink with the surrounding Energy, but it seems as if this place lacked even that. Seeing as I could not tap into the Energy of the world, I instead opted to tap into the soul of the strangely familiar woman. Creating a thin Soulthread out of the Energy locked away in my soul, I shot it towards the unsuspecting woman to force a connection between us but was unpleasantly surprised. As soon as the thread neared the woman¡¯s soul, still invisible without the ability to sense Energy, it bounced off. ¡°Did you do that?¡± The woman hissed. My face changed into a look of surprise. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± The body spoke. I saw the woman¡¯s still strangely blurry face darken and knew I had to do something, so I did the only thing available in this situation. Although I¡¯ve rarely tried it, seeing as the world normally has an abundance of free Energy and failure meant a lot of pain, I decided now was the best time to use it. Commanding the Energy of which my soul is made, I expanded my soul to an abnormal degree. Luckily, it worked out alright, only spreading out instead of tearing and ripping itself apart. I kept expanding it and in just a fraction of a moment I made my soul incredibly large albeit incredibly thin. Using this, I threw it like a net towards the woman all the while strengthening it by activating and enhancing the Energy in my soul. It was an incredibly risky move, seeing as my soul could, despite being strengthened, easily be torn apart. But the element of surprise is essential in situations like this. Unfortunately, I found something I didn¡¯t expect. I made a grave error. As soon as I tried entrapping the woman¡¯s soul it seemed as if my entire being froze in place. It seemed as if an innumerable amount of strings were attached to my soul, trying to pull me back to the place where my body lay. The strength of it was incredible, needing all my willpower to just barely resist its pull, leaving me unable to advance forward. ¡°Honey, quick! Tear it apart!¡± I heard my body yell at the woman with a pained voice as sweat broke out of every pore. Hearing this I became desperate. Tearing my soul apart?! Do they even know how incredibly painful this is?! I poured all of my desperation into the struggle, transforming my soul back into the formless blob ¨C the signature of true Immortality ¨C and tried shooting it towards the woman, hoping it would work. It was do or die! Albeit with the dying part replaced with pain. ¡°B-but if I do that--¡° Said the woman, seemingly in distress. I felt the strings holding me back snapping one by own, allowing me to inch closer towards the still invisible soul of the woman, praying that I would make it. ¡°DO IT! NOW!¡± The body screamed as tears of blood streamed out of my nose, ears and eyes. It was now or never! Putting every bit of willpower I could muster into my desperate struggle and snapped out of the clutches of whoever was trying to control me. But, as expected, I was too slow. Even with the woman¡¯s hesitation I simply didn¡¯t have enough time to pull it off. As my soul snapped free and shot forth, a blade made out of the all to recognizable Blue Fire was formed out of nowhere . Seeing as I was desperately struggling to get away, I hadn¡¯t had the time to form even the simplest of defences so the blade my soul in halve with barely any effort. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH!¡± I screamed in pain as the feeling hot lead being poured into my veins overwhelmed me. The Blue Fire quickly did its work, trying to gnaw away at the edges of my split soul and forming small canals to pour itself into the rest of it. But, the follow up didn¡¯t come, allowing me to form some defences to counter the infiltration. Unfortunately this Blue Fire was very unlike the last time I tasted its purging flames. Instead of it being small and constantly struggling to survive by eating away either Energy or the soul, this one was being constantly fed by the woman¡¯s Energy and so, I couldn¡¯t get rid of it entirely. Although I still wasn¡¯t in control, my body thrashed around in agony as I send my soul back into it. Seeing this, the woman¡¯s face twisted in pain, guilt and sadness, tears streaming down her blurred-out cheeks. ¡°Honey, I... I--¡± She said struggling. ¡°CONTINUE! HE¡¯S STILL HERE!¡± My body screamed once more, afterwards coughing up a bucket worth of blood. The woman was still doubting whether she should do something or not as I took advantage of the situation. Knowing the woman I was doomed and still unable to locate the souls of both her and especially the person controlling me, I decided to take them down with me. Instead of forming threads of Energy and then converting it into Blue Fire, I transformed my soul into Blue Fire and almost all of my Energy, leaving only a small part of Energy behind to control it. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAA¡ª¡° The screaming came to a halt as the pain became too much for the brain to handle, killing the body in the process. However, the soul was still living and burning unrestrained as the Blue Fire consumed everything. As this empty plane was undoubtedly dyed blue, the fire merged together into a small dot, as I intended. Before the incredible pain and loss of my soul could knock me unconscious, I controlled the Energy I left behind to forcefully contain it until everything was consumed. I felt waves of Energy crashing into the shield used to contain the ball of Blue Fire and I desperately wanted to see the face of the woman and hear her pleas, but, since the body died, I was unable to. But, it didn¡¯t matter. No matter what she tried the shield held until the very last of my consciousness was consumed. However, before I actually lost consciousness, I let the shield disappear. An enormous torrent of blue fire was unleashed, roaring like a sea of flames as it expanded outward and sought out its victim, trying to consume everything it encountered in this empty space. How I wished I could hear the screams, but even if I could, I would only end up hearing my own. My consciousness left me and drifted far, far away from this place, sending me back to where I came... ¡°¡ªEdia?!¡± Emily POV: The last few days had been very peaceful. I simply did the things I used to do before Acedia came back; I read books, experimented with my power to try and gain understanding, ordered some Gold-masks to rebuild what I had destroyed and played around with Damien. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The only thing that slightly bothered me was where Anna hung out, though I presumed it was with Acedia. It¡¯s not as if I dislike like the idea of her hanging out with Acedia. Rather, I encourage it, seeing as it meant I didn¡¯t have to face him for now, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not worried about her. Who knew what Acedia would do, especially after I and, unfortunately - by extension and association - my children. But, I decided to keep it as it is, trusting that she would do whatever is right and hoping for him to either forgive her or not bother like he used to. I doubt the last one will happen though, seeing as I destroyed that mask of his. Just like he destroyed mine.... Anyway, it has been peaceful as of late. But, of course, after everything that has happened and the many unresolved issues we both let be, things were not made to last. It happened while I was reading in the library of the palace, a place filled with thousands if not tens of thousands of books, most of which I have read, though not remembered. Out of nowhere, breaking the silence that overwhelmed the past days, a muffled yet terror-filled scream sounded from far, far away. Naturally, I instantly knew where it came from and was horrified. The distance between the library is immense, spanning many, many rooms, corridors, halls and walls. That the scream was able to be heard over such an enormous distance meant something was horribly wrong. Luckily, although I find myself feeling guilty of thinking like this, the voice was male and so could not have belonged to Anna. Still, the fact that he screamed like this meant that something bad happened to him, making me very worried for him lashing out at Anna. I immediately threw my book away and looked at Damien, sitting across while also reading a book, although he had now stood up. Without looking at me he instantly knew what to do and quickly established a portal, using the ever-present link between him and Anna. The two of us immediately rushed through it and upon founding the scene, were both relieved and worried; Anna was fine, Acedia was not. There he lay screaming on the bed, his long, pure-white hair in a complete mess, his expression twisted in pain and his ice-blue eyes clearly filled with terror, seemingly looking into nothingness. Instantly, I connected to the Energy around me and gathered some Energy to try and forcibly soothe him, but was surprised at the current situation. There was no soul to be found within him. There only lay a broken body, soulless and thrashing around in agony as blood streamed out of his nose, eyes and ears. The situation left me dumbfounded, with Damien and Anna looking anxiously at my stunned expression. How could there be no soul? Every time I saw him I could, without even sparing the effort, easily locate the massive, formless soul so characteristic to Immortals like him and me. Even with humans and animals, whose soul had the shape of their bodies, I had never encountered something like this, unless the person was dead. And clearly, he wasn¡¯t dead. Not yet. Could this be the dying moments of an Immortal? Although I highly doubted this, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder. He kept sobbing and screaming until suddenly, when a very loud scream was just about the be released, his voice was cut off and his body died. Before I could even wonder if he was dead, a small spark suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Hovering there for a second, I wondered what it was before it began. Suddenly, the small star lit up and became brighter and brighter until suddenly, it began sucking the Energy all around. At first, it was but a couple of small streams flowing into it, feeding it to ever grow bigger. But then the pace began to quicken. Faster and faster the streams poured Energy into it, growing in since and forming more and more streams until the shining star simply pulled all the Energy in the vicinity into it. As it pulled more and more Energy into itself, the star began to change colour. First from white, then a feint yellow, then golden, then red and then... An all too familiar purple colour. The same colour as the sun of death Acedia had once spawned. Although I had been too captivated by the sight to worry about anything else, I quickly began to grow anxious. I quickly looked around the room and located Anna and Damien, still enraptured by the star¡¯s presence. I tried gathering some Energy but as soon as I did, the Energy was sucked away into the vortex. Then I tried something I¡¯ve never done before and have only seen. Concentrating and forcing myself to calm down, I tried to feel all the Energy around me. If Acedia is able to do it, I must be too! He said so himself, we are not different! Taking the state of Acedia as example, I began emptying my mind and expand the grid of Energy into the boundless world. I felt everything connected with the Energy, all matter, all life, but I didn¡¯t focus on it. Instead, I tried to delve deeper. Deeper into the Energy grid. As I delved and delved, displacing the active Energy and tried to see what holds it all together, I could sense a feint but large presence behind it. A spark of hope arrived! As I thought this I tried to uncover it; trying to throw the strange ¡®veil¡¯ hiding it away. But, I couldn¡¯t come any closer. Every time I tried to grasp it, it seemed to become further and further away, seemingly forever out of my grasp. Damn it! How was he able to do it! As soon as I became irritated, the ¡®veil¡¯ surrounding the omnipresent and omnipotent Energy began to close in once again. I desperately clawed at it, even tried lunging attacks in different places of the world by gathering the active Energy there, but the veil simply absorbed it all, furthering my frustration and thus, furthering the distance between me and absolute power. I wanted to shout in anger, but I saw the star had changed colour once more. The purple had grown deeper and deeper in colour until it simply became... black. A black star floating about a half a metre above Acedia¡¯s body as it continuously sucked in the Energy. If a purple sun was capable of that, what would black do? An unfelt before sense of fear crawled up my spine, sending me into desperation. I did the only thing I could think of and rushed towards the bed, leaving Damien and Anna still staring at the black star. Since the sparkling black star gave off a dreadful vibe, I didn¡¯t dare to touch it and instead, turned towards Acedia¡¯s now-dead body. I took him by the shoulders and shook him fiercely. ¡°Acedia, wake up!¡± I screamed in desperation at the dead body. I refuse to believe he, who has lived for god-knows how long, would die so easily, so I punched him in the face. ¡°Acedia!¡± I yelled once more, throwing punches at his already bloody face. ¡°Wake up! Please!¡± I screamed desperately. No matter how much I hit him, he didn¡¯t wake up. Desperation overwhelmed me and I fell down with my upper body onto the bed, crying in fear as the black star still drained the Energy of everything. It even began reaching the edges of my grid, that was how much it took. An entire world of active Energy filled in one, tiny star. But, just as I was about to let despair take over and simply await the inevitable, the vortex suddenly stopped. I looked up, the salty tears burning into my dried-out skin, and saw the star slowly descending onto Acedia¡¯s body, until it was simply swallowed. As soon as it entered, I felt the Energy around the world restore itself almost instantly and enabling my control over it. The first thing I noticed, was a soul. A formless, large, pure-white soul. His soul. I forced myself to stand up and hovered my head above Acedia¡¯s, awaiting whatever would come. His icy eyes slowly opened, although there was still no sign of focus in them. ¡°Acedia?¡± I murmured softly. Suddenly I saw a slight hint of life slowly arriving in his eyes. ¡°Acedia?!¡± I shouted in surprise. I saw him now clearly looking at me, questions filling his eyes. ¡°Emily?¡± He said hoarsely. ¡°What happened?¡± I sighed in relief, surprising myself as I subconsciously revealed my worry for him But, I simply put that away for now. Right now, there is a more pressing concern. Chapter 21: What... Just Happened? Acedia POV: The first thing I saw when I came back to life were the brown eyes of Emily looking straight through me, filled with worry and fear. ¡°Emily?¡± I said, pausing as my voice sounded incredibly hoarse. ¡°What happened?¡± She stared at me for a second before sighing with relief. Honestly, I didn¡¯t expect her to be as relieved as she was, and by the looks of it, she didn¡¯t expect it either. It¡¯s a good thing, though, seeing as I want to close the distance between us even if it¡¯s only by a small margin. But, first things first. What happened? I know that whatever I experienced was not a dream; the pain was too intense for that. I had absolutely no clue what happened nor ¨C more importantly, in my opinion ¨C where it happened, and the fact that all I could think of was that everything happened in some sort of ¡®alternate dimension¡¯ doesn¡¯t really help. It just sounds too deus ex machina for it to be explained away as simple as that. And really, for how long have I lived now? An innumerable amount of years. And in all this time I have never experienced something similar to this so I¡¯m unfit to even speculate about where it happened. How does one even make an alternate dimension? Especially one as empty as that, even devoid of Energy. I know that behind the grid of free and inactive Energy there is simply nothing, but not in the same way as the nothing in the ¡®alternate dimension¡¯. Behind the grid is a void that intends to swallow everything as soon as it gets the chance; the other plane of nothingness is just simply... there. As I was thinking, the much too familiar headache indicating harm inflicted to the soul ¨C whether it was by me or someone else ¨C suddenly kicked in, making me visibly wince in pain. Emily, her face still looming over me, became anxious once more, but I didn¡¯t bother with it. I raised myself from the bed, forcing Emily to shuffle away, and finally got a good look at the current state of affairs. The sheets were stained with blood. So were my clothes, my hands, my face and, well, basically everything close and connected to me, making everything around me feel sticky and smell awful. Inside the room stood Emily, obviously, but also Damien and Anna, looking at me with mixed feelings of fear, relief, shock and interest. Aside from that, nothing in the room seemed changed; the dresser was in place and in one piece and so were the closet, chair, table, lamp and bed. I scraped my throat and swallowed the remaining blood in my mouth and focused my attention towards Emily standing at the left side of my bed. Before I could begin speaking, Emily took the chance. ¡°U-ummm.. Are you a-alright?¡± She said awkwardly, fidgeting and turning away from my gaze whilst blushing ever so slightly whilst doing so. No matter how I looked at it, she seemed incredibly awkward to speak to me. Well, all things considered, it is not that surprising she finds the situation awkward after what happened, but it seemed as if she wanted to flee from me rather than simply being embarrassed and scared to confront the situation. This, of course, will not do. ¡°I¡¯m fi..- Ahem ¨C I¡¯m fine.¡± My voice cracked a little, still feeling slightly painful even though it was supposed to be healed. ¡°Or rather, I want to know what happened here. Can you explain?¡± I asked her ¡°Emm, no, ermm I.. I don¡¯t really know, y-you suddenly screamed and died and-¡° How awkward can one get? Was she really like this? Just days ago she was screaming and yelling at me and so harshly shattered my escape and even before that, she seemed to be comfortable talking down on me, simply spewing hateful lines one after the other. And now, she looked like a shy teenager who was caught for doing something bed. She¡¯s ten million years old, for crying out loud, shouldn¡¯t she be way passed this? But then, a surprising piece of information was given. ¡°-And suddenly, a-a-a small black star sucked the Energy and I tried to...¡± ¡°Hold up a second!¡± I accidentally shouted hearing this strange piece of info. ¡°Y-yes?!¡± She jumped up in surprise, looking as if she¡¯d said something wrong. ¡°What¡¯s this about a black star sucking Energy?¡± So far, I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing, meaning this might be something useful. ¡°Ermm... you know, a small sparkle appeared and sucked the Energy and turn-turned black and entered your body.¡± This isn¡¯t going anywhere. ¡°Please, calm down a little and think carefully of what you want to say.¡± I said soothingly. To this, she nodded, probably already knowing what she said was incomprehensive, and took a few deep breaths. Within a few seconds her fidgeting seemed to stop and even the look in her eyes seemed to have become sharper. Although she falters quickly, it seems like she is even more capable of steadying herself. Then again, I should¡¯ve known, seeing as she was not lying broken on bed after she discovered most of her life had been lies and deceit planted by herself. It was very impressive to recover that quickly for someone¡¯s first time breaking apart. The only reason I was capable of recovering was that I had similar experiences in the past, but even then, it takes a while before I¡¯m completely recovered. No mental fortitude, quick mental recovery. Interesting. Anyways, after she steadied herself she looked me in the eye and nodded firmly, her facial features clearly having calmed down. ¡°Good. Now, what is this about a ¡®black star¡¯?¡± I said smilingly. Emily POV: What the hell is wrong with me? Acting shy like a pubescent teen talking to her crush with a stupidly shy accent. I know why I¡¯m acting like this, having hurt him and him having hurt me and such, but still, how old am I? Ten fucking million years old! For this unimaginably long time have I lived, going through hell and back again ¨C although the ¡®back again¡¯ part is not entirely true ¨C and having withstood my mind basically being torn apart and slowly recovering in just three days! Although mostly it was thanks to Damien calming me down, but still! Acting like this¡­. How shameful. And the worst part was Acedia. This bastard was so patronizing, treating me like a small child who was just caught red-handed after doing something bad, all the while he himself being covered in blood with his crazed-out white hair and having recently died for crying out loud! If anyone should be acting stupidly it should be him! Still, no matter how much I complain, he did actually manage to calm me down, smiling at me sweetly and coaxingly asking me the deal about the black star ¨C which, by the way, I know absolutely nothing about. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The only thing I could do was simply explaining what I saw. ¡°While your soul was gone and after your body died, this thing suddenly came into existence. It looked like a small colourless sparkle and hovered about half a metre above you.¡± I paused for a second, looking Acedia in the eye, hoping to see if he had heard about something like this before. What I saw were eyes looking at me with interest, as if he just found some piece of a very difficult puzzle, all the while silently urging me to tell him more about it. It was a very compelling. Even if I didn¡¯t wanted to explain it, it was a gaze that would convince me otherwise. Luckily, I have no reason not to tell him. I want to know just as much as he does what transpired here. ¡°Out of nowhere, the sparkly thing suddenly began pulling Energy from its surroundings. First in small streams but eventually, it became a giant vortex, pulling all Energy from everywhere. I tried expanding along the grid to attack it and even tried to disable it just like you did with me and against that strange weapon. Naturally, I failed.¡± When I mentioned trying to disable it ¡®just like you did¡¯, his eyes grew wide but after I told him I failed, I could see an ever so slight look of relief in his eyes. He hoped I would fail. Was it simply in fear I would overtake him? Or was it something deeper? Anyways, I didn¡¯t stop my explanation. ¡°As it began to swallow everything, the spark began to shine and at some point change colours, first from white to yellow, to gold, to red, to purple and, in the end, an incredibly deep and frightening black colour.¡± When I said that it changed from purple to black I could see he wasn¡¯t really surprised. Apparently, he knew that after the purple ¡®grade¡¯ ¨C if Energy came in different ¡®grades¡¯ as I think it does ¨C came black. Perhaps, that purple sun-destroying ball of death wasn¡¯t his ultimate weapon? A shiver ran down my spine. How frightening¡­ I continued. ¡°After becoming as black as it gets, it stopped pulling the Energy and the vortex disappeared, allowing the grid of Energy to restore itself.¡± Still no surprise was to be seen on his face. Only an enthusiastic face much like an thoroughbred academic discovering the answer to his problems. And still silently urging me onward with that intense stare. If I had been like the bumbling fool in the beginning, I would have collapsed then and there under such a strong gaze, but for now, I was all right. ¡°The black star simply hovered above your body and then you somehow absorbed it, reviving¡ª¡° ¡°Did you say I absorbed it?!¡± He suddenly shouted, his eyes growing wide in surprise for the first time. ¡°Y-yeah? You revived afterwards.¡± I said, completely stumped by his reaction. Why shout so suddenly? Was it that important? Without giving me time to react, he suddenly jumped out his bed and bolted towards me, clasping my shoulders with his still bloody hands. ¡°You said my soul wasn¡¯t there and after that black star was absorbed, I revived. Could you feel my soul before it was consumed?!¡± His breath still stank of blood. ¡°Y-yes? As soon as the star was finished and the grid restored, I could feel your soul.¡± The overexcited look on his face faded away and he grew pensive, letting me go to walk around in the small room for a moment. What was going on in his head? The suddenly, a light bulb seemed to appear above his head as he became excited again, although this time not as much. ¡°Where? Where did you feel my soul was? What was its exact location?¡± He said, his hand stroking his chin as he looked at me. ¡°It¡¯s location?¡± I asked stumped. Of course I don¡¯t remember after everything that happened. Why is it so important? ¡°Yeah, you know! Was it inside my body or was it somewhere else?!¡± He said impatiently. He began to get on my nerves but still, I had never seen such a different array of emotions from him, so I was still busy processing that, giving me no time to feel irked. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know!¡± Honestly, I really didn¡¯t. As I said, so much stuff was going on. Who would pay attention to where his soul was while such an ominous thing was floating in the room? ¡°Come on, think! Just answer this: in my body, or not?¡± He asked, although it seemed as if he was more or less begging for me to answer. Still overwhelmed I couldn¡¯t resist his pleas and thought it over again and tried to focus my memory on his body during that time, but, seeing as I wasn¡¯t paying attention to it at all, I simply did not know the answer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I really don¡¯t¡ª¡± But as I was about to say it again, I was interrupted. ¡°Please! Just¡­please! Anything! Even a small guess is alright!¡± He seemed truly desperate, as if he was clutching at straws. Why was he so desperate? But, I began to think more deeply about it, remembering the entire picture instead of just focusing on the body. I knew I had sensed his soul as soon as the grid re-established itself, but I wasn¡¯t paying attention to his body, so I don¡¯t¡ª No, wait! I wasn¡¯t paying attention to his body, so how should I have sensed his soul? The only thing I was paying attention to was¡­ ¡°¡­The black star?¡± I said, more questioning myself than answering Acedia¡¯s question. In the meantime he had started to walk around, thinking on his own while muttering things to himself. As soon as I said it, however, he whipped his head in my direction and locked his gaze, even more intense than before, on me. ¡°Did you say¡ª¡° He started enthusiastically. This time, it was my turn to interrupt him. ¡°The black star, yes! It was the only thing I paid attention to, even with my Soulsense, so it could have only been there!¡± His enthusiasm was beginning to rub off on me, making me, even though I didn¡¯t know what was going on, excited about my conclusion. But why would his soul be there? ¡°Hey, why--?¡± As soon as I wanted to ask him, I suddenly found myself being hugged. What the hell¡­? ¡°HAHAHA! So it¡¯s as I though! Goddamn this shitty day just became the best! Thanks to you!¡± He cusped my cheeks in his hands and suddenly kissed me, before giddily returning back to his rigorous walking and thinking, his hands once more on his chin and the biggest grin possible on his face. I ran my fingers over my lips. What¡­ just happened? Chapter 22: The end of the Day Acedia POV: I very rarely say this but my God is it great to be alive! Such a horrible start of the day with waking up in that strange-ass fucking world and suffering through that shit, but thanks to it I might be able to solve one of the biggest mysteries that has plagued my life! Thank you, strange abductors or whatever they were! And also, thank you Emily! I haven¡¯t felt this great since forever, but still, I know that there is much to be done. Although I¡¯ve gotten an incredible insight, it is still but the tip of the iceberg. But without seeing the tip, I wouldn¡¯t have found the iceberg. Anyway, I can barely contain myself! I need to start soon- no, I need to start now! Quickly creating a bridge and portal to the back garden, I immediately left the room, not bothering with Damien, Anna or Emily. I arrived in the back garden for the first time but was too excited to bother sparing it a glance. Instead, I immediately started summarizing my thoughts and calming myself down. Throughout most of my life, especially after the Third Era, I have devoted myself ¨C or tried to, although things often came in between ¨C to three particular things. The first was, of course, Energy. After first noticing I had access to something people could only dream off, I tried figuring out about it and, when I found myself powerless to resist capture and stuff like that, I desperately began researching and experimenting everything about it. Of course it took me an incredibly long time before I could even scrape the bottom of this seemingly vast barrel of knowledge, but I persisted and eventually succeeded. Since this was a purely scientific phenomenon ¨C apart from my control over it ¨C there was an actual end to the knowledge about Energy, and I reached it. I know what it is, how to use it, what it could do and what it couldn¡¯t do. The second was life, or rather, the meaning of it and why it exists. Unfortunately, this is mostly an emotional, personal and spiritual subject and can never have a definitive answer or ending like Energy had. Except, of course, if God exists, because then you could simply answer with ¡®it¡¯s God¡¯s will¡¯, but I doubt even that would end the discussion. So, although not for lack of trying, I still haven¡¯t reached a conclusion, and I doubt I ever will. Now the third thing that has so far always baffled me: the soul. For most of the lifespan of civilizations, people think the soul is purely spiritual. Unless one reaches the highest heights of technology would they figure out it is an actual materiel thing. But even then, people only speculated about what it was, me included. The thing about the soul is, it is almost impossible to research. As soon as a mortal soul gets damaged, they either go insane or die. And when people die, there soul just seems to vanish into thin air. This is also the reason I was popular amongst scientist; no matter how much they damage it or even destroy it, the soul would eventually return to my body in some way. So during everything, even when researching upon myself, I could never truly reach any truths about the soul. Not where it came from, what it is or why it¡¯s needed to live. But now, things have changed. I was transported to an empty plane and in that plane my soul was stuck in some way or another. There it was destroyed, just like the scientists did. Now normally, my soul which, since I¡¯m Immortal, is made out of Energy, tries to reassemble itself by gathering the Energy around, unlike a mortal¡¯s soul whose simply vanishes. Eventually, some Energy will form into the shape of my soul and my soul itself, which is not really Energy but only made out of Energy, would imprint itself on the blob of power and exist again. Although I could not see this with my own eyes, seeing as I was basically ¡®dead¡¯ at that time, I did see it on recordings left behind after the experimenters¡¯ deaths. But in a plane where there is simply no Energy available, it is impossible for it to revive and thus, I should have died. The fact that I didn¡¯t means that not my soul but something else is responsible for my Immortality. So, there were only two options available to bring me back to live: Bring my soul back from the other plane; Or create a new soul and somehow imprint my ¡®existence¡¯ on it. And I swear to God if it is not the second option, I will travel back to the other plane and make those two beings experience a hell even I would have never seen before. Having set my thoughts and calmed down, I cut off my elation and expectation and became as close to emotionless as possible. Entering the grid of active or ¡®free¡¯ Energy, I dug deeper and entered the endless, omnipresent and all-powerful grid of inactive Energy which makes up reality. Unfortunately, if I use the inactive Energy to make a ¡®black star¡¯, as Emily described it, it would have about the same effect as the purple sun at the time, which I do not want. Instead, using this grid, I spanned my sense over entire galaxies. If I focused on it I might know the location of every single atom in these galaxies, but that would break my mind. I¡¯ve experienced it before. It is not enjoyable. Instead, I focused on the network of free Energy and spread my consciousness over every single thread of it and forced it to gather in front of me. This was already nearly destroying me, but there was much more I needed to do. The more and more gathered in front of me, the Energy going an infinite amount of times faster than light throughout the universe to my position, I needed to ensnare it. If not it would create a form of gravity well made out of Energy, possibly even tearing reality appeared as the purple sun did. So, with the Energy converging on my position, I made a tiny box out of Energy in the same manner as inactive Energy made up reality. Perhaps it could be called a ¡®pocket dimension¡¯, but seeing as it was still bound to the grid of inactive Energy, floating between the non-existence behind reality and reality itself, so it is not truly a separate plane of existence like I was previously in. But it doesn¡¯t matter. As long there is a place where I could store the Energy. It took mere minutes for me to drain entire galaxies of their supply of freely floating Energy and put it into the tiny ¡®box¡¯ in front of me. The more and more Energy was forced into it, the harder it was to contain it. At some point my brain began to tear and healing itself continuously and when the gathering was almost complete, it even felt as if my soul was lit on fire. For such pain to appear twice a day! It is unbearable¡­ But there is still much to do. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. After everything was gathered inside the box I transformed it from a box drifting between the material and immaterial into a box inside the material world. Immediately, the Energy inside it wanted to break out and expand, but I took control of everything and forced it to stay in place. As my mind was being ravaged by the excessive amount of Energy I was sensing, its information endlessly flooding into my memory, I could see a small sparkle form. For perhaps a millisecond it stayed floating in the air, but as more and more Energy came into the real world it rapidly began to flash in different colours, from a shining white to yellow, gold, orange, red, purple and black. It was different than how Emily described it, but it had the same effect. When I saw the black star forming right in front of me I quickly used the excessive Energy to form a powerful seal around it, forcing it to stay in place. However, this was not enough. Some of the Energy still remained free and, when I placed the soul, my mind, soul and body couldn¡¯t bear the pressure anymore. Immediately, the remaining Energy expanded like a balloon suddenly entering vacuum. But it was not enough to cause severe damage and simply washed over my like a large tidal wave, sweeping me with it and throwing me to the ground metres away, but leaving me relatively unharmed. Lying on the ground, I lifted my head and saw, in the distance, a radiant black star. ¡°Ha-ha, a success¡­¡± I said hoarsely, my overburdened mind afterwards deciding I needed a rest. If it is as I hoped, this might be it. With this, I can create a soul. With this, I can create a mortal, perhaps even an Immortal. And with it, I will find a path leading to the truth of my existence. What a great day it has been¡­ Emily POV: Before I could even react, the fucker ran away! And all the while with that stupid smile on his face, grinning like a fucking maniac! What is this a hit-and-run?! Kissing me and quickly running away like a twelve year old little brat?! I sighed, both mentally and physically. In my entire, apart from my parents, Damien and Anna, I¡¯ve never been kissed. Who would? Ever since my birth I felt privileged, making everyone hate me and not long afterwards, people simply began hating me as soon as I met them. I¡¯ve already come to terms that something like romance or love-like affection would never come to me, even if I tried, but that doesn¡¯t mean I wanted to be treated like this. I sighed again, this time prompting a reaction. "Umm... are you okay, mom?" I heard Anna sweetly angelic voice ask worryingly. I turned my head towards the door, noticing I had fallen onto the bed in shock. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ nothing. I¡¯m just a bit¡­ confused.¡± I said wearily. Anna nodded in response, but chose to stay silent, allowing an awkward silence to enter the room. I looked at Damien and saw him awkwardly worrying over me, but again, the room remained silent. But before I could even try to break the silence, a strange sensation came over me. Again. Immediately, I tried to enter the network of Energy but it seemed as if everything was being pulled away from me into a certain direction. ¡°ugh.. not again.¡± I groaned pitifully. There was absolutely no doubt,, seeing as the same thing happened just moments ago. The Energy was pulled away into a vortex, and I just knew he was up to something again. Who wouldn¡¯t know that Acedia was behind this spectacle after showing such excitement after what I told him. I slowly stood up, making it clear I was not in any haste and looked at the children. ¡°Come on, follow me.¡± I really lack the strength to deal with this, but still. If he¡¯s going to destroy the world again, I¡¯d rather be close to him than not. Anna and Damien, not knowing what was going on, followed me without question. Although they undoubtedly had questions, they saw I was tired and unwilling to bother answering them, so they didn¡¯t ask. Following the stream of Energy, we walked through corridors, hallways and venues until we reached the back garden. What we saw didn¡¯t surprise me, as I could sense the Energy, but Damien and Anna were filled with surprise. In the middle of the garden stood Acedia, still soaked in blood from before, controlling purple flows of Energy into a certain location and then disappearing it. The flow-rate was much slower compared to the vortex, but still, it was very impressive he could control such a large amount of Energy, seeing as it was incredibly mentally taxing to do. Then, out of nowhere, a small white spark appeared and immediately transformed into the various colours, much faster than did the original black star. As soon as it was formed however, something I didn¡¯t expect happened. It seemed as if he lost control of the Energy and was suddenly blasted backwards, flying in our direction before hitting the ground hard enough to break almost all his bones. Luckily, the wave of Energy was spread too thin and could not possibly harm either me, Damien or Anna. Still, we were slightly knocked off-balance and Damien even almost falling to the ground, just barely able to catch himself before actually reaching. I saw him raise his head, mutter something presumably unintelligent and collapse again. I looked warily at the black star, ready to confront another disaster even though I felt dead tired. However, it simply hovered still in the air, not descending, not exploding¡­ absolutely nothing happened. For about a minute we watched silently at the radiating darkness, until we were certain nothing would happen. By my sides, I heard two sighs of relief and saw Damien and Anna also standing ready to confront the whatever situation might pop up, but now they were relaxing their guard. I, too, relaxed a little. ¡°Everyone alright?¡± I asked, just in case. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I heard Emily and Damien say. In the distance, I saw the sun quickly began to set as dusk took over. I walked towards Acedia, kicked him in the ribs a couple of times, making sure he was unconscious and as I did, heard the shuffling of shattered bones coming from his chest. I then picked him up by the leg and decided to drag him back to his room like this after giving a final glance at the black star before, ''shining'' in a way that seemed to suck the light out of the atmosphere. The day began so good... I thought, remembering the comfy chair and the relaxed reading. ...But what a shit ending. Chapter 23: Abduction and Failure Sorry for the delay. I''ve been stressed out and busy lately, so I apologize for the inconvenience. Anyways, Enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Emily POV: The moment I woke up I felt something was off. The first thing I noticed was the feeling of being bound by chains seemingly wrapping all around me, constricting my every move. The second thing almost immediately obvious was the lack of feeling. Aside from the feeling of chains wrapped around my, everything else seemed lacking. I couldn''t feel my body breathing the air nor anything else signifying life. Indeed, I could not feel a thing, even the sheets I always slept under were nowhere to be felt. And, as soon as I woke up, a third thing was immediately obvious. The room I went to after putting the unconscious Acedia to bed in mine - since his room was further off ¨C seemed to have disappeared into oblivion. Now, all that could be seen was a vast, pure-white emptiness. Was I dreaming? Hallucinating? Strange things seem to happen lately, so it wouldn''t be surprising if exhaustion made me see things, but still... But before I could think everything through, a voice resounded through the void. "Ah, you''ve woken up I see." It was a strangely warm and empathetic voice, especially since I never heard it before and thus I shouldn''t have met the person. My memory is one of the things I''m very proud of. I never forget a voice once heard or a face once seen. Well, as far as I know. Recently, I''m not so sure, seeing as previous revelations seem to indicate most of my life was a lie... But that aside, the voice was unknown to me. So imagine my surprise when a saw an all too familiar face staring back at me. A face I''ve recently come to know in detail. Apart from three small details, it was exactly the same. The same height, just a couple of inches taller than me. The same stature; lean, but not as far as being lanky nor looking as if he lacked muscle. The same not-too-handsome, not-too-plain face. If it weren''t for the three deviations, anyone would think it was Acedia. The first thing that betrayed it wasn''t truly him, were the eyes. Acedia''s eyes were an ice-pale blue, seemingly always lacking in emotion even if it was evident he was emotional. The second thing was the hair. While Acedia had a creepy and unnatural-looking white hair colour, the person that just spoke seemed to have a normal hair colour, namely light-brown While these two things alone were enough to convince me that the person in front of me was not Acedia, the third difference would have convinced me even if the previous two differences were not present. The third thing which most obviously separated this man from Acedia was simply the vibe his body seemed to give. Ever since I first saw Acedia, I knew he had something going on. Always shaking, although the degree differing every time I saw him, Acedia always had a sort of panicky look to him. Apart from the shacking, Acedia always betrayed his mental state extremely obviously; when he''s depressed, it shows, when he is angry, you feel it burning inside him and when he is apathetic ¨C or rather, ''broken'', the coldness radiates from him. Even the most dense person would be able to sense how he felt, seeing as Acedia''s emotions were always extreme no matter what. Now, the person in front of me lacked this erratic behaviour. His lips turned into a slight smile, he seemed like a content person, something Acedia never was. And although the person seemed content, behind his smile and eyes, some form of success was seen, something I''ve so far never seen in Acedia. But above all, he seemed in control. As far as I know, which does not say much seeing as I''ve not seen or talked to him that often, even during the past few weeks, Acedia is not the type to look in control. Even when he controls a vast amount of Energy while seemingly emotionless, it seemed more like the Energy was controlling and forcing him to become calm and emotionless rather than the other way around. Despite the obvious differences, the uncanny likes was surprising. "You seem surprised." He stated more than questioned. "Well, it is understandable, seeing this place for the first time and my likeness to him. Or rather, I should say he looks like me. But don''t worry, soon everything will be answered. Yes, very soon indeed." There was a certain complacency in his tone of voice that irritated me beyond belief. He seemed so smug, seemed so self-assured that I immediately decided I didn''t like him. Even apart from the tying up part and his creepy likeness to Acedia, his tone of voice would have made me hate him even regardless. It made him look like a cartoonishly evil figure, lacking only the annoyingly evil laugh so characteristic to them. "You see, in just a moment the integration will begin and you''re body and soul will finally belong fully to my wife. But don''t worry, its not like you will disappear. You''ll simply be absorbed and be a part of her when everything is done, just like it was intended from the very beginning." Why was this person explaining everything to me? If I would basically disappeared regardless, if his words hold true, then wouldn''t it be wiser not to tell me and provoke resistance? And anyway, where was this wife of his? More importantly, what does he mean by intended from the beginning? "What do you mean by ''intended''?" I decided to ask him. "Hmm, you will know soon enough, seeing as my wife is already inside your body, so don''t you worry about that." In my body? A feeling of shiver running down my spine shot through me, although obviously lacking the parts needed for the experience. His wife is already inside my body? What is that supposed to mean? It can''t be something good... But, seeing as he doesn''t want to answer my questions, I decided to escape. Yes, the only reason I was not worried was because, despite the lack of body and my soul being bound, it doesn''t mean I''m powerless. Just a quick tap with my soul into the grid of Energy and I''ll be out of here before you... As I tried to connect to the network of Energy supposedly omnipresent in the world, it failed to connect. It sent me into a slight panic. What is this? Why isn''t it working? Where is the Energy I tried to forcefully draw a string of Energy from my soul and connect it to the Energy, but as soon as I tried to manipulate my soul or the Energy with in, the chains seemed the prevent me from doing so. "What is happening?!" I unconsciously shouted out loud, panicked at seeing my easy escape plan disappearing in front of my eyes. "huhuhuHAAHAHAHAHAHA! Did you really think we wouldn''t be prepared this time?! Not after that FUCKER set both me and my wife ablaze?! Do you think we are that stupid?!" His previously controlled behaviour seemed to disappear instantly as he reminisced, but he quickly collected himself and his outward appearance became calm once more, although he was still visibly fuming on the inside.. "No, don''t you worry. Right now my wife is taking revenge as we speak and once that is done, he''ll be absorbed, as he was intended to be. Just like you." What the hell is going on? Acedia POV: An awful headache spread through me and forced me out of my unconscious state. As soon as I felt that, I knew today would be a day of disappointment. After all, there¡¯s no way life just grants me the knowledge to create souls out of nowhere. Now that the excessive excitement ¨C induced by the destruction of my soul, since I desperately needed a distraction ¨C is worn off, I can clearly see that. Despite this, however, I¡¯m still slightly looking forward to seeing the thumb-sized Black Star, though obviously not as blindly optimistic as was previously the case, It might not be the way to create a soul, but I¡¯m sure there is at least some connection between such an ominous and dangerous-looking thing and souls. Why else would such a thing suddenly show up when my soul was destroyed and needed to be replaced? Anyway, I need to quickly go take a look. If I¡¯m fast, neither Emily nor the children have messed with it, although I doubt that they would dare to come close to such a dark thing, especially after witnessing the vast amount of power that went into its creation. They had front-row seats to the first one, after all, so I doubt they would dare to mess with it. Still, life is never certain, so I decided to quickly create a bridge towards the location of the Black Star and jumped through the portals. As soon as I saw the small Black Star, still floating and pulsating in the place I left it, I noticed that no soul was anywhere near it. Of course, this was to be expected, but nevertheless I still felt a slight disappointment. Luckily, the lack of souls anywhere in its vicinity also indicated that neither Emily, Damien nor Anna were present. Which was great, since they¡¯d probably nag me to explain what this thing is, a question I do not know how to answer and after noticing that, they¡¯d probably berate me for doing something like this. But, seeing that they were not here¡­ Annoyance avoided. At least, for now. After inspecting the object of my study from up close, I noticed something odd about it. I noticed that somehow the Black Star had gotten bigger, albeit very slight. From about thump-sized to eye-sized, so it was negligible. It¡¯s a huge amount of power locked away behind a strong Energy barrier, naturally the Star would try to break free and cause the barrier to expand a little. But I didn¡¯t care about that. The odd thing about it was that, aside from it expanding, I could detect something happening within. When I lean in very, very close to it, I could hear a strange vigorous beating inside it. It was almost like the heart of a baby; soft but more rapid than that of a normal adult. It was a very odd sensation to hear it. I don¡¯t know why exactly, but it seemed to give a strange feeling¡­ alongside goose bumps. A sort of¡­ warmth? But why would I feel like such? Sure, it was hard to create such a thing, especially mentally, but I could do it anytime I want, so why do I feel this warmth? But before I could think too deeply about it, I felt Emily and company arriving through a portal. I didn¡¯t even need to look at them to know who it was, I recognized their souls immediately as soon as it entered my zone of awareness. But that was not all there was to sense. There was something very odd going on and I could sense it all. There was nothing suspicious about their souls per se ¨C those were completely fine, but it was about the Energy that swirled around them. More specifically, the Energy that swirled around Anna and Damien. The threads were connected to Emily¡¯s soul, indicating she was the one behind it. But why? As far as I could sense, there was no need for these wires loosely swirling around the children. And it is not as if these threads have been imbued with anything; they were nothing but pure Energy awaiting its controller¡¯s command. Rather than something practical, these threads seemed more to keep them hostage, if anything else. Naturally, I turned around to confront the situation and immediately noticed my suspicions were correct. They were held hostage. By someone that was not Emily. She looked the same as ever. The brown hair and eyes, her graceful posture and the cross-shaped tail and arching horns, everything was the same as ever. But deep, deep inside her eyes, invisible to the normal eyes, I saw something smouldering inside. A burning fire, seeking vengeance. Of course, this look was not strange for Emily to bear. She has held a couple grudges towards me, and rightfully so, and yesterday I did provoke her in more ways than one. First, I scream and bleed all over the place, forcing her to come take a look. Second, my behaviour yesterday was¡­ disgraceful, to say the least. And most importantly, by sheer impulsiveness, I kissed her in gratitude. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. This one was really, really bad. If she has had similar experiences as mine, I might have done something awful. I¡¯ve lived for a long, long time and almost always have I been either hated or fearfully worshipped. Naturally, fear is not something to base a romantic relationship on and although people say hate and love are different sides of the same coin, the hatred I experienced through my life begs the differ. For the longest time ¨C and even now ¨C I¡¯ve searched for someone to, at the very least, not hate me, a search lasting innumerable Era¡¯s and a tradition of failure stretching just as long. The first people that didn¡¯t seem to hate me were the People of Sloth, who felt next to nothing for anything in life, so there was no feeling of love or friendship their either. The only exception was, of course, my wife. The first person that loved me ¨C although I had doubts up to her death if she truly loved me ¨C and also the first person I ever loved in return. Naturally, she was also the first person I kissed and had sex with. One person in billions upon billions of years. Even the most celibate of monks and most faithful of lovers would be in awe of this ¡®achievement¡¯. If my life is an indicator of Emily¡¯s, than I would be her first kiss. Kissed by a man she wasn¡¯t even sure whether to hate or not, let alone love. Even I would feel disgusted by this, if I was the one being forced a kiss upon. But being the initiator, I felt guilt beyond comparison. But setting all that aside, although a very good reason for the burning vengeance in her eyes, it wouldn¡¯t explain the Energy around Anna and Damien, of which I¡¯m sure she feels at least a decent amount of affection for. So, this was definitely not Emily. Thank God. But still, this meant that something was very wrong here. ¡°And who might you be?¡± I said, turning around and conveniently hiding the Black Star behind me. For some reason, I felt I needed to hide it from this woman. ¡°You don¡¯t recognize me? Even for an idiot like you, you forget too quick.¡± She said, crossing her arms and frowning. It was a rather Emily-esque response, but considering recent events she would have reacted differently. ¡°Don¡¯t try to fool me. I¡¯m not a moron. Who are you and where is Emily?¡± The woman seemed surprised, but then suddenly smiled lightly at me, still with fire burning within her eyes. ¡°Oh my, you saw through it? But it doesn¡¯t matter who I am, but what I¡­¡± Need, she wanted to finish, but I interrupted her. ¡°Free her and the children and I might just let you escape unharmed.¡± I threatened In the meantime, during our conversation, I had calmly accessed the omnipotent and omnipresent network of inactive Energy, forcing my mind to become emotionally numb. Of course, as soon as I noticed it was not Emily, I immediately knew who the person in front of me was. It was the strangely blurry woman who abducted me into that strange empty realm. Who else would have a grudge against me? Except for Emily, all others are long dead, so it naturally had to be her. Or it could be the man, but I think it is the woman, but either way, it doesn¡¯t really matter. The inactive Energy had been turned into massive amount of spears, hidden behind a veil to make sure she doesn¡¯t notice it. ¡°Do you think you can harm me? I am much older and experienced than you, plus, I have the children. I think the one who should surrender is you, isn¡¯t it?¡± She smiled and laughed as she responded. Older than me? More experienced? What a joke. She doesn¡¯t even sense the veil nor the spears hidden behind it. Where does she get her hubris? The only thing she is rather good in is using her soul to form a barrier, as was evident by the confrontation in that empty realm, but other than that? Nothing. The sword she created out of Blue Fire was powerful, sure, but it doesn¡¯t really require finesse to create and use. And the barrier itself might be powerful in that empty realm, but here, with an unlimited amount of Energy? It would shatter with a single one of these spears, let alone the thousands I summoned. However, I¡¯m still in a bad position. She has Damien and Anna bound to her own ¨C no, Emily¡¯s soul; an Energy source I cannot command. As soon as I act, without a doubt, they and their souls would be burned to a crisp. Although I haven¡¯t known them for very long and although they did betray me, I still like them. Especially, Anna, since she was the one who comforted me. I don¡¯t want them to die. No matter what, I will not allow it. Unfortunately, there is but one way to save them. Surrendering is not an option. Her burning desire for vengeance will not allow her to set the children free, I am sure of it. So, one thing remains: Overwhelm her and extract the children¡¯s souls. If I fail to extract them in time, they will suffer a horrible death by Blue Fire. If I fail to properly preserve their souls, they will be eaten by the ether while I try to heal them and after a while, their soul will turn black out of extreme torture. The most painful feeling in existence. They already had scars on their souls; Emily¡¯s visible gold and Damien¡¯s translucent violet. But, compared to the blackening of a soul, this is nothing. It pain is comparing a slight itch on the back of one¡¯s neck, to forcefully having all your limbs torn off along with nose and ears, your eyes poked out and your body being burned alive, all the while slowly being strangled by your own entrails. It is simply that incomparable. I¡¯ve had it only happen a couple of times in my much too long life and every single time it took me at least a billion years to recover. Hell, if the pain is unluckily remembered during one of my nightmares, I might immediately be forced into another deep stasis If it comes close to that, I¡¯d rather forcibly and quickly destroy their souls, but let¡¯s not aim towards that. Let¡¯s get them out safely. ¡°I see. It¡¯s a shame.¡± I answer. Immediately afterwards, I pull back the veil and reveal the thousands of spears, also ordering every bit of Energy around her to disobey, apart from that connected to her soul. For a second, I saw her smile twist into an expression of shock and she began sweating as she noticed the arsenal aimed at her. However, she was well trained against shock. She was still able to set the children ablaze. I fired the spears at her and, without rest, created two tentacles from my own soul and shot them towards the children, piercing their small bodies and souls mercilessly while dragging them towards me. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough and their souls were infected with the Blue Fire. Meanwhile, the spears crashed down upon her and right through her flimsy barrier. For now, her soul was impaled and too damaged to react. I quickly gathered a large amount of Energy and forced half of it into their souls, trying to overclock their self-healing spell placed on their souls. The other half I spent to create two spaces similar to the one I created to make the Black Star in. The healing spell began rapidly healing the holes torn by the Blue Fire, although unable to completely clear it. As I looked at them, I saw Emily¡¯s soul slowly turn from gold into a thick, blood-red colour and Damien¡¯s turn from translucent violet into a deep purple. It was horrifying to watch, especially since I knew how much pain they suffered. Unfortunately, the bitch still wasn¡¯t down! I sensed her slowly recovering and she needed my attention. Something I couldn¡¯t spare. I quickly summoned a large cage of Energy around her and then, out of the inactive Energy, created several spells around her and activated them. From all around, the active Energy was gathered by the spells at an increasing pace. Once the stream into the spells was thick enough, they began firing. Thick and continuous rays of excessive power was released in an unending stream of pain and suffering, while illuminating the area. From within the blinding white light, I was sure I heard the horrified screams of a tortured woman, but I was too busy to feel happy the bitch was suffering. Anna¡¯s soul was quickly turning into purple as well, while Damien¡¯s became dangerously close to the final stage of the deepest purple before black. I continuously forced Energy into their healing spells while trying to smother the Blue Fire the same way one would extinguish an oil-fire. By taking away its fuel. But things did not go as planned. The Blue Fire, noticing its supply of Energy was cut off and realizing, as if it was living, that the souls would not be enough to keep it fed, turned towards the healing spell. Although I saw it, I could do nothing about it. I was too busy keeping the Energy flowing into the spell while simultaneously keeping an eye out for the woman and the never-ending pure-white rays of suffering. The fire successfully infected the healing spell and began eating the steady stream of Energy forced into it. I wanted to scream! To shout! I don¡¯t want to lose them! But, unfortunately, the coldness needed to use the limitless Energy forced me to keep myself calm. However, slowly but surely, a feeling of depression and sadness began seeping into my bones. I felt defeated. Defeated by that half-assed Immortal who claimed she was more powerful than me. There was nothing I could do. They were lost¡­ And it was all my fault¡­ Then, without warning, I thought of something. Something which had slipped my mind during the long-lasting and failure of a battle. The Black Star. I don¡¯t know what good it would do, but I¡¯m willing to risk anything at this point. Using the Energy, I forced the small star next to me and, by creating a thin blade of Energy, cut the sphere in two. I changed the Energy used to feed the healing spell into a tendrils and twisted them around the two souls, forcing the blue fire to first bite through these tendrils before reaching the children. I pulled them towards the Black Star while I was cleaving it in two and then forced their souls into the two halves. The Black Star immediately absorbed the two souls and, now that the barrier had been shattered, began doing something¡­ odd. Both still a small ball, black lightning-like tendrils began to rapidly crawl from them. They crawled into the sky, into the ground, to the left and to the right. In every direction they went and branched off, forming a thick network of black roots. Then, without warning, all the Energy, even the inactive part, was being sucked towards them. Everywhere these tendrils sprawled they tore through the veil between the active and inactive, forcibly devouring the net that held together reality. I was at a loss of what to do. The souls were gone¡­ The Black Star was cleaved in half¡­ The remaining hope of restoring Anna and Damien were destroyed by hundreds of thousands of kilometres worth of black roots tearing at the very fabric of reality¡­ Is there really nothing I can do? Absolutely nothing? Why does this have to happen to them? If it was me, I would be able to survive no matter what¡­ Why did they have to be involved in some stupid quarrel with some stupid bitch who abducted me¡­ Why God? Just, why¡­? As the tendrils ate away at the network of inactive Energy, the whole world was plunged into darkness. From behind the strings holding together reality came the dreaded non-existence, the Anti-Energy, for lack of better wording. I felt it encroach upon me, its icy and terrifying breath licking the edges of my soul, burning it like frostbite. But I didn¡¯t care. I might have just lost two of the three reasons I¡¯m still relatively sane¡­ So let it take me! Let it¡¯s pain be the punishment for my failure! But, it simply stopped. The encroaching Anti-Energy froze into place and nothing happened. No pain. No torment. Even the tendrils seemed to have stopped. No, rather the world seemed to have stopped. What is this madness? Chapter 24: Revalations and an Alliance Acedia POV: The dark and cold Anti-Energy, for lack of better word, was swirling all around me, poking my soul. This was very unlike the previous times I¡¯d been here. Normally, this world would tear into me without warning and eat me alive and whole. But now, despite poking my soul, I could not detect any intent to harm me. ¡°Welcome back, Immortal. It¡¯s been a while since you were last here, although this time with proper tribute. Multiple, in fact.¡± The loud voice echoed all around me. It made my body shiver not out of fear, but simply by the vibrations his voice gave. I looked around trying to find the source of the voice, but all I noticed was darkness everywhere. Even the souls of Anna and Damien were gone, but now is not the time to think about this. First, I need to deal with whatever this¡­ being is. ¡°Hahaha. You don¡¯t have to be on guard. I won¡¯t bite. Not this time, at least.¡± Although still sounding as ominous and powerful as before, it carried with it a strangely soothing feeling. It washed away the feeling of fear I had, consequently making me drop my guard. Behind his words I could feel he was welcoming, if not glad, to see me here. But why? According to his words, he had been here the previous times I was in this place, but only now does he reveal himself and even show hospitality. But why? What is this about a tribute. ¡°Why?¡± I simply asked, my voice sounding weak compared the its. ¡°Four tributes you gave me. The first when you blew a hole in space by use of a ship. The second when the World used an excess amount of Energy to drag your soul back. And the third and fourth just now, created out the thing you call a¡­ ¡®Black Star¡¯, was it?¡± His words worried me. For how long has he been watching me? Did it start when I created the purple sun? Or was it way before? ¡°I¡¯ve been watching you since the beginning. In short intervals, of course.¡± Its mind reading freaked me out. It would have made me jump in surprise if it wasn¡¯t for the lack of ground. Since ¡®the beginning¡¯? I wanted to ask ¡®yours or mine¡¯, but instinctively, I knew this being was ancient, perhaps even older than existence itself. Older than me. The thought scared me. What does such a being want with me? I did those ¡®tributes¡¯ unconsciously, so it could have easily ignored me, but it didn¡¯t. Why does it care? What does it need from me? ¡°Indeed. Why do I not just abandon you or devour you like I did the times before? But that comes last. But first, let¡¯s talk about what YOU need.¡± What I need? ¡°Yes. You gave me four gifts and thus, I owe you four favours. Isn¡¯t that common sense? So ask me anything. Anything you need, I will grant you. As long as it is in my power, of course.¡± It sounded like the devil playing a trick on me, but strangely enough, I could not help but believe. Perhaps that was the greatest power of devil? But, what do I need? What do I want? I¡¯ve never been ambitious. How could I? I never had a chance to accomplish anything in the world of the living and was only shunned and hated by everything, like it was natural. But if there was one thing I always wanted, it was a reason. An answer to the question ¡®why¡¯? Why am I who I am? ¡°Hahahaha. The ¡®why¡¯ it is then, a large question indeed. But to make you understand would spend all your favours.¡± All of them? ¡°Yes. Why one exists is never an easy question, let alone why you exist and why everything went as it id. Is this what you want?¡± ¡®Is this what you want¡¯, it asks. For how long does it think I¡¯ve hated this life, without even being able to crush it as I have crushed so many others? Explaining why is the least I deserve, yet it was always deprived from me. And now it is given to me on a silver platter? Do I even need to think about it? ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. Well then, to understand yourself, I need to ask you: What am I?¡± The devil. The thought immediately sprung to mind without me being able to stop it. ¡°Hahaha, so that is what you think of me. Leading you astray without you being able to stop it. An apt description, perhaps, but it is not what I am.¡± Suddenly, the darkness seemed to part and a small but bright light was created. A light very familiar to me. ¡°Yes. The beginning of everything. I was created alongside you, albeit in a different manner. Whereas you were created and trapped in the material world without knowledge and reason, I was thrown outside with a single goal, a single desire¡­¡± The scenery changed. The bright light expanded a million fold into the universe in all its magnificent splendour, lit by the thousands of galaxies, solar systems and milky ways, while I was looking at it from ¡®above¡¯, able to somehow see everything. All around this construct were threads woven through them, representing the Energy which bind the world together. Everything that existed was run through by these threads and held within a giant cube of this web of Energy. But then, the scenery changed again. ¡°¡­ TO DEVOUR!¡± From all around me, I felt the extreme drive behind his desire tearing through my body, soul and mind. It was filled with longing, a strong desire to devour everything and anything coursed not only through my mind, but through the entirety of this realm. Everything began to vibrate and shake with its passion, the darkness that enclosed us all suddenly reacting to it. I sensed more than saw hundreds of tendrils made out of this darkness rush towards the model of the world. It tore into it, ripping everything apart. The milky ways, the galaxies, the suns, the planets, the moons and everything on it was torn apart and swallowed by smaller tendrils, while the bigger ones fed off of the threads of Energy keeping everything together. The destruction of the world. Seeing as what it represented, I was horrified to see this imagined scene of carnage play in front of me. ¡°¡­But no matter how much I want to absorb all that Energy, I know it is impossible. Even if it was, what then would I use to sate my desire? So I merely nibble away at what I can, manipulating the beings on the planet into temporarily destroying the fabric of reality, so that I could have a small feast upon the Energy that becomes available before it restores itself.¡± I understand, but I don¡¯t at the same time. Although it does explain some things, how does this concern me? ¡°Impatient are we? But having you feel what I do will make you understand the next part better.¡± The scenery once again changed to that of the small, bright light of creation. ¡°Just as you and I was created, so was another. With different intentions and inside a third layer.¡± The scenery once more changed into that of the entire universe, but this time there were no threads representing Energy. But somehow, I could sense everything that is on the map and so, I noticed something different. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Bright white sprites walking the planets. Souls. ¡°Just as I live behind the veil of Energy and seek to devour it, he lives behind the veil of Souls and, in turn, seeks to claim them for himself. And just like me, he knows that it is impossible. Seeking to somehow get this Souls for himself without hard work. Just like I manipulated the living, he manipulates that what Souls cling to: life. And so, he invented death, allowing him to reap the Soul as soon as life ends.¡± Things started to get a little clearer. Since I was created at the same time as the two, whereas life began much later, I was not affected by the creation of death, allowing me to live forever. But this just barely explains my long life, not everything that transpired. ¡°You seem to get the point somewhat, but it is so much more.¡± It said, once again reading my thoughts. ¡°You see, although we wish to interfere with the world to fulfil our needs, there is one thing obnoxiously standing in the way. One small, pathetic little thing whose simple existence seems to strengthen the world against our powers! YOU!¡± His fury was clear in his voice and the darkness seemed to wrap and tighten around me, freezing me and starting to slowly choke the life out of me. But then, it stopped and a loud sigh was heard. ¡°But, it is futile. You do not die, no matter what, so I decided not to let it bother me. Unfortunately, he is much pettier compared to me. Since Souls come to him as the living beings die, he diverted all his attention to making you suffer, manipulating the world to make everything hate you, to make everything hunt you and revel in your suffering. And every time you suffered, he became more and more enthusiastic about it.¡± Does he mean what I think he does? Manipulation? ¡°Unfortunately, the more you were tortured, the more interested you became in your power. It forced you to advance and in return, forced him to make more and more outrageous plans. The more complicated his schemes became, the more he failed at implementing them and the more powerful you became, the easier it became for you to foil them. The People of Sloth, and afterwards, your wife, were one of the breaking points.¡± They were failed attempts to harm me, which resulted into my happiest memories? ¡°More recently, he even began revoking the condition of ¡®death¡¯ to some living beings, in order to have undying tormentors ready for you whenever he wishes. But even that you seemed to foil, Emily being the proof. Do you understand what I¡¯m trying to say? Your suspicion was right all along. A cycle of suffering made just for you and you alone, prepared by a being you would call God.¡± Behind his words, I could sense him smirking like a devil whose prey had been caught, but I didn¡¯t care. For how long have I been alive now? It had been 257 billion years since the beginning and thirteen billion before life began to hate me. For so long¡­ For so long I thought it natural. That life just simply was like this to me. That it was that fate or destiny or some illustrious almighty being had been behind it all. But most of all, I blamed and hated myself for it. And now, this devil reveals to me that someone with too much free time on his hands merely had a pathetically petty reason to harass me, to torture me, for 257 billion years?! ¡°DON¡¯T FUCK WITH ME!¡± I shouted, my voice carrying with it a weight almost the same as the ruler of this place. Anger is not enough to describe it. Fury is too soft a word. For all my life, I had been manipulated by a bastard who is not even something as high as a God, but by something created at the same time as me. The death of my wife, the death of the Sloths and the torture of being hated and hunted down for 257 Billion years, everything that ever happened to me done by one person, who simply didn¡¯t like I exist! I will make him suffer for infinite times longer than I have, and much, much more! ¡°Good, good! That¡¯s what I like to see! Tear his world of Souls asunder in your vengeance! HAHAHA! That¡¯ll do him good!¡± The voice of the odd being brought me back from the depths of my mind, although not lessening my anger. ¡°What is your stake in it? Why do you tell me this?¡± What does he get out of it. ¡°He has such an easy time collecting souls that it annoys me! For an eternity, I needed to work hard at manipulating mortals to temporarily destroy the fabric of Energy, yet he just needs to do one thing and then gets an easy life?! Fuck the bastard!¡± So¡­ it is envy. But this doesn¡¯t seem enough and doesn¡¯t explain why to tell me this now. ¡°Indeed, there is a reason why I told you this just now. But first let me tell you something you might not have realized. Just as I control this realm behind the veil of Energy and the bastard controls his behind the veil of Souls, you too have your own realm. The realm of existence, where both these things reside! So, you control both!¡± Another shock to me. I control Energy and Souls? Energy I could already barely believe, but the Soul? I would have noticed if I was able to control such things, so it¡¯s impossible. ¡°You are the same as us, albeit not born with the same knowledge. You control your own realm, like we control ours. And that is why I told you this, to propose an alliance. One day, you¡¯ll be able to strengthen and protect your world from both mine and his influence, and then I¡¯ll be left to starve. So, see this knowledge as a token of¡­ friendship and an opening to future dealings.¡± A devilish smile was immediately projected into my mind. He simply wants me to send him Energy once I become too powerful in my own realm. What a slick negotiator¡­ But still, if it is true what he says, then¡­. As for the deal, I feel as if I¡¯m being tricked, but it is not as if I mind. This devil gave me the answer I longed for most and if everything it says is truthful, it is only right that I give it something in return Who cares about sometimes giving it a galaxy or two? Simply out of¡­ friendship, as it said previously ¡°Good ¨C no, Great to hear it! We don¡¯t need to sign anything and, to celebrate, I threw the Souls of those children and the woman out of here, free of Blue Fire and free of cost! I ate the others though, but that probably doesn¡¯t matter to you anyway. So now, get the fuck out of my realm! Your presence here disturbs me!¡± Even the last lines were said with a jolly voice, as an immense force washed over me and forced me through the network of Energy encasing the world. I arrived on some mountain, the city and the palace nowhere to be found, though probably devoured by said being along with the Gold-masks. Beside me lay three souls, two firmly encased in the spell I used on them and one inside Emily¡¯s body. The souls of the children were automatically regenerating themselves. I smiled. I genuinely smiled in anticipation of the future. I will take control of my world and then I will hunt down death himself, and make him suffer like I have. Chapter 25: Revival Forgot to mention it last chap, but this is the start of a new arc, although some would probably have already guessed. Enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------- Acedia POV: Immediately as I entered the world, I could already feel a significant amount of change. My influence over Energy had always been easy and only limited by my knowledge. Now that¡­ whatever its name was told me of what I¡¯m supposedly meant to be, I can already feel more finely attuned the Energy around me. Normally, I would need to use the Energy locked away in my Soul to establish a connection to the world¡¯s Energy, whether it was passive or free Energy. But now, as long as I consciously try to sense it, I could feel the Energy around me as if it were natural. Not only that, it seems as if I could sense and control the finer threads with more ease than before. It feels wonderful¡­ At least there seems to be some form of truth in what that thing said, although I do not dare to believe everything it told me. Whenever I try and remember it, an image of a smiling devil seems to come to mind. It was the way he talked, like I was a sheep he wanted to lead astray. Of which he did a wonderful job by the way, no doubt about it. Even though I think of it as selling my Soul, I cannot help but feel gratitude for everything it told me. If the being¡¯s only demand is some Energy now and then, I would gladly oblige after I¡¯m done destroying this ¡®Death¡¯. Although I heavily doubt some Energy is all it wants in return. But first things first. Beside me on the ground lay two heavily-damaged, human-shaped Souls. Damien¡¯s was such a deep shade of purple it could be almost be mistaken for black. Anna¡¯s Soul looked better in comparison, but it was still way over the beginning stages of purple-coloured scarring. Thankfully, the ¡®Devil¡¯ had absorbed the Energy needed to feed the Blue Fire and the automatic healing spell had done its job and fixed the holes inside it. There was, however, one big difference between the Damien and Anna before and after the event. The Energy once contained in their Souls, which Emily had forced into it, had vanished and right now they looked, putting aside the heavy scarring, like the Souls of regular mortals. For them, this was a good thing. Previously, they had been something that shouldn¡¯t exist in nature. They were constantly teetering between life and death, with the Energy Emily had crammed in them slowly devouring their Souls¡­ no, wait¡­ that¡¯s not it. Their Souls weren¡¯t being devoured by Energy. They were being devoured by Death, with the Energy anchoring it to the world of the living, while the spell healed the devoured parts of the Soul. Doesn¡¯t this mean that Energy is able to tie the Soul down to the world? Now that I think about it, if I don¡¯t count the Gold-masks, Anna and Damien, no living Soul I met ever had Energy inside their Souls. Not even those during the Era of Sloth had Energy inside their Souls. After all, they didn¡¯t use Energy to tap into the network of Energy, but rather, they used magic to forceful grab a chunk of Energy. And, although they lived long, they could still be killed. Among the living ¨C seeing as Anna, Damien and the Gold-masks were officially ¡®dead¡¯ ¨C there has never been anyone with Energy in their Souls aside from me, Emily and the two I met in the white plain. Doesn¡¯t this mean that those with Energy in their Souls are either undead or Immortal? No rather, why do I only realise this now? Isn¡¯t it because I thought dying wasn¡¯t the Soul being taken by Death, but simply the Soul being to damage to live? Doesn¡¯t this mean that, if a Soul contains Energy, it is an Immortal? No, according to the Devil all normal Souls are Immortal, it¡¯s just that the living had the condition of dying placed upon them, thus allowing Death to reap and devour them. Then¡­ there¡¯s only one thing I could think of what Energy inside the Soul means. Imitation. If it was Death that forced Energy into the Souls, then it would mean he is trying to emulate my power here on this world.. my world. The question is: did it work? I know for a fact that Emily is able to tap into the world¡¯s free Energy by using the Energy in her soul the same way I did before, instead of using magic to forcefully take a hold of it. However, during the Black Star ordeal, she said she tried to tap into the omnipresent inactive Energy, but failed. Is this because she isn¡¯t able to, or is it simply a lack of knowledge? A terrifying thought popped into my mind. If it is simple a lack of knowledge, then Death is able to, in time, raise an entire army¡¯s worth of people like me! Oh God, if you ex- No, if what the Devil said is true, I am the God of this world... I can only rely on myself. No sense begging God for help. I take a glance at the body of Emily lying at my feet. I need to know! It doesn¡¯t matter if it is truly Emily or not inside the body, I¡¯ll make sure I know what that Soul is capable of. I look at the souls of Anna and Damien again. The fact that they do not disappear, means they are now living for the first time, despite lacking a body to live in. If I¡¯m not quick and prepare a body, they might disappear, so I gathered Energy and try to recreate my body. Since I never bothered to memorize the placement of every single cell in the human body, I took mine and Emily¡¯s as template for Damien and Anna¡¯s respectively, although slightly adjusting them to a more child-sized body. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Since I never had children, nor interacted with them prior to Damien and Anna, I do not know whether children are like small adults on the inside, although I knew the difference of outside appearance and adjusted accordingly. I hope this works... Compared to how hard it would be prior to my¡­ Ascension(?), I noticed it was much more easier now. It seems I¡¯m able to will Energy now without the need of forcing myself to become so calm, I could be considered emotionally dead. I simply thought it and it obeyed. How amazing my power had become, simply by gaining some insight! How frightening it would be if that bastard Death could summon hordes with this strength! Within mere seconds, I had created two bodies similar to Damien and Anna¡¯s previous bodies. Naturally, they weren¡¯t they exact same, since I had never closely inspected every inch of their body, but I filled in the blanks I didn¡¯t know simply by imagination. If they have any complaints, they should fix it themselves! I already feel disgusting for imagining every body part of a child! I won¡¯t do it again! But now comes the tricky part: revival. Although by telling me the world obeys me and despite now having incredible insight in Energy and how my being fits in the picture of Godhood and Immortality, I didn¡¯t get the same insights regarding Souls. Naturally, it¡¯s because I know very, very little about Souls to begin with, let alone that I could now theoretically control and, perhaps, even make them. The only thing I¡¯m able to is to control my own Soul by intertwining it with Energy, and that I could create a Soullink by shooting it towards someone. Only then would I be able to influence another¡¯s Soul, albeit just slightly and with a lot of effort. Since I don¡¯t want the two of them to end up like failed experiments, I decided to take the less risky route and do it like this. Of course, it is still a gamble, but compared to trying to command it the same way I do Energy and then screwing it up, it is much safer. I will try the other route of the real Emily isn¡¯t inside that body, since I don¡¯t really care if I mess up with her. She¡¯s just a lackey of that fucker anyway, so who cares. Intertwining the Energy with my Soul, I slowly latch it onto the children¡¯s Souls. It seemed to shudder a bit and I began sweating, thinking it had gone wrong, but nothing else happened. Slowly and carefully, I steered the Souls towards the bodies, with the somewhat lighter one towards the angelic and silently staring figure and the darker of the two towards the horned and hollow body. Still with these appendages of my soul stuck onto them, they arrived at the body. I was unsure of what to do. I knew everything severing Souls from the body, but attaching? It would sure be handy if Emily had been here¡­ She has a lot of experience with this things, although no doubt a lot of those ended in failure. But, I pushed forward. The Souls slowly entered their respective bodies, but aside from the overlap, nothing seemed to happen. I was afraid to pull back the Soullink and see what happened, so instead, I slowly started spreading my soul through the bodies, almost like a parasite invading its host thoroughly. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t help, but then, some sort of revelation came to me. If I¡¯m correct, its quiet simply really. Emily did it by cramming Energy into their Souls and afterwards attaching this Energy to their bodies. But that would result into something that was neither living nor dead, but now that it is clear that their Souls are living again I don¡¯t want that. So then, how does a normal mortal¡¯s soul get attached to a living, breathing body? Simple, by having their Souls attached to the passive Energy at the same location as the body, since the body is already linked to the grid of passive Energy, since it is matter and takes up space in reality. So, I did. I willed the passive Energy connected to the body to connect to the soul too, et voil¨¤. Gasping and gagging and retching and coughing, the two bodies sprang to live, no doubt waking up as if from a heart attack. And that along with the memory of being consumed by the Blue Fire of the fake Emily. Sure enough, they slowly collapsed to the ground, throwing up the stomach acid just moments ago created by me while they were on their hands and knees, shivering and sweating. No scream escaped their lips though, even when they were done. It reminded me very much of the nightmares they had when we first met, although that one was set up purposefully by Emily. ¡°Welcome back.¡± I said, smiling down on them with relief. I was truly happy they came back unharmed, feeling as if a heavy burden had just been lifted from me. Considering we have just met not long ago, it was surprising I''ve bonded so quickly with them. Then again, I''d honestly been fine with everyone as long as they didn''t hate me as everything does, thanks to that bastard Death. The two faces looked up at me in surprise, afterwards looking just as shocked at Emily¡¯s body lying near my feet. For a long time, there was only silence. Them, because they were trying to figure out what just happened. Me, because I was afraid my voice would crack with relief. Chapter 26: Control of Both Acedia POV: The silence was eventually broken by me. ¡°Can you both stand up and move around a little? I want to see if everything went well.¡± The both of them silently stood up, staring at their own bodies in surprise while being very confused in general. The stretched their arms and legs a little, and although I could see there was some strains on the muscles, everything seemed fine. Even their complexion had gotten a little better, colour returning slowly to their cheeks and their sweating slowly stopping. I sighed audibly and they turned their attentions towards me. ¡°Erm.. w-what happened? The last thing I knew, I¡­ Mother acted weird and then¡­ to you and¡­ s-she burned us?¡± Anna said, both hers and Damien¡¯s face becoming more and more crestfallen the more they remembered. ¡°Ah, no it isn¡¯t like that.¡± I started with a carefree, almost happy-sounding voice. ¡°That woman isn¡¯t your mother, she¡¯s merely possessed by some enemy of mine, so don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°B-but, she looks the same like mom?! And she even talked the same!¡± Anna rebutted, eyes widened in shock as she looked at the unconscious body laying at my feet. ¡°As I said, she¡¯s possessed, so naturally it is the same body. And why wouldn¡¯t she be able to have Emily¡¯s memory as well? They¡¯re stored in the brain, after all.¡± I doubt it is that easy, but that doesn¡¯t matter right now. ¡°B-but she killed us?!¡± ¡°Why are we alive?!¡± This time, Damien jumped in as well, looking equally as shocked than Anna. ¡°Well, you weren¡¯t really alive either way and I made a little deal with the Devil.¡± ¡°Not alive?!¡± ¡°The Devil?!¡± They said in sync. ¡°Yeah. Scary fellow, prince of darkness, creepy smile, ruler of the underworld, that Devil. And haven¡¯t you checked your Souls. Although it might be harder for you to do without the Energy inside, but you have experience. You should be able to with the magic in your bodies.¡± They stopped to concentrate a little and I could sense a small wave flowing over their Souls. ¡°The holes¡­¡± ¡°The pain¡­¡± ¡° ¡°They¡¯re gone!¡± ¡± They exclaimed happily, smiling for the first time since they woke up. The pain? So they felt that something was wrong with them and it even hurt them. How awful. Well, at least they look happy now. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re just regular mortals now. Although you won¡¯t be able to control Energy as easily as before, at least you¡¯re free from Death for¡­¡± Now. Before I could finish the sentence, the two children ran towards me, nearly tripping over their mother¡¯s unconscious body, and hugged me, Damien¡¯s horns poking into my gut painfully. ¡°Thank you.¡± Anna snivelled while Damien merely hugged me in silence. Honestly, it surprised me. Was it that big a deal? ¡°Did it hurt that much?¡± I asked them. Both of them silently nodded their heads while still clutching my shirt in their hands. I know how resilient they are. They had to take care of a half-deranged mother and even when I went insane a couple of times, they never said anything bad to me about it. Not that we talked much afterwards, but they also didn¡¯t actively try to avoid me. Anna and Damien even tried entering my room when I tried to go to ¡®sleep¡¯, but I never let them in. And when me and Emily fought with each other until both of us stood broken, Anna comforted me in an adult-like manner, while Damien probably did the same for Emily. The fact that they now cried with relief while clinging on to me¡­ Although it should be Emily¡¯s fault, my anger was instantly directed elsewhere. Emily merely brought them to life and although she knew about the slow consuming of the Souls because of the Gold-masks she created, they never showed her any emotion, so she wouldn¡¯t be able to tell if it hurt or not. No, I¡¯d rather blame Death, the source of all the evil happening around me. He was the one possibly steering Emily, and even if he didn¡¯t, he was still the one trying to sate cruel desires and harming the children. Another thing to take revenge for, amongst the thousands, millions of other sins he committed! ¡°Hnnggggg¡­¡± Suddenly, a strange moan came from underneath. Anna, Damien and mine attention immediately turned towards the source. Emily¡¯s body was slightly twitching, her eyes moving behind their lids and slowly trying to open them. Slowly, very slowly, she was becoming conscious. ¡°Anna, Damien, if you please.¡± They understood and moved out of the way. For a moment, I looked at her and thought the best course of action. My intention was to interrogate her and use her Soul to experiment and find out what an imitation of an Immortal ¨C No, she¡¯s a ¡®normal¡¯ Immortal, considering I am¡­ What am I? I don¡¯t want to call myself God, even though I supposedly control this world. I¡¯m neither omniscient, omnipresent nor omnipotent, so I¡¯m not a God. Hmm, I¡¯ll just call them Immortals and myself¡­ Well, I don¡¯t need a term. Anyway, my intention was interrogation, experimentation and seeing what an Immortal is capable of in terms of power and access to Energy. Then, I¡¯ll begin with experimenting on how my control over a Soul will supposedly work. If I figure that out, it¡¯ll help a lot with the rest. Firstly, I severed the Soul from the body, since they are basically glued together with Energy, while the body is in turn glued to reality. Secondly, I made it visible to the naked eye by colouring the Energy. The Soul was now visibly floating, even the children, without their control over Energy, could see the blob-like white mass. Normally, if I wanted to separate the Soul and body of a normal mortal, I would need to pin the Soul to reality with my own Energy instead of the body. But I never had to, or else I would die as soon as my body was completely destroyed. So, I left her Soul float freely in the air to see if an imitation of me is actually Immortal. And as expected, the Soul stayed, thanks to it having its own source of Energy. ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡± I heard a yell coming from the Soul, made through the efforts of Energy. For the first time, I could actually see the Soul of an Immortal connecting to the net of Energy by using its Energy locked within. I thought it impossible to sense the Energy inside an Immortal¡¯s Soul ever since I couldn¡¯t sense Emily¡¯s, but right now, it seemed as clear as day. Rather than just being clear, it seemed as if it were mine, just like all the other Energy around me ever since returning from the void. So, without bothering to connect my Soul to the Energy around me, I simply ordered it to freeze in place and not listen to their owner¡¯s commands. And indeed, it did just as I ordered. The threads attempting to connect to the Energy simply froze in place. Next, I ordered it to allow her to speak, to see if more complex commands were possible. ¡°What the fuck is this?! Wait my voice¡­ but where¡¯s the Energy?!¡± As ordered, it allowed her to speak. But nothing more, the Energy seemingly invisible to her senses as long as I have control over it. A smile formed on my lips. ¡°Welcome back to the land of the living! Not that you deserved it.¡± ¡°What?! Where are you, you bastard?! Show yourself!¡± I forgot. She¡¯s just a Soul now, only able to speak because of me. Let¡¯s see if I can mess with her senses. Let her sense the surroundings. I commanded I intentionally left out the specifics to see how far she could sense and if the previous two commands would still apply. The Energy in our direct surroundings connected to her as soon as I commanded it, but not in the way it usually would. Normally, to sense the surroundings through Energy, you would need to connect to it with your own and then you¡¯d be able to. But now, the Energy willingly connected to her Soul directly, without her own Energy as intermediary. In this way, it allowed her to only sense her surroundings, not control it. Excellent thinking, Energy. ¡°You demon! You monster! Free me and receive God¡¯s just punishment!¡± So Death identified himself as God. ¡°Hahaha, your God has no power over me. And as soon as you were captured, he abandoned you. What kind of God is that, to abandon its believers?¡± ¡°The Lord would never abandon me on my mission to punish you! This is all merely a test for me to prove my worth!¡± ¡°A test, eh? And was killing these innocent children part of God¡¯s plan?¡± ¡°No child associated to evil like you is innocent!¡± ¡°Hmm, I see...¡± Yes, no sense talking to a religious fanatic, as per usual. No feeling of guilt as long as she could justify her every action with the words ¡®God¡¯, ¡®Justice¡¯ and ¡®Evil¡¯. She was probably just a mortal when God suddenly made her an Immortal. There¡¯s no way her faith will easily be broken, so I should just stop trying. God, I hate fanatics. Then, onto testing my power over the Soul. I focused on it, putting all my concentration behind my thoughts and then ordered it to split in half. But, nothing happened. In a way, this was natural. The fact that I could control Energy so easily, is because I have connected to it before and took control over it, thus I¡¯m able to know what it feels like to make it do my bidding, enabling me to send my order and control it through imagination alone. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.However, I never connected to a Soul aside from through a shallow Soullink, let alone actually taking control over it and ordering it. So, first things first. Let¡¯s try to connect. I tried to feel my own Soul just like I could feel Energy but it didn¡¯t work. I had no idea how the Soul is supposed to feel, so didn¡¯t know what I was looking for. I tried something differently. I concentrated a little, preparing myself mentally, and then ordered the Energy to slowly but surely leave my Soul. As soon as it did, it felt as if my Soul was slowly stretching itself thin, trying to keep up with the escaping Energy. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± I heard her shout while probably trying to struggle out of my grip, but it was futile. Since she could still sense the surroundings by my order, she sensed the Energy slowly being drained out of my Soul and began to grow anxious. But no matter how hard she intends to struggle, my control is perfect. My control is more perfect than it had ever been. I kept my concentration fixed and slowly but surely drained myself of Energy. Honestly, it was hard to do. The more Energy left my Soul, the more it began to hurt. But, that was the plan. As the last drop of Energy went out of me and my Soul became dangerously unstable, almost at the point of snapping ¨C a feeling as if I being quartered, slowly stretching and stretching, making me feel hurt all over. But then, suddenly seemed to click mentally, like a light switch being flipped in my brain, and a feeling of sudden relief washed over me, making me stagger and almost collapse to the ground. But there it was. My Soul was free. Not attached to a body, nor attached to Energy or any other kind of worldly connection. Simply existing on its own. By straining and forcing it to exist without Energy, I seemed to have broken through some kind of barrier, just like one would do with training by pushing their limit over and over again. But, more importantly¡­ ¡°hahahaHAHAHAHA!¡± A sudden laugh escaped my mouth. The feeling of my Soul without Energy somehow felt¡­ liberating! It felt as if I had spent all my life in a prison without ever noticing until it suddenly disappeared, revealing the blue sky and allowing me fresh air for the first time! Everywhere around me, without even needing to connect it like I once had to with a Soullink, I could feel the Souls of Emily, Damien and Anna. And, if I willed it, I could probably sense the entire planet, or perhaps even the entire World! Just like with Energy. But, there were differences. Energy was connected to each other and although I do not need to connect with it anymore, whenever I sensed it I would still sense a connection with other places. With Souls, everything was singular, like solitary clouds in the sky or islands in the ocean. Still, just like the way I feel Energy right now, I could sense every island without feeling the need to connect it through a Soullink. ¡°W-What did you do?!¡± I returned from my thoughts, finding myself sweaty all over and feeling ill, like having the flu. I focused in on the Soul of Emily, currently occupied by Death¡¯s lackey, and could feel it as if it were my own. Both Energy and the Soul now felt truly, under my control. ¡°Oh, nothing. Just¡­ experimenting.¡± Now, to see if the imitation is similar to me. Without so much as a word or warning, I ordered the Energy in her Soul to unfreeze and disperse, turning her Soul into the same. A heart-rending scream filled the air as the Energy instantly left her Soul, her shriek filling the air and shocking the children. It would have been the same if I had suddenly forced out all the Energy inside me. Her Soul was immediately spread thin, just like mine slowly became thin. But, unlike mine, it didn¡¯t stop spreading and neither did she stop screaming. Slowly but surely, her Immortal Soul was being torn apart while desperately searching for Energy in all directions to attach to. Something I did not allow. There came no relief for her. Indicating that her the Soul of an Immortal is but a cheap rip-off of mine. Phew. It seems I don¡¯t have to fight an army of me. Bullet dodged there. ¡°Acedia!¡± ¡°Please stop it!¡± Both Anna and Damien started to urgently tuck my shirt, demanding my attention. I felt like continuing a bit longer. Letting one of the minions behind my misery suffer felt incredibly good. Also, she deserved to be punished for what she did today. But, I do not want to ruin my so-far OK impression on the children, so I stopped, gathering some Energy and forcing it crudely into her Soul. I couldn¡¯t be bothered to do it delicately. The screaming stopped and both her Soul and the children expression visibly relaxed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it was just some punishment. Not nearly enough, though¡­¡± I said, muttering the last words. Now is the time for interrogations, although I do not have much to ask. I already know who sent her, I can guess where Emily is and I already have a plan to get there. There is only one thing I want to know, although I do not inspect a fruitful answer. I walked up to where her Soul was floating, Anna and Damien for some reason following close behind. If she had eyes, she would undoubtedly be looking towards me right now. ¡°I¡¯ve only one question and if you answer honestly, I might let you go. Now, what do you say?¡± I said with a smile, like a parent promising a child candy after going to the dentist. ¡°Fuck you! I won¡¯t tell you anything, no matter what you do!¡± She spat. But I asked anyway. ¡°Why do you hate me?¡± It wasn¡¯t necessarily the why, since the Devil already told me why. But rather, I wanted to have an insight as to how Death is able to make everyone who so much as catches a glimpse of me sees me as the enemy of all existence. ¡°Why?! Ha, the devil asking why the world hates him, isn¡¯t that a joke!¡± Well, I didn¡¯t expect anything. It¡¯s probably ingrained into the Soul or something. I¡¯ll figure that one out later. But first, let¡¯s get Emily and scout the realm of Death. Emily POV: I¡¯ve been here for what feels like days. Although it is rather hard to tell, without a day-night cycle available to keep score. And for most of the time, the Acedia look-a-like has been walking around and muttering to himself. His previously smug attitude had been replaced with concern. ¡°¡­What¡¯s taking so long¡­¡± ¡°¡­She should¡¯ve been back by now¡­¡± ¡°¡­Integrations should be done by now¡­¡± He said stuff like that. I¡¯ve no idea what he¡¯s talking about, but it probably has something to do with the other ¡®integrating¡¯ itself into my body, whatever that means. Well, I could still guess he means some sort of ¡®possession¡¯ or what not, but I want to know one thing. Why me? ¡°Why are you doing this to me?¡± It wasn¡¯t the first time I ask, but right now, he seems more distracted than before. So perhaps this time he will unintentionally slip-up or something. ¡°You failed what God desired of you. So you¡¯re obviously being replaced.¡± He said, still walking around distractedly. God? ¡°What has God has to do with anything?¡± I asked. That stopped his endlessly walking around and looked at me with surprise/. ¡°You don¡¯t know? No wonder you were a failure, to not remember the word of God¡­¡± He sighed heavily and began walking around again. Word of God? Failure? The questions keep piling up. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You know, the mission of God to his chosen heroes, the Immortals. The holy mission to cleanse the world of that¡­ monster¡¯s evil!¡± He instantly became agitated remembering this ¡®evil¡¯. God¡¯s mission for His chosen Immortals? I¡¯ve never heard of anything like that, and it didn¡¯t seem like Acedia obsessed over finding and completing this ¡®holy mission¡¯ either. Is he also a failure? Will he be replaced by this look-alike? Then, have I been replaced by someone who looks like me? The thought filled me with dread. Someone obsessed over eradicating ¡®evil¡¯ while in my body¡­ What will become of my children? And my servants? And my city? I need to get out of here and fast! But, no matter what I do, it¡¯s impossible. I¡¯m firmly stuck here, bound by these chains. I don¡¯t want to admit it, but the only hope I have is that Acedia won¡¯t be replaced like me and takes care of my children for as long as I¡¯m being kept here. Which might be forever¡­ Really, God, what did I do wrong? You never spoke to me, and if you did, I¡¯m sorry for not remembering, but please, let me go back¡­ I don¡¯t want them to suffer. If not, please allow Acedia take care of Anna and Damien. Even though I¡¯m not sure if trust him, they seem to trust him. So please, if you¡¯re not willing to spare me, at the very least, spare him. I prayed and prayed, but God didn¡¯t answer. Just like always, only silence answers my prayers¡­ Chapter 27: Escaping Death Acedia POV: I¡¯d already figured out how to get Emily back. It¡¯s very simple, really. The answer lay in the Devil¡¯s words. Just like I control this realm behind the veil of Energy, he controls his realm behind the veil of Souls. The answer is rather obvious. With a thought I sealed up the woman¡¯s voice again and began slowly walking towards her still-visible white lump of a Soul. Damien and Anna followed me, but I gestured them to stop. ¡°Wait here. I¡¯ll get your mother.¡± I said smilingly. The both of them stopped following and looked at me worriedly, but I could see that they believed what I said. It feels good to be trusted like this. For a moment I looked at the Soul and imagined it shaking. No doubt she was frightened, but this is what she deserves. And now that I sealed off her screams, Damien and Anna won¡¯t know what torture it is to do what I am about to do. I sensed the lump of Soul in front of me and with a single thought, I froze the outer edges of it. After this I commanded all but the outer edges to expand, making the Soul thinner and thinner in the middle, while the outer edges made sure it didn¡¯t expand beyond it. I smiled grimly at the sight the middle becoming more and more translucent. As mentioned before, the closest resembles to having your Soul stretched out would be getting drawn and quartered. But as it is the Soul of an Immortal, it is much more durable, lasting much longer than a mortal¡¯s body or Soul ever could. At least, as long as there is Energy in it, it will be kept together. Perhaps, when it doesn¡¯t have Energy in it, even an Immortal will die? I¡¯ve tried it on myself once and it did indeed shatter, but my soul came back. Will the imitations last? Are the Immortals as immortal as I am? But, that is for later. In front of me, I saw the Soul being stretched to its limit, and then it happened. Just like I hoped. It was just before the Soul would snap and become doughnut-shaped. I reached for the Energy in her Soul, still under my command, and ordered it to pin the Soul in place. If this was a normal Soul it wouldn¡¯t be possible, but she endured it. Just like Energy, the Soul, too, was made out of threads. Unlike Energy though, these threads were normally so densely packed, you¡¯d not be able to distinguish one from another unless you look really closely or stretch it out, just like good clothing. And just like clothing, it is more comfortable to see while stretching it out than it is to watch it from real close. The next thing is simple. Just like you would make a tear in the threads of Energy to enter that dark realm, I tore the threads of the Soul, although not as much for it to become unstable. And, once again just like with Energy, a the other realm hiding behind it was visible, albeit white this time instead of black. I wonder how it feels to have your Soul being stretched open like this, without it snapping and falling apart? I walked forward into the newly-created portal, feeling the gaze of Anna and Damien in my back. It weighed heavily upon me, like a great responsibility rested on my shoulders. But, in a way, it felt good. It was the first time I¡¯ve ever been entrusted something like this. The first time in my long, long life. With a smile, this time not grimly, but happy, I stepped into the other realm, commanding a large amount of Energy in the vicinity to follow me. I won¡¯t go in unarmed. As soon as I stepped into it, an enormous weight seemed to crash down upon me, trying to eat away at me like I¡¯m some sort of pray. It attacked my Soul en masse, just like the all-but-last time since I entered the Energy-devouring realm. It made me stagger and threw my senses off-balance, making the scenery seem blurry and twisting around. But, I was prepared for this and much, much more in control than before. I formed a tight shield of Energy around me and the effect was immediate. Although the pressure weighing down on me was the same, it felt much less oppressive since it couldn¡¯t attack me. Since the only thing it could devour was the Soul, it wouldn¡¯t be able to go through Energy. As expected, it is the reverse of the Devil¡¯s realm. I looked back at the portal, only to see a mess of various colours forming a vertical puddle. It seems you can¡¯t look at the other side without entering it first. I turned around again, expecting to see a never-ending emptiness without as much as a sign of Emily, but was surprised to see a semi-familiar sight. Not far from me were two Souls,. One without body, wrapped in chains and pinned against an imaginary wall of white, invisible to the naked eye, since even if it this Soul was visible, it would be white-on-white. The other had both a Soul and a body. Not only that, it had a very nostalgic and recognizable body, one I haven¡¯t seen since long, long ago. Light-brown hair and blue eyes while having a lean figure on the edge of being lanky. How long has it been since I looked in a mirror? For the life of me, I cannot remember. It definitely wasn¡¯t recently, perhaps even a couple billion years ago. As far as I remembered, never during the recent few Era¡¯s, not even with my wife. But then again, who would care for my looks? They¡¯ll just hate me anyway and by the time I met my wife, I had all but forgotten the way I looked. But seeing it like this, I was remembered my appearance for ago. If he is an actual representation of me, it seems I haven¡¯t aged a day. But then again, I doubt my appearance changes as I age. Although I was slightly surprised seeing myself walking in the distance, sometimes looking at the Soul and then continuing, it was easy to figure out who it was. If the woman was made to be able to possess Emily, it is only reasonable that she would get comfortable with a similar body, although at my previous visit it was strangely blurry to me. No doubt to be a fine ¡®surprise¡¯ given to me by Death. So this guy was the person who, during my first visit here, was in my body. Or rather, my Soul was inside his body. I doubt he could¡¯ve easily abducted both my Soul and body without me noticing. But anyway, seeing as that guy was here, then no doubt the bound Soul is Emily. Without even taking a step forward or saying a single word, I commanded all the Energy ¨C still flowing continuously inside through the portal ¨C turned it all into Blue Fire, making it swirl around me like I was inside a vortex of flames. Without even adding a detail as to how, I said one thing loud enough for this whole empty realm to hear me. ¡°Destroy him!¡± My voice echoed through the realm, simultaneously commanding to the Energy to do as I said. The Blue Fire obeyed and uncoiled around me, launching itself forward like a continuous stream of flame aiming directly at the man in front of Emily. My sight obscured by the flames, I sensed the man noticing the flames and trying to take a stance, but he was too slow. Without meeting any resistance, the stream of Blue Fire slammed into the man, instantly devouring his body, his Soul and even the Energy within the Soul without leaving anything behind. Now that I think about it, this is the first time I ever completely and surely destroyed an Immortal. Perhaps during my last visit here I had destroyed them, but I wasn¡¯t there to see the result and the attack was much less powerful, easily quenched if you simply starved it out of Energy for a second. Aside from easily being able to counter it, this was the realm of Death. Since the realm of the Devil was able to heal the wounds of Blue Fire, Death no doubt has a way too, so he must have healed them if it became to dangerous. Well, this time there is nothing left to heal. If he doesn¡¯t come back, I might have to rethink the term ¡®Immortal¡¯ for these imitations of me... Seeing the target was obliterated, I stopped the stream of flames and retracted the small amount of Energy still unused. It doesn¡¯t matter how much I use, the Energy still infinitely comes through the portal, albeit at a fixed pace. I stretched out a thin line of Energy and transported myself through it, arriving directly in front of Emily. ¡°Acedia?! I¡­¡± Without letting her speak, I immediately conjured enough Energy to make a body for her. Since I still had fresh memories of her body from making Anna¡¯s, I more or less knew how it looked and filled in the blanks as I saw fit. Afterwards, I ripped her Soul out of the chains and attached it to her body. As soon as all this was done, taking only a few seconds, she stood awestruck in front of me. ¡°T-thank you?¡± I smiled a little seeing her fumbling for words. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.¡°No problem. Now, let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Although Emily was the main goal, this was also partially intended to scout out this realm, but I¡¯ve seen enough. From the first moment I entered, I knew if I fight here without being absolutely prepared, I was doomed to lose. The passively-activated devouring of the Soul against anyone who entered was in itself already able to make me feel the extreme pressure. If Death consciously made an effort to crush me using all of his powers here, I have no hope. At least, not now. I grabbed Emily by the hand and bolted for the escape, feeling a very uncomfortable feeling crawling up my spine. ¡®Something¡¯s coming¡¯, it seemed to scream to me. Of course, I knew this was true. In fact, I doubt running would help in this situation. This was his realm, he surely must have noticed by now. But I still hoped I had taken him by surprise, even though I knew it was in vain. ¡°Ah, Acedia, welcome again to my humble realm.¡± A vain hope indeed¡­ ¡°How nice for the great evil Monster himself to join us. Although, I expected you to arrive later.¡± Instead of the Devil¡¯s powerfully sweet and tempting voice, sounding as if every desire could be made possible by him, the voice of Death sounded very different. It carried with it a ungodly amount of force, making it seem like the whole place was vibrating as if in a earthquake. Not only that, I could picture a disgusting smile on his face, just like with the Devil. But instead of picturing a smile that seemed like he was tricking me into accepting a deal too good to be true, the smile of Death was that of someone who had just found his prey. It was absolutely terrifying. ¡°Emily, run to the portal! Now!¡± ¡°B-but..¡± ¡°I said now!¡± I shouted, feeling the pressure of the situation I had sensed his terrifying Soul-devouring power when I entered. It had crashed down upon me like a tsunami without mercy and if I hadn¡¯t expected it, it would have easily crushed and devoured me. And that was just when Death¡¯s realm was using it unconsciously, what power would he have if he used it consciously? It send shivers down my spine and made me think. How can I stop it? I had brought with me Energy to defend myself, but there was no way it was enough. He would simply pry open any shield I make and attack my Soul directly. Not only that, I also have Emily to defend. How can I bring this to a happy end? How can I get Emily back home safely? If he devours her Soul, I don¡¯t know if she¡¯ll survive¡­ Every question and thought send me closer into despair. Think! What can I do? How can I defend against someone so immersed in his own power? Then, without rhyme or reason, suddenly clicked in my mind, just like it had when trying to figure out the new knowledge I received. It was a very simple thought, really. I should have thought about it before, but I was too busy paying attention to the lackey inside Emily¡¯s Soul back in my realm. And therein lay the answer. My realm. If the realm of Death and the Devil allow themselves to submerge in power and exist without Soul and without Energy, then why couldn¡¯t I do the reverse and drown myself in my power. And so I did, and it was surprising to say the least. Instantly and without issue, after just a little bit of focusing, I became the Energy, leaving my Soul and body behind, whom were instantly devoured and crushed by the power in this realm. But I didn¡¯t feel it. My existence now lay in the Energy itself, immersed just like Death and the Devil are in theirs. It felt as if I had just come truly alive! Instead of the feeling I had like I was connected to the Energy, or the more recent feeling like all Energy was under my control, I felt like I was the Energy! Using it felt the same like coordinating your arms and hands to pick something up, or using your lungs and vocal chords to talk. No order was needed, no thought had to be spared, just simply doing and my Energy listens! It just seemed¡­ natural. Is this how the Devil and Death feel when in their own realm, submerged in their own power? Is this the way I¡¯m supposed to be? If so, it was wonderful! Emily jumped slightly when she heard my voice, but as soon as she recovered, she rushed towards the portal. ¡°Like I¡¯d let you! I¡¯ve got so much stuff planned for you! The both of you!¡± The white world seemed to tremble and move, converging into a maelstrom of power, aiming directly towards the dashing Emily. However, I won¡¯t allow it. I moved to intercept the attack and braced myself for impact, and as I did, the Energy hardened itself like it was one with my mind. The wave of Soul-devouring power crashed into me, but seeing as my Soul was already devoured like the shell it was, the power was simply deflected off of me. Emily looked in surprise as a purple Energy formed around her, protecting her from the onslaught outside the sphere. ¡°Keep moving!¡± I said, my disembodied voice brimming with power. She once again bolted towards the portal while I was still wrapped around me in all my purple glory. ¡°You know?! It was that bastard from the Darkvoid, wasn¡¯t it?! God-fucking-damnit! Once I¡¯m done with you, he¡¯s next!¡± Another wave, a thousand times more powerful than the one before hit me from the side. Although he couldn¡¯t devour me, it doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m invincible. Right now, with the small amount of Energy I currently possess, I¡¯m but a small grain of sand against the tidal waves of the sea. It won¡¯t destroy me, but it could easily wash me away. And once I¡¯m gone, Emily won¡¯t have any protection. With all the power I could muster, I forced myself against the tide, straining myself almost to the edge of what I could take. It felt like I used all my muscles to swim up a waterfall. Slowly but surely, I felt the Energy simply tire and slip away from my grasp, like one would lose control of his muscles after sprinting for hours on end. But no matter what, I will endure. ¡°HOW ARE YOU STILL HERE! I WILL FUCKING CRUSH YOU!¡± The closer and closer we got to the portal, the angrier he became, and this was easily seen in the way he used his power. Before he was attacking me from one side, trying to sweep me away with the current. But now, he attacks from every direction. Below, left, right, above, at an angle, everywhere I could feel him trying to crush me. But, this was a mistake. Unlike the feeling of swimming up a waterfall, this one was much easier to deal with. If he kept at it with his previous method, I would have no doubted at some point faltered and been swept away with the current. But now, he is attacking me from all side, intending to crush me and Emily along with it. But, instead of becoming harder to resist, it became easier. Now that I was being assaulted from every side, I don¡¯t need to consciously throw myself against his power while also making sure Emily isn¡¯t left undefended. Now, the only thing I needed to do was to endure. And for almost all my life, I have endured. All thanks to Death himself. ¡°WHY?! WHY! WON¡¯T! YOU! FALL!¡± More and more of his power was poured in, making the me crack everywhere like I was made of bones. But even with the cracks and dents appearing in my shield, so long as there isn¡¯t a gap, I will not lose! And there it was! Just a moment away! Sweet release! ¡°I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN, YOU HEAR ME! I WILL SEND MY ARMY AND MURDER YOUR WOMAN AND CHILDREN! NOT FOR A SINGLE DAY WILL YOU NOT LIVE IN MISERY!¡± No matter how threatening it sounded, no matter how much power he put behind, no matter how much anger he had... All I could hear, was the whining of a sore loser. Chapter 28: The Devils Lies and the Furnace Emily POV: ¡°Emily, run to the portal! Now!¡± Acedia shouted at me in a panic. ¡°B-but..¡± I didn¡¯t understand a thing that was going on. First I was rescue after my captor was blown into oblivion in mere seconds, then forced into a body hastily created by Acedia, and now an enormously powerful voice descended from up high, ready to smite us with his hatred. Not only that, Acedia seemed terrified beyond belief. ¡°I said now!¡± The last word was filled with such power it made me jump and run away to the portal as fast as I could. And when I looked back for a second, he was already dead. His Soul left and simply disappeared into the oppressive white mass of this place. His vacant body was crushed by the pressure and was pulled downward by some strange force. For him, who just summoned a blue-coloured hellfire and made an Immortal disappear without a trace, to be gone from one moment to the next¡­ A truly outrageous force must be present here. I ran harder and harder, desperate to get to that circular mess of colours, but no matter how fast I was, it didn¡¯t seem to be getting any closer. ¡°Like I¡¯d let you! I¡¯ve got so much stuff planned for you! The both of you!¡± The voice resounded once again in this strange realm, but I paid no head to the words. I simply ran and ran, selfishly thinking only of myself, not wondering why the voice shouted both of you. However, from the side, I could feel my end nearing. Somehow I was able to see it. A wave so powerful and large that it would crush anything in its path. There was no escape and my pace began to slow down. But, when my inevitable doom finally arrived, it was deflected by something and simply continued without me feeling anything of it. Around me a strange purple shield, the colour of Energy in its purest, was formed. I was utterly amazed by it. Even though I could sense it wasn¡¯t much Energy, it seemed so powerful. And it was. It protected me from that wave of ungodly power. Seeing this, how could I not stand still and stare at it in utter bewilderment? ¡°Keep moving!¡± The power of the voice was on par with that of the one hunting me, but it echoed much less compared to it. I instantly recognized it. Acedia. I don¡¯t know why or how I could hear his voice after I saw him get crushed so easily, but it filled me with courage and hope. As long as he¡¯s still here, I¡¯ll be fine. He has that power. So, once again, I ran as fast as I could towards the portal, the purple shield all the while staying around me. ¡°You know?! It was that bastard from the Darkvoid, wasn¡¯t it?! God-fucking-damnit! Once I¡¯m done with you, he¡¯s next!¡± The unknown man talked again, and although I thought the last wave was powerful, he easily proved me wrong. From the side, a wave a thousand, ten-thousand times stronger than the previous was thrown at me. But, I kept running, believing I could make it as long as Acedia was there with me. Although I haven¡¯t had the time to truly get to know him yet, and even though I utterly despised him for most of my life, it felt as if right now, I could trust him with my life. I was right. The wave washed over us and it kept coming, but aside from the enormous pressure present outside the bubble, I felt nothing. However, I could see the shield struggling to keep up. As the power kept flowing I could see small parts of Energy slowly splintering of the shield. I don¡¯t know why, but it broke my heart every time I saw a piece of it go. Acedia was holding this up to protect me, even though he could¡¯ve much more easily escaped by himself. Yet he stayed with me, undoubtedly hurting himself as the torrent of power was thrown against us. I ran faster, straining myself to the utmost, as to make Acedia¡¯s suffering end as quickly as possible. ¡°HOW ARE YOU STILL HERE! I WILL FUCKING CRUSH YOU!¡± The closer I came to the portal, the angrier the man hunting us became. However, I wasn¡¯t scared of it. Even though he became angrier and more powerful the closer we came to the portal, he seemed to become more childish. ¡°WHY?! WHY! WON¡¯T! YOU! FALL!¡± It sounded like the petty rage of a spoiled child. His power, too, seemed to change from the continuous wave of energy into a simpler form of brutish strength. The pressure now came from all sides, making the shield dented and in some places even crack, but it held up. Even though the pressure was much more than before, there was no finesse behind the power. The portal neared us and I could feel freedom was just a few metres away now. ¡°I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN, YOU HEAR ME! I WILL SEND MY ARMY AND MURDER YOUR WOMAN AND CHILDREN! NOT FOR A SINGLE DAY WILL YOU NOT LIVE IN MISERY!¡± It sounded like a childish prince abusing his power to bully those he didn¡¯t like. An utterly spoiled brat not knowing how to properly behave and use his power. It sounded utterly disgusting! I can¡¯t believe I was once like him. How I want to punch my former self! And there it was¡­ Sweet freedom! As soon as I stepped through the portal, an unfamiliar scenery was in front of me. Mountains eroded by time, covered by lush greenery everywhere and a large, clear sky above my head. But no city, no palace, no nothing. Then, I heard the portal closing like the popping of a balloon and before I could turn around to watch it, I heard two childish screams bringing joy to my ears. ¡° ¡°Mom!¡± ¡± I quickly turned and looked, smiling brightly and on the verge of tears. I saw them running towards me and rushed to embrace them, allowing them to tackle me to the ground. I felt Damien¡¯s horns poking my stomach painfully and, when I draped my arms around them as we lay in the grass, felt Anna¡¯s familiar soft feathers. I don¡¯t know how long it has been for them, but for me, it felt like I hadn¡¯t seen them for at least weeks, perhaps even months! Hearing their soft whimpers and sniffs made my already unsteady heart break, forcing the floodgates open as tears streamed down my face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry¡­¡± I repeated again and again, trying to comfort them with my weak and cracking voice. It didn¡¯t take long for the both of them to finally look up to me, all our faces covered in tears, mucus and smiles. I rubbed their heads and we continued to simply smile at each other for a while. Smiling as if all the worry in the world has faded. I don¡¯t need the city. I don¡¯t need the servants. All I needed, was right here. I felt truly blissful, until Anna suddenly asked something. ¡°Where¡¯s Acedia? We need to thank him!¡± Damien happily nodded his head at her statement, both their eyes staring at me with bliss. I forced us both to stand, for some reason picturing Acedia standing a few metres away, smiling down at us. Indeed, I owe him more than my life. A thank you is the least I can do for now. ¡°Acedia, I¡­¡± I started as I turned to look roughly at the portal¡¯s previous location. However, there was no-one there. I looked around a bit, but found no sign of him. ¡°Mom?¡± Damien spoke. ¡°Where is he?¡± Anna continued. ¡°I, I¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but stammer. Possibilities flashed through my mind. Was he washed off of me at the last moment? Did the one trying to kill us shut the portal before he could get in? Did he use his life to protect me? Especially the last possibility made my just recently stopped tears start flowing again, but something interrupted me before I could. A sound and sight so horrifying, it stunned me. Out of nowhere, a loud, shrieking noise was heard, howling like the wind and cutting like a knife. It was so loud, I could feel my eardrums ready to burst and underneath me, the ground seemed to crack by the sheer force behind the shrieking. And even then, the sound got increasingly louder and louder. Immediately, I dropped down and covered for my children. I tried to connect to the Energy and make a shield, but was denied. Using the Energy linked with my Soul, I created a shield for Anna and Damien, trusting I would live through it. I pulled them to my chest and took a look at what was happening around me while my head was being assaulted by the ungodly screaming. What I saw, was the apocalypse. The sky was painted with the familiar Energy-purple and Soul-white. Not the oppressive blankness of the other realm, but the true, pure white of the Soul. Everywhere around us, the earth was starting to crack and the mountains started to sink in, as if there was a pocket of space underneath it. Purple lightning struck down multiple times far away in the distance of every direction, and from these thunder strikes, giant craters were formed, visible from the elevated position we sat. Luckily, none of these seemed to come particularly close to our position, but still, I had to urge to run away as quickly as possible. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. But to where? Lightning was everywhere. Where could we go where it¡¯s safe? The surface was assaulted by lightning, the whole of the sky was dyed purple and the earth seemed to shatter simply by the might of the shrieking wind. There is nowhere to hide. All I can do is protect Anna and Damien and hope for the best. Acedia POV: Hahaha, we finally escaped! As soon as we went through the portal, I destroyed the Soul resembling Emily¡¯s the same way I destroyed the one in Death¡¯s realm, hopefully able to make it disappear forever. Not only that, I destroyed Emily¡¯s body, too, with but a simple gesture, cleaning up all traces of the woman that assaulted us. But as soon as I destroyed the Soul with Blue Fire and converted the body into Energy, something changed. No, everything changed. Before I could even start creating a new body and try to create a new Soul, I was swept away by the world. Everything seemed to expand as my being was absorbed. The entire world was visible, then the entire solar-system, then the entire galaxy, then a large collection of many galaxies bunched together, and then¡­ and then¡­ My scope continued to grow larger and larger until all of existence was visible to me in all its splendorous glory! All the planets, all the galaxies, all the stars, all the mountains, hills, grass, humans, animals, everything was visible! I could sense it all up to the edges of existence, and there I found my borders. The ¡®sight¡¯ of it was hard to describe, but it seemed something like this. Outside of existence ¨C or rather, outside of my realm, I could sense two others. One pure white. One pure black. These two realms seemed to form a sphere around mine and made contact with each other everywhere apart from what bordered mine. And everywhere these two connected, they shifted. At every place and at all times, these two seemed to push each other with unimaginable amounts of power. Power vast enough to easily crush my pathetic-looking realm. Death and the Devil were in constant war with each other, and if even one of them took but a single second to focus on my realm, it would be destroyed without the slightest trouble. That was how feeble it looked. The only thing that allowed it to stand, was their undivided attention in trying to destroy each other. I had always held some doubt of the Devil¡¯s words, but just as they were almost too good to believe, it was also too hard to resist believing it. But it was all a trick, as to be expected of the Devil. The Devil wanted me to attack and destroy, or at the very least, distract Death so he could swoop in for the kill. It was clear this ¡®alliance¡¯ wasn¡¯t to make his life easier; it was to make the only one who could stand up to him disappear, so he could claim supremacy over existence. Death¡¯s goal was the same. But why? What is so amazing about my realm? I looked everywhere, scanned every planet shallowly and all blank space in between them too. And there I found it. Like a giant furnace it sat at the centre of it all. In the middle of my realm, Death¡¯s realm and the Devil¡¯s realm sat the giant purple-and-white coloured orb, constantly pulsating and pumping out Energy as well as Souls. That was their goal. The source of everything. Death¡¯s power was created by devouring and absorbing Souls, then deforming it into the Blank that was Death¡¯s power. The Devil¡¯s power on the other hand, was created by devouring and absorbing Energy, then turning it into the Dark that is his power. All the while it was also responsible for turning Energy into matter and settling souls into matter that would become the living. Everything living had a Soul, although those of microbes and one-celled creatures were very small and unnoticeable. Although now, I could sense and use it all. However, although I¡¯ve never been this powerful, being able to use every Soul and all Energy as simple as stretching my arms¡­ It was not enough! They were constantly sapping the excess Energy and Souls from my realm and turn it into their powers, leaving mine unable to grow! If things were to continue like this, it would either be an eternal stalemate ¨C with me being the weakest ¨C or one of the two will at one point break through and devour the other. And when that happens, everyone is doomed. That is why both of them messed with me. One pushing me to the edge, hoping I would snap and kill everyone to give him the Souls needed to get that slight edge needed win the battle. The other manipulating me to distract the other, giving him the distraction needed to catch the other off-guard and win their eternal struggle. All the while, I am nothing but a pawn! They only reason I exist in their eyes is for their own ends! The only reason my world exist is because as soon as one goes in to claim the Furnace of Creation, the other takes the chance to finish him off! I will not stand for this! Death has tortured me long enough, and the Devil¡¯s manipulations will end by my hands! Because I¡¯ve got access to the one thing they don¡¯t! The Furnace! It was clearly made out of both Energy and the Soul, but it was not a part of me like everything else. Not yet, at least. It was right in my centre, so I didn¡¯t need to travel to it or anything. I only needed to do one thing¡­ With a mixture of Energy and Souls, created from the billions of Souls, both big and small, and the Energy in the vicinity of the Furnace, I reached out towards it slowly. Around it was a slight space of nothing, a true vacuum, and I tried to grab through it to take a piece of the Furnace. And as I did, I noticed only one thing¡­ Pain! Pain everywhere! It burned everything it touches with such ferocity, it remoulded my Soul and Energy back into its primal state, adding it to the sphere. And every time even the tiniest portion was taken, it felt like having one of my limbs torn off. But I will not give in! Constantly, I drained more and more of my realm into raw power, attacking the Furnace with almost everything I had! I cannot imagine the amount of planets gone by now, the innumerable amount of mortal¡¯s ¨C and Immortal¡¯s, if Death¡¯s lackeys were still around ¨C lost in this attempt. But even if I cared much about the mortals who see me as nothing but a pile of evil ¨C let alone Death¡¯s lackeys ¨C this is absolutely necessary, even for them. If I don¡¯t succeed, they will be doomed sooner or later. The longer I put this off, the more chances either Death or the Devil get. Of course, I did spare Emily, Damien and Anna as best I could, but the amount of focus it take to not go insane because of the pain is immense, so the best is all I could do. ¡°NOOOO!¡± ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING!¡± I heard the two shouting in fury, but it didn¡¯t matter. I sensed neither was willing to take their eyes of the other, afraid to be backstabbed as soon as they attack me. ¡°Getting the upper hand!¡± I shouted through the pain. Endlessly I kept pouring it in and got closer and closer to grabbing a piece of the Furnace as piece after piece of myself was ripped from me in burning agony. Then, after literally burning through 2/3 of my power, finally, for a single second, I touched it and took ripped off a small part. It was almost unnoticeably small, able to fit on top of a normal, human-sized finger. But it was enough. With this, victory is one step closer¡­ ¡°You fool! We could¡¯ve been the greatest allies! Ruled all of existence together while we indulge in all the power we could dream off!¡± The Devil tried to sound angry and disappointed, but all I pictured was a large grin. ¡°Hahahaha! What upper hand! You failed, Acedia! Just like you always do! As always, you''re a fool!¡± Death didn¡¯t bother to hide his contempt as he sneered childishly at me. They hadn¡¯t noticed. I focused my half-wrecked mind on the planet of Emily, Anna and Damien. I constructed a body for myself, taking the recently met mirror-image created by Death as example. Then, I took some Souls from a large amount of microbes and one-celled organisms from a plant with life in its infancy, forced them to melt together and pinned it on the newly-created body. Placing the body on the planet, I placed myself inside this body and Soul, cutting myself off from the power of my own realm. Immediately as I entered my ¡®regular¡¯ form, I felt an exhaustion overwhelm me and embraced the encroaching unconsciousness. It was painful beyond belief. A constant torture of having every piece of myself slowly ripped off and thrown into a fire. But, I succeeded. Under my control, hidden inside the newly created Soul, a piece of the Furnace of Creation lay hidden. With it, I will build op my power and destroy those that manipulated me for all my life! No matter what happens! I will have the last laugh! But first, just for a little while, let me rest. I embraced the unconsciousness as I fully entered my new body. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I hope I''m not going to fast with the story, since I originally thought I would take it slower, but it just didn''t turn out that way. Please let me know what you think! All your comments are appreciated! Chapter 29: The Core of Creation Emily POV: The thunderous sky dyed purple with power suddenly reverted back to its standard clear-blue, and the shrieking and howling suddenly stopped. Just a few metres away from me, a spiral of visible Energy and Soul fell down from the sky onto the ground and at that exact spot, bones, then muscles, then flesh and skin formed. Afterwards, a fully formed Soul went into it, but inside the Soul shone something brighter than a star. For just a second, I could feel the power radiating from it. But, just as I wanted to clearly see what it was, it disappeared in the body along with the Soul. The brightness and the power instantly vanished without a trace. I was stumped. The whole world seemed to be torn asunder by an awe-inspiring power much, much greater than anything I could comprehend. And then, it suddenly stopped and at the same time, a body and Soul formed out of thin air. The body itself was not a perfect replica of Acedia¡¯s, but rather that of the man that had kidnapped me. It didn¡¯t move whatsoever; it didn¡¯t even seem to be alive. But before I could think up any questions, the body suddenly gasped for air and started to twitch a little, afterwards remaining silent again, though this time breathing and clearly alive. When everything was over, I felt I was once again able to connect into the grid of Energy, and immediately did. The first thing I did was focus my attention towards Anna and Damien, still shivering in fear under my protection. With the power available, I had put everything into protecting them from the terrifyingly powerful shrieking and, just to be sure, even from the air. They had been in a perfect cocoon, untouched by the disaster, but didn¡¯t know it was already over. I immediately cancelled the barrier by reabsorbing it into my Soul. I released them and tried to gently push them away a little, but they kept clinging firmly onto me, still shivering in terror. They were tough children, withstood many pains, horrors and trauma that would have broken even regular adults. But what just had happened, was on another level entirely. It was power beyond imagination, strong enough to, if it wanted, crush the planet with ease. Even I, who had always thought was powerful, had never witnessed this before. Even the power Acedia demonstrated, even the power that the monster chasing us showed¡­ Nothing even compared to this. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact I used everything in my power to protect Damien and Anna, I would have probably shut myself inside that shield and lay still for the next million years or so, until I felt it was safe to finally step out. There was no way that they didn¡¯t think this was the end of the world. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry, everything is fine¡­¡± I said while shushing, trying to calm them down. I could feel them slowly starting to relax, but it would take a while before they¡¯re fully aware again. So while comforting them, I took a quick glance at everything around us. To say we were lucky, would be a severely lacking explanation of what happened here. Even the greatest miracle made by an almighty and benevolent God couldn¡¯t explain this scene. All around us the mountains had collapsed, the earth had sunk in, the lush greenery had turned into desert and giant, sprawling craters could be seen anywhere around us. Everything, aside from the a hundred metre wide radius around us, had been destroyed, leaving only us on a half-eroded green mountain in the middle of an endless desert. It was clear that someone saved us. I took a look at the body of almost-Acedia and sensed it through Energy. The Soul was unfamiliar. It was neither that of the Acedia look-a-like, nor that of Acedia himself. But it put me at ease. I was fully convinced that, despite the different Soul, this was Acedia. In fact, I was sure that Acedia was the root cause of this all. The only other thing capable of showing such power would be of that demon of the white realm, and I refuse to believe he was the one that came through the portal instead of Acedia. And besides, would that monster save us? He¡¯d rather see us being torn apart in that terrifying display of power and laugh at us as it happened. Meanwhile, Damien and Anna had stopped shivering and slowly left my embrace. For a moment, they looked at me silently, their faces a sickly pale and their eyes completely red. Neither of them said a word and didn¡¯t seem to want to talk about it, so I simply smiled at them. ¡°Come, let¡¯s take a look at Acedia.¡± I said, pointing in the direction of his body. With that, they reacted, immediately turning around and looking at the body in the middle of the meadow, completely ignoring the carnage surrounding us. I visibly saw relief spreading through their body, but, after staring at Acedia¡¯s body for a moment, I saw them tense up again. Before I could ask why, they dashed towards him, leaving me behind. Curious, I followed them, albeit at a slow pace. I didn¡¯t see the reason for their hurry until I arrived there. And when I did, I wonder how I missed it. Acedia was a mess. His skin looked like cracked porcelain and within these cracks, it felt as if something was burning inside him and trying to get out. His eyes were squeezed shut and his entire face screamed agony. The hair once clearly light brown was now rapidly ageing, turning into grey first and the familiar snow-white afterwards. But that was not all. After I once again concentrated on our surrounding through the Energy grid, I sensed something shocking. From his body, out of all these burning cracks in his skin, Energy poured out continuously and thickly, disappearing immediately before it had to chance to get out. Though I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, I refuse to just sit by and wait. ¡°Quickly, build a shelter!¡± I ordered Damien and Anna. But, they simply stared at each other in silence, looking doubtful. Why? I know how capable they are in their control over Energy. What is stopping them? ¡°What¡¯re you waiting for, come on!¡± It kind of irritated me, but for now, I¡¯ll let it slip. They were still in a daze and right now, I need to put all my attention on treating Acedia. I quickly constructed a mattress under him for comfort and then focused on his wounds. Honestly, I had no idea how I could help him, so I did the least I could do. I spread an aura around me by forcing the Energy in my Soul to expand, and immediately began to spread the warm, comforting feeling in the same way my mother once taught me long ago. Afterwards, I set up a small spell to forcefully suck the surrounding Energy into my Soul, as to make sure I wouldn¡¯t exhaust myself while treating him. Then, the real mending started. Using the Energy inside the aura, I started to try and ¡®fill¡¯ the cracks with it as to make sure the Energy would not leave his body and wreak havoc here while at the same time allowing the skin to quickly heal. After that, I used the spell I once created for Anna and Damien and put it on Acedia¡¯s Soul. Not only was his body seemingly burning, his Soul too seemed to be affected. But honestly, this was all I was able to do. No cures, nor solutions. I have no idea what¡¯s happening, let alone know how to fix it. There was nothing I could do anymore¡­ I looked around and saw that a semi-large, wooden cabin had formed around us. Beside me stood two exhausted children, heavily breathing and gasping for air while looking concernedly at Acedia. I wonder what¡¯s wrong with them? They never had any problems with this much, so why now? But I didn¡¯t ask. Right now, all my attention is set on making Acedia become better. Even if all I could do was wait and hope for the best¡­ Acedia POV: I embraced the spreading unconsciousness, but unfortunately, a moment of rest was not meant to be. Although my body was clearly unconscious, something was going wrong. It was not as if I didn¡¯t expect anything to go wrong, but I hoped to at least have a little while before trouble started to appear. However, my life has never been that kind and now is not an exception. The small piece of the Furnace of Creation, brightly coloured both purple and white, immediately revealed its power while in my Soul. Constantly and without rest, it started to grow larger and larger. What started as a ball the size of a fingertip, was already quickly becoming a fist-sized ball before I knew it. I had already forcefully spread a vacuum of power inside my Soul so it could not burn me from within, but the buffer was slowly shrinking. Although it was under my ¡®control¡¯ as soon as I ripped it out of the Furnace of Creation, it was still not truly a part of me like the Energy and Soul have become. Instead, it was simply something I could manipulate into doing what I wanted, but not do with it whatever I wished. The only way to do that was to integrate it the same way Energy and Soul-power are mine. And once I do¡­ Oh, God the possibilities! Since I, Death and the Devil all have our different powers from the same source, wouldn¡¯t I be able to create another once I truly possess the Furnace? Would I not be able to create a power those two had no hope of resisting? Not only that, once I integrate its power, I could create a second and third Furnace and set it loose upon their realms, forcing it to swallow their realms just like it swallowed two-thirds of mine! Not only that, once they are out of the way, what then could I do? Once all threats removed and the Furnace under my absolute control, I can create worlds, dimensions and new powers! I could turn the magic, which is but a weak extract of using Energy and essentially a ¡®fake¡¯ power, and turn it into true Magic! This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.Not only that, I could create more types of powers! And to all these powers, I could assign people to take control over it, like I have over Energy and the Soul! I would be able to create gods! I¡¯ll be the absolute king of this realm and none will be able to manipulate me ever again! Never again the hatred! Never again the sorrow! Only I will decide what happens to me and everyone else! The future is bright! The future is terrifying! Honestly, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m supposed to have this power. Knowing myself, I will no doubt misuse it in some way, most likely involving a lot of innocents dying. But right now, I couldn¡¯t care less. First, I need to take over the Furnace and destroy Death and the Devil. Only then will I have the freedom to think everything over. The small ball from Creation was still rapidly expanding, so I created a temporary release. Using both Energy and Soul, I connected to it in the same way I used to connect to the grid of Energy and forcefully created two different passageways. One was made from the Soul and connected to the realm of Death. The other was made out of Energy and connected it to the realm of the Devil. Then, I activated the miniature Furnace of Creation to go ahead and create both Energy and Souls, forcing the created powers in its corresponding pathways. I purposefully made sure that both pathways got an equal amount of created power, so the balance would stay between them. No doubt the both of them would think they finally got the decisive edge over each other and were lunging at each other¡¯s throat more vigorously than before, not knowing they were still both equals. I would have laughed, if the way to do this wasn¡¯t so excruciating. Both pathways were made from Energy and Souls who were a part of me, and even though this miniature Furnace is small, it still burned like hell. In fact, it burned more than hell. It burned like someone pouring acid into my heart, which is then pumped into veins all around my body! It was god-awful. The longer I stayed connected to it, the more it began to burn and burn, ever increasing and amplifying the more I send into the pathways. It seemed to crawl everywhere in my existence and burn more powerful with every time it pumped and send power through the pathways. It was as if I didn¡¯t fully seal the pathways and a part of it slipped into my current Soul and body and started to wreak havoc there as well. The ever-increasing waves of pain took away my concentration when I need it the most. If I couldn¡¯t concentrate, how could I ever figure out how Creation works? I quickly began to grow desperate, trying to force myself to focus on the Furnace alone, but with every wave of pain I lost my concentration. How can I do this? Do I need to allow it to swallow me whole? Allow it to grow unrestrained and then investigate it? But if it doesn¡¯t work, not only would I lose the little control I have over it, Emily, Anna and Damien would be swallowed by the growing inferno. I cannot allow that to happen, but how then? Again and again I thought it over, but my mind became more and more clouded the more time passed and threw me into despair. But then, arriving at a time my thought turned to its darkest, relieve miraculously arrived. My whole body seemed to be cleansed from the acid-filled veins and my Soul seemed to washed clean with a feeling of comfort and healing. The only pain I felt was the feeling of hot-lead pouring through the pathways, but it was much more manageable than before. Almost instantly, my mind became clear and allowed me to focus once again. I made a mixture of Energy and Soul and shot it towards the ball of Creation. It felt like I was pushing my hands voluntarily into a fire and made me want to flinch, but I figuratively clenched my teeth and pushed through. To make sure I was not consumed I created a special cycle. Using the mixture of Energy and Soul connected to the mini-Furnace, I forced it to create an additional batch of Energy and Souls. With it, I reinforced the existing connection between me and the small Furnace, allowing it to grow bigger and stronger. Slowly but surely I began to gain ground. The power produced was larger than the power used and the longer this went on, the more advantageous for me. At one point, the connection turned as strong as it could be and was able to withstand the melting-power of the Furnace. I diverted the excess Energy and Souls into me and with it, established a second connection. And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. And on and on it went. The more connections I had, the quicker I could make new ones, forming a cycle continuously making me more and more powerful, until I reached the point I was waiting for. I had hundreds of connections and all of the were stable. Together they formed a huge net over the fist-sized chunk and was connected to its surface without any of them being consumed by the Furnace. It was time to delve deeper. I put the net into the Furnace and forced it to delve deeper inside of it, almost like I was trying to crawl my way into a planet¡¯s core. The pain was¡­ indescribable. It was like wading through a sea of magma, not only being burned and molten alive, but also being crushed to death at the same time. But, it was a continuous pain from a single source, allowing me to push through it deeper and deeper. As soon as my net of connections delved through one layer, I found out that the outer layers of the furnace was simple highly-condensed Souls and Energy, meaning whatever created it lay deeper. Fortunately, this helped me out a great deal. It was such high density that I could replace the connections instantly if needed and also push the net down with force of pressure, allowing it to speed up, albeit slightly. For seemingly hours, if not entire days, I waded through this oppressive and burning field of agony, seemingly not getting any closer. Not only that, I was astounded by how long it took. This furnace was only fist-sized and it already took me this long. How long would it have taken if I had tried to delve out one similar to the original Furnace of Creation? Thankfully I hadn¡¯t chosen that option, or I might have just given up then and there¡­ Then, I suddenly felt something odd. I was delving deeper and deeper when I suddenly sensed a thread different than those of Energy and Souls. Where Energy was purple and Souls were white, this one seemed different. They seemed golden.. I became more enthusiastic, biting through the pain as I forcefully sped up my digging. I connected to these golden threads and took them with me, but I could not understand them yet. There was simply too few of them. But the deeper I went, the more I collected. I knew I was getting closer to the source from where these splinters came. And then, it appeared. A golden ball, hotter than the hottest sun and more powerful than anything I had seen. It was the prize I¡¯ve been looking for. The ultimate prize. And I will claim it! I used the same tactic as when I claimed dominion over the Souls. Using every bit of the power I created on the way to the core, along with the recently created body and Soul I currently inhabit, I connected to it and sensed every single bit of it. Its incredible power had already astounded me, but now, I could feel more. There was something hidden deep within, ripe for the taking. The truth behind Creation was just one step away¡­ Fully connected with everything my being currently possessed, I used the same trick as back then. Slowly but surely, while still being connected to Creation, I let go my old powers while focusing my entire being on the core. I slowly abandoned Energy, allowing it to slip my grasp as I became more in tune with my goal of possessing the Core of Creation. I let go of my Soul, allowing my existence forcefully slip into the Core of Creation if it wanted to survive. It was torture. Whereas with the Soul it felt like being drawn and quartered limb by limb, this was like hooks were attached to everything. It felt like inside my head, my innards, my bones, my muscles, my flesh, my veins, my ears, my nose, my everything and everywhere, hooks were inserted and attached to ropes while being pulled and split open. It was absolute horror, but necessary. The mind always wants to exist and survive whatever was thrown at it, so I forced it to seek integrate the Core of Creation inside its very being, just like Energy and the Soul had become one with me. And, right before all control of Energy and Souls were gone, success arrived, continuing my surprisingly long string of success I got as of late. Instantly, my mind was flooded with power! As simple as moving an arm, I could conjure a new power equalling those already existing! And with another gesture, I could assign a God to rule over this power! It was that easy! I instantly gripped the power over Energy and the Soul again. Even though I got Creation under my command, I¡¯m not willing to let go of these yet. First, I will make every power in existence mine, confirming my absolute rule over everything and anything. Only then will I think about handing power to anyone else. I will decide whose worthy of power and life from now on. No-one will ever again be able to manipulate me! Vengeance and freedom are near! Yes.... Finally..... But for now, let¡¯s rest. It¡¯s one long overdue. Chapter 30: Showing off and Strenghtening borders The excitement cut my rest short. What would''ve normally send me into stasis for millions of years, was now easily dealt with in a couple of hours. How fast things have changed recently. From a pitiful, self-loathing, poor excuse for a living being into what I am now. Once a sad being, now commander of Energy, lord over Souls, and most recently, master of Creation. I stood up from the mattress lying on the floor, no doubt happily grinning as I did. Beside me on the floor lay the thoroughly exhausted Emily, Anna and Damien. It all changed thanks to her. I noticed it while I was trying to handle the Furnace of Creation. In my darkest hour, when despair and loss was close at hand, it was Emily that pulled me out. A healing hand, fixing the not correctly sealed pathways, allowing me the window of opportunity to concentrate and, in the end, absorb the Core and claim mastery over Creation. A reward is in order, and it¡¯ll be the same as what she¡¯s given me. Walking up to her from behind, I crouched down and yanked her cross-shaped tail. A small suppressed yelp and an angry glare later, she stood right in front of me. ¡°Fucker! What was that for?!¡± She hissed, keeping her voice low as to not wake up Damien and Anna. Despite the venomous tone of her voice and the angry glare, I could see, hidden deep within, she was relieved to see me well. Even if I still had any doubts about her joining me by my side, this would¡¯ve cleared them all up. I trust this is the right decision. Without so much as uttering a word, I walked out of the cabin and gestured her to follow me. Although confused, she still followed me. Outside the cabin darkness spread all over the world. The once star-filled sky was not as starry as it once was. Only a couple dozen or so stars still remained to fill the night¡¯s sky. However, even without the stars or a sun, the world was more clear than it could¡¯ve ever been. Everywhere around me, I could with barely any effort ¡®see¡¯ everything through both my power of Energy and Soul. The white Souls of grass was spread all around me and even the air was filled with the Souls of little creatures, allowing me to view the scenery as if it was lit by hundreds of thousands of bright lamps. Not only that, the Energy as well was present everywhere, allowing me to ¡®know¡¯ more than ¡®see¡¯ the shape of everything around me. Every curve of every blade of grass, every grain of mud and sand, and every small pebble or large rock was instantly visible in my mind¡¯s eye. If I wanted to, I could expand this knowledge to contain everything in the universe, but right now, it was not needed. Emily, however, could not see anything while I was walking to the edge of the radius of life. ¡°Acedia? Where are you?¡± She said softly as she stepped outside the cabin¡¯s door, her eyes darting around to spot me. Immediately, I summoned a dozen or so orbs of light with my Energy and formed a path directly leading towards where I stood. She followed the path, looking left and right at the orbs. ¡°What¡¯s going on? You¡¯re acting weird.¡± She said as she arrived next to me. Was I acting weird? I might be. After all, it is not often one would be given his chance for redemption, especially after so many billions of years. ¡°Acting weird, you say? If I am, it is all thanks to you.¡± I said, smiling at her, visible only through the floating orbs besides us. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®thanks to me¡¯? I haven¡¯t done anything.¡± She said apprehensively. ¡°I¡¯ll show you what you¡¯ve done for me.¡± Still smiling, I turned towards the empty wasteland and began. Using the knowledge obtained instantly after absorbing and mastering Creation, I tried producing threads of both Energy and Souls I felt immense heat rising from within me, but it did not feel uncomfortable. I figured it out almost instantly. Whenever I want, wherever I want, as long as I¡¯m mentally present at that place, I could create anything I want! Whether it was in my hand or somewhere high in the sky, somewhere inside the ground or somewhere inside space. I can do whatever I want! Inside my left hand, I created a clear-white ball of Soul-thread, still unoccupied by anything that has a conscious. In my right, I created a purple ball, then condensed it and threw more Energy over it, condensed it once more and so forth, until I created a Black Star the size of a fist, throbbing with a familiar rhythm in my hand. With simply a thought, I created something that required so much power that it once almost broke my mind! A mad smile crept on my face. ¡°This... is what you have given me. This... is my power!¡± Emily POV: For a moment Acedia simply stood still. What did he mean by ¡®showing me¡¯ what I¡¯ve done for him? All I did was return one of the many debts I have. He was the one that saved me from that strange empty realm while constantly harming himself to protect me from that incredible power. And, according to Anna and Damien, he also saved them from a wicked look-alike who set their Souls ablaze. Not only that, if what my children told me was true, he was also the one that made them true and proper mortals, instead of the half-assed, constantly-tortured children I created. And even before that, he rescued me from my own lies and deceit and spared me a life consumed by hatred. And what have I done in return? I used my children to lure him into a trap, ready to destroy him. I blamed all my faults on him. I broke his self-imposed shield of indifference towards the world, knowing fully that this was the only thing that allowed him to deal with this crazy world. The only good thing I¡¯ve done so for him, was the healing I did for the past three days. And this was definitely not enough to settle my debt with him. Not even my life would be enough. And now, he¡¯s saying he wants to reward me? Because of what I did for him? I¡¯d feel to guilty to accept it. Then, without as much as a warning, he looked at his left hand. Within a second, a clearly visible white orb made out of Souls appeared. He then looked at his right hand and, with a flash of purple barely visible for a second, a Black Star appeared. ¡°This... is what you have given me. This.. is my power!¡± His voice had a tone similar to what he had inside the white, empty realm, but it carried with it much, much more force. Out of his hands an enormous amount of threads shot forth into the wilderness. Even though it was already impossible dark outside, the black threads coming out of the Black Star was clearly visible thanks to the bright white light coming off from the threads of Souls. They rushed inside the vast, empty desert like lightning tendrils striking down towards a tree. Then it stopped and gathered somewhere about a kilometre inwards. More and more power was send to the place, heaping up and producing an incredibly loud, low-rumbling sound. ¡°Acedia, what are you planning?!¡± I screamed, trying to overcome the thunderous roars of power coming from the wasteland. As I shifted my gaze from the apocalyptic scene towards Acedia¡¯s face, I was shocked to see him grinning madly. It was the same as back then, when he created the Black Star. He was so absorbed in his power, nothing else seemed to even remotely influence him. However, he still answered. ¡°Why, expanding my realm, of course.¡± His voice was as if the will of the heavens had come down to earth and embodied itself in this means words. Without sounding as if he was shouting, his voice was more powerful, more prominent than any other sound on this world. Suddenly, he let go of the two orbs and they fell down the cliff on which we stood. The desert was now, as far as the eye could see, covered in a black-and-white layer of Energy and Souls, almost like a fog spreading over a field in the early morning. I could see them going underneath the fog and saw them moving deeper inward, visible like two glowing lights underneath the sea. Even the Black Star seemed to give off a strange, black-coloured light. When they were about a kilometre in, at the place the power originally began gathering, they suddenly stopped. The low-rumbling, thunderous sound of the tumultuous power suddenly quieted down. For a small amount of time, the whole world seemed to be holding its breath as the two orbs emerged again from the mist, floating at most ten metres above the massive power-filled desert. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.Even I stopped breathing for a moment, holding my breath and awaiting the next move. Beneath me, the ground began to shake and the same incredible shrieking noise that was heard on the day we escaped was present here, its sound cutting into my eardrums and giving me severe headaches. A moment later, I was blinded by a sudden light. As my eyes stung and I felt hurricane-strength wind trying to push me off the cliff, but I managed to hold on. When I could see again, I was stunned by the sight. Pillars of Energy and Souls had suddenly risen op from everywhere, shining a bright purple-and-white mixture, leaving the compressed black variation of Energy and turning it into the original purple colour of Energy. And it wasn¡¯t just one pillar, there were dozens, if not hundreds of them! All were spread about five kilometres from each other and each gave off the same blinding purple-and-white light. Thanks to the sudden lighting, I found out that what I had been looking at, was just a small part of what was happening around me. Not only was the wasteland in front of me covered in a black/white mist, it actually spread everywhere. As far as the eye could see, the world seemed to be covered in it. Not one patch of sand could be seen, aside from the small, grass-covered, half-eroded mountain we stood on. I looked up into the sky and saw the pillars of Energy and Souls rising higher than the eye could see, penetrating deep into space seemingly without end. ¡°This is the power you¡¯ve given me. And soon, you¡¯ll be able to do the same.¡± His mad grin had turned into a proud smile, while in his eyes there was something that surprised me. Even though he had made it clear, it still came as a surprise. What I saw was sincere gratitude. Acedia POV: My pillars covered they entire planet, numbering in the tens of thousands and all shooting deep into space. Each of these pillars had two orbs; one of Energy and one of Souls. Inside these orbs, I had placed something similar to the Core of Creation and gave them all the task to produce one of the two powers, allowing it to infinitely produce these and fill up my realm. I temporarily closed my eyes and switched my planet-centric view into one that covered my entire realm. I saw the pillars of power shooting through space, tearing through planets of different systems and galaxies until each and every one reached the outer edge of my realm. There, they all begin to split off as if hitting a wall, and slowly travel along the outer net of Energy and Souls. It not only strengthened it, it also began pushing to gain ground, at the cost of the realm of both Death and the Devil. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Screamed the powerful, vile-sounding yet also brat-like voice of Death. ¡°STOP THIS NONSENSE IMMEDIATELY!!¡± The Devil¡¯s sweet and tempting voice had turned into a powerful voice filled with extreme anger unlike I¡¯ve heard before. I could feel the both of them putting the war against each other on a low pitch and focus on absorbing the ever-increasing power of my realm, tearing away at both Energy and the Souls respectively. ¡°Or else what! I have the power here and although I¡¯ve nothing to kill you yet, it is but a matter of time! There is nothing you can do to stop me! Hahahahaha!¡± I yelled back at them. Although my realm was expanding at the cost of theirs, it is not enough to defeat them. They can easily absorb the power I throw at them and, although I do not know for certain since I can¡¯t see outside my own realm and borders, they could expand into the vacuum behind their own realm. At a certain point, probably in the near future, we will reach a momentary stalemate and after that, they could absorb my power and push back. This is but a temporary solution to stop the making of any back-door deals or an alliance between themselves. With this, I could by myself some more time to create something that can kill them. I returned back to my own body, now knowing that the pillars did what they were supposed to day, and turned towards Emily. Apparently, Damien and Anna had also ran out of the cabin as soon as they heard something was happening outside, yet Emily was still not aware. ¡°This is the power you¡¯ve given me. And soon, you¡¯ll be able to do the same.¡± I said grateful from the bottom of my heart and meaning every word I said. If it wasn¡¯t for her, I wouldn¡¯t have been standing here right now. Perhaps I wouldn¡¯t even have been able to discover my ability, since everything that led to this had happened since I met her. From the first unfortunate meeting, to the meeting with Anna and Damien and the trap they led me in. From the trap to the fight with Emily that threw of my self-formed apathy and Anna forcing me to live again. From the fight, to the discovery of the Black Star. which lead to me meeting the Devil and him explaining what I truly am, while later discovering both him and Death were manipulating me. Everything began with her, although she was a result of a much longer and ongoing plot to ruin my life. Thank God Death failed to properly manage her. It will cost him dearly. I looked at Emily, Damien and Anna still staring at me in awe while the torrent of power spawned hurricane like winds. For now, let¡¯s take them away from here. With a simple thought, I transferred us all through the grid of Energy towards a planet far, far away from here, as to not put them in danger. It was a planet devoid of life but still suited enough to support it, if it had access to water. They still stood frozen, staring at me while not knowing what to say. If their mouths hung open in awe, the picture would¡¯ve been complete. I sighed. I¡¯ll probably need to explain some things. Although I won¡¯t make it too long. Emily POV: While my mind was in turmoil, Acedia had teleported me along with Anna and Damien towards another, seemingly abandoned planet. His words still resounded through my mind. This is the power you¡¯ve given me. When? When did I give him such an unholy strength? If I had known, I wouldn¡¯t have given it to them. That man isn¡¯t right in his mind. As soon as he gets a little bit of power, he becomes drunk with power and grins madly. Did he really just summon those doomsday pillars just to show off?! No, I don¡¯t believe it. Even if he isn¡¯t completely sane, he¡¯s still rather smart. Or rather, he¡¯s lived long enough to know better. But he has to have a damn good reason to go that far. However, the second thing he said surprised me even more. And soon, you¡¯ll be able to do the same. How? I previously thought we were the same, both Immortals doomed to wander the earth, hated by all. But now, I¡¯m not so sure. I can¡¯t help but get the feeling he¡¯s ancient, dating from a time so far back, I could hardly imagine it. Not only that, ever since he destroyed my ships, perhaps even since he killed my father or even before that, when he destroyed me in the desert, it seems his power is on a completely different level from mine. ¡°C¡¯mon, I haven¡¯t got all day.¡± He said, faking annoyance. His words shook me awake from my stupor. Clearing my mind, I demanded an explanation. ¡°What the hell was that just now?!¡± I said, feeling rather pissed. Honestly, he¡¯d better come with a good explanation, or else... Well, I don¡¯t know what else, but I¡¯ll figure something out. ¡°Well, Death and the Devil were threatening my realm, so I decided to strengthen my borders a bit with my recently acquired mastery over Creation.¡± He stated matter-of-factly. Death? Devil? His ¡®realm¡¯? Mastery over Creation? If I wasn¡¯t already stunned, I would¡¯ve been right now. I don¡¯t understand a word of what he¡¯s saying. Looking to my sides, I saw Damien and Anna standing equally dumbfounded. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d get that, so let me just show you.¡± He then turned towards Anna and Damien and thought for a second, before continuing. "Let me show all three of you." Chapter 31: A Shared Rule Acedia POV: Instead of verbally explaining, I decided to use her as a guinea pig. It sounds a lot worse than it is, hopefully. ¡°Well, Death and the Devil were threatening my realm, so I decided to strengthen my borders a bit with my recently acquired mastery over Creation.¡± So I gave this incredibly inadequate explanation on purpose. Not that I could explain it even if I tried. After all, ever since the world came to be, I¡¯ve never had anyone to truly talk to, let alone people who¡¯ll listen to what I say. So my conversational skills, aside from voicing my anger or hatred, are severely lacking. And that¡¯s why I decided to use this opportunity to see how I can create other powers, in this case some sort of power to transfer memories. In a way, this could be done via a Soullink, but then I would still need to actively explain it through my mind, although problems with wording would be eliminated. But I just want something that is instantaneous, to explain what happened without needing to put in any effort. As expected, their faces indicated they didn¡¯t have a clue what I was talking about. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d get that, so let me just show you.¡± I said to Emily in a serious tone. I shifted my gaze towards Anna and Damien. Should I just let them know too? Even though they are simple mortals now, they¡¯ve seen many things a mortal would never witness. Besides, I still need to ask them whether they want to be mortals or want to either be like Emily is now, an Immortal, or like me, an existence tied to a specific or multiple different powers, basically a God. I¡¯ll explain it to them too, so they know what it means to choose between mortality, Immortality and Godhood. "Let me show all three of you." I said smilingly to Anna and Damien. I summoned something I already knew how to do; a golden thread of Creation. Both the powers of Energy and Souls consist out of threads; purple for Energy, although the density of Energy could turn it anywhere from invisible to black; and white for Souls, although mending a Soul after damage done to it could lead to various discolourations. So the basis of everything are these golden threads. I made a single strand in my mind and tried figuring out what to do next. When creating the power of Energy or Soul, I could simply imagine it without sparing much effort, since I already own these two powers and know intimately what they are. Creating a new one should be the same; simply imagine what it feels like and the thread of Creation will create it. However, how do you imagine a new power? Energy and Soul have many restrictions placed upon them, like Energy converting into matter when the boundaries are reached, or the Soul attaching itself to matter capable of supporting life. Both these powers are allowing for my realm to exist and work together in synergy, so to make a new power, it should somehow be linked to this world. That was the problem. But thankfully, for this power, it was rather easily fixed. The Soullink already allows for a sort of telepathy, so why not improve upon it? Why not give some, if not all, Souls the power to establish a connection and send a thought or memory through it in its entirety? So, I did. Using the golden thread, I imagined this power, making the golden thread turn into a blue thread, and then connected that single strand among the many other strands that incorporate my Soul. It was the basics of Mind Magic; the power to send thoughts and, if strong enough, impose your will onto others. To try it out, I separated one end of the thread from my Soul and shot the now-disconnected part towards Emily, connecting to her Soul without any resistance. It felt amazing! Even a single thread allowed me to send my memories, thoughts and feelings through it without effort! Can you imagine what I could do if I separated from this Soul and become this newly created Mind Magic? If I created enough threads to connect to everyone, I could make anyone alive turn into my personal puppets! With this, I could counter the instinctive hatred mortals have for me, just like that. What an amazing power, and created so easily too! Although, if the ownership of this power was given to someone else, it would be terrifying... Emily hadn¡¯t noticed it yet, so I gathered my thoughts and memories, and tried to select the necessary ones out of these. If I wanted to, I could instantly let her realise my whole life-story, but to condense 257 billion years into a single thought? It seems like something that could easily break her. Instead, I gathered my memories from the encounter with her look-a-like, the conversation with the Devil, my perspective of the encounter with Death, my ascension and realisation of the Devil¡¯s tricks, and the discovery of the Furnace of Creation along with the way she helped me attain its power. Also, as a bonus, I gave her some knowledge about how Energy, Souls, how other powers work and also some of my plans for the future. Gathering these all, I somehow ¡®pushed¡¯ these through the connecting blue thread of Mind Magic and sent them to Emily. The effect was immediate. Emily POV: One moment, I knew nothing, was confused and lost in the world. Although things have become better lately, that doesn¡¯t mean life is all peachy, no, the opposite is still the case. When I was sixteen I saw my father get killed in front of me and my mother broken beyond repair by some guy who was supposed to be the family¡¯s benefactor. Then, for the next three thousand years, I was first shunned by all and then hated, hunted down for a reason I could not comprehend. I became more and more bitter and eventually began to slaughter those that hunted me and afterwards using their bodies and Souls to create monstrosities. Forever running, forever hiding, forever fighting; such was how I saw the future, and I blamed it all on one man. And then, seemingly from one moment to the next, everyone was gone by some virus that spread around like wildfire. I became alone for the next ten million years, rebuilding the city my mother once made great along with the thousands of mindless servants I created. During this alone time, I blamed everything on him, deceived myself I couldn¡¯t have done anything to better my life and simply wasted away. When he finally resurfaced I confronted him, expecting to find a man so vile, so evil that simply his presence would corrupt the world. What I found, however, was a man like me, except hundreds of thousands of times older than I and much, much more hurt. Even though he had killed my father, I could sympathise with him, though never truly like him. Even just a moment ago, indebted to him for saving the two lives I truly cared about as well as sparing me an eternity in an empty space, I felt very uncomfortable around him. After all, Acedia was both my saviour and my father¡¯s murderer. And now, the next moment, thanks to some strange power he created, everything was laid out before me as clear as day. Two beings; one named ¡®Death¡¯ by him, because he gave an end to life and because he feeds of the Souls freed by death; the other named the ¡®Devil¡¯, because of his beguiling voice, his manipulation of living beings to punch a hole through the network of passive Energy holding this world together, and because of all the lies he told Acedia. Especially Death was to blame. He was the one who created me and gave me Immortality, afterwards setting the stage of my father¡¯s murder, afterwards making me hated by all, which resulted in an inevitable hatred towards Acedia. All my misery ¨C and Acedia¡¯s too ¨C because of one thing: the Furnace of Creation. Both these Gods fighting each other and manipulating everyone for a thing located in the middle of Acedia¡¯s realm. However, they made a mistake and Acedia struck first, consuming two-thirds of existence, sacrificing hundreds of billions of lives to get that small piece of Creation. But, he obtained it, partially thanks to me. He has the power to create what he wants, when he wants and how he wants. He has the power to take revenge and give us our freedom back from this misery. Not just that, he planned to share it. He doesn¡¯t want to become a despot, a tyrannical God like the others, even though he does get absorbed in his powers sometimes. No, he just wants to be released. And gives me the power to be released alongside him. All I have to do is to agree. ¡°Well, what do you think?¡± He smiled a wicked smile, but this time, he didn¡¯t seem as crazy as before. I noticed I had fallen to the ground after getting hit by his created Mind Magic. He was squatting in front of me, staring me right in the eye, with Anna and Damien also staring at me, although with concern instead of anticipation. I gave him the same wicked smile. ¡°Of course, count me in.¡± His smile became brighter and he stood up. ¡°Good! Great! With both of us combined they stand no chance! Hahahahaha!¡± He offered me a hand and I took it, being pulled to my feet and afterwards wiping away the sand on my cloths. ¡°Ermm... what happened?¡± Anna said cautiously with Damien standing by her side. ¡°Ah, right. Almost forgot about you two. Alright, prepare for- no, wait...¡± He turned his gaze from the children towards me. ¡°You know what I want to do, right? What does the mother think?¡± Although he had prepared to give Anna and Damien the same knowledge he had just given me, so they could prepare their decision about mortality, he had now given the choice to me. However, I was not going to change it. ¡°Let them know. They¡¯ve deserved it.¡± They¡¯ve gone through so much already. Despite being so young they¡¯ve gone through and seen much, much more than a child should have to. Giving them this choice is the least I can give them. ¡°Very well. All right you guys, on the count of three.¡± He said, rubbing his hands together and switching into a stance as if he was about to tackle them. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.They looked at each other and braced themselves, ready to receive the same impact I got. They turned towards Acedia and give him an approving nod. ¡°All right, ready? Three.¡± He didn¡¯t even count to three and immediately ¡®attacked¡¯ them with Mind Magic. Their faces paled and they fell backwards, seemingly feeling unwell by the shock they received. ¡°Not giving them time to prepare, just pushing them down the hill huh?¡± I said, watching the children struggle to stay conscious. ¡°Well, after seeing you, I figured it¡¯d be just like skydiving. Push them out of the plane before the count is up.¡± He said, scratching the back of his head in a half-assed embarrassment. Well, I can¡¯t say he doesn¡¯t have a point. It¡¯s not a small thing to receive. After a minute or so, they were fully conscious, although still sitting on the ground. Instead of the feeling of clarity I got, they seemed more confused than ever. Fear, anger, bafflement, uncertainty and many, many other emotions were battling it out within them. ¡°I already gave them the options for the future.¡± He said to me. I see. ¡°Anyways, you guys figure out what you want for your future. No matter what you choose, I will always lo- no, we will always love you.¡± I said to the children. Acedia blushed slightly at the statement, but he didn¡¯t refute it. It was funny to see a God being such a softy. Acedia scraped his throat and started talking. ¡°All right, we¡¯ll be gone for the moment, as you know. We¡¯ll be back in about an hour and until then, quickly decide what you want to do. I¡¯ll need to know as soon as possible.¡± They nodded half-heartedly and looked down at the sand between their legs, confused and uncertain what to do. God, I want to help them, but this is something they¡¯ll have to decide for themselves. He grabbed my arm, placed a shield around me and off we went to our destination. Acedia POV: Within a second, we arrived in front of the giant ball of purple and white. The Furnace of Creation shone as brightly and as powerful as before, perhaps even larger, seeing as most of my realm had ended up inside of it. There was no particular reason to give her the power over Creation here since I could just recreate it with my power, but it seemed to be more fitting to give it here. And besides, Anna and Damien need some time alone to decide what they want. That¡¯s also why I gave them an hour, even though this should be over soon. ¡°So, what do you think? Quite impressive in real life, eh?¡± The shield I cast over her allowed her to be here without instantly being devoured by this thing. Even though we were far away and a vacuum was between us, it was still powerful enough to kill anything near it. The reason I don¡¯t need a shield is because the power of Energy and Soul created here are a part of me as soon as they leave the vacuum, so it was unable to harm me and only strengthen my realm. ¡°So this is the thing Death and the Devil want. Why do you not destroy it?¡± I shrugged. ¡°As long as it¡¯s here, they will fight each other over it, so if I destroy it they will instantly gang up on me. And besides, Souls and Energy is constantly being devoured by them and their realms, so in the long run I would need to build another one anyway, since I don¡¯t plan to completely destroy their realms.¡± What I said seemed to surprise her. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I think life and death is already thoroughly a part of this world and allowing Souls a place to go, perhaps I could create heaven. Or hell for that matter. And when mortals find a way to punch a hole through the net of Energy, I¡¯d rather it be absorbed than it shooting out into the vacuum. Although a bit of Energy probably won¡¯t do anything, who knows?¡± It was a bit paranoid to expect a bit of Energy to cause something bad, but better to be safe than sorry. ¡°How will you manage heaven, hell and the Darkvoid? Don¡¯t you want to experience real life once everything is over?¡± I laughed a little out of embarrassment. I had already made a plan for that, although it might seem a bit laughable. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s because I expect Anna and Damien to become Gods like us and if they do, I will give them these two realms and allow them to manage it. It seems fitting, doesn¡¯t it? Anna with her wings becoming the Angel of Life and Death, and Damien with his horns becoming a demon that devours Energy. Of course, they¡¯ll still be able to come to this realm whenever they want.¡± I quickly added the last part. What will she think? To me it seems like pushing away responsibility, while also playing a strange prank on Damien and Anna. However, she laughed rather loudly, trying to muffle it with her mouth as she did so. ¡°You-you have a strange sense of humour, don¡¯t you.¡± She said, trying to catch her breath. Honestly, she looked rather cute as she laughed, making me feel even more embarrassed than before. ¡°Hahaha...¡± I laughed softly, almost shyly while, once again, scratching the back of my head. For a minute or so, there was an awkward silence between us until I decided to break it. ¡°A-anyway, let¡¯s give you your powers.¡± I said in a rather anti-climactic tone of voice, as if giving someone near-absolute powers was something done every day. She nodded vigorously in response, seemingly relieved that I had broken the silence between us. Conjuring op four strands ¨C white, purple, blue and gold ¨C I made them hover in between us and started explaining. ¡°White is the Soul, purple is Energy, blue is my recently created Mind Magic, and gold is the power of Creation. It will hurt like hell as I try to shift your existence from your Soul into these four powers, but I¡¯ll make it as quick as possible, so you won¡¯t have to suffer as long as I did. Any questions?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Also, I¡¯m going to establish a rule beforehand. If one of us wants to create a power, you need to say it before you create it and share your rule over it with the other. Agreed?¡± She looked at me for a second before asking... ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but I want to share this realm with you and if we suddenly decide to both create and give out power however we please, this place will become a mess. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, because if I didn¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t give you anything at all. I just... don¡¯t want to cause any sort of strife between us. You don¡¯t want that either, right?¡± She seemed to understand and nod in response. ¡°All right, I agree.¡± ¡°Good. Now, let¡¯s get this over with. On the count of three, okay.¡± She seemed to laugh a little, and fully braced herself for immediate impact. ¡°Ready? One.¡± It was a cruel prank, but I just couldn¡¯t let the chance slip. She looked confused, but before she could say anything, I send these two threads right into her Soul. They were immediately all attached and I began ripping into her. Taking control over her Soul and the Energy inside it, I quickly but gradually separated them ¨C although not fully, just like with me ¨C, leaving only the four strings connected to each other and a barely connected Soul and Energy floating around it. A horrible scream arose from her mouth for just a second, but the thinner the connection with the Soul and the Energy, the less control she has over her body, eventually making her body fall unconscious. However, her mind should be fully active still. Since I hadn¡¯t seen it from the outside, I didn¡¯t know what to expect, so I simply waited, praying it worked. I saw the four interwoven threads suddenly tremble, and then disappear without a trace. Immediately, I left my body and controlled the now supposedly shared realm. ¡°Emily?¡± I asked cautiously. ¡°Fucker! That prank was not funny! And my God, did that hurt!¡± Strangely enough, even though we both had control over the same powers, there was seemingly no discomfort. In fact, I could sense that there were two distinct people here, ruling over the same realm. I had been very unsure as to what would happen, even expecting the realm to simply split into two distinct parts, but it seemed it allowed multiple owners. What a relief. Both that it worked and that there were no horrible consequences. ¡°Alright, Emily, try to go back into your body and Soul again or else we might have to talk to those two bastards again, and I don¡¯t feel the need to do so. You should know how to, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I could sense a person ¡®leaving¡¯ the omnipotent God-like state and I did the same, returning to my own body and Soul. Looking directly at her, I saw her face flushed red and heard her breathing heavily, all the while having a big, almost insane smile on her face while she looked at both of her hands, as if all the power was stored in there. ¡°Feels good, right?¡± While still hunched forward, she shifted her gaze from her hands to me. ¡°Feels good?! It feels fucking great! No wonder you get drunk with this amount of power, no wonder those two Gods want this feeling! Holy shit, I feel like I could do anything!¡± I returned a similar smile, understanding fully what she meant. With this, freedom and revenge is just a small step away. I could already taste its sweetness! -------------------------------------------------------- The end is nigh! At least, for the fifth arc and first "book". Next chapter will be the finisher. Hope you enjoyed! P.S: at the switch towards the second Acedia POV, I had the POV of Acedia and Emily switched up half-way and had to correct it all, so if you see any traces of it, let me know and I''ll fix it ASAP! Chapter 32: Sweet Victory Edit: Merry Christmas everyone! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Emily POV: For the remaining time, we planned our offensive, and the plan we came up with, were as full-proof as plans could get. In fact, I could already say victory was secure, but that doesn¡¯t mean that victory will be easy. The plan is simple. After we visit Anna and Damien, we¡¯ll take direct control of all our powers and attack them, with me focusing on Death and Acedia focusing on the Devil. Since we can¡¯t kill them outright, because their powers sustain their existence, we¡¯ll need to use our powers to push them around a bit and, when the opportunity presents itself, cut off a small proportion of their power, allowing us to analyse it and create a power that is capable of destroying theirs. And no matter what they do, the will always lose in the end. If they go on full offensive ¨C most likely Death¡¯s tactic, since he is not the brightest and rather rash ¨Ctrying to cut through our realm and forcefully acquire the power of Creation, they¡¯ll be severely weakened and so allow us to easily cut off a thread of their power. If they go full defensive ¨C most likely the Devil¡¯s choice, since he¡¯s smart and sly enough to not attack and wait until opportunity presents itself ¨C they¡¯ll be able to hold out against us because of the differing volume of power. However, we are constantly being supplied with Energy and Souls by both the Furnace of Creation and by Acedia¡¯s pillars on our previous planet, allowing us to, in time, completely envelop their realm in our power and forcefully tear of a thread of their power. There is nothing they could do. Even if they are somehow able to push through to the Furnace of Creation without us being able to destroy them, we could, with but a simple thought, make the Furnace and the Core of Creation disappear. There is even no reason to care about what their power actually is, since the only way to kill one of us would be to destroy the other¡¯s power completely. And there is no way one of them has a power even remotely similar to that, since they would have been able to use it on Acedia ages ago and already have the power of Creation. Victory is assured. It is merely matter of time. ¡°Shall we go back?¡± Acedia asked. An hour should have passed by now. ¡°Let¡¯s.¡± Simultaneously, we transported ourselves away from the Furnace and back towards the deserted planet, appearing right in front of Damien and Anna. They jumped to their feet at our sudden appearance, but sat down again as soon as they saw it was us. I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, Acedia spoke. ¡°So? What have you decided?¡± Their faces twisted slightly at the question. It was obvious they were still unsure of what to do and very uncertain about the future. But although they were uncertain about their decision, I could feel they had reached at least reached one. As is always the case, Anna took the word. I crossed my fingers and wished their choice is what I hoped it was. ¡°W-we want to become like you.¡± She said slightly awkwardly, which was understandable, since, after all, this was like a mortal asking to become a God. Damien, too, was awkwardly looking down at the ground. I sighed with relief while beside me, Acedia laughed with joy. ¡°Hahaha! Great! With this we can enjoy eternity together! I can already imagine it!¡± Spending eternity together with my little angel and demon, ruling over this realm together forever! What a wonderful future! But first we need to make a rip-off of Death¡¯s and the Devil¡¯s power and get them out of the way before we could give it to them. And then, the Angel of Death and Demon of Destruction will exist beside us. When Damien and Anna heard Acedia laughing and saw me smiling, their worries seemed to melt away and happy smiles appeared on their faces. Acedia demanded attention once again. ¡°Great, but we¡¯ll need to get your powers first. This might take a while, so¡­¡± He waved his hand a little and I felt the Energy around us beginning to gather around Damien and Anna, making a sort of aura around them constantly providing them with everything needed to life, even if it was for a long amount of time. ¡°¡­With this you should be able to hold out for a while. We¡¯ll come back as soon as we can, okay?¡± However, Damien and Anna still looked worried. Thanks to Acedia¡¯s Mind Magic, they knew they were to get the powers of Death and the Devil, and also knew we needed to fight them. Before they could say anything, I answered their silent question. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have a perfect plan. They can¡¯t do anything against us! So you don¡¯t have to worry now, alright?.¡± I said confidently and standing in an overly dramatic heroic pose. I saw their worries fade and trust replaced it. ¡°Okay!¡± Anna said seriously, confident that we would succeed. Damien nodded in conformation with the same look. ¡°See you soon!¡± Acedia said, his body and Soul disappearing into the ether. I did the same and the both of us entered our God-like state, grabbing control over our powers and our realm, ready to fight for our freedom and take our revenge! ¡°Re-¡°ady? Before Acedia could finish, we were interrupted. ¡°So, you¡¯ve finally come, huh? Let¡¯s get to it then!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll send all of you to oblivion!¡± They¡¯d been awaiting us and immediately made their move. Death began his offenive immediately and gathered his power to cleave through our realm. The Devil as well began pushing the boundaries of his realm further, however he kept himself spread out, taking a much more defensive approach. Although the sudden cooperation of our enemies and the need to switch my mind-set into combat mode caught me off guard a little, it was thanks to our planning I recovered just as quick. Without sparing a word to each other, Acedia took the power over Souls to halt the Devil¡¯s slow-yet-oppressive advance, while I took the Energy to focus on the blitzkrieg of Death. While he was busy spearheading his way towards the Furnace, I gathered around y power and made the network of Energy thicker and thicker making the entire Energy barricade turn black. Gradually, his advance began to slow down. However, I could not completely stop it. ¡°Ha! Thanks to the Darkvoid bastard I know what you¡¯re planning to do, and you won¡¯t stop me!¡± With increased effort Death forced his way through the thick Energy like cavalry would through lines of infantry. However, even though I could not strengthen it enough to stop him completely, it would take a long time before Death would actually reach the Furnace While he was racing towards it, I kept my head cool and began gathering more Energy and transformed them into harpoons behind him. Although he was not entirely inside our realm, which was impossible with the vast difference between our size in accumulated, he was dug in well enough in to use his surface area against him. With enormous force I launched the ten-thousand strong, thick black harpoons at the sides of the wedge-shape of Death¡¯s realm. It hit him squarely from all sides, but they were not powerful enough, causing it to bounce off of it like it was made out of rubber. ¡°It¡¯s useless! Your strength is just too little!¡± He taunted. He kept pushing forward, yet was still much too far away from the Furnace for me to panic. I tried again. This time, I gathered I gathered billions of small, needle-like arrows and began surrounding Death with them. Very slowly I began to try forcefully push them inside Death¡¯s being, yet he simple made small gaps to allow them to pass through. ¡°Hahahaha! Is this all you can do with your power?! You do need DESERVE to have it! Only I. AM. WORTHY! HAHAHAHA!¡± He began to become full of himself, not knowing it was my intention for him to ¡®swallow¡¯ the needles. Really, how stupid can one be to allow something outside of his control into his body? Even if they¡¯re small needles, they¡¯re still made out of a large amount of Energy. It was almost too easy. The billions of black needles made out of compressed Energy now spread out everywhere inside him, I simply allowed them to expand. ¡°What is this?!¡± He sensed it like one would sense a stomach filling up. Everywhere inside of him Energy began to rapidly expand, giving him but two option. Let them truly inside his realm, or create larger holes to cover for the rapid expansion. Either way, I had already won. He chose option two, trying to evade the growing Energy, forcing him to split the part of him inside our realm up in many tiny pieces. The Energy was now fully expanded and Death¡¯s wedge had been divided into hundreds of thousands of little pieces, all trying to find their way back to each other. But, I didn¡¯t allow it. Concentrating on the area around these little bubbles, I created spheres of Energy to surround a couple of them and thus, separate them from the entirety of Death¡¯s realm, although not his control. Focusing on these dozen or so now-isolated little bubbles, I created a hundred drill-like constructs around each of them and began drilling through my own shields and afterwards, through the little bubbles. ¡°YOU BITCH!!¡± He tried to make his separated powers evade the drills and gather them to make himself whole, but my should were too strong to force through and my drills to any. I decreased the size of my shields, pressuring the bubbles of Death together so they could not escape. Death began attacking the isolated spheres with all his powers, but only managed to pop three of them while the drills began to inch ever closer. ¡°No¡­!¡± The drills began to inch ever closer to the power of Death and tried to forcefully break into Death¡¯s realm, until one finally managed to break into it. I expanded it and grabbed one of the threads inside Death¡¯s realm. Immediately, I created a power allowing me to analyse it, placed it inside a strand, connecting it to some strand of Energy and send it towards the thread of Death¡¯s power. ¡°NOOOOOO!!!¡± Death futilely began to attack and destroy the Energy, but his power could only absorb Souls. It arrived and I analysed it with the newly created power. His power was that of a parasite. Created during the beginning of existence, it had been placed outside of the realm yet connected to every Soul, forcing the owner¡¯s mind to slowly wither over time and allow them to die. When they died, he pulled undetectable string connected to the Soul, made it collapse inward which created a sort of ¡®wormhole¡¯ to his own realm, where Death could devour it and grow stronger. However, not only does it allow for life to end, it also gave him a connection to the mind locked inside a Soul, allowing him to influence them in many ways, for example making everyone hate Acedia and I. I felt my anger rise and immediately created a thread containing a power only able to devour Death¡¯s power, almost like a key that could fit in only one lock. With the power of Creation, I made many spheres of them and forced them to multiply a thousand times every millisecond, soon having a giant arsenal of power capable of killing Death. ¡°W-wait, we could talk! Please, we ca-¡± Before allowing him to finish, I threw the spheres towards every bit of his power, forcing them to explode and infect many areas. A horrifying scream resounded as it ate away at every bit of him while he tried to escape, but it was useless. It was too many, ate to quickly and the more it was fed, the quicker it grew. It took three seconds ¨C just three seconds! ¨C to make the horrific screams end and thus, end Death¡¯s existence. What a fool he had been. ¡°I¡¯m done here, I¡¯m joining you!¡± I said, shifting my focus on the fight between Acedia and the Devil. Acedia POV: This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The entirety of Emily¡¯s fight, nothing had happened. The Devil kept his power spread out, fiercely pushing forward from every direction while also allowing nothing to penetrate his defences, hardening when attacked with a more piercing attack-style and softening when attacked with a more blunt attack. Even when I attacked with both blunt and piercing attacks along with everything in between, while also switching between big, medium and small amounts of Soul, he kept track of it all. ¡°How is it going?!¡± Emily said, joining the attack with pressure-based piercing and almost explosive-like attacks, forcing the Devil to defend against an increasing variety of attacks. However, he kept holding up. ¡°Indefinite stalemate!¡± I said back, unnecessarily shouting because of exertion. Although I say indefinite, there was definitely an end to it. While we are firmly pressuring, we keep his source of food away from him while our powers were constantly being fed. In time, we would have enough power to force even him to collapse under the pressure. However, the Devil knew that, yet still continued prolonging this futile battle. ¡°Just give up, Devil! Your struggle is in vain and your Era has come to an end! Why persist when you¡¯ve already lost?!¡± I¡¯ve been saying similar things all throughout this battle, yet he never responded. Until now. ¡°Good, Good! Both of you are present now! Let us end this here and now! Hahahahahaha!¡± His voice resounded throughout the battlefront, the content of it sending shivers down my non-existent spine. Unless he¡¯s surrendering, there is no way he could end this battle. Then why? Why do I shiver in fear by his words? ¡°You are right, my struggle is in vain and my life is forfeit. There is no way to defeat you and claim all of Creation for my own. My dreams are ruined, all thanks to you two.¡± His voice sounded eerily quiet, much too quiet for such a battle. Even though he just admitted his ambitions are done for, there was a strange glee to his voice. Truly worthy of the Devil himself. ¡°Then surrender now and I might kill you softly!¡± Emily shouted. But, he ignored her. ¡°I had realised this the moment you attained its power. Once one person has power over Creation, only by his or her will are others able to acquire it. So, naturally, I shifted my desires¡­ elsewhere.¡± He laughed softly and the same disgusting smile as I had during our first talk popped up in my mind. He was certain of something. Certain that his plan had already succeeded. But, what was this new ambition of his? ¡°Now, imagine it: a knife at the throat and the enemy out for blood, slowly pushing the edge deeper and deeper into the flesh to savour the moment. Or perhaps more like this: the enemy invading your castle and unable to escape, the besieged lord¡¯s life is as good as gone. What would you do?¡± The Devil said playfully. An easy question. Do as much harm as possible. At least take something of their with them to the grave. ¡°Hahahahaha! You two suit each other, coming up with the same answer. Indeed, hurt your enemy any way you could, since your life¡¯s over anyway. However, as you¡¯ve seen the moron from the Whitevoid do, when you have a knife at your throat, there is little you can do.¡± Even outside his realm, he¡¯s able to read minds?! What power does he have? And is Death the man with the knife at his throat? So logically, he is the castle lord? ¡°But the man with the knife at his throat was a moron! An idiot beyond reprieve!¡± He spat these words out with such hostility, it was a wonder they had even been allies just moments ago. ¡°However, the castle lord is much, much more intelligent. He has long watched his future enemy slowly growing in power and knew that, one day, the enemy will be at their doorstep, either as potential ally, or greatest foe.¡± He giggled slightly as he arrogantly praised himself. ¡°So naturally, the lord prepared for BOTH!¡± These words gave a pressure unable to be described into words. ¡°Oh, I can already picture you sweating Acedia, but let me finish the story first. Then one day, when the castle lord was watching the potential threat¡¯s every move, he suddenly appeared in front of the lord¡¯s very own castle.¡± This was obviously refereeing to our first proper meeting. But where is he going with this? ¡°And funnily enough, with him, he brought¡­ his family!¡± He shouted the last words with a mad joy, as if a psychopath just killed his hardest prey and laughed with insanity. ¡°With¡­ My¡­ Family?¡± I could only stutter these words, knowing precisely what he meant. Damien and Anna were with me the first time we met. ¡°YOU BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO?!¡± Emily, having shared my memories of the event with her, caught on as quickly as me and was filled with rage. ¡°AHAHAHAHAHA! WHAT ANY GOOD LORD WOULD DO, OF COURSE! SLIP A SMALL DOSE OF POISON IN THE CHILDREN¡¯S MINDS!! AHAHAHAHA!¡± An indescribable fear went through me, conjuring up hundreds of thousands of scenes of Anna and Damien dying in the most horrible ways. ¡°NOOOOOOOOOO!¡± Emily shrieked in despair as her mind, too, was filled with dread at the sight. ¡°YES! IT IS ALREADY DONE, HAHAHAHA!¡± Both Emily and I immediately began scouring through the net of Energy, going as quickly towards the planet with Anna and Damien as possible. Yet as our focus shifted, with only myself still keeping the barrier protecting against the Devil¡¯s advance active, we saw we were too late. On the blood-soaked sand they lay there silently, eyes widened in fear and pain as their hand, undoubtedly beyond their control, had slit their own throats with knifes conjured up by their own Energy. Even their Souls were already missing, meaning they died even before Death was killed. There was no chance for us to resurrect them, even with this omnipotent power of Creation. If we tried, they simply wouldn¡¯t be the same. They would merely be a hollow shell mirroring our memories, only a reminder of what could have been. Why did they have to die? Why didn¡¯t we protect them? We could have easily given them shared Godhood over a power we didn¡¯t use, like Mind Magic. Then they wouldn¡¯t have been killed even if it was by their own hands. But no, we were to certain of our plans To certain of our victory. So sure that the freedom and revenge I sought for 257 billion years would be solved as easily as that, without any price to pay except the pain already suffered. And now, because of our own negligence they are dead. Dead by a foe we thought easily defeated. ¡°HAHAHAHA! THIS IS THE GREATEST! MUCH BETTER THAN ALL CREATION COULD HAVE GIVEN ME!¡± The Devil¡¯s words resounded, echoing my mind closer and closer towards insanity. ¡°TELL ME, HOW DOES VICTORY FEEL?! DOES IT TASTE SWEET?! IS THE TASTE AS SWEET AS THE TASTE OF MY DEFEAT?!¡± As he was taunting, memories flashed through my mind. Everything, from the first meeting, towards the day with the nightmares, to the trap laid by Emily and their consoling afterwards, steering me away from stasis. Their laugh, their smiles, their happiness and their sorrow, all flooded through my mind in an unending stream of conflicting emotions. And beside me, ruling over this realm along with me, was someone who took it much, much harder. Her anger send tremors through the entire network of Energy and into every Soul, even by those inhabited with the living. Everything was breaking apart, every galaxy, every sun and every living being. All was dying as incomparable sorrow took over Emily¡¯s mind. I felt I should do something. Something to console her, something to cheer her up. But, I was frozen. There was nothing I could do, even if I tried. Suddenly, deep within, in the middle of our realm, the Furnace of Creation trembled. Inside of it, I felt a power unlike any I¡¯ve ever felt before consuming the Core from within. I quickly captured a thread before the power would be too strong to easily do so, and, with some effort, attached it to my being like I did with the others. It was a very simple power. There was no law behind it, no reasoning for what it did, no special conditions or effects and not aimed at particularly anything. It merely did what it was created to do: devour everything that was not its master. If I hadn¡¯t quickly captured it, I would¡¯ve been swallowed as well undoubtedly. ¡°THIS IS GREAT! DESTROY IT ALL! BURN IT DOWN! NOTHING MATTERS ANYMORE! YOUR FREEDOM, NOW WITHOUT REASON! YOUR REVENGE, WITHOUT MEANING! MY DEATH, A HOLLOW VICTORY! HAHAHA! HAHAHA! AAAHAHAAHAA! AAAAAAAAAH!¡± As the power swallowed everything indiscriminately, his howling laughter filled with madness quickly changed into screams of agony. Within minutes, everything was gone. Nothing living, nothing dead, nothing lifeless, nothing existed anymore. Only we existed, carrying with us the power of Creation and the power to Devour. The Energy, the Souls and even the Mind Magic was gone. There was only the vast blackness of vacuum present wherever we looked. It was hard to tell, but we must have been ¡®looking¡¯ at each other for hours, until Emily finally decided to say just one word. ¡°Goodbye.¡± There was no power behind it. No emotion. No life. The words felt just as hallow as everything else around us. I could have tried stopping her. Said we can get through this together. Saying we could recreate the world together and let it be everything we dreamed off. But it wouldn¡¯t mean anything. Just empty words, like everything else around me. For a second, she stayed behind to see if I would say anything. But I felt just as dead as she was inside. Without saying another word, she disappeared far, far into the vacuum, taking her part of Creation with her and leaving me with my own. We won¡¯t meet again. It would just conjure up the past. Separation is the right choice. How does your victory feel? Does it taste sweet? Is the taste as sweet, as the taste of my defeat? No. It¡¯s bitter. It¡¯s not even bittersweet. It¡¯s just¡­ bitter. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Alright, the end of the first... what do you call it? Book? Series? Volume? Overarching story line? End of the first Act? Well, it''s the end of the fifth arc and the first whateveryouwannacallit. If you have any comments, criticisms, thoughts, questions, threats, blackmail or anything else, please leave it all in the comments below. They are very much appreciated. Especially concerning readability, I want to hear your thoughts. As a non-native English speaker, I want to know if my story was readable enough for people who always read in English. So, yeah... Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and looking forward to see you again in the future! Chapter 33: Marcus Welcome to the second series! Same protagonist, different setting! Hope your Christmas was as joyous as mine! Enjoy the new beginning! --------------------------------------------------------- I took a sip from my bottle and felt the alcohol burn down my throat. This was the moment everything I¡¯ve done the past twenty billion years is proven. Down below a couple kilometres away from the mountain my latest body and Soul sat were two armies perched against each other. One was the remnants of an old empire, one long past its glory in terms of might yet still with a fairly professional army consisting of many Mages and body enhancers, called Fighters. Although their knowledge and power had deteriorated vastly compared to their golden age, they were no push-overs. The other side was a coalition of petty kingdoms, merchant republics and religious orders hell-bent on destroying and conquering the lands of the decadent and ¡®heathen¡¯ empire. Their army consisted of many man without any form of special powers, instead their countries had grown the ¡®traditional¡¯ way of advancing their technology. They were at the age of gunpowder with an army of line infantry, cannons and dragoons. In terms of development, either the way of technology or of Magic and similar, they should be about at the same stage. That is why I picked them as my test-subjects. If every Law and power I¡¯ve created works as intended, neither of them should be able to utterly and completely overwhelm the other. Unless the balance between technology and Magic was somehow imperfect, this would be an incredibly bloody, drawn out battle. The fact that these two sides were on the same planet, which was very rare, made it the perfect place to test out if my very very very very hard hard hard work paid off. There were about a hundred thousand men together on the battlefield. I expect half of them to die and the result to be either a pyrrhic victory or a draw between the two. The artillery, placed upon a strategically located hill on the battlefield, of the coalition resounded the start of the fight. Dozens and dozens of explosive shells were fired at the empire¡¯s army. In response, their Mages skilled in Barrier Magic created many bubble-shaped shields to try and ward them off. Half of those hit by artillery collapsed and resulted in hundreds of deaths-by-shrapnel. However, the other half stood firmly and resisted both explosion and the shrapnel. The empire responded in full. Their Mages capable of long-distance spells, be it Fire, Water, Lightning or any other form of Magic, fired a similar barrage of carnage. Although the coalition¡¯s side had no defences whatsoever to speak off, all of the spells successfully infiltrated their ranks and caused deaths. But because all these spells lacked the explosiveness and impact of artillery shells, the death toll was about the same on both sides. While I took another shot of gin both armies continued firing on each other while slowly closing in on each other. Cavalry took the flanks while infantry marched towards each other on either side. Eventually the manoeuvres of the cavalry of both sides caused them to meet and fight. The result was as expected. Obliteration of the empire¡¯s cavalry. Because the dragoons from the coalition could fire from horseback relatively easy compared to the horseback Mages and bowmen of the empire, they had a definite advantage as long as they kept running away and adopt a harass tactic. It took a while but eventually the empire¡¯s cavalry was scattered But they were around long enough to allow their infantry to close in on each other. There too, the result was as predicted. At first the line infantry held an advantage. Although the enemies had a couple of bowmen to fire at the line, they were at the edge of their firing range while the muskets were perfectly capable of killing the empire¡¯s men. As long as the distance was kept, the coalition had the absolute advantage in fire-power even while being hit by both bowmen and long-range spells. But because their cavalry was kept busy for too long by the empire¡¯s horsemen, the distance couldn¡¯t be kept. Feeling no pressure from either flank, the empire¡¯s Fighters bravely charged through the volleys of lead and the thunder of artillery shells and soon reached the line. Even though the infantry had fixed bayonets, the Fighters were masters of weaponry. The coalition¡¯s infantry didn¡¯t stand a chance. However, the cavalry had arrived just before the line broke and charged in the empire¡¯s backs, devastating the Fighters. But since the cavalry of the coalition had been forced to charge into the ongoing fight, the scattered horsemen of the empire had the chance to regroup and join the fray once more, turning the fight again to their favour, but not after sustaining heavy losses. The battle lasted for a couple of hours until both sides were forced to retreat. During the retreat the Mages and artillery were constantly firing at each other, creating even more casualties on both sides. When both sides had fully retreated, the ranged attacks ceased and the battle was finished. I took another mouthful of burning alcohol and, leaving my body temporarily, scouted the abandoned battlefield through my rule over Energy and the Soul. In one day there had been about five thousand deaths on both sides; a tenth of the total. The Souls of the dead left their bodies and I followed them as they went back to the new Furnace of Creation. It was something I had changed compared to the previous world. No realm like the one of Death was present here. Souls now return to the Furnace to be send out once more and reincarnated in another body. I also changed added a Law to Energy so there won¡¯t be a need for a realm like that of the Devil. No-one except me had the ability to ever wield Energy, be it through technology or otherwise. All Energy was under my control for eternity, allowing no leakage whatsoever outside of my realm. Everything in my realm worked like a well-oiled machine, already much better than the previous world with its holes and capability of outside forces to influence it. I continued watching the battle for the following week-and-a-half, during which only three encounters became serious. While drinking bottle after bottle of alcohol to make spectacle seem less gruesome, I watched thousands upon thousands died. In the end, the coalition ¡®won¡¯, albeit a more tactical victory rather than a true victory. From the sixty thousand they had brought to the battlefield, more than forty thousand had died compared to the fifteen thousand of the forty-thousand strong Empire¡¯s forces. This may seem like a loss, since the empire lost more than half the men the coalition had lost, but this was because of an event I had anticipated, though not expected. The emperor ¨C and his sons ¨C at the head of the Empire¡¯s forces joined the last encounter. The emperor and his sons were capable of Magic invented in the past of the empire and also were tremendous Fighter. He was the one that turned the tide of battle in favour of the empire, slaughtering hundreds by his hands alone, which inspired incredible confidence in the empire¡¯s soldiers and demoralized their enemies, resulting in the overwhelming loses of the coalition. So, how did the coalition ¡®won¡¯ the battle? The emperor lay dead and so did their sons. The vast knowledge of the ancients were lost, never to return. Whereas the coalition could simply rebuild their forces and try again, the empire was doomed to collapse and their Magic soon to dwindle and perhaps even be lost forever. In other words: the empire won the battle and temporarily stopped the invasion. The coalition won the war and doomed the empire to die, never to return. The balance between Magic and more traditional sources of power was near perfect. I had already made sure that overall development in society ¨C in political or economical sense, for example ¨C and was satisfied there as well in the established balance. After running about two million of these sort of tests in the past twenty billion years of work I was finally done. Stolen novel; please report. My realm is complete. I finished the nineteenth bottle of gin ever since I came here and once again, just like the other days, dispelled its alcoholic effects. The buzzing feeling immediately disappeared as did the nausea and instead, my usual depression set in. Twenty billion years of hard work was now done, but I felt no happiness, no joy to see it completed. It was only there to make sure that I would not fall back into the cycle of depression I once suffered through, and now that it is completed, nothing is holding it back. Even though I say nothing is holding it back, that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll fall into a pitiful state of being. I had left most of it behind me after ten billion years of losing them, when I was still alone in this universe, working hard to prepare for my realm to be capable of supporting basic and more advanced life. During that time I sometimes went into a random frenzy caused by guilt, anger and bordering near insanity. There weren¡¯t any living things at the time, so I rampaged all I wanted until my regret slowly but surely became less and less. After letting it all out repeatedly, over and over again, I became a much more stable person than ever before. Sure, I still held regret. Lots and lots of regret. Why didn¡¯t I give them Immortality before I left? Why didn¡¯t I give them a temporary power to rule over? Why didn¡¯t I place protection around them, give them a shield, give them bodyguards or simply knocked them unconscious? Why didn¡¯t I take into account the unknown power of my foes? Why was I so overconfident? Why, why, why, why, why, why and many, many more unanswered questions and regrets. It was something so easily prevented I didn¡¯t spare any effort to actually prevent it. I was too overconfident that nothing could ever harm me anymore, that the future was bright, victory was assured and freedom was destined to be mine. That is my regret, and it became a part of me ever since. It¡¯ll probably influence me more than anything that ever happened to me and stay with me for eternity, turning me into a self-conscious sombre person. Which is much better than the agonizing state of being I had been in previously. But if I could turn it all back and do it over, I would. Unfortunately, even with all the power the world has to offer, I cannot. Even if I make time into an actual, traversable power instead of a construct of the mind, I¡¯d still not be able to get back to the past. That world is gone now. Permanently. I threw away the bottle and teleported away ¨C a new and personal power, replacing the traditional Energy bridge ¨C and arrived in an alleyway near the tavern I¡¯ve hung out in for the past decade or so. Even though it was in the middle of the night ¨C about 2 a.m. ¨C and the alley was steeped in darkness, the city itself was brightly lit by lamps filled with an orb of light, created under the system for Light Magic. I stepped out of the alley and unto the main road. I followed it for about five minutes, sometimes coming across guards patrolling to make sure curfew is being kept ¨C of which I¡¯m thankfully exempted ¨C gave them a little greeting and continued until I arrived at my temporary home. Opening the door, the local patrons ¨C all drunkards considering the time ¨C stared at me for a second before returning to their cups, most giving me an acknowledging nod or raising their cups before drinking again. I walked towards the bar where the owner ¨C a big, burly, bald man of about forty years of age ¨C stood there, watching me approach while preparing a large tankard of beer for me. After consuming large amounts of gin the past few weeks, beer was a welcome addition. Every day of mine was filled with drinking. A tell-tale sign of a man with regret, just like all the drunkards around me. ¡°Once again, thanks for doing what you do Marcus.¡± I ¨C now named Marcus since Acedia was a name reminding me of too many deaths, both Damien, Anna¡¯s as well as my wife¡¯s ¨C had been hired by the city for ten years to keep away all bandits and thugs from the city. Before I came here, the city had been filled with criminals and surrounded by bandits. The position not only allowed me to walk the city at night whenever I please, it also allowed me to leave for periods of time without arousing suspicion. Since, thanks to my absolute power, I can easily figure out who the evil-doers are and kill them or hand them to the guards without much effort, this job was a perfect cover. Ever since I made a grand sweep throughout the city and its surroundings just a few weeks after my arrival, I also became one of the most respected man in the city. Even the drunkards acknowledge my deeds, let alone the guards and the law-abiding, God-fearing citizens. I took the mug from Ralf, the owner. ¡°It wasn¡¯t much, really.¡± I said, drinking my beer. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone for longer than a week now. You, who swept this shit-hole of a city clean within a month, needed a week to take care of the trash. They must¡¯ve been quite something, eh?¡± ¡°Nah, just a couple of bandits.¡± I didn¡¯t leave at random without a good alibi. There were about a hundred of them, raiders ready to enter the city at night and ransack it before the guards could even respond. I slaughtered them the first day I left and the rest was spent watching the battle. ¡°Ha! A couple of bandits for you means an army of them to me!¡± He laughed and began preparing another beer for me. I finished mine and accepted the next. ¡°You do know how grateful we are, right. All of us. Without you, my wife and daughters would still be shivering in fear every time they went shopping or so much as left our home. We can¡¯t thank you enough. Am I right guys!¡± He shouted the last sentence towards his patrons. ¡°Here, here!¡± I heard about five of them returning, the others already in a drunken slumber and unable to respond. I grinned a little hearing these people praise me and quickly finished my beer, fishing a silver coin from my pouch and placing it on the table. ¡°I¡¯m tired. Don¡¯t drink too much and cause trouble now, okay?¡± The men grumbled incoherently as response. I stood up and planned to go upstairs to my room, yet was caught by the arm by Ralf, holding up the silver coin and placing it firmly in my hand. It was the usual routine. ¡°You know you don¡¯t have to pay for it. Just accept it as a token of my gratitude.¡± He always tries this, but I won¡¯t accept it. I barely do anything and can create money out of the blue. I really don¡¯t need anything, so I placed the silver coin back on the table. ¡°I¡¯ve got enough money already. And besides, the last job is sure to pay very well.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± He started, but I won¡¯t allow it. ¡°Just accept it, or else I might get angry.¡± I said, faking seriousness while still being stubborn about it. He finally accepted the coin. ¡°Thank you again. Sleep well.¡± Without a word, I went upstairs, opened the door without bothering to get the key and locked it with a mere thought. Feeling the quick consumption of two large tankards filled with the best beer in the city suddenly affecting me, I threw myself on the bed and promptly went to sleep. Even though I¡¯ve got too many regrets to count and even though I¡¯m clearly an alcoholic, it all felt very liberating. This was my hard-earned freedom, achieved after 257 billion years of hell and 20 billion years of work. It was sacrifice by both me and those I care about to finally arrive at this point. Finally, the bitter victory, at last, felt bittersweet. For the first time, I truly felt a sense of achievement and acceptance. --------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want, let me know what you think about the Acedia turned Marcus below. I''d really appreciate your thoughts, even if you hate the change. Chapter 34: A Change in Plans I woke up with aching muscles and covered in sweat. Although I still only wake up after a nightmare, much like before, they have become much less punishing. I wake up without remembering what they were about and I rarely scream in my sleep anymore. However, this may also simply be because I have a normal mortal body and Soul right now, one capable of getting tired (as long as I don¡¯t specifically clear my fatigue), ageing and even dying if I suffer a direct and lethal wound. If I suffered nightmares like I did in the previous world, I might just destroyed this body in my sleep, which I doubt my body¡¯s will to survive will allow. But even then, when I¡¯m ruling over my realm in my God-like state, I only once got a horrible and upsetting nightmare. Then again, I¡¯ve only ¡®slept¡¯ twice in my ethereal form ever since I created this world, since you don¡¯t get fatigued and only need to sleep if you feel depressed or emotionally tired. So things might not have changed as much as I think they have, but sleeping feels better than before. I stood up from my bed and discovered I was still in the leather armour I normally only wear when out on ¡®missions¡¯ to clear bandits, or rather when I was away to see if my work from the past billion years was almost complete. I removed the armour, threw it somewhere in the corner and changed into a simple white shirt, brown vest and simple brown pants. I conjured up a mirror and looked at my face. Staring back at me was a mercenary-type man covered in little cuts and scars with scruffy beard and short brown hair The hair on my beard as well as my head were slowly becoming more and more grey. The bodies age was nearing its thirty-eighth year. In looks at least, since I created a twenty-six years old body about a year or two before joining the city. I¡¯ve been in this body for almost twelve years and watched it age, yet it was still a strange sight. After all, I¡¯ve always had about a twenty-year-old body ever since the dawn of time. To see it change after a mere twelve years, although normal for mortals, feels really strange. But, ageing is part of mortal life, which I can now fully experience since my work is done. After turning in this last assignment, I¡¯m planning to end the deal with the mayor and start a new life. I¡¯ve already made many, many plans, a few even including being born like a normal person would. But first things first. With a wave of my hand, the sweat and aches instantly disappeared ¨C although I still clearly looked very tired ¨C and left the room. Going down the stairs I was immediately greeted by Ralf''s wife and co-owner, Ingrid, a stout and homely woman. ¡°Sir Marcus, rough night I see.¡± She grabbed a mug from underneath the counter and filled it with beer from the keg. She always gave me one whenever it was clear I had a bad sleep. Which means almost always. A took the beer and drank some. ¡°Thanks, and did call me ¡®sir¡¯. I¡¯m not a knight or the guard-captain, just a mercenary.¡± ¡°Pah! You deserve to be called sir more than any of them!¡± Even though she complained a little, she didn¡¯t push it. After taking another sip, I asked something else. ¡°Did I scream this night?¡± Every morning I asked this, just to make sure I didn¡¯t. I carefully keep tabs on these sort of things. She seemed to have expected the question. ¡°Nope, still haven¡¯t screamed in three years. You want something to eat?¡± Before I could even respond, she left the counter for a moment and opened the door and went into the kitchen. She yelled some orders to whoever was currently in the kitchen ¨C most likely one of the six daughters or four sons-in-law ¨C and was immediately back with a plate richly filled with bread, cheese and ham. She always tends to spoil me just like her husband always tries to give me free drinks. I opened my mouth to protest, but was once again cut off before I could even start. ¡°Just accept it, you already paid for it with yesterday¡¯s silver.¡± For the past decade it has been the same routine. At first I tried to resist it, but she was much more stubborn than Ralf and me so she always had her way. Eventually, I just gave up. While eating breakfast and drinking at the bar, she started attending to the other guests who were slowly trickling in from upstairs, some of which even wished me a good morning, although most just simple gave a respectful nod. It felt good to be part of a community for the first time in my life, although it¡¯s just temporary. When I finished and stood up to leave, already turned around and headed towards the door, Ingrid suddenly seemed to remember something. ¡°Marcus, wait!¡± I turned around and looked at her questioningly. ¡°You off to see the mayor?¡± She asked. I shrugged in response. I was actually planning to see the city for the last time before going and ending my contract, but it seemed something¡¯s up. ¡°Two days ago, the lord came in here and wanted to see you. I said you weren¡¯t around and he grumbled a little, after which I said he should be thankful you even do this job and he said-¡± ¡°Ingrid.¡± I said, noticing she was planning rattle on for a while. ¡°Anyway, he said to come see him as soon as possible. Seemed rather urgent.¡± I sighed. Hopefully it won¡¯t interfere with my plans. Although this city was never bad to me and I wasn¡¯t necessarily in a hurry to leave, seeing as I have infinite time to do what I want, I quickly wanted to see more of the world, experience more things than staying in this city has to offer. But, it seems it might take a little longer before I can do so. ¡°Alright, thanks.¡± I said, turning around and leaving the inn. I made my way through the busy city streets, remembering how quiet and dirty they used to be, said hello to a couple of people and made my way towards the mayor¡¯s home: a comparatively large, parliament-like building right in front of the town¡¯s square. It didn¡¯t take long for me to get there seeing as the inn I stayed at was located in the higher middle-class district, close to the market and the town square. As soon as I arrived near the front door, a couple of guards already came to guide me. ¡°Sir Marcus, we-¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your captain.¡± I¡¯m rather adamant about this. I don¡¯t want to cause unnecessary misunderstandings in the hierarchy among the city¡¯s guards and the citizens. Although I know the captain is a good man, if he ever gets replaced with a more proud person and people still call me sir, things might get annoying. Then again, I¡¯m not planning to stay for that long in this place, but I¡¯d rather avoid trouble than tempt it. There was a moment of silence before the guard continued. ¡°Marcus, the lord-mayor has been expecting you in his office. Please, follow me.¡± Splitting off from the three others standing near the door, we made our way through the building, going upstairs, taking a turn here and there until finally arriving in front of his office. The guard opened the door for me while respectfully staying outside. The room was filled with the higher strata of the city. Rich merchants, near-nobles and lowly knights busily chatting with each other and the mayor, who was sitting at his desk. As soon as they heard me enter, their heads immediately turned to me. None of the faces contained any dissatisfaction with me. I¡¯m intelligent, capable and loyal while officially an outsider to the city. It was clear I was not hungry for power, yet I still helped the city to become great, from which they all profited. No-one should have a reason to hate me and as far as I could see, no-one did. The mayor stood up from his seat and walked towards me, hand stretched out in greeting. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Welcome back Marcus. I trust your task has been completed?¡± I took it and he shook it vigorously. ¡°Of course, lord-mayor Oliver.¡± He turned towards the other guests. ¡°You see? I told you all he would take care of all of them single-handedly!¡± He praised and laughed, the others clapping in response. It wasn¡¯t as if I hated them. None of these men were particularly bad. It¡¯s just that, whenever they are praising me and congratulating me, it seemed more like they were patting themselves on their back instead. I don¡¯t care that much since it hardly costs me any effort and gives me a good alibi to leave every once in a while, but still¡­ I bowed towards the group and turned my attention towards the mayor. ¡°My lord, if I may be so rude, what was the urgent matter you require assistance with?¡± Although it felt slightly unpleasant, I have to adhere to the proper etiquette. The mayor has a certain pride and if he isn¡¯t spoken to respectfully, he becomes mad as hell, once even almost having a man executed if not for his friends stopping him. ¡°Ah, yes! You see, the explosive rise the cities wealth as well as population has caught the future king¡¯s attention and has decided to, upon ascension, award me with nobility and even the title Duke of Kasten!¡± The circle of friends again clapped in response, clearly imagining their rise in power after Oliver becomes duke. Kasten was the name of the city as well as the surrounding region. The mayor isn¡¯t officially a noblemen, since he¡¯s traditionally elected amongst the rich merchant¡¯s caste in the city. But with this, he becomes a noble, and a Duke at that, the highest title under king. ¡°Congratulations, my lord.¡± I said. Although he sounded rather arrogant about it, I do believe he deserves the title. Even though I did the work of clearing out the cities irredeemable thugs and criminals, while straightening the redeemable ones, he was the one that made the city as wealthy as it is today. After the roads became safe, he attracted traders and migrants to come here, without which the city would have been clean of thugs, sure, but never as rich and powerful as it is now. And he never once fell to the temptation of corruption, which was admirable to say the least. ¡°Thank you, Marcus. But now I¡¯ve something to ask of you. The coronation is in three days and I plan to stay in the capital for a week at least, two at most. Of course, I cannot let this city be without proper ruler, so I have to ask you. You do not have any plans, right? Can you rule Kasten in my absence?¡± Although I did want to leave the city as soon as possible, I was in no particular rush. I merely wanted to begin exploring the world as soon as possible. The only reason I even was in this current body was to get used to bodily needs and ageing. Ageing I had never experienced and from almost the beginning of my existence, my previous body never needed anything to keep it going. But staying ruling for a week or two in this city might not be that bad an idea. After all, at a certain point I want to experience ruling over people who obey me not out of fear or a misplaced idolisation, like the Sloth used to do, but because I was a respectable ruler. ¡°My lord, although I did prepare to leave this city after completing my given task, I am willing to accept this task if you insist, as long as I may leave after your return.¡± As I said that, mixed emotions began appearing on the soon-to-be-Duke¡¯s face. Losing a very capable man, but in return gaining security that I will not take over Kasten in his absence, which I¡¯m obviously capable of seeing my popularity with the citizens and my skills. Even though most people knew I was a bit of a drunk, there was no doubt a lot of them, especially the lower-class and middle-class citizens, would support me if I so much as asked, let alone if I offer ¡®rewards¡¯ for joining me. After a second or two, a smile appeared on the mayor¡¯s lips and a hand clasped my shoulders. ¡°Although it saddens me to lose such a respectable man and good friend, I thank you for accepting this burden. Now, we were planning to leave as soon as my replacement was fixed, so we will see each other again in a week or so. Although I doubt you need any help, you know which people to turn to if needed. Make yourself comfortable in my office and I¡¯ll see you again as a Duke.¡± The mayor and his entourage were beginning to leave the office. I already knew which people to go to. There was the captain of the guard, the council of judges and the various guild-leaders available to help. ¡°Safe travels, my Duke.¡± They left the office, the mayor no doubt grinning at my words. As soon as they left, I sat myself down in the office chair and took over the rule of the city. The next week and a half were very easy. The people already knew their mayor was leaving and once they heard it was me taking over as regent, they knew that as long as they didn¡¯t cause trouble, I wouldn¡¯t try to interfere in their business. For ten days I sat in the office or walked around the city, settling minor disputes between traders and signing documents while constantly having something to drink in my hand or on my desk. It wasn¡¯t particularly exciting, but there was a certain feeling of happiness doing this kind of work. The feeling that the citizens respected me, trusted me to uphold the peace. It gave me a sense that I was doing something good, something I had rarely, if ever, felt before. It was a far cry from the idolizing and fearful Sloths, accepting my rule over them while never even speaking a word to their supposed king. This felt much more real than back then. But, on the eleventh day, trouble arrived. While talking with a couple of guild leaders, judges and the captain, merely talking about the day-to-day business of the city, the door to the office was suddenly thrown open. Three severely wounded man carried and escorted by nine city guards. Commander Maxwell was the first to respond. ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡± He said in his characteristically stern voice with a hint of outrage at the sudden intrusion. ¡°Sir Commander, Lord Marcus, something horrible happened!¡± One of the guards shouted. Since the guards only wore mail and no helmets, their incredibly pale faces were visible for all to see. I saw hints of fear visible on the Commander¡¯s face as well as all the other present. I, however, remained calm. ¡°Calm yourself, soldier. What is so urgent?¡± ¡°You better hear this for yourself, lord!¡± He said, breathing heavily, indicating his rush towards here. Two of the other guards carried over one of the severely wounded man, the guild leaders and judges clearing a path towards my desk. The man, although with horrible burns and gashes on his face, was someone I recognized. It was the guard that, on my first day here, guided me towards this office, although he should have left with the mayor. I already had a feeling of what transpired. ¡°Lord Marcus¡­ hah¡­ capital... monsters¡­ heroes¡­ revolution¡­hah¡­¡± The man said, gasping for breath while often twitching in pain. The faces of all those present paled visibly, clearly fearing the worst but the following words shocked everyone even more. ¡°The blood¡­ the confusion¡­everyone is¡­¡± The guard¡¯s face twisted in horror and anguish as he said the last words, clearly traumatized as he remembered everything that happened. ¡°They¡¯re all dead!¡± The guard collapsed from exhaustion. Chapter 35: Looming Disaster As the soldier collapsed, the whole room went into panic. Elyse, the leader of the Guild of Healers immediately went to the soldiers aid, laying him on one of the four couches on either side of the room. Patrick, Bishop of the city of Kasten, went to the other wounded and urged the guards holding them to place them on the other empty couches. Commander Maxwell ordered five of the nine guards to do something, most likely getting more people capable of Healing Magic ¨C a subsystem of Light Magic. The others in the room, however, were much less calm and collected. Judges shouted at each other and at their leader, Head Judge Edgar. The various leaders of different branches of the Mages Guild began to more or less seclude themselves with their leader, Lloyd, and although it looked like they wanted to be secretive, their panic made them talk louder than they intended. The couple people of different artisan guilds were the most panicky among them, yelling and becoming more and more agitated with each other while Lady Melissa, leader of the Merchants Guild and the only one here actually a noble ¨C a landless Baroness, tried to calm them down. The only truly calm people were Maxwell and the remaining four soldiers, staying silent even though their faces indicated fear and worry, an indication how disciplined the Captain of the Guard and Commander of the Garrison trained his soldiers. They merely watched over the injured soldiers and waited for someone to take control of the situation, the Captain himself clearly not intending to do so himself. In fact, he shot me a couple of glances indicating I should be the one to do something, being the regent and all. All in all, there were about thirty or so people inside the office shouting at each other. I was busy contemplating what to do. Even though Maxwell silently urged me to do something, why should I? Though I may have lived and worked here for the past decade, I never actually became a citizen, meaning I have no loyalty to this place whatsoever despite being its temporary ruler. In fact, although some of the citizens might say otherwise, I¡¯ve never really ¡®lived¡¯ here. Most of the time I was away under the guise of hunting bandits while actually placing the finishing touches on my world and its Laws and systems. The whole reason I was living here was just to get used to a mortal body, building relations of whatever kind was to be done in my next, ¡®real¡¯ life, where I¡¯m planning to be born a mortal and die a mortal. I¡¯ve never had any intention to stay here longer after I completed the work from the past twenty billion years. The closest people to me were the innkeeper and his wife and daughters, and that was simply a relationship between a manager and his client. And there is no particular reason to save them. Thousands of revolutions happen across my realm every second, let alone the innumerable wars happening at all times. I¡¯ve never interfered with them, nor did I have any reason to do so. I merely provide the ingredients for life and for the rest life may do what it wants, that is my philosophy as ruler of this plane. Despite the reasons not to interfere with whatever was going on here and to instead just leave, I still had one very simple to stay here. Despite not being a citizen, despite not particularly caring for the people living here and despite my philosophy of ¡®let life do whatever it wants¡¯, this doesn¡¯t take away the fact that I, at this very moment, am the mayor of Kasten. Even if it was supposed to be temporary, a situation has arisen and it is my job to take care of it until either the old mayor returns ¨C though presumed dead for now ¨C or until a new mayor is chosen from among the Guilds and the (rich) citizens. And why not take this opportunity when it is so easily laid before me? I was planning to rule a kingdom or empire sooner or later, in another life and after experiencing some lifetimes as mortal. So why not start with a city where the power is easily thrown in my lap? Get some experience ruling a relatively small amount of people for a small amount of time before beginning to rule entire kingdoms and empires. Even if the people of the city want me to stay once a more or less peaceful solution has been reached, I can simply reject and leave if that happens. I don¡¯t expect it to take long anyway. Sooner or later, whatever precisely happened at the capital ¨C be it heroes, monsters, angry mobs or anything else ¨C will catch up to this town, so it is merely until then I¡¯ll be staying here. Meanwhile, the room had gotten more and more noisy. These respectable men supposedly capable to manage extensive organizations inside the 3rd biggest city of the Kingdom of Asra were now behaving like headless chickens during a little trouble. My God were they quickly becoming annoying. ¡°Silence!¡± I yelled with one fist on the table and some Body Enhancement cast on the throat. Although there were some noises of cracking wood, the desk managed to hold. Immediately the room got deathly quiet. Irritation was oozing from my voice and even the powerful Guild Leader of the Mages knew not to speak any longer. Who would deliberately anger a man capable of slaughtering a hundred raiders not even two weeks ago? Let alone all the other criminals and bandits I either killed, captured or tortured during the past decade, and the entire organizations I was responsible of destroying in this once shit-hole of a city. I stood up from behind the desk and made an impressing angry-looking face, even though I was just a bit annoyed by their behaviour. But anger is what they need to spur them into action. ¡°You are all men and women of merit, capable of controlling entire Guilds for God¡¯s sake! Behave like it and stop squealing like confused pigs!¡± They all looked down, embarrassed, except for the top brass of the group, who had remained somewhat calm. At least they were competent. I sighed. Competence is hard to find. ¡°Everyone, I want you all to go to your guilds and spread the word about what has happened and tell everyone that they must gather at either the market, the town square or at any one of the churches. In one hour, I will release a statement about what will happen. After the announcement, you are all to come back here and we¡¯ll discuss things further. Am I understood?¡± I put a tone of unquestionable authority in the last sentence. They all nodded, seemingly all accepting my commands. But that doesn¡¯t mean that there isn¡¯t a question burning in everyone¡¯s mind. ¡°Lord, what should we tell?¡± Yes, what indeed? The few words given by the bodyguard before passing out were not very informative. However, there was one thing almost sure. ¡°Tell them that lord-mayor Oliver is dead and the capital is presumed to have fallen. Seeing as the state of the soldiers was visibly terrible, with their many wounds and heavy bleeding, the death of Oliver is all but certain. As for the capital, it is better to expect the worst than to hope for the best. And if my conjecture is right, the worst did in fact happen. Everyone was busy walking ¨C or rather, rushing out the door, trying to as quickly as possible spread the word. But before they all left, I made a final command. ¡°Elyse, Patrick, you stay here. Maxwell, order your guards to spread the word as soon as possible, as town criers if they have to. Oh, and let the four here stay. I might need them as errand boys.¡± Elyse and Patrick had already expected this, with them being the only ones capable of Light and Healing Magic here, so they hadn¡¯t bothered to stand up. Maxwell turned for a second, placed their right fist on his heart and bowed as if to his lord, afterwards rushing off towards the barracks. Elyse was busy patching up the wounds of the unconscious soldier, constantly murmuring healing chants to evoke her powers. Which was absolutely unnecessary, might I add, since it was just as easy without chanting, although it required a bit more imagination and concentration. For some reason, people tend to invoke their powers with chants, circles, runes or whatever they could think of. People who didn¡¯t need them were considered geniuses or prodigies and the like, although I don¡¯t know why. Then again, since, in a way, I am the power and created it I might have it easier than them. I never needed to learn it, after all. Patrick was doing the same with the two still conscious ones, although there was a more religious theme to his chanting. Probably the result of the difference between Church and normal teachings of Light Magic. I did not bother with Elyse and went to the couch with the still-conscious bodyguards instead. Compared to the soldier Elyse was dealing with, the one with the burns and gashes on his face, these two were comparatively easier off. Although the cloth of their armour had seemingly burned off and their mail had been torn apart by some sort of claw, they had relatively mild wounds. They had a few scratches on their face, burns on their hands and one or two gashes on their chest, arms and legs, but these were mere flesh wounds. Still, it was a small miracle how they reached this place, which was a four days walk away from the capital. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.Even with horses and without stopping it would take at least a day before reaching here. With wounds like these, it should¡¯ve been a near-unbearable ride and they definitely wouldn¡¯t have survived four entire days of travel. Instead of the large and possibly already infected wounds of the unconscious soldier, these two seemed much more¡­ broken than the other. The unconscious, despite clearly disoriented and horrified at what he had witnessed, had still managed to squeeze out a few words before collapsing. These ones, however, seemed to able to do nothing else than silently stare at the ground, to horrified to speak. While they sat on the couch, Patrick sat squatted down in front of them. I placed myself next to him and got straight to the point. ¡°Can you make them talk?¡± Patrick, a man old enough to be a grandfather, sighed heavily in response. ¡°I¡¯ve been healing them and trying to get them to talk, but nothing works. Even though their most severe wounds are already reduced to mere surface wounds, I can¡¯t fix their minds.¡± His voice was laced with burden and exhaustion. ¡°Too have witnessed something so horrible. And at such a young age, too.¡± He sighed again while shaking his head and rubbing his temples. I looked up at the faces of the guards. They couldn¡¯t be much older than twenty and still clearly had the features on youth, no stubbles were to be found as if they¡¯d just shaven moments ago. Too bad I have to know what they know, and look inconspicuous while doing so. That means, unfortunately, no quick sweep of the capital to check it out myself. Instead, I have to do something even I don¡¯t like doing, seeing as the memories it brought back. I looked at Patrick and spoke again. ¡°I have to know what they know, even if it might break them.¡± I said, trying to gouge how he felt about harming these people even further. Frankly, I was surprised to hear his answer. ¡°I know. Even though I don¡¯t like it, I know you must do what is necessary, my lord.¡± He said. Though unwilling, the Bishop still urged me to continue with whatever unsavoury act I was about to do. I shifted my head back to them and looked them in the eye. In my Soul I grabbed two threads of Mind Magic and stabbed it into their Souls. A quick shudder, a scream in their Soul and eyes widened in shock and disbelief; the same look Anna and Damien¡¯s deceased bodies carried as they lay bleeding, the sand around them dyed in the colour of their blood. Memories were trying to resurface, but I forced them back. In this world, Mind Magic was my personal power, just like Teleportation and a few others. The reason why is simply that the power was too similar to that of Death: it was capable for the caster to take over and easily enslave a person¡¯s mind, while they were still fully aware of what was going on around them. This meant that, while the caster would force them to commit atrocious acts, the enslaved person would see themselves doing these things without any power to stop it. I didn¡¯t dare release it in this world. Similar forced suicide and many other unspeakable tragedies would undoubtedly appear if this power fell into the hands of the more morally damaged people of this world. Instead, I created the similar Illusion Magic, a subsystem of Dark Magic. The difference is that, where Mind Magic is capable of dominating a person¡¯s entire being, Illusion Magic was to simply make a person see things that weren¡¯t there, or make them confess something they were withholding. The biggest difference lay in that the person¡¯s mind would go into an unconscious state if they were forced to do things they don¡¯t want to. The reason I still chose for Mind Magic is for one reason: I could relive their memories first person, giving me a more detailed view of what happened. Illusion Magic isn¡¯t capable of doing that, although people who are right now witnessing this scene would still think it was Illusion Magic rather than anything else. So, I delved into their memories and found the one I needed, afterwards freezing their minds so that only I would relive their memories, not themselves. Also, I made sure that, despite their frozen minds, their bodies would narrate the memories, making it seem like Illusion Magic to Patrick, Elyse and the four guards, who were all undoubtedly planning to listen in on it. Within moments, I was swept away into their past and arrived at the capital, while outside of my consciousness, the narration started. It was during the coronation. All people of note were present at the palace. The Dukes, Counts, Barons and many other forms of nobility were present to see the crowning of the new King, including the Mayor. All stood in front of the palace, underneath the many, many steps leading up to the magnificent building, shining brightly in the sun. Beside the King, sitting at the top of the steps on a beautiful, gemstone-adorned golden throne, stood the Archbishop, ready to crown the new King, the regent who previously ruled and the members of the soon to be King¡¯s Council. All these stood one the right side, while on the left side, stood others in less ceremonial garb. They were Commanders, Generals and Captains of the King¡¯s personal Royal Guard. But that was not all. Most important among them, wearing impractical yet imposing armour, were the four summoned Heroes. The Kingdom of Asra had a long tradition, dating back more than three centuries, of summoning Heroes to solve their problems. Although they were supposedly ¡®from another plane¡¯, they were simply inhabitants of another planets, summoned by Summoning Magic as they would summon monsters ¨C also from different planets, since there were no other planes as far as I know. But in the summoning of Heroes, I added for them to get some extra power, as stories read long, long ago always suggested They had helped during a war against a couple of neighbouring non-human countries and had a well-earned position in the court of the previous King, and would undoubtedly rise to greatness as well during the new King¡¯s reign. Now, there was only one thing that everyone either didn¡¯t know or simply didn¡¯t care about. There was a fifth Hero, who had left as soon as he was summoned, as is a very natural instinct for people randomly thrown into what they perceive as ¡®another world¡¯. He wasn¡¯t present at the King¡¯s ceremony, or so everyone though, until one certain moment that shocked everyone. From the back, behind even the large mass of peasants looking from far away to see the coronation, there he stood: the Summoner Hero. Unlike the other Heroes, who had the relatively common Water, Fire, Light and Dark Magic, he had received the power of Summoning Magic, a rare power to have, even for Heroes. Only a few others in the Kingdom¡¯s history had this kind of Magic, including the previous King, simply known as the Summoner King. With a simple shout ¡®Death to the King¡¯, he opened hundreds of portals ¨C a part of Summoning Magic ¨C and through them streamed the armies of the various neighbouring races who had suffered in the previous war. He also summoned many, many regular summoning monsters to his aid. Undoubtedly, the Summoner Hero had spent his time with the other races and had grown a certain resentment to the Asra Kingdom. A story very common in my realm as well as in the literature of this and the previous world, although the books tend to force a more peaceful solution to these kinds of conflict. The rest is obvious. Chaos. Bloodshed. Death and carnage all around. None were spared, not even the civilians. These soldiers fought, they won a few but saw the situation was hopeless, and when Oliver fell dead, they decided to flee. They were very lucky, captured a few horses and fled, leaving the many unarmed citizens behind along with their sense of honour. That was why they were broken. They witnessed horror and they survived. Simple survivor¡¯s guilt had eaten away at them, at these two more so than the unconscious one. That was their story. A very simple one, and one I had expected, although not anticipated. Just as I was done looking through their memories, so were they done with the narration. I retracted my Mind Magic and looked at the other faces, clearly paled in shock. ¡°What do we do now?¡± I heard Elyse, having finished healing what she could, saying. ¡°There is only one thing to do, isn¡¯t there? Defend against the oncoming horde as best we can and hope for the best.¡± I responded. Ideally, I would like to negotiate, but I doubt the furious horde will allow that. So instead, we¡¯ll fight. They fight for revenge. The citizens to defend their homes. Me, to experience war as a mortal for the first time. -------------------------------------------------------------------- I have a feeling I messed up somewhere in this chapter, but for the life of me can''t figure out where. Well, that''s life for ya. Anyway, since I obviously won''t post anything before that anymore, I wish you all a happy New Year and hope to see you in the next (God I hate it when people make those kinds of jokes)! Chapter 36: Preparation against an Invasion ¡°Patrick, Elyse and¡­ you two.¡± I said pointing towards two of the guards. ¡°Escort these three to the sickbay in the back. The two guards picked up and dragged the unconscious one away while Elyse and Patrick helped the other two. I focused on one of the remaining guards. ¡°You there. Wait at the door and guide the healers asked for by the Captain.¡± Although it was just a guess Maxwell asked for them, seeing the guard, who did hear it, nod without any hint of surprise made it clear I guessed correctly. I walked back towards the desk, opened a couple of drawers and got some paper, pen and a bottle of black ink. I began writing my orders for each individual Guild leader on separate pieces of paper, but the soldier kept shifting awkwardly and disturbing me. Eventually, he asked. ¡°Lord, do you not have any orders for me?¡± It was clear he was eager to serve despite his clear anxious appearance and witnessing the entire story of the survivors. The fact he still wanted to help made me glad. It meant that, despite the threat, these guards ¨C taking the one in front of me as a representative of the rest ¨C were disciplined enough to not cower in fear. Still, he got on my nerves while I was so clearly writing plans for the city. ¡°Never heard of patience I see.¡± I sighed. ¡°Grab me something to drink from the table over there, will you? And grab one yourself while you¡¯re at it.¡± I pointed absent-mindedly at one of the coffee table in front of the while still busy writing. The soldier took the hint to make himself comfortable and filled up two glasses of whiskey-like liquor, brought one to me and then sat on one of the couches. Although told to make himself comfortable, he sat rather stiffly and while trying to drink from his glass, his hand kept shaking, almost dropping the glass a couple of times in the process. He was the perfect candidate to test how the guards and garrison will react after my announcement. ¡°What is your name, soldier.¡± I asked, still looking down while writing and writing and writing. ¡°Lord?¡± He was surprised. ¡°Your name.¡± ¡°It¡¯s K-Karl, Lord.¡± An everyday name for the everyday man. The fact that he was nothing special made it even better to make him representative for all the other soldiers. ¡°After hearing the story, what do you think? Are you worried? Fearful? Preparing to flee or ready to fight?¡± I instantly finished the glass of whiskey, not bothering to savour it. ¡°L-Lord, I don¡¯t understand?¡± He asked, feeling as if he was being suspected of desertion. For a second I looked him in the eye. ¡°Tomorrow, an army will arrive hell-bent on destroying your family, friends, comrades and your country. Almost everyone in here is doomed to die tomorrow, just like those in the capital. Now I ask you, are you ready to fight and die, or are you ready to pack your things and run for your life?¡± I never broke eye contact with him. I had almost finished all the orders already. Even while looking at him did I write as quick as ever, filling in page after page each for a Guild necessary for my plans. I didn¡¯t know for certain they if they¡¯ll arrive the next morning, but logically, they would. After all, it took the survivors only a day to get here, even while being wounded, and since the oncoming horde only needed the Hero to place one portal at the capital, run over here, and place one portal outside the city, it was almost a certainty they would be here by the next morning. As I kept looking in to the soldier¡¯s eyes while I told him what would happen, I saw a flurry of emotion running through them. Most of it was fear, worry, concern and the like, but I was happy to see there was a certain determination hidden deep, deep within his mind. Even though he didn¡¯t say a word, I felt confidence that he and his comrades ¨C if they were similar to him ¨C would follow my orders. Not that they have much of a choice. If they flee they won¡¯t have the protective walls of the city and will be trampled sooner rather than later, but still. I was glad to see at least Karl here was ready to fight. A couple of minutes he kept silent, finishing his glass while thinking what to do, but I interrupted his train of thoughts. Standing up, I took a stack of paper and walked over to him. On every piece of paper stood many short instructions on what to do, while above them all stood the name of those they were meant for. ¡°Take this to the Captain and ask him to help distribute them. The names are written at the top and tell the Captain he, too, has one.¡± The soldier, still confused, took the stack and ran off with haste. Although I hadn¡¯t done much, I already felt tired, so I sat in the comfortable desk-chair and laid back a little. A mere twenty, perhaps twenty-five, minutes had passed since the people left this office. I had no doubt that right now, the city was filled with citizens trying to make it to one of the churches, markets or the town square. After all, news travels fast, especially bad news and when people hear these unclear rumours, they¡¯re already bound to go to publicly well-known places, whether order to or not. The only thing I hoped would go well was the orders given to Maxwell. Only his were effective immediately, the rest would wait until after the city-wide announcement. Maxwell is tasked to do just three things: First, order his troops to seal ALL the gates, allowing no citizens out and especially keeping away outsiders. After all, if one of them was the Hero in disguise, the invasion would start in the middle of the city. Secondly, order his soldiers to set up a sort of magical speaker-installations at every public place where the people would gather. I need something to address them all at once, of course, and I don¡¯t want to use anything special to make my voice heard everywhere. The third one wasn¡¯t really necessary, but I added it for good measure. He would¡¯ve undoubtedly already told his soldiers, let alone that they would¡¯ve heard it from rumours, but I ordered him to tell his soldiers what had happened regardless. It would make the news spread even faster, while also spreading to non-Guild related citizens. This might seem hard to do, especially the first two, seeing as the city is so populous, but it¡¯s really not. Kasten is tightly packed together in a small area thanks to its explosive growth. It had grown from about 40.000 to roughly 200.000 in just ten years after it became known as the ¡®safest city¡¯ in the Kingdom. Because of this, the city needed to expand, but since it was very costly to keep expanding the wall further and further, they decided to instead make the city as densely packed as possible, even ordering the buildings to have at least four stories. This made it a rather small city while still being the third most populous in the Kingdom ¨C second most after the destruction of the capital. And Maxwell is competent enough, so I had no doubt he¡¯d be able to do as told in time. While preparing my speech for the last half hour, I head the citizenry collecting outside. Since the office was located above the front entrance of the mayor¡¯s palace ¨C with a balcony to speak from ¨C I could clearly hear the tumultuous burghers assembling en masse. I have to say, I felt rather anxious speaking in front of such a large crowd. After all, I had never appeared in public as the centre of attention, except when I was publicly stoned, crucified, burned or tortured in other forms for a perverse form of public entertainment. But that was the old world. This is the new world, my world. And this is a mortal life, not my always-hated, never-dying Immortal form. Suddenly, when the moment of truth arrived, the door was blown open and the Commander walked in, rather pissed at the sudden orders and carrying a small wooden cube. ¡°I knew you could do it Maxwell.¡± I said smilingly. He merely grunted, placed the cube on my desk and immediately left. If he wasn¡¯t ordering things or reprimanding someone, the staunch man. Grabbing the cube, I saw it was clearly inscribed with runes of Air Magic, able to carry my voice away to other runes placed inside speakers. Basically a microphone in cube form. I stood up, dusted of the clothes borrowed from the ex-Mayor¡¯s dresser and walked towards the balcony door behind the desk. Walking outside, I was temporarily blinded by the light and sound of the uncertain crowd. While blinded, my mind was flooded with memories of executions, public stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake and above all, the scorn of every living being in my sight as the enjoyed watching me die an agonizing death. But when the blindness faded and my vision became clear, they disappeared as soon as they arrived. Although doubt, worry, fear and even anger was visible on the faces of the crowd, they went silent as soon as they saw me. None of these looks were aimed at me. The only way they looked at me was with expectancy and trust. Seeing this, I was filled with confidence and stood in front of all to see. I looked over their heads, scanning the crowd before beginning my speech. Holding up the cube to my mouth and strengthening my vocal cords with Body Enhancement, I dropped the truth on them. ¡°The Mayor is dead. The King is dead. The Heroes are dead. The capital has fallen and an entire host of every race is marching this way as we speak, guided by the last remaining Hero of Asra. They will arrive here tomorrow.¡± The voice easily carried over every word, stunning the crowd for a moment as I bluntly said everything that had happened. But, the silence was only for a moment. As soon as the weight of the words was felt by those listening to it, I heard the cries of anger, fear, disbelief and despair drown out every possible other sound. Even if a building was to explode behind them, I doubt many would¡¯ve heard it. I saw the people in the crowd shouting at each other in anger, embracing each other as if it was their last moment, tears streaming down their cheeks, while others still stood silent, not believing what I said. They all knew the ferocity of the armies descending upon us. The Summoner King had summoned the Heroes when his Kingdom was being demolished by the various races. This city in particular was besieged and demolished by the Beastmen race. This memory was still fresh in the mind of the civilians, and now that their Heroes were dead and one of them even defected, they didn¡¯t see any chance of survival. Now, for the motivational speech. Let¡¯s hope it works. While the people were busy despairing, I made my voice sound even more powerful than before. ¡°Per Angusta ad Augusta.¡± It was a language from long, long ago, but since every language always fall into certain patterns ¨C there are only a thousand or so truly ¡®different¡¯ languages, all learned through the many Eras I¡¯ve lived ¨C this sentence was not unfamiliar to them. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.My voice boomed out above all, drowning out their voices and forcing them to look up at me once more ¨C or at their respective speaker, if they were not at the town square. ¡°A saying of the ancients, meaning through difficulties to greatness. Have we not struggled to achieve this dream of a city? Have we not been besieged before? Have we not struggled through famines? Have we not been send into despair by thugs, bandits and raiders from foreign lands?¡± I took a quick glance at the faces in the crowds. All of this was history of the city happened within the last fifty years, still remembered by the elders and endlessly repeated in their stories. Everyone relived these horrible times and horrible tales, comparing them to the now. ¡°And look at us now! We are greater than ever before! Almost the most populous and definitely the richest! This city is a treasure, and its citizens its gems! I will not allow you to be plundered by a traitor and his demons!¡± Seeing the good response, I began putting conviction into my words, like an actor absorbed in his role. ¡°Who needs a King?! Who needs Heroes?! We are the people of Kasten! We will not fall! Not to demons, not to people, not to anyone!¡± Despite technically being an outsider, no one seemed to mind at that moment. The crowd turned from the lost souls they were moments ago into zealous people, cheering loud and proud for the city they lived in. The beginning of nationalism in this world. I turned away from the balcony and walked back in, sighing with relief at my success. But it was not yet over. I exited my office and walked downstairs, seeing a full room of representatives from each Guild and other powerful people of the city, all discussing my given orders. As I want downstairs I saw the faces of these leaders of the city. Most of them were filled with the same zeal as the citizens, some still with fear but also determination, and the absolute top of them were looking with respect and gratitude. After all, I stood up to the challenge while they shirked back from the responsibility. ¡°Gentleman, any questions about my orders? If so, do it quick. Tomorrow we¡¯ll need to fight.¡± They should have, but, perhaps because of my speech or the urgency, none of them complained. The orders were relatively simple to understand, though hard to accomplish. The judges, effectively being administrators, were responsible for recruitment of volunteers. The garrison, or rather, the Captain, was responsible of maintaining the order, with which I would help. Also, them and me will be responsible for commanding troops tomorrow and keeping up moral, the specialized city guards, about 500 of them, acting as squad leaders and the like, while the garrison, about 20.000, would be the main ground force with the militia we raising as their reserves. The bow-makers, smiths, carpenters, builders and the like were responsible for building weapons ¨C primarily crossbows, bolts and spears, because of their relative ease to use ¨C for all the volunteers and soldiers, although no armour, since it would be a waste of time. The Mages were responsible for brewing as many potions and possible, as to make the people work day and night for tomorrow¡¯s battle without tiring, and also to strengthen them when the time for battle had come. They also had the responsibility to, when tomorrow arrives, act as artillery and support for the fighting men and women. The Merchants and the like were to stock, transport and distribute them appropriately to those who needed them, while the rest of the Guilds not specialized for anything needed right now helped them. The Healers and the Church were to offer people guidance, blessings and a general peace-of-mind, while tomorrow they will be needed as Healers (obviously), Barrier Mages and casting buffs and the like as support. While I kept the ¡®how¡¯ at a minimum in the orders given, the heads of each faction were very competent, making me basically a figurehead. The day went by extremely quick while everyone who worked was forcibly feed potions against exhaustion. Everything went according to plan, everyone did their work and many, many people volunteered, men as well as women. Luckily, Kasten was famed for its ironworks, making production very efficient while also having a large stock of weapons ¡®donated¡¯ by the Merchant Guild and its warehouses. Maxwell and I, along with the specialized city guards and a couple of veteran garrison soldiers, were busily giving them quick instructions on crossbow usage and the use of a spear. Although giving instructions for using the spear wasn¡¯t really necessary, since an amateur could at least know how to pierce, the instructions of the crossbow were necessary, but they learned quick. At the end of the day we had about 60.000 militia armed with spears while 10.000 of them were also armed with crossbows, which was mostly thanks to the stocks in the warehouses of the Merchants. The guards and garrison had standardized spear-sword-bow equipment, so the city was now relatively well armed. When night arrived, I ordered blacksmiths and bow-makers to focus only on crossbows, making sure that another 2.000 were ready by the end of it. All in all, it was astounding how much they, although a lot of the crossbows were pretty shoddy, seeing as they were made of wood not specifically intended for crossbow-use and the iron necessary forged as quickly as possible. Still, the quantity was great and they worked well enough, especially since the plan was to try and enchant them with different forms of Magic during the fight itself. Before anyone noticed it, their anticipation had carried them through the night and they stayed enthusiastic when morning arrives, burning with passion for their city. At least, until the army arrived. Every one of the garrison and the guard took to the walls along with every crossbow-carrying militiamen, between them about a two-thousand Mages to use their Magic and enchant their crossbows and bolts. I stood atop the gatehouse when a single man, riding horseback, came into view. Undoubtedly the Summoner Hero. I looked at him, enhanced my eyesight and saw him staring back at me, pale-faced but determined to see this through. Apparently, he did have a conscious after all the killing he¡¯d witnessed. A moment later, I saw flashes of white, indicating portals, appearing all over the horizon and through them came the hordes of different races. Beastmen, Elves, Dwarves, Draconians and many, many other variants. It was amazing to see how many races the humans had managed to antagonize. After their arrival came flashes of gold, meaning summoning of beasts, filling up the horizon as well. From them came all sorts of monsters, from sabre-tooth lions to dragons to monsters so imaginable, they were unable to be named. Everyone on the city walls witnessing this sight was frozen with fear. Even those behind the wall, armed with spears to stop anyone who managed to break through, could feel the enormous presence of Magic and their ferocity oozing from the armies. Since I was never great at estimating the number of people present, I decided to cheat a little. Using Energy directly, instead of using the power of Magic that limits interference with Energy, I scanned the entirety of the enemy forces. It was much, much worse then I feared. 500.000 soldiers from the different races along with 20.000 extremely powerful summoned beasts. Summoning Magic was always intended to be the strongest, since it required quite a bit of skill to summon even one dangerous beast. It would require both natural talent (or rather, a lot of threads of the Summoning Magic System inside their Souls) and a bit of smarts to summon a dozen or so creatures capable of destruction. It needs a borderline-genius with enormous power and knowledge in Summoning Magic to summon a thousand beasts. To summon 20.000 of these things would need a mind of a genius amongst geniuses amongst geniuses along with the indomitable power of a Hero. This was also why the Summoner Hero was allowed to let go. Very few of Heroes with Summoner Magic had the willpower to work towards summoning even a dozen beasts, let alone more. That a great mind would be given to a Summoner Hero is incredibly small, and thus unheard of in this kingdom, making people think that Summoning Magic even with the power of a Hero is in general pretty weak. How wrong they were. I specifically made it the strongest because of its high requirements. I even included a special monster when one reaches the apex of it all, called the Worm of World¡¯s End, capable of destroying a planet at least, a solar-system at most. That is how powerful these people can become. There is no way that 20.000 garrisoned forces, 500 veteran guards, 60.000 militia and approximately 2.000 Mages are able to stand up to them. Suddenly, a giant roar came from the enemy, taunting us with their invincibility. ¡°There is no way¡­¡± Even Maxwell couldn¡¯t help but see no hope for victory, let alone all the others on the wall, who were simply frozen in their despair. Indeed, there is no way they could win. And honestly, seeing an army as big as this raised for the purpose of wiping away Asra, I felt very little compassion for humanity as a whole. After all, I know their stories. If it wasn¡¯t for the multiple genocides committed by the Summoner King and his four Heroes, their would¡¯ve been perhaps ten times as many races today. As the ruler of this realm, I shouldn¡¯t interfere. ¡®None of my business¡¯, is the ironclad rule. Reign, never rule. Let life do what life does. As a God, I shouldn¡¯t interfere. But am I not human right now? The Lord of the city, with all of the responsibilities it carries? Not only that, didn¡¯t I put a decade¡¯s worth of time in this city? In the grand scope of things, this is a very, very small time, but at least it was my first time as a true mortal. They gave me my first taste of a normal life. Aside from the few exceptions I came across, these people were the first to, as a whole, accept me. They never hated me, never despised me. In fact, they respected me and trusted me. They still do. And although I don¡¯t have people to call friends, I don¡¯t hate anyone here either. As a thank you to them, I¡¯ll interfere. Not as a God, but as a human. A human capable of all Magic, true, but a human nonetheless. Although I won¡¯t go overboard, of course. There is a lot of bad blood between the humans and the other races, which I will not pick sides in. But as gratitude, I¡¯ll at least make the sides equal. Afterwards, I¡¯ll simply disappear and finally begin with a new, full life, everything from start to finish. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Next time, action! Chapter 37: Equals Vacation is over and BAM, immediately swamped with assignments. -------------------------------------------------------------------- I didn¡¯t need to look around to know people were shivering in fear. I could hear it from the ragged breathing around me, all of whom belong to the veteran guards, the Commander and the most experienced Mages, including the Mages Guild leader Lloyd, Healer¡¯s Leader Elyse and Bishop Patrick. All of these men and women have lived here for numerous years, experienced the worst times of the city and staunchly endured them. But now, they saw doom approaching. Outnumbered. Lower quality equipment. Lower quality troops. A Hero working against us. All of these things smashed their moral, making defeat inevitable and quick. These are the things that need fixing. ¡°Brave citizens, do not fear! This is our city! If anyone¡¯s going to take it from us, they have to pay their price in blood!¡± I said, once again strengthening my voice. Normally, in such a situation, this would fall on deaf ears simply because they are broken by fear. But, while speaking, I give our soldiers a little¡­ motivation. While speaking I invoked perhaps the ultimate spell of the Support Magic branch of Light Magic. No doubt people did not have a name for this yet, seeing as it was undoubtedly never cast in millennia, but I don¡¯t care for names. I care for effects. The spell was based of the ¡®aura¡¯ one could invoke with Energy. I spread it spread across the entire city, seeping into the bodies, Souls and minds of every citizen here. It wiped away their fear, their worries, their despair and everything else that hindered their actions. Instead, it filled them with burning courage, fuelled their muscles, strengthened their Magic, alleviated their exhaustion, heightened their senses, steadied their hand and, above all, gave them hope in their darkest hour. It made them feel like they ascended to a higher plane, one where they felt like no-one could stop them. Basically, it turned amateur fighters into veterans, veterans into masters, and masters into unstoppable killing machines. Truly the ultimate Support Magic, capable of turning the tide of every desperate battle. This covered the quality and moral of my army. It is not enough. They outnumber even the population of this city, let alone those able to fight. I need more to make this fight at least somewhat equal, so I cast some support using other kinds of Magic. With Earth Magic I strengthened the walls to near impregnability, strengthened their weapons to be unbreakable and forever sharp, including the crossbows and bolts. With Air Magic I enchanted every bolt and arrow, allowing them to be faster, more powerful and more accurate, as if they weren¡¯t held by militia and simple soldiers, but by the greatest marksmen of the land. And with Dark Magic ¨C more specifically, Poison Magic ¨C I enchanted every tip of every spear, arrow and bolt, and every edge of every blade with a thin sliver of deathly poison, unnoticeable to the naked eye and capable of downing enemies within seconds after a mere scratch. With this not only the quality of the forces are about equal, the quality of weapons are now in our favour, making the difference in numbers slightly less felt. Everything from spells and buffs was done within seconds after the speech. All the men were staring at me, stunned by their newfound courage and hope, but remained silent. They had still yet to believe what they felt was real, so I made it real. With all eyes on me, both on as well as behind the walls, I stretched out my left arm, as if holding something that wasn¡¯t there. With a flash of red a bow of pure flames was conjured out of nowhere, perfectly fitted for me in my outstretched arm. I moved my right arm and hand, as if nocking an arrow on its fiery strings, and as I did, the arrow appeared, as radiant and as powerful as the bow. A bow made out of a powerful fire, radiating with power. Since we are the defenders in this siege, we held the edge in terms of battlefield. However, thanks to the Summoner Hero, they had about 5.000 dragons, griffins and other flying beasts, which were ridden by probably the most expert bowmen and offensive Mages of the enemy, making the advantage obsolete. They needed to be dealt with, and what better way than do it with an impressive show of force, inspiring our side while demoralizing theirs. So, I conjured up the most powerful and most visible bow I could think of. Looking through my enhanced eyes, I could see the enemy clearly. The bow was like a radiating mass of Magic, clearly visible and its power no doubt felt even from the distance of the open field between us. I saw the enemy¡¯s once-taunting demeanour shift slightly towards one of surprise and, in terms of their leaders, fear. There¡¯s no doubt they never expected something like this. After all, the capital was by far the main hub of the Kingdom of Asra. It had a population of over four million. Compare that to the second largest city, with its 350.000 citizens, and Kasten, with 200.000, it is clear they thought this war pretty much over with the destruction of the capital. And not only was it the most populous city of Asra, it was also by far the strongest in terms of fighting power. And they had killed every one of those expert. Not only that, since it was the coronation of the new King, all the powerful men and women came from every corner of the Kingdom to attend, meaning all the power was located at the capital when it was destroyed. Even the most powerful of Kasten were there, brought along by the mayor. The only powerful people who remained here were those with too important positions to leave vacant, meaning the Bishop Patrick, Mage Lloyd, Healer Elyse, Commander Maxwell and even Lady Melissa, who, despite being a noble and merchant, was extremely capable in combat, both in the use of spells as well as weapons. They undoubtedly knew this, hence they chose that specific day to invade. Quickly killing everyone capable of stopping them, including the four Heroes capable of rivalling an army on their own, they only thing on their minds was taking revenge. And what better way to take revenge than by genocide, just like Asra did years ago? From the distance, I saw their expert Mages quickly conjure barriers of every kind, while the most experienced soldiers quickly used Body Enhancement to strengthen themselves. I purposefully allowed this and waited, making it clear to both the enemy as well as those under my command that their efforts are wasted. Ten seconds since my speech had passed, seven after conjuring up the bow and five after conjuring the arrow. It was time to strike. I pulled back the arrow¡­ ¡°FOR THE GLORY OF KASTEN!¡± I shouted, making sure it was heard even by the enemy. ¡­and let fly the arrow. The battlefield was silent. None dared to move as the arrow climbed higher and flew father towards the enemy. Counter-spells weren¡¯t even attempted, as it was clear that nothing would¡¯ve worked. Fleeing wasn¡¯t attempted; they were too stunned, too entranced by it to move. For our soldiers, the bright light, turning spherical the farther it went, turned into a beacon of hope with the soldiers longingly waiting for its effect. For the enemy, it was a magnificently shining ball of destruction, soaring through the air and aimed at their flying beasts. The effect was without a doubt greater than any had expected. In utter silence, the ball went into the middle of the enemy¡¯s flying regiment. Feeling the pressure so close to them, they instinctively fled. But it was already too late. The silence was broken by the sounds of howling winds as the fire grew and grew, turning from a small ball into a veritable inferno, seemingly covering the world in a blanket of deadly red fire. Strong winds began pulling everyone currently in the air into the red sea of death. Those trying to fly away were easily pulled back in, without allowing any chance of escape. The fire grew and grew, drowning out every colour visible on the battlefield, turning the world temporarily into a fiery shade of red. The first unlucky few began falling victim to its ferocious flames. With both loud and not-so-loud sounds of shattered glass and horrifying screams, the dragon-riders and their ilk were swallowed whole, their hastened defences instantly shattering by the all-consuming power of the sea of flame. None could resist the tempest of wind caused by the inferno¡¯s greed for oxygen; all airborne troops were lost. Everyone on the ground stared in awe as the fire spread across the sky. I purposefully made sure that it would not expand radially, seeing as I merely wanted their flying troops dead, not everyone of the enemy army. I was trying to make the battle relatively fair, not make it a one-sided slaughter. Not for their side, nor for mine. After all, they both needed to be punished for their crimes. As the fire faded and the wind calmed down, all eyes of both sides were fixed on me, so I decided to initiate phase two. I made sure all the leaders of the enemy as well as those on my side were watching me before I purposefully tumbled down the edge of the gatehouse, feigning exhaustion after using this last-resort amount of power. ¡°Marcus!¡± Maxwell yelled beside me. He tried to grab me, but, with the help of Illusion Magic, was unable to grab me. If I had not shown any exhaustion the other side might have thought to retreat, seeing as I might be able to do it again, and this time against their ground forces. By doing this and tumbling down from the gatehouse, I made sure that they would instead take this chance to advance, making them think I was now weak and thus making it their best shot to finish me off before I recovered. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. I smacked face first into the cobbled road leading towards the gate, of course making sure no actual harm was done. As soon as I landed, I checked the enemy forces. As expected, the enemy took this opportunity to charge. After all, their numbers and quality, as far as they knew, were higher than ours. They only needed some Earth Mages to knock down either part of the wall or the gate and they could easily swarm the city. There was no need for complicated tactics on either side. They need to charge and swarm the city to achieve victory. We needed to stop them before they could. Everyone knew this. ¡°Quickly! Open the gate!¡± I head Maxwell shout. ¡°Don¡¯t! They¡¯ll be able to reach it before it closes again!¡± I retorted, stating what the Commander undoubtedly knew already. After all, he was not dumb. Meanwhile, I stood up and looked and the anxious face of the Captain, looking down from the gatehouse. ¡°But¡­¡± He still tried. ¡°If you do that, we¡¯ll all be doomed! Trust me and let me defend the gate on my own! You take care of the rest!¡± For a second longer the Commander looked down before turning around and walking away. ¡°Enchanters, focus on enchanting bolts and arrows! Light Mages, focus on barriers and healing! The rest of you lot, FIRE AT WILL! FOR THE GLORY OF KASTEN, LET NONE ENTER ALIVE!¡± Maxwell ordered the troops, he too making sure the entire city heard his voice. ¡°FOR THE GLORY OF KASTEN! DEATH TO THE INVADERS!¡± The overwhelming morale of our side was heard all over the field, but it stopped nothing. Charging with incredible speed, the first line of enemies consisted entirely out of the 10.000 of the remaining summoned beasts. Each of them was powerful enough to knock down the wall or force open the gate, so they send them in first. I drew my simple arming sword, reinforced it to an unbreakable, ever-sharp blade and took a bracing position, waiting for those charging at the city. Meanwhile, I also laid a simple trap, unnoticeable to even the well-trained eye of Earth Mages, as long as they didn¡¯t get to close. I infused the ground with Earth Magic, afterwards laying down a simple, almost unnoticeable rune on the ground underneath my feet, meaning that as soon as I stomped on it, the trap would activate. Then, I simply waited. Waited as the different beasts of the Hero charged towards the city while continuously being pelted by arrows, bolts and artillery-like spells from the walls. Waited as many of them fell before even reaching me. The distance became closer and closer. 500 metres. 300 metres. 200 metres. 100 metres. 50 metres. 30 metres. and then¡­ As soon as the first entered the 10 metre range, losing over half their number because of the powerful spells and poison-laced and incredibly accurate enchanted arrows and bolts, I raised my foot and stomped down on the rune, activating it in response. Everywhere in a frontward radius of 50 metres, with my position as its starting points, massive stone spikes suddenly shot up from the grounds with an angle. Many were instantly impaled by the earthen spikes rising suddenly from the ground. Many more charged towards their death against any of the numerous spikes, unable to stop their rampaging charge in time to avoid them. It was a simple trap, used in many battles even in the long gone world of the past, although they were simple wooden spikes raised from the grounds, aimed to impale and stop the enemy cavalry. It worked splendidly. I stomped again on the rune and made the spikes retract, the only evidence of them being there being the massive amounts of blood, seeing as summoned monsters disappear after death. It was a mistake to send them charging so recklessly against me, but then again, they must have thought I was unconscious, or at the very least thoroughly exhausted. Thanks to the fact that the projectiles from our side were able to break through the thick skin of the beasts, none of them survived. Some of them did manage to make it to the wall, but their bodies were filled with the deadliest Poison Magic, so they were unable to do anything but simply wither away in front of their goal. Although each of the beasts were powerful beyond belief, their defence is always low since they could only use their own skin and the meagre Magic skill each of them have. Now that the beasts were gone from my sight, I saw the situation of the battlefield. Not losing their cool, they decided to use the beasts as a distraction. The enemy advanced their Mages, archers and crossbowmen into firing range, skirmishing with the troops on the walls. Seeing as they had to aim from a downward angle, the enemy was at a disadvantage. That, along with the barriers of our Mages, made a lot of fired spells, arrows and bolts harmless. But despite this advantage for our side, the difference in number was clearly visible. The enormous amount of returning fire from the enemy made up for the superior position of the troops atop the wall. Still, the damage were about equal, relatively speaking. However, this was bad news for the soldiers of Kasten. While they were busy trying to make sure the exchange was fairly equal, the enemy was slowly moving forward with their infantry while protecting the Earth Mages needed for breaching the walls with the help of Light Mages. With the fire drawn towards the enemy¡¯s ranged regiments, the situation was now in their favour. About a 100.000 people were on the move, leaving the rest behind as reinforcing waves. They were packed together in small, easily defended and tightly packed squares of about a thousand people. Most of these forces were headed for the walls, planning to breach them with Earth Magic and afterwards allowing for the remaining forces to enter and wreak havoc. However, despite the clearly thought-out tactic of densely packed troops protected by dozens of powerful barriers, it proved to be a disadvantage to them. They had underestimated the power of our forces. Or rather, they underestimated the buffs and enchantments I gave them. The Light Magic buff given to them made their hands steady, quick and tireless, allowing for extremely fast barrages of bolts and arrows, and the additional strength in Magic allowed for more spells to be cast repeatedly. The Earth Magic made sure that the bolts and arrows wouldn¡¯t simply break on contact with the shields, and made sure the bows and crossbows never broke down due to excessive firing. The Air Magic made their projectiles fly fast and straight, allowing them together able to penetrate the layers of shield. The Poison Magic allowed for even the slightest of scratches to become life-threatening. Even if our side was distracted by the enemy¡¯s skirmishers, once they noticed their arrows were able to penetrate their defences, all fire focused on these regiments of a thousand men. Raining hell upon them, dozens upon dozens fell within each square in mere seconds. Their forces depleted by the thousands with each volley. However, they quickly understood this and broke up their packs. Instead, they decided to split up and charge towards the walls as quickly as possible, aiming to destroy them without losing any more lives. Although this did decrease their loses significantly, it didn¡¯t change the fact that they were constantly being shot at by incredibly deadly arrows. It was a slaughter. But while I surveyed the battlefield from underneath the gate, I noticed a particular group approaching me. The arrows and bolts bounced of their barriers like they were stones thrown against a mountain. Even those that, by sheer luck, did manage to penetrate these defences, were quickly deflected by expert use of their shields, holding them at the perfect angle for each and every projectile aimed at them. While being fired against, I clearly saw flashes of different coloured light emerging from within the heart of the pack. Each of them shot upwards to the walls with amazing speed and even from underneath the gate, still a while away from them, I could feel the power emanating from it. Carrying themselves with ease despite the enormous armours and shields they wore, they were without a doubt the elite of the elite. When looking closely, I could see they were most likely the best from each of the different races and countries owned by them. They were clearly walking towards the gate, aiming to dispose of me and win the battle. The screams of the siege and the yelling of orders began to slowly escape my notice. Instead, my attention was focused entirely on the group of soldiers aiming for me. I raised my sword slightly and, while moving my hand alongside its edge, and enchanted it. The edges on both side had a thin layer of air on it, allowing it to make sharp gusts of wind as I swing it. The edges themselves glowed red with intense heat, allowing it to cleave through anything without trouble. The metal had been hardened to be unbreakable, no matter how much pressure it endured. The grip was firmly stuck to my hand, unable to leave its grasp even if every finger was cut off. It had been billions of years since I last used a sword. ------------------------------------------------------------ Hopefully I have the next chapter done by tomorrow. With an emphasis on hopefully. Also, I have done this chapter in a total of three sittings, so if there are any strange leaps in logic or inconsistencies, please say and I''ll fix it. Hope you enjoyed! Chapter 38: Half a Million Men are Gone End of the First Arc, of course. Enjoy! ----------------------------------------------------------- I breathed in deeply and calmly waited for them to arrive. I forgot everything around me and kept focusing on the thousand men regiment walking towards me. I could see their eyes burning, their muscles flexing and their hatred overflowing as they inched ever closer. There was no doubt about how much they hated me and the city I represent. Thousands upon thousands of their brothers have already given their lives for this supposedly weak city and they knew who was responsible for it. But, they kept their cool and slowly marched towards the gate, protecting themselves and the Mages within the square. It took them minutes of walking across the open field while constantly barraged with arrows, bolts and spells until they finally arrived on the city¡¯s doorstep. The gatehouse had about a ten metre long entry before arriving at the actual gate, meaning there was an open space of ten metres with a stone ceiling where archers up on the walls couldn¡¯t shoot them. At first I thought this design was odd, seeing as during a defence like this you want as much time as possible to fire at the enemy. But then I noticed there were many slits all across the walls and ceiling perfectly made for arrows and bolts to be fired through. This ten metre strip was meant to be a deadly trap against the occasional battering ramps, but it works just as fine against Earth Mages trying to reach the gate. At this moment there were many crossbowmen behind these holes, unseen by the enemy because of the darkness covering the walls and ceiling in this dimly lit place. The pack stopped right before the entrance since it was impossible for them to enter all at once. They were too many and if they decide to enter in tightly-packed lines of infantry, they wouldn¡¯t be able to swing their swords around freely. So they stopped, many of them staying outside to protect the Mages until every obstacle ¨C in other words: until I was forced out of their way. The howls of wolfs, hisses of lizards and cats, roars of lions unified into the war-cry of all these different races. They were incredibly loud, echoing against the walls and ceiling endlessly and deafening those behind the arrow-slits as they awaited the charge. And charge they did. Screaming in rage, numerous people abandoned their pack and rushed into the 10-metre-long, 15-metre-wide hallway. Pumping the Body Strengthening Magic through every muscle, bone, vein, nerve and organ, I prepared for their attack with my senses heightened to the utmost. They were quick. They were strong. They were smart. If it had been any other citizen of Kasten, they would have dropped dead before they knew what was going on. But not me. Even if I¡¯m acting like a human now, my power outclassed them by far. Not only that, I had far, far more experience in fighting against both individuals and groups than any of them could even dream off. It isn¡¯t that I¡¯m particularly good at fighting. In fact, I am actually very, very bad at using every weapon, be it swords, spears, bows, knives or with bare hands. But if you give a man a thousand years to practice with a sword while constantly being chased and hunted by enemies, they would undoubtedly be better at it then everyone else. Now give a man billions upon billions of years of being hunted down and chased by others in both groups and as individuals while also firmly believing their very existence depended on capturing said man, then he would able to anyone, big or small, strong or quick, numerous or alone. I don¡¯t have skill in using weapons, but I have infinite experience compared to them. No matter how they moved I would be able to counter it instantly. And so, the first victim arrived. Although covered in heavy armour, I could still tell it was a woman, and seeing from how she used no weapon and only her clawed hands, I suspected she was from some Beastmen tribe or kingdom. She wasn¡¯t a fool; she didn¡¯t blindly rushed me and hoped for the best. She ran towards me, faster than anyone else, and stopped short in front of me. She raised her hands and jabbed it outwards with incredible force, aiming tear my face apart with a single swipe. It wasn¡¯t one you would see in a bar fight or in the streets. She didn¡¯t pull her arm backwards, she didn¡¯t do a clear wind-up of a punch like an amateur would. It was quick, it was powerful, it was sharp and it was deadly. Clearly an expert in her way of fighting. But it wasn¡¯t enough. No matter how fast she moved, my eyes could see it, my brain could comprehend it and my body could react to it. She was an elite, but not a monster like I am. The sword in my hand, hung low in preparation, swung upward and without giving her even the time to blink, her arm was cut off from the elbow down before her palm could reach my face. The glowing edge of my blade cut easily through the armour on her arm and cut it off cleanly. On my left side was a draconian clad only in his serpent-like scales rushing past me, aiming to flank me and strike where I least expected it. But thanks to the wind-edge on my blade, a powerful gust of wind was created and he was smashed into the wall. No matter how powerful the scales, the wall was solid and he was easily killed by the blunt force. One movement, two hits. I used it multiple times in the past when fighting in caves, although the jagged rock usually caused impalement rather than inducing blunt force trauma. The blood from the catwoman¡¯s stump sprayed over me and I could see the surprise on her face, arriving before the pain. My sword still held high after cutting her arm off, I didn¡¯t give her the time to feel it and immediately sliced down vertically, the glowing-hot edge of the sword easily cleaving through her skull, bones and armour, all the way down until she was split in two. Seeing two dead within the scope of two-tenths of a second, the other warriors didn¡¯t even flinch. However, they did speed up. There was no doubt that before they were trying to safe their power somewhat until after rushing through the gates, but seeing me so easily wipe two of them out made them realise this wasn¡¯t the time to hold back. I didn¡¯t hold back either. I dashed left wall, stopped, and swiped horizontally. I dashed to the middle of the hall, stopped, and stabbed. I dashed to the right wall, stopped, and cut. The first one never saw it coming; a male elf with blond hair and bright-green eyes was cut in half, the force of the air going through him and blew the two other elves behind him back from whence they came, into the pack. The second one still had its eyes fixed on the location where the elf fell; he, a dog- or wolf-man with yellow eyes and brown hair, too didn¡¯t see it coming. I stabbed the tip of my blade through his throat, easily going through the mail throat-protector and sending another blast of air into the man behind him, although since it wasn¡¯t horizontally it was much more precise, smashing into his chest and breaking his ribs before sending him back into the pack. The third one, an elven woman with, again, blond hair and bright-green eyes, was more perceptive. She saw me dashing towards her and raised her shield. Although I easily cut through it, melting it as my blade went against its steel, but it temporarily blocked part of my vision, allowing her to slightly dodge back without me noticing. My blade went across her chest, through her armour and digging into her flesh. But the force of the wind blew her away, back into the pack. Although severely wounded, she still lived and would undoubtedly be quickly healed by the Mages in the square and sent back again. While watching her being blown back, a man and woman of elven descent had flanked me, preparing to cut me while distracted. The both raised their swords and prepared to cut me down as quickly as possible, but, once again, they were to slow. Since I cut the now-gone elf from right to left horizontally, my sword was in perfect position to parry both of theirs. Raising my sword with a lot of force, I parried the guy on the left with the flat of my blade, while pivoting on right foot and parrying the woman on the right within the same motion. Both their swords were forced out of their hands and thrown against the nearby wall. Fluidly switching from defence to attack, I cut downwards against the woman, not giving her the time to raise her shield and instantly separating her body from right shoulder to left hip. The man on the left tried to tackle me, perhaps in an attempt to save the woman or perhaps to force me on the ground for the others to arrive and easily kill me. But I saw it coming from the corner of my eye and grabbed him by the throat with my free left hand. I snapped his neck easily and without hesitation and threw the corpse against a one-horned demon-like man coming from the right. The force of the throw smashed him against the wall, knocking him either unconscious or killing him. At least, he didn¡¯t move anymore. Even though not even a second had passed, the now Body Magic-using enemies kept rushing in, some trying to reach the gates as quickly as possible while others focusing on me. With as much speed as I could muster, I dashed backwards until I reached the gate, outrunning those already closer to it with ease. I saw twelve soldiers from every angle had already nearly reached the gate, so this time I dashed towards each of them without stopping before cutting them. Although it took a bit more concentration, since keeping track of your location while running so fast confuses the shit out of your brain, it was successful. Ten of the twelve soldiers were either cut apart or run through by my blade, while the other two narrowly managed to dodge the lethal blow. This time, however, the others behind them knew of the wind-force that came with each thrust or swipe of my sword, and they were prepared. Having their shields at a slight angle, the force dispersed upwards against the ceiling, forcing the wind to harmlessly get past them and roll off the ceiling into the open air. Now that they saw that simply dashing towards me wasn¡¯t an answer, those with sword and shield quickly formed a shield-wall formation, restricting their free use of the sword and forcing those using claws or other weapons back in exchange for slowly pushing forward. Behind them I saw others arriving, this time with long spears, allowing those behind them to cover for those up front. They decided to take it slow and walked forward at the same pace they did outside. Since they now had a shield-wall up front anyway, many others decided to join this ¡®cave¡¯ as well, since they had abandoned the idea of free movement and a quick charge. It was what I hoped for. Since the darkness was still present, and my glowing sword being the only source of light, there was almost no way they had noticed the arrow-slits in the walls and ceiling. Unless you knew they were there they were basically impossible to see. And now that the cave was filled with enemies, it was impossible to miss. ¡°FIRE AT WILL!!¡± On my command, a hundred or so bolts came out of nowhere. Since they didn¡¯t expect it, none of them had the time to raise their shields or position themselves better to receive the bolts. None of them missed, although some of them arrived in the same person. With the first barrage, a third of the people in the cave collapsed due to either poison or simple being shot through the head or heart. But this wasn¡¯t all. Maxwell and I made sure that for every hole were three crossbows, allowing for a rotation system, aiming for an unstoppable barrage of bolts, if the soldiers reloaded quick enough. The second barrage came quickly after. Still unable to raise their shields, about half of the remaining people dropped dead. The third barrage was slightly less deathly. This time, the enemy knew what to expect and positioned themselves with their shields to deflect the bolts, but since it came from all sides and even from above, it was impossible to stop every one of them. Another third of the remaining people lost their life. Only 1/5th of the original force in the cave was alive. Before a fourth barrage could be fired, a sudden shock ran through the gatehouse. It was to be expected. Since they couldn¡¯t easily force their way through to the gates, they decided to instead attack the entire gatehouse itself, just like they are probably attacking the walls at this very moment. Another shock went through, rippling over the stone, trying to tear them apart. But the entire wall was well built and reinforced with my Earth Magic. It may not make the wall indestructible, but it made it a hell of a lot harder to break. Because of the shaking, the fourth barrage came, but those inside the gatehouse had formed into a circle, their shields protecting every angle from which they could attack. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itOnly three of the men died, simply because their shields were round and didn¡¯t protect their ankles or feet. The three heaps of shields tried moving out of the hall, making sure they wouldn¡¯t be inside when the thing collapsed. A fourth shock went across the stones, and since these Earth Mages were protected by the elite of the army, they were undoubtedly the most powerful among their peers. Cracks began appearing on the ceiling and the walls. ¡°EVERYONE, LEAVE THE GATE AND STAND READY FOR BREACH!¡± I ordered. I heard the quick shuffling of footsteps as the men tried to get out of the gatehouse when a fourth shock came. The cracks began to grow wider and branch off. Sand fell from the ceiling, indicating it was ready to fall at any moment. I dashed forward, forcing a path through one of the shield formations, pushing them aside and cutting left and right multiple times as I made my way out of this cave. The fifth wave of Earth Magic ran through the stone and finally my enchantment gave way. If normal Earth Mages had tried to do this, it would have collapsed into a heap of bricks over which they needed to climb. However, as soon as my enchantment over it was broken, the elite Earth Mages sent an incredibly powerful shockwave through, reducing the gatehouse to nothing more but a large heap of sand. Even the metal gate was reduced to fine-grained grains of steel. I exited the hall just in time, only to see twelve people clad in armour and white robe, all of different races, standing ready. Immediately, I deactivated the burning edge on my blade and stabbed it firmly into the ground, not a moment too late. I heard twelve different kinds of chants and instantly, a storm arrived. Using Air Magic, the twelve Mages summoned a storm with the force of a hurricane, blowing the large heaps of sand, along with the remaining man inside them, into the city, blinding and blowing away the soldiers standing ready behind it. My body was lifted from the ground, but my grip was firm. Using my sword as the pole, I waved like a flag under the enormous force of wind washing over me, while patches of sand, dirt and grass was flung into my eyes. Once the wind had died down, I opened my eyes and prepared to fight again, only to find out that all the soldiers and Mages of the enemy had already retreated. I quickly found the reason why. To my left, there was nothing. To my right, the same sight was met. The walls of the city had all been torn down and the rubble dispersed, albeit in most places still with piles of bricks. On the ground in front of where the gates once stood, lay an innumerable amount of corpses, some even piled together. The enemy had seen their only way to bring down the walls was to recklessly charge forward while guiding the Earth Mages, which they did. Meanwhile, the crossbowmen lay fire on them again and again, killing thousands upon thousands with each passing minute. But the enemy was simply too numerous; even with the incredible vigour and enormous buffs placed upon them, the enemy had outnumbered our entire army at least 6:1. And since space was very limited on the walls, the numbers were even more in their favour. Along with the fact that the enemy¡¯s army were entirely made out of experts, in comparison to the army of Kasten, which had about 60.000 militia of the more or less 80.000 strong force, there was simply no way they could hold the walls indefinitely, even with the buffs given. Although the enemy paid dearly to take down these walls, they still had many, many men on the horizon. But that¡¯s not all. Since all of the mages had been on the walls, they were either now dead and buried underneath the rubble, or stunned by the strong winds thrown at them. That means that no-one was holding up any form of defence against attacks. And the enemy knew it. From the enemy lines, I could see three lines of mages rushing forward, the first dressed in red, probably Fire Mages, the second in purple, usual for Lightning Mages, and the third yellow, Light Mages for protection. I stood up, pulled out my sword and turned around. ¡°MAGES, PULL UP A BARRIER!¡± I shouted, but all I saw was dust and already half-destroyed buildings. And many, many corpses. No-one shouted back, nor was there any sign of Magic being used. I looked back towards the numerous Mages, more than I had ever seen in one place. The Fire Mages chanted something and pointed up towards the sky, when suddenly the air was filled with red. Thousands of giant fireballs, each the size of a horse-drawn carriage, were fired from their lines. This Magic, although very powerful, is never used in an ongoing battle, because it¡¯s easily defended against. A low level Mage with a large, spread-out shield could take any one of these or even use a simple counter spell to make it disappear instantly. But once there aren¡¯t any Mages around to defend against it, this spell is used to clean up the enemy forces. As the sky was blotted out by the immense numbers of fireballs, the red Mages and purple Mages shifted position. Unlike the Fire Mages, they didn¡¯t point towards the sky when they started chanting. Instead, they aimed directly towards the city. Just like the skies was dyed red with fire, the enormous amount of lightning cast a purple net just slightly above the ground. A form of Lightning Magic often used in the same situation as the large fireballs, the spell synergized with those next to it. Like a wave of powerful electricity, it shot towards the city with obvious lightning speed and covered it with a large network of branching thunder bolts all interconnected with each other. Although the lightning was extremely quick, I still had time to cast a quick and easy shield over my person, protecting it from its grasp. But even if I wanted to, which I don¡¯t, I couldn¡¯t have protected the city in this short amount of time. Behind me, I head the only second-long cries of the remaining soldiers before they were being killed by the lightning. In the distance, I head the fireballs strike every part of the city with amazing roars similar to the one I made in the beginning. Turning around, I saw the entire city swallowed by fire and lightning, destroying every building and killing every man, woman and child left alive. The undoubtedly loud screams were drowned out by the sound of hundreds of buildings collapsing and burning down to the ground. Such was the power of Magic in a world where it is dominant. It could kill a city within moments as long as its left unguarded. While watching the city burn, I heard the sound of a stampede coming from behind, but I didn¡¯t turn around. The remaining monstrosities summoned by the Hero whizzed by with incredible speed, seeking out still-living prey in the dying city without sparing me a single glance. Later, the minutes easily passing by as I kept staring into the living flames, the remaining soldiers slowly walked by. Most of them gave me a dirty look, uttered curses or spat in my direction, but it was clear they, too, planned to ignore me. I kept watching the city burn, remembering those I met during its time. Innkeeper Ralf, his wife Ingrid and has daughters and sons-in-law, some of whom had volunteered as militia. Elyse and Patrick, undoubtedly having tried their best at saving the lives of the soldiers, although obviously in vain. Lady Melissa, Mage Lloyd, and the many other Guild-leaders had given their lives for this city. And Maxwell had definitely fought until the bitter end, ordering his guard, the garrison and the militia to the best of his ability. I felt a tinge of sadness and loss. But despite the feelings of loss, I felt no regrets. I had no reason to help. They weren¡¯t my friends. They weren¡¯t family. They were merely acquaintances and, for a while, subjects. I didn¡¯t like them enough to save their lives when it was so obvious that, without my interference, their time had come. But at the very least, I gave them a battle in which their heroism will be spoken off for centuries to come in the kingdoms of the humans, while dreaded by their enemies. And besides they brought this upon themselves. Every citizen of Asra was in favour of killing the other races, so their eradication is merely the result of their attempts. I feel sad, yes, but I don¡¯t pity them. They deserved death as much as the enemy forces deserved decimation. Everyone got what they deserved. Everything went as intended. More or less. ¡°Are you happy with what you see? To see your people burn away, just like they once burned my people? Are you as pleased as I am to watch them burn?¡± It was a heavy voice, burdened with sadness, anger and grieve. No joy, despite saying he was ¡®pleased¡¯. Forced out of my thoughts, I turned around and saw twenty-two men standing there. Four were in front as representatives ¨C including the Hero ¨C while the other eighteen stayed in the back. Undoubtedly the rulers of the different kingdoms, tribes and such. ¡°Yes, very. Everything went according to plan.¡± I said smilingly. Everyone was stunned. Of course they are. Who would smile after seeing the city they fought to defend burn? Then came the anger. The man up front ¨C a large, wolf like man with light-brown hair and very yellow eyes like a regular wolf ¨C became furious. But the Hero was the one who spoke first. ¡°How can you smile like that?! Your people are gone! Everyone you know and love are dead, gone for good thanks to your King! How can you say everything went ¡®according to plan¡¯?!¡± The Hero spat and shouted. ¡°For the same reason you joined their side. An eye for an eye, is it not? Asra is gone, just like they made other kingdoms disappear.¡± I stated, but this wasn¡¯t good enough for the presumed Wolf-King. His wrath died down hearing this. Instead, his voice was filled with grieve and depression. ¡°Then why? Why did this battle even happen? Why didn¡¯t you join our side? Why did so many of my subjects, so many of my brothers, so many of my sons have to die?¡± He was clearly at a loss, and so where those behind him. ¡°I could forgive you for destroying Asra; it is only just. But would you have stopped after? Or would you have marched against the other kingdoms? I condone taking justice in one¡¯s own hand. After all, power is meant to be used. But exterminating all of humanity? That, I won¡¯t allow. You have your revenge, humanity still lives, Asra got their overdue punishment. With this, everyone¡¯s happy. More or less.¡± It was only partially true. Although I do believe they were right to take down Asra, I normally wouldn¡¯t have stopped them from killing off the rest of the human race. After all, my policy is still let life do what life does. But, I spend a decade in this city, so I felt it was right to give them a proper ending. A bit selfish perhaps, but who cares? Only half a million people or so have died here. What is that compared to the entire universe of billions of inhabitable planets with billions of lives on each and every one of them that I created? But, if I said that, I would probably sound like a maniac. ¡°Everyone¡¯s happy? Are you mad? You planned for so many to die, and you say you are¡­¡± Without being able to finish his words, the man on his side ¨C presumably King of the Cat-like race, seeing as he looked like it ¨C interrupted him. By slicing of my head. I could have avoided it, but I didn¡¯t want to continue this conversation anymore. It was fruitless anyway. I left my body, left my Soul, and entered into my divine state, hovering over existence. I was still focused on the battlefield, where everyone simply looked stunned at my body and the guy who cut off my head. None uttered a word, neither in protest, nor voiced their contend. They simply left it lying there and walked towards the city to finish the war and the Kingdom. I noticed my Soul leaving the world and enter the furnace, soon to be send elsewhere to be born. Before I left, I sensed the number of corpses through the Energy. On Kasten¡¯s side were 187.490, although still rapidly climbing as the monsters and soldiers tore through the city. On the coalition of races side were 395.011, almost all of which were slaughtered trying to reach the wall. It was as planned. Not a one-sided massacre, but a massacre on both sides. Chapter 39: Birth Fleshy walls rippled over my entire body as if a great monster had swallowed me, only to find out I wasn¡¯t edible. That is birth in a nutshell. Not beautiful, not a miracle, not life¡¯s greatest moment. The only thing I thought about it was, to put it nicely, an odd experience. To put it more bluntly, it was utterly disgusting and creeped me out. No wonder babies always cry right after they¡¯re born. But still, it was necessary. Believe me if I say I tried to change it, but failed every single time. When I tried bypassing it, creating a body and attaching a Soul directly without the need for birth, it would merely be a shell of a being. Only a hollow representation, missing the greatest thing that defines life: the mind. Everything is tangible to me, but for some reason, the mind had always been outside my supposedly all-powerful grasp and beyond my understanding. The only way life could exist was through evolution; the most I could provide were the ingredients needed to start life, like water, oxygen and many other things. That doesn¡¯t mean I needed to go through the birthing process to exist. I could create a shell and then inhabit eat, easy as that. Meaning that this awful experience was entirely of my own volition. It isn¡¯t hard to guess why I did this. After all, I was never really born. I merely wasn¡¯t there one moment, and then poof, I were. No parents, no siblings, no family. I never even experienced youth; I was an adult the moment I existed. But now, during this ¡®rebirth¡¯ of mine, I want parents. I want brothers and sisters. I want a family. I want to live the life I never could and birth is the beginning of it all. To have all that by merely going through an unpleasant experience is a small price to pay. I¡¯ve paid more pain for less gain. However, I was not the only one being born at this moment. Allow me to list them all: The first to arrive was sister Lana: blond hair, golden eyes. The second was sister Lucia: equally blond hair and golden eyes. The third was brother Pavo: once again, blond hair, golden eyes like his sisters. The fourth was brother Rade: see above, finishing the pack of quadruplets (appearance wise). The fifth was brother Lovro: the first one to break away from the pack with brown hair and brown eyes. The sixth was sister Cila: blond hair, brown eyes. The seventh was sister Sara: brown hair, golden eyes. The eight was sister Mila: brown hair, emerald green eyes. The ninth and last was me, Miro : brown hair, emerald green eyes and twin to Mila in appearance. A batch of nine children in total. Since we were of a race slowly evolved out of cats into humanoids, it was common to have twins, triplets and even quadruplets. The size of one ¡®litter¡¯, for lack of better word, is anywhere ranging from 1-6, averaging at about four. But, six is as uncommon as twins for ¡®normal¡¯ humans. Seven is as rare as having triplets or quadruplets. Eight is having quintuplets or sextuplets. And then there is nine. Nonuplets. A word so rarely used I only encountered it a couple of times in the many, many books I¡¯ve read through the ages, and even then they were in encyclopaedias and the like. In rarity, it would be the same for seven children to born at once for humans. Normally, having so many children would not only be catastrophic for the one giving birth, it also often meant that children would die almost immediately after birth. However, evolution for the cat-people ¨C they called themselves Covek, meaning ¡®the people¡¯ ¨C had a solution for this. Since evolution has accounted for an average of four, it meant that those born were very small, about the size of a hand somewhat larger than average. So although nine was a bit of a stretch, it wasn¡¯t impossible. Just very, very rare. So rare that I could almost say that everyone present at the time had ever heard something about a mother having nine children at once, aside from those in the weirdest of folk tales. So it was obvious that the room was quiet bustling with noises of busy midwives, urgent commands of the doctor and a whole lot of panicking from my mother and father. Now I couldn¡¯t yet see anything that happened around me since my eyes were closed firmly, but in the noises of people running, ordering and panicking, there was one thing that caught my attention. Rather, it was the lack of something that caught my attention. Despite all the sounds thrown at me from every direction, hurting my still wet, recently born ears, it wasn¡¯t as much noise as I was expecting. After all, nine babies had just been born and what do babies do when they are born? Indeed. They cry. A lot. Now imagine nine little kitten-like babies being born so closely after each other. What would one hear? It would sound like the world was exploding. This wasn¡¯t a quirk of evolution on the Covek side. Their children, although small, were even more annoying and loud than other races, as if they were compensating for something. I¡¯ve studied it thoroughly from every single race known in existence. The sounds of recently born Coveks is like the sound of a cat being strangled. And now that there were nine in one room, it seemed almost eerily silent compared to normal births. Perhaps that is why there is so much noise of running people, panicking parents and a hint of controlled worry in the doctor¡¯s voice. In a situation like this, the absence of sound is more horrifying than hearing nine strangled cats. For me, it was easily explained. Although the air hurt my tender skin, the light burned my still-closed eyes and the noise pricked my ears, I didn¡¯t feel the need to cry out. After all, this is but a slight discomfort compared to the things I¡¯m used to. For the other eight, however, it is not as easily explained. The reasons why babies cry are listed above: pain and discomfort. Of course, there are exceptions. Babies tough as nails refusing to cry as if their lives were on the line, and babies silent because their lives were on the line. Now there were nine babies refusing to cry. No doubt one of them should, purely by chance, be in serious danger, right? That is what a doctor would think. But they¡¯re wrong. I already noticed that my recently-wiped Soul had absolutely zero extra powers in it. No inherent Magic whatsoever. So sensing others through any form of Magic is impossible for this body. But, I am a cheat. Curiosity arrived and, since there wasn¡¯t anything better to do except for being carried around and treated like a slab of meat, I was quickly tempted in indulging it. I distanced my mind slightly from my body and Soul, allowing me to use all the powers I¡¯ve created as easy as wiggling your finger. What I saw was both surprising and as expected. The cause of it went far back, just shy of fifteen billion years ago. Although I had allowed life to flourish at that point, I was still busily experimenting trying to create the mind. Naturally, I was unsuccessful, but there was one thing that remained from my many experiments. I tried to see if I could capture a mind by creating a loose Soul untethered to the new Furnace I created and send it through the process of birth. It failed, but that left me with Souls unconnected to the Furnace and thus Immortal Souls. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.While their bodies would die with age, their Souls would not, staying behind and wandering the earth like ghosts. I never wanted others to suffer because of my experiments (aside from those that, in my eyes, deserve nothing less), so I solved it in the form of a gift. Instead of tethering them to the Furnace like everyone else, I allowed their Souls to stay Immortal, meaning their mind and (most of) their memories would remain after dead. Once their body perishes, however, they would be dragged through a different system and be ¡®reborn¡¯ with all their power and memories intact. Basically, your standard reincarnation. Of course, it wasn¡¯t perfect at once, so as time passed by I added some features. Since I know the burden of living to long, although recently very much lessened, I gave them a percentage of a complete memory wipe each time they died; memories reside in the Soul, so I could easily interfere with them, although not as much as being able to change someone¡¯s character. The more time one died, the higher the percentage, although it would never reach higher than 25% after a hundred thousand years or so. This allowed for minds to feel young again and lift the burdens memories carry without destroying the minds of its owner. Another thing I added was the restriction, but also guarantee, of one Magic power. It was to make sure they had more control of their lives, since power meant control. I wouldn¡¯t want them to feel they are doomed for eternity because they don¡¯t have the power to change their own fates. The third thing I added concerned my eight siblings. Whenever there is one person reincarnated in a person carrying multiple births, there is a 75% chance the other one, too, is destined to be a reincarnated person. It was both to give people someone they could relate to, as well as a way of meeting previous reincarnated friends, even though the chances were still very slim. However, this is not all. If one out of three is a reincarnated person, then the others both have a chance of 75% chance to be a reincarnated person. If luck is not with them, both will be normal and the reincarnated person left alone. If another one becomes a reincarnated person as well, it gives another chance of 75% to the remaining one to also get a reincarnated Soul inside the body. In simpler words, another dice-roll for each reincarnated person. Now, in this room was undoubtedly at least one person originally meant to hold a reincarnated Soul. Meaning the remaining seven ¨C of course excluding myself, since I was a special case ¨C all had a 75% each to become inhabited by a reincarnated Soul. Then, another one becomes a host for said Soul and the remaining bodies get another 75% chance to become such a host. Do this over and over, and the chance for all eight of them to become reincarnated people is rather high. This was what I expected. One reincarnated person gets others through the Laws I have placed, and soon enough, all my siblings are Reincarnated Souls. It was what I created, so it wasn¡¯t weird that, once I scanned all their Souls, I found out all of them were these holders of Reincarnated Souls. Still, despite this logic, the fact that my single Soul would wind up in a batch of nine simultaneous births where one person was a Reincarnate and thus all of them were, made me surprised. The chance is quite literally astronomically small. In the whole entire universe, there is only one me and at most a couple million Reincarnated amongst the so many billions times a billion Souls there are in this world of mine. It was almost like I intended for this to happen. The fact that it didn¡¯t made me shiver. What else can I call this other than fate? I do not believe in coincidence. Everything is a reaction to previous actions, which in turn is a reaction to another action etcetera, etcetera. But I didn¡¯t let it bother me too much. After all, me worrying doesn¡¯t change anything. After the birth and during the lack of cries, a couple of other people came in the room, carried us away, cleaned us, wrapped us in tiny towels and examined us. It wasn¡¯t necessary, of course. There was no doubt any of us were unhealthy, it¡¯s just that we were tough compared to other babies for obvious reasons. Since they didn¡¯t know this, I could hardly blame them. What I could blame them for was the incredible way to over-the-top care of those in charge. Not just for days, no, they kept us for weeks in this either church or hospital. Four weeks they kept watching over us, barely allowing any contact at all. Even the contact with our parents were at a minimum, allowing us only breastfeeding once a day, supplying the rest of our needs themselves. I can understand why though. If we were truly the frail, weak things they thought we were, exposure to outside is better to be kept to a minimum. After all, who knows what diseases could harm our little bodies. Although I was pretty irritated at not allowing much contact with my first set of parents I ever had, I didn¡¯t mind all that much to be honest. From research I already knew the first two months were going to be boring as hell. Since the Coveks were born tiny and frail compared to other equally as evolved creatures, our brains and senses didn¡¯t work as well. Although my eyes could now just barely peel themselves open, all I saw was blinding spots of light. And although I could hear, sound was still painful to the ears, making words unable to be understood properly. So we all sat there, remaining stoic for four entire weeks without so much as a single cry or noise of complaint to be heard. It felt almost like a challenge, really. ¡®The first one to break is a loser¡¯, we seemed to have bet. But, after four weeks, I heard a familiar sound. It was the voice of my mother I had come to know during breastfeeding hours. Although her words still eluded me due to the sharpness of sound, I could easily pick it out from the group of men and women watching over us day and night. She basically came barging into the unknown room we were held while nearly yelling curses at those that followed her and were present in the room. There was little doubt our keepers were eager for her to come in here, but their voices were low in what I guessed not only to be the fear of getting between a mother and a child, but also a sort of respect hidden more deeply within their voice. Mixed in the soft voices of people trying to dissuade her, I also heard the voice of a man trying his hardest to diffuse the situation. Since I was locked in here with nothing better to do, I could immediately tell the voice belonged to someone outside of the group of caretakers. The voice was sounded somewhat kind though commanding to my wounded ears, but I could also hear he did, in fact, support my mother. Little doubt it was my father. The footsteps kept coming closer and closer, the voices becoming louder and louder, the sound of it grating against my ears. ¡°¡­and by God, if any of you try to stop me, I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯ll burn before you enter hell!¡± The first words I heard in this life and they were already filled with death threats and promises for the afterlife. This sounds promising. Chapter 40: The Family Situation The violence started at age eight. Before that everything was not really all that great, but I still enjoyed it. The planet we lived on was, like many others in my world, a mixture of Magic and technology. It was capable of deep-space exploration, but was not yet in the planetary colonisation stage. To reach that stage they needed a leap in both technological and Magical knowledge. In the previous one, it would have been the stage were Energy research was about to begin, but since I cut off their access to it, they needed a combination of technology and Magic to start colonising. Those who lacked one were doomed to never reach farther than their own star. Our life here was pretty good. The Coveki race were far from the dominant species, but they prided themselves on their amazing ratio of Mage to non-Mage ¨C which was one to every four, when normally 1:100 would be the average on planets such as these. Thanks to this the Coveki had been able to have a nation capable of surviving independently against the various nations and races surrounding us, always seeking access to our Magically-blessed bloodline. Our mother and father ¨C named Ina and Jadran respectively ¨C were the children of two fairly influential houses at the Coveki Imperial Court, together owning two six large cities and a sizeable chunk of the land. Both were the heirs, even mother thanks to a relatively new law stating women inherit on the same grounds as men. Ina had a quick temper and a ruthless sentiment, but was exceptionally kind to friends and family. Jadran was always courteous and nice, always seeking to avoid conflict whenever possible, but whenever he wanted something of you, his cold anger made it impossible to refuse. Or, at least, that was what I heard from others. They raised us with such an overbearing amount of love some people considered them a bit too attached to their children. I don¡¯t know of that was the truth, but it didn¡¯t matter. They cared for all of us like parents would. And I loved it. Acting the role of a child, as I should, they played with me, educated me, talked with me and every so often got angry with me when I did something stupid. It was an altogether new experience for me and every moment was pure bliss. Most of my siblings ¨C with the exception of Mila, who was just as into playing the child as I ¨C behaved... differently. Adult is too big a word for them. The behaved like Reincarnates would. The group of Lana, Lucia, Pavo and Rade ¨C named the pride-pack whenever I talked about them with Mila ¨C were always fighting with each other for petty reasons, seeking to prove themselves against each other. Although they were not really that nice towards each other, they were each other¡¯s rivals, like siblings with too much energy and pride often are. Despite their constant arguing, it never really escalated to full blown violence, probably because they still cared for our parents. My guess is their memories span a few lifetimes, but not too many, making them more spoiled brats overconfident in their power than proper behaving adults. Next are Cila and Sara. They were always lazy and looked eternally bored. Although never seeking conflict, they didn¡¯t care about anything and tried to do as little as possible. They did, however, find a kindred spirit amongst themselves, so they always hung out together, doing nothing unless father demanded something from them with his icy stare. Mother¡¯s heated anger never worked. Well, at least they did care somewhat about our parents. I think they¡¯ve lived longer than the pride-pack, already having seen everything and they simply became bored with it. Then there is Lovro the Depressed. Although doing nothing just like Cila and Sara, his reasons are different. He has lived too long and has seen too much, his eyes the same as mine from long ago. The fact that he is the most despised form of Mage ¨C the Blood Mage ¨C supports this. Looking at him disgusts me, although I keep it well hidden. It reminds me of a time and place I¡¯d rather forget. Also, I don¡¯t know his opinion about our parents, but at least he does listen to them most of the time, albeit without much energy. Lastly, Mila. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s the oldest or the youngest. She acts like me, trying to perfectly play the part of a child, which makes me think she is the oldest and simply tries to enjoy what there is to life. However, she could also easily be the youngest, having experienced too little to become overly confident like the four-pack, lazy like Cila and Sera, or depressed like Lovro. It doesn¡¯t matter either way. She¡¯s my favourite, one I could proudly call my sister instead of begrudgingly admit to it. For most of the time, we stayed out of each other¡¯s way. Mila and I clung to each other, playing children¡¯s games, reading children¡¯s books and generally doing children¡¯s stuff. Cila and Sara hanging-out together. The pride-pack running around, always trying to prove themselves to each other and our parents. Lovro just being depressed all the time, much too our parents¡¯ dismay. We rarely interacted with each other, unless being forced to by mom or dad. We never made rules or anything. It was a silent agreement made from the moment these ¡®factions¡¯ formed. At least, that is what I think. Maybe they were just too lazy, too depressed or too busy with themselves to bother each other, but the effect is the same. But unfortunately, during or all-important eighth birthday ¨C the age required to go to any form of school is eight ¨C things changed. It was one of the few occasions where we were all forced to interact with each other. Nobody liked it. Not even Mila and I, always eager to be with our family, didn¡¯t like it simply because of the annoyance of interacting with our siblings. Not that we hated them, but a long time ago, when we tried to better our relationships, we were coldly ignored and shunned by them, so we returned the favour ever since. At least this one was important enough for a lot more family to attend. Our grandparents ¨C both grandfathers being Dukes and Patriarchs of their house ¨C were hosting it in the garden of their country villa, which stretched as far as the eye could see. Our nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles were there to celebrate the children of the ducal heirs ¨C our parents. A few kinsmen from branch families were there, although only those still tied to the main houses. There were also a few courtiers of the Coveki Imperial Court present, always eager to suck up to those with power. Sometimes I wish we were children of more common people, a normal family of white-collar workers and the like. It was annoying to interact with people too distanced from the family to care for. Although aunts, uncles and cousins were still tolerable, to act courteous with branch members and boot-lickers was annoying. They weren¡¯t worth my time. But, I digress. As said, we were celebrating in the grand garden of our grandpa¡¯s villa. The luxurious amount of food was spread out on large tables for anyone to grab as they wanted. The enormous patio was filled with many couches, chairs, and tables all around fountains and open, currently unused fireplaces. It was a garden able to host many and it was every bit a birthday for the rich. We were halfway through celebrating it. Mila and I were playing with our many younger cousins ¨C us being the oldest grandchildren of the Dukes ¨C on a piece of empty grassland, playing tag, hide-and-seek and whatever else we came up with. Although busy playing, I ¨C and I suspect Mila as well ¨C always paid attention to whatever happened around us. You know, in case some monster comes up or, more likely, assassins aiming for one of the many important people here. Sure, there were guards, but before you know it one of those guards kill you by plunging a knife in your throat or firing their handgun in hidden in their suits or better yet, using Magic to kill everyone present instantly. So, while playing, I heard everyone talk around us thanks to the incredible hearing our cat-like ears gave us ¨C one of the remaining parts we inherited from cats, along with flexible bones and extendable nails with the strength and sharpness of steel. Normally, it would be impossible for the brain to keep track of everyone, but I detached a piece of my mind from my body and Soul and sent it into the ether, allowing me to easily keep track of everyone¡¯s talk, movement and heartbeat without having my head hurt. One of the advantages of being me. There, when the sun was slowly beginning to set, I heard a passing conversation between all of our grandparents, Sara and Pavo. ¡°Are you exited to go to school this year?¡± It was grandpa Jadran III who said this, obviously from father¡¯s side of the family. It was a very normal question. In just a few months a new school year would start and we, as nobles, would join one of the best in the country. ¡°Yes! I can¡¯t wait! I wanna make you proud!¡± Of course, it was Pavo who said this, ever-excited to show his skills to those around him, especially our parents and grandparents. ¡°I¡¯d rather stay with you...¡± Sara trying to score some bonus-points with our grandfather, faking sadness. ¡°Hahaha! Don¡¯t be lazy Sara, it¡¯ll be fun!¡± Of course, everyone knew Sara and Cila were lazy kids since they were too lazy to hide the fact. The other grandparents laughed as well, making Sara smile in faked ¨C or perhaps real, but I doubt it ¨C embarrassment. It was just an innocent conversation, but it was sort of fun to listen to. After all, although I hated them for shunning the rest of us, I still viewed all of my brothers and sisters as siblings and important members of our family, even if they didn¡¯t view us the same way. Even if we were locked in a cold war, they were still family. So I kept following their conversation. ¡°In fact, I heard that you are a very capable Air Mage, despite being so young. You¡¯d undoubtedly do very good at school.¡± I heard grandpa Rade II ¨C mother¡¯s side and clearly whom brother Rade was named after ¨C say, the rest nodding or murmuring agreement. It wasn¡¯t a secret that all of us, except me, had Magic. The pride-pack was proud of using it, Cila and Sara used it for their convenience, and although it wasn¡¯t admitted publicly, our grandparents knew of Lovro¡¯s ability in Blood Magic. But in this completely normal and, as far as they knew, harmless sentence lay the spark that ignited the flame. I knew this, so, while playing tag and running away, I focused more than just my ears and a small part of my fractured mind on it. Steering the detached part of my mind, I made sure I caught everything of what was going. The slightest twitch of the muscle, quickening of heartbeat or softest sighs could not escape my notice. I was right to do so. The anger and shame of Pavo lasted for not even the blink of an eye, and although his heart beat harder for a single second, it was quickly calmed. If I had not put my all into it, I would not have seen it. But I did. Although none of us was in open aggression towards each other, this didn¡¯t set well with a member of the notorious pride-pack. They always wanted to be the best in everyone¡¯s eyes, be it among the rest of the pride-pack, our parents or the rest of the world in general. Naturally, they wanted to be the best in our grandparents eyes as well. Hearing one of his lazy sister being praised did not sit well with him. Although he kept it hidden from the rest, within him was a bright flame of anger. ¡°Grandpa, didn¡¯t you hear? I¡¯m good at Magic too! Better than any of my brothers or sisters!¡± With the subtlety becoming of an eight-year-old, Pavo sought to be praised as well while discrediting the rest. Of course, Sara didn¡¯t care, but the rest of the grandparents laughed at the childish boasting. ¡°Yes, yes, we heard about it. You were great with Fire Magic, right?¡± It was grandma Lucia ¨C wife of Rade II ¨C who said it while smiling at Pavo. I noticed her giving a glance towards grandma Anica ¨C wife of Jadran III ¨C to continue. Anica gave a nearly unnoticeable nod back. ¡°But better than Sara? I don¡¯t know about that...¡± Anica said. I knew what they were trying to do. I also knew that it was a very, very, very bad, bad, bad idea. The grandpa¡¯s understood with a sigh saying ¡®ohh, that¡¯s what you¡¯re planning¡¯. They undoubtedly decided to play along as well. ¡°Grandma! I am better than lazy Sara!¡± Again, no subtlety at all and again, Sara didn¡¯t particularly care. ¡°Really now? I heard about Sara being able to grab food and drinks from the fridge by only steering the air. Are you sure you are better?¡± Grandpa Jadran said, his voice a bit taunting but filled with genuine admiration for Sara¡¯s ability. It is not easy for normal people to be able to perfectly grab things with only a self-made air current, let alone for an eight-year-old. Needless to say, the genuine admiration only fuelled Pavo¡¯s fire. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°I am!¡± Pavo threw a small tantrum, although I don¡¯t know if it was acted out or real. ¡°Ah, I got an idea! How about a little duel between you two to see who is better?¡± Grandpa Rade said, as if the idea just came to him. Duelling was very normal for Mages ever since long, long ago. It was the most widely accepted way to prove who is better at using Magic, although the lethality of it was prohibited long ago. It is now simply a friendly competition to see who¡¯s stronger, much like arm-wrestling. So it wasn¡¯t irregular for people to have duels at birthday parties. It wasn¡¯t even uncommon for children to duel at their own birthdays. It was viewed as a contest between the duelling parties, and a great entertainment for those watching. Accidents rarely happened, especially with children. After all, everyone was ready to intervene when necessary and children often lacked both the will and the skill to kill. Unfortunately, these weren¡¯t normal children. ¡°A great idea, Rade! Now children, what do you say?¡± Grandpa Jadran said. Everyone looked expectantly at the pair, excited to see their grandchildren¡¯s strength. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Sure...¡± Pavo said excitedly, while Sara sighed in resignation. ¡°Great! Everyone, gather round! A duel is about to happen!¡± The last part grandpa Rade said while enhancing his voice with Body Magic. As soon as he announced it, things went quick. People rose from their seat in excited clamour and left the patio, following a long, stone path between the many flowerbeds, garden-trees, ponds and every other piece of the richly ornate garden. Eventually, they arrived at the grassland me, Mila and our cousins were playing, which also served for the arena for the frequent duels that happened at parties. Our cousins excitedly ran towards their parents, leaving Mila and I standing alone. I looked at her and saw the same worrying look in her eyes. ¡°Miro! Mila! Come!¡± I heard mom call us from the stone path along with father and the remaining siblings. At the edges of the large field, the stone path continued to form a large circle. People walked around the field, seeking for a place to stand and watch the duel with their families. It circular pathway around the field was obviously meant for spectators and was now filled up with more than a hundred people, all linked in one way of another to our noble house. Mila and I stood next to our parents and siblings. The remaining three of the pride-pack were confident in their brother¡¯s victory, thinking only themselves were equals with misplaced confidence. Cila was lazily looking to Sara and Pavo on the field, clearly not worried about the outcome. Lovro stared with cold eyes, betraying no emotion whatsoever about the upcoming battle, only showing that he was as depressed as usual. Our parents were perhaps the most excited of all, eager to see the extent of the Magic their children possess. They were not worried about any harm coming to either Sara or Pavo, fully believing they could intervene whenever necessary. I was not worried about the outcome of the battle. In fact, the outcome was pretty much assured as far as I cared. What I was worried about, was what happened afterward. Although Mila was just as worried, I cannot speak for the source of her worries; was she worried for the duellists during the fight, or was her reasoning the same as mine? I expected the latter since I still believe she¡¯s the oldest apart from me, but then again, I still don¡¯t know for certain and I see it as a betray of trust to find it out on my own without her telling me. Sure, she wouldn¡¯t notice, but she was still my favourite sibling by far. I trust her to come forward on her own, eventually. Everyone stood in place, ready for the spectacle, when one of the servants of the villa came forward. He stood walked up to the middle and glanced at the contestants for a second , before raising his hands. From it, two metal balls half the size of a tennis ball flew upwards. Although unseen, I knew that there were runes of Light Magic on them, erecting a barrier around the edges of the grassy field. Although duels were not deadly, there were occasions that a spell hit a unsuspecting spectator, so it was always required to have either a Light Mage erect a barrier, or use these small metal droids inscribed with runes. Once released, the servant stepped back onto the stone path surrounding the field and raised his arms, one to either side. ¡°Ready?¡± He looked to his left. Pavo nodded eagerly, eyeing Sara with as much contempt as he could muster. He looked to his right. Sara nodded lazily, placing a hand in front of her mouth and yawning lazily, infuriating Pavo further. ¡°Begin!¡± The servant signalled. Pavo¡¯s attack was quick. If it hadn¡¯t been for the still-detached part of my mind sensing everything that was going on, I might have missed it. And I was pretty sure many of the people ¨C aside from the Mages smart enough to activate their Sensory Magic of whatever power they possessed ¨C missed it. Hell, I bet even the smart Mages saw it in its entirety. He didn¡¯t move, didn¡¯t chant, nor did he show any other form of unnecessary incantations to construct the spell that was so normal in Magic everywhere. Although invisible to the naked eye, I sensed a ball made from threads of Fire Magic form in front of Pavo. A bunch of these were knit together and instantly lashed out towards Sara, arching much like a whip. As the bunch of threads lashed out, Pavo activated the power within them, linking them with the Energy in their path and out of nowhere, a whip of flames appeared. It was a quick, non-lethal but hard to avoid attack meant to catch the enemy by surprise, while also making sure to leave a scar to remember this duel. As expected of one of the pride-pack, it was meant to humiliate the opponent and state ¡®you aren¡¯t worth my time¡¯. There was little doubt that he had done this before. If it had been any of the people present, even the master-level Mages here, it might have worked, especially since it came from an eight years old child. Even if they had seen it coming and were quick enough to react, they would still have difficulty avoiding it. But naturally, Sara isn¡¯t just anybody. While the serpent-like flame quickly approached her across the twenty metre long grass field, she easily made a counter. Much like Pavo, Sara didn¡¯t even show the smallest movement, didn¡¯t even breathe before she made her move. I sensed a ball of Air Magic appearing before her, of which she quickly unravelled the threads and cast a net in front of her. Activating the net of Air Magic, the Energy formed a steady stream of air around her with the purpose to deflect anything approaching her body. The whip arrived and struck down from above, but as soon as it touched Sara¡¯s barrier, the attack rolled off and arched behind her, throwing up earth and grass as it made a gash in the field. She conjured up another ball of threads, packed it closely together into a pea-sized ball and over it, placed three layers of threads, forming a cocoon around it. Activating the pea-sized ball of Air Magic, it connected with the Energy and created a dense packet of air, forming the core of spell. The first layer acted like a shell to make sure the densely packed air didn¡¯t escape and stayed as it were. The second layer became air much like the core. The third and final layer acted much like the first, but instead of remaining in the same place, it forced itself downward to increase the pressure on the second layer a thousand times. Now that the preparations were done, the counter-attack began. As soon as everything was pressed as tightly together as possible, she made a small hole in the third layer. Finally seeing a chance to escape its densely packed state, the air of the second layer tried rushing towards the small hole. However, as it rushed towards the small hole, it forced the small, pea-sized packet to exit the spell as well, and as it did, it shot forth like a bullet from a barrel. Only it was a hundred times faster than a bullet ever could. Of course, the direction it went to was none other than Pavo. It was a complex spell no normal Air Mage could ever have thought of. Since Magic threads themselves held no mass, matter or conventional energy, they would either pick up a piece of rock and launch it towards the enemy with the largest gust of wind they could muster, or they would form a similar packet and still try to launch it using only the wind they could create. In other words, they would have Sara¡¯s second layer expand at will and shoot of the ball of air or their piece of rock towards their opponent. The way Sara did it, was much more refined. No Mage below master-level strength could possible pull this off. And even for masters it would be difficult, since it was such a stressful situation and would need a lot of time to chant the spell or whatever they did. In fact, even Pavo¡¯s spell, simple as it is, would not be easy for masters of Fire Magic. Since everything, from Pavo¡¯s fiery whip to Sara¡¯s barrier and counter-attack, was done within the span of one second. Indeed, the whip had yet to stop digging up the dirt when Sara¡¯s shot was fired. While everyone was still surprised by the speed of Pavo¡¯s whip, the caster of it needed to deal with the powerful bullet of air. It went had such an incredible amount of speed that no regular mortal, be it the strongest of Mages or the lowest peasant, would have noticed it with either Sensory Magic or the other five senses. The fact that Pavo did proved that, although prideful to the point of stupidity, he was still extremely capable and experienced, like a Reincarnate should. But sensing it and avoiding it were different things. It was too fast and too powerful to be able to summon a barrier, and since Reincarnates were only allowed to hold one kind of Magic, there was also no way for him to dispel it by either returning the air to Energy, or unravelling the threads holding it densely packed. The only once in this space still able to deflect were me ¨C if I used Energy or gave myself some Magic, of course ¨C Lovro, Cila and perhaps Mila, depending on whether or not Mila was younger or older than the rest. I sensed his desperation Pavo quickly summoned a small ball of an enormous amount of Fire Magic threads, activated it and allowed it to blast him away. It was such a crude spell that apprentice Mages would accidentally cast this instead of the spell they had in mind, albeit with much less power. The space around Pavo lit up and turned into a gigantic fireball, the flames crashing against the edges of the dome-shaped barrier, making it flicker as it did so. Then, the air bullet arrived and blasted an enormous hole in the inferno, parting the flames and continuing onwards towards the barrier. It crashed into the droid¡¯s Light Barrier and immediately shattered it, the sound of glass breaking filling the air as it did so. Thankfully, the barrier was able to delay it long enough for Sara to dispel the bullet. No onlooker was harmed. The result was as expected, although I hadn¡¯t expected that Sara would allow Pavo to attack. Although Pavo ¨C and the pride-pack as a whole ¨C are definitely powerful Mages with a lot of experience thanks to being Reincarnates, they were no match for Sara and by extension Cila. It was simply a difference in experience. Sara and Cila had many more lifetimes of experience behind them, making them more powerful than the pride-pack. The air was filled by the abhorrent scream of a suffering Pavo. The onlookers finally woke up from their stupor, with mother, father and our grandparents being the first. Father and grandpa Jadran, both excellent Fire Mages for a mortal, quickly dispelled the fire before it could harm the now-unprotected spectators. Mother, grandma Lucia ¨C Light Mages ¨C and grandpa Rade ¨C a Water Mage ¨C rushed towards the smouldering pile of burned flesh of the still barely living Pavo. Grandma Anica ¨C an Air Mage ¨C rushed towards Sara, perhaps afraid for overexertion? The panicky talking and yelling of our parents and grandparents filled the air as they checked up on the duellists and treating Pavo¡¯s wounds. Meanwhile, the rest of the people remained perfectly still, including us siblings. I looked to my left and right, checking the faces of all my siblings. The eyes of the pride-pack were smouldering with anger greater than I had seen in billions of years. Cila¡¯s were lazily looking at her, as far as she cared, only sister, who stared back with equally dispassionate eyes and gave a shrug before returning her attention to grandma Anica once again. Lovro seemed to have some sort of flashback, his face tense and eyes shifting and looking at things that weren¡¯t there. Lastly, I met Mila¡¯s eyes, who was also studying everyone¡¯s reaction. She had the same thoughts as I. If we still wanted to live a peaceful life, we would need to enforce it ourselves. Dropped Lately writing has become more of a chore than anything else. The excitement and joy I once experienced making these chapters are gone for reasons I don''t understand, which I find incredibly annoying. Especially the last couple of chapters have for some reason been incredibly joyless to write and whilst writing the next chapter, everything I came up with turned out not like I wanted it. I rewrote it over and over again, but it all seemed so uninspired that I became sick of it. So, yeah. As the title says, I''m going to drop this and I''m even considering to stop writing altogether for a pretty long time. This has happened before with a couple of stories ever since I began three years ago (which I didn''t post online, because they were bad) and I''ve never continued those either. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Thank you for this wonderful yet nerve-wrecking experience. You don''t know half of how glad I felt reading all your comments and even by watching the view count rise. I''m really sorry for wasting your time and hope you have many good reads after this. Goodbye. P.S: If there is someone out there wanting to continue this themselves (I doubt it), PM me and I''ll give you all of my files on this and post a link here for others to see your version of it. You''re free to do with it what you want, if you so wish. Then again, I doubt someone wanting this is out there.