Why was darkness black?
Why does light illuminate with its radiance?
Why does pain hurt, and why does a kill bring about a warm, fuzzy feeling?
Why do humans celebrate life?
Why do they fear death?
All these questions were tied down with with a single, overarching answer;
That was just how things were.
Light illuminates because it is light. It reveals things that are hidden, soothing our fears and minds.
Darkness hides things, embracing them in its cold bossom, unable to be seen by us. So it is fearso and terrible.
The reason for this, was just that.
It was the way things were.
In this universe, there was light.
And there was darkness.
As he lay in the rubble, Cain quietly pondered these things.
He was numb all over, and a terrible chill was slowly creeping through his body.
’Ah, yes... This feeling. It’s a bit nostalgic.’
Indeed it was.
And thatw as because he was dying again.
His vision drifted, even as it was blurry.
Just above him, he could see a nightmarish creature writhing in darkness, trying to hold back an even greater darkness from consuming everything.
Cain chuckled bitterly.
It was already too late for that.
Abaloth had totally transford into a truly abhorrent creature of pure darkness, squirming and screeching as he tried to hold the implosion back from consuming everything.
But at this point, the Devil was simply being delusional.
Sothing like this...
Once it began, it couldn’t be stopped at all.
Cain’s gaze slowly drifted down to his own body.
It was a ss to say the least.
His arms and feet had been reduced to bloody ribbons, sinew and pieces of broken skin the only things holding them to his body.
A pool of his own blood had gathered beneath him.
His organs were floating in pieces within the puddle of blood.
Most of his bones had turned into dust already.
He gargled a chuckle out,
’I must have pissed him off real bad, huh.’
He tried to sigh, but ended up choking on his blood again.
Tears dripped down his bloodshot eyes as his gaze returned to the sky.
There was no saving with this one.
He had already been warned, that if his body was too badly damaged, he would be unable to co back to life.
And this... Was beyond badly damaged.
He was surprised he wasn’t dead yet.
A wheezing sound drifted from his lips.
Very soon, Abaloth would be unable to contain the implosion anymore, and he, alongside everything else, would be swallowed by it, torn to pieces and burned to ashes simultaneously.
Perhaps his body wanted to see it all until the bitter end. Maybe that was why it had yet to finally give in.
The pool of his body boiled and sizzled due to the heat. However,.he couldn’t feel a single thing.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps.
With the implosion being held back by Abaloth, he believed all the Humans and Devils fighting here on the ground would have begun attempting to run away.
So there shouldn’t have been footsteps.
After thinking for a mont, he concluded that these footsteps couldn’t belong to any human, or Devil.
For one, it was imasurably deep and ancient.
It was as though every step this unknown entity took mad ethe already destabilized space even more fragile.
It stopped right behind him, but Cain didn’t have the strength, nor ability to turn around to take a look.
"Isn’t this a sight for sore eyes..."
The voice sounded alien, yet oddly familiar at the sa ti, with different voices mumbling and overlapping simultaneously.
There was a brief mont of silence.
Then the entity sighed.
Cain could sense various emotions within its breath.
Sadness, relief, pain, despair, sorrow, rage, and perhaps maybe a hint of hope.
"Is this the path you really want to take? Of all different paths to choose, this one should have been the most difficult. So why? Why risk it all?"
Cain had no idea if this thing was talking to him, but it didn’t matter either way. His windpipe was torn to pieces so he couldn’t speak.
All he could do, was listen.
"How many battles, how much blood, how many lives have you escorted to the bossom of eternity?" The voice said.
"Just to do it all again. I couldn’t thitof a fate more cruel."
There was a brief pause. Then a sigh.
"Still... Perhaps you knew this would happen again. After all, fate is the cruelest master of them all."
Cain felt sothing touch the back of his head.
"Consider this my repaynt to you. Well, it isn’t so much of a repaynt, as much as it is simply returning what belongs to you. I have no doubt we will cross paths again. Maybe then, you will be able to achieve your goal this ti."
The voice gradually faded away.
As the voice faded, Cain felt the cold embrace beco even more chilly.
His eyelips trembled,
’I see... So it was just my imagination. I truly am going to die this ti, aren’t I...’
A sound rang across his mind.
It was the system’s unfeeling monotone;
***
{Congratulations to Host... Your skill, Devil Wyrm: Asura, has evolved into the Tier 3 active skill, Devil Wyvern: Akuma}.
***
Cain imdiately felt his surroundings fade away, completely swallowed by a blinding light.
He winced and closed his eyes on instinct.
When he opened them back, he was face to face with what he could only describe as an incredible creature.
’W-what is this?’ He thought as he lifted his eyes up.
Before him, in this white void, was an enormous creature.
It resembled a great coiling dragon with large wings behind it. On its head, was a twisted crown of horns, and on its forehead, was etched the ancient arcane symbol of Fate and Destiny.
Cain’s heart trembled as he took a step closer to it.
The dragon huffed and bent its head.
’Ah... I see. No wonder you look so familiar.’
The look of wonder on his face slowly faded into a bittersweet smile.
He touched the Dragon’s— the Wyvern’s snout.
It was as though he had finally found a missing piece of himself.
He closed his eyes.
The white void fell apart and both the Wyvern and the human vanished...
User Comments
0 comments from readers