The very source and origin of his illness surged from his depths, corrupting all things in its path and spreading through every single inch of his body and its layers.
By the second, his body blackened, the aether in the air beside him collapsing into what could only be called rot and foul essence, gnawing at the very fabric of space itself.
And as if on cue, just as the corruption threatened to consu him, the waves of tiless resonance returned, finally having found sothing to latch onto once again, fighting to perfect the horrors the corruption infusing into Uriel was causing.
Corruption and Tiless Resonance danced and clashed, using Uriel as a crucible, a canvas upon which a horrifyingly beautiful piece was painted.
He was rebuilt into sothing... unholy.
Sothing profane.
...
As the body twisted and reford, so did the mind, and perhaps its changes were even more aberrant.
As was seen, Uriel had decided to endure.
To beco a hollow and emotionless husk or to beco a hive of mad personalities; he’d refused both.
And so, he endured.
As it had with his body, tiless resonance infused into the fabric and essence of his mind, consuming his soul and forcefully rging it with the storm of inherited emotions and mories Ophanis had summoned.
His mind broke again and again, but it always returned.
He remained conscious, his Will and heart burning as brightly as the promise etched onto his chest, the flas of his soul inextinguishable.
He endured waves of agony, clinging to life and to his sanity with a ferocious and inhuman tenacity, a madman tasked with sothing primordial in purpose.
’...’
Minutes flowed into hours and hours bled into days as ti passed.
Then, it all stopped.
He stopped breaking.
Tiless resonance equalised across all layers and facets of his existence, becoming what few would know as inborn tiless resonance.
Silence echoed for long monts.
ntal pain was a form of suffering Uriel found hard to describe. It was like he was losing his sense of self, like he was slowly unwound into a chained and thoughtless ss.
Regardless, as the process ca to an end, he relaxed and let go of the tension he’d been holding onto for what felt like lifetis.
He couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t even feel his body, and his mind was still trapped in a strange illusion of endless darkness, but it was over.
He was alive.
’...I survived... it’s over...’
Uriel had read many stories as a child.
Being left in the church, not allowed to leave its boundaries, he and his people hadn’t found much else to do.
He’d read many tales of great n and grand won, each born shackled by the heavens yet tempered by the earth, who would eventually rise to rule the skies.
He’d read about how they used suffering and agony to temper and strike the weakness out of themselves; how they turned the chains of heaven into spears of man and sundered their mortal coils to attain the divine.
He read of their exploits, great warriors rising from the hells and the dregs, shedding weakness to be... great. To be steel none could bend or break.
As childish as it seed, on that day, after the advent, as he roared and begged for greatness, he had been imagining these heroes.
On that day, as he cried, he had hoped to one day reach their heights; to one day have shoulders broad enough to blot out the skies and a back strong enough to carry the heavens.
’...I did it...’
Uriel felt his mind drift, fatigue consuming him as his consciousness was pulled into the depths of rest. As it happened, he couldn’t help but foolishly smile.
He had been great, just like his heroes.
He smiled, his mind darkening as he passed out, finally granted rest after the tumultuous waves.
He fell asleep, proud.
’...’
But just how much could he endure before breaking?
Just how much could a so-called hero shoulder before buckling under the weight of... everything?
Could sothing already broken even endure? Whether it turned to fine dust or remained as fractured shards, its fate stood the sa.
It was broken.
WHOOOOSH!
Like a thief in the night, while he fell asleep peacefully and his Will of steel ca to rest... the corruption erged.
It had consud his body. Now, it consud his mind, and then, his soul, and further still, his core and spark.
It sank deep, and another cycle of chaotic change began.
Tiless Resonance and Corruption battled within him.
Once again, he was stripped of choice, and like a lamb set for slaughter, he found himself helpless, unbeknownst even to himself.
...
[Co, sit on my lap. Tell , what do you see when you close your eyes? Is it darkness, or is it nothing? Can you draw a line between the two?]
[No? Then that ans you are good, for there is no line between evil and inaction. To be good, you must stand, and to stand ans to fight. Do you understand?]
[You must fight, so all you can see is light—so you lose the ability to see, and bask in darkness born from blinding light rather than darkness born from looming shadows, yes?]
[I love you, understand? And because I love you, I do this, so you see the light, so you lose sight. So you may be reborn.]
[I love you, to no end, eternally, so don’t cry, yes?]
...
"..."
The cave was silent.
The cave was still.
"Hahahaha!"
lodious laughter echoed, breaking the quiet stillness; so sweet and tender that even the most hardened of n and callous of won would lt upon hearing it, like heavenly chis ringing from paradise.
The very world seed to fall in love with Uriel.
He laughed, still asleep, and tears stread from his eyes, drenching his face.
Aether pulsed and coiled around him, forming a beautiful white cocoon within which he found comfort.
SHAH!
An aura, profane yet sacred, drowned the cave.
Weeping laughter echoed.
"Hahaha!"
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