"...Who are all of you?" Taufik asked, eyes narrowing as he surveyed the figures before him. Apart from Lembuswana, Basukhi, and Kl’lara, there were countless others... beings he didn’t recognize. "I don’t know most of you"
"...You don’t," one of them answered, stepping forward. Their voice was low, calm, but carried a weight beyond ti. "But we all know who you are..."
"We’re your nesis"
"...Victims," another said coldly.
"...Once, we were friends"
"We co from different tilines," spoke a hulking figure, more beast than man, its voice a growl of ancient pain. "Different realities"
"...We are what you will face in the past, the present, and the future"
"You don’t need to know our nas," a shadowy form said, eyes glowing dimly beneath a hood. "Just know this: if we stop you here, now... then maybe everything ends with us"
"At least in our reality"
"You’re a monster"
"You’re a tyrant"
"You’re the cause of all things"
"Bullshit!" Taufik roared, voice cracking the silence like thunder. "I never did anything that would cause destruction without a reason!"
"You didn’t," one of them replied, stepping forward, his gaze filled with a pain only betrayal could birth. "... Not yet"
"But the other you did," he continued. "We fought beside you. We were more than comrades, we were family"
"But then... You lost your reason"
"And annihilation followed"
"You’re a ticking bomb, Fik. Whether you see it or not"
"You lost your family, D’Archy," another added, stepping out of the shadows. "And with them, you lost your sanity"
"And with that..."
"... you dragged everything down with you, until there was nothing left"
"You forgot everything. So you did it all again..."
"...just to rember"
"You lost," said one.
Then another stepped forward.
"You broke us"
Another.
"You killed "
Another.
"You beca the end of all stories"
A final figure erged, calm and cold. "...You are not the villain we fought... But you are the villain we rember"
"Wha... STOP!!" Taufik scread, his voice cracking. A mory, no, a thousand fractured mories, splintered behind his eyes.
They weren’t his.
But they were.
"...No... This isn’t !"
"I’d never-"
"...Not yet"
"No! This is... this is wrong!"
"...You need to see it. You’re not human. Not god. Not even a being"
"You are the cause of all things"
"You are the bringer of Destruction"
"NO... NO!!" Taufik clutched his head, pain flaring like fire behind his eyes. "I... I... I-"
"You did it"
"You’re the cause"
"WRONG! I WOULD NE-"
"It’s you"
"Yes. It’s always been you"
"No... I... I did i-"
[...Ter]
"..."
[...Ster]
"Huh?! System?"
[Master, you finally responded to my call]
"...What do you an?"
[Master, calm your mind then look around you]
"...Look around?"
As Taufik obeyed, the world around him began to glitch. A low hum filled the air as the colors bled and lines bent, like a digital painting soaked in water.
Confusion twisted his gut.
His head throbbed.
[You’re under an illusion]
"...Illusion?" Taufik muttered, eyes widening as the mory clicked into place, that sword... the light... before everything went wrong.
"...That sword... Shit!"
"All-Seeing Eyes... Activate!"
A pulse surged from his eyes. The world around him warped violently, no longer holding its false beauty.
It was as if the very canvas of reality had been defiled, colors saring, forms distorting.
Glitches crawled across the air like digital scars.
And then... blinding light.
Nothing but white.
Taufik remained still in the emptiness, breath caught in his chest.
Then, slowly, the light faded.
His vision returned.
And the illusion shattered.
No longer did Lembuswana, Basukhi, or Kl’lara stand tall with judgntal stares.
Instead.
Lembuswana lay weak, gasping.
Basukhi knelt, his body scorched with burn marks.
Kl’lara stood only with the aid of her scythe, eyes dazed but full of pain.
"...This..." Taufik’s voice trembled. He took a shaky step back. "Did I do this...?"
[Yes, Master,] the System responded quietly. [After Orobas reappeared and activated the sword, you fell under the illusion. You attacked everyone while speaking nonsense. I tried reaching you, but the illusion was too strong. It took far longer to break through than expected. I’m sorry, Master]
"This shit! Where-"
"Amazing," a voice cut through before Taufik could finish. "You escaped that illusion faster than I thought. As expected of the Rewriter... but still too fast. Even for you. Hmm... could it be? Is it the legacy of the WILL?"
Orobas stood with eyes unlike any Taufik had ever seen, eyes that saw too much, as if they peered through the very fabric of his soul.
"You... I’ll kill you!" Taufik roared, lunging at Orobas. His hands, cloaked in shadow sharper than any known blade, moved faster than light itself.
But they t nothing.
They sliced through Orobas like air, like shadow, and passed clean through his body.
"Ow~ ow~ easy now," Orobas cooed mockingly. "I’m not a fool who’d et you in person... but guess what?"
He smiled.
"...I’ll explode~"
Cracks split across his ever-shifting face like shattered glass.
"Fuck!" Taufik cursed, eyes widening.
"You need to hurr-"
"Shut up!" Taufik snarled. In a flash, he grabbed Orobas by the face with his free hand.
From his palm, darkness surged, an eruption of pure shadow that swallowed Orobas’ head whole.
Then... silence.
The figure dissolved, headless, the body collapsing before disintegrating into a cloud of fading particles.
"Fuck this shit!" Taufik growled. "When I et him again, I’ll rip his body into a thousand pieces"
He had never hated anyone like this before. Not even close.
This was the first ti.
And he’d make damn sure it would be the last.
Taufik took a deep breath, suppressing the rage clawing at his insides. Then he turned to his party.
First, the one most injured.
He walked over to Basukhi. With a gentle raise of his hand, the massive Dragon’s body floated effortlessly into the air, suspended by Taufik’s will.
"Word Magic: Full Body Resurrection"
As he spoke the command, Basukhi’s entire form was enveloped in a radiant sphere of magic. The injuries across his scaly body began to vanish, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Taufik let the spell run its course and moved on.
Next was Lembuswana.
This one was easier, Lembuswana’s body wasn’t real. It was a construct, made by Taufik from raw mana.
Repairing it was simple; a few gestures and the mana began reknitting the form like threads finding their way back into cloth.
Then ca Kl’lara.
She didn’t need fixing the way the others did. She was a spirit, an existence born from mana itself.
All she needed was a gift.
Taufik extended his hand, letting pure mana flow from his core into her. It glowed softly, warmly, as Kl’lara absorbed it without a word.
She would heal on her own.
And now...
All that was left to do... Was wait.
--------
In Hell, the concept of day and night did not exist.
Ti had no aning.
Taufik waited, and kept waiting, his expression calm, carved from stillness. The silence around him was absolute, oppressive, yet oddly peaceful.
The first to awaken was Kl’lara.
She approached quietly, then knelt before him with reverence.
"My lord," she said softly, "you’re finally back to your senses"
Taufik nodded slowly.
"...Do I need to apologize, Kl’lara?"
"No, my lord," Kl’lara replied. "It wasn’t your fault. It was our weakness... our failure to stop you"
Taufik stared at her, his voice low but firm.
"I let the illusion get to . I let my guard down. This is the first ti... and it will be the last," His eyes t hers, steady and void of deception. "Do you believe , Kl’lara?"
She didn’t hesitate.
"I’ve never doubted you, my lord. Not since the day you gave this na"
He was silent for a breath.
"...Do you still want to follow through this hell?"
"I will," she said without pause.
"Good"
And that was the end of the conversation.
They waited in silence.
Soon after, Lembuswana awoke.
Taufik asked the sa question.
Lembuswana answered without hesitation.
Then Basukhi.
Sa question.
Sa answer.
Their loyalty did not waver.
And though the air around them remained tiless, unmoving...
Sothing deep within Taufik shifted.
With renewed resolve, Taufik rose to his feet.
The weight of guilt and illusion had been cast off, burned away in the silence of that tiless realm, but the mories, the vision is still there.
The Second Circle had been conquered, not perfectly, but completely. Mistakes were made, lessons etched into bone and soul, and they would not be repeated.
Taufik turned to his party, Kl’lara, Lembuswana, and Basukhi.
They stood tall.
Scarred, but stronger.
United.
"We move," he said.
There was no fanfare, no need for declarations. The air around them shifted, responding to his will.
Sowhere deep within Hell, the gate to the Third Circle stirred, responding to the conqueror who now walked its path.
And so, they descended once more.
Into the next Circle.
Into the unknown.
....
...
..
.
User Comments
0 comments from readers