Chapter 38 - Clarity

One move.

That should have been enough to bring him down.

The tailcoat wearing man was clearly running on fumes.

His sword was chipped. His clothes all but destroyed.

The sharp face on him strikingly pale, his body matted with sweat.

It shouldn't have been that hard to knock him out. But, he still kept fighting, his eyes burned with fire, his emotions bare for all to see. Rage, hatred, wrath, disgust, and more. All these emotions bordering near the influence of Chaos. That of which is being kept at bay by his sense of justice.

The man would die if he kept on pushing himself. He was at the point where fighting was consuming his life force. He still had some sense left in him. Never moving past a point where he cannot defend the woman behind him, the man kept himself planted, only defending, and counterattacking when he can. He is fighting only with pure bestial instinct.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Curtis couldn't help but feel respect for the man. Even in his direst, even when his mind was almost consumed by his inner beast, he still protected those who needed it. This is a testament to how much he values the people around him, and it shows how much valor he had ingrained in his bones.

But, it was clear now that no matter how long they fought, the other party wouldn't gain clarity that way. It would only serve to harm him. If he let it continue, his bestial instinct will forgo any thought to defend, sacrificing everything and go for the kill, if the chance had presented itself. And right now, Curtis too was starting to lose his strength.

"I'm sorry friend. But this is the end, If I don't stop you here, you will kill yourself."

Focusing his mind, he reached out for one of the techniques he learned from the giant. It was a complex technique, one that took him almost 3 years to be able to perform. It was the skill that was performed onto him by Hjilmar when he first arrived in Candelabra. Curtis dug deep inside him. Soul Reacher. That was the name of the technique, it was usually performed on people who've gone rabid with the influence of Chaos, but it can be used on people with weak wills and interrogate them.

Hjilmar had taught it to him when he had tagged along on an interrogation of a fallen commander. It was a rather fickle feeling, seeing a technique that was performed on you, done onto other people.

The commander had gone rogue. In time, an attack had happened on one of their stronger outposts. The troops stationed there suffered significant losses, information that should have been privy only to the top brass had been leaked.

The technique was done by focusing on your will, spirit, or soul if you want to call it that way and force it onto the other party. With your soul, you would pit your will against theirs, and fight for control, and the winner would gain access to the other party's soul.

After the investigation, the commander had been locked up. In the debriefing, after he had witnessed the number of troops that chaos had, he had lost all hope in their victory and advocated for people to join him in exploring other ways to end the war, and so he had gone over to the other side. Chaos preyed on the weak-willed, they took over the unsuspecting and makes them do their bidding.

When the council was notified of the betrayal, they sought out the giant himself to perform an interrogation of the former commander. He brought Curtis along and performed his signature skill, Soul Reacher. A complex technique that brings those infected with Chaos to clarity for a short period of time. In that span of moments, the user would then be able to communicate with the other party's soul and conduct an investigation on the matters at hand.

It would allow them to see through their eyes and vice versa, he could also find out what had happened and then be able to converse with the other party untainted by all worldly matters. Meaning that in that short period of time, they would be free from Chaos' claws.

But, with Curtis' situation, the man was rabid, bestial instinct had taken over. He had a chance to perform the skill if he was able to bind the man. And during that window, perform the skill and let the man see through his eyes what had happened.

It was a risk, but it was a risk Curtis was willing to take. The man was an ability user, each one was valuable in the fight against Chaos. After fighting the man he couldn't even feel any hint of Chaos from him, Curtis even felt the Disgust the man held against it. And so he would at the very least try to save him. The gods wouldn't be able to blame him if he tried. Right?

Curtis had tried beating some sense into him. But, it didn't work, this was going to be his last try in trying to save him. And with a plan in mind, Curtis put it into action.

With a grunt, Curtis released his Ice. it spread out from his feet, chilling everything within 10 meters from him. He focused his intent onto the scrawny man in front of him. When the wave of cold hit the man, he roared. Even in his state, he knew what Curtis was trying to do. Curtis charged as the scrawny man did the same. But, with the cold affecting him, his movement speed dragged.

Curtis moved fast, within the cold he moved faster than before. And with his ice affecting the man, he had lagged. It wasn't a fair fight to begin with. The man was not thinking straight, all strategy had been thrown out the window. With a few faints, it allowed Curtis to get behind him, and before he could release his lightning, Curtis pinned him down.

Within a heartbeat, Curtis released his will. His eyes glowed while he forced his will onto the man.

Curtis felt the man's pain. His sorrow in seeing the town he had grown up in, turned into rubble. Corpses of people he had known since they were children, strewn about like garbage. And seeing the woman he loved, collapsed.

He worked together with the two, Clara and Dean. They were his childhood friends, together they had awoken their abilities when Chaos had come knocking, and together they had knocked them back.

Seeing the man's whole life flash into his mind was a surreal feeling.

He felt the boy's joy when he found people to play with.

He felt the teenager's affection when he began to learn what is love.

He felt the man's sorrow when his best friend had confessed to the woman he loves.

He felt the man's grief when he had been asked to be the best man at their wedding.

He felt the man's heartbreak when they got married.

He smiled outwardly, but inside he was screaming. He knew it was his mistake, he wasn't forthcoming enough. He didn't give voice to his feelings, he had just bottled them all up.

𝒞'𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝒶 𝓋𝒾𝑒

Life moved on without him.

~~~

Fast forward to today's attack.

Silva had received a report that there was a small village up north that was being attacked by Chaos, their protector was trapped, and so no one was defending the village.

When he arrived, he knew there was something amiss, the village was deserted, he couldn't hear anything from the homes that stood there. Everything had gone silent.

When he went to investigate, he was greeted by the town's protector, an ability user that had an affinity to earth like Dean. The moment they had met, the earth rose up to surround the town forming a dome. From underneath the earth, hundreds of Chaos-spawn had emerged. It was a trap. The town had already been under Chaos' influence. And now, he was besieged from all sides.

So much death had surrounded him by the time he was free, but it was not the end of it. With him here, there was no doubt that his home was also under attack. And so he rushed home. On the way, he saw trebuchets launching attacks from afar onto his home.

And so he destroyed them.

He saw death and misery plaguing his home.

Corpses littering the whole town.

The town he had grown up in, burnt to the ground.

And his childhood love collapsed onto the ground.

In front of him, an unfamiliar face, drenched in blood.

And so he lost it.

Finishing the recount of the man known as Silva, Curtis then tuned out all the rage he was feeling. He spoke to the man's soul.

"Silva, stop!" Curtis commanded, felt the man's soul shudder.

"Who are you?" Silva asked finally coming back to his senses.

"Let me show you," Curtis answered, finally revealing all that had transpired to him. From the moment he had left the boat, up to his fight with the forces of Chaos, Silva stood frozen, viewing his memories from the fight.

Doubt emanated from the man's soul, he couldn't just believe everything he was being shown. It was a noble decision. But, Curtis didn't have time to argue, he forced his truth onto the man. Letting him see it, again and again until he believed him.

Grief flooded Silva's soul. He had finally come to his senses, no longer controlled by his emotions. Curtis was relieved, the fight was over, he had at least prevented this man's death. One more soldier for the fight against Chaos.

Curtis disengaged the Soul Reacher. The man stood up hastily, ignoring Curtis, he went over to the woman, Clara's side. To his relief she was still breathing, she was weak yes, but, still alive.

"Move it Silva, we need to talk."