Chapter Three
IDENTITY CRISIS
WAM
Dionysus sidestepped the humongous greatsword just in time to witness it slash down right onto where he was standing before.
His eyes connected with that of the captain's eyes that were behind a helmet.
"Hmph."
SWISH
Right in the middle of the air, the greatsword changed directions and blew away Dionysus arms that were guarding his face right into the air.
"Get off me, cockroach."
CRACK
Dionysus kicked the captain square in the face, and all he had to do was watch as he was sent flying into the building across from the fountain that was behind them.
'It feels . . . really good for some reason.'
Dionysus couldn't understand what it actually was that made him feel good about it, but fighting was something he liked. In particular, he enjoyed the parts in the fight in which the hits were being exchanged.
"Oi, to feel pain and to give it to someone else . . . I think I like it, so let's test it out a bit more."
Dionysus said this as he walked towards the building that had a missing brick wall. There was still a bunch of dust in the surrounding area, but he knew that the captain couldn't hide in it, as it wasn't thick enough.
RUMBLE
From underneath all the rubble, a figure stood up and shoved it all off his back. This was the captain, and the greatsword was most definitely still gripped in his hand. Besides a bloodied and most likely broken nose, he seemed to be mostly fine.
"What did you do . . . to Estavire?"
He paused in the middle of his sentence, but Dionysus wasn't dumb enough to think that it was because he was heavily injured. During the pause, the dark mist above his head had swelled to an even larger size, showing that he assumed bad things were happening to Estavire.
"Oh? What if I were to tell you I murdered her? I could've even tortured her, toe by toe, finger by finger, if I really wanted to, you know?"
As Dionysus muttered these words, a mad cackle emerged from his lips and was released into the surrounding area. He was the definition of insanity in this very image, no matter who was asked.
"YOU . . .GRRRR!"
The dark mist above the captain's head continued to swell to a size that was absolutely insane. In fact, it was larger than all the other mists within his hundred meter range combined, making up over half of the combined mist.
"Yo, I wouldn't suggest getting this pissed off over a lady. There are enough fish in the world to go jump on, so we can calm down, right?"
It really was as if Dionysus knew how to press the buttons of people. At this point, the captain probably couldn't even talk out of either anger or despair. Though, Dionysus assumed that it was mostly anger.
GWISH
The captain lunged at Dionysus with a speed that far surpassed what he demonstrated before. With his greatsword in front of him as he rushed, it seemed that he wanted to make Dionysus into a skewer.
". . . dumbaaaaasassssss."
WOOSH
The captain stabbed at Dionysus with a speed that could be considered a miracle, but Dionysus was simply even faster. He bent his back enough to form a perfect ninety degree right angle, and right after that . . .
"GAH!"
. . . he grabbed the captain by the shoulders and slammed him into the ground head first. After thoroughly imbedding his head in the ground, Dionysus proceeded to put his foot above his body that was still above ground.
STOMP
SNAP
The captain's right leg was broken. Anything that was below the knee was gone, or at least it wasn't attached to the body anymore. It was lying on the ground in a little mini-crater that the stomp had formed.
"GRRRRRRRR"
All that Dionysus could see was that the captain was trying with all his might to escape from his position, but his head was thoroughly embedded into the ground. He was currently throwing his arms and left leg all over the place, though nothing was happening as a result of all this.
"So, do you give up?"
At this point, Dionysus had become fully accustomed to his awakened ability. It truly did fit him, being one that utilized his ability to bring out the negativity of humanity.
'Though, it probably isn't a good sign that he isn't wiggling around anymore. Does he not have oxygen?'
Dionysus was beginning to worry about his prey. Finally, giving in to the temptation that was his mind, he yanked him by the leg and the captain was suspended in the air by it. Dionysus was currently staring down the captain that was hidden behind the mask, and he could see that his eyes were completely white.
"Shit . . ."
DMPF
Dionysus threw the body of the captain to the side and began to walk away from the situation. At this point, quite literally everyone's eyes were on the situation at hand, but the second that they saw Dionysus attempting to leave, a path was cleared.
"Monster . . ."
"Rotten bastard . . ."
"Rot in hell . . ."
"Isn't this the same as that case in Qualdecia . . .?"
These types of words were being exchanged and thrown around in the crowd, which only led to Dionysus being more excited.
"HAHAHA, FUCK FACES LIKE YOU ALL SHOULD SHRIVEL UP AND WORSHIP YOUR SUPERIOR!"
Dionysus, just not being able to resist his urge to throw out one insult, let this one out and looked at the crowd for reactions. Faces of anger, despair, and so much more were staring at him. In return, all he did was put on a smile that showed he was sadistically pleased by their humiliation.
'Damn, the dark mist really has piled up.'
The last thing he saw before leaving the scene was a mist as large as one of the clouds up above.
--- SEQUENCE 2 ---
"The captain of squad four has been put down. The civilians are reporting that a man similar to the one that escaped four years ago is the one who put him down."
"That doesn't make any sense, who would disappear for four years only to come back and immediately terrorize a captain?"
In a humongous hall deep within the royal palace of the capital, a discussion was happening concerning Dionysus' crimes.
"The empire must have lost some prestige for a single man to just barge in and kill a cap . . ."
If the issue was just that a couple of guards had been killed and looted, they could have just wrote it off as a murder and replaced the guards. However, captains were a bit harder to replace, as the very minimum requirement to be a captain was to have a granted ability.
"Do we have any substitutes for the captain?"
"What for? A large portion of the squad was eliminated, so we might as well put the remaining guards into other squads."
"Haaaahhh . . ."
The loss of a captain and nearly a full squad wasn't anything pretty. The empire was known as the most powerful nation on the continent, yet they were being ridiculed by a single man. Along with that, they didn't even manage to capture the criminal.
The person sitting all the way at the end of the table that they were all sitting at stood up, and all eyes were on him. He had an imposing figure, one that showed his battle experience.
This was a general of one of the legions. Since the arch-general wasn't available, the next best thing was to have a general in charge of the meeting, and he was the closest one, so that's why he was here.
With a gouged out eye and no hair, the intimidation that the man radiated was intense.
"Reopen the case we had four years ago. The similarities are plentiful, and he is most likely the same person that escaped from us in Qualdecia. Send in squad three to contain him. As for the remains of squad four, split the remaining troops evenly among the rest of the squads."
After putting all of this out in the open, the general turned around and barged out of the humongous double doors that were the entrances to this humongous hall. All the others continued to stare at where his back was, before they all began to calmly stand up.
--- SEQUENCE 3 ---
The suffering of another can be the blissful greatness that you have been awaiting.
GASP
Once again, Dionysus found himself sealed deep within this chamber. No matter how much he struggled to move around, he couldn't quite free himself. After all, how could he with how much chains were beginning to accumulate upon him.
Your emotions are being developed, you're losing it.
Dionysus hadn't truly awoken before, but at these words he lifted his head up. Some light filled his dimming golden eyes as he stared at the chained man.
Above all, one of your chains has fully matured, showing that you have fully developed that emotion.
The chained man nodded at Dionysus' left arm, and as Dionysus slowly tilted his head to look at the chain, he could see the word engraved in it.
MELANCHOLY
Even though Dionysus could sense the difference within himself, reading the words only made it more apparent.
As the false image of you continues to live in this despicable world, you will slowly be consumed and turned into a being that can shape the world in its hands.
"You . . . why would you do this?"
The change could even be seen in Dionysus' tone. It was one thing to read the word on a chain and feel it within himself, and it was a whole other thing to actually see it in action. His voice wasn't nearly as proud as it was before, he could feel it.
The world is a harsh one, full of insanity and madness incarnate. In this world, nobody, no god, no being, knows what is wrong, and what is right.
You're simply my descendent. You will walk down this path because I decided you will. After all, what is a human to make decisions for itself?
". . ."
Dionysus couldn't even muster up the energy to talk. In fact, he didn't even want to talk. He wanted his false self to wake up so that, even if for a second, he could escape this deprecating hell.
Oh, don't be in a rush. Sooner or later, you will wake up, and you will relive the same terrible, sadistic dream.
CHING
Every single chain on the chained man immediately tightened up after he stood up from his throne of chains. He had the insane smile that he had shown before on his face as he walked towards Dionysus.
'Are the chains endless . . .?'
No matter how much he walked, the chains wouldn't tug him back. It was as if he could simply refuse fate.
Finally, he stood before Dionysus and stared at him in the eyes. Dionysus looked up at him, while the man looked down at him.
"Bastard . . ."
"Haha . . . haha haaaa . . ."
HAHAHAHAHA
--- SEQUENCE 4 ---
'Crap, back into this world.'
His golden eyes glimmered for a bit. He knew that he was going to soon lose his consciousness to the other version of himself.
���Yo, Silhouette."
WHOOSH
At his words, the same silhouette that had been with him for four years and a couple of months appeared.
However, it wasn't the exact same one.
". . . How ironic."
It really was terribly ironic. The fact that he was bound to a being that would slowly regain its humanity while he slowly lost it truly was a terrible fact that he didn't want to acknowledge.
Silhouette was beginning to recover more and more. Though it was just barely, one could make out that it wasn't completely like a shadow anymore, but it seemed to have a faint color resembling human skin.
Dionysus took a seat in the sewers that he was in. After that, he gestured for Silhouette to also take a seat, which it seemingly gladly did.
Then, after some more time passed, he showed a slight smile.
"To think that the same being that I once thought of as a curse is the last line that is connecting me to a life that I once owned . . ."
It truly was a smile of despair, one that begged for someone to help him.
"Damned pitiful, it really is . . ."
WHOOSH
Dionysus began to feel the headaches kick in, and Silhouette had already disappeared.
'Guess my time's up.'
His golden eyes began to flicker between gold and silver before turning fully silver. After that, the memories that he had before the accident slowly disappeared before he became the shell that he was now.
A piece of shit.