Chapter Six
SIMPLER TIMES
"Resign yourself and you will be prosecuted less severely."
'What is this insect saying?'
Dionysus had lost all sense of self. In fact, it wasn't even quite right to call the being that was once Dionysus with the same name anymore. As of right now, he didn't resemble a human any longer.
Instead, he resembled everything.
"G-General Artius, are you sure this is the man we were ordered to capture . . .?"
"He can't be, there's no way anybody but the arch-general could put him down. . ."
One by one, the men of the legion were beginning to be of the mind that Dionysus couldn't be the man that they were hunting. The reason for that would be that each and every single one of them saw Dionysus as a different being from the other. While one might see him as a giant monster, others might see him as a winged demon, and so on. Anyone with a normal level of perception would never be able to see the truth behind it all.
Of course, Artius was anything but normal.
"I suppose . . . resigning yourself is no longer a choice for you, is it?"
Artius looked at Dionysus with disappointed eyes. While everyone saw different things, Artius peered into the soul of Dionysus and saw the truth. There, he saw a golden eyed Dionysus weeping.
". . ."
Artius stared at Dionysus with eyes of pity.
Why do you pity me? Why do I cry?
Though Dionysus didn't know why, he was crying. His voice had become so blisteringly demonic that one could compare him to the worst of all the monsters in the world.
'It's not him that's crying, but the soul within.'
Artius sensed within himself a resolve like no other. He had never had this feeling of wanting to rescue someone or something so badly. However, after seeing the golden eyed version of the man before him, he wanted to help him.
"Let's get this over with."
Artius began to walk up to the hill where Dionysus was. To him, and only him, the true form of Dionysus was revealed. A humanoid monster that had humongous black wings and a third eye. It was no longer human. In fact, the way that it was currently going now, it was most likely going to resemble something worse than a demon any second now.
SHLAA
The aura surrounding Artius became even stronger. However, this wasn't from him just naturally strengthening himself, but due to the fact that he was triggering his ability.
"The story of the one man who sacrificed everything to save a single soul, have you heard about it?"
Artius, at this point, was standing in front of Dionysus.
"A man once dreamed of a world where justice always helped those who needed it, where everyone could get along and enjoy themselves. However, the man has, these days, decided to take this dream and make it into a reality."
RAHHHHH
Dionysus simply shouted and the surrounding landscape began to evaporate. The front of the legion, which was the side close to Dionysus, was blown away.
Yet, Artius still stood there and had his hand out facing towards Dionysus.
"Hero's Demise is my ability."
CRUUUNG
A soul shattering force was emitted from the palm of his hand, which immediately resulted in Dionysus coughing up what seemed to be golden blood as his head tilted back in pain.
"It is an ability that allows me to be as powerful as the hero from that story I just told you about. However, it takes something in return."
Although Dionysus was in pain, he was still listening to Artius. At this point, he was still adapting to his body. In reality, he didn't really feel the pain, but the remains of his human body were still lingering, meaning that they were still holding him back. Once they were fully gone, he imagined that the man who stood before him would drop dead immediately.
"While it grants me immeasurable power, it is at the cost of a tenth of my life whenever I use it."
FUCK YOU!
Dionysus stomped on the ground and readied himself to charge at Artius headfirst to pierce him with one of his antlers.
WOOSH
Although, it didn't seem as if Artius would permit it. He immediately appeared in front of Dionysus and slammed the antler into the ground.
"Stop it. You're only going to hurt yourself more and more. I don't know what type of life you've lived, but, at the very least, you can still experience emotions, albeit negative ones."
SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!
Dionysus continued to swing his arms out in a panic, but Artius evaded all of his hits with ease.
". . . I regret that this couldn't end before any more violence sprung up."
SLAM
Artius stomped on Dionysus' back, who showed no actual reaction. While Artius assumed it was because he was in an indefinite amount of pain that he showed no reaction, in reality, Dionysus was adapting to his new form at a speed that was absolutely remarkable, and as he slowly became accustomed to it, the dark mist that now spread to the far horizon began to affect him more and more.
'. . . Is this what life is?'
Dionysus genuinely wondered about the answer to this question while Artius continued to kick at him. To be quite honest, Dionysus couldn't feel the pain from the hits anymore. He was simply ignoring the hits while he thought about the answer to this question.
QWISH
Finally, after constantly stomping on his back at a speed which resulted in an extreme amount of blows Artius flipped Dionysus over using his foot. Dionysus was now lying on his back, which was quite the contrary to him lying on his stomach thanks to his antler being stuck in the ground.
But, something unexpected happened.
"It's never too late to change, many people go through dark phases in your life. If you ever need any help, just tell me."
At this point, Artius had basically declared that the fight was over. He held his hand towards Dionysus, who continued to lie on the ground. It wasn't even an actual fight, as by the end of it, it was simply Artius stomping on Dionysus a bunch of times. However, it was more than enough to make the hill that they were atop of into a crater, with them at the center of it.
"You . . ."
Dionysus had finally gained enough control of his body to speak with a normal voice.
"Do you truly believe in the good of everyone? Do you truly believe in such a silly dream?"
Dionysus felt that if he knew this man's answer to this question, he would be able to develop an answer to his own question.
"I believe in it. I believe in a day where everyone can lay down all these crazy abilities, sit side by side, and all eat together."
Dionysus began to cry once again. This time, Artius took it as a sign that Dionysus had emotionally developed enough to realize that what he was doing is wrong.
"Don't worry, after you serve your sentence you'll be let go and you can turn a new le-"
SPLISH
Dionysus punched a hole through the chest of Artius. It took awhile for Artius to look down and acknowledge what had just happened.
COUGH, COUGH
Blood spilled out of his mouth.
"W-Why . . .?"
Artius continued to look down at Dionysus, who was still crying. However, this time he saw the color of his eyes. They were a vibrant golden, just like the one that he had seen deep within the soul.
"Please run . . . I can't hold him back anymore . . .!"
Dionysus said this with tears streaming down his face and a snotty nose. Artius slightly gasped, and as he began to understand the situation for what it truly is . . .
SNIFF
He, too, began to tear up.
"The world I dreamed of . . . you won't destroy it, will you?"
Dionysus was shocked. The man who only a minute ago was the strongest he had ever faced was now beginning to weep. Finally, he realized what he meant.
The dream world that he wanted to build, a world of peace and justice. He was asking Dionysus if he would destroy the dream that he had dedicated his whole life to.
This only led to Dionysus weeping even more, at the realization of what he had become. He had become someone who could possibly ruin people's dreams, lives, and so much more.
"I-I-I'll try . . ."
He was no longer the man that he once was. At this point, even if life returned to how it was before, he wouldn't return to the way he was before. It wasn't possible. Even if he didn't want to acknowledge it, he was breaking down, slowly but surely.
'Damn it all to hell . . .'
Finally, Dionysus removed his fist from Artius' body. Artius' body dropped, but Dionysus quickly stood up and grabbed it before it hit the floor.
However, it was too late. The light in Artius' eyes was beginning to dim. Yet, it seemed Artius wasn't quite done with the world.
"My l-legion . . . I've enlisted only the people who shared thoughts similar to mine . . . please, let them leave . . ."
Dionysus acknowledged that this was his dying wish. Finally, his tears dried up. He had none left within him, only a sense of loss and regret. He nodded in response to Artius' words.
". . . I still wanted to know . . . how that story would end . . ."
After saying that, all the light in his eyes was gone. At this point, Dionysus was holding a corpse in his hand. It was even more disgusting that he was still not in his human form, but the form that had been created by the awakened ability of the other.
Acknowledging that it was his job to carry out this man's final wish to his legion, he carried the body out of the crater, and up to the legion that still didn't know what had happened. Finally, once he had gotten out of the crater, he stared upon all the men and women that followed Artius in life.
BU-BUM
Dionysus froze right where he was standing before he could tell the legion the truth. In reality, he was losing his grip on the body. His right eye became that of a fierce silver color.
'Fuck . . . !'
He quickly looked up at the faces of all the men and women in the legion. He would carry out the final words of Artius, no matter what.
"This man . . . his final words, he wanted you all to carry out his wish! He wants the dream world that he had been dreaming of since long ago to become reality!"
Dionysus dropped onto the ground. He had lost control of his left leg.
"Take it!"
He threw the body of Artius at one of the soldiers. Even though they were clearly in fear and shock, it was caught.
"Go, go! I'm going to switch any second now!"
Dionysus held his face in his hands. The intense pain pangs were beginning to kick in.
'Don't worry.'
"Huh? Who said that?"
Dionysus heard a voice echo throughout his head. He continued to wonder who it was until he saw it manifest in front of him.
"S-Silhouette . . ."
It had been so insane recently that Dionysus actually forgot about his partner who had been cursed to the abyss with him.
"I can help . . ."
Dionysus didn't know what it meant by help, but he trusted it when it began to wind up a punch. He had been with it for some years now, and he trusted it more than any person in the whole world.
WHAM
Silhouette landed the punch directly onto one of Dionysus' temples. In reality, this would've knocked Dionysus out normally, but he was still in the monstrous body that had been created from the negative emotions of the whole legion.
"Huh?"
He realized that the pain pangs were gone, but just those alone were worth thanking Silhouette for.
"I go bye now . . ."
Right after saying that, Silhouette slowly disintegrated and became one with the air as its ashes were carried along by the wind.
HEH
Although things were going horribly wrong, and the situation was absolutely terrible, Dionysus still managed to put a smile out there.
'Don't worry, I'll be with you soon . . .'
At this point, all that Dionysus could do was run in the opposite direction of the legion as to reduce how much negative emotions were being consumed. With that thought in mind, he began running as fast as he could in the direction of the capital that he had come from.
As he continued to run, Dionysus realized that he was losing control of his body more and more. Since his left leg had been taken over, he had been running on the rest of his three limbs, but he had just now lost his right arm.
However, at the same time, his body was almost fully human again. At this rate, he could stop right now or keep running, and there would be no difference.
'If only I had taken the body sooner, that man's death could have been prevented.'
Dionysus chose not to run anymore, and sat down and stared at the sky as the sun set. He was going to lose control of his own body sooner or later, so he thought he might as well enjoy the freedom while he could.
He began to think.
"I'll regain control one day, and I'll head back to the mountain and lunge into the abyss again. At that time . . .'
HOOOOH
HAAAAH
Dionysus inhaled and then exhaled.
". . . I have a feeling I'll be able to win against the chained king . . ."