Chapter Fourteen
UNRELENTING DISTRESS
'Is that all he had?'
Dionysus stared down at the replica of himself that was currently lying on the ground in the middle of a blood puddle. Just a few seconds ago, he had coordinated with Silhouette to make it so that he would distract him while it skewered him with its fist. Thankfully, the plan had gone through accordingly, and they were the victors.
"Getting locked up for around three decades, only squirming in pain the whole time . . ."
Dionysus kneeled down besides 'his' body and touched it, which didn't even have the usual warmth of a human anymore. No matter how anyone looked at it, the one that was on the ground was dead, while the one that stood had won the battle. Yet, he still didn't feel satisfied.
"I emerge after three decades, only to have to kill myself right away."
He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He felt that it was all unfair, but he had a perfect grasp of his own emotions, so he didn't act out.
"Chained King, your puppet is dead. Your grand plan seems to have fallen apart."
Dionysus continued to stare at 'his' body while calling out for the Chained King. He knew that he was the original and that it was the replica, yet he also knew that there was more to it than that.
'It started off as just a copy of me, but in time, it developed to become a separate person from me . . . while it may look like me visually, I'll know the truth . . .'
He didn't feel as if he had finally reclaimed his spot within society by coming back and killing his replica, but instead felt like he had come back and the first thing he had done was get rid of another person. It was . . .
. . . a terrible thought that loomed within Dionysus' mind.
Hoh? You'd dare to call me out?
CHING
CHING
CHING
A hole emerged in the sky above the pyramid, and through it, many chains shot out. If one were to inspect the hole closely, they could see a large beating heart through it. However, the real view was what came after all of that.
It was the Chained King, lounging about on his throne. He was holding a cup full of either wine or blood, but he wasn't drinking from it. Instead, he was inspecting it as he turned it, looked at it from below, and so on.
He took a quick sip from it before smashing the cup, with a firm grip, into dozens of little pieces. After that, he finally laid his eye upon Dionysus, but it was in a way in which he looked down on him, disrespected him.
"That cup had entertained me more than you ever could dream of doing."
A dull voice emerged from the mouth of that man, but it wasn't dull because his throat was parched or anything. It was dull in the sense that he was utterly bored, and had absolutely no interest in anything taking place before him, including Dionysus and the silhouette.
"Does it seem as if I care about entertaining you? Instead, I have a favor to ask of you."
Dionysus stood firmly with Silhouette, a creature that he had trusted for a large portion of his life, at his side. It loomed over Dionysus' with it's large stature, but the Chained King could tell that, at this point in time, they were equivalent to one another. He wouldn't be fooled by looks, not like before.
"Oh? And what is this favor, young man? If it's not of interest to me, then you can expect me to reject it."
A sinister look loomed within the Chained King's eye. After three decades of being trapped in an alternate dimension with the man, Dionysus could see through him clearly.
'I don't need to be as powerful as you to see that you even have your secrets . . .'
It was like a leviathan was swimming deep within the eye of that man, patiently biding its time so as to strike at the right moment. Dionysus wasn't worried about it striking now, but its very presence cast a shadow upon him.
"Resurrect what was once my replica. Make him whole again, and allow him to roam the world."
. . .
. . .
After daring to make such a demand, Dionysus, Silhouette, and the Chained King continued to loiter around in silence.
'Hmm, I wonder . . .'
There was no doubt about it, the replica that he was demanding be resurrected was dead. The Chained King saw that his effort was somewhat pointless, but he still didn��t feel the need to do anything.
The reason was because of the original that stood before him. He hadn't developed in the way that he wanted of him, but instead, a different thing emerged, but he didn't know if the one before him could lead the future.
'No, it's not that I don't know, but instead that I could not know.'
He understood it. No matter how many titles he held, no matter how many lives were sacrificed, and no matter how much he gave away, he wouldn't be the one. He wouldn't be the one to lead the world to a better future, one where the upper and lower realms controlled everything.
'I dreamed to the death, I fought to the death, and I've been captured, forced to lie in an alternate dimension created solely for me . . .'
"HOWEVER!"
The Chained King's mind was determined. He had been putting up a facade of insanity this whole time, but three decades with Dionysus made his mind for him. He had spoken rather abruptly, causing Dionysus to slightly jump, though he recovered quite quickly.
". . ."
Dionysus' mouth was silent, but his eyes weren't. The Chained King could tell that Dionysus wanted him to speak up about his condition already. He pondered on whether or not he should continue or not, but his mind was resolute.
He decided that his era was over.
"I want you to figh-"
"No."
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
'. . . what?'
The Chained King was shocked by Dionysus' calm but firm and decisive answer. It had rung out, and he had heard it, but he still couldn't believe it.
"Are you sure?"
Although he was surprised at how firm the resolution was, he was still a king, and had his pride. He refused to stutter with even a single word.
He had to make sure if the answer within Dionysus' mind was already set.
"Yes, I'm sure. I refuse to fight."
WHAT? WHY? HOW CAN HE BE SO CONFIDENT?
These words rung out deep within the depths of the king's mind. He didn't understand why he didn't want to fight, and to such an absolute degree as well. After constantly suffering for three decades, he thought that Dionysus would take any way that he could to get out of the dimension that was originally intended to imprison himself.
Yet, it seemed to be the exact opposite.
"I'm fed up with it all. I might only be twenty-six physically, but I'm fifty-six mentally. Actually, I might have regressed after spending so much time in just pain, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I don't want to be a part of this world's fighting anymore."
"I've already fought my battles, and my fighting has already ended. The world is a terrible place, brimming with violence around every corner. I was naive, I thought I could change it by myself. I thought I could conquer all the dungeons and bring in world peace."
'So, this is what I'm missing.'
The Chained King finally understood the truth. He clenched his fists, so much so that blood poured out from his grasp. He looked down at the ground, making it so that his long, grey hair covered up his face. However, it wasn't enough to conceal to Dionysus that the man seemed to have found an answer to what has been troubling him for a long, long while.
'I've . . . been ignorant this whole time.'
He thought he had seen it all, witnessed it all. He thought that fighting a war against the two realms beside his own would've allowed him to gain the ultimate wisdom, yet the most foolish person in the room was him.
'I kidnapped him with the hope that he would be able to carry the baton for me to the very end, yet . . .'
He finally understood. He had always been contemplating why he lost the fated war long ago. He wondered why he couldn't free the realm that he owed everything to. Now, his answer was finally before him.
"In the process of becoming king . . ."
Dionysus, who was caught up in trying to figure out what to say next, looked up and saw the king's form. Before, the king had constantly shown that the pain didn't matter to him at all, that he could still move, even with those chains that latched on and never let go.
Yet now, he wasn't in control anymore. His throne made of chains was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that could be seen was a man who wasn't in control of all. He was currently suspended in the air by four chains. Three of them were connected to his limbs, while the last one was attached to his neck.
GRMMM
Suddenly, a loud grinding noise emerged out of seemingly nowhere.
Dionysus heard it, and began to inspect the room. After searching for a while, he found that, whatever it was, it was grinding against the outer boundaries of the dungeon. As sudden as the grinding had started, two walls on opposite sides got pierced, and through the holes that were left, two steel pillar-like objects shot out from each one.
TH-THUMP
Dionysus quickly calculated where they were going. They both shot out from two holes on opposite walls, and they were going to meet up and collide. The issue is that their meeting location, where they were going to collide was . . .
. . . the Chained King.
TH-THUMP
It felt like time slowed down. Dionysus could see it all happen, yet he was also slowed down. Both of the steel pillar's were moving at a pace beyond what sound could keep up with, and they were slowly closing in on the king.
He felt his heart tighten up, his chest tighten up, and so on. For a second or two, he couldn't move even if he wanted to. However, after willing his legs with all the energy that he could muster . . .
"M-MOVE!"
Dionysus lunged from the pyramid, all his calm dissipating. He couldn't think rationally anymore, all he could do was lunge at the king in the hopes of pushing him out of the way. He knew that he was being suspended by chains, chains that he hadn't been able to get off himself for three decades, but he wanted to change something.
'SILHOUETTE, MOVE!'
He was screaming even within his mind, but it was more than enough for Silhouette to lunge right at the king as well. It was moving faster than Dionysus, and quickly passed him. At this point, it was all up to Silhouette.
TH-THUMP
'This . . . can't be happening.'
He had no reason to protect the king, none whatsoever. In fact, he should've despised the king, but he couldn't do that. If anything, he should just let him die and then proceed to walk away from the scene. However, there was something pulling him along, something that he felt he couldn't refute the decision of.
"MOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEE!"
". . . I lost my semblance of humanity."
CRUSH