"I'll make you work for it…!" Terrifaísteio said before she finally closed her eyes and succumbed to the abyss. Her words whispered into my ears before I passed out. One month later, I woke up with most of my body healed and my energy replenished.
With Terrifaísteio dead, the burning effects from her attacks reduced significantly. Nonetheless, she was still one of the untouchable beings in the universe. As a result, remnants of her power still affected my body and slowed down my healing.
"Grrn!" I groaned in pain as I moved my body to get up and stretch. My joints crackled with each movement, but my broken limbs and severed arm seemed to have completely healed. I then looked to the side and saw Thirío sitting on the ground, lying around him were Kitsune, Livia, and Azrael's unconscious bodies.
"I should kill you for this." He said with a calm expression, but I could sense the deep pain and hatred he bottled inside.
"I still haven't decided though. Should I rape and kill your little helpers now or later? Maybe I'll make you watch? Or maybe I'll dismember your slave's limbs and hang them like ornaments, or perhaps...I just kill you all right now!" He said to me still keeping his calm expression as he played with Kitsune's hair. All the while, he never broke eye contact with me. He held a domineering presence.
For some reason, Thirío gave off an even greater pressure that felt different than that of the late Terrifaísteio. It didn't feel like it was stronger though. Terrifaísteio gave off a feeling of an unmovable mountain: an unbreakable will that couldn't be rivaled.
However, the beast before me gave off a different pressure, it was like that of an animal. He looked at me like a wild predator who would stop at nothing to get to its prey. I didn't feel confident in winning a fight against him, especially in my current state.
'That doesn't matter now...!' I thought to myself after waking up from my daze.
Dark smoke slowly rose out from my reaper body. My eyes gave off a bright turquoise glow as I released my death aura to counter his pressure. Thirío wasn't the type to hit someone when they're down. This was why he didn't touch me, despite being defenseless for a month.
For a month, he patiently waited for me to recover. Me, the reaper that killed his mistress. These feelings were now being released through his pressure. Resisting meant challenging his authority. This was his planet, in his sector, he had every right to kill us, especially after we killed his reaper.
"You killed my mistress!" Thirío said as he removed his hand away from Kitsune's head. He then stood up and began to walk towards me. The closer he came the more the pressure increased.
"Fuck it…I'll just kill you. Then, your helpers will become my slaves!" He said to me, finally unleashing his rage. His aura was like an erupting volcano.
'Now!' I thought as I attempted to open a gate beneath Azrael and the others, but then suddenly, a power that was not my own began to pulse within me like a heartbeat.
Purple streaks of lightning began to appear around my body then ran wild in all directions. The pulse grew louder and louder to the point even Thirío could now hear it. He looked at me, thinking my reaction to be strange but then continued to walk towards me whilst casually dodging the purple streaks of lightning.
Power continued to swell within me, it felt just about ready to burst. 2 massive arms with purple veins pulsing within them burst out of my chest…then another 2 arms…then finally, a whole body emerged.
The whole process drained half of the energy I had left, leaving me even more exhausted. However, that didn't matter because standing in front of me now was the first reaper I had vanquished…
"Armando!!" Thirío said in genuine shock. Armando then turned around and kneeled before me.
"My king, I have completed my evolution. Ask anything of me and it shall be done…!" Armando said respectfully.
'Evolution?' I thought to myself. Thirío then approached Armando and began to examine him, like he was looking at an anomaly.
"What happened to you?" Thirío asked Armando. However, Armando paid no attention to him and remained knelt on the ground, awaiting my reply.
"Answer him." I said to Armando as I was also curious abut this.
"My king had defeated me in my previous life. My soul was sent into the abyss as a result. Following my defeat, my king pulled me out of the dark abyss and gave me a new life; a better life. A life with a simple purpose. To serve him. I have now been given the opportunity to forever witness the rise of his power…" He began to say to Thirío before being cut off.
"Alright, that's enough." I said to Armando. 'That wasn't the explanation I was looking for.' I thought to myself.
"Then is it possible…?" Thirío asked then looked at the dismembered body parts of his late mistress with a glimmer of hope.
"I don't know." I said to him knowing what he meant. "How long was I out?" I asked.
"About a month." Thirío answered.
'Shit! Would this still work even after a month has passed?' I began to think.
'According to Armando, time moves differently in the abyss. What was only a few seconds to me, were thousands of years of suffering to Armando. If time exists there then the abyss may not be as empty as it seems. So, what about a whole month? No one can keep their sanity for so long!' I thought to myself.
"She might be too far gone by now. She won't be the same reaper you used to know." I said to Thirío.
"Do not underestimate my mistress' will…try!" Thirío said with confidence.
I nodded at him then looked at the now dismembered body of the flame reaper. Red and dark yellow smoke rose from the body parts violently like a raging flame.
I stared deeply into the smoke and got transported into her personal abyss.
'Hot!' I thought the moment I got there. Dark flames made up the entirety of this endless abyss. "Terrifhshao-," I said out loud trying to pronounce her god forsaken name.
"RRRAAAAHH!" Terrifaísteio roared aloud, releasing an incredible amount of pressure, forcing me out of the abyss.
"What happened?" Thirío asks.
"She kicked me out." I answered.
"HAHAHAHAAA! Even in death she is stubborn." Thirío said bursting out in a soar laughter.
"It's not over yet. I'm not letting Terrifaísteio's stubborness stop me, she will submit!" I said as I stared into the smoke again. I was quickly pulled into the abyss once more. Black flames surrounded me just like before, and although it was hot, it didn't burn me. Whenever I came out of the abyss, it's as if no time had passed. This place affected me differently.
"RRRAAAAAHHH!!" Terrifaísteio roared out just like before. This time, I was expecting it and was ready to counter the pressure she gave off.
"TERRI-..." I called out what little I could say from her name.
"RRRAAAAHHHH!" She roared out yet again, releasing an even greater pressure. The increased pressure forced me out of the abyss once more.
'Is she getting stronger in there?' I thought to myself.
"Fuck that woman!" I said out loud.
"Did you bring her back?" Thirío asked impatiently.
"What do you think?" I said to him then looked back at the smoke and entered the abyss yet again.
"Terri." I said in a low voice. Terrifaísteio then slowly began to approach me.
"Quit being stubborn and come with me!" I said to her sternly.
"I told you I would make you work for it." she said to me with a smile.
"But…this place…It strips away your will like a poison and scatters it into the endless abyss. It's hard to even remember who I am. All I know is that I wanted to make you pay, but now, even those feelings are fleeting.
For some reason, the only constant is you. Every time you come, I feel whole again. I feel like you are the one thing I was waiting for all this time…please, this time…take me with you. I don't want to lose any more of myself." She said, tears now floating out of her eyes, unable to run down her cheeks.
I then took her hand and said to her, "That was always the plan."
My consciousness then came back to my body right after.
"Were you successful this time, or is my mistress still fighting?" Thirío asked.
"See for yourself." I said to him.
Terrifaísteio's body parts then twisted and came together in a great whirlwind of fire. Her body stood in the middle of the flaming whirlwind and began to walk towards Thirío.
"I'm not so stubborn to fight for so long." She said to him with a smile.
She held his cheeks and pressed her forehead against his and said, "I remember how deeply I cared for you-."
"Mistress, you're back!" Thirío said emotionally with a bright warm smile on his face. He held his mistress' hands and clang to them tightly, never wanting to let them go again.
"Let's take him together this time. With my help, we can put down this insect without trouble." Thirío said to her. Armando upon hearing this then summoned 4 lightning rods and held each in one hand. He then rushed to stand in front of me then took a stance in preparation to fight.
"Calm down." I said to him as I pat his shoulder.
The lightning rods disappeared from his hands as he stepped aside.
"If only that was the case old friend." Terrifaísteio said then withdrew her hands from his face.
"I remember how deeply I cared for you, but that was a long time ago." She added then proceeded to walk towards me.
She faced me then knelt right before me. She looked different from before. Travelling all around her body were bright yellow streams of energy. The energy gave off the same feeling as the abyss. It was as though the abyss still had some hold on her.
The streams of energy pulsed all around her body like a heartbeat. She then stuck her hand into her chest and pulled out a bright yellow orb that was on fire.
She stretched out both her hands and presented me the orb.
"I offer you my life oh great Monarch." She said to me with sincere humility.
"NO!" Thirío shouted in a panic then dashed towards us.