"Adhsbghw..."
Aavesh felt gibberish come out of his mouth as he woke up again in the Ruined Temple and checked his neck first and then his leg, He let out a sigh of relief as they were uninjured for now-
Aavesh did not even bother to look outside the Ruined Temple now- Those Maniacs were probably on their way now-
"Aavesh! Get down in that Hole immediately! The Heart Demons are already onto you! Don't worry I know a Place where they won't be able to find you temporarily- Quickly Move it!"
It was Eon's Voice!
Aavesh immediately complied and jumped down in the Hole again, this time he managed not to tumble down continuously and immediately got up after reaching down.
"Now don't worry, follow my directions carefully- I will guide you to that location- Its nearby- so don't worry"
"Head Straight"
"Now Stop- Take a left"
"Crawl through that section to avoid Bone Spikes"
"Take a Right- Do you feel a ladder made of bones and flesh? Climb it"
" Now just keep going Straight"
After few minutes, Aavesh came across what he felt like a strange Door made Bones-
"Aavesh- Beyond this door is... a space that we can talk without getting interrupted by the Heart Demons but the price to open this door is... painful"
"Eon- what are you not telling me about this door?
Aavesh asked as he felt a bad premonition in heart.
"I won't lie to you Aavesh- This is a Blood Melting Chamber, whoever gets in here dies an agonizing death- of having their flesh melted slowly from their body-"
Aavesh facepalmed himself. He cut off Eon in a bitter tone,
"Let me guess- this is the only place where we can talk without those maniacs killing me because I will die anyway in the most painful way possible? But this is the only way we can have a conversation without me dying early-"
"Yes Aavesh- I'm afraid we have no other choice if you want to leave this... place"
Aavesh took in a deep breath and steeled himself for now.
"Tell me what to do"
"Aavesh can you feel a large arm-sized keyhole in the wall next to the Door- towards the left - stick one of your hands in and pull the Bone Lever and... brace yourself"
Aavesh quickly felt the wall next to the door with his hands and managed to find the keyhole. He stuck his right hand in and felt a bone lever.
He then pulled it. But as soon as he did that - Serrated Bone Blades sliced painfully through his right hand and amputated it.
*SLICE *SHNIK *PULP
Aavesh did not scream this time as he instinctively pulled his broken bloody stump of an arm out and used his left hand to cover his mouth as he kneeled down in pain.
He felt incredible pain but did not dare to let his voice out- It was almost time before the Maniacs caught up to him.
*CREAK
He heard the sound of the Door Open. Aavesh forced himself to get up and stumbled in.
*Click
*BANG
*Pew
Aavesh had stepped on the Pressure plate inside which caused the door inside to immediately slam shut and he felt bone darts pierce different parts if his body.
He had a bad feeling about the Bone Darts. He felt a bit weak after losing his arm and sat down, He had already begun sweating and simply sat down in the Chamber.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that..."
Eon's voice rang through his ears in an apologetic tone, He simply replied in an exhausted manner,
"Its alright Eon- I never have it easy, So tell me how long till I die next"
"In about 20 minutes- possibly due to blood loss or 2 hours due to the Poison in the Bone Darts"
"Welp- Just my luck..."
"At least You won't get torn apart-"
Eon tried to provide some mental comfort.
"Not Helping Eon- Huh Huff huff, Anyways speak Eon- while I'm still conscious- Tell Me What the Fuck is Happening! Why do you call those weird copies of myself as Heart Demons- More Importantly Tell me Where the Heck I am and How do I get Out!"
Eon then patiently explained,
"Aavesh- first off, it seems one of the Eldritch Gods sent his Demi-God Pawn to target you but Your New Grandfather had predicted this and Had entered the Outer Rings On the Pretext of Judging You with Family Law- It seems that Demi-Gods can't casually enter the Outer Rings- Anyways he was doing it to send you temporarily to his Demi-Plane to protect you while he dealt with the Pawn- I saw it all."
Aavesh silently listened while Eon continued explaining,
"Unfortunately, the moment he finished his verdict- The Pawn had triggered an Eldritch Spell that Even I could not find a way to defend against- Its the reason why your Eyes Turned Black and you vomited black blood."
"If possible, your grandfather wanted to immediately send you into his Demi-Plane but was restricted by the Rules of the Nine Major Powers- Demi-Gods cannot harm a mortal unless provoked for good reason"
"The Eldritch Pawn was a Serpentine Demi-God, Noth-Yidik, an entity formed of Madness out of time- But what scares me is the Eldritch God behind him because that entity was able to Bypass several rules and restrictions to find you and create a Heart Demon Tribulation Trigger spell so powerful that even most Gods would not be able to stop it- The Only Reason I was able to form a connection was due to Lord Irolin's Blessing present on you..."
"Noth Yidik activated the spell which secretly triggered your heart demons to rise up and caused you to enter into a Mental Tribulation- This realm is the formation of a mental Tribulation taking place in your mind- Normally you should have died the instant he triggered the Tribulation but your grandfather sent you into his Demi-Plane- specifically the Testament of Nightmares- A Testament which restores the consciousness of any being undergoing Mental Tribulation."
"It was supposed to be custom made torture chamber but for you it is a Lifeline- without it you would die without a chance..."
Eon then turned silent to let Aavesh Process this information.
Aavesh sat silently after listening to Eon's explanation and... a lot of things began to make sense. He did not have despair anymore- It was like that numbness he felt when he was in war, but this seemed to be a bit different. As he kept processing the information he just received, Aavesh realized something and immediately asked Eon the Question,
"Who's the being behind this Noth-Yidik?
"Aavesh I'd advice you to not-"
"No Eon, I have to know, because I know what would happen if his plan succeeds- 'I' would die and be replaced by one of the Three Maniacs who should be my Heart Demons Right? The new Me would go on a rampage and kill almost everyone present in the vicinity"
"You understand what this means right?- It means war and I am going to kill this Mastermind for even trying to implicate my family in this feud for no reason- So tell me Eon- who's the Bastard that ordered this Hit on me?"
His dead serious eyes despite the pain he was undergoing surprised Eon a bit, Hesitantly Eon answered it,
"Noth-Yidik claims it to be The Crooked Clocksmith, Aavesh- he's a New Eldritch God, because I have never ever heard of him- Besides due to circumstances now, The Serpent No longer wants to kill you- instead he wants to take you to the Crooked Clocksmith alive, obviously for no good reason"
"There is a bet that has been instantiated by few third Parties to resolve the current tussle between your new Grandfather and Noth-Yidik, when your grandfather successfully halts your Heart Demon Tribulation and brings you out"
"You must face the Serpent's Gaze from Noth-Yidik, If you successfully ignore it, Noth-Yidik will lose the Bet and Become a Slave, But if you lose- You will be Taken by Noth-Yidik..."
"Oh?- So I am stuck in this endless until My Grandfather Breaks me out- and then I must Face a Eldritch Demigod, Well if this is not called being Stuck between a Rock and a Hard Place, I don't know what is- Hahaha"
Aavesh Chuckled at this as Eon looked a bit flabbergasted at his Response. Aavesh then asked Eon,
"Eon you mentioned a way to escape this realm- I guess you meant utilizing My Granfather's help but there are certain preconditions for me to get out first- right?
"Yes... You should be able to retain most of your sanity and not fall into chaos- Because it will get harder to halt the tribulation the more you lose your sanity"
"If your mind is destroyed and falls into chaos- Even if he halts the Tribulation, You will become an Idiot that can be manipulated by the Noth-Yidik and lose the bet"
"So, if you follow my Plan, We can survive this Tribulation with you retaining enough sanity to confront the Serpent's Gaze, Don't worry your Grandfather's associate has a wand capable of preventing you from falling into Bewitchment, So you will survive through that as long as your mental state is not too damaged"
Suddenly, A Cruel Laughter Echoed into the Chamber from Outside,
"HAHAHAHAHA! Aavesh you COWARD! You actually chose this method of dying huh? You know what we wont break this spell- We will wait till you die you pathetic Little Runt! You are just a coward afraid of my Wrath! You just have the wrath of a coward- who could not protect anyone in his meaningless worthless life- just like you could not protect your family-HAHAHA-"
Broken Horns spoke in a brutal mocking Tone with hints of wrath in his Mockery on Aavesh.
"I hope you are feeling Despair Aavesh, I want you to know how it feels to feel only Despair at every second of your Life! But who am I kidding? You know despair already don't you? But that is the only thing your filthy existence exists for! You spread Despair to everyone who tries to do Good by You! You are the Source of the Greatest Pain of your Family! Why are you still alive? I only wish that you suffer the most possible Pure Agony While dying in this Chamber"
Ghost Face spoke with utter seething Hatred in his heart for Aavesh, Wishing him to suffer Eternal Despair.
But Chained Eyes was the one with the Most articulate words to speak,
"Hey Aavesh, what's it like to lie to people huh? You love lying- Don't you? Lying to people that always loved you- Betraying them Like STABBING A KNIFE THROUGH THEM- Don't run from your true Guilty self Aavesh, that Burden of your own Guilt Breaking you, is the most delicious Thing in this World- You Know what will never change- You!- You have always been a liar- Don't just think that we were just born in this Timeline!"
Chained Eyes smiled as he revealed the shocking secret- to Aavesh,
"Aavesh we followed you into this New Timeline- We are your closest most Intimate 'Friends' We know everything about you! We have Been Observing your every little action- ehehehe, But You know what I find So funny? You have never changed, despite all talks about change- You are the same guilty failure that hopelessly died On that Planet without ever saving Anyone- hahahaha"
His Laughter rang out into the Mind of the silent Aavesh as he did not reply to the Maniac Heart Demons that had gathered outside to torment him to death, this time with words Alone...
But he found a certain truth to their words- they echoed the deepest darkest feelings he ever had, Heck they were Even probably born from it.
He could not fully Deny their claims either- he was flawed in a bad way.
Eon was a bit worried about this Verbal Assault on Aavesh- He saw that Aavesh had become quiet after those Heart Demons started attacking his weak points, Eon truly hoped that this did not worsen Aavesh's Mental State to large degree, After all certain conversations with Heart Demons can be Traumatizing.
Aavesh then spoke to Eon in a serious tone,
"Change of Plans Eon- I don't want this tribulation to be postponed to a later date, We end this here, tell me how to defeat a Heart Demon-"
"I seriously advice against this course of action, It would be better-"
"No, it will never be better, Just Tell me how do you defeat a Heart Demon"
"Aavesh... you do realize we are in a mental realm where these Heart Demons reign Supreme, You are in no shape to go against them- They can use Mythic Power! You Cannot! It is impossible!"
"Nothing is Impossible- You told me that I could cultivate a Different form of Mythic Power- Then Teach Me that! I will use it"
"Aavesh Even if you did Manage to Successfully Cultivate 'that' Mythic Power - the most essential part is to be able to confront your Heart Demons! You will have to find a way to self-actualize to completely erase them! That is extremely hard and takes years of Training! You will have to literally change certain aspects your Personality! There is no way-"
"Eon. Stop"
Aavesh cut him off directly.
"..."
"I'm doing it- Now are you going to help me or not?"
"Fine, Have it your way- I will help you Aavesh, But if it fails you will follow my Plan right?"
"...Sure, Yeah Right"
"...Aavesh?-"
"Ok- we will get to that after I fail- Now How do you cultivate that Mythic Power?"
Eon hesitantly replied,
"You will first need to die now, as you need a full body to increase your chances of cultivating it..."
"Ok"
Aavesh then plucked a bone dart with his left hand from his chest, The Bone which had been slowly rotting his body with the Blood Poison was quite sharp as he felt it in his left hand like a surgical knife.
*Slice
With Extreme Determination in his eyes, Aavesh tore through his imaginary rags and performed a crude incision on his Chest gritting his teeth. He then dropped the Bone Dart to the side.
He then pierced his rib cage with his own left hand.
"Aargh- AAH, AHHHH AAARHGH"
He let out screams as he explored his respiratory system and finally located his frantic heart despite the overflowing of blood from his chest.
"HUFff Huff huff huff HOf fhoof"
Aavesh kept breathing out of his mouth to combat the pain he has just felt.
As Aavesh felt his heartbeat in his hand as held his heart.
With a ruthless glint in his eyes, He Crushed his own Heart savagely and pulled out the fragile organ to end his life. Instantly, His eyes fell lifeless, as a final groan left his mouth-
"Nngh"
He died.
Eon watched on in horror- He felt speechless on what had just happened and the Mental world began to reset due to Aavesh's death.
Seeing it happen- Eon could not help but curse, "FUCK WHAT DID I JUST SEE?"