How much time have passed ever since the World cleansing? I didn't regret even by a bit whatever have I done in the world where I lost my friend for being a good person.
The memories of the past, my friends falling into the cliff after being pushed off by an enemy that see the life of humanity as a plaything.
A friend made a pact that we will not wipe out the Royal family even after what they had done but seeing their eyes with filled with regret and pain, I succumbed to the hatred and injustice I felt on that day.
In the process, I gained the power that no one could ever reach. The power that can conquer even piece of land you can see. In the hundred years of conquest fighting and killing, I grew tired of it and decided to just end everything. In one single move. No more monsters, no more hateful souls from that hateful clan. With my most powerful spell, I cast it enough to destroy the whole world. It was also enough to destroy my body and now I'm just an embodiment of dark entity floating around waiting for whatever will happen.
I'm not sure how many times i have said those monologues, Being the dark entity is not really a good thing unless you want to be an immortal to do all the kinds of stuff the world has to offer. But now, I can only regret that I was too busy getting revenge and making my arch-nemesis feel pain. Add to that, I'm not in the right mind to think of those stuffs. Go to fishing after the gang died? I'm not that heartless.
My sanity came back after my body disintegrated. The voices that bothers me day and night stopped right after i learned how to surround my soul with the power of death, end, destruction. Whatever they may call it. Unconsciously did I learn it when I tried to shell myself. Ever since I was a kid, I always try to keep myself out of danger even without any problem on sight.
... Is that a light? How long has it been? I have lost count after i reached 2000 years. The light slowly eats up every darkness around me until the blinding light made my consciousness numb.
The light dies down and everything around me changes. I am now inside a ballroom of some sort? A giant one at that. This is even bigger than the ball room inside the Royal Palace.
Walking around the room, I found out that there is no single window around.
'I think I have an idea On what is this. I just have to look more into this.'
At the side of my vision, there is a staircase that leads upwards. Following it's direction, i finally found the final piece of the puzzle. The door towards one's soul chamber.
So it means, this place, this ballroom, is someone's inner consciousness.
Giving the door a light push, it didnt budge even by a bit. There is only two reason for this,
1, the owner's soul is currently residing inside the soul Chamber
2, the owner is here in the Inner consciousness.
The second one is the answer, why?
With my hundreds of years of experience i developed this perceptive ability which scans the area around me and my scanning finally found the owner of this inner consciousness. It is now here around the room but there's two entity hanging around here.. there's another intruder like me?
I felt two kind of soul scan reaching me out. One that has the same quality and structure as this inner consciousness which points out to the owner and the other one...
It's very identical to me as if it's a clone of mine.. We have the same pure dark destructive elemental soul. The only thing that differentiate us is the fact that after that scan touches the shell around my soul, it caused the shell to vibrate enough to make a tune, like zitter. The sound is hypnotizing, it is trying to make myself lower my guard by Ive had enough of those hypnotism. I've never had a good memory about it. This vibration is trying to break my protective shell. Thankfully he wasn't that powerful, only at the same level as mine.
In response, I also give them a greeting.
My feet leads me towards the center and there I found the other 2 entities inside this place.
One is a teenage looking boy, a noble's son due to his clothing and the other looks like a royalty.
This royalty is the one that is identical to me. He is also giving me a look of wary. He probably felt that we are very much alike as well.
"You two. Who are you both?" The teenage boy asks with haughty attitude.
"Well, kid. I'm suprised you don-"
"Isn't it rude to ask your elders their identity without telling yours first? Remember, your nobility won't save you here." Im very much sorry to the royal Guy for interrupting him, he's looking at me as if he wants to finish me off at first but after clarifying he nods twice to probably agree? but this kid kind of piss me off. It reminds me of my friend.
"Ah.. eh.. heheheh. You're right. I ahh." Yeah I'm right, he really is like my old friend, Guss. Your awkward countenance lived on. "I'm Zack McArthur. Hailed from the continent of Fito, I'm the son of a Count who holds the port of Briga in the east."
"Ohh! Port Briga. I see isee. I'm familiar with it. We are a big trading partner with your locals. We trade our crops and fishes to your port sith your locally made weapons. Thank you for your help, we were able to repel the invasion of the dessert dwellers." The royal guy gave a tailored salute to the kid. Zack on the other hand blushes.
"From what Kingdom are you, Sir?" The kid asks politely. He is probably trained by his house to be the next head of the port. This makes sense a lot.
"I came from the Kingdom of Melodia. The kingdom at the dessert's Peninsula. I am Allegro, the current King and also the one who almost conquer all the land." He says those words with angst. If he really did such feat, he's free to do so.
"Huh? Kingdom of Melodia? Dessert Peninsula? I almost knos every trade we have in the port, one that came from Kingdom of Melodia isn't one of them." The kid taps on his arms as if thinking and suddenly his eyes widens. "Wait wait. You said Dessert Peninsula? There is no way we could trade there? The Dessert is filled with crazy Hemomancers. Only criminals are the ones who tries to traverse the dessert to get away from authorities. In fact, it's a lawless land. There is no way we would trade with dessert People."
Im starting to think this royal guy is just a senile man who come across a royal clothe in the road and plays the role of the king. But if we are in fact the same, same embodiment of negativity, maybe he really is crazy in the head. I too had a phase like that, thankfully i learned how to shut the voices.
"You said the dessert is filled with hemomancers? But aren't they been wiped out to almost nil? And ludwig.. is just a member of a cult who found the Hemomancy Manual?"
His couple of last words kind of became inaudible. But Hemomancers? Isn't that the Forbidden Art of water Clan? If I'm not mistaken, Herald already wiped them out in the last war?
'i already wiped out the whole Water clan so that the sins of this Forbidden art will somehow be put in justice. But even then, the power is born from evolution of Water element. I could take away my life to end the last strand of water clan's lineage but there are still commoners who awakens their power randomly so there are still chance that this art will come to light because of those people who are ready to sacrifice anything for greater power. Im taking the role of a guardian and wipe everything that wants to recreate it. But Im not an Immortal, I will leave something for the future Generation.'
"In my time, the world already had peace in the dessert. Hemomancy are tamed.. perhaps, you came from the past. What's the current calendar year now, kid?"
"It's 12030, sir."
"I see now. So you came from the past. And.. it means they are not.. born . Yet." A sinister smile appeared on his face as he look at the kid. But it only happened for a second maybe Im thr only one who saw it. What is hr planning?
"Anyways, you. Who are you and where you came from?" Allegro asks me this time. But i suddenly felt out of place. Are we living in the same world? Fito? Briga? Dessert? I don't know any of those.
"I'm Nox, a commoner. From the king of Atla."
"What? ATLA?! You came from the era of the Gods?" The kid looks at me as if I'm his favorite dessert.
"Era of the Gods? Huh?"
"Yeah. According to history textbooks first King Guss ruled the whole land for 2 thousand years until his death. It is said that he came from a dimension inside the mountain. These detail was verified after the beastment start to appear in the lands of Fito, they said the their world was destroyed by a a spell used by some sort of abomination."
"Beastmen?"
"Yeah. Those humanoids that has a part appearance of a land animal."
"They survived?"
"Yeah! And they are living peacefully sith us humans. Well, some are being slaved by those has kinks but in some states where Slavery is illegal, they are living well and part of the harmony like in Fito."
"I see..." Well, if they are not like those monster like in the past, I dont really care anymore. Atleast they have a place they can call home now. Unlike in the past, they were just made as a tool to fight against me and my bethren.
"Wait. A minute." Allegro interjects.
"Guss? Beastmen, humanoids with part land animal apperance? You mean avians and Mermans?"
"No sir, avians and mermans are differrnt from beastmen. The origin of the 2 is like human's and beastmen were born after a human mate with a magical or corrupted beast."
"And this Guss appeared from dimension?"
"Yes sir."
Allegro caresses his long beard, trying to recall the past, maybe?
"But isn't it King Ritz who gets out of Atla?"
Wait a minute, something is wrong. Our history is kind of different.. Allegro doesnt know Guss, but the Kid do. Beastmen appeared in the kid's past, it means Rits didnt have to make the beastmen yo conquer the land..
It just mean there's two different timelines..
'i had a master who teaches me ice and fire. She came from the future she said. Her name is.." That makes sense now.
"Allegro, i have a question. You said, you almost conquer the world, right? What happened?" I start to condense my power at my back at summom my scythe made from Dark element, it's better than to be in danger.
"Well, i'm not really sure cause during my attack on thousand Island Chain, Kronos was there and interrupted my plans. I got pissed at him at the end and when I was about to punch him in the face, I appeared here... Oh.. you mean." A sinister smile now appear on his face. He's not hiding it anymore. Like me, he have completed the puzzle. He's looking at me and the Kid.
"Aren't I lucky? I was given a chance to redo my conquest. A new chance to clear my head off of these voices. At the time where my arch-nemesis still not born yet. So Question to you two."
I only blink once, and the next time I open my eyes, there is a zitter looking thing on his neck. The hairs on my body stands up alarming me that death is coming.
"You wants to die first? Tragico."
My scythe fully appears in my hand. And with With my swift movement technique, sparrow's glide, I reach the place where the kid is and envelopes us with Dark veil. Same component with the shell I use to protect my soul from bothering Voices.
Unlike me who learned how to gdt rid the voices, he's a demon king who didn't. And also, learning it was just a fluke, and I was already practically dead when I learned it.
"Kid, are you okay?"
"It's painful, as if it's taking my life slowly. And it's like a hypnotizing spell But, I'm alright now. The shield helps."
"Alright, you go left, I'll go right."
After the spell stop, he follows my orders and summon's a fireball towards Allegro.
"Piano." Allegro mutters.
suddenly, a mist appeared beside him appears and condenses into a warior with a giant shield. This warrior shields allegro from the incoming Fireball.
"Forte." The warrior turns to mist again before changing into a thin looking man with a long cylinder pointed to the Kid.
As if ready, the Kid amazes me by using a Wind technique around his body.
Allegro plucks the strings on his instrument and which is followed by a sound of firecracker.
I don't know what that thing is called. But seeing the projectile embedding on the wall that deep, that could kill anyone who got hit by it. But it seems the kid did his homework well and he understands what to do against it. His wind techniaue helps him dodge the incoming projectile and uses this momentum to jump high and forward.
My scythe is just a couple of meter away from Allegro and he just smirk in the suppose danger coming towards him.
"Adagio."
My body suddenly feel heavy and sluggish. My movements slows down drastically. It's a time based debuff.
"Vibrato."
Another mist appear beside me. This it condenses into a lifeless looking man with red blood blade on it's hands. The sword on his hand starts to vibrate and hack towards my direction.
Using sparrow's glide to it's maximum, my movement speeds up enough to parry his attack.
Using the handle of my scythe, I parry his hack and slash combos. But since I have slow momentum, i cannot figut back and every parry I did makes me step back until I reach 20 meters away from Allegro.
Zack who was in the air finally lands and earth beneath him flies up. He taps every rock blocks in the air towards the direction of Allegro. Each targeting the places where he could dodge. So in short he's aiming for a checkmate.
"Caesura!"
The rock blocks stops midair, same with Zack who's like a statue. And the swordsman that I was fighting goes back to where allegro is and hacks the blocks into
Nothing. The swordsman then strides towards where Zack is and about to hack him up.
This is not gonna be easy. But, this has to end now. Let me try this.
"1."
Using my Sparrow's glide. My body almost teleports to where Allegro is,
"2." scythe just couple meters away from his neck.
"3." Now!
"Piano!"
The swordsman disintegrates before it reaches Zack and another mist appear in front of me. It's the warrior with giant shield. His giant shield protects Allegro from my sneak attack.
I see.
"Zack! 20m away from him."
"Alright!"
Zack uses his wind technique to fly up towards the back. Seconds after, I teleport towards his side.
"Zack, do you have any sealing techniques?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Here's the plan."
...
"Go!" We both scatter to each left and right of Allegro
Using my movement technique again I sneak attack again near him.
He has 2 choices
1, resummon his blade warrior. To parry my attack
2, risk using his movement speed skill to dodge or defend himself, but i have to bet if he has one or if it's quiet taxing for him cause he haven't use it even once since the start of the fight.
"Vibrato."
He chose the first one. The swordsman appears and parries my full on attacks.
On the other hand, Zack reaches the lethal distance of Allegro. He summons his fireballs which is very much undodgeable. But unlike me, Zack isnt fast as me. 3 seconds has passed since then before the fireballs touches Allegro,
"Prestissimo!"
The swordsman in front of me disappears and uses it's own body to shield Allegro from the Incoming attack.
Just like I thought, he has no real self capability. He could only support his creations and summons them.
Zack smirks and advances even with the swordsman on his way.
In less than a second, he touches the swordsman and a water sorrounds it's body.
Is that his sealing technique?
In another second, he finally reaches Allegro.
Half a second after he's holding Allegro's wand which Zack calls as bow.
Allegro's eyes turn wide, the events that transpire shocks him. Before the final second end, the instrument on his neck reveals a blade soaked in dark element and about to stab Zack.
"Not today!"
Using Sparrow's this time more than what Im capable of, i appeare right next to them and swing my scythe.
My scythe stabs on the target and his body gets cut in half. Allegro's is stunned again. Not because he can't move but because, it's Zack's body who was cut in half.
"Don't let your guard down."
My scythe continues to travel until it reach Allegro's body and this time his body followed suit.
"You! I.. trusted.. you!"
My scythe disintegrates into mist.
"Kid, im no betrayer. Never did I betray my friends and comrades. It had to be done."
Zack's breathing stop and his body transformed into a crystal looking stone which is the real form of a soul. His soul has a color of 4, representing all the elements he used. Never have I seen someone use 4 elements in my 2 thousand years of living.
Allegro on the other hand left a very dark crystal vrry identical to mine.
Touching his, his memories flows into my mind. The death of his parents, his love for music, the sleepless night because of the voices in his head, the events transpired before his final battle, he forms a clone which could fight in his stead. This clone can have all his buff and use the destructive power in it's maximum potential.
So that swordsman is a hemomancer? Hmm, that is why his sword is blood red.
Haa. I Have no use to this now, throwing his gem towards the side, it's time for me to read this kid's.
He's a good kid who is regarded as elementalist genius. Awakening 4 elements at such young age. A scholar who loves studying history. Details about his friends also appears from it. And lastly the reason why he is inside the inner consciousness.
And everything is now clear.
The Master of Guss went back to time so that the embodiment of destruction will appear sooner. If Guss wasnt present during the war, i don't think we would win. And if Guss wasn't a powerful mage, i dont think our paths will intertwined. And seeing our group falling off the cliff which I thought was death sentence, I will never feel the highest point of hatred and will never awaken the abomination in me.
To be honest, It was in Fact a great strategy. The way that the history got reversed and Allegro will never be the Demon king because there could only be one in a single timeline. Whoever thought of it was clever. Did he calculated to that I won't really be mad about it and even thank him for what he had done?
To the one who plotted this, did he saw the whole timeline already? Is it Kronos? But I doubt it's hom. To who it may was, Maybe he knew that I'll be no crazy.
But sither way, thisnis my second chance in life. I wanna do it the best way I can.
I start yo walk towards the stairway again and this time i push yhe door and it open without any effort.
Inside of it is a small chamber with a blank case on it. In normal scenario, that is where the soul gems are embedded. But since Zack was in fact not inside her and was fighting for his life in his inner consciousness, this place in void of any soul and free for taking.
Touching the casing, it brighten up until enough to blind me.
"I'm back."
....
Gust of wind wakes me up and the soothing sound of the water waves calms me. Soft bed of earth relaxes my body, almost as soft as a cushion. Standing up from my position, thdre I saw another kid who's lifeless. He's zack's bestfriend.
The last part of memory of Zack plays in my head. the name of this kid and the reason for their supposed death were present there.
The kid's name is Gord Morga. Another scholar. He's nota great mage but in terms of intellect, he's one of the brightest among peers. That is why both of them are luckily to attend the biggest university throughtout the world.
Giving him a last prayer, I found a tree that looks like about to die on the side. Thankfully, i'm able yo xontrol the elements Zack had mastered and with a thought, the earth beside the tree was dugges out and carried his body onto it befote finally burrying him. Picking up a couple of stones, And place it to look like a tombstone. Who knows maybe he could be the fertilizer for this tree?
Giving a final nod, i leave the premises and thought about the dangers this body will meet. This body died once already, they eant to kill zack early on so that he won't grow too powerful in the future.
This remind me of the Night of the Blood moon. But they are too soft the horrors lf that day still makes me shiver unto this day. I wonder, was everything supposed to happen?
Like me, in this instance, why am I alive till now? What am I supposed to do from here? For the longest time in my entire life, the world giving you a favor like a happy life is nothing but a great scam. You live because you have purpose. Even being a canon fooder is a purpose.
So, what is my purpose?