Chapter 15— Side Story: Road to Beginnings V
"LAYLA NO!!"
Skye screamed as he tried to move his broken body, but yielded little effort. He could only watch as Layla's body was sent flying until she crashed into a far side of the dungeon.
The spider queen however, rushed towards Layla's body, trying to make sure that it did a clean job of killing the ant before it that dared to save its prey. It soon reached Layla's body and pierced her chest. Lifting her up with its legs, the spider threw her body towards Skye's direction as the latter looked on in horror.
"LAYLA!"
The spider queen gave Skye a look reminiscent of disdain. It looked quite strange and horrifying. Letting out a maniacal screech, the spider rushed towards Skye, trying to finally end the pest that had been struggling to save its life for the past 15 minutes.
Skye, who had been so lost in grief by the possible after thought of Layla's death, could not even react as the spider lunged towards him, trying to end his life.
'Is this it? Is this my end?'
'Why? Why did this have to happen?'
'It's all my fault. I let this happen. If I hadn't brought her here, she wouldn't have to suffer like this! And them! Those rotten bastards of the Black Snake Gang! I swear, when I find them, I will kill every last one of them! No questions asked. What am I even thinking? I can't even...move this body of mine.'
'Layla, I'm sorry...for everything.'
As the spider pierced her leg towards Skye's heart, his blue eyes suddenly glowed with a reddish- golden tint sending out and unfathomable and vast aura surged from his body, confusing and agitating the beast. The beast soon regained its composure and tried to lunge at him again, but this time the glow in Skye's eyes increased and sending out a punch towards the spider, it crashed into the walls of the dungeon, making a dent on the surface.
Skye began to move his body, clenching and unclenching his fists, a voice very much unlike his, came out from his mouth.
"Hm? What's this? This body...it feels so...weak. I never imagined that the body I would enter after successfully igniting my soul with that technique would be so—great! What! A Spirit Body? A high level one at that? Who is this kid? It's a good thing he was teetering on the edge of death, else, I'd be dead by now. Doesn't matter anyway. For I, the Blood Emperor, am ALIVE! Haha! I don't know who you are, you pathetic little runt! But I graciously accept your body! And I will use it to finally drown the world in a SEA OF BLOOD! HAHAHA!"
Skye soon rushed towards the spider, sending it flying with a kick.
"Where am I anyway? This is not the Imperial Heaven Region! And the Spirit Energy here is ridiculously little compared to it. I guess I'll find out later. For now—"
Blood Emperor Style: Blood Devouring!
All of a sudden, the spider queen and its spawn burst into bloody mist. The red mist converged towards Skye's mouth.
'This is good. But not nearly enough. Now!'
A faint rumble soon resounded through the dungeon. Every living thing present, including the remnants of the Black Snake Gang that had been trying to escape and had almost reached the entrance, scattered into bloody mist as the faint resounding screams echoed throughout the now empty dungeon.
The blood mist devoured everything in its path, avoiding the unconscious Layla as it converged towards Skye's mouth. The mist condensed into a round scarlet pill which Skye quickly swallowed. The pill looked like a beautiful ruby and flowed in the air like condensed mercury, and as it entered Skye's body, an overwhelming pressure burst out of him.
The glow in his eyes increased, and with it came an unending series of maniacal laughter from Skye.
"Haha! This is MY time now! Heavenly Monarch! Prepare to meet your end! With all of you that dared to imprison me in that hell! You'll all pay!" The voice continued to shout as Skye's aura rose to the 5th level of Apprentice mage.
But then, he felt something, deep inside the recesses of Skye's body.
'Hmm? This kid has a high level lock on his soul? That's affecting his body? It's limiting his innate abilities? How?! What an intricately placed Spirit Lock Formation. It shouldn't be possible! Such a formation should not exist in this backwater place. Seems like I'll have to get rid of you kid. DIE!'
"Unfortunately— it is YOU— who will have to die." Skye's voice sounded out again, but this time, it was filled with a spine- chilling aura and a glacial tone, filled with endless killing intent. But it sounded cool and calm, like a beautiful breeze blowing under the pores of one's skin, causing anyone who heard it to be filled with a strange feeling. Peaceful, yet murderous.
"What? Who are you? Don't try to stop me from taking this body. If you dare go against me, who— or whatever you are, will meet a grave end at my hands."
In a familiar dark place, the depths of Skye's soul, two figures faced off against each other.
One of them was a handsome middle-aged man, with blood red hair and eyes, wearing a robe with the character 'Blood' on his back and radiating a powerful and malevolent aura that reeked of blood. A vague shadow that took the form of a boundless river of blood manifested behind him. He wore a malevolent grin on his face and wielded a halberd 7ft long with a sharp axe blade, that occasionally glinted with a dark light.
The other one looked like a carbon copy of Skye to the letter, execpt for his scarlet gold eyes and the occasional streaks of golden among his glittering silver hair. This Skye also had vague patterns that resembled extremely beautiful tattoos that occasionally flickered in and out of existence, complimenting his already handsome looks. He wore a calm and cold look on his face that seemed almost unfeeling, like the gaze of a doctor towards a corpse, but it gave off a disdainful and mighty feeling, like a god's look toward a man.
The two continued to look at each other, one filled with hateful and malevolent intent, while the other with a condescending look.
"You seem to forget that this is MY world. And that I can end you as quickly as killing an ant. Be careful of the tone you take with me— you just might forfeit your life without even blinking."
The 'Skye' said with an uncaring tone, on that only sought to drive the middle-aged man into a state of utter madness.
"Don't give that crap you bastard! Who the hell do you think you are huh? What gives you the audacity to speak to me, the Blood Emperor in such a condescending tone?! There's no way that you can be that kid! I'LL KILL YOU!"
The Blood Emperor roared as he rushed towards 'Skye', trying to drown him in a sea of blood that seemingly manifested out of nowhere. But unfortunately, his attempts were met with a rude awakening.
The 'Skye' waved his hand, and the raging tsunami of blood wrested itself out of the Blood Emperor's control, much to the disbelieving and horror-stricken eyes of the latter.
The 'Skye' pointed at finger in the Blood Emperor's direction, and the blood immediately condensed into sharp bloody spears that pierced through the latter's body, leaving countless holes in his body-like soul state.
As the 'Skye' walked slowly towards the injury ridden Blood Emperor, each step resounding with a heavy thud that seemed to affect the surrounding space; and the latter's soul, the blood spears soon converged into a bloody crucifix with shackles that immediately bound the Blood Emperor.
"What— How? How can you control the power of blood?"
"That's for me to know— and for you— to find out."
"No please! Spare me! I'll do anything! Anything! Please don't kill me! I CAN BE OF USE TO YOU! MASTER! I CAN BE YOUR SLAVE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" A heart wrenching scream of panic rang out as the Blood Emperor finally realized how terrifying the entity standing before him was.
"Heh! A dog begging for its life. How pathetic!"
"Yes! Yes! I can be your dog! Just don't kill me! I barely escaped from that hell! I still want to live!"
"Hell? No matter. You've lost your will to fight. It makes killing you much more harder for me—"
"Thank you! Thank you!—"
"Nah! Not really. Prepare to die." The blood shackles restraining the man pierced into his body.
"No! No! Please wait! Gah! You bastard! Who— What are you?! Whatever you are! You're not human! Aah!"
"You're right. I'm not. I'm something much greater. But since its the third time you've asked that question, I feel almost obliged to give you an answer, before I put an end to your unworthy existence."
"I am the beginning. I am the end. I am something beyond your level of understanding. An existence that you can never hope to fathom. I am—"
"Chaos."
"Now. Witness my power. And your end."
Primordial Chaos Spirit Art: Nothingness Magic — Nemesis! |
A reddish- golden burst of light enveloped the injured man. And when the light faded, there was nothing left of him.
"Heh! A little pest tried to stand up against me! Laughable! But the power that he accumulated in this body was not small. Good. But not the time. I will have to seal this power till when you can manifest a sliver of the power of Chaos. So grow my dear Skye. You know not of the dangers that await you. To survive, you need power. Power so strong that you can sweep away everything that stands in your way."
.....
"So that's the story. You were in a coma for three weeks. And we— we were the only ones who were lucky to have escaped the dungeon." Skye said to a bedridden pale-faced Layla.
"How did we escape? I remember blocking the blast the spider launched at you. You were still injured at the time. So what happened?" Layla coughed as she spoke.
"I— don't know. I remember you being injured. And blacking out at the time. It's all just a blur to me." Skye said as he clenched his fists with slight tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry Layla. I failed. I tried to get help for your condition, try to see if any healers could help heal your heart and Mana Veins. They wouldn't. They couldn't. And I just ended up wasting all our cash. I'm sorry Layla. This is all my fault." Skye continued.
"And those damned higher-ups of the academy! They wouldn't do anything. They just watched on as you almost died. The academy rejected any form of assistance I pleaded. 'The academy breeds warriors and talents, not trash.' They said. Do they think of us as trash? Of you— as trash? That we aren't worthy?—"
Bang!
Skye's fist smashed against the wall.
"Calm down Skye—" Layla coughed. "So destructive. It's a good thing I've— been with you all these years. To rein in these destructive tendencies of yours." She chuckled.
"It's— not your fault. Nor the academy's. It's my fault—" She continued amidst labored breathing.
"Don't say that!"
"I'm sorry Skye. I can't live on much longer. And you know that. The blast from the spider destroyed my Mana Veins, crippling me. Even if I had been lucky enough to live on much longer, I'd suffer an even worse fate. I—"
"Was it worth it?" Skye asked her with a dark look, tears brimming at the corner of his eyes.
"What?"
"Was it worth it?! To give up your life? Your future? To save me? WHY?! Why'd you do it? I told you to run! Why didn't you?"
"Do you believe in fate? In a life after death? Of gods? Supreme beings that can give and take life by pure will alone?" Layla asked a question that threw Skye completely off track.
"What has that got to do with all this?"
"I don't know. If I had a chance to meet, or even speak to these beings. Cough!— if I had a last wish right now, things would have ended very differently." Layla heaved a sigh, one that seemed to contain endless sorrow.
"Why are you speaking like that?— what's going on?!" Skye asked in panic.
"Skye?— can you— kiss me?"
"Wha— what?" Skye asked with a rare blush on his face.
"You don't have to if you don't—" Layla tried to speak, but was interrupted by soft lips pressing down on her own. She was surprised, but she soon began to take the initiative, trying to push her lips into Skye's mouth. And a passionate battle of two lips soon ensued in the small room.
"To be able to share a kiss with you. I guess I didn't die in vain after....all." She said as she closed her eyes.
"Layla! Layla! No! LAYLA!" Skye quickly checked Layla's body in panic.
He felt a jolt run throughout his body, and for a few seconds, there was silence. Then...
"LAAYYLA!" He screamed.
.....
Whew! This was quite the chapter. I initially wanted to finish this Side Story Arc here. But things happened and the Arc will have one last chapter. Just think of it like a 'part 2' of sorts. Please continue to support with PS. Thanks readers!