I was led to a large staging area where numerous gods of the realm had gathered. Isabella followed and I instructed Stella to stay back.
The three of us, that being the Albatross twins and myself, were the ones most hurt by the Oracle's actions.
Today...she would suffer in front of her people. And they would bear witness to the monster she created out of her own stubbornness and stupidity.
We currently stood backstage. We were waiting for the Artificer to give the signal. And that's when I heard him speak.
"Greetings, people of Excelsis. As you well know already, I am the Artificer. The Guardian of Dominus. Today, you have all gathered here without knowing why...and soon you will find out. Good citizens of the realm, some of you are still haunted by the things you saw before the reset was ended. Most of you have no clear idea as to why Excelsis was violently razed to the ground by the man who calls himself: Destroyer. Well...that is the folly of your former leader. The Oracle is the one to blame. Here today is the man responsible for destroying your realm...and what you are about to witness is his fury towards the one responsible for his actions. Destroyer...the rest is up to you. The guilty will be arriving at any moment."
I walked forward out of the curtains and Isabella followed quietly. The Artificer vanished and I smiled at the crowd.
"Greetings, people of Excelsis. I am King Mizik Iratus, the Destroyer of Worlds. I come from a place called Avernia. But before I begin, are any of you aware of this world? Of where it might be located?" I said.
The gods talked amongst themselves and one man raised a hand.
"Yes! Please, tell me where Avernia is!" I said.
"Eh...one of my friends had dealings with the gods in charge. But he said Avernia disappeared. What happened? They were told not to talk about it..." He said.
"EXCELLENT QUESTION!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO AVERNIA, INDEED! Well, I'll tell you all the truth. The truth that was kept from you for so long... Have any of you ever heard of something called...Corruption?" I said.
There was silence. Not a single person spoke a word.
"Nobody? Wow. The Oracle had you all in the dark, didn't she? How many of you know about Iris, the goddess of balance? She happens to be a good friend of mine. I lived on her world for a time as well... But you know...Corruption and all that... Now nobody lives there at all. How about Daser? Anyone from Daser? Is that even an Excelsis world?"
More mumbling amongst themselves. Finally, a goddess raised her hand.
"Daser was my world. I was part of a pantheon in charge of it. Do you know what happened?" She said.
"Corruption, my dear. Currently, we stand in the middle of an impending crisis. One that has gone relatively unnoticed by everyone because of how well-kept of a secret it is. A MAN NAMED CAIN DIFAR HAS RISEN OUT OF THE ABYSS THROUGH THE VOID TO INFECT ALL OF CREATION WITH A WORLD-DEVOURING PLAGUE!!! AND THAT PLAGUE IS CALLED CORRUPTION!!!"
"The Void!? That's ridiculous! How could anything move through the Void?" One man said.
Many of the gods seemed to be nodding in agreement. Understandably so.
"Excellent question. And the answer is part of the reason I stand here before you today. The man, Cain Difar, is known as The King Of The Abyss. He created an abomination using the power of the Void that sits directly above his realm. The result was a woman named Valtheim. The Avatar of the Void. She is a creature that places anything that falls into her body in the Void. She can travel across creation in an instant and even take people with her. Using this method of transport...the Abyssal god of Corruption was freed from his prison. And now he infects many worlds with his plague. These worlds...such as Avernia, Ignitus, and Daser, are only a few victims. The people of these worlds are thrown into a nightmarish pit of Corruption. When they die, their bodies are changed into monsters and forced to serve... Their souls are tortured and warped into submissive servants of the Abyss and forced to live in constant agony."
There were several gasps of both horror and disbelief.
"That's right... It's utterly terrifying. This Abyssal god is on a level far above what any normal god should be capable of. Even the Guardians are weak by comparison. He's far stronger than any threat creation has ever had to deal with in the past. But there's hope! The Oracle was involved with a plot to stop the Corruption!" I said.
The people suddenly seemed relieved.
I would crush their hopes.
"Have any of you heard of reset magic? The idea was to turn back time and reset reality back to the point where this hero awakened on a certain day back on his homeworld. This would happen every time he died against the enemy. From there, he would grow properly and become strong enough to destroy the Corruption with the aid of the Oracle. Unfortunately...the Oracle is a stubborn old fool. Every time he died, he lost is memories. And do you know what's even worse than that...? EVERY TIME THINGS WERE RESET, THE KING OF THE ABYSS RETAINED HIS MEMORIES OF THE WHOLE ORDEAL!!!"
And finally...the crowd was stunned silent. But I had so much more to say...
"AGAIN AND AGAIN!!! THIS HERO WAS MADE TO SUFFER! HE WATCHED HIS BELOVED DIE BEFORE HIS VERY OWN EYES HUNDREDS OF TIMES!!! THE ORACLE REFUSED TO SEE REASON! SHE COULDN'T SEE VALTHEIM AND DIDN'T BELIEVE SHE EVEN EXISTED AT ALL! THE HERO HAS DIED A THOUSAND TIMES FIGHTING THE SAME ENEMY!!! ALL BECAUSE THE ORACLE WANTED THE HERO TO BECOME SOMETHING FAR MORE VIOLENT THAN A NORMAL HERO!!!"
I saw Isabella nodding in agreement. She seemed furious. All the while, the crowd looked even more fearful.
"And now...the hero has become a monster. A threat to all of creation on his own. He was released from his shackles by the folly of the Abyssal god and the refusal of the Oracle to see reason. All with a rage that can swallow worlds. The last time he died...he didn't lose his memories. He went on to regain his lost strength all while fighting a phantom of his beloved...who had been turned into a weapon to kill him once more. Finally...he went on to attack Excelsis. He set fire to the realm and destroyed everything in sight. The Corruption was released into Excelsis and the Oracle was slain by the Abyssal god... And at the last moment...both this and the last timeline were merged."
The curtains began to part behind me as I saw realization dawn on the people of Excelsis.
"I AM THAT HERO!!! I AM HE THAT COMES FROM THE PLACE WHERE IT BEGINS!!! FROM AVERNIA!!! I HAVE SUFFERED AND DIED A THOUSAND TIMES UNDER THAT MONSTER!!! NO MORE!!!!! I WILL NOT BE TOYED WITH!!! I AM KING MIZIK IRATUS, THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!!! I AM A GREAT DISASTER!!! A BLIGHT UPON CREATION BY THE ORACLE'S OWN MAKING!!! AND UNTIL MY WORK IS DONE, ALL OF CREATION WILL SUFFER THE CURSE OF MY WRATH!!!" I roared.
Then I turned to the Oracle who had been chained up behind me. I approached her.
"Have you begun to regret your foolishness, old woman?" I said in a low tone.
"...I have committed a terrible sin..." She said simply.
I smiled.
"Tell them. Tell the people of Excelsis what you did. CONFIRM MY WORDS, ORACLE!!! LET THEM KNOW THAT I AM YOUR CHILD!!! THE MONSTER YOU CREATED!!! TELL THEM HOW LONG YOU TOILED TO FORM THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!!!"
"..."
"YOU WILL SPEAK WHEN SPOKEN TO!!!" I roared.
I pulled out Vengeance and cut off her head.
As it rolled, I laughed.
"Oh? Dead already? No no no...that won't do! I SUFFERED AND DIED A THOUSAND DEATHS FOR YOU!!! I WON'T SIT HERE AND LET YOU GET AWAY WITH ONLY ONE!!!"
I raised my hand and surrounded her body with the magic the Artificer had given me.
I reset her body and life force back to the state it had been in moments ago...with her memories intact.
She seemed surprised. Shocked, even.
"Wh-what!? What is this!? What have you done to me!?" She said fearfully.
"I put you back...back to the place where it begins. How's it feel? You haven't even begun to understand my suffering," I said.
She was silent. Not a single word escaped from her mouth.
"Now...show them all what you really look like, Oracle," I said.
I placed a hand over her face and forced her eyes open. I shattered the Illusion and she took her true form. The image of a young woman.
Her eyes were open and she could see everyone looking at her in confusion.
"You see, everyone? Your Oracle was actually this young woman pretending to be old and wise. Her eyes remained shut to hide the image of who she really was. And in doing so, she couldn't see Valtheim. Her stubbornness put all of Creation at risk and created the man you see before you. How despicable can a person be?"
Some of the gods seemed to finally recover. They became angry...they began to throw insults at her.
But this was far from what I wanted my revenge to be. I wanted to make her suffer. I wanted her to beg me for death before finally putting an end to her miserable existence.
So I approached her again and grabbed her clothes...then tore them off of her body. Exposing her bare flesh to everyone.
She shrieked and tried to cover herself, but couldn't manage it. She was still chained up, after all. And the cuffs on her hands and feet nullified her power completely.
Honestly, I might have been impressed with her figure if my eyes weren't full of seething hatred. I had no plans to touch her.
I only wanted to make her suffer.
"FROM HERE ON OUT, YOU ARE CONDEMNED!!! YOU WILL SUFFER AND DIE BY MY HANDS UNTIL MY REVENGE IS COMPLETE!!!" I roared.
"PLEASE NO!!! PLEASE HAVE MERCY, CHOSEN HERO!!! I-"
"DO NOT USE THAT PITIFUL NAME!!!!" I screamed.
I grabbed her by the throat and electrocuted her. I kept this up until her skin turned black. Finally, I impaled her through the chest with Vengeance and destroyed her heart.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!! NOT YET!!! I'M NOT SATISFIED!!!"
I held up a hand and reset her body to how it had been just before I killed her.
She looked up at me in horror.
"Go back to the place where it begins... Weren't those your words? I heard them so many damn times..."
"P-please...I'll do anything... Please let it end..." She whimpered.
I leaned forward and smiled.
"End? When did you plan to end my suffering? My revenge against you has only just barely begun. I suffered and died a thousand times...and so will you. You'll die many more times than I did, Oracle."
* * *
I took my time with the Oracle. I killed her over and over and over again. I was so much more methodical than I was with Vakra.
That was, after all, only practice.
And after killing her so many times, I allowed the male gods to take turns violating her.
I made a spectacle of her suffering.
Hell, even Cassandra killed her a few hundred times.
Although...I had no idea how much Isabella truly hated her.
Isabella killed her at least a thousand times. Each death only seemed to make her angrier. As if the Oracle dying meant an end to the suffering Isabella inflicted. And that enraged her even more.
I had to calm her down. The rage she held deep down was rivaled only by my own.
And after the Oracle died ten thousand times over the course of several days, I finally had enough.
Vakra arrived and we took her to the Cursebreaker.