Arguis wasn't lying when he told me that the Dominos had suspicious plans to wage war against the sects that had long rivaled against their existence for countless decades after they were thrown out of heaven only to be imprisoned for countless millennium in the realm of Ataxia even before the birth of the very first Elvanian nor was he trying to slander my origin and identity as the Elvanian army warrior who led the battle between the Elvanians and the Dominos in the ongoing war which had been the cause of my untimely demise.
The Dominos had long been feared and loathed for their continuous pillaging of the vast lands of Ataxia which was second to that of the human realm as well as their cruelty in brutal tussle of the mastery over the lordship of the realm that somewhat acted as a safe haven for them instead of a prison. Prophecies and tales foretold by the ancient Elvanians about the Dominos true intentions to break free from the chains that bound them to realm of Hades which in fact, was a second hell they had formed as a domain for themselves when they were forcefully imprisoned in the realm after breaking the laws of heaven.
In actual fact, Ataxia was at first, never meant to be a dungeon to the Dominos but a second heaven as a gift to the supreme goddess Atira Muram who had been the only Elvanian to be live with the immortal beings and to be granted an elixir by the emperor of heaven. She was the original core founder and ancestor of all the clans that lived in the realm. According to old records, she had left to stay with the emperor in heaven, helping him handle heaven politics while leaving the task to create heavenly beings that will dwell in the realm to her trusted adviser and warlord, Yan Donyan.
Little did she know that Yan had greedy ambition of taking the realm for himself. He secretly colluded with the Dominos to usurp her rights over Ataxia and in his guileful scheme, she was falsely accused of stealing the seven jade stones together with the Isylic loom carved out of the very core foundation on which heaven was built, that was also by the emperor to make Ataxia her home a few millennium after the foundation of Ataxia was forged by the same sacred stones. A trial was setup to find out if she really did steal the stones as well as the Isylic loom after the seven stones and the loom was returned to the sacred sanctuary in heaven. Unwilling to bear the blame she received from those who hated her, she ended her own immortal existence by using an incurable poison to destroy her soul before the trial was over.
To the emperor and those who believed that she was innocence of Yan's claim, her suicidal death proved that she wasn't guilty. Yan was sentenced to be chained and imprisoned in the underworld to suffer agonizing torments for eternity while the Dominos were cast out of heaven to suffer endless sufferings in a separate hell whilst living as neighbors to the beings living in the world of Ataxia. It was for the same reason that the Dominos tried to subdue the sects to live under their rule whilst waiting for the right time to vent their revenge on heaven believing ways to break the barrier that bound them to the realm was somewhere hidden in the Elvania and the other sects many millenniums after they were cast out of heaven and it was because of the same reason why I had at first, refused Arguis offer to join the Dominos whom I once fought against to protect those that I love in the land of Elvania.
"I refuse to join your malicious scheme"
I said struggling to hold back the toxins that were already eating away my soul.
"You should know we never wanted war against Elvania. Heaven is to blame for all this strife between us, Dominos, Elvania and the other beings alike in the realm that is hanging in between mortals"
"I still refuse to be part of what you are planning"
"You're still ignorant as those Elvania scums who brainwashed with untrue lie that we are the cause of the miseries plagues the realms"
"But truly speaking.....the Dominos was the cause of this war....which we never wanted in the first place"
"Blame the Heavens for their cruelty, not us. It was them who kept us here in this so called world where there is nothing but emptiness and hate breed across the ends of the realm by your own people"
"You lie!"
I said and wanted to fight him but the pain I was feeling worsened the moment I screamed. He came closer to where I lay struggling to get up on my feet once again and grasp hold of my head. Then he pulled me by the hair towards the edge of the cliff and flew off, surfing with me in mid air and brought me before the colossal Dominos who looked down at me in silence from a very tall height. Arguis was quick to toss me down to the ground several metres high above and I landed flat on the hot marble floor. The pain increased tremendously leaving behind more fatal wounds as I survived the great fall since he had let go of me when I thought we would hit the gigantic eyes of Meguba and I had landed on my stomach on the broad platform. Afterwards, He landed safely with the help of his wings and came to me when I was still suffering in agony.
"I told you to save your strength otherwise you will perish for eternity. Half immortality has granted your soul sometime for a second chance and you'll perish for real if you refuse to comply but you'll live if you accept to join his hands with us"
"I won't!"
I yelled trying to get up but he stepped on my back with his right foot.
"Still refusing, huh?"
He asked and came to where I was. Then he turned me to lay on my back with his foot. I felt greater pain as his foot laced with clawed fingers lay heavily upon my chest.
"Maybe if you have a look on how pitifully you were slain by the hands that fed you, you'll change your mind"
Arguis held his right hand in mid air as I lay with my back touching the ground before him and what issued forth from his hands were fiery misty dust particles which swerve around in mid air in such great speed that the toxic fog hovering close by went along with it. Concurrently, the cloudy milky wave of toxic smoke embodied a circular red light which glistened brightly to display the apparition Arguis wanted to show me.
* In the apparition, I saw myself standing in a broad battle field the miniature demons, fully clad in the same armor I often used in the Elvanian warfare against the Dominos but it was all stained with the blood of the miniature demons that I had slain with my sword forged by Elvanian sorcerers to slay only the Dominos.
Not only was I looking tired after a long battle with the formidable creatures, my entire face was covered with blood and I was trudging to find if they were any survivors of those I had led into battle.
There lay on the ground before me was the dead corpses of both my warriors and that of the Dominos minions. I saw myself looking terrified and horrified to see everyone including the demons that had fought against the brigade I led to battle slain to death either by each other's weapon or anything that they may have used to kill each other.
It was a horrifying sight to behold not to mention that what engulfs the whole valley was the same similar thick red fog which unmistakably made me believe that the fight had occurred in a Domino territory.
Before long, I saw myself turned towards the direction of another army marching to where the battle had ended with me as the sole survivor. As they came closer, I saw them bearing the same flag of the Elvanian army. At first, I thought nothing of what Arguis had said before he evoked the apparition was going to happen but I saw the leader of the army beckoning at his soldiers to aim their crystalline arrows at me.
Just like I was dumbfounded like I appeared in the apparition, I felt betrayed at that moment. The soldiers were commanded to shoot even after identifying who I was and their arrows leaving their bowstrings, sailed through the red sky. What looked like arrows of white snow blizzard surfing in the sky came falling towards where I vulnerably stood unable to shield myself from it. The arrows came rushing in fast motion and they pierced my flesh in their great numbers though it was only some that met its target.
But I wasn't dead yet, and they knew that it would take more than just crystal arrows to kill me especially their leader, Zenyou Zhen Douyan*
***