Shirei came to his feet, his head still throbbing slightly from the fight. He had defeated the remaining monsters, but his memory of the battle was fragmentary, as if he had been through a nightmare and only emerged from it at the end. The dark blood of his enemies stained his robes, and the earth around him was littered with twisted bodies, once Phasmaphiles. He tried to focus on those lost moments, but every effort was useless, as if a dark veil had covered his mind.
He was exhausted, but still standing.
Another victory, yet another massacre committed.
He put those disturbing thoughts aside, as he always did lately, and prepared to leave the scene to look for his companions: the Equinox Flowers. He had promised to reunite with them and would honor those words, he hoped they had listened to him and escaped the temporal rift.
However, as soon as he took his first step, an overwhelming presence made him stop dead in his tracks.
The air seemed to become thick and heavy.
Suddenly, without warning, a shapeless creature emerged from nowhere. It was a being made of pure darkness, an indefinite mass that seemed to suck in all light and all energy, like a black hole incarnated in the Otherworld.
"You made quite a mess," commented the creature, with a voice that seemed to resonate directly in his mind.
The son of Cragar tensed as his heartbeat quickened, a demigod reflex.
Is it him? he thought, remembering the words of the Calm Sovereign about the dark wanderer present nearby.
The sensation that that entity gave off was different, it was not the same presence that he had expected after seeing the director. Ada had called him a lion, so it couldn't be the same creature. There was no familiarity with that cloud, only a menacing emptiness that drew him towards it.
"Who are you?" he asked finally, forcing himself to remain calm. "A god?"
"Some would say so," the being replied, in a whisper that hit Shirei from every direction, "But as you can see, I don't wear any mask."
He paused, followed by a lighter tone. "Calm reigns in your gaze, but I see the agitation that borders the surface of your body. I'm not here as your opponent, not today at least. I was just curious to observe you."
The demigod sighed, annoyance rising within him. That entity, like many others, seemed to have chosen him as an object of interest. Everyone watched him, everyone wanted to use him for their own ends. He was never free, always under the watchful eye of some superior force that manipulated him like a puppet.
"What do you want from me?" he asked, keeping the apathy in his voice.
The creature ignored his question, as if it was irrelevant. "Rather… why are you so obsessed with getting stronger? You should enjoy life like all other demigods do."
"I have to become more powerful. I must do it."
"I must do it…" the creature repeated slowly, making those words echo in the room, as if he wanted to give them greater weight. "These are just other people's directives. What about you? What do you really want?"
Shirei remained silent. He couldn't find an immediate answer.
What did he really want? He had lived following a path traced by others, for others. He had never been for himself. And that awareness, although not articulated, began to grow in him.
"You see?" the creature continued, with a note of satisfaction. "You're just following the will of others, like an obedient soldier. They tell you what to do and you do it. An enemy shows up and you take him down. But where is your will in all this? Your short life shouldn't be limited to following a script written by others."
Shirei took the talk as if it was a cold shower. He knew what he wanted to achieve, the goal for which he did all this, but that thing had missed the mark.
Getting his memories back didn't justify what he agreed to do. First Cragar had sent him to the Lilies Park, then Lyceum had prevented him from summoning the Tenebrae in the perimeter of the park, Aena had included him in the Equinox Flowers to fight against Rakion, the latter wanted him to join his army to fight the Gods.
He had been blind for so long, following orders, fighting battles that were none of his own.
I'm just a tool, a pawn.
He froze, something was wrong, he didn't really think that. A strange sensation pervaded him, it had taken control of his mind and thoughts. He wasn't himself.
"You want to use me too, don't you?" he asked in a harsh voice, tired of being manipulated.
It was hostile, a quiet anger that didn't belong to him. He wondered if it was the work of the entity he was conversing with.
"No."
The creature gave a light laugh after the response. "Not at all. I, Shirei, only want to destroy you until you turn to dust. I have no other interests."
The answer froze the boy. He didn't expect such brutality.
"Why are you telling me this?"
The being replied without hesitation: "Because I want you to understand how deluded you are, how blindly you follow the plan of Fate. You are cursed, like all demigods, by the mask you wear without knowing it. But few manage to escape its control. Why am I warning you? Call it pity, compassion, if you will. You are promising, and I would hate to see you wasted."
Shirei stared at him, unable to fully understand the creature's intentions.
"Who are you really?"
The being laughed again.
"I turn the question to you, son of Cragar. I'll wait for the day you have an answer for me."
The dark fog surrounding the creature began to disperse, slowly fading into the air. Before it disappeared completely, the creature placed a ghostly hand on the ichor amphora, which Shirei had not even touched until then. With one fluid gesture, he erased it in a cloud of crimson, as if it had never existed.
"That's it, your mission is over. And while we're here... don't you think it's a shame to leave these souls wandering in a place that will soon no longer exist?"
With those words, the creature vanished, leaving Shirei alone, surrounded by a silent battlefield. Cragar's son remained still for a few moments, his gaze fixed on where the being had dissolved, trying to understand what had just happened. He looked around at the bodies of the monsters, the black blood staining his clothes.
He was confused, tormented by questions that could not be answered. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind and took a deep breath. There was no time to linger. He had to find Havel and Ada before the fault decided to finally collapse.
He took a step towards the exit before stopping.
But the entity spoke about souls… what did he mean…
His violet eyes sparkled intensely, time was running out more and more and he couldn't delay any longer if he wanted to get out of there alive together with his companions.
Ada and Havel were still face to face with the dark lion, without weapons. A low growl escaped his throat, turning into a throaty laugh.
"Do you really want to face me with your bare hands? Ridiculous."
Havel ignored the lion's words, concentrating on his body. He felt pain throbbing from his right arm, and with a concentrated effort, he inhibited the flow of mana to the limb, thus limiting the Ichorrhagia. He knew he couldn't fully use that arm, but he wasn't about to stop.
The lion clambered up on his powerful muscles, ready to spring. Without waiting any longer, the two demigods launched into the attack.