An unknown period had passed, and the pitch-black storm clouds still reigned the world like gods. The Evergreen forest remained still like ever; the sounds of grass crunching echoed as Asher ran with a solemn expression.
Bits of mud and rocks flew into the air just as he continued to maintain his tremendous speed.
'My strength has gone beyond its limits just after 'that' incident.' Asher thought with an eerie expression. His eyes were narrowed, staring straight at the upcoming towering figure of the Blood Citadel.
The Blood Citadel looked huge now that he was close; it had crimson runes embedded into it, and the structure overall had a couple of towers with a bridge linking to each of them that hung with no support.
Its entire structure looked impossible to build overall: floating bridges and humungous towers that should've fallen long ago but which stood still without any support whatsoever.
The Blood Citadel had several windows and balconies stretching out of it; from what Asher could make out of it, the interior must be either lavishly designed with company waiting inside or either rotten and abandoned.
'This feels too oblivious to me.' Asher thought with clear wary before tilting his head sideways, dodging a branch barely before reverting back to his usual posture. His tachi lay swiftly in his hands, its white blade soaked in blood.
Suddenly, he gritted his teeth; his sleep had vanished, replaced by immense caution.
'The closer I get to this behemoth of a structure, the more chills I get. And these chills are that...
Of a predator when it stares at its hunter.' Asher completed his thought with a halt in the middle; several heinous premonitions were arising in his head that made him doubt his decision to advance towards this mysterious Citadel.
Suddenly, lightning severed the sky, followed by striking sounds of thunder roaring repeatedly. Something felt eerily off; even the lightning, the storm, and even his breathing felt odd.
"Just who am I going to face?" Asher muttered under his breath; a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead, eventually falling to the ground. The rocks beneath him trembled as he ran.
'Just come, you bastard!' Cursing internally, he pushed forward, ignoring his intuition that never betrayed him. A conflict was going on within him, his whole body screaming not to enter the Citadel at any cost. Meanwhile, a single minute piece of him said to continue if he ever wanted to escape.
The towering figure of the magical Citadel started to get bigger, and soon, its black igneous gates came into view. A figure of a deformed human was etched onto it with shocking precision; at this point, all doubts left Asher.
'This is not something built by humans.' He thought before staring at the deformed figure blowing the war horn; an unfathomable army of an unknown number lay behind him, seemingly raising their weapons in cheers to the beginning of the mighty battle.
'This...' Asher wasn't able to complete his thought as he stared at the other part of the art. A single man stood on the other side of the battlefield; the man was clad in basic silver armor, and a white blade lay in his hand.
Asher's eyes suddenly widened just as he stared at the white blade.
'That weapon is the same one in my hand!' He thought with clear surprise, which was evident in his eyes for a split second before reverting back to its indifferent view.
Moving towards the unfathomable Citadel. His black hair fell down to his nose. Covering his eyes beneath it. His blue shone beneath his hair; determination reeked out of it.
The determination to win.
Another lightning tore the sky apart; the thunder roared once more. This time, the winds responded to the roars and started to intensify. The leaves rustled under the winds with the sounds of crunching beneath his footsteps.
His threadbare tunic was now soaked in sweat, and it was as if blood wasn't enough. Asher's lips curled at the thought; he wondered how he smelled right now.
Just before he could contemplate the entire way to the Citadel, a drop of blood fell on his nose, breaking his focus for a moment. Shaking his head slightly, he once again burst forward with even more speed.
'I have to be fast.' He thought with a tinge of annoyance on the tip of his tongue. Raining was definitely not apt right now. Realizing he had to be fast, he closed his eyes, focusing on awakening the mysterious strength within him.
Suddenly, a chord broke through his heart, followed by a course of energy that boiled his muscle fibers in strength. A bolt of gold lightning cracked beside him before a hint of flame convulsed within itself in his eyes. The thunders roared with even more ferocity as if a rival had appeared.
Instantly, a flash of golden runes appeared on his forehead, extending to his neck with intricate patterns. Immediately, another hunch presented itself to Asher.
'Yeah, the ribbon.' He thought before bringing a black ribbon out of his pocket. The ribbon had intricate white patterns that seemed to glow. The ribbon seemed soft to the touch with almost no mass.
As he placed the ribbon on his eyes, the white lines suddenly turned golden, and lightning cracked beside it, followed by an immense headache.
'What?' He thought before gritting his teeth, bearing the pain head-on. As if seeing him being stubborn, the headache dulled, eventually fading away. Being able to see through the ribbon really had its benefits; his eyesight had sharpened, conceiving each and every intricate detail to minor ones at that.
A chuckle found itself out of his mouth upon seeing the benefits of the ribbon. The ribbon had made his way much easier. Suddenly, a gold lightning cracked beside him before increasing his speed to an inexplicable degree.
'Good hunches, good times.' Asher thought comedically; he knew should he not have worn the ribbon, everything would have been a blur to him at the moment.
Suddenly, a trail of water started to descend upon the world lightly before intensifying and eventually transforming into a cloudburst. The pitch-black clouds encompassed the world, yet somehow, everything was visible.
Soaked in the rain, his sweat and blood, Asher continued his motion; the golden runes on his forehead that extended to his neck with magnificent and intricate patterns had seemingly started to glow.
His hair was only tinged with gold; the rest remained black and soaked under the intense cloudburst. The winds crashed upon the world, screaming its fury like a hurricane.
Seeing that the Citadel was not too far, Asher grinned.
Finally, he was going to enter the Citadel and possibly go on a massacre.
Soon, an opening showed itself in the corner; Asher, with his vision sharpened, immediately noticed it and burst towards it, leaving bits of golden sparks behind.
As he moved towards the opening, the flame inside him, to spite everyone, became excited and started to intensify. A grin appeared on his face with excitement. His blue eyes shimmered under the intense cloudburst as he entered the opening.
'Finally.' He thought before halting; he gasped deeply before staring at the gates of the Giant Citadel in front of him.
The grass beneath waved, brushing against the intense winds; the igneous gates stood still, the figure of the deformed man blowing the horn and the army facing the single man.
It looked frighteningly similar to what Asher had experienced in the Unknown Heavens. However, he knew it was not the same battle; Astraeus did not wear knight armor, and neither did he have a silver blade.
Plus, the army looked much more horrific than the one he had seen there.
Asher squinted his eyes beneath his ribbon; some words were etched that were concealed within this image; if not for the ribbon, Asher wasn't sure if he could've found it.
"The... World of Nothing?"