GRARLLL!!!
"Mhm?!... I told you to take everything off... You bastard... take that off too!"
The creature was referring to the only piece of cloth still on his body, the long cotton that concealed the stigma.
Only now, Atlas thought of the infamous rune and, without delay, untied the knot, letting the rune shine through.
There was a brief moment of silence, and then the fireball shot away in the blink of an eye.
Not only had it moved away from him, but it had hidden its body behind the divine tree as if it were seeking refuge from something terrible.
Atlas watched in bewilderment at the creature's bizarre actions. Still, before he could speak, a disruptive roar echoed throughout the cavern, causing tremors along the rock walls and awakening the lava from its slumber.
GRARLLL!!!
"Aether Primeval Stigma?... The Aetherium... and the Cosmos... The Devourer of the universe... damn it!"
Splash!
The recoil caused by that scream disrupted the internal organs of the two humans and made the blood in their bodies boil.
Atlas fell to the ground right on top of the puny Rose, but neither thought about that, especially Atlas, who was thinking of a way to appease that being.
GRARLLL!!!
"What the fuck am I doing?"
As it had all begun, everything quieted down in the same way.
In an instant, the creature emerged from its hiding place and stood before the young man with arrogance.
GRARLLL!!!
"Damn you... don't get any strange ideas. Otherwise, I will crush your heart..."
Everything had happened so quickly and was such a mess that Atlas was speechless and angry.
A burning feeling in his chest awakened him from the stupor. The Divine Fiery Chains were literally cooking his heart, condensing his blood, and making him suffer the pains of hell.
Cough! Cough!
"Stop..." The boy shouted in anger, but the creature was impassive.
Seeing that pain-torn face above her, Rose was terrified and heartbroken.
Cough! Cough!
Perhaps because of the wounds that almost wholly covered her throat or perhaps because of fear, she had never uttered a word. Still, seeing his companion in that condition, she overcame her limitations and shouted with all her might at that almighty creature: "You bastard... what are you doing?"
It wasn't a pleasant voice but a little hoarse, probably due to internal injuries.
The girl knew well that the beast could understand her words, yet she continued undaunted to rail against him: "You bastard... why are you doing all this? Didn't you two make a pact? Let him go... please!"
The pleas were clearly audible, but the creature ignored the wails of such an inferior being and continued his actions.
Pitch-black, thick blood poured out of Atlas's mouth, and although her pleas seemed impotent, the girl pleaded loudly: "Please...stop it! If you keep this up, he will die... stop it!"
The girl screamed as much as she had the strength and pushed her throat so hard to the limit that blood spurted out with every word she said.
She wanted so badly to hug him to ease his pain just a little, but with her body bound by those damned ropes, she could only vent her anger and fear with her voice.
"Please... stop it!"
A few seconds passed, and though it may have seemed little to the two youths, it was a long and agonizing sentence.
Only after such a cruel time did the chains appease their wrath, freeing the young man from that torment.
GRARLLL!!!
Falgnis roared for the umpteenth time, but Atlas was now unconscious...
|||
"Argh..."
Atlas awoke after a while, his ears flickering from the beast's roar and the girl's exhausted cries.
"You bastard! What did you do to him??"
GRARLLL!!!
"Such an annoying human..."
GRARLLL!!!
It had been a while since the two of them had been arguing ardently, but only the creature could understand the girl's words, so even though he may have responded to her questions, Rose could not understand it.
It was definitely unnecessary and inconsiderate to act that way, but the girl was driven by anger and didn't give a damn about pain or fear.
"I'll kill you!!!"
GRARLLL!!!
Atlas was awake and could clearly hear the bickering between the two...
"Stupid little girl... You're so boring..."
The boy sensed some irritation in the creature's voice, so he cleared his mouth of condensed blood and quickly calmed his companion...
"Rose... calm down!"
His voice immediately soothed the girl, who cried joyfully: "You idiot... you're still alive... You scared me to death."
"Of course, I'm alive... calm down. If you keep disturbing him, he will really kill us."
Unlike what he had imagined, the chains had indeed demonstrated their power but also opened the door to something else.
Realizing his awkward position, Atlas quickly covered his private parts, but with all the time that had passed, if there was anything to see, it had already been seen.
"How do you feel? What the hell did that bastard do to you?"
Rose was focused entirely on him, and even with exhaustion, she wanted to ensure his condition.
"Silly girl... Look at the condition you are in... Why are you so stubborn?"
The creature had not yet begun to speak, so he attended to her companion, who seemed to have deteriorated terribly in the last few minutes.
The only warm color on her face came from the blood that covered her gorgeous face. Her skin, lips, and nose were as white as a corpse's. Even her two beautiful sapphire irises looked spent. It was a truly heartbreaking scene that tore at the young man's heart like the tip of a glowing dagger.
His hands moved on their own and gently wiped the blood from her soft skin with a filthy cloth.
Perhaps exhausted by the pain or heartened by the warmth of his hand, Rose uttered a faint moan and then closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
Atlas wiped her face, carefully observing its perfect features. Only after making sure everything was removed did he turn his gaze back to the creature.
Strangely, however, there was no anger in his heart. It was more like bafflement.
Cough! Cough!
"What have you done to me?"
Swoosh!
The fireball stopped a few steps away from him and began to swing intensely.
It was a rather peculiar phenomenon, but what surprised the young man most was what happened next because what came out from the flames was a beastly cry that was not at all deafening.
Grarl...
It was completely different from the previous disruptive roar and sounded much like a puppy's cry than a ravenous beast.
"I reminded you not to play tricks and... attempted to awaken the latent power of the Aether Primeval Stigma."
He now understood why the palm of his left hand was burning as if there were violent flames inside his skin.
The creature's actions had awakened something. In fact, Atlas sensed that all he needed was a simple gesture or command to reveal the unknown.
The first artifact was a dagger as black and deadly as a black hole...
The second was a black shield greedy for energy...
What could the third object possibly be?
What other secrets was this so-called Aether Primeval Stigma hiding?
The impelling desire for knowledge drove his finger to press the third wavy petal-shaped symbol, the one at the bottom, and open the doors to the unknown...
OMH!!