Unable to move from the concussive force of the stomp, he could only watch as the four-armed fiend lunged towards him. That twisted grin looked down at him as one of the demon's hands grabbed his shoulder, keeping him still as one of its other hands was primed, with its blackened fingernails extending.
"So weak. Be honored a feeble creature like you will serve as my meal," Bakasura told him before plunging its hand forward.
The squelching of flesh was deafening upon his ears; a warmth flooded to his chest as he looked at that malevolent smile before slowly lowering his gaze. Just as he looked down, he witnessed the hand of the demon withdraw from his chest, tearing out a precious piece of himself with it.
Crimson fluid painted the malignant guardian's hand, lifting as the demon presented his prize: the beating heart of the adventurer, "Do you regret it now? Playing the "hero." I would've let you pass had you ignored that cowardly fool. It would've been an amusing enough act."
His lips moved, attempting to say something in response, though nothing but airless gasps left his lips as a numbing emptiness was felt.
'I don't see myself as a hero. It's not like I decided to help them for glory, honor, or any of that…It's just, when I remember how my heart ached, how I didn't want to exist anymore, how I loathed myself…I didn't want somebody else to feel that way, too. If I let it happen again, then what the hell did I spend all these years crying over?' he thought.
There was no strength left in his body as the warmth in his chest was quickly replaced by a chilling cold that gripped his body.
Unable to do anything, he watched with weary eyes as the grinning demon turned its back to him, marching back to its throne.
'...Give it back. That's mine…' He thought, raising his hand, reaching out for his heart, though it was impossible to so much as take a step.
Instead, he fell onto his back, collapsing onto the lifeless grass as his arterial fluid painted it crimson. As he laid there, a sky of scarlet was all his eyes met; warmth flooded from the hole in his body, sinking into the soil below.
The cackling of the demon drummed against his ears as everything faded to black.
Coldness embraced him like a winter coat, clinging onto him, pinning him to the darkness. The void he found himself in was boundlessly lonely; an abyss that flooded him with regret.
This was death; the inescapable end.
'I messed up. Guess I've got nobody to blame but myself. Stupid decisions result in stupid results,' he thought.
Still, even enveloped in the hopelessness of nothingness, he couldn't accept it; he didn't want to. No matter how much he wanted to live, the weight of the abyss was too much for his limbs to move through.
However, amidst that endless darkness, there was a singular light that bled through the shadows.
"Do you wish to live?"
There was only one answer to such a fundamentally simple question, "Yes."
He couldn't see where the words came from, only a vague silhouette hidden within the light, though for some reason, he felt he could entrust himself to them. There was a kindness to the man's words, though a hesitance.
"Even if it means being the champion of someone like me? I can promise you, if you accept my Blessing…You will only know the ire of the other gods. Is that acceptable?"
Once again, he didn't hesitate to give his answer, "Yes."
"Then henceforth, you will be my champion, Bastian. This is both a Blessing and a Curse, remember that all. Rise and awaken your system: the power exclusive to an Invictus. Say my name."
Through the impossible dense sea of darkness that swallowed his body, his lips moved once more, releasing the name that naturally flowed through his mind at that moment:
"Prometheus."
Like an incantation that swept the darkness of death away and dragged him back from the other side, everything seemed to ignite to life once more.
In the bleached forest of scarlet leaves, the four-armed demon had sat on his throne, still holding the prized heart he had claimed in the palm of his hand. It was caressed like a precious jewel before the demon parted his jaws, revealing his slimy throat, with endless rows of teeth that hungered for the heart.
"--?"
Before the fiend could bring the heart into his mouth, something unexpected occurred; an unpredictable phenomena.
From the corpse of the adventurer that lay still warm on the bloodstained grass, the gaping hole in his chest rattled before multiple objects shot out from the wound: chains of blackened, burnt steel whipped out.
The demon immediately stood up, preparing for an attack, though the chains that sprouted from the corpse stretched out and whipped around faster than could be perceived.
"Hmmh–?" Bakasura grunted in surprise.
From the hand of the guardian, the heart was retrieved in the grip of the self-moving chains. Reeled back in by an unknown force, the stygian chains retreated back into the gaping wound, returning the heart to its rightful place.
Lifeless still, the body laid; inside the enlarged wound, the chains suspended the treasured organ beginning to squeeze it gently. In a melodic rhythm, the steel pumped the organ, maintaining a steady pattern all while the demon watched in utter confusion.
Each squeeze forced a bit of substance back into him; unnaturally, he crawled back from the otherside.
BA-DUMP.
The chains kept pumping, wrapped around his heart tightly, squeezing without any choice.
BA-DUMP.
Again, and again, they squeezed. Again. Again. Again.
BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.
The rebirth of his heart's vigor brought his eyes to open, bearing a different glimmer now as his body was infused anew; his emerald eyes shifted to a fiery orange, bright like a blazing star.
Across his body, black ink formed in the shape of chains on his skin.
From the blood that seeped into the soil, that precious fluid was ignited, being twisted into the shape of chains before materializing as the stygian links. The bindings tightly wrapped around the wrists of the reawakened adventurer, hoisting him up without any help from his own legs.
"..." He stood there, looking down at his hands as red vapor exuded from them, turning to embers that glided around him.
[Prometheus System Awakened.]
[Level 5]
There wasn't any fear restraining him; he felt encumbered by negative emotions, as if his mind had been cleared by his newfound Blessing. Against his fingertips, the sable, steel links were scorching, yet they didn't burn him nor inflict any pain.
"What did you do…? I claimed your heart–it is mine!" The four-armed demon yelled, causing his voice to ripple through the lifeless forest like a momentary storm.
As the swift guardian dashed towards the reborn adventurer, the young man found himself able to easily perceive the demon's assault this time. He stepped out of the way casually, watching as the boorish fiend struck only at air with its blade-like nails.
'He feels slow now,' he thought.
Watching the four-armed demon with his eyes that glimmered like jewels that housed sunlight, he clenched his fist to prepare for his response. He could feel his muscles coiling beneath his skin, tightening with power he had never felt power.
As he thrust his fist forth, it felt as though an explosion triggered from within his shoulder, granting riveting force to his knuckles as they slammed against the floor guardian's side.
"Nrgh–!" A wince came from Bakasura as the sound of the demon's ribs being crunched became heard.
A secondary force came with a quake of flames, bursting outward with a miniature, point-black blaze releasing from his fist, blasting the demon across the chamber. The adventurer looked at his fist after blowing the once insurmountable foe back, closing his fist as embers exuded from his pores.
'This is the strength of "Prometheus", it's amazing,' he thought.
Enamored in his newfound power, an enraged howl shook the ashen trees, rumbling the soil beneath the young man's boots. Erupting back to his feet, the tusked demon flexed his body as his dark-blue skin became overrun with veins.
"I'll tear you apart! I'll feast on your insides, human!" Bakasura's voice rippled through the wind.
The demonic brute stomped his feet wildly and waves his limbs around, causing spears of bone to sprout from the soil. Plentiful; the instruments for killing loomed and surrounded the mighty demon, who held all four of his hands up as if expecting to be worshiped.
"Be skewered and die," Bakasura invoked.
All at once, the dozen spears of ivory extended towards the lonesome adventurer, driving through the air with length matching that of the rooted trees.
Though the adventurer had only awakened to his abilities mere moments ago, it flowed naturally to him as he swept his hands in response, whipping and extending his black chains. Another pair of chains manifested from flames, wrapping around the demon's piercing pillars.
The black chains were far from ordinary; like an extension of his own body, guided by his will, they felt unbreakable, burning with untameable power.
Bastian planted his boots against the soil before jumping up just as a set of the ivory lances curved towards him. He spun around in the air with a spiral of flames flickering around him before tossing his chains down, wrapping their scorching grip around the bones.
In a single tug, he tightened the bindings before crushing the ivory, landing back down on his feet as four more spears jabbed towards him.
"Hnh!" He strained himself, conjuring more chains and allowing them to wrap around his arms as he wrapped each set around the numerous lances.
Bakasura howled, "What–?! You think you can overpower my ashen bones?! Arrogance! Arrogance! Arrogance!"
The demonic clenched his fists, causing the colossal spears to rattle, attempting to pull away. Bastian kept his boots planted against the soil, leaning back as he flexed his body, contesting the strength of the mighty guardian.
"Enough of that," Bastian mumbled, giving a powerful tug as he slid his boots across the soil, sharply pulling his hands back.