PRELUDE TO WAR
On a balcony, overlooking the sacred lands of Heaven.
A man, wearing nothing but a dark robe and black pants, was standing by the railings as his eyes gazed at his brethren, his fellow Angels, flying in the air, preparing themselves for war…
A strong breeze suddenly passed by him, blowing his long white hair to the side as he continued to gaze at the sight below him.
"Terron."
The man, hearing his name, turned around to face the person that called him, with eyes, narrowed to slits. He then asked,
"What is it?"
Metatron, the person who called Terron, bowed his head as he firmly stood his place and replied,
"I've found them. The Vampires."
Terron stayed silent after hearing Metatron's words, and without saying anything else, he turned his back on Metatron and gazed at his brethren, flying in the air. They were all busy doing maintenance on their weapons and armors, training their skills, and sparring with one another.
Two hundred thousand Angel combatants.
That was the amount of fighters the entirety of Heaven had, with each of them having the strength to fight with even odds against a normal Giant. But even with all the strength they possessed, Terron was adamant on not bringing them along with his current mission.
"Have you found the others as well?"
Terron asked once more, this time, he was tightly holding onto the railing with his hands, slightly clenched. Five seconds have passed, and after still not hearing a reply, Terron slightly turned his head to the side and shifted his eyes to Metatron, glaring at him, urging him to answer his question.
"I-I saw Monsters, Reapers and Giants crossing through the Dimensional Boundaries as well… they're all… coming here…"
Metatron, fear stricken, stuttered as he replied, and bowed his head even lower. After finally receiving a response, Terron shifted his gaze down at his brethren once more and muttered,
"We don't have enough combatants…"
Terron then slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearing his head of unnecessary thoughts. Various ideas, plans, statistics, and strategies then raced through his mind, all while he organized them, looking for the most optimal path they could take so they could resolve their current predicament with utmost efficiency.
And after a short while of thinking, Terron opened his eyes and said,
"I'll hunt down the Vampires by myself."
"But Terron—"
Metatron tried to dissuade him, when Terron suddenly called forth his armor, Holy Requiem. A soft, gentle ringing sound traveled through the air when the armor wrapped itself around Terron's body, temporarily numbing Metatron's mind.
Terron, now wearing a set of full plate armor—dyed in the golden hue of Heaven's rivers—unfurled his six pairs of milky white wings, and quickly ascended to the sky. Before leaving Heaven though, he stopped, looked down at Metatron and asked,
"Where are the Vampires hiding?"
Realizing that he wouldn't be able to change Terron's mind anymore, Metatron sighed, raised his head and replied.
"Southeast side of the continent… in the Eluna Mountains… they've built a complex tunnel system and an underground society for themselves that spans throughout the entire mountain range…"
After hearing what Metatron said, Terron wasted no more time and flew straight towards Heaven's skies, quickly opened a portal, and left the sacred territory of God.
Metatron, who had already expected this to happen to some degree, sighed and walked towards the edge of the balcony and gazed at the Angels like Terron did. If what he saw in his visions were right, then the best course of action they should take right now was to preserve their forces and minimize their casualties as much as possible.
Which was probably why Terron decided to deal with the Vampires all by himself…
Amazed at how Terron was able to quickly come up with an answer to their predicament from the small information he received from him, Metatron stared at the Angels with a impassive expression on his face for one last time, before walking away from the balcony's edge.
•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•
In the Grand Throne Room that had chandeliers, pillars as thick as buildings, and all sorts of masterful sculptures, a single man was kneeling on one knee, facing the person sitting on the throne, the King of all Vampires, Arturo Vincit.
"Duke Alfonse."
A deep voice, imbued with killing intent, escaped from the mouth of Arturo and struck Alfonse's ears, making him scrunch up his face as he tried his best to endure the pain. And then, with gritted teeth, Alfonse lowered his head as he struggled to reply,
"Yes, my King…"
Displeased with Alfonse's tenacity, Arturo unleashed his dark energy towards Alfonse, putting great amounts of pressure on his shoulders, forcing his head to smash into the floor, blowing the dark tiles up into numerous pieces. Satisfied with this sight, Arturo leaned his body forward, and spoke once more.
"Duke Alfonse. Just how badly do you want to take my throne? To stage a rebellion at a time like this, when we're supposed to bide our time until those bastards arrive…"
The King clicked his tongue, annoyed at even thinking about Alfonse's actions. Alfonse had actually staged a coup together with other Dukes in hopes of dethroning him and making Alfonse the new ruler of all Vampires…
"Pathetic. That is what you are, Alfonse."
…. only for their forces to get single handedly wiped out by the Arturo. The Dukes didn't fare well as well, as out of twenty Vampires that belonged to the rank of Duke, only eight of them remained.
This all happened an hour ago, and the final battle occurred just outside of the Throne Room. Arturo had literally dragged Alfonse's limping body in front of his throne the moment he defeated all of the rebels and forced him to kneel in front of him.
Looking at the pathetic figure of Alfonse, Arturo clicked his tongue in disdain, absolutely disgusted by the filth in front of him.
Not being able to stand Alfonse's presence anymore, he raised his hand, conjuring a sword of darkness within his palms. He then stood up and was about to swing his sword towards Alfonse, when suddenly, the entire Throne Room shook.
The entrance of the Throne Room then suddenly opened and a Vampire, wearing a butler's uniform, suddenly barged in. His face was extremely pale, paler than what Vampires usually had. Fear was also evident in his face as he yelled urgently.
"My King..! We've been found, and the entire mountain range has been sealed..!"
Arturo clicked his tongue once more and lowered his sword. He stared at Alfonse, who still had his face smashed into the floor, and spoke.
"Rise, Duke Alfonse."
The pressure on Alfonse's shoulders suddenly vanished, finally giving him the freedom to stand up. He kept his head down, however, and refused to look the King in the eyes. Satisfied with this sight, Arturo had a slight smile on his face and said,
"I'll give you and the other Dukes a chance to redeem yourselves. Deal with the attackers and bring me their leader's head."
Hearing the King's words, Alfonse said nothing and simply bowed his entire torso, before walking out of the Throne Room with quick steps. The Butler, seeing this, had a confused look on his face. He then turned to face the King and asked,
"Why would you give them such a chance, My King? They deserve to have their heads skewed by your blade for their treacherous actions, and yet—"
"Silence."
The Butler suddenly stopped talking, feeling a creeping chill down his spine. The King then looked at him with eyes completely devoid of emotion, and snapped his fingers. The Butler then felt the space around him fluctuate and in a blink of an eye, he instantly found himself standing beside the King.
"As a reward for your long years of service, I won't cut your head for your crimes of barging into my Throne Room and speaking without my permission."
The King then sat back on his throne and raised his head. His spine tingled as he felt the overwhelming amount of Divine Energy wrapping around the entire mountain range. Rousing his Dark Energy, he enhanced his eyesight and peered through the rocks and stone above him, getting a clear sight of the man, armed with armor dyed in gold, and six pairs of wings, levitating in the skies.
The man's head suddenly turned towards him, and for a brief moment, they locked eyes with each other, making Arturo stand up from his throne, glare at the man and growled as he said,
"Terron."
He then sat back on his throne, chuckled to himself, and with a eyes, one that was filled with uncontrollable madness, he muttered,
"It seems like I won't have to lift a finger to get rid of those annoying bugs."
•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•
Eluna Mountains.
Located in the southeastern side of the continent, it was a massive mountain range, known for its vast forests with trees with leaves that had the ability to absorb moonlight, giving the entire mountain range a beautiful pale white glow every night.
However, on this night, where the mountains were supposed to have an ethereal white glow, a bright, golden light lit it up instead. The light was mesmerizing, enchanting any mortal that laid there eyes on it.
Terron, however, did not care about any of that, and instead, continued to think of a plan on how to swiftly wipe out every single Vampire hiding underneath the mountains while simultaneously maintaining his golden barrier of light, wrapping around the entire mountain range, preventing any of his prey from escaping.
Terron gazed at the entire mountain range with sharp and keen eyes, analyzing every single detail he could see. He didn't just analyze the surface of the mountains either, and enhanced his vision with Divine Energy and looked through all the rocks, dirt and trees, and peered into the mountain range's internal structure.
He could see a long and complicated tunnel system within the mountain range, with thousands of Vampires traveling through them. Multiple caves, filled with numerous structures, were also found scattered everywhere inside the mountains, reminding Terron of the underground cities he had seen in the past.
What Terron found interesting about the Vampires' cave system, however, was the lack of support beams to keep the ceiling from falling. Instead, he noticed a peculiar energy, wrapped around the tunnels' and caves' ceiling, keeping it firmly in place.
Terron traced where the energy came from, only to find himself locking eyes with a Vampire, sitting on a throne.
"Arturo."
It was the noblest and most powerful vampire to ever exist, the Vampire King. Terron had clashed with him multiple times in the past, but their battles had always led to a statement, mainly because of Arturo's troublesome ability to naturally manipulate space. There were times where Terron had almost managed to kill him, only to fail because of Arturo's ability, which allowed him to instantly escape every time he found himself in an unfavorable situation.
This time, however, it would be different.
Terron had managed to catch him completely off guard and wrapped the entire mountain range with his Barrier. Not only that, because of his experience of fighting against Arturo, Terron had managed to develop a Barrier that prevented anyone from passing through, no matter what method they used.
That was why Terron was confident in exterminating all the Vampires by himself.
And so, after finally figuring out what to do, Terron raised his head and gazed at the clear, night sky. The sky was dark as the abyss itself, Illuminated by nothing but the Moon's dim light. Terron then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearing his mind of any other thought.
Divine Energy then surged from within him, encasing his entire body, and when he slowly opened his eyes—which were now able to peer into the vastness of space—Terron was greeted by the previously dark sky, which was now filled to the brim with stars.
It was like God flicked his paintbrush at the sky, littering it with all sorts of mesmerizing colorful dots. As beautiful as they were, however, Terron only stared at them with a somber look. The stars looked beautiful to behold, yes. But as someone who had lived for millions of years, he knew very well that none of them would last forever. Like the souls of the people he cherished, these stars, too, shall vanish, leaving no evidence of their existence.
Terron then sighed and lowered his head. His eyes scanned the mountain range once more, looking for an entrance to the tunnels, only to click his tongue when he found none. Having no other choice, Terron descended and landed on the highest peak of the mountain range and with Divine Energy coursing through his veins, he unsheathed his sword and plunged it deeply into the ground below him.
Divine Energy then coated the blade of his sword, making it shine with a brilliant, golden light and stabbed it, with all of his strength, deeper into the ground.
•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•
"What did the King say?"
Duke Eram, one of the surviving Vampire Dukes, asked Alfonse as they walked through the long and narrow corridors, near the Throne Room's entrance. Alfonse only frowned, however, and kept silent. He just couldn't believe the King would just let him go like this even though he had just raised a rebellion against him.
To do so would mean that he was either extremely foolish or absolutely confident in his ability to subdue them once more, but after getting a glimpse of the King's true power, Alfonse was pretty sure it was the latter. Alfonse sighed, knowing that no matter how hard they tried, they would never be able to defeat their tyrannical King.
Alfonse shook his head, clearing his head from these thoughts and replied to Duke Eram's question.
"He said he'll forgive us if we defeat the intruders."
"That's all?"
Duke Eram asked, dumbfounded at the simple condition. He then had a thoughtful look for a while and asked once more.
"Do you think he's planning something? Why would he do something like this?"
Alfonse suddenly stopped walking. He then gazed at the sight in front of him with a downcast look and gritted his teeth. The corpses of his men who followed him and fought for his cause, layed unmoving on the floor. Blood pooled below their bodies, staining the entire floor with red. Arturo didn't even bother ordering his servants to clean this mess up, and instead, left it here.
"I don't know, Eram. But whatever it is he's planning… I assure you, by the end of it, we'll end up the same as our soldiers."
Both of them stayed silent for a moment, simply observing the horrid sight in front of them. After a while, however, the entire corridor suddenly shook. A loud, deafening sound of an explosion then reached their ears, forcing them to cover both of their ears with their hands and crouch down on the floor.
A strong shockwave, coming from the other side of the corridors, blew both of them away, along with the numerous corpses on the floor. Blood flew everywhere, staining not only the floor, but the walls and ceiling, in red. Some of the blood landed on the bodies of the two Dukes as well, dyeing the black suits they were wearing in crimson.
Their ears rang endlessly, deafening them. After a while, however, their hearing finally went back to normal and were finally able to raise themselves, only to feel a creeping chill on their spine when they sensed the presence of a powerful being beyond the corridors.
•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•
Terron swung his sword, chopping the head of a Vampire that was rushing towards him. Blood scattered in the air in front of him, only for it to stop, morph into daggers, and launch themselves towards Terron. He simply stayed still, however, letting the daggers hit his armor, only for them to bounce off after making contact.
Terron then shifted his gaze to the woman that manipulated the blood and wrapped her entire body with his Divine Energy. He then snapped his fingers, and immediately after, the woman's body exploded to bits and pieces, blowing flesh, blood, and organs everywhere.
This had happened multiple times already after Terron broke through the mountain's peak and landed in one of the massive caves. Piles of corpses, that were either dismembered, decapitated, burned, or littered with cuts, lay below his feet. Making all the other Vampires in the vicinity keep their distance away from him and stare at Terron with absolute terror.
Terron didn't care about their gazes at all, however, and stood still. He swept his gaze all over the cave, scrutinizing every single detail of it. The other six Vampire Dukes, who were previously just lying on the floor, healing their own injuries they suffered from their King, noticed Terron's passive behavior and dashed towards him with great speed.
They arrived next to him instantly. Weapons, such as axes, swords, spears, and halberds, made out of their own blood manifested on their hands. A dark haze surrounded their entire bodies as they swung their weapons simultaneously towards Terron.
But as always, Terron remained still and snapped his fingers, instantly covering the surface of his armor with a thin but condensed layer of light. And when the Dukes' weapons finally made contact with him, they all bounced off, making all of them stagger for a split second.
However, a split second was all Terron needed to quickly swing his sword towards all the Dukes around him and leave deep, gnashing wounds on all of their chests. Terron initially wanted to cut off their heads, but he suddenly has the feeling that the moment he ended their lives here, the energy above him that was keeping the cave's ceiling in place would instantly vanish, making the entire cave fall down on him.
"Damn it..! Attack him, now..!"
Following the roar of one of the Dukes, all the Vampires surrounding Terron launched their spells towards him. Spears made out of blood, balls of flames, hails of ice, and all sorts of magical attacks rushed towards Terron. Terron, seeing all of this, remained indifferent, however, and quickly conjured a spherical barrier around him, protecting him from all the Vampires' spells.
The Vampires did not stop. They launched spell after spell, hoping to bring Terron's barrier down. Explosions rang out, the ground below Terron caved in, and a thick cloud of dust rose up from where Terron stood, obscuring him from the Vampires' sights. While this was all happening, however, the Vampire Dukes hurriedly tried to heal their injuries, but just as they were almost finished, all of them suddenly felt chills run down their spines.
Within the cloud of dust, they could feel something, something that held enough power to destroy every single being in their vicinity. One of the Dukes opened their mouth, hoping to warn his brethren of what was to come, but before he could—
"[ All of you, die. ]"
—a brillant, golden light erupted from Terron's body, consuming every single Vampire around him, burning them until nothing but dust remained. The Dukes, blinded by this light, quickly conjured barriers in front of them to protect themselves from Terron's attack.
After some time passed, the light finally died down and the scent of burnt flesh traveled through the air. The Dukes, who were the only ones to survive, scrunched up their faces when they smelled the burnt scent of their brethren. Their vision was still filled with nothing but white, however, and when it finally went back to normal, rings of light suddenly manifested around their bodies and contracted, completely immobilizing them. Someone's cold voice then sounded out.
"Time to meet your King."
•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•
"Alfonse."
Eram called out to him, stepping in front of Alfonse and conjured a sword of blood in his hands. His eyes narrowed as the sound of careful footsteps, echoing in the narrow corridors, reached his ears. He then turned his head towards Alfonse and said,
"Alfonse…"
Eram roused the Dark Energy inside him and pointed his finger at the walls beside them. A huge, dark mass of energy then converged on the tips of his index finger. He then condensed the energy up until it turned into a small ball of light. And without waiting Alfonse's response, the light burst through the wall, incinerating all the stone, land and ores it touched, boring a man-sized hole through the wall that led to another cave.
"Go."
"But Er—"
"Go Alfonse, now..!"
Eram yelled furiously, cutting off Alfonse's words. Alfonse remained still however, and stared at Eram's eyes, promoting him to say,
"Alfonse… that thing that's coming here, it's a monster, hellbent on destroying our kind… and once he's done dealing with our King, he will stop at nothing to destroy every single one of us…"
The sound of echoing steps kept getting louder and louder…
"So please, go… save our people before that monster kills that tyrannical King of ours… and become the Monarch we hoped you to be…"
At the end of the tunnel, a subtle, golden light could now be seen, growing brighter and brighter…
"Now go, Alfonse! Save our people!"
Alfonse, reluctant to leave, gritted his teeth and stared at Eram's resolute eyes. Turning his head to the tunnel Eram made with his spell, numerous thoughts raced through his mind. If what Eram said was indeed true, that there King would die here tonight, then the fate of his people would truly lie on the choice he was going to make….
"Fuck… Damn it..!"
After cursing in front of Eram, Alfonse wasted no more time and immediately rushed towards the tunnel Eram made. He ran with great speeds, quickly arriving at the edge of the tunnel.
Eram, now left alone in the dark, narrow corridors, which lead to the King's Throne Room, smiled in content when he could no longer feel Alfonse's presence.
His body immediately froze, however, when he suddenly felt an overbearing presence slowly coming towards him. The previous echoes of footsteps he heard before, now became distinct, more audible and loud. The sound of footsteps continued to get louder and louder, until finally, Eram finally caught sight of the intruder.
It was a man with long, white hair and sharp eyes, completely devoid of emotion. He walked towards Eram with heavy and firm steps, with numerous Vampire Dukes, binded by rings of light, getting dragged behind him. Eram was about to open his mouth to say something, but the moment his lips parted, rings of light suddenly manifested around him and contracted, binding his entire body.
He the felt himself floating in the air and was immediately placed right next to his fellow Dukes, where he was then dragged on the floor as the man, Terron, continued to silently walk forward, towards the entrance of the Vampire King's Throne Room.
His gaze lingered on the tunnel Eram hastily created for some time, before eventually deciding to ignore it, and continued walking forward with firm and heavy steps.
•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•
Arturo Vincit, the Vampire King, sat on his throne as he waited for his guest to arrive. His body felt tense but strangely excited at the same time, making him hold onto the arm rests of his throne with so much strength, cracks started to form. And when the entrance of his Throne Room opened up, revealing the visage of the man he once called friend, Arturo couldn't control himself any longer, jumped off his throne and greeted his guest,
"Terron…!"
Arturo had a jovial expression on his face as he laid his eyes on Terron, equipped with full plated armor. The wings on Terron's back remained folded, while the Vampire Dukes behind him groaned in pain as they felt the cold, stone floor, pressed deeply on their faces.
Arturo raised an eyebrow, seeing the Dukes behind Terron. He didn't know why they were here, and frankly, he was hoping Terron would end their lives so he didn't have to. But then suddenly, a thought popped up in his mind, making him grin and ask in a sly voice,
"Terron, please tell me, why exactly have you kept those bastards alive?"
Arturo then sat on his throne and leaned back before continuing,
"Have you taken pity on them? Do you find their lives precious? Or is it something else? Tell me Terron, why exactly have you not ended them?"
Arturo grinned with pure madness raging in his eyes, eagerly awaiting for Terron's response. Terron, however, simply stared at him with emotionless eyes and replied,
"Because I know that's what you would have wanted."
Hearing this, Arturo's grin became wider and wider, to the point where the edges of his mouth literally ripped apart, revealing tens of his serrated teeth. A soft chuckle then escaped his mouth, eventually turning into raucous laughter. A loud, eerie sound traveled to every corner of the Throne Room, making everyone who heard it grit their teeth as they all groaned in pain.
Except one.
"Noisy.."
Terron snapped his fingers, releasing a pulse of Divine Energy towards the entire room to dispel Arturo's speech magic. Arturo didn't mind however, and instead, raised his arm towards the Dukes behind Terron with his palms wide open. A dark, ominous haze then manifested on his raised hand, and when clenched it, the bodies of all the Dukes immediately exploded to numerous bits and pieces, staining everything in their vicinity with blood, flesh and organs.
Terron, not expecting Arturo to do this at all, failed to defend himself, making all the blood and grime land on his armor. Clicking his tongue, Terron cleansed his armor with Divine Energy and pulled out his sword. Arturo, seeing this, conjured a sword of darkness in his hand as well, together with his armor, which was layered with a dark haze.
"Terron, before we start, can you answer another question of mine?"
Arturo asked as he pointed his sword at Terron's direction. But without even bothering to reply, Terron dashed towards Aruturo with his sword, brimming with light. In an instant, their swords clashed, producing a small explosion of light and darkness, dyeing each side of the Throne Room with their respective auras.
"You see, Terron, I just don't understand…"
Arturo said so as their swords locked against each other. Terron said nothing in response and quickly sent a kick to Arturo's side, focing Arturo to move back to dodge Terron's attack.
"Why do you insist on protecting these humans? These insects… "
Clicking his tongue, Terron raised his sword above his head and rushed towards Arturo as he brought it down. Arturo simply held his hand out, however, and the space in front of him started to fluctuate. And so, the moment Terron's sword was about to reach Arturo, the blade of his sword vanished, and Terron suddenly felt something incredibly sharp, piercing through his armor, digging deeply into his flesh.
Not wasting this chance, Arturo thrust his sword, layered with shadowy mist, towards Terron's chest.
"I know you have seen it..! Just how vile they can be..!"
Terron acted quickly, however, and conjured a barrier of light in front of him to block Arturo's attack, when Arturo suddenly vanished from his sights. Terron then felt a sharp pain in his arm, followed by Arturo's quiet whisper behind him.
"Just what kind of atrocities they're capable of doing, and the blasphemy they have done...."
Light then bursted from Terron's entire body, temporarily dyeing the entire Throne Room in golden light. Blinded, Arturo teleported himself away, only for his eyes to grow wide when he saw the tip of Terron's sword heading straight for his eye when his vision returned to normal.
Arturo was quick to react, however, and instantly telerported far away from Terron and held his hand out towards him.
"So why hinder us, Terron..?! Why stop us from from turning them into the livestock they are…?!"
Arturo then twisted his wrists and formed multiple cracks in the space around Terron. A hail of swords made of blood and shadows then flooded out and went straight towards Terron, forcing him to conjure a barrier of light around him to defend himself.
"Isn't that what you God wants…?! To turn these bastards into docile sheeps…!"
The hail of swords continued to rain on Terron, and because of the constant pressure and force of the weapons, small cracks started to form on his barrier, making Terron click his tongue in annoyance.
"To turn them into the perfect slaves for whatever your God has planned…!"
Arturo continued to speak, but like a person who had completely become deaf, Terron acted like he heard nothing of what he said at all, and instead, carefully obeserved his barrier, which was about to be destroyed.
"We can do that for you, Terron…!"
Arturo yelled out. He then teleported right in front of Terron's barrier with his sword raised above his head. Flames, dyed in darkness, then engulfed his sword as he brought it down towards Terron.
"We can achieve your God's goals for you..!"
After saying so, Arturo's sword immediately made contact with Terron's barrier and shattered it to numerous pieces. Terron's face remained impassive, however, and blocked Arturo's attack with his own sword, producing a loud, deafening sound of clashing metal.
"No more need for genocides..!"
Terron then spread his six pairs of wings wide open and encased his entire body with them to block the numerous swords rushing towards him from all directions.
"No more need for apocalypses…!"
A cluster of small light particles then gathered on Terron's chest, condensing themselves to form a small orb of pure energy. A bright, golden light then shined brightly on Terron's chest, before bursting forth towards Arturo in the form of a golden beam of energy.
Time seemed to slow down for Arturo as he saw the golden beam of light heading his way. Any normal person would have been reduced to ashes at this point, but Arturo, who had faced this attack before, remained calm and instantly conjured a barrier of shadowy mist in front of him.
"No more need for pain…!"
The beam of light made contact with the barrier of shadowy mist and was quickly destroyed after a few seconds. By the time it was destroyed, however, Aruturo was already above Terron's head.
"Terron…!"
Arturo swung his sword down, directly at Terron's head, but by the time his blade was mere inches away from hitting Terron's hair, a soft whisper, one akin to a mother speaking quietly to her newborn child, reached Arturo's ears…
"[ Lunox. Lux. Luminous. ]"
Immediately after, his entire view was dyed in white.
•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•
Ever since the day he came to be, he had always asked myself,
"Why do I exist?"
He wondered, for what reason was he brought to this world? To bring terror? To seek destruction? Or to rule over everyone?
He didn't know.
He couldn't know.
So he did whatever he could, and did whatever he wanted. He plundered. Murdered. Destroyed. Warred. Loved.
And eventually…
Became a King.
But it was never enough.
He wanted to transcend all those who stood above him. The Angels, Demons, Primordials, and even God…
But…
He couldn't.
Whatever power he held, whatever authority he had, it was all useless against an absolute being…
So he sought to control whatever he could control. Rule over those he could rule, and lived like a Monarch…
But then, he saw it…
He saw the whole world burn into ashes…
He saw atrocities that even he was not capable of…
He saw every living being on Earth perish from ashen flames…
He saw the end of the world.
And in the middle of it all was a man with silvery white hair, with three pairs of wings on his back. The man who he had thought as the strongest being to ever exist, besides God himself…
Terron Lightbringer.
Ever since that day, that sight of a destroyed world glued itself into his mind. And it was then that he started asking himself questions…
"Why?"
Why do this? Why create something, only to destroy it in the end? For what purpose?
He wanted to know.
And on this quest of wanting to know more…
He reached a crossroads. Two paths that both led to his doom.
Subservience or rebellion.
But in the end, he chose…
"Raise your head, rebel."
Arturo coughed, kneeling on the ground. Blood gushed out from his throat as he struggled to raise his head, finally meeting the eyes of the person who called out to him. Rage clouded his eyes as he glared at the bastard in front of him.
If he could, he would have lunged at him the moment he met his eyes and ripped his flesh to bits and pieces, but feeling his own life slowly slipping away, all he could do was growl as he uttered his name.
"Terron!"
Feeling the cold steel of Terron's blade on the back of his neck, Arturo's eyes ignited from sheer rage alone. He ordered his body to move, even just as inch, but no matter how much he willed for it, his body refused to budge.
Dealing with the rebellion, and Terron immediately after, had completely drained him of all his energy.
"Do it."
Arturo said to him.
"Do it, you bastard!"
He then yelled, furiously.
"End my life and fulfill your purpose, oh honorable destroyer!"
The air around the room shook after Arturo's animalistic roar, blasting away all the dust around them. But even then, Terron's face remained calm and placid, uncaring of any of Arturo's words.
Not even bothering to reply to the Vampire King, Terron raised his sword above his head, and swung it, cleanly cutting off Arturo's head…
Seeing the lifeless head roll beneath his feet, the tips of Terron's lips slightly lowered, a bit displeased by the sight of his former comrade's remains. It was a shame, he thought. He was his favorite pupil, his favorite soldier, his favorite pawn in the war against the Seven Sins.
He didn't know when it went wrong, but somewhere along the way, Arturo's mind started… shifting…
"M..y.. Ki..ng…"
Hearing a feeble voice behind him, Terron traced its source and found a heavily injured vampire in a butler's uniform, crawling on the ground. Disgusted by this view, Terron stabbed the vampire's neck without hesitation, instantly ending his life.
Shortly after, Terron started to feel the room he was in trembling, which was quickly followed by the ceiling above him collapsing, piece by piece. Terron did a quick scan on the tunnel system inside the mountain range by sending out a pulse of his Divine Energy everywhere…
"The tunnels are collapsing."
Looking at Arturo's head after saying so, Terron was now certain that the energy that was keeping this whole place intact was indeed from Arturo. It was commendable, really. To have an enormous energy reserve like that…
It was like a gift from God himself.
Clicking his tongue, Terron unfurled his wings and instantly ascended, boring a wide hole at the ceiling above him, and after a while of drilling to rocks and dirt…
"Fuck…"
Terron finally reached the surface, where he was greeted by the sight of a collapsing mountain range, and a gigantic, swirling portal, hovering above his head, and out from it, was an army of Giants, Reapers, and Monsters, charging his way.